Twitter on fire over Shah's Hindi pitch; #StopHindilmposition trends

New Delhi, Sep 14: Union minister Amit Shah's Hindi language pitch has not down well with the non-Hindi speaking states and Twitter is buzzing with angry tweets. #StopHindilmposition and #StopHindiImperialism are the most trending topics on Twitter on Saturday evening.

The three languages formula is commonly understood to comprise Hindi, English and the regional language of the respective states. Home Minister Shah on Saturday pitched for a common language for the country and said as Hindi is spoken the most, it can unite the whole country. He also asked everyone to use their native languages as much as possible, but said efforts will be made to expand Hindi's reach to different parts of the country.

Here are some of the tweets on this issue:

Opposing Shah's pitch for Hindi as the nation's common language, AIADMK on Saturday cautioned against its 'imposition' while the DMK demanded that he withdraw his view, since it would "infringe national integrity." After Shah said Hindi is the most spoken language which can unite the nation as a common language, Tamil Nadu parties rallied against it.

AIADMK leader and Tamil culture Minister K Pandiarajan said: "if the Centre imposes Hindi unilaterally, there will only be (adverse) reaction and no support, not only in Tamil Nadu, but also in states like Bengal, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh." Making it clear that he was not aware of the context in which Shah made those comments, he opined that the remarks appeared to be intended to bring Hindi to the position of English, which had performed the role of a link language all along in the country. "Only about 45 per cent people speak Hindi and even today it is not spoken by a majority of the people," Pandiarajan said, adding that the Tamil Nadu government has never toed the line that Hindi could be the link language.

DMK chief M K Stalin said Shah's views were 'shocking'. "This will certainly infringe national integrity and hence he should withdraw his views immediately," he told reporters. The DMK would take a decision on the ways and means to oppose Shah's stand at a high-level party meet to be held on September 16, the party president said. Pluralism was India's biggest strength and unity in diversity was the nation's cultural identity, Stalin said and alleged that the BJP government was taking steps to 'erase' such an identity ever since it assumed office at the Centre.

Shah's Hindi pitch appeared to be an attempt to make non-Hindi speaking people "second class citizens," he claimed earlier in a statement. While all languages in the Constitution's Eighth Schedule should be nurtured, picking only Hindi for promotion will impinge national integrity and it is both anguishing and condemnable, the DMK chief alleged.

Home Minister Amit Shah earlier in the day pitched for a common language for the country and said it is Hindi which is spoken the most and can unite the whole country.

"India has many languages and every language has its importance. But it is absolutely necessary that the entire country should have one language that becomes India's identity globally," he said in a series of tweets in Hindi.