Amit Shah Appeals To Make Hindi India's National Language, Leaves Twitter Divided

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.

भारत विभिन्न भाषाओं का देश है और हर भाषा का अपना महत्व है परन्तु पूरे देश की एक भाषा होना अत्यंत आवश्यक है जो विश्व में भारत की पहचान बने। आज देश को एकता की डोर में बाँधने का काम अगर कोई एक भाषा कर सकती है तो वो सर्वाधिक बोले जाने वाली हिंदी भाषा ही है। pic.twitter.com/hrk1ktpDCn
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 14, 2019

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.

“Hindi” Bhasha Bharat Maata Ke Mastak Ki “Bindi” Hai … #HindiDiwas2019
— Sandeep Mishra (@SandeepM4BJP) September 14, 2019

Bhai aap to pehle hi sikh chuke ho

Ham v apni matribhasa se pyar karte hai usse me baat karte hai but hindi v jante hai kamse kam Apne Desh me language barrier na bane eske lye sabko hindi jarur sikhne chahiye
— Shivam Kumar Thakur (@ShivamK28586929) September 14, 2019

Hindi Hindu se hamara sara Hindustan proud of my national language 🙏🙏🙏
— Subodh Giri (@SubodhG21468415) September 14, 2019

शुभस्य शीघ्रं @AmitShah जी🙏
हिंदी को राष्ट्रभाषा का दर्जा दीजिये
— Jagrati Gupta✍ (@JagratiGupta3) September 14, 2019

However, several people also disagreed with his statements.

You really know what “Unity In Diversity” means ?
It’s not necessarily to have only one language ruling over another…#StopHindiImposition pic.twitter.com/cUtseYmcxs
— abhijeet gaikwad | अभिजीत (@____Abhijeet___) September 14, 2019

#StopHindiImposition pic.twitter.com/uOnD4JQwyC
— Rofl Republic (@i_theindian) September 14, 2019

All States are part of Indian Union and have their own State Languages.We are not obliged to speak a language imposed by DELHI.HINDI is a Foreign language for Non Hindi speaking states.#StopHindiImposition #NoHindiInNonHindiStates https://t.co/nPah7n5An2
— Kunal #अभिजातमराठी (@KunalJoshi11111) September 14, 2019