The controversy over Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s pitch on Hindi Diwas continues, as Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan has expressed his disagreement on Shah’s statement, claiming it was 'absurd'. After a series of criticisms from opposition parties, the Kerala CM has taken to Twitter to condemn Shah about his Hindi Diwas remark.

READ | Vaiko slams Shah for his One Nation, One Language speech on Hindi Diwas

Vijayan's tweet slamming Shah

READ | Congress slams Amit Shah's Hindi push, warns him against imposition

Amit Shah's pitch of one language

Amit Shah, on the occasion of Hindi Diwas, pitched the idea of ‘one nation, one language’ during a speech in New Delhi. While speaking at Vigyan Bhawan, the BJP President said, "Diversity of languages & dialects is a strength of our nation. But there is a need for our nation to have one language so that foreign languages don't find a place. This is why our freedom fighters envisioned Hindi as 'Raj bhasha'. 

READ | Asaduddin Owaisi slams Amit Shah's 'Hindi unifier' remark

Praising Hindi as being 'more diverse than any other language in the world', he hailed it over English for its vocabulary, putting forth that it has rich words for expressing relations with human, country, nature, etc. He didn't however, limit the richness of vocabulary to Hindi alone, adding that other Indian languages also have a diverse vocabulary. Shah explained that a language can only survive when the young generation feels pride in speaking their language. Education institutes and teachers should stress the importance of native languages and its rich and proud history, he said. 

“On the occasion of Hindi Diwas, we should introspect. There are many countries in this world whose languages have become extinct. The country that leaves its language loses its existence too. The country that loses its language can't preserve its culture”, he said. Amit Shah also spoke about the role of Hindi in India’s freedom struggle by saying “Hindi has played a huge role in the struggle for Independence. Pre-Independence Congress Meetings and the top leaders have given a lot of strength to Hindi.” 

READ | Kumaraswamy slams Centre on Amit Shah's 'hindi unifier' remark