Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan reiterated his anti-Hindi imposition stance by calling Hindi a ‘little child in diapers’ in comparison with older languages of the country.
Speaking at an event organised by the Department of Visual Communication of Loyola College in Chennai on Tuesday, the actor turned politician said that though Hindi is a good language it should not be imposed on people.
“Among the family of languages, the youngest one is Hindi. It is a little child in a diaper. We will have to take care of that language because it is our child too. We will definitely take care of it. Compared to Tamil, Sanskrit and Telugu, it is still the youngest language,” said Kamal Hassan.
Reiterating his stance on imposing Hindi on citizens who do not speak Hindi, Hassan said, “Our contention is, do not stuff it down our throats. You called us for dinner, lay it on the plate. Don’t make us a guest and give us a menu, which orders to eat. We will not accept it.”
The MNM chief had earlier also slammed the Union minister Amit Shah and called his remark on Hindi against “unity in diversity”. Kamal Haasan said that Indians were promised unity in diversity when India became a republic and that ‘No Shah, Sultan or Samrat should renege on the promise of unity in diversity of India’.
It is surprising that though HM Amit Shah had cleared the controversy fomented by the opposition over his remarks on the Hindi language, Kamal Haasan has been whipping up the same exhort over and over again to deride the government.
Last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had slammed the opposition indulging in language politics. He cleared that he had never asked for imposition of Hindi anywhere in the country but advocated its use as the second language after one’s mother tongue.
His statement was, however, distorted and used to stir controversy. Immediately media was abuzz with reports that Amit Shah was seeking a common language for the country and had proposed Hindi’s name. This got the ball rolling and raised the hackles of political leaders in some non-Hindi speaking states, especially in South India.
