 "Stalin asks Centre to celebrate Indian Languages Day instead of Hindi Diwas")
Indian languages, including Tamil, should be made official languages of the Union government and Indian Languages Day should be celebrated rather than the Hindi Diwas, DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Wednesday.
Quoting from Union Home Minister Amit Shah's address to the All India Official Language Conference in Gujarat, Stalin claimed that Shah batted for learning Hindi to understand culture and history.
The nation comprises people who speak many languages and Shah's Hindi pitch went against the country's ideal of unity in diversity, Stalin alleged in a party statement. Hindi Diwas is observed by the Centre every year on September 14.
India is known for its integrity and there must not be any efforts aimed at dividing the country in the name of "Hindia," Stalin said, an apparent hint to his party's historical line against "imposing Hindi".
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister demanded Shah that all the 22 Indian languages including Tamil, listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution, be made official languages of the Union government.
"I urge that culture and history be strengthened by celebrating Indian Languages Day instead of observing Hindi Day," Stalin urged Shah.
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