Bengaluru (Karnataka): Coming out in support of DMK MP Kanimozhi who claimed she was asked if 'she was Indian' at the Chennai airport, former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said political leaders from the South were robbed of opportunities by 'Hindi' politics.
Taking to Twitter, Kumaraswamy wrote, "DMK MP Kanimozhi has been questioned 'Are you an Indian?' I raise my voice against the insult meted to sister Kanimozhi. Now, it is apt to debate how political leaders from the South were snatched of their opportunities by Hindi politics and discrimination."
The JD(S) leader stated that 'Hindi politics' has in the past prevented many South Indians from becoming Prime Ministers.
"Hindi politics has prevented many South Indians from becoming PM - HD Deve Gowda, Karunanidhi, and Kamaraj are prominent. Though Deve Gowda was successful in breaking into this barrier, there were several incidents of him being criticised and ridiculed for reasons of language," he said.
Kumaraswamy added that his father HD Deve Gowda, the former Prime Minister of India, was compelled to make his Independence Day speech in Hindi. He said that Deve Gowda agreed to do so because of the farmers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Recalling his own experience as a Parliamentarian, Kumaraswamy said that Hindi politicians manouevered their non-Hindi colleagues.
"I have also had similar experiences. I was a Lok Sabha member twice. The ruling class ignores the South with disdain. I have seen from close quarters on how Hindi politicians manoeuvre. Most of them don't respect non Hindi politicians," he said.
Read:Asked whether or not I am Indian on stating I did not know Hindi: DMK's Kanimozhi on airport incident
He said that this discrimination was not limited to politics alone, as many government and public sector jobs have their exams only in English or Hindi.
Kumaraswamy stepped up his attack on the Centre, accusing it of running programmes to popularise Hindi. "Centre says Hindi is one of the languages. But it is spending crores of rupees in India and abroad organising programmes to popularise Hindi. This is one of the clandestine programmes. It is possible to fight this only with prompt love and respect for each one's language," he said.
Kumaraswamy comments come just a day after DMK MP Kanimozhi alleged that a CISF official asked her if 'she was an Indian' as she could not speak Hindi, following which the airport guarding force ordered an inquiry.
The incident is understood to have taken place when Kanimozhi was at the Chennai international airport to take a flight to Delhi.
Read:'Elections are 8 months away': BJP leader on Kanimozhi's 'Hindi imposition' row
"Today at the airport a CISF officer asked me if 'I am an Indian' when I asked her to speak to me in Tamil or English as I did not know Hindi," Kanimozhi said on her official Twitter account.
"I would like to know from when being Indian is equal to knowing Hindi," she tweeted with the hashtag 'HindiImposition'.
Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram, a native of Tamil Nadu, also came out in support of Kanimozhi and pointed to his own experiences.
"The unpleasant experience of DMK MP Kanimozhi at the Chennai airport is not unusual. I (too) have experienced similar taunts from government officers and ordinary citizens, who insisted that I speak in Hindi during telephone conversations, and sometimes even face to face," Chidambaram said.
Read:Experienced similar taunts from govt officers, says Chidambaram on Kanimozhi's allegation
