Star cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, while speaking at a private college event, made headlines with his opinions on both his career and the status of Hindi in India. Ashwin said that Hindi is not the national language of India while addressing the students during a graduation ceremony of the college. The spinner was prompted to say this following the crowd fell silent when Ashwin asked the students if anyone was interested in asking questions in Hindi, in case they did not have proficiency in English or Tamil.
Ashwin raised the issue of language in India. After asking the students to acknowledge him based on language preference, he noted the difference in reactions when he mentioned Hindi. “I thought I should say this: Hindi is not our national language; it is an official language,” Ashwin stated. Ashwin, shared that he never pursued the captaincy despite many speculating that he would take up the role. “When someone says I can’t do it, I wake up to accomplish it, but if they say I can, I lose interest,” Ashwin explained.
He also talked about how his engineering background influenced his approach to challenges. He added, “Had any engineering staff told me I couldn’t become captain, I would have worked harder”. The cricketer also urged the audience to embrace lifelong learning, saying, “If you are a student, you will never stop. If you aren’t, learning will cease, and excellence will just be a word in your cupboard.”
The usage of Hindi is a sensitive issue in Tamil Nadu due to historical, cultural, and political factors that have shaped the state’s relationship with the language. In the 1930s and 1940s, there was opposition in Tamil Nadu to the imposition of Hindi as a mandatory language in schools and government. The Dravidian movement, which sought to promote Tamil and assert the rights of Tamil speakers, played a central role in this opposition. The movement saw the push for Hindi as an attempt by the central government to undermine the cultural identity and linguistic heritage of Tamil speakers.
The Dravidian political parties have long championed the use of Tamil over Hindi. They argue that promoting Hindi at the expense of regional languages like Tamil would marginalise local identities.
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