Don't know Hindi: BJD leader replies in Odia to Union minister's letter

New Delhi: Lok Sabha MP Tathagata Satpathy wrote a letter in Odia in response to Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s letter in Hindi and thus took the row over ‘imposition of Hindi’ on other languages, a notch higher.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader re-ignited the long-standing debate on ‘if Hindi should be imposed on other non-Hindi speaking communities’ on Friday, through a series of Tweets.

Satpathy on Friday posted Tomar’s letter on Twitter, further suggesting that there’s a constant attack on other languages. “Why are Union Ministers forcing Hindi on non Hindi speaking Indians? Is this an attack on other languages,” the BJD leader tweeted.

Inviting Satpathy to a district-level programme on the ‘India 2022’ mission, Tomar had sent a letter to the former in Hindi on August 11.

On August 12, the BJD leader tweeted his response letter to Tomar. The tweet read, “Replied in Oriya to Hon’ble Union Minister Sri Narendra S Tomar expressing inability to comprehend his Hindi letter.”

The Official Languages Rules states, “communications from a Central Government office to State or Union Territory in Region “C” or to any office (not being a Central Government office) or person in such State shall be in English,” the report said. Pointing out the rule, Satpathy in his letter said that Odisha, being a state in category C, should be written to either in English or in Odia.

Protests against the imposition of Hindi as a common link language have been present since 1965. The 1965 Tamil Nadu protests were the most violent as it claimed more than 70 lives.

In recent past, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had raised his voice against signboards at metro stations in Hindi. He had clearly told the central government that the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited will no more use Hindi on its signboards.