Protesting against the Union government’s attempts to impose the Hindi language across the country, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) staged stirs at all district headquarters in Tamil Nadu on Saturday, October 15. Prominent DMK leaders including Members of the Parliament (MP), Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and hundreds of cadres were present at the statewide demonstrations. Speaking at a protest at Valluvar Kottam, DMK Youth Wing Secretary and Chepauk-Triplicane MLA Udhayanidhi Stalin said, “If such attempts to impose Hindi continue, we will conduct the protest at Delhi, in front of the Prime Minister’s Office.”
Raising slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government's ‘one nation one language’ agenda, Udayanidhi also called the protest the beginning of the 2024 general elections. The country’s people would fail the ruling BJP in 2024, just like the people of Tamil Nadu did in the 2019 elections, he said. He further asserted that the DMK would always stand against Hindi imposition.
The Union government has come under criticism several times for its attempts to impose the Hindi language across the country. Recently, the Committee of Parliament on Official Languages had recommended, in its 11th report, that Hindi be made the mandatory medium of instruction in all non-technical and technical colleges and central institutes across the country. Many DMK leaders and ministers had immediately condemned the move.
“The Indian Union’s sovereignty is rooted in its pluralism. On the contrary, trying to impose singularity on everything is going against the democratic spirit,” DMK deputy general secretary Kanimozhi had said on October 9. She was responding to the SSC’s recent announcement that the Combined Graduate Level (CGL) entrance exams for over 20,000 Union government jobs will only be conducted in Hindi and English.
Later, in a statement on October 10, Chief Minister MK Stalin pointed out that India’s strength lies in its diversity. “The BJP government is trying to destroy diversity under the guise of ‘one nation’ by imposing one language, one religion, and one culture on the people. This is a threat to India’s diversity,” he said. Stalin added that the report submitted by the Committee mentioned that if government officials do not speak in Hindi, they would be given a warning and action would be taken against them. He asserted that this preferential treatment given to Hindi over the other languages was unconstitutional, and that such a move was a threat to the integrity of the nation.
Meanwhile, the DMK youth and student wings, while calling for statewide protests against Hindi imposition in non-Hindi speaking states, said in a statement that the decision to make Hindi the medium of instruction in central institutes such as IIT, IIM and AIIMS went against the sentiments of non-Hindi speaking states. They also alleged that a common entrance exam would snatch the job opportunities of the non-Hindi speaking candidates. Subsequently during a press meet on Friday, Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi clarified that the party had nothing against the Hindi language, and that it was only raising voice against the imposition of that language.
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