Raichur sources have stated when referring to sporadic opposition to Hindi hegemony over regional languages, D.H. Shankaramurthy, Chairman of the Legislative Council, has said that those who oppose the spread of Hindi in the Indian sub-continent were opposed to national unity.
He has quoted Mahatma Gandhi to justify his arguments that Hindi language would bind different communities with different socio-cultural backgrounds and traditional practices under a single entity of Indian nationalism.
When realizing the emergence of Hindi as a link language during the freedom movement itself, Mahatma Gandhi had foreseen the potential development of the language as a tool to unite different communities with diverse linguistic and socio-cultural backgrounds in the Indian subcontinent under the broader Indian nationalism.
By opposing Hindi, he has continued, they are not advocating for popularizing and protecting their own mother tongues, but for helping English gain ground on the Indian soil and the Hindi opponents are essentially opposed not only to national unity but also to the progress of the native languages.
