Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has written to the Centre, warning against the ‘imposition’ of Hindi language. The remarks came mere hours after a parliamentary committee recommended that the medium of instruction in technical and non-technical higher education institutes such as IITs should be Hindi (in Hindi-speaking states) and the respective local language in other parts of India.
“India has unity in diversity and should treat all languages equally. We should come to a level where all languages are official languages. Do not force another language war on us by imposing Hindi. We urge the Prime minister and government to stop Hindi imposition and save India’s unity,” the letter urged.
Stalin opined that such a move would be opposed by any state that appreciated its mother tongue – not just Tamil Nadu. He also referred to the report that the Committee of Parliament on Official Language headed by Home Minister Amit Shah had presented to President Droupadi Murmu last month.
“During Hindi Diwas Shah said Hindi is a official language, but the committee headed by him recommended Hindi as a common language and called for Hindi to be the language of instruction. In many areas across India, a majority of the faculty, officials and students don’t speak Hindi. It is similar to ‘divide and rule’ wherein the Hindi speakers are first class citizens and non Hindi speakers are second class citizens,” he alleged.
The move has also been opposed in neighbouring Kerala, with the ruling CPI(M) asserting on Monday that it runs contrary to the spirit of the Constitution and the country’s linguistic diversity. Senior Left leader and former state finance minister TM Thomas Isaac also said the BJP does not believe in the country’s diversity.
“We strongly oppose these efforts which stem from the RSS conception of one nation, one culture, one language. It runs contrary to the spirit of the Indian Constitution and our country’s linguistic diversity,” the party tweeted.
