Use of Abuse – None Chickening Out From Using Foul Language
Hyderabad: Abusive language. Expletives. Swear words. Profanity. And curses.
As the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections heats up, instances of political leaders hurling these at each other is becoming commonplace.
Though politicians may believe that tough talk laced with abuse, sometimes bordering on the obscene, will turn into votes, and that insults would force their opponents into submission, experts who understand Telugu language, particularly as it is used in Telangana by the people, have a different take.
“Use of abuse is a sign of how uncivilized a person is. People understand this clearly. Foul language is not accepted, especially when it comes from political leaders,” Dr Thangeda Kishan Rao, Vice Chancellor of the Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, said.
According to Dr Kaseem Ckintakindi, who teaches Telugu at the Osmania University’s College of Arts and Social Sciences, there has been a steady attempt over the past several years to pass off heaping abuse on others as part of the accepted way of life. “Nothing could be farther from the truth,” he said.
“Even when such abuse and foul language comes into play, it is limited to angry interactions. We have a culture of speaking with respect, even in our villages. Being foul-mouthed is a recent phenomenon. To say that this is what works in politics is plain nonsense,” Prof. Kaseem said.
Dr Kishan Rao said, “There is a lot of criticism in society over the language being used by the leaders. People do not appreciate such abuse. When people go and vote, the leaders will see that their efforts to belittle their opponents have not paid off..”
The one clear reason that politicians resort to abuse, according to Dr Kaseem, is that “they have nothing to say to the other side about policies, or practices. Abuse is a sign of a person losing-self control and trying to badger his or her way through. Such intolerance has no place in politics.”
Dr Kaseem also said that typically, abuse ends up targeting a section, or a class of society. “If one leader says the other is a ‘chandaludu’, it is a clear attack on the Scheduled Castes, as Chandala is a section of SCs. Even worse, much of such abuse ends up targeting women. Do you think if someone is called a ‘gadida (donkey)’, any donkey would keep quiet if it could speak in our language?” Dr Kaseem said.
Take That! A sampling of abuse from LS campaign in Telangana
Randa
Houleygadu
Kukkala kodukullara
Nishta Gadida Koduku
Thu mee bathukulu cheda
Tikka munda koduku
Dedhdimaggadu
Sannasi
Na kodukulu
Lathkor
Nee bondha
Battebaazgadu
Luchcha
Chandalam
