To mark the occasion of Hindi Diwas today, Union Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted his support for making Hindi India’s national language. He said that India is a country of of several different languages and every language has its own importance, but Hindi has the ability to unite the nation.
He also said that it is important to have a language that can become the identity of India in the world. Currently, Hindi is one of 2 official languages in India, the other being English. There are also 22 scheduled languages recognised at the state level.
A national language does not have any purpose other than to provide a nationalistic identity, while official languages are designated for communication. The tweet has led to a highly divided response. Some people supported the appeal.
However, several people also disagreed with his statements.
Clearly, Shah’s statements have led to a large debate about designating Hindi as India’s national language.