WATCH: Canadian MP speaks in Kannada in Parliament, draws praise

Chandra Arya took to Twitter to share the video of his speaking in his "mother tongue" Kannada. "This is the first time Kannada is spoken in any parliament in the world outside of India," he tweeted.

Screengrab from video (Twitter)

Karnataka-born Canadian MP Chandra Arya spoke in his mother tongue Kannada while addressing the Canadian Parliament and the video has now gone viral. Chandra Arya took to Twitter to share this video and captioned it: "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."

During his speech in Parliament, Arya said that it was a pleasure to be able to speak in Kannada, his mother tongue, in the Canadian Parliament and said it was a proud moment for Kannadigas.

Chandra Arya ended his speech with a poem by Kuvempu (considered one of Karnataka's greatest poets of 20th century), which was sung by Dr Rajkumar. Remembering both in his speech, Chandra Arya said, "Elladaru iru enthadaru iru endendigu nee Kannadavaagiru", which translates wherever you are, however you are, be a Kannadiga forever.

Watch it here:

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. pic.twitter.com/AUanNlkETT — Chandra Arya (@AryaCanada) May 19, 2022

This move has won the internet as was also met with a round of applause from Chandra Arya's colleagues in Canadian Parliament. Chandra Arya's gesture has also drawn appreciation from leaders back home.

Appreciating Arya's speech, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he has spread Kannada's quintessence at the world stage.
"Heartfelt compliments to Chandra Arya for proving that however big one may grow in his life, he should always remember his roots. Elladaru Iru Enthadaru Iru, Endendigu Nee Kannadavaagiru," he tweeted.

ತುಮಕೂರು ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ, ಶಿರಾ ತಾಲೂಕಿನ ದ್ವಾರಾಳು ಗ್ರಾಮದ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗ ಚಂದ್ರ ಆರ್ಯ @AryaCanada ಕೆನಡಾ ದೇಶದ ಸಂಸತ್ತಿನ ಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಯಾಗಿ, ತಮ್ಮ ಮೊದಲ ಭಾಷಣವನ್ನು ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಮಾತನಾಡುವ ಮೂಲಕ ಕನ್ನಡದ ಸೊಗಡನ್ನು ಅಂತಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಮಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಮೊಳಗಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಮನುಷ್ಯ ತಾನು ಎಷ್ಟೇ ಎತ್ತರಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋದರೂ,
1/2 pic.twitter.com/BChm8ZhFSO — Basavaraj S Bommai (@BSBommai) May 20, 2022

Minister for Large and Medium-scale Industries Murugesh R Nirani said, "It is an absolute honour to see the language of our land, Kannada being spoken in the Canadian Parliament. It fills us all with immense pride." Karnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar said, "It makes me happy to see our great Kannada language spoken in the Canadian parliament. A great idea by Sri Chandra Arya. Kannadigas across the world must fly high the flag of our mother tongue."

Congress' General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted, "Kudos to the son of Tumkur, Karnataka, @AryaCanada! Keep making India & Karnataka proud."

Kudos to the son of Tumkur, Karnataka, @AryaCanada !

Keep making India & Karnataka proud. https://t.co/dNXkF4b5H2 — Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) May 20, 2022

Karnataka higher education minister Dr CN Ashwathnaraya also shared the video, and praising Arya, wrote a heartfelt message on Twitter.

"ಎಲ್ಲಾದರೂ ಇರು, ಎಂತಾದರೂ ಇರು, ಎಂದೆಂದಿಗೂ ನೀ ಕನ್ನಡವಾಗಿರು"

ಕೆನಡಾದ ಸಂಸತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡದ ಕಂಪು ಮೊಳಗಿಸಿದ ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಸಂಸದರಾಗಿರುವ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗ ಶ್ರೀ @AryaCanada ಅವರ ಮೂಲಕ ಪ್ರತಿಧ್ವನಿಸಿದ ಈ ಕವಿವಾಣಿ ಎಂದೆಂದಿಗೂ ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ!

ಕನ್ನಡ ಕಸ್ತೂರಿಯ ಪರಿಮಳವನ್ನು ಪಸರಿಸಿದ ತಮಗೆ ಮನಃಪೂರ್ವಕ ಅಭಿನಂದನೆಗಳು. https://t.co/Ms8JRcap6x — Dr. Ashwathnarayan C. N. (@drashwathcn) May 20, 2022

As per news reports, Chandra Arya was elected to the Canadian Parliament for the first time in 2015 and again in 2019 for the second time. Arya had recently urged the Canadian people and the government to recognise the difference between the 'swastika', an ancient and auspicious symbol for Hindus and the 20th century Nazi symbol 'Hakenkreuz', pointing out that there is no similarity between the two.

(With PTI inputs)