Ex-Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy opposes Hindi Diwas

Bengaluru, Sep 14 (IANS) Taking a dig at Hindi Diwas, former Chief Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader, H.D. Kumaraswamy on Monday asserted that he would strongly oppose the imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking communities in the country.

In a series of 10 tweets in Kannada, Kumaraswamy said Hindi was never a national language and it will never be one. "Our Constitution has given the same status to all languages. Hence, people who are sitting in Delhi should not think otherwise. Therefore, the idea of celebrating Hindi Diwas is nothing but a soft way of imposing Hindi as the national language, which I oppose tooth and nail," he asserted.

He said all languages and dialects spoken in India have their own history, culture, and this cannot be sacrificed in a quest to push some people's effort to implement Hindi as the national language. "People who think that Hindi can be imposed as a national language through means such as organizing Hindi Diwas or as introducing as a part of school syllabus will be opposed stiffly," he declared.

He said the Union government could take steps to celebrate Hindi Diwas as "Language Day", which will allow everyone to celebrate all languages in the country. "We will certainly support the Union government, if it decides to celebrate (Bhasha Diwas) Language Day instead of Hindi Diwas (Hindi Day)," he said.

Sending a loud and clear confrontational signal, Kumaraswamy declared that "if the BJP in the state or at the Centre thinks that Hindi can be imposed easily in Karnataka, through introducing tri-language teaching formula as it is endorsed in the New Education Policy, it will be met with stiff resistance."

"Although Kannadigas are soft and gentle people, whenever they feel someone is imposing something on them, they have risen to the occasion and resisted with full might. Let the BJP not forget this," he said.