Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin has hit out at the Centre, accusing it of Hindi imposition
Intensifying his attack on the Centre over alleged Hindi imposition through a three-language policy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has said demanding linguistic equality is not chauvinism. In a long post on X this morning, Mr Stalin used the popular quote often attributed to entertainment mogul Franklin Leonard: "When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression."
The DMK chief said he was reminded of this quote "when some entitled bigots brand us chauvinists and anti-nationals for the 'crime' of demanding Tamil's rightful place in Tamil Nadu".
Targeting the BJP and its ideological parent RSS, he said the people who "glorify Godse's ideology have the audacity to question the patriotism of DMK and its government that contributed the highest amount of funds during the Chinese Aggression, Bangladesh Liberation War, and Kargil War, while their ideological forefather is the one who assassinated 'Bapu' Gandhi".
"Demanding Linguistic Equality is not chauvinism. Do you want to know what Chauvinism looks like? Chauvinism is naming the three criminal laws that govern 140 crore citizens in a language that Tamils cannot even pronounce or comprehend by reading. Chauvinism is treating the state that contributes the most to the nation as second-class citizens and denying its fair share for refusing to swallow the poison called NEP," the Chief Minister said.
Saying that any imposition breeds enmity, he added, "Enmity threatens unity. Hence, the true chauvinists and anti-nationals are the Hindi zealots who believe their entitlement is natural but our resistance is treason."
The National Education Policy advocates a three-language policy, but stresses that "no language will be imposed on any State". The DMK government in Tamil Nadu has come out strongly against the three-language policy and alleged Hindi imposition.
The BJP in Tamil Nadu argues that a three-language policy is the need of the hour, particularly to help people when they travel to other parts of the country. They are pushing it as a capacity-building mechanism.
The DMK argues that children can learn as many languages as possible, but it should not be imposed. They also point out that since history, Tamils have scaled great heights after studying in an education system with a two-language formula.
State BJP chief K Annamalai has hit back at Chief Minister Stalin, calling him a "hypocrite" for attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Centre's fund allocation for Sanskrit-Hindi and Tamil.
"Only a Hypocrite would ask about the increased allocation of funds to Sanskrit over Tamil, knowing the rationality behind it very well. We are calling you a 'hypocrite' because this is the allocation for the development of Sanskrit & Tamil between 2006-14. Sanskrit: Rs 675.36 Crores. Tamil: Rs 75.05 Crores. What were you doing back then? What were you doing while former Home Minister Thiru P Chidambaram submitted over 170 recommendations to popularise Hindi nationwide?" Mr Annamalai asked. The state BJP chief today launched a signature campaign to support the three-language policy.
