– Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin from Tamil Nadu has stirred a debate on social media with his recent statement that “Hindi is not the country’s national language, but only an official language.” Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai supported Ashwin’s assertion, calling it accurate. Annamalai’s assertion would put RSS and BJP in spot, as it challenges the BJP and RSS’s consistent push for a “one nation, one language” policy advocating for the imposition of Hindi across non-Hindi-speaking states.
“Correct. It is not our national language. Annamalai is also affirming this. Not just Ashwin, but many believe this. Hindi is a link language, a language of convenience,” said Annamalai, as quoted by ANI.
This isn’t the first time Annamalai has opposed the imposition of Hindi. In 2022, he firmly stated in Coimbatore that Hindi imposition would never be allowed in Tamil Nadu, reiterating the party’s stand on the issue.
Ashwin’s comments came on January 9 during a college convocation in Chennai, where he addressed the audience and posed a question: “In what language would you like me to speak?” He then remarked, “Hindi is not our national language; it is an official language.”
His remarks were met with mixed reactions. While right-wing supporters trolled Ashwin on social media, he received backing from Tamil Nadu BJP leader Annamalai. Ashwin’s comments also reignited the debate on the status of Hindi, with several voices chiming in online.
A social media user, Sunil Bishnoi, wrote on X: “Right-wing supporters have been trolling Ashwin since morning. Now they’ll target Annamalai too for supporting Ashwin’s statement.”
Another user, Anu Sateesh, added: “What Annamalai and Ashwin said is perfect. Hindi is not the national language, but it is always a language of convenience – a language that binds us together. Whether in South India or North India, Hindi allows easy interaction.”
In contrast, a user named Sangam argued against Hindi as the link language, suggesting, “Link language should be Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, or English.”
