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'No Progress Without Hindi', Says Venkaiah Naidu. Twitter Responds With A Hard No

All Indian languages, the Vice-President said, were vibrant and each of them had its own literature, dictionary and idioms.

On Hindi Diwas, vice president Venkaiah Naidu took a swipe at English language, calling it a ‘disease’ left behind by the British raj, while stressing that it is not possible to progress in India without Hindi. A strange thing to say, considering the already raging debate about the forced imposition of Hindi in the country.

“Yeh bimari jo angrezi wala chhod kar gaya, iss bimari se hamein mukt karna chahiye (this disease that English left behind, we should rid ourselves of this disease),” he said while addressing an event organised by the Union home ministry to mark Hindi Diwas.

Naidu cited his own example to make his point. “When I was young, I participated in anti-Hindi protests,” the vice president said. “Later, I realised it was not possible to progress without Hindi. I came to Delhi, spoke in broken Hindi but was accepted by all,” he is quoted as saying by The Hindu.

He also said it is “very important that we encourage our mother tongue.”

“When the Chinese President came here he spoke in his mother tongue. The Iranian President, a PhD in English, also spoke in his mother tongue when he was here. One should never forget their mother tongue,” he added.

All Indian languages, the Vice-President said, were vibrant and each of them had its own literature, dictionary and idioms.

“There should be more translations into Hindi, the literature of all regional languages, so that we can access the literature of all Indian languages easily,” he is quoted as saying by The Telegraph.

The vice president’s assertion to replace English with Hindi, in a country with as many languages and dialects as ours, seems ill thought out at best. Time and again, the southern states have rejected the perceived ‘superiority’ of Hindi in the country.
In the 60s, the imposition of Hindi as official language had triggered a youth-led mass movement in Tamil Nadu resulting in the decimation of Congress party in the region. Since then, no national party has gained significance in the southern state.
Last year, we also saw how there was  a series of agitations occurred in Karnataka over the usage of Hindi signs at metro stations. Interestingly, the movement also found support in the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Needless to say, Twitter was not amused with Naidu’s statement.

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