Kasturi Shankar
Kasturi Shankar.PR Handout

After Kanimozhi and Karti Chidambaram, Kasturi Shankar has slammed Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, the secretary of Union Ayush Ministry and condemned the imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speakers.

Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha addressed the doctors in Hindi at a virtual training programme on Saturday. Some doctors from Tamil Nadu objected to the sessions being conducted in Hindi and not in English. The AYUSH secretary asked them to leave meeting for not knowing Hindi and ever since, he has been getting lot of criticism from leaders in Tamil Nadu and other southern states.

Tamil actress Kasturi Shankar took to Twitter on Monday to talk about the Hindi imposition. She tweeted on August 24, "Central govt, show states you respect them. Take action on AYUSH sec #VaidyaRajeshKotecha. Let it be a warning to other Hindi zealots. If your officers don't want non hindi speakers then non hindi speakers don't want your officers. #StopHindiImperialism #HindiImposition."

Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha
Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha.Ministry of AYUSH/Facebook

DMK leader Kanimozhi condemned Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha for imposing Hindi and asked the govt to stop it. She tweeted on August 22, "The statement of Secretary of the Union Ministry of AYUSH Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha that non Hindi speaking participants could leave during a Ministry's training session speaks volumes about the Hindi domination being imposed. This is highly condemnable. #StopHindiImposition."

Kanimozhi also wrote a letter to Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik, raising her objection on the reported Hindi imposition. She added, "Govt should place the Secretary under suspension and initiate appropriate disciplinary proceedings. How long is this attitude of excluding non-Hindi speakers to be tolerated?"

Karti P Chidambaram also condemned the behavior of Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, as he tweeted on August 22, "AYUSH training in Hindi ignores Tamil Nadu delegates - Not knowing English is understandable, but this arrogance of asking those who don't know Hindi to leave and insisting on speaking in Hindi is totally unacceptable. #StopHindiImposition."