Guwahati: Tripura LoP Jitendra Chaudhury on Saturday condemned remarks by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, calling them an attempt to enforce a single language script and threaten the region’s cultural diversity.
Shah had visited Tripura on Friday to inaugurate the Eastern, North-Eastern, and Northern Regional Rajbhasha Sammelan at the International Indoor Exhibition Centre in Hapania.
Chaudhury, who also serves as CPI(M) state secretary, stated that while the promotion of Hindi through the Official Language Department is acceptable, any attempt to compel communities in the Northeast to adopt the Devanagari script for their native languages is unacceptable.
Reflecting on his experience as a former Member of Parliament and participant in official language committees, Chaudhury expressed concern over Shah’s suggestion that the nearly 40 languages spoken in the Northeast should switch to the Devanagari script and that regional development would be linked to such adoption. He described this approach as a “serious threat” to linguistic freedom.
“This undermines our linguistic variety and cultural heritage. Such a stance represents a dominating attitude toward regional languages and traditions, which we strongly oppose,” Chaudhury said.
He also linked these ideas to the ideological leanings of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and stressed that decisions regarding language and script must remain with the people themselves.
Marking International Mother Language Day, he remarked that every community must have the freedom to decide their own languages and scripts.
“Deciding the script of a language is a matter for the people, not for any external authority. We reject any form of imposition,” Chaudhury asserted.