The chief minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin has in a unique political move explained the consequences of monolithic Hindi domination to his cadres. He has penned three letters to his cadres, letters whose text is available on the omnipresent social media.
In the latest of such letters, Stalin writes,
“My dear sisters and brothers from other states, Ever wondered how many Indian languages Hindi has swallowed? Bhojpuri, Maithili, Awadhi, Braj, Bundeli, Garhwali, Kumaoni, Magahi, Marwari, Malvi, Chhattisgarhi, Santhali, Angika, Ho, Kharia, Khortha, Kurmali, Kurukh, Mundari and many more are now gasping for survival.
“The push for a monolithic Hindi identity is what kills ancient mother tongues. UP and Bihar were never just ‘Hindi heartlands.’ Their real languages are now relics of the past.
Tamil Nadu resists because we know where this ends. தமிழ் விழித்தது; தமிழினத்தின் பண்பாடு பிழைத்தது! சில மொழிகள் இந்திக்கு இடம் கொடுத்தன; இருந்த இடம் தெரியாமல் தொலைந்தன!
#தமிழ்_வாழ்க #LetterToBrethren
#StopHindiImposition #SaveIndianLanguages”
My dear sisters and brothers from other states,
Ever wondered how many Indian languages Hindi has swallowed? Bhojpuri, Maithili, Awadhi, Braj, Bundeli, Garhwali, Kumaoni, Magahi, Marwari, Malvi, Chhattisgarhi, Santhali, Angika, Ho, Kharia, Khortha, Kurmali, Kurukh, Mundari and… pic.twitter.com/VhkWtCDHV9
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) February 27, 2025
Tamil Nadu goes to the polls next year and this issue of autonomy, federalism and the Tamil language is going to dominate. Last week, in a fiery response to the union’s move on the National Education Policy (NEP), Chief Minister MK Stalin claimed that this will push Tamil Nadu ‘backward by 2000 years.’ These moves reflect the deep-rooted resistance within the state against the Union government’s continued disregard for federalism and linguistic diversity. Stalin has further emphasised that the NEP, with its centralised approach, ignores the unique educational needs of each state and is a blatant effort to homogenise education across India.
Last week Stalin’s strong and principled opposition to the union government on the imposition of the National Education Policy (NEP) and its three language policy as also the withholding of state funds by the union also echoed on social media garnering widespread support.
This is what you call an Opposition! Bravo! @mkstalin https://t.co/am1ZuKwZvt
— Teesta Setalvad (@TeestaSetalvad) February 22, 2025
Related:
Rejecting NEP embodies Tamil Nadu’s fight for federal autonomy