As Hindi debate rages, BJP counters Congress with Chidambaram's old video

New Delhi, Sep 16: Amid raging debate over Hindi as national language, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju on Monday posted an old video of Congress party from the Hindi Diwas celebration in 2010.

Speaking at the Hindi Diwas function, Chidambaram can be seen speaking in favour of Hindi in the language.

"Congress Party's stand on "Hindi" language. Now tell your allies as well," Rijiju said while sharing the video dated September 14, 2010 on Twitter.

Amit Shah also appealed that Hindi be made the primary language, saying that it is necessary to have one to represent India.

"India is a country of different languages and every language has its own importance but it is very important to have a language which should become the identity of India in the world. If one language can unite the country today, it is the widely-spoken Hindi language," Amit Shah tweeted.

Reacting to Shah's proposal, DMK President MK Stalin said that this was against national integrity. "They (BJP leaders) are continuously imposing Hindi and we are opposing it all along...thrusting of Hindi is being carried on in an autocratic fashion (by the Centre) despite such opposition," he added.

Kamal Haasan too slammed Amit Shah for his Hindi comment and said: "The unity in diversity is a promise that we made when we made India into a Republic. Now, no Shah, Sultan or Samrat must renege on that promise. We respect all languages, but our mother language will always be Tamil."

While India has two official languages at the national level and 22 scheduled languages recognised at the state level, the country does not have any national language.

A national language is intended to have a patriotic and nationalistic identity, whereas official languages and scheduled languages are designated purely for the purpose of communication at the official level.