Oppn parties attack Shah on Hindi pitch

NEW DELHI: Union home minister and BJP national president Amit Shah’s assertion that Hindi can “unite the country” on Saturday received severe criticism from Opposition parties, who asked him to reconsider his appeal of Hindi becoming a “common language” of the country and “India’s identity globally.”

Trinamool Congress supremo and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee described Shah’s comments as an attempt to divert public attention from the failure of their government at the Centre.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said it was a “planned attempt” to stir up controversy and divert attention from pressing problems in the country.

He termed it as a ‘war cry’ against the mother tongue of non-hindi speaking people.

The DMK president M K Stalin on Sunday accused the Centre of “autocratic imposition of Hindi” and underscored the need for unity in opposition ranks to take forward protest against the government on such issues.

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Sunday registered a strong protest and claimed it was a “clear exposure of the hidden agenda” of the Centre to impose the language on non-hindi speaking states.

Amid a raging debate over Hindi as a common language for the country, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said it would never be a reality.

Any attempt to impose one language will lead to disruption of the country’s unity, the CPI(M) said on Sunday criticising Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments on Hindi.