CHENNAI: Pointing to the allocation of more funds to the development of Sanskrit than for Tamil, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by alleging that the latter’s “great love” for Tamil never reflected in action.
In the eighth part of his series of letters explaining the state’s opposition to Hindi imposition, being published in DMK’s party organ Murasoli, the party president said, “From 2014 till 2023, the Union Government has allotted Rs 2,435 crore funds for the Sanskrit Universities whereas it allotted just Rs167 crore for the Central Institute of Classical Tamil in the same period.”
“The BJP cadre are arguing that Modi has a high regard for Tamil and the three-language formula is aimed at promoting the state languages. However, the difference between the allocation of funds for Sanskrit and Tamil is huge. This shows that they are anti-Tamils,” the CM charged.
He said the Prime Minister should “uninstall” Hindi from the Union Government offices in the state rather than installing Sengol (the sceptre from Tamil Nadu) in the parliament.
“Instead of hollow praises, make Tamil an official language on a par with Hindi and allot more funds for Tamil than a dead language like Sanskrit,” he demanded.
He also urged the PM to stop their desperate attempt to “saffronize” Thiruvalluvar and declare Thirukkural as India’s national book. “Stop wasting taxpayers money on ‘Hindi Pakhwadas' and end the absurdity of naming trains in Sanskrit,” he added.
“Trains in Tamil Nadu are named as Antyodaya, Tejas, and Vande Bharat by imposing Sanskrit. Revert to the practice of naming them in Tamil, like Chemmozhi, Muth Nagar, Vaigai, Malaikottai, Thirukkural Express etc,” he insisted.
Reiterating that all the 22 languages in the eighth schedule of the constitution are India’s national languages, Stalin said “Saying Hindi alone is the national language is the sign of dominance.”
Referring to the remark of Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla that Sanskrit was the primary language of Bharat, the CM said it was a “tyrannical” attempt. He concluded this letter by saying “To understand consequences of language imposition, refer to world history.”