'Don't commit the same mistake': Opposition slams Amit Shah for suggesting pan-India use of Hindi

New Delhi, Apr 08: Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English and not to local languages, said Home Minister Amit Shah evoking sharp criticism from the opposition.

Shah said now the time has come to make the official language Hindi an important part of the unity of the country.

He said Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English and not to local languages, according to the statement.

He said unless Hindi is made flexible by accepting words from other local languages, it will not be propagated.

The home minister said when citizens of states, who speak different languages, communicate with each other, it should be in "the language of India", the statement said.

The statements saw sharp reactions from opposition parties, including the Congress, Shiv Sena, DMK and Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Hindi is not India's national language, will never let it happen: Siddaramaiah

Asserting that Hindi is not India's national language, former Karnataka chief minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Friday accused the ruling BJP of trying to unleash its agenda of "cultural terrorism" against non-Hindi speaking states.

Taking offence to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's comment regarding the official language, the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka assembly accused him of betraying the former's home state Gujarat and mother-tongue Gujarati for Hindi, for his political agenda.

'Don't commit the same mistake': Stalin

Reacting to Shah's statement, Stalin said it would wreck the nation's integrity. The BJP top brass is continuously working towards causing damage to India's pluralism, Stalin, who is also the president of the ruling DMK, said on his Twitter handle.

"Does @AmitShah think that 'Hindi state' is enough and Indian states are not needed?" he asked. The Chief Minister said a single language would not help the cause of unity and the character of being singular cannot create integrity. "You are making the same mistake again and again. However, you will not succeed!" Stalin tweeted.

BJP's attempts to impose Hindi will be resisted: TMC

The TMC on Friday said any effort to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states will be resisted.

Pointing out that Hindi was not India's national language, the TMC said his agenda of "one nation, one language and one religion" will remain unfulfilled. "If Amit Shah and the BJP try to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states, it will be resisted. The people of this country, where there is so much diversity, will never accept such a thing. "Even India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had said that Hindi will not be imposed on non-Hindi speaking states until they are willing to accept it," senior TMC leader Sougata Roy said Echoing him, senior TMC leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray said attempts to project Hindi as the national language is against the "spirit of the Constitution".