Protests in Madurai over ‘Hindi imposition’

The SFI and DYFI staged a demonstration on Wednesday and said that the Union government’s attempts to ‘impose Hindi’ violated the Official Languages Act and were an affront to non-Hindi speaking States

Members of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) staged a demonstration against the attempts of the Union government to impose Hindi. The protest was held in front of the Tallakulam Head Post Office .

The protestors held placards against the imposition of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states in the country. They also raised slogans against the “anti-people policies” of the Modi-led Union government.

Addressing the protest, S. Manikandan, state vice president, DYFI, said that the Union government claims that knowing Hindi will secure jobs for youngsters. “The majority of youngsters who work in factories, construction sites and in various sectors across Tamil Nadu are Hindi-speaking people. In which case, the Union must focus on strengthening language skills in the Hindi-speaking states first,” he charged.

Mr. Manikandan alleged that the attempts to impose Hindi in educational institutions were joint efforts of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to realise their vision of ‘one Nation’ rule. If we let that happen, soon they might even ask people to wear only saffron-clad clothes across the country,” he said, adding that such impositions of language, a “sentimental concept,” must be resisted to protect the heritage of non-Hindi speaking states.

Further, G. Bala, district secretary, SFI said that choosing to learn or speak a language is one’s own right. “The Union government has no right to interfere in this and force any citizen to learn a particular language, let alone Hindi,” he said, adding that the history of agitations in Tamil Nadu against “Hindi imposition” trace back to the 1960s and 1970s.

Mr. Bala also noted that imposing Hindi would be a direct violation of the Official Languages Act and that if the Union’s attempts continue, outbreaks across the country will intensify.

As many as 43 protestors were detained by the police.