Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday urged Indians to speak in their native languages and claimed “those who speak English in this country would soon feel ashamed”, drawing allegations of ignorance about Indian culture and an intent to impose Hindi through the backdoor.
Several linguists and academics this newspaper spoke to castigated Shah’s comments as “insensitive” and “born out of ignorance” and argued the government’s alleged campaign for Hindi would “undo India’s longstanding linguistic diversity”.
While Shah spoke in favour of all Indian languages and did not mention Hindi, the BJP’s critics argue that shunning English would leave the country without a link language — a vacuum Hindi would then be left to fill.
Speaking at a book launch in Delhi, Shah underscored that native languages were central to India’s identity and should take precedence over foreign tongues. (However, his ministry, apparently, got news agency ANI to delete a video of the speech it had
posted on X.)
“Those who speak English in this country will soon feel ashamed — the creation of such a society is not far away. I believe that the languages of our country are the jewels of our culture. Without our languages, we cease to be truly Indian,” he said.
Shah claimed that English would be frowned upon as a symbol of colonial slavery across the world, and argued that foreign languages cannot capture the essence of Indian culture and history.
“Our culture, our history, and our religion cannot be understood in foreign languages. The idea of a complete India cannot be imagined through foreign languages,” he said.
“I am fully aware of how difficult this battle is, but I am also fully confident that Indian society will win it. Once again, with self-respect, we will run our country in our own languages and lead the world too.”
A home ministry spokesperson told this newspaper: “It was a private event (that Shah was addressing) and ANI posted the video of the home minister’s speech by mistake. It has been deleted now.”
He acknowledged that ANI had been asked to deletethe video but declined to explain why.
Later, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya reposted the ANI video and praised Shah’s comments — only to subsequently delete the entire post.
Linguist Ganesh N. Devy said: “The home minister’s statement is born out of ignorance. B.R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi spoke English, Jawaharlal Nehru wrote several books in English. Swami Vivekananda delivered (many) speeches in English. Does Amit Shah want to say they should have been ashamed of speaking English?”
He added: “Our Constitution is also drafted in English. Does home minister Shah feel ashamed of our Constitution? India has always had a great language heritage. Persian was introduced into the subcontinent by the Persianate rulers of Central Asia in the 13th century, and we accepted it. This has been our identity and our language heritage.”
Anvita Abbi, a retired JNU linguistics professor and member of the expert committee of Unesco’s World Atlas of Languages, said Shah’s statement was “insensitive” and “unresearched”.
“It seems the home minister of India is living in a different world and is completely distant from the common man. It is a misnomer that English is a ‘foreign language’,” Abbi said.
“It is very much Indian now, like Sanskrit which came from outside. We embraced Sanskrit the way we absorbed English and so many other languages that came from outside.”
She added: “We should feel proud of the English language as it has become the aspirational language for the masses. Rather than fighting over English, the government should focus on the other serious issues we are facing.”
Abbi said the home minister must know that the government-established Sahitya Akademi gives out awards to those writing in English, too, every year.
“Indian authors writing in English have received several prestigious international literary awards, including the Booker Prize,” she said.
A history professor at Aligarh Muslim University, who did not want to be quoted, viewed Shah’s comments primarily as an underhand way of imposing Hindi on all Indians.
“Hindi imposition will undo India’s longstanding linguistic diversity. India has always been a country that speaks in many different tongues. This has been our identity,” he said.
“But the government’s push for Hindi is completely aligned with the BJP-RSS policy of not recognising India’s plurality and diversity.”
Shah’s comments come amid a controversy over the Centre’s three-language formula for schools, which states such as Tamil Nadu have rejected as a purported effort to foist Hindi on non-Hindi-speakers “through the backdoor”.
The Centre has denied the charge and insisted that it wants to promote all Indian languages.
On Thursday, Shah invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Panch Pran” (Five Pledges), apparently linking his Indian-language push to the pledges’ thrust on pride in India’s heritage and rejection of the colonial mindset.
Modi’s five pledges, spelt out on the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, were about development, removal of the colonial mindset, pride in India’s legacy, unity and citizens’ duties.
“Modiji has laid the foundation of the Panch Pran for the Amrit Kaal. Achieving the goal of a developed India, getting rid of every trace of slavery, taking pride in our heritage, staying committed to unity and solidarity, and igniting the spirit of duty in every citizen -- these five pledges have become the resolve of 130 crore people,” Shah said.