'Your own leaders introduced it': Zoho's Sridhar Vembu counters Congress leader on language row

Zoho Corp founder Sridhar Vembu on Thursday pushed back against Tamil Nadu Congress Committee General Secretary Lakshmi Ramachandran in a heated exchange over the language debate in the state. Responding to her criticism of his pro-Hindi stance, Vembu pointed out the Congress party’s own role in shaping the three-language policy and the Navodaya Vidyalaya system, which he praised.

"Ma'am, somehow I seem to remember it was your own revered leaders who introduced the language formula that you now hate so much," Vembu wrote. He further noted that the Navodaya Vidyalayas — which he admired — were the vision of a Congress Prime Minister whose assassination deeply affected him. "I am sure all of my memory is faulty. I am sure your present compulsion is the only Reality and all previous beliefs of your own leadership is all Maya."

The exchange began after Ramachandran criticised Vembu, questioning why he supported Hindi education despite being aware of the academic struggles of first-generation learners in rural areas. She accused him of blindly supporting a political party instead of guiding governments based on his field knowledge.

In response to Vembu’s sharp rebuttal, Ramachandran accused him of turning the issue into a Congress vs BJP debate, instead of addressing practical concerns on education policy. She said the language policy was contentious even in the Constituent Assembly, where linguistic minorities raised concerns about Hindi dominance.

"The Hindi brigade dominated the discussions and the concerns raised by Bengalis, Marathis, Telugus and Tamils were ignored. It was Jawaharlal Nehru who finally assured all linguistic minorities that no language will be imposed on them and English will continue to be the link language," she said. "That was language formula introduced by my revered leaders fyi:)"

Ramachandran said that Tamil Nadu has always followed a two-language policy, including during Congress and Vajpayee-era governments. "School Education was in the state list and then was moved to the concurrent list. Governments at the centre respected the state's wisdom and decision on such issues. Today though School Education continues to be in the concurrent list, an elected state government's stand is being ignored by the union government."

The clash between Vembu and Ramachandran comes amid growing tensions over Hindi education in Tamil Nadu. Earlier, Vembu had argued that not knowing Hindi is a handicap for Tamil Nadu’s rural workforce, especially as many of Zoho’s engineers collaborate with clients in Mumbai, Delhi, and Gujarat.

The DMK government has remained firm on its anti-Hindi stance, with Chief Minister MK Stalin accusing the Centre of "sowing the seeds of a language war." The DMK has historically opposed Hindi imposition, dating back to the anti-Hindi agitation of 1965.