Ashwin spins the language debate, says ‘Hindi not our national language’
The former cricketer while addressing students of a private engineering college had said Hindi is only an “official language”
Hyderabad: Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin triggered a ‘language debate’ as he suggested that Hindi isn’t the country’s “national language”.
Addressing students of Rajalakshmi Engineering College in Chennai, Ashwin asked if they wanted to ask questions in Hindi or if they weren’t comfortable in English or Tamil. “Hindi no response…. I thought I will say it, (Hindi) is not our national language, but (only) an official language,” he said amid loud applause from the students.
Tamil Nadu: Former off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin says, “…I thought I’d say it all. It’s (Hindi) not our national language; It’s an official language. Okay, anyway“
(09/01/2025) pic.twitter.com/bR47icWZEU
— IANS (@ians_india) January 10, 2025
Ashwin’s comment has nevertheless reignited debate on the role of Hindi in a linguistically diverse nation.
BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai came out in support of Ashwin. “Correct. It is not our national language which Annamalai is also telling you. Not only my dear friend Ashwin has to say that…It is not the national language. It was a link language, it is a language of convenience.”
#WATCH | Madurai: On cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin’s “Hindi not our national language” statement, Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai says, “Correct. It is not our national language which Annamalai is also telling you. Not only my dear friend Ashwin has to say that…It is not… pic.twitter.com/hddBuznvy8
— ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2025
Annamalai’s stand reflects Tamil Nadu BJP’s stand that they were against imposition of any form of Hindi.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin had said if States failed to protect their own languages, then Hindi will take over and erode their identities. “… fusion of literary, linguistic, and political ethos created a powerful identity that profoundly shaped Tamil Nadu’s social and political landscape,” he said while speaking at a literary festival in November.
Social media users were mixed in their response.
“Hindi is our national language, Ashwin must not be involved in this kind of controversy or we will boycott you also. Keep your dignity safe,” said an X user.
“Correction: Hindi is one of the official language, the most recent language, and not 100% Indian with a lot of Persian influence. It is also the weed language that killed ancient Bharatiya languages like Pali, Magadh, etc,” said another.
“He is absolutely correct, but did someone asked to him? It can be seen by making that statement, he is stirring up the unnecessary language debate”, another X user said.
