The Member of Parliament from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, Kanimozhi has sparked a controversy over the ‘Hindi Imposition’ by the Central Industry Security Forces.
On Sunday, Kanimozhi accused the Central Industry Security Force officer of humiliating her for not knowing the language of Hindi. She tweeted,
“Today at the airport a CISF officer asked me if “I am an Indian” when I asked her to speak to me in Tamil or English as I did not know Hindi. I would like to know from when being Indian is equal to knowing Hindi.”
This has paved the way for a controversial conversation and has reignited the debate of Hindi imposition on South Indian states. While some are of the opinion that one must know Hindi, others want to promote the local regional language and are of the opinion that Hindi isn’t necessary.
HD Kumaraswamy Supports Kanimozhi
The former Chief Minister of Karnataka, HD Kumaraswamy has reacted to the incident and has come out in support of Kanimozhi. He took to Twitter to express his opinion in multiple tweets. He said,
“I raise my voice against the insult meted to sister Kanimozhi. Hindi politics has prevented many South Indians from becoming Prime Minister – HD Devegowda, Karunanidhi and Kamaraj are prominent. Though Deve Gowda was successful in breaking into this barrier, there were several incidents of him being criticized and ridiculed for reasons of language.”
Kumaraswamy also shared his experience of being discriminated against for not known the language of Hindi. He wrote,
“I have also had similar experiences. I was a Lok Sabha member twice. The ruling class ignores the South with disdain. I have seen from close quarters how Hindi politicians maneuver. Most of them don’t respect non-Hindi politicians.”
He also criticized the current BJP government at the center of spending crores of rupees in promoting Hindi. He said,
