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Keralam women lawmakers’ NCW workshop boycott trends on social media, CM Satheesan condemns treatment of MLAs

Satheesan's statement came two days after a delegation of women MLAs from Keralam walked out of the workshop, saying the sessions were largely conducted in Hindi, which those from non-Hindi-speaking states could not follow.

South First Desk

Published Sep 10, 2026 | 12:10 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 10, 2026 | 12:21 PM

Minister Bindu Krishna explaining the circumstances that led to the boycott at a media conference.

Minister Bindu Krishna explaining the circumstances that led to the boycott at a media conference.

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Synopsis: On Tuesday, 8 September, a delegation of women lawmakers from Keralam walked out of an NCW workshop, protesting the lack of arrangements made to accommodate participants from non-Hindi-speaking states. The issue found resonance on social media, with several users condemning the NCW.

Keralam Chief Minister VD Satheesan on Thursday, 10 September, condemned the treatment of MLAs from the state at a workshop organised by the National Commission for Women (NCW) in Surajkund, Faridabad.

Satheesan’s statement came two days after a delegation of women MLAs from Keralam walked out of the workshop, saying the sessions were largely conducted in Hindi, which those from non-Hindi-speaking states could not follow.

Ministers Bindu Krishna and KA Thulasi were among the lawmakers who walked out of the two-day workshop. They protested the exclusive use of Hindi, lack of translation for non-Hindi speakers, and basic content like self-help groups that skipped deeper legislative discussions.

Besides the ministers, Deputy Speaker Shanimol Osman, and MLAs KK Rema, Fathima Thahliya, Vidya Balakrishnan and Usha Vijayan were also part of the delegation. They said their opposition was not to the Hindi language, but to the lack of arrangements to include participants from non-Hindi-speaking states.

Tensions rose as some participants raised slogans such as ‘Jai Shri Ram‘ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai,’ and claimed Hindi is the national language.

Osman said the walkout was not planned. “We just walked out as they clearly did not want to have any discussion,” the deputy speaker said.

Trending on X

“The treatment meted out to Keralam’s delegation of women MLAs at the NCW workshop is deeply condemnable. Forcing Hindi at a national conclave and intimidating delegates from non-Hindi-speaking states strikes at the core of our constitutional compact,” Satheesan said in an X post.

The chief minister stated that India’s founding fathers envisioned a country whose strength would come not from uniformity, but from the unity of its diversity, a Union where different languages, cultures and identities enrich, rather than diminish, the national fabric.

“India is a Union of diverse linguistic traditions, not a monolithic entity. Mutual respect, accommodation and constitutional equality, not linguistic imposition, must define our national forums.

Our diversity is not a challenge to Indian unity. It is the very foundation of it,” he added.

Senior Congress leader and the Lok Sabha member from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, posed a question after the MLAs’ walkout.

“An object lesson in how New Delhi mis-defines “cooperative Federalism”. When will they ever learn?” he posted on X.

Responding to Tharoor, a BJP leader from Telangana, TR Sriniwas, said New Delhi has operationalised cooperative federalism.

“Sir, with due sesquipedalian respect: New Delhi hasn’t mis‑defined cooperative Federalism; it has operationalised it,” he said on X.

However, many netizens condemned the NCW’s treatment of the women lawmakers from Keralam.

“These r the real sticking points with the current regime—the “my way or the highway” approach. Such an attitude risks deepening the North–South divide. The sooner they realise that cooperation, consultation & federalism r better for the nation, the better it will be for the nation [sic], an X user, Binoy Chacko, who goes by the handle @binoy_chacko25, noted.

Condemning the incident that forced women MLAs to boycott the workshop, Lawyer Sanjay Hegde (@sanjayuvacha) categorically stated that Hindi is not India’s national language.

“Tensions reportedly escalated after some Hindi-speaking delegates insisted that Hindi was the national language and questioned those who could not understand it.

HINDI IS NOT THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE [sic],” he stated.

Author of the critically acclaimed ‘Early Indians‘, Tony Joseph, too, came out condemning the exclusive use of Hindi at the NCW workshop. “Political arrogance and ignorance at the top is injurious to federal health [sic],” he posted on X.

The incident has reignited the issue of Hindi imposition on non-Hindi-speaking states.

Paediatrician Dr Sangeetha (@SangeethaSwami1) said the NCW workshop was not an aberration. “Medical conferences in Delhi are punctuated with Hindi anecdotes and everyday slang words with no thought to decorum nor to delegates fr South [sic],” she said on X.

She then trained guns at Prime Minister Modi, and the ignorance and misunderstanding several North Indians have about Keralam.

“What 56” can do to even trained doctors is to be seen to be believed.

One openly asked me if Karela is xtian majority state [sic],” she added.

Another X user, Shrinivas Karkala (@s_karkala), who described himself as a writer, translator, poet and political analyst, raised a question that would not go down well with everyone, but has remained live in debates over Hindi imposition.

“Wonder why all southern states don’t unite and boycott such Hindi imposed meetings!! A united Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu can do a lot [sic],” he posted.

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