Never asked for imposing Hindi over other regional languages, asserts Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: Amid a huge backlash over his comments on Hindi as a "unifying language", Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday that he had never asked for the imposition of Hindi over regional languages and added, "If some people want to do politics, it is their choice."

Amit Shah's comment earlier this week on Hindi becoming a unifying language for all Indians was read by many as a precursor to the government's bid to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states, reviving a decades-old debate.

"I never asked for imposing Hindi over other regional languages and had only requested for learning Hindi as the second language after one's mother tongue. I myself come from a non-Hindi state of Gujarat. If some people want to do politics, it's their choice," Amit Shah said.

On Saturday, the Home Minister had tweeted: "India is a country of many different languages and each language has its own significance, but it is necessary to have a common language that becomes the mark of India's identity globally... Today, if there is one language that has the ability to string the nation together in unity, it is the Hindi language which is the most widely spoken and understood language in India." See P5