Vice-president Venkaiah Naidu Weighs in on Hindi Debate, Says 'No Imposition of Any Language and...'

Amid a language imposition debate with Tamil Nadu opposing Hindi with all its might, vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday highlighted the importance of the mother tongue. The former BJP leader said there should be no imposition of any language and no opposition to any.

Giving a subtle indication on his stand in the language debate, Naidu said, “Every Indian language is very rich. We must promote our mother tongue, motherland. We should not oppose any language but we must support our language. No imposition of any language and no opposition to any language.”

The vice-president was speaking at an event in Tamil Nadu capital Chennai, where he unveiled a 16-feet bronze statue of late DMK president and five-time chief minister M Karunanidhi. Naidu hailed him as a “Dravidian stalwart” and “one of India’s most dynamic CMs”. Karunanidhi’s son and chief minister MK Stalin was also present.

Stressing how Karunanidhi never failed to promote the Tamil language and culture, Naidu urged people to learn their mother tongue but also said they should not develop an aversion to other languages. “…Learn as many languages as possible including foreign languages,” he added.

The BJP-led Centre has been accused of trying to establish a linguistic hegemony, with Union Home minister Amit Shah’s statement had draw flak from the Opposition. Shah had stressed on the need to accept Hindi as an alternative to English and not to local languages. Reacting to Shah’s statement, Stalin had said it will wreck the nation’s integrity.

The language row was renewed in April after actor Ajay Devgn and Kannada star Kiccha Sudeep engaged in a Twitter spat over Hindi being a national language. The issue has then has drawn many reactions from both political and entertainment world.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has been seen vouching for local languages. He had recently said that BJP sees a reflection of Indian culture in every regional language and considers them worth worshipping. “We have given importance to every regional language in NEP,” he said, adding that attempts are being made to spark controversies on the basis of languages.

On Thursday too, PM heaped praise on Tamil Nadu by saying that the Tamil language is eternal and the Tamil culture is global. “From Chennai to Canada, Madurai to Malaysia, Namakkal to New York, Salem to South Africa, the occasion of Pongal and Puthandu (New Year) are marked with greater fervor,” he said.

PM Modi had last month made a strong pitch for use of local languages in courts, contending that it will increase the confidence of common citizens in the justice system and they will feel more connected to it.

“We need to encourage local languages in courts. This will not only increase the confidence of common citizens in the justice system but they will feel more connected to it,” PM Modi said, addressing the joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts.

Naidu further said in a democracy it was essential to agree to disagree and that in public life, politicians should respect each other. “People who belong to different parties have different views. We are not enemies. We are only political rivals. This is my advice to young politicians,” he added.

He said he often disagreed with ‘Kalaignar’, as Karunaindhi was respectfully addressed. “He was one of the most dynamic chief ministers of India,” Naidu said, adding that the late leader had opposed the Emergency imposed by then prime minister, the late Indira Gandhi.

Praising PM Narendra Modi’s leadership, Naidu said India was gaining in strength and now was the right time to work for the welfare of the downtrodden. “When states develop, the country will progress. This should always be kept in mind. We are ‘Team India’. We should work together, forgetting political differences,” he added.

Naidu, who unveiled the statue ahead of Karunanidhi’s birth anniversary on June 3, said he had been observing the late leader’s speeches since his student days and found him to be the best speaker in the country. “He had a clarity in vision. The way he articulated was very good and it impressed me, although I had my own political leanings,” he said, adding, “thanks to leaders like him, the country has strengthened its federal character and as Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls it, the country has emerged as a strong Team India.”

The newly unveiled statue is located on the campus of the multi super-specialty government hospital at Omandurar Estate and is placed a few hundred metres away from where the original statue was vandalised 35 years ago.

The statue is mounted on a 14-feet pedestal. After the formal unveiling, Naidu and other leaders paid floral tributes to a portrait of Karunanidhi kept near the statue.

(With PTI inputs)

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