Language war: TN political parties demand action against AYUSH Secretary for asking non-Hindi speaking doctors to leave a training session

Chennai: Political leaders in Tamil Nadu on Saturday demanded action against Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary at the Ministry of AYUSH, for allegedly asking non-Hindi speaking doctors to leave a training session.

Condemning Kotecha for his act, DMK President M.K. Stalin said it was shameful on the part of the Secretary in to act in an "uncultured" and "uncivilised" manner.

Stalin said a doubt has arisen in the minds of the people of Tamil Nadu whether Kotecha was given a two-year service extension only to insult the Tamil language.

Stalin, the Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, said Kotecha has also threatened the delegates of the training session from the state.

Stalin urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action against Kotecha, saying TN Chief Minister K. Palaniswami should insist that the training session be in English for the delegates from the non-Hindi speaking states.

Similarly, DMK leader and Lok Sabha member Kanimozhi demanded the suspension of Kotecha for allegedly asking non-Hindi speaking doctors to leave the training session.

In a tweet Kanimozhi said: "The statement of Secretary of the Union Ministry of AYUSH Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha that non-Hindi speaking participants could leave during a Ministry's training session speaks volumes about the Hindi domination being imposed. This is highly condemnable."

She said: "Govt should place the Secretary under suspension and initiate appropriate disciplinary proceedings. How long is this attitude of excluding non-Hindi speakers to be tolerated?"

She has also demanded to conduct Union Government events in English or to provide English translation when it is spoken in Hindi, in a letter written to Ministry of Ayush on Saturday.

"Not knowing English is understandable, but this arrogance of asking those who don't know Hindi to leave and insisting on speaking in Hindi is totally unacceptable," tweeted Congress MP Karti P. Chidambaram.

MDMK leader Vaiko and PMK founder S. Ramadoss also condemned Kotecha.

The virtual training session for master trainers was organised by the Ministry of AYUSH.

Kotecha, while addressing the gathering, said he was not fluent in English and will speak in Hindi and allegedly asked those seeking instructions in English to leave.

Out of 400 participants from across the country, 37 were from Tamil Nadu. Kotecha made the comments on Thursday

"We requested the trainers to speak in English as we don't understand Hindi. He was in fact subjecting the Tamil-speaking participants to such humiliation," a master trainer who attended the meeting told.

He said delegates from non-Hindi speaking states tried to share their concerns with authorities over loss of communication at the conference, but did not receive any response.

Most of the speakers spoke in Hindi which many delegates from non-Hindi speaking states, including 37 from Tamil Nadu, said was difficult to follow.

(With inputs from different agencies)