Language Row: News outlets take down stories on Amit Shah’s controversial English remark

Recent remarks by Union home minister Amit Shah on the English language have sparked a controversy. Speaking at a book launch on June 19, Shah said that India is not too far from becoming a society where English speakers would “feel ashamed”. His statement led many Opposition members to question the Bharatiya Janata Party’s selective language politics. However, what stands out in this case is that many news outlets, including news agency ANI, took down their stories on Shah’s contentious statement without issuing a clarification.

Speaking on the concerns regarding the state of the Hindi language in India, Shah said, “Remember what I say and listen to me carefully. In this country, those who speak English will soon feel ashamed—the creation of such a society is not far away.” “Only those who resolve to act can accomplish things,” he said on the government’s resolve to build an Indian society based on Indian languages and not a foreign one. Shah was addressing a gathering at the launch of Main Boond Swayam, Khud Sagar Hoon, authored by former IAS officer Ashutosh Agnihotri.

 

“I believe that the languages of our country are the jewels of our culture. Without our languages, we cease to be truly Indian… With pride in our languages, we will run our country, ideate, research, make decisions, and lead the world, too. There is no need for anyone to doubt this…Our languages will greatly contribute to us being at the top of the world in 2047,” he added.

ANI, Others Take Down Story

On June 19, news agency Asian News International (ANI) shared a video of Shah’s speech on X and posted a story on its website. However, within hours, both the social media post and the article were taken down. ANI has issued no clarification on why these were removed.

Since ANI is a wire agency whose stories go to the syndicated feed of subscribing news outlets, we found the now-deleted ANI article on WION. At least prima facie, the piece has no factual inaccuracies or misinformation and seems like routine coverage of the event with Shah’s remarks, largely verbatim.

We found a similar pattern across news outlets. Times of India, NDTV, Times Now and ABP News retracted their reports. These articles and their headlines and image thumbnails still appear on search engines but they lead to a 404 error page on clicking. Note that none of these outlets issued public clarifications on why these stories were taken down. Since archives of these were not available, we could not verify whether these were wire copies by ANI, published by them and later taken down.

We also found another intriguing pattern. News outlets such as The Indian Express, The Hindu and Republic TV, which still have their articles with Shah’s statement available on their website, did not amplify the story on social media platforms, especially X. This is unusual because news outlets routinely promote most of their articles on these platforms, as standard practice. 

Debate on Language Politics

Shah’s statement has ruffled many feathers. Opposition leaders believe that in shunting English to promote native languages, the BJP government is actually pushing for Hindi. Though Shah mentions embracing ‘Indian languages’ and nativity, his discourse and statement at the event followed a question by another speaker on the weakened status of Hindi as a language. Shah’s remarks almost seem to use Indian languages and Hindi interchangeably.

Such preoccupation with Hindi has also been a flashpoint between the centre and states, especially on education. The indirect imposition of Hindi as part of the National Education Policy’s (NEP) three-language policy has been opposed by many states, most vehemently Tamil Nadu. Note that while the NEP does not mandate learning Hindi, experts believe that the Centre has left states with little choice but to adopt it as the most plausible third optional language. Tamil Nadu largely follows a two-language system where students are taught in Tamil and English. Most states in the southern region, in the North East or those lying in tribal belts believe that the Central push for Indian languages comes with the obvious subsuming of dialects, regional languages and local traditions by Hindi and Hindi speakers. The push for Hindi is also reflected in the obvious tilt in NCERT textbooks used across states.

In a country where language has often been a flashpoint for regional and communal tensions, Shah’s statement could appeal to many, especially those in the Hindi-speaking belt where the BJP already has a stronghold. However, the removal of his controversial remarks by news outlets must be seen in view of the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal in 2026, where the BJP’s communal and language politics have failed to land the party a win.

Besides the underlying Hindi push, Shah’s remarks have also come under fire for their “restrictive and narrow-minded” approach towards English, a language that, despite its colonial roots, still acts as a bridge for many within the country and abroad. English has evolved into a global lingua franca and has been used for international engagement. Arguably, English has also allowed many to subvert caste and class hierarchies predominant within the society and culture.

“English is not a barrier; it is a bridge… BJP-RSS don’t want India’s poor children to learn English—because they don’t want you to ask questions, move forward, or stand equal… English is as essential as your mother tongue—because it will secure jobs, boost confidence,” Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said on Shah snubbing English.

Disappearing Articles 

It’s not exactly clear why the reports were removed or what prompted it. Alt News has tried to contact some people to understand what may have caused this. The story will be updated if and when we receive responses.

But the question remains that even if removed, why was there no clarification? Was there implicit pressure from authorities owing to the contentious nature of Shah’s speech? Was there an inaccuracy? The incident poses serious doubts on the integrity and autonomy of India’s media ecosystem and independent decision-making in editorial policies. ANI has a fairly wide reach and when a major news agency, a video partner to most news outlets, takes a crucial video down, it is bound to limit reach, thus cushioning the impact from criticism. Alt News also reached out to ANI for comment, the editor refused to speak to us.

In March 2025, at least three major media outlets took down their stories on a South African wildlife organisation, raising concerns over the functioning of the Reliance-owned Vantara Animal and Rehabilitation Centre in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Read our story to know what the investigation revealed. In 2018, Doordarshan had similarly deleted its X post in an attempt to cover up Amit Shah’s flag-hoisting blooper. 

The post Language Row: News outlets take down stories on Amit Shah’s controversial English remark appeared first on Alt News.

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