Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin condemned the alleged harassment faced by a Chennai woman at the Goa airport after she said she didn’t know Hindi to a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel. Emphasizing the fact that Hindi was not the national language of India, the Chief Minister said that the issue 'reflects a systemic insensitivity'. He said that it was 'concerning' that people were being forced to believe otherwise.
Here's what Stalin said about incident
CM Stalin said that the recurring incidents of passengers from non-Hindi-speaking states facing harassment by CISF personnel for not knowing Hindi and being forced to accept the 'misguided notion' that Hindi is the national language of India were deeply concerning.
“As the passenger Sharmilaa rightly pointed out, this is not just an issue concerning individuals but reflects a systemic insensitivity. It is imperative that @CISFHQrs takes immediate steps to sensitise its personnel on how to treat passengers and educates them about the rich cultural and linguistic diversity of our Union. Discrimination has no place in our #INDIA, let’s ensure equal respect for all languages,” Stalin wrote in a post on X.
What is the incident?
According to a report published in the English daily DTNext on Thursday, a Tamil Nadu woman identified as Sharmila Rajasekar was returning home after a family vacation in Goa and was asked by the CISF personnel at the security check-in at the Dabolim Airport to learn Hindi when she couldn’t understand their instructions.
The CISF personnel allegedly told her that “Tamil Nadu is in India” and “everyone in India should learn Hindi.” Despite Sharmila's explanation that Hindi is not the national language but only the official one, the officer suggested she Google it. Before boarding the flight, she reportedly lodged an oral complaint with the CISF supervisor at the airport, who apologised for his staff’s behaviour.
Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin condemned the incident and said that the central security forces are to maintain safety and not impart Hindi lessons. He urged the Centre to take immediate against the security personnel.
"When a woman from Tamil Nadu said that she did not understand what the soldiers spoke in Hindi at the Goa airport, regardless of the fact that she was with a child, she said, “Hindi is the national language. "Don't you know this?" I strongly condemn the incident of coercion and intimidation. It is no longer acceptable for such incidents to continue at airports. The central force is for security - not for conducting Hindi lessons,” he said.
“In the multi-lingual Indian Union, the continued imposition of Hindi on the people who speak other languages is against the philosophy of federalism. The Union Government should not take such a trend and take immediate action. Fascists must understand that the right to language is also a human right #StopHindiImposition,” he added.
