Social media contribution has again caused language debate-at the user X claiming that there is no “point learning” Indian languages such as Kannada and Tamil, which have associated with “poorer economies”. The user named Toka has received hard criticism from southern India, especially from Bengalur and Chennai.
“If I moved to Japan, I would learn Japanese. If I moved to China, I would learn Chinese. If I moved to Bangalore, I’d rather speak English. If I moved to Chennai, I’d rather speak English.
The user also claimed that language debates were “overvalued” and even urged companies to limit their investments in these cities on a small scale industry to prevent what they called “language harassment” of migrants.
Sweeping generalization – indicating that Indian languages are not worth trying compared to the richer nations – with many did not fit well.
The contribution lit a fire exchange online, because people from different parts of the country criticized it for supporting the elitism of the language and manifesting insufficient sensitivity to regional cultures.
“There are enough people who act civilian, learn and respect local languages. Even foreigners do it smoothly and proudly,” one user wrote.
“Cities like Chennai and Bengalur have enough locals so they can perform most jobs. They don’t need many migrants,” he added.
“We are glad we can speak English. We just don’t expect to learn Hindi,” read one comment that has moved the debate to the wider tension of Hind-versus-re-regional language in urban India.
Another user defended the post and said, “The harassment of language gets out of hand. People should live as they want. If the city’s inhabitants have a problem, then it is not the right city – just an overgrown city.”
(Tagstotranslate) Language debate
