Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin condemned Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his remark on the occasion of Hindi Diwas. Udhayanidhi said that the statement of the Minister was "totally absurd". Earlier, Minister Amit Shah said Hindi serves as a unifying force amid the diversity of Indian languages.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Udhayanidhi Stalin said, "I strongly condemn the statement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah claiming that Hindi is the uniting force of India and it is empowering other regional languages. Hindi is spoken only in four or five states in the Country and hence the statement of Amit Shah is totally absurd."
"It is only another version of imposing Hindi under the guise of generating livelihood. While we are speaking Tamil here, Kerala speaks Malayalam. Where does Hindi merge with and empower us? Amit Shah should stop oppressing non-Hindi languages by calling them just regional languages. #StopHindiImposition," the Minister said.
On the occasion of Hindi Diwas, Amit Shah on Thursday said, "Hindi serves as a unifying force among the diversity of languages of India, the world's largest democracy. From the independence movement till today, Hindi has played an important role in uniting the country."
"On the occasion of 'Hindi Diwas', let us take a pledge to strengthen all Indian languages including the official language Hindi," he said.
Hindi Diwas is celebrated every year to mark the day Hindi language was adopted as one of the official languages of India in 1949.