Will not let other languages dominate Tamil, says Stalin

Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin emphasizes Dravidian movement's stance against Hindi imposition and protection of Tamil language.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said the Dravidian movement holds no enmity towards any language, and emphasised that at the same time it will not allow attempts by other languages to show dominance.

“For those who are asking us why [the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam] DMK is still opposing Hindi, my humble response to them, as one among you, is that it’s because you are still imposing it on us. If you don’t impose, we won’t oppose. We won’t stop it. We won’t blacken Hindi words in the State [Tamil Nadu],” Mr. Stalin said in his second letter to the DMK party cadre on the issue of imposition of Hindi.

“The unique characteristic of Tamils is self-respect, and we will not allow anyone, whoever it may be, to play with it,” he said, and added, “Tamil has not considered any language as enemy and destroyed it. At the same time, it has never allowed another language’s attempt to dominate Tamil. Such attempts have been thwarted. That is our cultural history.”

“The BJP cadre here question us over the blackening of Hindi words [on name boards] at railway stations. They should rather pose the question to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, on whether name boards in Uttar Pradesh have Tamil and other South Indian languages for the benefit of passengers from the south travelling for the Kashi Tamil Sangamam and Kumbh Mela,” the Chief Minister charged. “They should ask whether regional languages in India were respected equally and announcements were made,” he further said.

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He said that through the three-language formula, the Union government was trying to impose Hindi and Sanskrit. Highlighting that the State was against it, he said the foundation for this was laid years ago by Dravidian leaders.

Recalling the anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu between 1937 and 1939, Mr. Stalin said the State would prepare for similar protests if the situation arises. “Due to the two-language policy, Tamil Nadu is standing tall in areas such as school education, higher education, skill development, and job creation. The BJP government is continuing its ploy to stop Tamil Nadu’s development. We will raise slogans against such attempts and safeguard our mother tongue,” he concluded.