BJP conspiring to make Bharat 'Hindistan', says JD-S

Bengaluru, Oct 10 (IANS) Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal-S (JD-S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy on Monday came down heavily on the Central government, saying the ruling BJP is "conspiring to make Bharat a Hindistan by imposing Hindi language".

Kumaraswamy has slammed that the report submitted by the Parliamentary Committee headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to President Droupadi Murmu. Reacting to the report -- which recommends making Hindi a compulsory medium of instruction -- the JD-S leader said "it will ensure destruction of federalism in the country".

"The Union government is enacting a fake drama to control the whole of India through a hidden agenda. After reading the recommendations, I was shocked," he said.

"With the mindset of a dictator, it is being conspired to make India Hindistan by trampling Kannada and regional languages. The recommendations of the report have potential to break the federal structure into pieces," the former Chief Minister said.

"Amit Shah has an agenda of destroying federal structure through his policy of one nation, one language and one religion. India will not agree to the dominance of one language. This might lead to the breaking of the country," he added.

He said the "Central government should take back the report and uphold the objectives of the constitution".

"The people who speak non-Hindi languages are more in numbers in this nation. Knowing this fact well, the BJP is imposing Hindi. This is a conspiracy," he said, adding: "The Union government has come forward to finish off regional languages like Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia and others.

"All states, especially southern states must protest this and get united to fight. BJP in Karnataka only talks Kannada at the outset, but it is imposing Hindi language in the state. BJP can't be trusted with protection of regional languages," he stated.

"If Hindi is imposed on India just because BJP has got a majority, India is going to suffer in the name of language. Bharat does not stand for Hindu and Hindi. It belongs to all," Kumaraswamy added.