On Saturday (May 20), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj courted controversy by claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘displayed his ignorance’ by speaking in Hindi during his in-person meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart.
PM Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima and sent out a message of peace. “I wish to assure you that India and I, in my personal capacity, will do whatever is possible to find a solution to this (conflict),” the Indian Prime Minister said.
In his desperation to take potshots at his political rival, AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj mocked PM Modi for speaking in Hindi, which is one of the official languages of India. “Wasn’t the PM told that the language used in Ukraine is not Hindi?” he remarked (archive).
While proudly showcasing his inability to comprehend things, the AAP legislator said, “This video of the Prime Minister (speaking in Hindi) can only be used to fool Bhakts (a term used to mock BJP supporters).”
Saurabh Bharadwaj, who has often been in the news for the wrong reasons, failed to understand that world leaders are accompanied by interlocutors and translators. The Heads of State are not expected to speak the language of their counterparts during bilateral meetings or visits to foreign nations.
It has been a long tradition in India for Prime Ministers to speak Hindi on world forums or during their meeting with world leaders. One may recollect the famous address of ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Hindi at the United Nations.
Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi is well-versed in English, he has voluntarily chosen to speak in Hindi with other world leaders since 2014.
A report in The Indian Express states, “While Modi is quite conversant in English given that many New Delhi-based diplomats have met him and never found language to be an impediment, sources said he seems to have decided to stick to Hindi in his interactions.”
“That he is reasonably comfortable with the English language is clear by the fact that interpreters are not required to translate from English to Hindi,” the report further read.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also conceded that he spoke in Ukrainian during his meeting with PM Modi. His message was conveyed to the Indian Prime Minister through an interlocutor.
“Had a meeting with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in Japan. I briefed the interlocutor in detail on the Ukrainian Peace Formula initiative and invited India to join its implementation,” the Ukranian President said.
“I spoke about Ukraine’s needs in humanitarian demining and mobile hospitals. I thank India for supporting our country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, in particular, at the platforms of international organizations, and for providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine,” he added.
However, AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj presumed that there would be no translators in the meeting, who would help Zelenskyy understand what his Indian counterpart was saying.
Social media users were aghast at the ignorance of the AAP legislator and lambasted him for mocking the Indian Prime Minister. “Bharadwaj has lost his mind…Shouldn’t we speak in our mother tongue in front of any country? Should he have spoken in Ukrainian?” inquired one Vikash Singh Rathore.
Popular Twitter user Ankur Singh chided, “Please use some common sense.” He also mocked the AAP legislator for claiming to hack an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) using a screwdriver.
“Just like himself, Kejriwal has kept clowns as his Ministers,” wrote one Niraj Verma.
Netizens took potshots at Saurabh Bharadwaj for being completely unaware of diplomatic protocols and still having the audacity to mock others. This is however not the first time that the AAP legislator has courted controversy.
Earlier in February this year, a video went viral on social media wherein Saurabh Bharadwaj and another AAP senior leader were heard assuring his party workers that Delhi jails have a lot of ‘majje’ (enjoyment).
They were also heard saying that all the jailed AAP leaders are having fun inside the jail and there was nothing to worry about.