Chennai, Feb 27: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has once again voiced strong opposition to the alleged imposition of Hindi by the Central government, asserting that the state will not tolerate any attempts to overshadow Tamil and its rich cultural heritage.
In a letter addressed to party members, Stalin accused the Union government of pushing Hindi as a front while secretly promoting Sanskrit. "We will oppose Hindi imposition. Hindi is the mask, Sanskrit is the hidden face," he stated.
The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has consistently criticized the Centre's National Education Policy (NEP), alleging that it enforces a three-language formula that favors Hindi and Sanskrit—an accusation the Union government has denied.
Stalin further claimed that several North Indian languages such as Maithili, Brajbhasha, Bundelkhandi, and Awadhi, once widely spoken in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, have been eroded due to what he described as the "hegemonic invasion" of Hindi and Sanskrit. "More than 25 native languages have been destroyed," he alleged.
The Tamil Nadu CM insisted that the state rejects the NEP because it indirectly promotes Sanskrit through the education system. While the BJP has argued that the policy allows the third language to be a foreign one, Stalin countered this claim, stating that in practice, "only Sanskrit is being promoted in many states."
He cited the example of Rajasthan, where he alleged that the BJP-led government has prioritized hiring Sanskrit teachers over Urdu instructors.
"If Tamil Nadu accepts the trilingual policy, Tamil will be sidelined, and Sanskritisation will take over in the future," he warned. Stalin further claimed that NEP provisions indicate that Indian languages would only be taught in schools "in addition to Sanskrit," whereas languages like Tamil might be relegated to online learning.
The Chief Minister invoked the legacy of Dravidian movement stalwart and former Tamil Nadu CM C.N. Annadurai, who had firmly established the two-language policy in the state to prevent the "imposition of Aryan culture through Hindi-Sanskrit and the destruction of Tamil culture."
The DMK government has maintained a long-standing stance against any policies perceived as an imposition of Hindi or Sanskrit, reinforcing Tamil Nadu’s commitment to preserving its linguistic and cultural identity.
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