BJP shares 2019 video of Dayanidhi Maran’s take on Hindi speakers; INDIA bloc parties condemn remarks

Incidentally, the video resurfaced barely a week after the New Delhi meeting of the INDIA bloc where Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was enraged after DMK leaders sought a translation of his speech in Hindi.

He told the DMK leaders that they should learn Hindi, and went on to say that the country has thrown the Britishers away long ago and one should also shun the colonial remnants.

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‘RJD believes in social justice’

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday, 24 December, condemned Maran’s alleged remarks.

Yadav said like his RJD, the DMK headed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin was a party that believed in social justice and it was unbecoming of a leader of such a party to make such a remark.

“Had the DMK MP highlighted caste iniquities, had he pointed out that only people from some social groups took up such hazardous jobs, it would have made sense,” the RJD leader said.

“But to speak disparagingly of the entire populace of Bihar and UP is reprehensible. We condemn it. We believe that people should be respectful towards those coming from other parts of the country,” Yadav asserted.

“We look upon the DMK as a party which shares our ideal of social justice. Its leaders should avoid saying things that run counter to the ideal”, Yadav, who is known to share personal equations with Stalin, said.

In his speech in Tamil, the former Union minister stressed the importance of English education.

It wasn’t only RJD that condemned the video of Maran’s statement from 2019. Leaders of the Congress, which is DMK’s alliance partner in Tamil Nadu, deemed the statement “unacceptable.” AICC spokesperson Pawan Khera deemed it a “rude statement”.

बेहद अनर्गल टिप्पणी है। शायद बोलने समझने में कोई चूक हुई होगी।
अगर उन्होंने ऐसा कहा है तो यह बिल्कुल अस्वीकार्य है। https://t.co/mhLB6QILx4

— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 (@Pawankhera) December 24, 2023

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Maran’s statement

The controversial statement dates back to June 2019.

Maran had claimed that those who acquired proficiency in English got respectable jobs in the IT sector, unlike residents of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, who knew only Hindi and ended up migrating to richer states like Tamil Nadu for “cleaning toilets and roads and working as construction labourers.”

The ruling Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, of which RJD is the largest constituent, and the DMK-helmed Secular Progressive Alliance, are now part of the INDIA bloc.

How a dated video resurfaced

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla posted the video on X and questioned the Opposition bloc INDIA on Saturday. The post did not mention that Maran’s video was from 2019.

“Once again an attempt to play the Divide & Rule card. First Rahul Gandhi insulted North Indian voters. Then Revanth Reddy abused Bihar DNA. Then DMK MP Senthil Kumar said “Gaumutra states”. Now Dayanidhi Maran insults Hindi speakers and North. Abusing Hindus / Sanatan, then playing divide and rule card is DNA of INDI,” he posted on X.

“Will Nitish Kumar, Tejaswi Yadav, Lalu Yadav, Congress, SP Akhilesh Yadav all pretend that this isn’t happening? When will they take a stand?” he asked.

Even before the BJP spokesperson shared the video, it had been posted by several right-wing handles.

https://twitter.com/Shehzad_Ind/status/1738511484882403333

(With PTI inputs)