Rise of Hindi due to Bollywood, not official language policy: Tharoor

Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor sought to point out the unity of India amid oddities by narrating an awkward incident involving former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda.

In his speech on the ‘Idea of India,’ Tharoor said Gowda delivered the 49th Independence Day speech by reading out a Hindi script written in Kannada though he didn’t understand any word of it. “Deve Gowdaji delivered the speech though it made no sense to him. These are the oddities that make India what it is. Only in India the country can be ruled by a man who does not understand what many claim is its national language,” he said.

Tharoor said he had heard of singer K J Yesudas singing some of his best songs by reading the Hindi lyrics written in Malayalam script. “But to see the same practice emulated to find a solution for a prime ministerial level, is a startling affirmation of Indian pluralism. Such an episode is almost inconceivable elsewhere,” he said, adding, “This is why I long argued that we are all minorities.”

Tharoor argued for giving primacy to regional languages at state level and using Hindi and English at national level. “This is the best way to take everyone along in a multilingual country,” he said.

When asked for his comment on the activists allegation that Hindi was being imposed on non-Hindi states, Tharoor said the Centre has always tried to encourage more people to learn Hindi and learn the language of a state other than their own. “Hindi-speaking states should be learning southern languages. But, I have to admit that this effort has been limited,” he said.

Tharoor attributed the rise of Hindi to Bollywood rather than the official language policy. “Bollywood brought Hindi to our TV sets and cinemas and people started picking up Hindi.”

Reiterating his support for Karnataka having its own flag, the Congress leader said there can’t be any objection to every state in the country having its own flag as long as there are clear rules in that regard.

When asked about the BJP’s stance of ‘one nation-one flag’, Tharoor pointed out that India was already a nation with two flags. “Kashmir already has a separate flag. I don’t see why India can’t be one nation with 29 flags. The ultimate thing is that the nation has one flag,” he said and added that a flag was not at all anti-national if it merely celebrates the affinity of the people to their state.

‘Anxious to know truth in Sunanda case’
Shashi Tharoor said no one in the country was more anxious than him to know the truth in Sunanda Pushkar case while reiterating that he will provide complete cooperation in the investigation. “No one in this country could be more anxious than me to know the truth and to see a constructive and clear conclusion to this prolonged investigation. The whole family has been in deep need of a closure which, sadly, we are not yet getting,” he said.

Tharoor also criticised those making accusations against him stating, “My responsibility is to cooperate with the authorities and not with self-seeking publicity mongerers.”