NEW DELHI: Union minister
Sushma Swaraj will have you know that despite being an ardent promoter of Hindi, she does speak other Indian languages and some of them fluently. And she yesterday helpfully posted a video on Twitter to prove her point.
The
external affairs minister revealed this fact while responding to a tweet asking her and others who want to make Hindi India's pre-eminent language, to learn some south Indian languages.
"I am proud of all Indian languages. I speak some of them fluently," tweeted Swaraj, along with a 1999 video clip of her in Bellary, Karnataka, in which she appears to be speaking fluent Kannada.
The context for that tweet was a war of words between Swaraj and the
Congress party's
Shashi Tharoor, in the Lok Sabha earlier yesterday. Swaraj first responded to a question about why Hindi isn't an official language at the
UN. She said it isn't because the procedure to have that done is cumbersome.
After the minister replied, Tharoor questioned the need to make Hindi an official language at the world body.
"If tomorrow someone from Tamil Nadu or from West Bengal becomes the Prime Minister, why should we force him to speak in Hindi at the UN," he asked.
Swaraj had earlier said that all member nations have to bear the cost of making Hindi one of the official languages at the UN.
"It is not difficult to get the support of two-third member nations. But when the issue of bearing the expenses comes, many small nations become hesitant which has led to a big hurdle in making Hindi an official language of the UN," she said.
The minister added that India is ready to pay "even Rs 400 crore" - the actual cost is Rs 40 crore - to make Hindi one of the languages at the UN, but the world body's rules do not allow that.
To that, Tharoor asked why India should make the effort, considering Hindi is only India's official language and not even its national language. Besides, he said, Hindi is the official language of only one country - India.
"Hindi is not the national language, it is an official language. Seeking to promote Hindi raises an important question. Why do we need an official language in the UN? Arabic does not have more speakers than Hindi, but Arabic is spoken by 22 countries, whereas Hindi is only used as an official language by one country -- us," he said.
Swaraj then called Tharoor "ignorant", and said Hindi is spoken in several other countries as well as by the Indian diaspora. She said Hindi is an official language in Fiji, and is also spoken widely in Mauritius, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, among others.
"Saying Hindi is spoken only in India is your ignorance," said Swaraj,
The Union minister then said India is in touch with 129 countries to help make Hindi an official language at the UN. According to UN rules, the support of two-third of the member countries is required. That means, 129 of 193 UN member nations have to support he move. And all member nations have to bear the cost of making Hindi one of the UN's official languages.
(With inputs from Agencies)
Sushma Swaraj
