On Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that he would himself, from December onward, interact in his own states' native tongues with Chief Ministers, Members of Parliament, ministers, and countrymen all across the nation.
The decision, said Shah, is to challenge those who turn language into an instrument of veiling corruption. "Each one of India's languages is one of our treasures of culture," he underlined.
Tongue-lashing the Tamil Nadu government in Rajya Sabha, Shah used this moment to address the state's government. In his words, "For the last two years, we've been explaining to the Tamil Nadu government that you don't have the guts to translate engineering and medical studies in Tamil. You have your fiscal interests at stake here. Yet, when we come to power, we shall make sure Tamil Nadu's engineering and medical studies are conducted in Tamil."
Home Minister responded to criticism from the opposition, saying, "Some can say we are against South India languages, but how can we be against a state's language? We are from the same area—I am from Gujarat." He further asserted that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who hailed from Tamil Nadu, would never endorse any anti-Tamil stance.
Shah continued to accentuate the attempts of the government in propagating regional languages through translating vital study courses, like engineering and medicine, into the local languages. He criticized the critics of the propagation of Indian languages by asserting, "You might have a preference for a language from thousands of kilometers away, but why are you against Indian languages?
He reiterated the need for national integration above rhetoric of language politics, pointing out that a Tamil-speaking child can find a job in any region of India, either in Gujarat, Delhi, or Kashmir.".
Home Minister also shot down the language being used as a cover for corruption, saying, "We will expose these issues, we will go village by village." His comments were made against allegations by the Tamil Nadu government that the Centre was pushing Hindi down the throat of the state. During his address, Shah talked about work undertaken by the Language Department of his ministry that endeavors to encourage use of Indian languages. He explained measures to encourage use of languages like Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, and Assamese, and reasserted that Hindi is the "sister" of all Indian languages. He clarified that Hindi makes other languages stronger and that there is no contest between Hindi and regional languages.
Home Minister also stated that his government has sent three reports on official languages to the President, showing how serious it was about the development of all Indian languages.
Last but not least, Shah cited the democratization of the Padma Awards and said that those from modest means who have greatly contributed to society are now being honored with these prestigious awards.
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