‘Respect all languages, cultures equally’: Mamata Banerjee responds to Amit Shah's appeal for Hindi as national language

Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said people should respect all languages and cultures equally but not at the cost of their mother tongues. Her statement came after Home Minister Amit Shah pitched for a common language for the country and said it is Hindi which is spoken the most and can unite the whole country.

Greeting people on the occasion of Hindi Divas, Banerjee tweeted, “My best wishes to all on #HindiDiwas. We should respect all languages and cultures equally. We may learn many languages but we should never forget our mother-language.” She also posted the greetings in another tweet in Hindi.

In a series of tweets in Hindi, Shah said, “India has many languages and every language has its importance. But it is absolutely necessary that the entire country should have one language that becomes India’s identity internationally”.

Shah said if any language can unite the country, it is Hindi that is spoken the most. “I want to appeal to people to promote their native languages but also use Hindi to make the dream of Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi) and Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel of one language come true,” he tweeted.

Later, speaking at a Hindi Divas function in New Delhi, Shah said Hindi should reach every individual and every home in the country. Hindi Divas is observed to mark the decision of the Constituent Assembly to extend official language status to Hindi on this day in 1949. It was first observed in 1953.