Bigger India
Indian government’s bid to make Hindi official UN language lacks local support
In 19 of the 29 states in India, Hindi does not enjoy the status of first language.
Opinions in India are divided over the government’s attempt to make Hindi an official language of the United Nations.
“The irony is that Hindi in India does not enjoy the status of a national language. It is not the language aspiring India wants to learn, yet the government wants to spend millions of dollars promoting it as the official language of the UN,” said Priyadarshan, a New Delhi-based Hindi novelist, critic and journalist.
Talking to Arab News, he said: “This is the by-product of the hyper-nationalism that has gripped the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ever since it has come to power.”
Last week Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj told the lower house of Parliament that New Delhi is willing to spend $63 billion to make Hindi the official language of the UN.