Why is the DMK continuing to oppose the imposition of Hindi? - 50 years of struggle and the truth!

Chennai: Tamil Nadu once again getting ready to fight against the Hindi Imposition. On November 4, the DMK announced that it will hold public meetings throughout Tamil Nadu opposing the Union Government.

The DMK President M.K.Stalin has released a statement opposing the recommendation that Hindi should be mandatory for higher education in India.

This has been recommended by the Official Language Research Council of India headed by Home Minister Amit Shah.

Tamil Nadu becomes the role model for India

On 18th the Tamil Nadu assembly had already passed a resolution condemning the act and had been sent to The President. Following that, Stalin will be taking part in Perambalur's public meeting to explain the message in detail.

It is the regular habit of the union Government to directly or indirectly use Hindi to dominate the state. This time we could see many states irrespective of the parties and ideologies have taken part in opposing the union government's fascist move.

Tamil Nadu has always stood against the Hindi Imposition. In 1965, when Tamil Nadu was the lone state fighting against this there was no other state who were supporting. But today we could see the protest on Hindi imposition going wild in Bengal, the students and youngsters are carrying the picture and slogans of Aringar Anna and Kalaignar Karunanithi.

"These scenes are perfect testimonies to the fact that Tamil Nadu is the guiding light of India in its anti-Hindi agitation," says Suba Veerapandian.

Congress stands against Hindi Imposition

When the Nehru-led Congress government tried to impose Hindi, Even Kamaraj supported this in Tamil Nadu but DMK opposed it. The National mainstream party congress wanted Hindi as the face of India to penetrate the states but today the fact changed. Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi himself, expresses the anti-Hindi mindset and expressed his love towards Tamil in many places.

Similarly, former finance minister P Chidambaram is also opposing the act of the Union Government. India have many languages in which 18 languages are official as per constitution along with English and Tamil says P.Chidambaram

As mentioned, we have many languages in India and every language should be treated equally because it is very important. The Union government should understand that there are many countries which have multiple official languages. For example, Belgium, Singapore, Canada etc... all these countries have more than one official language.

Jawaharlal Nehru followed by his daughter Indira Gandhi realized this and hence announced that English will also be an official language until the Non-Hindi speaking states accept Hindi. That explains the power of the protest by DMK in those days.

However, the committee on languages within the central government has recommended that "Hindi should be the medium of instruction in all IITs, IIMs and central universities in the country.

"If the medium of language is Hindi in Mumbai, Kanpur, Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru Universities what will be the position of the Non-Hindi speaking students. Is the Union Government trying to say that Non-Hindi speaking students cannot get education in these universities? And no one from the union government has replied to this question" says Chidambaram

"Stalin was the first chief minister to immediately oppose Amit Shah's imposition of Hindi," says Raja. "What are the many important moments that the DMK has initiated at the national level for the imposition of Hindi? How was the country saved by that?" he said, pointing to the details and sharing some information.

H.Raja throwing Some light to the Facts

DMK is a regional party but has always been seen as equal as a national party because of its vigorous voice against oppression and imposition.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was once a movement that demanded a separate state as Dravidian Nation. There is no patriotism, no religion and caste; this was first quoted by Thanthai Periyar.

Let's recall the incident, when China invaded the country in 1962, Thanthai Periyar didn't bother about that, but he was much more focused on Shudhras entering the temple.

When the criticism raised Periyar explained that if Shudhras will be allowed inside the temple and the caste discrimination demolishes by the entry on China into India I will be the first person to welcome that.

At that time, Anna opposed the statement and said "To change the tiles we need the House hence, I'm giving up the demand for Dravida Nadu. I support Indian nationalism and DMK will never accept if India's sovereignty and integrity are in danger".

We need to read the first page of the constitution which says "India is a democratic country.

India is a sovereign, Secular and socialist country. Whenever these basic qualities were in danger, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was the first to raise its voice and save this nation.

In 1962, when India was facing a tough time with China, Anna stood for India and when Pakistan tried to invade India the then Chief Minister Karunanithi said we need to stand for the sovereignty of the nation and collected Rs 5 crores which Tamil Nadu donated to the union government.

M. Karunanithi's struggle for Tamil

We all know about the emergency period, the most notorious act of the Union Government led by Indira Gandhi. In those times DMK immediately took a resolution opposing MISA (Maintenance of internal security ordinance) which no other state did.

Indira Gandhi sent a message to Karunanthi saying 'You can rule the state for next 6 years but you should not oppose the MISA bill brought by the union Government.

"Power is not important; but I have a role to play in protecting India's democracy, my movement has a role to play," he said,

Please note DMK president M Karunanidhi had lost power for the same.

The same Indira Gandhi brought in a new idea to merge the privatized banks and nationalize them. Morarji Desai the finance minister from the cabinet opposed the plan but Kalaignar wrote to Indira saying that the DMK MPs will support her idea and she should proceed with the same.

Stalin's sound awoke the country

Stalin passed a resolution against Hindi imposition, and he said to protect Tamil we can have English as the official language.

"Tamil Nadu is once again a pioneer in upholding the rights of the people of non-Hindi speaking states to protect all the 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution," he said.

"This Council urges the Union Government not to implement the recommendations made by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Languages, Amit Shah, in the report submitted to the President on 09.09.2022, which are against the interest of the people who speak those languages for the state languages, including Tamil," he said.

What did the DMK do in the anti-Hindi agitation?

Tamil Nadu has a long history against Hindi Imposition starting from Thanthai Periyar, Aringar Anna, Kalaignar Karunanithi and the list goes on says MDMK General Secretary Vaiko

"Kalaignar Karunanidhi was announced as the head of the anti-Hindi committee in 1963. On September 22, there was an anti-Hindi conference in the city of Thaamirabharani. The president of the conference was Govindaamy where Karunanithi was inaugurating it.

On the next day, Karunanithi was presented with a silver sword and a shield which was presided over by actor SS Rajendran. Arrangements were made for Anna to present a silver sword and shield. In his speech, Karunanithi said, 'I do not think that today I have received this for not what I have done before but I think you're alerting me for what I have to do in the future. You may have thought that I'm asking for a silver sword even before completing the job so I may ask for a Golden sword if I complete it. No, if I die in this fight, I know my leader 'Anna' will come for my death and he will cry. The tears from his eyes for me are much more valuable than the golden sword or any valuables in the world.

After 3 years, in 1965 Karunanithi was remanded in the Palayamkottai solitary prison. When Anna went to meet him he said 'Thannai velvaan, Tharaniyai velvaan' means 'The one who conquer him will conquer the world'

English, not a foreign language

Thereafter, on June 19, 1966, an anti-Hindi student conference was held in Thanjavur. Anna was speaking when Kalaignar hadn't arrived. He said I am not ending my session, my brother will come to continue. The party and the movement had a very strong base in Tamil Nadu - Vaiko said

He also said, "Do you want Hindi India? Or do you want a united India? T.T. Krishnamachari asked in Parliament that day. This is the same question I raised in Parliament too.

English is the official language and the scripts of the Northeastern Provinces. The Anglo-Indians are citizens of the state. Their mother tongue is English. So, we cannot say English is a foreign language.

Since Amit Shah doesn't know Anna we need to tell him that Anna said if English is a foreign Language for Hindi speaking states then Hindi is a foreign language for Non-Hindi states. - Explains Vaiko

The history of Tamil Nadu speaks loud about the Dravidian Movement and the powerful struggle of DMK to hold Tamil and to fight against Imposition of Hindi. From Thanthai Periyar till Stalin, DMK's stand against Hindi imposition was the same strong and this would continue for generations.