Udhayanidhi asks couples to name their children in Tamil to oppose Hindi imposition; says won’t apologise for Sanathana dharma remarks

A day after Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin asked people to have more children, his son and deputy chief minister of the state Udhayanidhi Stalin urged newlyweds to name their children in Tamil, saying that there is an attempt to impose Hindi in the state.

Stalin had made the comments on Monday, expressing concern that the so-called delimitation exercise scheduled for 2026 could see a reduction in Tamil Nadu’s relative representation in the Lok Sabha.

Speaking at a wedding in Dindigul district, Udhayanidhi further said that various attempts are being made to impose the language but they are failing.

“I request the newlyweds to come up with a beautiful Tamil name for their child,” Udhayanidhi said. “Many are attempting to impose Hindi on Tamil Nadu, but they couldn’t do it directly. That’s why they are omitting few words from the Tamil Thaai Vaazthu (the state anthem),” he added, referring to the recent political controversy on October 18 when governor R N Ravi attended a Hindi month celebration function at Doordarshan Chennai where performers didn’t say the word “Dravida” while singing the state anthem.

While Stalin asked the Union government to immediately recall the governor, the opposition parties and NDA ally criticised Ravi. Stalin also pointed out that the Constitution of India does not grant national language status to any language, and in a multilingual nation, celebrating Hindi Month in non-Hindi-speaking states is seen as an attempt to belittle other languages.

Ravi, who was the chief guest at the function, hit back at Stalin terming his comments “regrettable” and accused him of making a racist remark against him.

“They are trying to impose Hindi via the new education policy. But they are all failing,” said Udhayanidhi. “There have previously been efforts to change the name of the state as well. But the governor apologised for it only after everyone across the state raised objections. Now they are talking about omitting the word Dravidam. Until the last cadre of DMK is alive, until the last Tamilan is alive, no one can even touch Tamil, Tamil Nadu or Dravidam. The state will never accept Hindi imposition.”

Speaking further at the event, Udhayanidhi also said that he will not apologise for his remarks on sanatan dharma last year, a controversy that catapulted him to the national stage. He said that he had also mentioned the principles laid down by Dravidian stalwarts, E V Ramasamy (revered as Periyar) DMK founder C N Annadurai, and his grandfather and five-time chief minister M Kalaignar.

“Periyar gave his voice to oppose (sanathana dharma). Anna Durai, Karunanidhi and I have also said the same thing,” Udhayanidhi said. “My statements were distorted and I have now been sued not only in Tamil Nadu but also in several courts of India. They asked me to apologise in court, but I refused. I said that I am Karunanidhi’s grandson and I will not apologise.”

This is the first time Udhayanidhi has commented on this after becoming the deputy chief minister.

In September 2023, months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Udhayanidhi had likened sanatana dharma to diseases like malaria and dengue and said that it must be driven away like the mosquitoes.

Several police cases and pleas were filed against Udhayanidhi across the country over his comments which he claims were added upon and spread as lies; and there was even a bounty put on his head.

He has since doubled down on his comments. Earlier in October, after he became deputy chief minister, he didn’t seem to want to drag the controversy further. He didn’t even react to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Pawan Kalyan’s remark saying, “Sanatana dharma cannot be wiped out but those who said those words would be.”

Udhayanidhi had merely smiled and said, “Let’s wait and see.”

On Monday, Stalin’s comments had come shortly after Andhra Pradesh chief minister and BJP ally N Chandrababu Naidu asked people in his state to have more children, although his comments were not motivated by the delimitation exercise, but just the state’s ageing population.

The basis for both comments is data that shows that the southern states have already seen their fertility rates dip below the replacement level (which ensures the population stays the same), indicating a declining (and ageing) population. The fertility rate for Tamil Nadu is 1.76, Andhra Pradesh 1.68. It is, at 2.35, higher than the replacement level of 2.1 in states such as Uttar Pradesh.

To be sure, the delimitation exercise referred to by Stalin, ensuring that there is a correlation between population and representation, can happen only after the much-delayed (and yet to start) 2021 Census.