Bangalore. Before Hindi Diwas, former Karnataka CM and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy has given a statement against Hindi language. Kumaraswamy has written a letter to CM Basavaraj Bommai demanding that Hindi Diwas not be celebrated. Let us tell you that Hindi Diwas is celebrated every year on 14 September. Kumaraswamy has written in his letter that if Hindi Divas is celebrated in Karnataka, it will be an insult to Kannada people. He has also written that it would be unfair to the people of Karnataka to forcefully celebrate Hindi Diwas on September 14. In his long letter, Kumaraswamy wrote that it is not right to celebrate Hindi Divas sponsored by the Central Government on 14 September. He wrote that there is no reason why the Karnataka government should celebrate Hindi Divas by using the money of tax payers.
Former CM @hd_kumaraswamy writes letter to CM @BSBommai urging him not to observe #HindiDiwas by state government on tax payers money. @NewIndianXpress @Cloudnirad @ramupatil_TNIE pic.twitter.com/ZDTKVuMVvm
— Ashwini M Sripad/ಅಶ್ವಿನ (@AshwiniMS_TNIE) September 12, 2022
Kumaraswamy had opposed Hindi earlier also. He once said what is in it for non-Hindi speaking people. He also described Hindi Divas as a clever move to impose Hindi on those who speak another language. Let us tell you that there has been a long movement against Hindi in the southern states. Even today, many people here and even celebrities give statements against Hindi. In Tamil Nadu, there has been a big movement against Hindi in the 1960s. When the Modi government made Hindi compulsory in the three-language formula under the new education policy, it also caused a lot of controversy in the South. The Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments opposed it.
Not only this, when the Railway Ministry also decided to conduct the entire recruitment examination in Hindi and English, it also opposed it. Then this decision had to be reversed. Southern Railway had issued instructions to the station masters to speak either in Hindi or in English. This directive was also withdrawn after protests. Celebrities and leaders of South India have also been vocal against Hindi. Film actor Kamal Haasan once said that no shah, sultan or emperor should go back on the promise of unity in diversity given at the time of becoming a republic. At the same time, DMK MP TKS Elangovan had said that Tamil has a worldwide identity among Indian languages.