DMK MP stokes language fire; calls Hindi a language of ‘shudras’

The language war got a fresh impetus on Monday (June 6) when Member of Parliament belonging to the DMK, TKS Elangovan, said Hindi is the language of underdeveloped states.

Elangovan also passed a casteist remark by saying that Hindi is for Shudras (lower cast) only. Elangovan said, “Hindi is the native language of states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan which are underdeveloped. States like Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Punjab are progressive states. Hindi is not the mother tongue of the people of these states but they are still doing very well.”

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Elangovan said Hindi is no good because it will convert “all of us” into Shudras.

The language debate was stoked by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in April, when he said at the Parliamentary Official Language Committee in New Delhi that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English and not to local languages. The BJP strongman said Hindi should be used as an alternative to English and not regional languages.

Shah’s statement invited the wrath of chief ministers from southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. People took to streets to express their reservation on Shah’s contention.

Tamil Nadu Education Minister K. Ponmudy had also stirred a controversy when he said job prospects for Hindi speakers in the state were weak as most of them sold pani-puris and did menial jobs.