CHENNAI: The union government should have understanding and maturity while dealing with language issues, founder president of 'Tamiliyakkam' G Viswanathan said at the annual event of the movement held at Tamil Nadu Open University on Sunday. 'Tamiliyakkam' was started to unite Tamils beyond caste, religion, and political affiliations, he added.
There are 22 official languages in the country while there are over 121 languages spoken and 19,500 dialects. While opposition to Hindi imposition started in 1937, it culminated in 1968 with the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru assuring the southern states that English would continue to be the official language until those states with other languages as mother tongues wished. However, the union government is now trying to remove English. India received Rs 9 lakh crore in the last year as remittances from our citizens working in foreign countries. If they studied only their mother tongue, would this be possible, Viswanathan asked.
He also said several people, including TT Krishnamachari, the first finance minister of India, spoke against Hindi imposition in the constituent assembly. A resolution against indirect Hindi imposition of the union government was adopted during the event.
Speaking about economic development, Viswanathan said India as a country should see economic development while Tamils should be at the front of it. "India has overtaken even America in terms of inequality. This has to be addressed," he added. Viswanathan also urged the government to share the burden of parents in ensuring higher education for students across the state.
Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan, VIT Vellore vice-president GV Selvam, ministers, former ministers and leaders of several other organisations also participated in the event.