Recent remarks by Union home minister Amit Shah on the English language have sparked a controversy. Speaking at a book launch on June 19, Shah said that India is not too far from becoming a society where English speakers would “feel ashamed”. His statement led many Opposition members to question the Bharatiya Janata Party’s selective language politics. However, what stands out in this case is that many news outlets, including news agency ANI, took down their stories on Shah’s contentious statement without issuing a clarification.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the concerns regarding the state of the Hindi language in India, Shah said, \u201cRemember what I say and listen to me carefully. In this country, those who speak English will soon feel ashamed\u2014the creation of such a society is not far away.\u201d \u201cOnly those who resolve to act can accomplish things,\u201d he said on the government’s resolve to build an Indian society based on Indian languages and not a foreign one. <\/span>Shah was addressing a gathering at<\/span>\u00a0the launch of <\/span>Main Boond Swayam, Khud Sagar Hoon<\/span><\/i>, authored by former IAS officer Ashutosh Agnihotri. <\/span><\/p>\n