Don’t force another war for linguistic rights on Tamil Nadu, Minister Udhayanidhi
We won’t join a slew of northern states, which have lost their mother tongue to Hindi onslaught, affirms Deputy CM at INDIA bloc’s stir against Centre
Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin
CHENNAI: Leading the charge against the Union government for ‘imposing’ the trilingual policy on Tamil Nadu, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Tuesday cautioned that the State will not hesitate to launch another war for linguistic rights if the Centre imposed Hindi again.
Udhayanidhi also warned that Tamil Nadu would lose its mother tongue Tamil, if it accepted the trilingual policy, like some of the north Indian states.
Speaking at the protest organised by the party in the city against the Union government for imposing Hindi and delaying the rightful share of funds to the State, Udhayanidhi recalled Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s statement setting NEP as a precondition for availing central funds and said, “The mother tongue of Rajasthan is Rajasthani. Bihar’s mother tongue is Bihari. For Haryana, it was Haryanvi. UP’s native language is Bhojpuri. The languages have ceased to exist because of the imposition of Hindi. The people of those states now learn Hindi, English and their mother tongue as their third language. If we accept Hindi and trilingual policy, we will also lose Tamil.”
“Previous rulers of the State would have signed anywhere you asked. But, this is not a slave government. This is the self-respect-loving Dravidian model government of Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin. Tamil Nadu will never accept a trilingual policy,” Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi categorically said.
‘No greater betrayal than accepting Hindi imposition’
Insisting that the State was only demanding its rightful share of funds, Udhayanidhi said, “If you keep intimidating us, we know how to react. We respect democracy and the Constitution. We are rightfully asking.”
Taking strong exception to Pradhan’s allegation that the DMK was politicising the issue, Udhayanidhi said, “Politics is secondary to us. Language rights and race sentiment are our priority.” Reminding the minister of the long list of linguistic martyrs who died fighting against Hindi imposition, Stalin junior said, “They did not die for politics. They died to protect our Tamil language.”
If we accept a trilingual policy and Hindi, we will lose our Tamil language, he warned. There cannot be a greater betrayal to Tamil Nadu than that, he added.
