While we fight over languages, Canadian MP speaks Kannada for the first time in a parliament outside India, wins internet
The video went viral as people hailed Chandra's cultural faithfulness.
.jpeg "Canadian MP speaks Kannada for the first time in a parliament")
A speech made in Kannada by the India-born Canadian member of Parliament has gone viral on social media, attracting huge attention and fueling the debate on the importance given to the native tongue.
Tweeting about this, Arya, who represents the electoral district of Nepean in the House of Commons, said, “I spoke in my mother tongue (first language) Kannada in Canadian parliament. This beautiful language has long history and is spoken by about 50 million people. This is the first time Kannada is spoken in any parliament in the world outside of India.”
Arya, a native of Tumakuru district in Karnataka, was re-elected from the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2019 federal election after 2015. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Ramanagara and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Dharwad in Karnataka.
He ended his speech with a quote from a passage by Kuvempu, considered the greatest Kannada poet of the 20th century: “Yelladharu iru, Yenthadaaru iru, yendendigu nee Kannadavagiru” (Wherever you stay, however you are, always be a Kannadiga).
Karnataka higher education minister Dr CN Ashwathnaraya shared the video and praised the Canadian MP for speaking in Kannada in Parliament.
This comes at a time when people across India are debating over languages, be it national or native, however the debate has no ground for a nation with the largest diversity of culture, language, religions and traditions. Rather, we should work to preserve them all.