The Chennai Central MP accused the Centre of spending taxpayers' money on a language spoken by fewer than 25,000 people, merely to "promote RSS ideology."
Published Feb 11, 2025 | 5:22 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 11, 2025 | 5:22 PM
Dayanidhi Maran in Parliament. (X)
Synopsis: DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran questioned the BJP-led government’s decision to include Sanskrit translations of Parliament proceedings on Sansad TV, arguing that spending taxpayers’ money on a language spoken by less than 25,000 people serves merely to promote RSS ideology.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Dayanidhi Maran on Tuesday, 11 February, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government in the Centre of wasting taxpayer money to facilitate Sanskrit translation of Parliament proceedings on Sansad TV to further “their RSS ideologies.”
Following the Lok Sabha Speaker announcing that proceedings would be translated into 22 languages, including Sanskrit, the Chennai Central MP questioned the expenditure of public funds on interpreting services for a language “that is not even communicable.”
“Can you tell me which state has Sanskrit as its official language?” Maran questioned in parliament. In a post on X later, he said:
“Translations are most welcome for languages that are official state languages. Why is taxpayers’ money being wasted on a language that is not even communicable? It is not spoken in any state in India, and nobody uses it for communication! As per the 2011 Census, only 24,821 people supposedly speak Sanskrit. When this data is available, why should taxpayers’ money be wasted to further the RSS ideologies?”
The Speaker announced in Lok Sabha today that translations of proceedings is being made available in 22 languages including Sanskrit.
Translations, are most welcome for languages that are official state languages. Can you tell me which state has Sanskrit as its official… pic.twitter.com/QhwH78LUkP
— Dayanidhi Maran தயாநிதி மாறன் (@Dayanidhi_Maran) February 11, 2025
The language debate in Parliament has been contentious since mid-2024, when Sansad TV, the sole broadcaster of parliament proceedings began to impose Hindi voiceovers of speeches made by members in English and other regional language, causing an uproar.
In a post on X, National Congress Party working president and MP from Baramati, Supriya Sule had termed the move an act of censorship.
“Sansad TV began the alarming practice of replacing the speeches of MPs in English or regional languages with Hindi voice-overs in the first session of this Lok Sabha, and it has continued doing so in the Budget Session on the television broadcast,” she wrote.
“This is a form of censorship – it denies crores of non-Hindi speaking Indians the right to hear their elected representatives’ original words in their own languages. The government must immediately discontinue this discriminatory and anti-federal move.”.
Following backlash, the broadcaster announced a programme to initially translate proceeding into 10 regional languages, including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Odia, Marathi, Gujarati and Punjabi.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
