Chennai: Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy – who made headlines with his Hindi speakers "selling paani puri" remark – issued a clarification Friday. Amid sharpened language divide after Centre's alleged plan to introduce Hindi as a third language in schools, the minister had questioned the efficacy of learning the language in the south and labelled it the language of "paani puri" sellers.
As a storm of criticism broke, the minister said his remark was made in the context of what he called a lack of jobs in the northern states.
"Various persons from Tamil Nadu go and work in the northern states. I said in this sense that various persons from the north come here and work because there is no work available in northern states," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI today.
At a university convocation earlier on Friday, Mr Ponmudi had questioned the use of learning Hindi for residents in the state.
"Someone said one would get jobs if you learn Hindi. Are you getting jobs? Go and see in our city Coimbatore, they sell paani puri. They run paani puri shops," he said.
"In Tamil Nadu, we should have our own system. In Tamil Nadu, Tamil is a local language and we have English the international language," he then added in the backdrop of the debate over Hindi, which many mistakenly call the national language.
Over the last weeks, the debate had drawn in many, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, inflaming sentiments in southern states which have always been prickly over what they see as imposition of Hindi.