“Those who take shelter under language want to hide their corruption,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Rajya Sabha on Friday without naming the DMK amid the debate over the three-language formula. Shah said there have been enough divisions in the name of language and that this should not happen anymore. He was replying to the debate on the workings of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Home Minister’s veiled attack against the DMK comes in the wake of the row on the proposed three-language formula outlined in the National Education Policy. The DMK opposes the three-language policy, calling it Hindi imposition. Shah said: “After December, I will correspond with citizens, chief ministers, ministers and MPs in their respective languages. This is a befitting answer to them.” “Hindi is not in competition with any Indian language, it is only a friend of other languages,” he said. The Home Minister also dismissed the allegation of Hindi imposition and said that the government will promote all languages through the Department of Official Languages. “I say this so that those who want to divide the country in the name of language do not get an agenda. The Modi government has established a department of Indian languages which will work on spreading all Indian languages. Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Assamese, every language has been included, and there will be apps for translation,” he said. Attacking the DMK, he said: “The Tamil Nadu government does not have the courage to provide medical and engineering education in Tamil because your vested economic interests will be affected. But when our NDA government comes to power next year, we will provide medical and engineering education in Tamil.” Assembly elections are due in Tamil Nadu next year.
