Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member, Subramanian Swamy has taken a sarcastic jibe at Kamal Hassan who has been under fire ever since he made insulting remark towards the Hindi language. Recently, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan had stroked a controversy by saying, “Among the family of languages, the youngest is Hindi. It is a little child in diapers. We will have to take care of that language because it is our child too. We will definitely take care of it. Compared to Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, it is still young.”

This remark was seen as a manifestation of what his ilk perceives as alleged Hindi imposition. He said that it (Hindi) is a good language but it should not be forced into people. The actor turned politician said, “Our contention is, do not stuff it down our throats. You called us for dinner, lay it on the plate. Don’t make us a guest and give us a menu, which order to eat. We will not accept it.” However, the kind of remark that he made about the Hindi language was particularly objectionable. Even though he said that he had made the remark with compassion, kindness and a lot of affection, as against any derision, the statement in itself suggests otherwise.

Now, senior BJP leader, Subramanian Swamy has taken to Twitter over Hassan’s remarks. He said, “What is Kamalahaasan in politics? A little child without a diaper causing smell all around the State.” Swamy has therefore taken strong exception to Hassan’s bizarre comments belittling Hindi. With this, Swamy has sent across a clear message that Hassan cannot affront the most widely spoken language in India and get away with it.

What is Kamalahaasan in politics? A little child without a diaper causing smell all around the State — Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) October 3, 2019

It must be noted that Hassan has made highly controversial remarks of a mostly, anti Hindu tenor in the past as well. Earlier this year, he had said that Godse was a Hindu and also the first terrorist of India. While addressing a rally in Karur, Hassan said, “I am not saying this because many Muslims are here. I am saying this in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue. The first terrorist in independent India is a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse,”. He had added a rather baffling statement calling himself the “grandson” of Gandhi. This was a seen as a highly objectionable and divisive remark giving a communal colour to terrorism. In 2017 also, the actor turned politician had made a disgusting comment demeaning the Hindus as he had said, “In the past Hindu right-wing groups would not indulge in violence, but they would hold a dialogue with the opposite parties on their arguments. But this old tactic was defeated and what they stated to do is use muscle power. They started indulging in violence.”

The fact remains that Hassan’s diaper remark about Hindi seems to have been made with little knowledge of the language’s real significance. It must be noted that ever since Union Home Minister Amit Shah made an appeal to unify the country with the country’s most popular language in terms of speakers- Hindi, the usual suspects have been misinterpreting the effort as Hindi imposition, despite the Union Minister making it clear that India is a country of many languages and that every language has its value. The Union Home Minister’s remarks were distorted as an attempt to impose Hindi upon speakers of other languages. Shah had even issued a clarification regarding his statement. In such circumstances, Hassan’s remark seems totally unwarranted and irrelevant and Swamy’s tweet has exposed the actor turned politician’s naive understanding of the political and national ground realities in one casual sentence.