India A Land Of Hindi Speakers, Those Who Don't Speak Should Leave: What A UP Minister Said

Since 2014, several BJP leaders and ministers have taken it upon themselves to define who are Indians and who can live in the country.

From those opposed to PM Narendra Modi, those who wanted to eat beef, those who felt that intolerance was rising in India, those who won't say Jai Sri Ram and those who wanted to wear hijab -- BJP leaders have on several occasions said that all these people should leave the country.

A non-BJP minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet in Uttar Pradesh has become the latest to define who is an Indian and who can stay in India.

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Uttar Pradesh Fisheries Minister Sanjay Nishad has said that those who do not love Hindi are ¡®foreigners¡¯ and that those who do not speak Hindi should ¡°leave India¡± and settle elsewhere.

Here is what Sanjay Nishad said

Fresh on the heels of the controversy started by Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, Nishad the leader of Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD Party) said that there is no place in India for people who can't speak Hindi.

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He even falsely claimed that the Indian Constitution says that India is ¡®Hindustan¡¯. (The Constitution says India that is Bharat)

¡°Those who want to live in India should love Hindi. If you do not love Hindi, it will be assumed that you are a foreigner or are linked to foreign powers. We respect regional languages, but this country is one, and India¡¯s Constitution says, that India is ¡®Hindustan¡¯ which means a place for Hindi speakers. Hindustan is not a place for those who don¡¯t speak Hindi. They should leave this country and go somewhere else,¡± he said.

"If you live in India you must love Hindi. If not, you will be considered a foreigner. If you can't speak Hindi, you must leave the country and go somewhere else"

- Sanjay Nishad, BJP, Minister in UP Govt

Full video https://t.co/FVKaMiIOcT pic.twitter.com/cFvm3NbWJh

¡ª ????? (@angry_birdu) April 29, 2022

How it started

On Wednesday actor Ajay Devgn triggered a controversy after wrongly claiming that Hindi was India's national language and will remain the same.

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Responding to Kannada actor Kichcha Sudeepa who had recently stated during an event that "Hindi is no more a national language," Devgn asked why the latter was dubbing his films into Hindi if it was not the national language.

For some strange reason, Devgn ended his tweet In Hindi, saying 'Jana Gana Mana' which is Bengali.

Sudeepa responded to Devgn saying that what he said was in a different context.

The two actors soon settled their debate on Twitter itself, but several politicians including two former Karnataka chier ministers were quick to point out to Devgn that he was wrong to say that Hindi is India's national language.

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Is Hindi India's national language? NO

According to Article 343 of the Indian Constitution Hindi is an official language along with English. India does not have a national language.

However, since the early days of Independence, there has been a push by political leaders from North India to make Hindi India's national language.

They have argued that since Hindi is the most spoken language in India, it should become the national language.

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This was and is still met with opposition from non-Hindi speaking states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra, where the local language is a significant part of their identity.

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