India
Tamil MP asked ‘if she is Indian’ for not speaking Hindi, Chidambaram says ‘experienced similar taunts’
Alleging discrimination, a Member of Parliament and chief of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party’s Art wing, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on Sunday said a Central Industrial Security Force officer asked her if she was an Indian, when she asked the woman official to speak in Tamil or English.
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.#hindiimposition
— Kanimozhi (கனிமொழி) (@KanimozhiDMK) August 9, 2020
Taking to her twitter handle, Kanimozhi wrote: “Today at the airport a CISF officer asked me if ‘I am anIndian,’ 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. #hindiimposition.”
Kanimozhi had earlier told News18 that nobody has any right to question her “Indianness”. “I am as much Indian as anybody else,” she said, adding that BJP was making it “political”.
“They are running an agenda to impose Hindi, including in the new National Education Policy,” Kanimozhi further said.
However, CISF later issued an apology in this regard and sought details of the incident for the proper enquiry.
A day after Kanimozhi’s allegations, former Union minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday tweeted that he, too, had faced similar taunts from government officers.
I have experienced similar taunts from government officers and ordinary citizens who insisted that I speak in Hindi during telephone conversations and sometimes face to face
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) August 10, 2020
“I have experienced similar taunts from government officers and ordinary citizens who insisted that I speak in Hindi during telephone conversations and sometimes face to face,” Chidambaram wrote on Twitter.
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