Provincial languages will not lose relevance if Hindi accepted as official language: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

Kolkata, March 5 (IANS) The provincial languages that are widely spoken in different states of India will never lose their relevance due to the acceptance of Hindi as the state language of the country, former state Congress chief in West Bengal Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Wednesday.

“Hindi has been accepted as the official state language of the country. However, besides Hindi, there are several other provincial languages which are spoken in many states concerned. It is wrong to think that the provincial languages will lose their relevance because of accepting Hindi as the state language of the country,” Chowdhury told IANS on Wednesday.

He pointed out that besides Hindi, 22 other languages are accepted by the Union government. “Each language has its own relevance. It would be wrong to consider the differences over language as the rift between North and South. If there are differences, those could be settled through discussions,” Chowdhury said.

Chowdhury’s comments come amid a statement by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s comments on Tuesday where he accused the BJP of and the Union government of imposing Hindi through the three-language formula under the National Education Policy (NEP).

He also issued a statement claiming the Tamils never demanded the North Indians to learn the Tamil language or any other South Indian language to preserve them.

He said that the demand from Tamils is that Hindi should not be imposed on them.

“If BJP-ruled states want to teach three languages or even 30, let them! Just leave Tamil Nadu alone,” Stalin said in his statement.

Recently in West Bengal, several pro-Bengali groups have surfaced who had accused the BJP of not just trying to impose Hindi on the Bengali but also introducing “cow-belt culture” in the state.

Some of these groups have also demanded that it should be mandatory to learn and speak Bengali for anyone staying in West Bengal.

–IANS

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