Two days after a delegation of women MLAs from Keralam walked out of an National Commission for Women (NCW) workshop, alleging Hindi imposition, chief minister VD Satheesan condemned the “treatment” meted out to delegates at the event. He asserted that forcing Hindi at a national-level conclave “strikes at the core of our constitutional compact”.
The Keralam legislators walked out in protest as the programme was largely being conducted in Hindi language. “India is a union of diverse linguistic traditions, not a monolithic entity.
“Our founding fathers envisioned an India 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,” he said. Mutual respect, accommodation and constitutional equality, not linguistic imposition, must define our national forums,” the Keralam chief minister said.
His remarks followed the women MLAs’ move to exit a workshop being conducted by the National Commission for Women in Faridabad before the event was concluded.
