Congress MP from Karur, Jothimani Sennimalai, on Saturday wrote a letter to Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik condemning the AYUSH secretary for asking naturopathy practitioners from Tamil Nadu to leave an online AYUSH ministry event if they did not know Hindi.
The naturopathy practitioners had earlier objected to the sessions being conducted in Hindi and not in English.
Taking to Twitter, Jothimani said, 'Today I wrote to Hon Minister for AYUSH @shripadynaik regarding the insult meted out to our Tamil Nadu doctors by the AYUSH Secy for not knowing Hindi.
'He asked them to leave if they did not know Hindi. This is highly condemnable. Hope the Hon Minister will act.'
The Congress MP said it is deplorable that such a demand came from the secretary of the AYUSH department.
'I am at loss to understand why a Ministry like AYUSH, which itself is a symbol of diversity in the field of medicine, would seek to impose a language on a team of doctors from a State that doesn't speak Hindi and that has a long and proud history of resistance to any kind of imposition,' Jothimani said in her letter.
Jothimani wrote this letter to record her disappointment and condemnation of this act of the AYUSH secretary which is in violation of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.
The letter read, 'As an elected representative to the Parliament, I consider it my duty to point out that the misplaced priorities of AYUSH department do not augur well for the larger good of this country.
'I urge the department of AYUSH to clarify its position on this issue and immediately take measures to redress it.'
Jothimani expressed her disappointment and asked the ministry to take appropriate action to ensure that it is not repeated again.
This action of the AYUSH secretary is disappointing and betrays its failure to uphold diversity, a value our Constitution is committed to.
I urge the Ministry to take appropriate action and ensure that undesirable controversies are not repeated in the future, the letter added.
