The Centre’s refusal to bring amendment to the Constitution to put regional languages, including Kannada, on a par with Hindi signifies rejection of a language, said former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday.
He argued in a series of tweets that like Hindi, Kannada is also an official language in the country. “All that needs to be done is to add Kannada and other regional languages in the list of Centre’s administrative languages,” Mr. Kumaraswamy said. His tweets followed a reply in Rajya Sabha which said that such an amendment was not on the anvil.
“Articles 343, 344 and 345 promotes Hindi as a language. Attempts are being made to impose Hindi in the name of Constitutional provision. Let BJP leaders, who speak of changing the Constitution, make efforts to bring Kannada and other regional languages on a par with Hindi through a Constitution amendment,” he said.
He pointed out that the Supreme Court in its direction to the Centre recently has asked the Centre to make available all notifications in other official languages too. Also, the Centre should understand that in the federal set up, where all languages are equal, he said.
