CHENNAI: With the alleged imposition of Hindi once again taking centre stage in Tamil Nadu’s political discourse, triggered by the recent remarks of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin on Tuesday commenced a series of letters in the party organ Murasoli. He termed the series an initiative to educate the younger generation on the state’s history of language struggle and the sacrifices made by many.
Stalin’s first letter of the series was titled ‘We’ll forever oppose Hindi imposition’. Penned under his usual moniker ‘Ungalil Oruvan’ (one among you), he wrote, “It is an untiring, continuous and successful struggle, lasting for more than 85 years. They (union government) continue to thrust Hindi upon us and we continue to resist it. Our struggle will go on until a definite end is reached.”
On why Tamil Nadu alone is opposed to Hindi imposition while other states accept it, Stalin went on to explain, “Tamil Nadu grew in education, skill development and in availing the benefits of job opportunities because of its two-language policy. We have achieved this through Tamil and English.”
He stated that many other states have also realised that TN’s two-language policy was right and have started to express similar opinions.
He accused the centre of not releasing the Samagra Shiksha scheme funds as it got annoyed at how other states are becoming aware of the issue because of Tamil Nadu. “We are not against any language or anybody learning other languages,” he clarified.