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Amid the ongoing tussle between South India MPs and Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu over language, Kerala Law Minister P Rajeev on Monday said that India doesn't have a national language according to the Constitution.
He said that the communication between the Union and the state government must be in English and not in any other language. If both corresponding sides consent, communication is allowed in any other language, the minister added. "I remember that years ago, then Union Minister wrote a letter to then Kerala Chief Minister EK Nayanar in Hindi after which Nayanar responded by writing a letter in Malayalam. Because as per the Constitution, we have no national language only official languages, English and Hindi. Those languages which are called regional are also official languages. As per the Constitution, communication between the union government and state governments should be in English, not in any other language. It can be only if both governments consent to the same. The communication in the Supreme Court is also in English," P Rajeev said. He further said that imposing Hindi across the country in the name of 'one nation one language' was unconstitutional. "If we are moving a bill in our own language, then the translation should be presented to the Governor for approval before introducing the bill in the legislature. Imposing Hindi in all states and across the country in the name of the 'one nation one language' campaign is unconstitutional," the minister said. This comes after Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas accused Union Minister Bittu of writing letters addressed to members of Parliament from South India in Hindi. Brittas replied to his letter in Malayalam as a mark of protest and said that the Union Minister needs to respect the sentiments of the people. Speaking to ANI, John Brittas asserted that they have always been fighting against the move to impose Hindi on South Indian states. "There is a deliberate attempt to impose Hindi on south Indian MPs. This particular minister, Ravneet Singh Bittu has been consistently writing letters in Hindi not just to me but to all the South Indian MPs. We feel that there is an intent behind such Hindi letters. We feel that the only way to respond to such haphazard actions by ministers is to respond in our own language. This is not only a protest but the only way...He needs to respect the sentiments of the people," he said. (ANI)
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