Kanimozhi said a CISF official asked her if she “was an Indian” so as not to know Hindi (File)
Chennai:
The burning language policy, fueled by the debate over the new education policy, found a new nucleation point on Sunday when MK DMK Kanimozhi shared a recent unpleasant experience at the airport. The MP for Tuticorin said a CISF officer at the airport asked her if she was “an Indian” because she said she did not know Hindi and asked the officer to speak. in Tamil or English.
She ended her tweet by asking, “I would like to know when being Indian equals knowing Hindi.” A hashtag “Hindi Imposition” followed.
Today at the airport, a CISF agent asked me if “I am an Indian” when I asked him to speak to me in Tamil or in English because I did not know Hindi. I would like to know when being Indian equals knowing Hindi.#hindiimposition
– Kanimozhi (கனிமொழி) (@KanimozhiDMK) Aug 9, 2020
His tweet found the support of many congressmen, Manickam Tagore, who called him “condemnable”, and Karti Chidambaram who wanted the CISF to respond to what he called “downright ridiculous”.
Absolutely ridiculous. Highly condemnable. A language test, what next? @CISFHQrs should answer! https://t.co/D34IKrNLj6
– Karti P Chidambaram (@KartiPC) Aug 9, 2020
And CISF responded shortly thereafter.
They asked for details of Ms. Kanimozhi’s trip – name of the airport, location, date and time of the incident to take action against it. They also apologized.
Language policy has always been a sensitive and emotional issue in Tamil Nadu where the new education policy has sparked controversy. The proposed implementation of a trilingual formula in schools – two of which should be indigenous – met with particularly strong opposition in Tamil Nadu, which has always resisted the “imposition” of Hindi.
Many argue that Sanskrit is the root of many Indian languages and therefore should be learned by everyone. However, it is not the root of all Indian languages, Tamil being one of them.
In the 1960s, there was massive anti-Hindi unrest in the state when the then Congressional government attempted to make Hindi the official language. This had propelled the DMK to power in Tamil Nadu. The present is no different.
The DMK led by MP Stalin and many opposition parties in Tamil Nadu have opposed the new education policy and want a review of the sweeping reforms he has proposed.
Ms. Kanimozhi has also always been strictly against the imposition of Hindi or Sanskrit in her state where the two languages taught at school are Tamil and English. Hindi is however taught as an optional subject in some schools.
Tamil Nadu’s chief minister, Edappadi K Palaniswami, also called the trilingual police “painful and saddening” and vowed not to enforce it in his state.
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, however, said the center would not impose any language on any state.
