Tamil Nadu minister K Ponmudy adds fuel to language row, asks 'why are Hindi speakers selling pani puri?'

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy on Friday unwittingly triggered a row saying Hindi-speaking persons were selling pani puri in the southern State alluding the language did not empower them get other jobs.

Ponmudy, a senior Minister, was trying to hail Tamil Nadu’s two language formula of teaching only English and Tamil in State Board schools, at the convocation of Bharathiar University in Coimbatore when he made the comments.

While stating that Tamil Nadu believed in teaching English for international use and Tamil for regional use, he said these two languages were adequate. He went on to request Governor R N Ravi to understand the State Government’s stand on the issue and said Tamil Nadu was not opposed to Hindi being learnt voluntarily but only to its imposition. The Minister wanted the Governor to convey this to the Central Government.

Continuing in the same vein he said those who advocated Hindi arguing that it enhanced employment opportunities must explain “why Hindi-speaking persons are selling pani puri” in Tamil Nadu. He was referring to the numerous street side pani puri stalls in the State, which are manned by youth from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

When his turn came, the Governor, a strong advocate of the National Education Policy, denied that the Centre was imposing Hindi. “An impression has been created that Government of India is trying to impose Hindi on Tamil Nadu. Or any language for that matter. This is far from truth and incorrect,” he said.

According to Ravi, the Centre was on the other hand keen on promoting all regional languages, “as could be seen in the thrust it had given to mother tongues in the National Education Policy.”

He also cited that at the recent conference of judges of High Courts, the Prime Minister had spoken about making regional languages the official court language.

Published on: Friday, May 13, 2022, 06:03 PM IST