India, July 21 -- By Vishu Adhana

New Delhi (India), July 21 (ANI): Amid a growing row over languages in Maharashtra, Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit on Monday said the mother tongue should be the first language one learns, while cautioning that language should not be used as an instrument of "hatred or superiority".

Speaking to ANI, Pandit -- who taught at Savitribai Phule Pune University for over three decades and is fluent in Marathi -- said multilingualism must be encouraged and citizens should be free to choose the languages they learn.

"My question is language is very important. I would go with the mother tongue first, because anything in the mother tongue is the most important. The other t...