A miss of mention of the “Dravidian nation” from the official state song of Tamil Nadu ‘Tamizh Thaai Valthu’ lead to a heated war of words between Chief Minister MK Stalin and the Governor RN Ravi. So much so, that the miss soon became the center for row over allegations of “Hindi imposition” over the Tamil speaking state.
All this unfurled during the Hindi month valedictory function at Doordarshan Kendra in Chennai, where the singers omitted the line "Thekkanamum adhil sirantha Dravida nal thiru naadum" –which roughly translates to the great Dravidian nation– from the state anthem.
The Chief Minister was quick to condemn the move and wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He claimed that in a multilingual nation, celebrating Hindi Month in non-Hindi speaking states is seen as an attempt to belittle other languages, and suggested that such events should be avoided.
Instead, Stalin said, the celebration of the local language month in the respective states should be encouraged.
“I strongly condemn the celebration of Hindi Month valedictory function along with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan. Hon’ble @PMOIndia, The Constitution of India does not grant national language status to any language. In a multilingual nation, celebrating Hindi Month in non-Hindi speaking states is seen as an attempt to belittle other languages,” Stalin said.
“Therefore, I suggest that holding such Hindi-oriented events in non-Hindi speaking states could be avoided, and instead, the celebration of the local language month in the respective states should be encouraged,” he added.
But the issue was not limited to CM Stalin suggesting the Centre to avoid Hindi events in state; he also accused Governor Ravi of removing the word Dravidian from the anthem “in the guise of celebrating India”.
Claiming that the governor has a “Dravidian allergy”, Stalin called for his recall for "deliberately insulting" the people of Tamil Nadu.
This did not sit well with the Tamil Nadu Governor, who hurled back at the Chief Minister, calling it was “unfortunately cheap”. Ravi also said that Stalin's accusations “lowers the dignity” of the constitutional office of the Chief Minister.
In response to the CM's letter, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi said there are forces, both within and outside India, aiming to hinder the country's growth.
Ravi acknowledged the changing perception of the Hindi language in Tamil Nadu and said that initially it met resistance, but he later found that many students in the state have become proficient in Hindi.
He also emphasised that Hindi should not be viewed as an imposition but as a language to be celebrated alongside other languages.
"First, when I came here, Hindi was not a welcome language in Tamil Nadu but when I started meeting students, I was happily surprised that their Hindi was better than mine. There is a greater acceptance of Hindi among people of Tamil Nadu... Hindi is not a language of imposition of language in Tamil Nadu. Each language is to be celebrated. Each language is for all of us to be proud of," the governor said.
He also highlighted that the Modi-government has established various organizations to spread the Tamil language and its heritage within India including Tamil Nadu and in many countries of the world.
Former Telangana Governor and BJP leader Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan also reiterated that the Centre has promoted Tamil and claimed that the DMK has made repeated attempts to portray as if the central government is imposing Hindi
“Actually, the Hindu Banaras University-Tamil chair has been formed. In Maharashtra, a port has been named after Rajendra Chola and his statue has been installed. The Prime Minister has taken Tamil into other states also,” she said.
Posing a question to CM Stalin, Soundararajan said, the Sengol is the symbol of exclusive Tamil tradition. It is installed in the parliament where other state MPs also come and debate. “What honour did they give for that?”
Clarifying that Centre's three-language policy is not learning Hindi, the BJP leader said it is learning any other language than the mother tongue.
“Why are they opposing it? Other state's people have started learning Tamil, so why can't you allow people to learn other languages?” she questioned.
BJP National Spokesperson CR Kesavan also lashed out at the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and said his letter to the PM has betrayed the essence of the "spirit of cooperative federalism" envisioned by Dr BR Ambdekar and other founders of the Constitution.
Claiming that the DMK had a long history of using language as a "partisan political tool", Kesavan said PM Modi had committed to preserving the linguistic heritage and promoting linguistic diversity.
"While Prime Minister Narendra Modi regards our remarkable linguistic diversity as our civilisational strength, the DMK has a long history of using language as a partisan political tool. PM Modi has steadfastly committed to preserving our great linguistic heritage and promoting our remarkable linguistic diversity. But the CM's letter to the PM today betrays the very essence in spirit of cooperative federalism as envisioned by Dr BR Ambedkar and the other founders of our scared constitution," the BJP Spokesperson said.
Tamil Nadu state BJP vice president Narayanan Thirupathy also slammed the Tamil Nadu CM and said, "Did Stalin raise the question when DMK was part of the UPA from 2004 to 2014. When all these years the same Hindi Pakwara happened during the DMK's rule with the Congress, what was Stalin doing?..."
