NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, DEC 25.
Like Mahakavi Bharthiyar Ulaganyagan and Superstar Kamal Haasan is a polyglot or linguist and he has been acting in all South Indian and Hindi films.
On Sunday, a day after he joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in New Delhi, he said that “it is ignorant to impose Hindi on others and what is imposed will also be opposed.”
- Learning and using other languages is done by personal choice: MNM chief
- But children of all BJP leaders go to English-medium schools: Rahul Gandhi
National Poet or Mahakavi Subramnaiya Bharathiyar was a proficient linguist, he was well-versed in Tamil, Sanskrit, Hindi, Telugu, English, French and had a smattering knowledge of Arabic. He had learnt all languages on his own but his first love was Mother Tongue Tamil.
He described this as
“யாமறிந்த மொழிகளிலே தமிழ்மொழி போல்
இனிதாவது எங்கும் காணோம்,
பாமரராய் விலங்குகளாய், உலகனைத்தும்
இகழ்ச்சிசொலப் பான்மை கெட்டு,
நாமமது தமிழரெனக் கொண்டு இங்கு
வாழ்ந்திடுதல் நன்றோ? சொல்லீர்!
தேமதுரத் தமிழோசை உலகமெலாம்
பரவும்வகை செய்தல் வேண்டும்.”
“Of all the languages that we know
There is none as Tamil sweet;
Yet the world’s gibe, like ignorant beasts
We lie sunk in defeat.
What use to glory in that name
And live obscurely here
Instead of making that sweet tongue ring
Like a bell far off and near?”
In his micro-blogging site, Twitter, the 68-year-old actor said: “Mother tongue is our birthright. Learning and using other languages is done by personal choice. This has been the right of South India for 75 years. Northeast will reflect the same. To develop Hindi and impose it on others is ignorant. What is imposed will be opposed.”
தாய்மொழி எமது பிறப்புரிமை.பிறமொழிகளைப் பயில்வதும் பயன்படுத்துவதும் தனிப்பட்ட விருப்பத்தின் பேரில்தான் நிகழும்.75 ஆண்டுகளாக இதுதான் தென்னிந்தியாவின் உரிமைக்குரல்.வடகிழக்கும் இதையே பிரதிபலிக்கும்.ஹிந்தியை வளர்க்க, அதை பிறர் மேல் திணிப்பது அறிவீனம்.திணிக்கப்படுபவை எதிர்க்கப்படும்.
— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) December 25, 2022
To drive home his point, the actor-turned-politician also shared a video of Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas where he objects to the use of Hindi as medium of instruction in central universities.
“Could Sundar Pichai have been at the helm of Google if IIT had to take the exam in Hindi?” Brittas had asked.
Retweeting the MP’s post, Haasan said, “Kerala reflects the same and it is a saying for half of India. Warning, Pongal is coming. Oh! Sorry ‘Jagte Raho’ for your understanding.”
Last week, Rahul stoked controversy and said ‘Hindi will not work if you want to speak with Americans’.
“BJP leaders don’t want English to be taught in schools. But children of all their leaders go to English-medium schools. Actually, they don’t want children of poor farmers and labourers to learn English, dream big and get out of fields,” Rahul Gandhi said in Alwar.
