Tamil Nadu Education Minister K Ponmudi has waged a language war saying that those who speak Hindi sell panipuri.
Addressing a convocation ceremony at Bharathiar University in Coimbatore, Ponmudi said, “They used to say that if you study Hindi, you will get a job? Is it so! You can see who is selling pani puri in Coimbatore now.” ? It was like that once. Now English is the international language,” Ponmudi said.
He further said that English as a language is more valuable than Hindi and added that Tamil students were willing to learn any language and Hindi should be optional and not compulsory.