Stating the unpleasant experience of DMK MP Kmozhi Karundhi at Chennai airport is not "unusual", former Union Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday said that he had experienced similar "taunts" from government officers and citizens who insisted that he speak in Hindi.
In a series of tweets over the issue, Chidambaram said if the Centre is genuinely committed to both Hindi and English being the official languages of India then it must insist that all Central government employees are bilingual in Hindi and English.
"The unpleasant experience of DMK MP Ms Kmozhi at Chennai airport is not unusual," Chidambaram tweeted.
"I have experienced similar taunts from government officers and ordinary citizens who insisted that I speak in Hindi during telephone conversations and sometimes face to face," he said in another tweet.
"If the Central government is genuinely committed to both Hindi and English being the official languages of India, it must insist that all Central government employees are bilingual in Hindi and English," the Rajya Sabha MP tweeted.
"Non-Hindi speaking recruits to central government posts quickly learn functional, spoken Hindi. Why cannot Hindi speaking recruits to central government posts learn functional, spoken English?" he asked.
Kmozhi on Sunday said she was asked by a CISF officer at the airport whether she was an Indian. The query was posed to her by the Central Industrial Security Force woman officer when Kmozhi asked the former to speak to her either in Tamil or English.
The DMK leader put out a tweet over the issue, expressing her anguish over the incident.
"Today at the airport a CISF officer asked me if "I am an Indian" when I asked her to speak to me in Tamil or English as I did not know Hindi. I would like to know from when being Indian is equal to knowing Hindi," she posted on her tweet along with the hashtag #hindiimposition.
( With inputs from ANI )