12 hours ago
Last Updated:December 04, 2024, 12:09 IST
The Union Finance Minister recounted being mocked in Tamil Nadu during her student days. She lamented that she has poor Hindi skills due to her state's restrictions on learning Hindi
Nirmala Sitharaman said that the DMK should be blamed for not letting Hindi be studied in Tamil Nadu. (X@nsitharaman)
The Lok Sabha witnessed a heated debate on language imposition on Tuesday. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman blamed the DMK government, which was then in power in Tamil Nadu, for not letting her study Hindi when she was a student.
“I don’t know Hindi, but DMK should be blamed for not letting Hindi be studied in Tamil Nadu," Sitharaman said in the Lower House.
The Union Finance Minister was replying to questions related to the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the Lok Sabha. At that time, the opposition parties from the India bloc, including the Samajwadi Party, accused Sitharaman of speaking in incorrect Hindi.
Hitting back, Sitharaman said, “The opposition parties are against the imposition of Hindi. I don’t know Hindi, but DMK should be blamed for not letting Hindi be studied in Tamil Nadu."
The Finance Minister mentioned that Tamil is now recognised by the United Nations owing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts.
“Tamil is recognised by the UN. Show a Prime Minister who addresses the House and quotes Tamil over and over again. It was Narendra Modi who did this. Because he has respect for language…Just want to clarify one thing. Prime Minister Modi is promoting every state language," she said.
The Finance Minister also recalled her student days when she faced incidents where she was mocked on the streets of Tamil Nadu. She lamented that she was not allowed to learn Hindi when she was a student in Tamil Nadu and said that her Hindi was not that good because her state government did not allow her to learn Hindi.
“When I went to learn Hindi in Tamil Nadu, apart from my school, I was mocked on the streets. ‘Oh, you want to learn Hindi? You live in Tamil Nadu. Why do you want to learn Hindi, the language of North India?’ These words are ringing in my ears. Then learning Hindi and Sanskrit was perceived as learning some other foreign language. Tamil Nadu is not a part of India? So what’s wrong with me learning Hindi?" Sitharaman said speaking in the Lok Sabha.
Sitharaman who was born in Madurai lamented that she was called a ‘vandheri’ (outsider).
“They called us ‘vandheri’. Isn’t this part of the political strategy there?" she said adding that she was denied the “fundamental right" to learn the language of her choice.
“I have experienced that Tamil Nadu pressured me not to learn Hindi. Is it not an imposition on me?" asked Sitharaman.
“It is right to say that we do not want to impose Hindi. We don’t want to impose Hindi, but I want to ask why they imposed on me not to learn Hindi," Sitharaman said in the lower house.
Location :Delhi, India
First Published:December 04, 2024, 10:59 IST
News politics Tamil Nadu Govt Didn't Let Me Learn Hindi: Nirmala Sitharaman In Lok Sabha
