'Devegowda didn't understand his own Hindi speech', says Tharoor

H D Devegowda was the Prime minister of India when the country celebrated 49th year of independence

Parliamentarian and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor taunted former Prime Minister H D Devegowda for not understanding 'a word of his own speech in Hindi'. Speaking at the Dr B R Ambedkar International conference in Bengaluru, Tharoor said that during the 49th Independence day celebrations, the then Prime minister H D Devegowda made a speech in Hindi but was not able to understand most parts of his own speech.

"On India's 49th Independence day, the then Prime Minister Deve Gowda stood on the ramparts of Red Fort and made his speech in Hindi. Eight other prime ministers had done the same thing 48 times before him but what was unusual this time was that he spoke to the country in a language which he did not know a word of," said Shashi Tharoor.

He added that Devegowda made a speech in Hindi simply because it was the tradition. "A script of the speech was written in Kannada. A script, which of course, made no sense to him," Tharoor added.

The parliamentarian was speaking on Hindi imposition and language controversy when he made references to H D Devegowda. The JD(S), however, has lambasted Tharoor for his statements and has questioned his intelligence.

"For Mr Tharoor's information, former Prime Minister H D Devegowda can comprehend and speaks quite well in Hindi. In which language does Mr Tharoor think Devegowda speaks to Mulayam Singh Yadav in, English? They communicate with Lalu Prasad Yadav in Hindi. Questioning the capacities of a man whose policies have received international acclaim only casts aspersions on Shashi Tharoor's intelligence," said Tanveer Ahmed, spokesperson of the JD(S).

The party also held that Devegowda had no reasons to hate Hindi and would not have made the speech in Hindi if he had reservations about the language. "We are only against Hindi imposition but do not hate the language. Tharoor needs help with his mental balance and it is high time that he seeks out help," the JD(S) spokesperson added.

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