‘Hindi padhna gunaah lagta hai…’: FM Sitharaman says she was mocked for trying to learn Hindi in Tamil Nadu

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about her Hindi-speaking skills in a rather emotional series of statements. Sitharaman, who appeared to be agitated while speaking at the Lok Sabha, said that she hails from a state where learning Hindi is akin to a crime. She asked if forcing people to not learn Hindi wasn’t sort of an imposition as well. 

“Mai aise state se aa rahi hoon, jahaan Hindi padhna gunaah lagta hai (I hail from such a state where learning Hindi is seen as an act of crime),” said Sitharaman, while also mocking her own Hindi-speaking skills. 

When a member of the lower house asked her not to make a mockery of the Hindi language, she snapped and responded that she can make fun of her own Hindi. 

Sitharaman, when some Opposition members tried to corner her for her Hindi-speaking skills, said she was not allowed to learn Hindi in Tamil Nadu as a student and was mocked for attempting to even learn the language. 

The finance minister said that she was mocked for trying to learn Hindi, which they termed as North India’s ‘bhasha’. “These are the words ringing in my ears…” said the minister.

"Learning Hindi and Sanskrit are perceived as learning some other foreign language. Is Tamil Nadu not part of India? So what's wrong with me learning Hindi," she asked. 

The minister, who was born in Madurai, said that she was called a ‘vandheri’ – a term used to describe an outsider with a negative connotation. "They called us vandheri. Is it not part of a political strategy there?" she asked.
Sitharaman said that she was denied her fundamental right to learn the language of her choice and asked if that was not an imposition on her.

"It's alright to say we don't want the imposition of Hindi. We don't want to impose Hindi but why did they impose on me not to learn Hindi? I want to ask this," Sitharaman said.

The finance minister said that the only prime minister who has taken the Tamil language to the UN is Narendra Modi. “Tell me one PM who quotes Tamil repeatedly...because he respects that language. Tell me one PM with whom DMK has been in alliance with, where the PM quoted Tamil. That is the respect we give to the sentiments of all of us Tamils," she said.