The DMK president used the popular quote: “When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression” to rebuke the saffron party.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, who has been locking horns with the Centre, over the “imposition of Hindi” through the three language formula in the National Education Policy and delimitation exercise, alleged the BJP of chauvinism and treating people in the southern state like second-class citizens by denying its fair share for its objection to the NEP.
In strongly-worded remarks, Stalin Thursday morning said chauvinism is naming the three criminal laws in a language that Tamilians cannot understand. Stalin made the remark in reference to the introduction of three criminal laws – Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) replacing the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act.
“Demanding #LinguisticEquality is not chauvinism. Do you want to know what Chauvinism looks like? Chauvinism is naming the three criminal laws that govern 140 crore citizens in a language that Tamils cannot even pronounce or comprehend by reading. Chauvinism is treating the state that contributes the most to the nation as second-class citizens and denying its fair share for refusing to swallow the poison called #NEP.”
The DMK president used the popular quote: “When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression” to rebuke the saffron party. Further, the veteran DMK leader took a dig at the RSS and Nathuram Godse saying, “The very people who glorify Godse’s ideology have the audacity to question the patriotism of DMK and its government that contributed the highest amount of funds during the Chinese Aggression, Bangladesh Liberation War, and Kargil War, while their ideological forefather is the one who assassinated ‘Bapu’ Gandhi.”
Urging to stop “Hindi imposition”, Stalin said, “Imposition of anything breeds enmity. Enmity threatens unity. Hence, the true chauvinists and anti-nationals are the Hindi zealots who believe their entitlement is natural but our resistance is treason.”
Assembly polls are scheduled in Tamil Nadu next year and Stalin has been taking on the Centre and attempting to emerge as the voice of the South. The 72-year-old leader has been on a war of words with Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the three-language policy.
Recently, Pradhan asserted that the NEP would not impose Hindi in states and alleged that Tamil Nadu’s opposition had “political reasons” behind it. “We have never said in NEP 2020 that only Hindi will be there; we have only said that education will be based on mother tongue, in Tamil Nadu, it will be Tamil,” Pradhan told media.
“I don’t want to answer to the political ambitions of few people. NEP 2020 is focused on different languages of India, be it Hindi, Tamil, Odia, or Punjabi. All the languages have equal importance. In Tamil Nadu, few are opposing because of politics,” Pradhan said.
The Centre had withheld funds under the Samagra Shiksha scheme, amounting to Rs 2,152 crore and Pradhan had earlier said the funds would be set aside unless Tamil Nadu implemented the NEP and adopted the three-language formula. In response, Stalin defined it as an attack on the Tamil language – an issue with much emotional potency in the state.
Last week, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, the Tamil Nadu CM sought the release of the amount. While the NDA-led Centre maintains that the NEP is aimed at ensuring employment for youth across regions, Tamil Nadu has long perceived it as an attempt to “impose” Hindi on the state.
The southern state, where Dravidian ideology is prominent, has almost a century-old history of anti-Hindi agitations. Unlike other neighbouring southern states Kerala and Karnataka, Tamil Nadu implements a two-language system in which students are taught Tamil and English.