New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) Opposition parties on Friday criticised Home Minister Amit Shah for his reported comments on English saying the language is “not shameful but empowering” and is a tool to break the chains.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged the BJP-RSS do not want poor children to learn this language because they don’t want them to attain equality.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, “English is not a dam, it is a bridge. English is not shameful, it is empowering. English is not a chain — it is a tool to break the chains.” “The BJP-RSS don’t want poor kids of India to learn English – because they don’t want you to ask questions, move ahead, and attain equality,” he claimed.
In today’s world, English is as important as one’s mother tongue because it will provide employment and boost one’s confidence, Gandhi said.
“Every language of India has soul, culture, knowledge. We have to cherish them — and at the same time teach English to every child. This is the path to an India that competes with the world, that gives every child an equal opportunity,” the former Congress president said.
In a post on X, another Congress leader Jairam Ramesh attacked the home minister saying, “Millions of Indians each speak more Indian languages – in addition to English – than him.” He said Shah has “failed singularly in bringing the terrorists who carried out the brutal terror attacks in Pahalgam to justice”.
He said these terrorists had reportedly also been involved in terror attacks at Poonch (December 2023) and at Gagangir and Gulmarg (October 2024).
“The Union Home Minister has failed miserably to restore even a semblance of peace and normalcy in Manipur,” Ramesh said.
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien said India has 22 constitutionally recognised languages and 19,500 languages and dialects and this is the ‘unity in diversity’ of our country.
In a video statement, the TMC Parliamentary Party leader in Rajya Sabha said 97 per cent people use one of the recognised languages as their mother tongue as he accused the Centre of not understanding this.
“In India, 97 per cent people use one of the 22 constitutionally recognised languages as their mother tongue. 19,500 languages and dialects are used as mother tongues. This is the ‘unity in diversity’ of our great nation. Amit Shah, PM Narendra Modi and gang will never understand this,” O’Brien said.
Another TMC Rajya Sabha member Sagarika Ghose took to X and said, “English is a link language across India, it’s aspirational, confers a global advantage and knowledge of English is demanded by millions. Indians should not be “ashamed” of any language,” she said.
CPI leader and Rajya Sabha member P Sandosh Kumar said Shah’s remarks are a “deliberate attempt to stigmatise India’s linguistic diversity and push the RSS-BJP’s cultural majoritarianism”.
Noting that language is means of empowerment, not a tool for ideological control, he alleged “the BJP seeks not unity in diversity, but uniformity through imposition.” Kerala ministers R Bindu and V Sivankutty said Shah’s remarks indicate a “restrictive and narrow-minded” political view and are “condemnable”.
“…India is not an isolated island in the world. So, learning English is becoming a necessity,” Bindu, the state’s higher education minister, said, adding English is the most widely used language across the world to communicate with each other and also on the internet.
General Education Minister Sivankutty said “no language was higher or lower than another”.
The 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution are Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
In 1950, when the Constitution was adopted, Article 343 declared that Hindi would be the official language and English would serve as an additional official language for a period not exceeding 15 years. The Official Languages Act, 1963 made provision for the continuation of English as an official language alongside Hindi. It came into effect on 26 January 1965. PTI ASK AO HMP SKC ZMN
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