'BJP-led Centre pays lip service to Tamil for votes,' alleges CM Stalin

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday alleged that the BJP-led union government paid mere lip service to Tamil language for the sake of votes and dubbed the ruling party at the Centre as Tamil's "enemy."

Writing to party workers as part of his series on the theme of "all-time opposition to Hindi imposition," Stalin recalled DMK founder leader C N Annadurai's views on the issue. Decades ago, Anna had said that the party's objective is not to oppose Hindi, but to get equal recognition to Indian languages including Tamil. While the BJP claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi held Tamil in high esteem and that the 3-language formula is for the growth of languages of the states, the difference in allocation of funds for Tamil and Sanskrit would make it pretty clear that they are "enemies" of Tamil, Stalin alleged. 

As per the Union Education Ministry's data, during the period between 2014 and 2023, the union government allotted Rs 2,435 crore to the Central Sanskrit University and the National Sanskrit University. During the same period, only Rs 167 crore was allotted to Central Institute of Classical Tamil. Fund allocation and expenditure has increased manifold for the promotion of Sanskrit and Hindi.

"The union government, out-and-out, is functioning with a feeling of linguistic hegemony and pays mere lip service to Tamil for the sake of votes," the chief minister alleged. The BJP-led Centre, which is betraying Tamil Nadu by not allotting funds due to the state, is also betraying by not allocating funds for Tamil language and it is trying to "destroy" Tamil and languages of other states through the "languages of dominance," Hindi and Sanskrit. Disapproving it, the DMK president said the consequences of imposing a language could be understood by perusing the history of world.

In a social media post, Stalin said: "If the BJP’s claim that our Hon'ble PM has great love for Tamil is true, why is it never reflected in action? Rather than installing Sengol in Parliament, uninstall Hindi from Union Government offices in Tamil Nadu. Instead of hollow praise, make Tamil an official language on par with Hindi and allot more funds for Tamil than a dead language like Sanskrit. Stop the desperate attempts to saffronise Thiruvalluvar and declare his timeless classic, Thirukkural, as India’s National Book. Quoting Kurals during the Union Budget will not cut it. Honour them by ensuring special schemes, a prompt disaster relief fund, and new railway projects for Tamil Nadu."

Also, he said: "Stop wasting taxpayers’ money on the nonsense of 'Hindi Pakhwadas' in Tamil Nadu. End the absurdity of imposing Sanskrit names like Antyodaya, Tejas, and Vande Bharat on Tamil Nadu’s trains. Revert to the practice of naming them in Tamil, like Chemmozhi, Muthunagar, Vaigai, Malaikottai, Thirukkural Express, etc. Love for Tamil is proven through deeds, not deception." In his letter to cadres, the chief minister, further, said: "All Indian languages including Tamil listed in the 8th schedule of the Constitution are India's national languages." However, if Hindi alone is claimed to be the national language, it is a manifestation of dominance.

Claiming that Sanskrit is India's root language is an "attempt to consign us to servitude." If Sanskrit is taken as the root language, it meant that all other languages originated only from it. "That is, they are trying to establish that all the languages in India had their roots in Sanskrit. It was linguist Robert Caldwell who had, 175 years ago, by way of his studies had made it known to the world that Dravidian languages including Tamil had unique characteristics," Stalin said. On March 4, Stalin wondered why the union government has not facilitated setting up of an institution to teach Tamil or other south Indian languages to people of states in north India.