New Delhi: ‘Didn’t understand a word of it’—That’s what DMK leader and Rajya Sabha MP Pudukkottai MM Abdulla on Friday replied in Tamil to Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu’s letter.
Singh’s letter to Abdulla, which was sent in connection with questions raised by the latter related to food quality and cleanliness in trains, had contents in Hindi.
Abdulla took to social media and shares a copy of both letters on X. Abdulla claimed that despite several reminders to officials posted in the office of minister about his inability to follow Hindi, the communications were still being sent in the same language.
மாண்புமிகு.ரயில்வே இணை அமைச்சர் அவர்களின் அலுவலகத்தில் இருந்து எப்போதும் இந்தியில்தான் கடிதம் வருகிறது. அவரது அலுவலக அதிகாரிகளை அழைத்து “எனக்கு இந்தி தெரியாததால் ஆங்கிலத்தில் கடிதத்தை அனுப்புங்கள்” என்று சொல்லியும் மீண்டும் மீண்டும் இந்தியிலேயே கடிதம் வருகிறது. தற்போது அவருக்கு… pic.twitter.com/1kekbfuQdD
— Pudukkottai M.M.Abdulla (@pudugaiabdulla) October 25, 2024
“The letter from the office of Minister of State for Railways is always in Hindi. I called the officials posted in his office and said that I didn’t know Hindi, please send the letter in English, but the letter was in Hindi. I have sent a reply in a way he would understand and act accordingly,” a translation of DMK MP’s post on X suggested.
The DMK MP requested in Tamil to the minister to ensure that henceforth further communications could be sent to him in English.
In 2022, the DMK had slammed the Centre and accused it of imposing Hindi. DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had criticized Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s previous remark that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English and not to local languages. Stalin had said that such a move would wreck the nation’s integrity
