‘Speak impeccable Tamil’ vs ‘I have my own style’: Grammar jibes set off row in Tamil Nadu assembly

Tamil
Nadu
fi a ce
mi iste
Wilso
said
he
would
speak
i
his
ow
style.

NEW
DELHI:
A
ow
ove
Tamil
Nadu
fi a ce
mi iste ’s
la guage
a d
p o u ciatio
skills
du i g
his
budget
speech
t igge ed
a
political
ow
i
the
state
assembly
o
Mo day,
with
the
oppositio
membe s
c iticisi g
his
use
of
E glish
a d
“g ammatical
e o s”.The
co t ove sy
bega
whe
MDMK
MLA
T
M
Raje d a ,
who
wo
f om
Kadaya allu
assembly
co stitue cy
o
the
DMK’s
Risi g
Su
symbol,
poi ted
out
“g amatical
e o s”
i
TVK
mi iste
N
Ma ie
Wilso ’s
August
5
budget
speech.‘Seve al
g ammatical
e o s’Raje d a
said
Wilso
had
skipped
seve al
Tamil
se te ces
a d
used
E glish
exte sively
du i g
the
speech.
“As
a
Tamil
e thusiast,
I
obse ved
i
his
(Ma ie
Wilso ’s)
speech
that
he
had
skipped
ma y
of
the
Tamil
se te ces.
The e
we e
seve al
g ammatical
e o s
too,’’
Raje d a
said.“Atleast
i
the
futu e,
whe
he
gets
the
oppo tu ity
the
fi a ce
mi iste
should
speak
i
impeccable
Tamil,”
he
added.Raje d a
also
asked
school
educatio
mi iste
A
Rajmoha
to
help
Wilso
imp ove
his
Tamil.
Rajmoha ,
howeve
defe ded
the
fi a ce
mi iste ,
sayi g
the e
was
othi g
w o g
with
his
speech.
He
also
poi ted
out
that
leade
of
oppositio

Udhaya idhi
Stali
spoke
i
a
plai
a d
simple
la guage.

‘I
would
speak
i
my
ow
style’The
ema ks
d ew
a
a g y
espo se
f om
Wilso ,
who
defe ded
his
commu icatio
style
a d
said
his
focus
was
o
gove a ce
a d
the
state’s
developme t
athe
tha
li guistic
fo malities.“The
gove me t
u de
chief
mi iste
C
Joseph
Vijay
has
made
sig ifica t
achieveme ts
i
the
past
60-75
days,
successfully
b i gi g
Rs
15,000
c o es
i to
the
t easu y
th ough
va ious
efo ms,”
Wilso
said,
without
elabo ati g.Wilso
said
he
had
wo ked
i
the
educatio
secto
fo
25
to
30
yea s
a d
had
p ima ily
commu icated
i
E glish
du i g
his
p ofessio al
ca ee .“Ea lie
they
we e
body
shami g
othe
a d
we e
i sulti g
othe s
based
o
caste
a d
ge de .
Now
they
a e
i sulti g
us
ove
la guage,”
Ma ie
Wilso
said.The
mi iste
said
he
felt
that
membe s
we e
ta geti g
his
commu icatio
style
a d
backg ou d
i stead
of
focusi g
o
his
wo k.
He
said
he
could
ot
cha ge
the
way
he
spoke
simply
to
satisfy
othe s.Citi g
the
Bible,
Wilso
said
that
while
he
might
ot
be
well-ve sed
i
Tamil,
Ch istia ity
had
taught
him
seve al
la guages,
i cludi g
the
“love
la guage,
peace
la guage
a d
the
la guage
of
ki d ess”.He
added
that
he
could
ot
cha ge
his
p o u ciatio
fo
othe s
a d
said
“I
would
speak
i
my
ow
style
a d
that
I
could
ot
cha ge
it
to
suit
othe s.”Speake
J
C
D
P abhaka
i te ve ed
a d
advised
Wilso
to
sit
dow
a d
avoid
getti g
a g y.‘Tamil
a d
E glish
both
allowed’DMK
se io
leade
a d
fo me
mi iste
E
V
Velu
sought
to
defuse
the
issue,
poi ti g
out
that
Tamil
has
seve al
dialects
ac oss
the
state,
i cludi g
diffe e ces
betwee
o th
a d
south
Che ai.Velu
also
st essed
that
Tamil
Nadu
followed
a
dual-la guage
policy
of
Tamil
a d
E glish.The
Speake
also
oted
that
Raje d a
himself
had
used
the
E glish
wo d
“budget”
i
his
speech
i stead
of
its
Tamil
equivale t.P abhaka
u ged
membe s
to
t eat
the
matte
lightly
a d
avoid
tu i g
la guage
i to
a
sou ce
of
co flict
i
the
House.
He
said
the
Assembly
was
a
fo um
whe e
multiple
la guages
we e
pe mitted
u de
its
ules
a d
membe s
should
focus
o
policy
discussio s
athe
tha
pe so al
ema ks.The
Speake
cited
a
ea lie
i sta ce
whe
the
chief
mi iste
J
Jayalalithaa
allowed
a
Co g ess
membe
to
speak
i
Telugu
i
the
Assembly.
He
also
poi ted
out
that
fo me
fi a ce
mi iste
P
Thiaga
Raja
had
used
E glish
du i g
ea lie
budget
sessio s.P abhaka
said
Assembly
Rule
86
allows
membe s
to
co duct
p oceedi gs
i
Tamil
o
E glish,
o
i
both
la guages.
He
st essed
that
the
focus
should
be
o
the
i te t
a d
substa ce
of
what
is
bei g
said
athe
tha
the
la guage
used.

As
Wilso
emai ed
visibly
upset,
Velu
said
the e
was
o
eed
fo
the
fi a ce
mi iste
to
be
a g y
a d
oted
that
Raje d a
was
a
fi st-time
MLA.PWD
mi iste
Aadhav
A ju a
also
said
fo me
fi a ce
mi iste
Pala ivel
Thiaga
Raja
had
faced
a
simila
issue,
but
oppositio
pa ties
had
ot
aised
objectio s
at
the
time.
The
Speake
eite ated
that
MLAs
we e
f ee
to
speak
i
Tamil
a d
E glish
a d
ecalled
that
Jayalalithaa
had
allowed
a
MLA
f om
Hosu
to
speak
i
Telugu
i
the
assembly.

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