By Suresh Unnithan
New Delhi: An insensible statement from one holding a responsible position can mess up a serious seminar. This is precisely what happened during the recently held webinar on Yoga and Naturopathy, organized by the Union AYUSH Ministry. The virtual meeting of Yoga and Naturopathy professionals literally created a clutter thanks to the insensitive linguistic state from Union AYUSH Secretary Rajesh Kotecha. The secretary on a fit of rage wanted all those not able to speak or comprehend his classical Hindi speech were asked to “get out” of the webinar. The reason, the participants from the Southern states who were not so comfortable with his eloquent Hindi wanted the proceedings to happen in English also so that that get to know the content of the deliberations.
The request from the Non- Hindi speaking AYUSH medical professionals was the only cause of the rage that prompted the Union Secretary to “oust” the non-Hindi speaking participants. This egotistical reaction from the secretary provoked the Yoga& Naturopathy Medial Professionals who were participating the meeting with much excitement and expectations. “Instead of addressing the concern of the participants from no-Hindi speaking South Indian states, the secretary abruptly declared, the invited guests who could not communicate in Hindi may leave the discussion,” said a senior Yoga and Naturopathy Medical practitioner who was part of the webinar.
The participants from non-Hindi specking states, particularly those from South, were unwilling to acknowledge the “unwarranted arrogance” from the Union Secretary. The Indian Naturopathy & Yoga Graduates’ Medical Association (INYGMA), an apex organization representing Yoga and Naturopathy practitioners feels, Kootchar’s inhospitable and bigheaded nature was hampering Prime Minister Narendra Modi’ s ambitious AYUSH initiatives. “The secretary is behaving like a politician and trying to drive a wedge between Hindi-Speaking and Non-Hindi speaking states by asking the non-Hindi speaking participants to exit from a virtual meeting”, a senior functionary of the organization said. “In fact, it was better if Kotecha left the Chair instead of demanding the non-Hindi speaking participants to leave (the webinar)” the functionary fumed.
Members of INYGMA are enraged at the conduct of AYUSH Secretary who was “rude” enough to ask the non-Hindi speaking participants to walk out from a virtual meeting organized by the Union Ministry of AYUSH earlier this week.
The Secretary, during the meeting has reportedly asked those who do not speak Hindi to walk out of the conference, and the Yoga and Naturopathy medical professionals from South India, especially from Tamil Nadu reacted sharply on the “arrogant and irresponsible” attitude of the secretary.
Another senior functionary of the INYGMA from South termed Kotecha’s behavior “an insult to the Prime Minister of the country”. Talking to PNI News the functionary said “our Prime Minister Naredra Modi has been making all efforts to promote AYUSH globally. The world is celebrating June 21 as International Yoga Day, thanks to Modi ji. Sorry to say, AYUSH secretary has become an impediment to the development of System. He is trying to jeopardize PM’s efforts to promote and build up the Indian System of Medicines by creating such controversies.”
A senior BNYS doctor from Kerala who participated in the video interaction alleged that the Secretary has insulted Yoga trainers using sleazy langugae. “By calling Yoga graduates as hooligans, Kotecha actually insulted Prime Minister himself who is international brand ambassador of Yoga.”
Referring to Kotecha’s remarks during the virtual meeting Dr Shimji P Nair President INYGMA, Kerala Chapter observed that “by taking an anti south India attitude Kotecha actually devalued the idea of PM Modi – Sab ka sath, sab ka vikas”
AYUSH has been flourishing in the Southern states, but there is a laud allegation that “the South has not been given enough attention to augment the growth of Indian System of Medicines”. With respect to Yoga & Naturopathy, out of the 37 BNYS medical colleges in the country, 20 are in Tamil Nadu and “the Secretary (Kotecha) wants us to get out of the conference simply because we don’t know Hindi. This is nothing short of language chauvinism. This exposes his anti-South and pro-Hindi sentiment,” said a participant from Tamil Nadu who pleaded anonymity. From Tamil Nadu state alone over 37 Yoga professionals had participated in the virtual meeting.
Kotecha’s controversial comment has become handy for the Opposition to whip the BJP-led NDA government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Attacking the Modi Government for trying to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking people senior DMK leader and Lok Sabha Member Kanimozhi tweeted, “The statement of Secretary of the Union Ministry of Ayush, Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, that non-Hindi speaking participants could leave during a ministry training session, speaks volumes about the Hindi domination being imposed. This is highly condemnable.”
She further demanded “Govt should place the Secretary under suspension and initiate appropriate disciplinary proceedings. “ How long is this attitude of excluding non Hindi speakers to be tolerated? she asks.
As per media reports Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram has also reacted sharply saying “Not knowing English is understandable, but this arrogance of asking those who don’t know Hindi to leave and insisting on speaking in Hindi is totally unacceptable.”
However, INYGMA is firm on fighting against the “anti-Hindi bias” of Union AYUSH Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha . The Yoga& Naturopathy professionals have launched an online campaign #SackKotecha to further their “fight for justice”.
