Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to treat non-Hindi speakers as “third-class citizens” of the country, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday adopted a resolution in the Assembly. The resolution urged the Union government not to accept the recommendations of a parliamentary panel about declaring Hindi as the medium of instruction in Central institutes.
“Their heart beats only for Hindi,” Stalin told the Assembly, adding, “they (BJP) want to prevent people from acquiring English knowledge. They claim to give importance to regional languages. But not in reality.”
The resolution, moved by Stalin, was passed “unanimously” by the House after the BJP staged a walkout, and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) members, barring the rebel O Panneerselvam faction, were suspended.
‘Imposing Hindi everywhere’
“From imposing Hindi in administration, to now extending it to educational institutes, the BJP thinks it came to power only to impose Hindi,” Stalin said and charged the ruling party with trying to destroy regional languages by trying to force Hindi and making it the only language in the country.
In his 15-minute speech, the chief minister tore into the BJP on “Hindi imposition” and asked the saffron party whether it was ready to declare all 22 languages, including Tamil, named in the 8th Schedule of Constitution, as official languages of the country to prove its “claim” that it loves other languages.
“They (BJP) are trying to divide India into three, based on the usage of Hindi. Hindi-speaking states, states where usage of Hindi is less, and states that don’t speak Hindi. Tamil Nadu comes under the third category. There are efforts to make us third-class citizens, despite our language (Tamil) being one of the oldest in the world. We will raise our voice against this,” he said.
‘Don’t accept committee recommendations’
Referring to media reports on the recommendations of the committee, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Stalin said the motive of the BJP government seems to be to remove English and make Hindi “omnipresent” in official communication and in educational institutes.
“If Kendriya Vidyalaya and IITs teach only in Hindi, are they trying to say that people who speak other languages have no space in such institutes…
“By seeking to exempt English from question papers, they (BJP) want to conduct all exams in Hindi. We have no option but to think that these recommendations have been made to ensure that non-Hindi speakers don’t get Union government jobs,” Stalin added.
During the course of his speech, Stalin asserted that Tamil Nadu would continue to follow the dual language policy of Tamil and English and that it was its “language policy” that had forced the state to stand against the National Education Policy (NEP) and reject NEET.
‘Nehru’s assurances should be respected’
The resolution said many recommendations made in that report are “detrimental” to the people of non-Hindi speaking states and contrary to the promise made by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on the floor of the Parliament in 1962.
“The Indian Constitution has recognised India as a secular country and prime ministers who have administered the country in the past have given an assurance that there will never be domination of one language. Nehru’s assurance that Hindi will not be imposed on non-Hindi speakers and English will continue till they want is the only protection for us,” Stalin said.
Asserting that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was founded to protect “our mother tongue” and to oppose the dominance of other languages, Stalin said Hindi has been imposed continuously since 1938 and political parties in Tamil Nadu have been opposing it continuously.
“The dominant forces don’t want to stop imposing Hindi, and we are also not interested in ending our opposition to the imposition. I assure the people of Tamil Nadu that we will continue to oppose the imposition of Hindi and save our language,” he said.
‘Unity in Diversity’
Contending that India is a diverse nation where people belonging to different cultures, languages, communities, and religions live, Stalin said that the country is a single unit today as it embraced the principle of unity in diversity.
“By saving the cultural diversity, India has survived for 75 years despite foreign newspapers opining that the country won’t be a single nation even for a year after Independence in 1975,” Stalin said.
The chief minister, whose DMK rode to power in 1967 after leading the 1965 anti-Hindi agitation, accused the Union government of celebrating Hindi Divas, and not organising events to mark other languages.
“The importance given to Hindi not just amounts to boycotting other languages but is also aimed at destroying them. Not just as an official or an administrative language, the BJP is trying to make Hindi the language that symbolises power,” Stalin charged.
He also said considering the technological and scientific advancements, the Union government’s motive should have been to provide equal status to all languages much like Hindi. It is against the Constitution to keep only Hindi and throw English out, he said, asking the Centre to give equal importance to all 22 languages under the 8th schedule.
Tamil Nadu and its language policy
Tamil Nadu is consistent in its dual language policy, and “we want Tamil to be accepted as one of the administrative official languages of India”. All state languages should be made official languages of the country.
“Hindi should not be imposed on non-Hindi speakers at any cost. English should continue as long as non-Hindi speakers want. Preference should not be given to Hindi speakers and such a move will be in contradiction with the Constitution,” Stalin said in his speech.
He also said the Centre should declare Tamil as the joint official language of Central offices in Tamil Nadu by bringing an amendment. “Tamil should be made the official language of the Madras High Court. This is our language policy. That is why we oppose Hindi imposition and reject National Education Policy and people of Tamil Nadu know this,” he added.
Tamil Nadu, especially DMK, has been at the forefront of opposing imposition of Hindi since the 1960s and had led vociferous protests on the issue for years. It backed off only after the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1962, promised to continue with English as a “link language.”
The state has been following a dual language policy of Tamil and English since 1968.
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