‘Tarnished Myself’: Former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu Recalls Participating In Anti-Hindi Agitation

Addressing the students at an event in Chennai Naidu said the National Education Policy gives importance to studying in the mother tongue.

Chennai: The Shankar IAS Academy celebrated its 20th anniversary at Anna Centenary Library here on Friday. It was attended by former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, among other dignitaries.

Addressing the students at the event, Naidu said, “The National Education Policy gives importance to studying in the mother tongue. We should first learn the mother tongue, then the brother tongue, and finally the second language.”

“I am against imposing Hindi. Tamil people are hardworking and have a sense of duty. The best civil servants are born in Tamil Nadu. I am standing in Tamil Nadu and saying, read Hindi. Help children learn Hindi; only then will they be able to compete at the national level and develop their skills,” he said.

Naidu recalled participating in the anti-Hindi movement during his youth when the anti-Hindi movement was going on in his hometown, Nellore. “I destroyed the Hindi words written on the railway station and post office and painted them with tar. Later, when I became the National President of BJP, I realized the importance of Hindi,” he said.

The BJP leader said, “I realised that I have tarnished myself, not the Hindi written on board. When I was the national president, I regretted that I could not speak Hindi.”

Naidu claimed that the leaders of the northern states spoke only in Hindi and only two per cent of people in India understand English. “So, try to learn not only Hindi but as many Indian languages ​​as possible. You should also learn other languages ​​including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada,” further said.

He said that negative opinions about India keep spreading but every country welcome the Prime Minister of India. “Those who want to go into government services should wake up before sunrise in the morning. I am not talking about the party symbol, but you should wake up before 6 am and start working.”

“At present many people say there is no time. We should make our own time. As an officer, keep politics aside and work only keeping in mind your conscience and the Constitution,” he added.