Samajwadi Party has always been in favour of Indian languages: Akhilesh

Lucknow, Jul 5 (PTI) Amid a language row in some states, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said his party has always been in favour of Indian languages and all these should be respected.

He also said that there has been a long history of association of Maratha people with Uttar Pradesh.

Yadav's remarks came barely a few hours after Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and cousin and MNS head Raj Thackeray shared a political stage for the first time after two decades on the issue of Marathi identity and "imposition" of the Hindi language.

The two addressed a "victory" rally in Worli in Mumbai to celebrate the rollback of the Hindi language resolutions by the BJP-led government.

Talking to reporters here, Yadav said socialists have always been in favour of Indian languages.

"All Indian languages should be given respect and we have always been in favour of Hindi. Technology has made many things easy. What used to happen earlier (discrimination in jobs) and many other things due to language are no longer the case (today). People want to take political advantage. That is why these issues are being raised," he said.

He added that there should be a budget for all Indian languages in Uttar Pradesh, and maximum budget should be allotted so that it can be promoted, but there should not be any discrimination.

"We will say that in Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC), one floor should be given for Marathi language, one for Tamil, one for Kannada and two floors for Urdu. "So, whichever state wants their language should also be promoted here along with Hindi, and we should know about their culture, their customs and other things, their food, clothing, for which they should give a big budget," he said.

The SP chief also said that there has been a long history of association of Maratha people with Uttar Pradesh.

There are stories and tales in Kanpur and Bithoor and of Rani Lakshmibai, he said, adding in Uttar Pradesh, a museum is being built in the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ji which was once a Mughal museum.

"We can never accept this discrimination and insult. The BJP should answer this, when they say Hindi and Hindu. They used to give a slogan. Everything is incomplete without Hindi. We would say that thousands of crores of rupees should be spent here. There should be programmes every day.

"Sometimes it should be Marathi, sometimes Tamil, sometimes something else, Kannada, we will benefit from it. Business will increase. People will know each other more. Respect will increase," Yadav said. PTI NAV ZMN