TN political parties demand action against AYUSH secretary for 'Hindi imposition'

Political parties in Tamil Nadu have demanded action against Union AYUSH Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha for 'imposing Hindi' on doctors from the state by asking them to leave a virtual conference he was addressing if they did not know Hindi.

Opposition parties have come together in condemning the incident that took place on the last day of the three-day training session for 'Master Trainers of Yoga' on Thursday with two MPs shooting off letters to Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik demanding strict action against Kotecha and other officials who 'insulted' doctors from Tamil Nadu.

The leaders, including Opposition Leader M K Stalin, demanded that the Centre ensure that English is used in national-level conferences for the benefit of participants from non-Hindi speaking states.

However, Kotecha has refuted the allegations maintaining that that there was "some manipulation" in the video clip released by the doctors and alleged that "some hooligans entered the meeting and shouted that I should speak only in Hindi when I was making my speech in both English and Hindi.”

The incident comes a fortnight after DMK MP Kanimozhi complained that a CISF personnel at the Chennai Airport doubted her Indian identity for not knowing Hindi. Language is a highly emotive issue in Tamil Nadu which has stonewalled numerous efforts by successive Central governments to bring Hindi as a third language.

The Tamil Nadu doctors said that they were told to leave the conference if they did not know Hindi, adding that their repeated requests to the organisers to speak in English fell into deaf ears. As many as 37 doctors from Tamil Nadu participated in the online training session.

In a statement, Stalin demanded “strict action” against Kotecha and said such incidents reflect the BJP Government’s plans to impose Hindi using officials.

“The Prime Minister should ensure that such incidents do not recur in the future. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi K Palaniswami, should write a letter to the Prime Minister asking him to ensure that the link language of English should be used in such conferences to enable people from non-Hindi states also understand,” Stalin said.

PMK founder S Ramadoss sought to know what would have been the response from participants if a trainer had said he can only speak in Tamil, while Makkal Needhi Maiam president Kamal Haasan said no one should forget that it is “Indian government and not Hindian government.”

Ramadoss also demanded that it was time for all 22 Indian languages be made into official languages. The doctors also released a video of the programme in which Kotecha, who made lateral entry into government service after heading the Gujarat Ayurveda University in Jamnagar, is seen telling the participants he does not speak English “very well.”