The President of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly M K Stalin has written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to halt the implementation of the recently unveiled National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), which he stated would seek to impose Hindi in Tamil Nadu

Referring to the three-language formula proposed by the policy, Stalin wrote that “Trilingual education not just imposes severe burden on children, but it also imposes an identity which people in different states may not be able to relate to.... Implementation of the three language policy with compulsory option of Sanskrit at all levels of education including higher education cannot be accepted”.

“This move undermines the glory and dignity of Tamil language and is an affront to the feelings of the people of Tamil Nadu,” he added.

Similar concerns were echoed by the Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy in his missive to the Prime Minister last week wherein he rejected the NEP 2020 and reaffirmed the state’s commitment to the two-language policy.

The imposition of Hindi language on a reluctant populace has been a sticking point between New Delhi and Chennai ever since the Dravidian movement began to attract massive public support in the erstwhile Madras presidency and the Madras State post-independence. Whilst former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru gave a vocal assurance in Parliament in 1963 that Hindi will not be imposed on any unwilling state, his successors failed to uphold his promise after his death in 1964.

As the Central government attempted to make Hindi the official language of all of India in 1965, the year that marked 15 years since the country became a republic, it was thwarted only by large-scale protests in the Madras State spearheaded by students influenced by the Dravidian ideology.

However, New Delhi’s impulse to impose Hindi on the Tamil people has not ceased, especially with a Hindu-nationalist government in place at the centre.

Last Sunday, Kanimozhi, a Member of Parliament (MP) from the DMK and MK Stalin’s step-sister tweeted her ordeal at the airport where a security officer asked whether she was ‘Indian’ since she asked her to speak in English or Tamil since she did not speak Hindi.

Today at the airport a CISF officer asked me if “I am an Indian” when I asked her to speak to me in tamil or English as I did not know Hindi. I would like to know from when being indian is equal to knowing Hindi.#hindiimposition

— Kanimozhi (கனிமொழி) (@KanimozhiDMK) August 9, 2020

Her statement drew calls of support from other South Indian politicians including the Chief Minister of Karnataka State H.D. Kumaraswamy who said ‘southern leaders are snatched of opportunities by Hindi opposition.’

The unpleasant experience of DMK MP Ms Kanimozhi at Chennai airport is not unusual.

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) August 10, 2020

P Chidambaram, an MP from the Congress Party, said in a series of tweets that ‘The unpleasant experience of DMK MP Ms Kanimozhi at Chennai airport is not unusual.’ I have experienced similar taunts from government officers and ordinary citizens who insisted that I speak in Hindi during telephone conversations and sometimes face to face. If the Central government is genuinely committed to both Hindi and English being the official languages of India, it must insist that all central government employees are bilingual in Hindi and English.’

Stalin himself voiced his support in a Tamil tweet asking whether the country was ‘India or Hindia?’ And went on to say, ‘those who dig the grave for diversity will themselves be buried in it.’

இந்தி தெரியாது என்று சொன்னதால், 'நீங்கள் இந்தியரா?' என்று விமானநிலைய பாதுகாப்பு அதிகாரி ஒருவர் @KanimozhiDMK வை பார்த்துக் கேட்டுள்ளார்.

இந்திதான் இந்தியன் என்பதற்கான அளவுகோலா? இது இந்தியாவா? “இந்தி”-யாவா?

பன்முகத்தன்மைக்கு புதைகுழி தோண்டுகிறவர்களே அதில் புதையுண்டு போவார்கள்!

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) August 10, 2020