HD Kumaraswamy demands Hindi Diwas be scrapped

Hindi Diwas holds no meaning for those whose mother tongue is not Hindi, former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy said Monday.

In a series of tweets, the JD(S) leader opposed the nation-wide celebration of Hindi Diwas, asking it to be scrapped. If at all it has to be celebrated, the Centre must celebrate all languages including Kannada. For this, a separate Day has to be announced by the Centre. In which case, November 1 should be celebrated as Kannada Day across the country, he said.

Hindi Diwas is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Beohar Rajendra Simha, who fought for the language to be recognised as an official language of the country.

"In a country as diverse as India, the Centre is imposing Hindi through various means. I oppose Hindi Diwas, which is nothing but linguistic arrogance. Even though the Constitution does not recognise one single 'national language', there have been several attempts over time to portray Hindi as the national language. Such attempts have now reached their limits. Before people agitate, this imposition has to stop," Kumaraswamy said.

Hindi language learning is being used as an excuse for imposition of the language. Language learning has to be a choice and imposition of one language should not come in the way of the self-respect of another language. Of late, Hindi has been equated with nationalism, patriotism and Hindutva. “This is nothing but treachery,” he stated.

In an emotionally-worded tweet, the regional party leader also warned that there would be a people's revolt if Hindi supremacists mistook the 'harmonious nature' of Kannadigas to be their weakness or believed that Hindi could be easily imposed in Karnataka.