New Delhi: A major turn has emerged in the dispute between South Indian MPs and Union Ministers over the use of regional languages. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has initiated a new approach by replying in Malayalam to a letter from MP John Brittas. Several ministers in the Modi government had previously faced criticism from South Indian MPs for sending reply letters exclusively in Hindi.

The established practice was to respond in English, although some ministers insisted on using only Hindi. Critics alleged that this was part of an attempt to impose Hindi. It is against this backdrop that Amit Shah’s reply in Malayalam gains importance.

Until now, Amit Shah had been responding to MPs’ letters in both Hindi and English.

The Malayalam reply sent on November 14 was in response to a letter Brittas wrote on October 22 regarding notifications connected to Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) registration.

In the letter, Amit Shah acknowledges receiving Brittas’s communication and signs off simply as “Amit Shah” with thanks. Earlier, John Brittas had expressed protest by replying in Malayalam to a letter in Hindi sent by Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu.

A similar incident occurred in 1990 when Kerala Chief Minister E K Nayanar responded in Malayalam to a letter written in Hindi by Mulayam Singh Yadav, the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.