Rajeev Shukla says Rajnath's remark on English "very narrow minded"

Taking a dig at the remark made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh that the English language has caused huge loss to the Indian culture, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla said here today that "the narrow minded saffron outfit can only acquire an expertise in dividing the society into language, religion and other areas".

"In my view people should learn Hindi, English, Sanskrit and their mother tongue. You cannot be parochial in these things. Knowing any language is not a bad thing. The problem is that the entire thought process of the BJP leadership is very narrow-minded," he said.

He further said that people should be well versed in different languages and that will help the growth of the country.

"Congress has got a broader vision that people should be learned, they should know all languages, they should learn their mother tongue and any foreign language that they can learn," he added.

BJP President Rajnath Singh made a statement on July 18 that English language has hurt the Indian culture and is responsible for the limited growth of Sanskrit in the country.

"We have lost everything in the era of modernism. The English language has caused a great loss to the country. We are losing our language, our culture as there are hardly any people who speak Sanskrit now," Rajnath Singh had said.