The North East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS) on Monday denounced Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent statement regarding the imposition of Hindi language in the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee.
In a release, NEFIS stated that the attempt by the Union Government to impose Hindi compulsory till Class X gives undue importance to Hindi vis-à-vis other languages recognised by the eighth schedule of the Constitution of India or other languages of non-Hindi speaking regions in India.
“The current proposal, therefore, seeks to impose Hindi as a national language, thereby exerting Hindi chauvinism over other communities’ especially the marginalized communities,” NEFIS stated.
It accused the ministry of imposing their diktat on people from non-Hindi speaking backgrounds, rather than creating more infrastructures to promote languages of non-Hindi speaking regions, especially of linguistically minority communities.
NEFIS demanded that the statement be taken back immediately.