“Our language and heritage define us – we won’t be enslaved by Hindi… Igniting the embers of the ‘1965 Anti-Hindi Imposition Agitations’ would be an unwise move,” Stalin tweeted.
Chairing the 38th meeting of the Committee of Parliament on Official Language in New Delhi on Friday, Shah said respect for heritage was incomplete without respect for language and acceptance of official language would come only when respect is given to local languages. He said Hindi was not in competition with local languages, and that the nation would be empowered only by promoting all Indian languages.
Stalin, however, said, “I strongly denounce Union Home minister Amit Shah’s audacious push for Hindi acceptance. It’s a blatant attempt to subjugate non-Hindi speakers.” He said Tamil Nadu rejected any form of Hindi hegemony and imposition.
“#StopImposingHindi,” Stalin tweeted, saying the Union minister should take heed of the growing resistance, given that many states like Karnataka and West Bengal too had been vehemently resisting imposition of Hindi. Condemning Shah’s statement, minister and DMK youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin said the undemocratic stance disregarded the rich linguistic diversity of India. “Superficial praise for Tamil in Tamil Nadu, alongside imperialist pro-Hindi statements from North India, exposes BJP’s double standards. Tamil Nadu has a history of resisting Hindi imposition, and it will firmly reject all the autocratic moves of fascists,” he said.
PMK founder S Ramadoss said attempts to impose Hindi would never succeed in Tamil Nadu. In a statement, the leader said non-Hindi speaking states did not accept Hindi and were always opposing the language. “If what Amit Shah says is true that Hindi does not compete with other languages, then why is the Union government refusing to give due status to the languages listed in the Eighth Schedule? Is it because of the fear that Hindi will fall if the state languages become official languages?” Ramadoss said.
Slamming the Union minister, CPM state secretary K Balakrishnan said the BJP and RSS were moving in the direction of one-language-one-culture and Hindi was being used as a political weapon for short-term gain. “We will not give space to attempts to destroy a pluralist democracy,” the Left leader said.