Language is a permanent political live wire in Tamil Nadu, do not touch, says former Union Minister A Raja

Language is a permanent political issue in Tamil Nadu and the BJP should not touch the sensitive issue of language which is a live wire. “Whoever touches current (live wire) will get an electric shock,” said former Union Telecom Minister and DMK leader A Raja. In an interview to DH’s E T B Sivapriyan, Raja spoke about Tamil Nadu politics, Hindi imposition and the 2G spectrum allocation. Edited excerpts:

Q. DMK has been out of power in Tamil Nadu for the past 10 years and the assembly elections are less than seven months away in the state. What are the DMK’s prospects this time?

A. The chances for DMK are very bright on two counts. First, the DMK has proved that it is the only party that is concerned about people’s issues, the needs of the people and highlighting the errors of the governments. All the issues that concern the people have been democratically, legally and legitimately debated within and outside the Parliament. Hence, the DMK has proved under the able leadership of M K Stalin that it is a real democratic party that has stood by issues of the people. Second, the 10 years of AIADMK government has been marred by corruption, misrule, commission. People’s aspirations were not reflected both inside and outside the Assembly. The Edappadi government has miserably failed to fulfil the aspirations and expectations of the people. The government will change and DMK will come to power.

Q. For the past 4.5 years, the DMK has been alleging that the AIADMK has surrendered before the BJP and now the BJP is also very aggressive in the state. It has gone on a recruitment drive and is also poaching leaders from the DMK. Why do you think the BJP is quite aggressive in Tamil Nadu now?

A. The reason is very clear. It is an ideological fight. Almost the whole of India adopted or shifted to Hindutva politics except a few states. The real political off-shoot of the Dravidian movement is the DMK. In Tamil Nadu, the fight between the DMK and the BJP is not a political one, but the clash of ideologies. Our main opponent admittedly is AIADMK, but the BJP is aggressive because of the ideological war. They want to change the ideological mindset of the people.

In Tamil Nadu, people believe in worship and God. Faith in the God or the spiritual value of the individual will not be labelled as Hinduism. People of Tamil Nadu have been cultured by E V R Periyar, C N Annadurai, and M Karunanidhi. They have been successful in making people believe that religion is a personal issue, and it should not come into politics. This distinction was made clear and has been inculcated in the minds of Tamilians. This is the reason we are not able to digest the BJP. Knowing that Tamil Nadu has been resisting this ideology all along, the BJP now wants to propagate themselves in the name of Hinduism. They also believe that Chief Minister Palaniswami (EPS) and his deputy Panneerselvam (OPS) may not survive for another tenure as they are not popular leaders. In the absence of charismatic leaders, they (BJP) think that the ideological alternative can be converted into a political alternative. It will not be acceptable in Tamil Nadu.

Q. Do you think people will buy the BJP’s Hindu pride argument? They (BJP) also label DMK as an “anti-Hindu” party. Your comments.

A. For the past 50 years, our Dravidian leaders were vociferous in talking about Hinduism. Yes, if at all, one needs to have spiritual space, he can go his way. We have made it very clear that Hinduism never existed as one religion. Yes, people in the past followed Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, Lord Krishna, and Lord Murugan and these were the different schools of religious thoughts that existed in India. When British came to India, they identified Christians and Muslims by their faith, but the remaining, which was the majority, were heterogeneous and they were not following a single god, and everything was different from one place to another. Then, the British wanted to call all these people under one name, and they called them Hindus. This is clear in the minds of the people of Tamil Nadu. I may be conscious about my caste and I may identify myself using my caste, but nobody will create chaos here (in Tamil Nadu) in the name of Hinduism. That is the training which has been given by our Dravidian ideology and that is the reason why Hindutva will not survive here.

Q. DMK has been attacking the BJP not just on secularism, but on federalism and farmers legislations that were passed recently. Why does the DMK feel federalism is under threat now?

A. Their (BJP’s) thought always is One India, One Language, One Culture, One Tax, and they want to have 'oneness' in India which is not possible. India was never one country before British came here. British came here and merged various princely states to form India. The idea of oneness is not agreeable to the DMK because the party has faith in federalism and our founder Anna stood for that and he said India is a composition of various cultures based on language, not based on religion. So many linguistic cultures have been merged into one box in the name of Union of India. I am a Tamilian as long as I speak Tamil, and I am an Indian as long as I am a citizen of the country. This should not be taken into consideration in contra-position. It should be taken into consideration on the basis of synchronization. I can be a Tamilian and can be an Indian at the same time. If you ask me a specific question on whether you are a Tamilian or an Indian, my preference will first go towards Tamilian. We are against one tax, and one language policy. Fundamentally, and philosophically, the ideology of the DMK and the Dravidian movement is diametrically opposite to the BJP’s ideology and its religious-based policy.

Q: Not just the DMK, even common people feel Hindi is being imposed in Tamil Nadu, but the BJP says there is no harm in learning a third language. How do you respond to the BJP’s suggestion?

A: Already there are Kendriya Vidyalayas and Hindi Prachar Sabhas where people can learn Hindi. The question is not whether one should learn Hindi. For necessity, any bureaucrat who works in North India or even a trader who goes there, can learn Hindi and that is altogether different. The problem is it should not be mandatory, and it should not be compulsory. When you insist on the compulsory learning of Hindi, we feel that our language is being sidelined and our culture is being assaulted. We want to keep our identity so far as the language and language-oriented culture is concerned. Tamil is a rich language; it is a classical language and it cannot be compared with Hindi. Do not impose Hindi on us.

Q: The question that BJP asks is when students under the CBSE stream can learn Hindi, why can’t government school students also learn the language?

A: If you make learning of Hindi universal, it is a threat to our language and assault on our culture. Tell me the purpose of a third language? English is the connecting official language and our first PM Jawaharlal Nehru gave an assurance on the floor of the Parliament that English will continue till the time people of Tamil Nadu want it. For all official communication, government to government and government to people and people to people communication, English is enough for us. Learning Hindi has not made us handicap. But imposition of Hindi will assault our ethnical identity and language based culture.

Q: The BJP says DMK plays language politics especially before elections and the DMK has been raking up Hindi imposition in the past few months citing incidents involving party MP Kanimozhi and doctors from the state. Your response.

A: Who is responsible for DMK raising the issue? Did Kanimozhi voluntarily invite any problem? You are accusing that the DMK is raising issues at the time of elections willfully. My question is who invited the trouble? What prompted the people in Delhi who are conducting an official meeting to ask people who do not know Hindi to go out. You did it and we are forced to react. Kanimozhi was stopped, and she was confined to react. You are creating problems against our language and you are imposing Hindi on us despite our continuous opposition. Who is doing politics here? It is BJP, and not the DMK.

Q: Will language be a major issue during 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly polls?

A: Language is a permanent and perpetual issue of Tamil Nadu. When you touch current (live wire), you get an electric shock. It is up to you (Centre). And the moment you touch the language issue, there will be a reaction from the DMK. Please do not shift the responsibility or the onus on us. It is your (Centre’s) responsibility to keep mum and respect our sentiments.

Q: Coming to the 2G spectrum case, the Delhi High Court has accepted the plea of the CBI and ED to hear the case regularly. Some say the timing is suspect as it is coming months before TN elections. Your comments?

A: I do not want to add political colour to the judicial process. I am a practicing lawyer and I cannot suspect the judiciary because I was put in jail by our own government for reasons best known to them. They believed the CAG report. I have faith in the judicial system, and I do not know for what reasons they speeding it up. Whatever be the reasons best known to them, I do not want to attribute any motive. I can attribute motive to CBI as the BJP might want to make the 2G appeal as an election issue in Tamil Nadu. During the 2011 elections, the then Opposition Leader J Jayalalithaa asked how much physical space was needed to store 1.76 lakh crore. This type of political propaganda may be used by BJP through CBI. However, I have faith in the judiciary.

Q: Do you think the 2G verdict will have any bearing on the assembly elections?

A: There is no chance of any verdict before elections. The matter before the Delhi High Court now is whether the appeal can be entertained or not and the argument will start on whether the appeal can be admitted. This argument will go. We are raising some legal issues as we feel the appeal should not be admitted as the Prevention of Corruption Act has been amended by the BJP government. Under the amended act, no action can be taken against any government servant till the time there is evidence of receiving any bribe. And the CBI has not been able to provide any evidence against me. I am very clear that truth will prevail everywhere.