Make Sanskrit India's official language: NCST chairman

Amid a controversy over Hindi being part of a three-language formula, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes Chairman Nand Kumar Sai Thursday demanded that the government make Sanskrit the official language, as many Indian languages originate from it.

He also said that southern states would not object to Sanskrit, unlike Hindi.

"It's good that you want to learn English. But you should also learn and respect your own language which is Sanskrit. Sanskrit is a complete language, while English lacks logic," he said.

Sai said India would have done better had Sanskrit been made its official language.

"Sanskrit is close to Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malyalam and even Hindi. Therefore, it should be made compulsory for everyone. Also, people in other regions won't oppose it," he claimed.

The three-language formula under the draft National Education Policy (NEP), which has since been modified, had recommended Hindi teaching in all government schools.

After facing an intense backlash from Tamil Nadu and protests in several other states, the Centre dropped the contentious provision of compulsory teaching of Hindi in the revised draft education policy.

Sai also said he doesn't support the Centre's Citizenship Amendment Bill which proposes to give citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis from Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"Already a lot of migrants have entered the Northeast. The Bill will jeopardize the interests of our own people," he said.