States engaging in language politics are on the decline: Yogi Adityanath

He asserted that learning different languages does not diminish the importance of any state and the Uttar Pradesh government was teaching other regional languages

Slamming language politics, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said learning different languages did not diminish the importance of a state and asserted that his government schools taught Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi to its students.

In an interview with PTI, Adityanath said Uttar Pradesh was on the rise and creating employment opportunities for the youngsters and the states whose leaders were engaged in politics over language were on a gradual decline.

He asserted that learning different languages does not diminish the importance of any state and the Uttar Pradesh government was teaching languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi to its students.

"Does this diminish Uttar Pradesh in any way? Does it make UP look small," he asked.

Adityanath said languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali or Marathi can become the cornerstone of national unity.

He said huge employment opportunities were being created in Uttar Pradesh, and such narrow politics could harm the prospects for youths.

"New job opportunities are opening up in Uttar Pradesh, jobs are being created. People who are creating a controversy over language can achieve their political interests, but are in a way dealing a blow to employment opportunities for the youngsters," he said.

"Whosoever they are, they are doing it. This is the reason those states are on a gradual decline," Adityanath said when asked if he was referring to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin.

"They have no other issues and are inflaming emotions to achieve their political interests," he said.

He said everyone believes that Hindi should be respected, but India has adopted the three-language formula.

"This three-language formula ensures that regional languages also get the same respect. Every language has its own speciality which becomes the cornerstone of national unity," Adityanath said.

He said every regional language has its folk traditions and stories that bring out the diversity of the nation and strengthen it.

Adityanath said the Kashi Tamil Sangamam initiative is the best example of this as it brings together India's oldest languages Tamil and Sanskrit.