Won’t oppose Hindi if it’s not imposed on TN, says Stalin

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Wednesday said that the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will not oppose Hindi if it is not imposed on Tamil Nadu and that forcing the language on the state’s residents amounts to playing with their self respect.

“For those asking why DMK still opposes Hindi, my humble response to them as one among you is –– because you still impose it on us,” he said in a letter to DMK workers. “We won’t oppose if you don’t impose; won’t blacken Hindi words in Tamil Nadu. Self-respect is Tamils’ unique characteristic and we will not allow anyone, whoever it is, to play with it.”

Stalin’s comments on Wednesday came amid his bitter verbal war with Union education minister over the National Education Policy (NEP), which the former views as a tool to impose Hindi on the southern state –– a charge rejected by the latter. Language has long been an emotive issue for the state that was rocked by anti-Hindi agitation in the 1960s.

In the letter, the DMK chief recalled the anti-Hindi agitations in the state from 1937 to 1939, mentioning prominent leaders, including E.V. Ramasamy “Periyar,” who participated in these protests. He also talked about concerns raised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders over blackening of Hindi names on railway station boards in the state.

“They should rather pose this question to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah and education minister Dharmendra Pradhan whether name boards in Uttar Pradesh had Tamil and other south Indian languages to benefit passengers from the region travelling there for the Kashi Sangamam and the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj,” he said, further asking whether announcements at railway stations in other Indian languages.

Stalin said that the “Dravidian movement has no enmity towards any language”. “Tamil has not considered any language as enemy and destroyed it. It has never allowed another language if it tried to dominate Tamil,” he added.

Meanwhile, the DMK chief said in a social media post endorsed the action of a section of people who defaced Hindi words on name boards, especially at railway stations and central government establishments in various locations throughout the state.

Referring to  questions from BJP leaders about how people from North India would find places in Tamil Nadu if their Hindi names were defaced, Stalin remarked, “Let them learn it the same way Tamils learn when they visit states in Northern India.”