After a gap of a few days, Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu has once again jumped right back in the language debate that has played out in Tamil Nadu. The state of Tamil Nadu, led by the DMK’s MK Stalin, has fervently and vociferously advocated against what the state government calls “Hindi Imposiion in Tamil Nadu.”.
Vembu Asks TN To Look At AP
The state has also advocated for a two-language policy, which would see the prominence of Tamil and English.
In a recent post on X, Vembu took another aim at the Tamil Nadu government and asked CM Stalin to look at the state’s immediate neighbour to its north, Andhra Pradesh.
In his post, Vembu said, “Here is the AP Chief Minister, talking about the importance of Hindi. Andhra Pradesh is our neighbor and culturally very close to Tamil Nadu.”
He spoke against the apparent politicisation of languages.
Here is the AP Chief Minister, talking about the importance of Hindi. Andhra Pradesh is our neighbor and culturally very close to Tamil Nadu. They don’t politicise language. Kerala does not politicise language either (and let’s say they don’t agree with the central government on… https://t.co/k0kzqd8CON
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) March 6, 2025
Don’t Politicise Language
Furthermore, Vembu compared Tamil Nadu with other states, including Kerala. “Kerala does not politicise language either (and let’s say they don’t agree with the central government on many things).”, He added.
Furthermore, asking a question to the people of his home state at large, Vembu said, “Something we should learn from our neighbouring states?”
Prevously, he had underscored his ideas, and strongly advocated for the learning of the Hindi language in Tamil Nadu.
As Zoho grows rapidly in India, we have rural engineers in Tamil Nadu working closely with customers in Mumbai and Delhi – so much of our business is driven form these cities and from Gujarat. Rural jobs in Tamil Nadu depend on us serving those customers well.
Not knowing Hindi…
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) February 25, 2025
He had previously suggested that not knowing Hindi is often a serious impediment for people in Tamil Nadu.
According to Vembu, it is smart for Tamil Nadu to learn Hindi.
“As India is a fast growing economy, engineers and entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu will be smart to learn Hindi.Ignore the politics, let us learn the language!”, he said.
Today our engineers in villages in Tamil Nadu are working closely with customers in the North implementing Zoho products. This part of our business is growing rapidly.
In a similar way we also have engineers working with Middle East based companies and our counterparts in those…
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) February 26, 2025
CBSE schools are growing fast even in rural Tamil Nadu and they all teach Hindi. Parents who can afford the fees prefer to send their kids to CBSE school.
Only the children of poor parents who cannot afford the fees go to government or aided schools and are denied the… https://t.co/6GrqsNj7Bc
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) February 27, 2025
In another post, Vembu said, “Only the children of poor parents who cannot afford the fees go to government or aided schools and are denied the opportunity to learn Hindi. We hire a lot of those students.”
