Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired from international cricket during the recent Australia tour, said that Hindi is an official language but not the national language of India.
He made the remarks while addressing a graduation ceremony at a private engineering college in Chennai.
Hindi is not India’s national language
India does not have a designated national language, despite common misconceptions. The Indian Constitution recognizes Hindi in the Devanagari script and English as the official languages of the Union government, but it does not declare any language as the national language.
Politics around Hindi language
Recent political discussions surrounding the status of Hindi in India have intensified, particularly as they relate to national identity and regional languages.
One significant development occurred during Hindi Diwas in September 2023, when Home Minister Amit Shah emphasized Hindi’s role in uniting India’s linguistic diversity.
He claimed that Hindi serves as a language that connects people across the country. This assertion sparked considerable backlash, especially from leaders in Tamil Nadu.
DMK leader and Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin criticized Shah’s comments, labelling the idea that Hindi could unify diverse states with distinct languages—such as Tamil and Malayalam—as “absurd.”
The opposition to the promotion of Hindi has been vocal and widespread.
Following Shah’s remarks, the Tamil Nadu government reiterated its commitment to promoting Tamil over Hindi, reflecting a broader sentiment among non-Hindi-speaking states.
Many regional leaders argue that policies favouring Hindi threaten their linguistic heritage and cultural identities.
This resistance is particularly strong in southern and northeastern states, where Hindi is less commonly spoken and where there is a strong emphasis on preserving local languages.
