BJP govt’s Hindi push sparks strong protests

The government said that the directive would be applicable only in Hindi speaking states. The government was facing severe criticism from several quarters with critics claiming that the move was aimed at imposing the language on the entire country.

The Home Ministry said on Friday that the directive was passed by the UPA government on March 10. “It is clarified that these instructions of the Department of Official Languages dated March 10 do not seek to impose communication in Hindi on states which are not Hindi speaking,” a home ministry statement said.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs in its circular dated May 27 has communicated the above guidelines of the Department of Official Languages with regard to the social media to the departments under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Therefore, this is neither a new policy nor an attempt to impose the use of Hindi on any non-Hindi speaking state,” the statement added.

The May 27 circular had “Making usage of official language Hindi mandatory by the Government of India for social media” in its subject line. The circular evoked sharp criticism from AIADMK, DMK and other Tamil political parties.

On Thursday, DMK leader MK Stalin asked whether the new directive fits into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra of better governance. “Hindi is being imposed on 55% of non-Hindi speaking government servants & general public. Is this max governance, min government?” he asked in a tweet.