'Attempts to impose Hindi divisive in character,' TN CM MK Stalin writes to PM Modi

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the report submitted by the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language. He requested PM to not take forward the efforts to 'impose Hindi' in ways recommended in the report and asserted that the 'glorious flame of unity of India' must be held high.

In the letter, Stalin said, "I request that the efforts to impose Hindi in various ways as recommended in the report may not be taken forward and glorious flame of unity of India may be held high forever."

Stalin stated that the approach of the Centre should be to include all languages, including Tamil, in the eighth schedule, keeping in view the "scientific development and technological facilities and promote all languages and keep open avenues of progress in terms of education and employment equal to speakers of all languages."

'Attempts to impose Hindi are impractical & divisive in character,' says Stalin

"Recent attempts to impose Hindi are impractical and divisive in character; puts non-Hindi-speaking people in a very disadvantageous position in many respects. This will not be acceptable not only to Tamil Nadu but also to any state that respects and values their mother tongue," the letter said.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also stated that the number of people speaking languages other than Hindi is numerically higher than the Hindi-speaking population in India. 

"I'm sure you'd appreciate that every language has its own speciality with its uniqueness and linguistic culture," Stalin added.

On Saturday, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had warned that the party would stage a protest against the Union Government in Delhi if Hindi is 'thrust upon' Tamil Nadu.

A parliamentary panel had recently recommended that the medium of instruction in technical and non-technical higher education institutes such as the Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) in Hindi-speaking states should be Hindi and in other parts of the country, the respective regional languages. It also suggested that Hindi should be one of the official languages of the United Nations.