Chandrababu Naidu backs Hindi amid NEP row: ‘Language is not for hating’

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday voiced his support for learning Hindi, calling on states to avoid doing "unnecessary politics" over languages.

Naidu's remarks gain significance against the backdrop of the ongoing language row in Tamil Nadu and other southern states over the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and its three-language policy.

He described Hindi as the 'national language' and said that learning it would only help in fluent communication in Delhi.

“I am telling this very clearly to you, language is not for hating. Here (in Andhra Pradesh) the mother tongue is Telugu. Hindi is the national language and the international language is English,” Naidu told the state assembly.

He further said, "That’s why you should all remember, refraining from engaging in unnecessary politics, today, let’s all think, language is useful for communication, hence, it is good to learn as many languages as possible."

The key NDA ally also advocated learning multiple languages to better employment opportunities while also maintaining the root connection to one's mother tongue.

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The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief also claimed that only those who study in their mother tongue are succeeding across the world, adding that a misconception is going around that only the English language can guarantee knowledge.

"Language is only for communication. Knowledge will not come with language. Only people who study in their mother tongue are excelling across the world. It is easy to learn (through the mother tongue)," said Naidu.

Citing that many people are going to countries like Japan and Germany, learning the languages of those countries here in India could only help people when they visit these overseas destinations.

Later, in an official press release as well, Naidu defended the three-language policy and said that language is a tool for communication but not a barrier.

Earlier, Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister and Jana Sena Party supremo Pawan Kalyan had stirred controversy with his 'Tamil movie dubbing' remark, following which, he issued a clarification on his stance on Hindi language.

Kalyan had asserted that he never opposed Hindi as a language but only stood against its compulsory imposition.

"Either imposing a language forcibly or opposing a language blindly; both don't help to achieve the objective of National & Cultural integration of our Bharat. I had never opposed Hindi as a language. I only opposed making it compulsory. When the NEP 2020 itself does not enforce Hindi, spreading false narratives about its imposition is nothing but an attempt to mislead the public," Naidu's deputy had said.

(with PTI inputs)