According to sources the lok sabha witnessed a heated debate on language imposition on Tuesday. Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman blamed the DMK government, which was then in power in tamil Nadu, for not letting her study hindi when she was a student. “I don’t know hindi, but DMK should be blamed for not letting hindi be studied in tamil Nadu," Sitharaman said in the Lower House.
Meanwhile the Union Finance minister was replying to questions related to the banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the Lok Sabha. At that time, the opposition parties from the india bloc, including the Samajwadi Party, accused Sitharaman of speaking in incorrect Hindi. Hitting back, Sitharaman said, “The opposition parties are against the imposition of Hindi. I don’t know hindi, but DMK should be blamed for not letting hindi be studied in tamil Nadu." The Finance minister mentioned that tamil is now recognised by the United Nations owing to prime minister Narendra Modi’s efforts. The Finance minister also recalled her student days when she faced incidents where she was mocked on the streets of tamil Nadu. She lamented that she was not allowed to learn hindi when she was a student in tamil Nadu and said that her hindi was not that good because her state government did not allow her to learn Hindi.
Moreover Sitharaman said “When I went to learn hindi in tamil Nadu, apart from my school, I was mocked on the streets. ‘Oh, you want to learn Hindi? You live in tamil Nadu. Why do you want to learn hindi, the language of North India?’ These words are ringing in my ears. Then learning hindi and sanskrit was perceived as learning some other foreign language. tamil Nadu is not a part of India? So what’s wrong with me learning Hindi?".
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