CM Stalin: Imposition Fuels Enmity and Threatens Unity

Chennai, March 6 (NationPress) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has escalated his criticism of the Centre regarding the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the three-language policy, asserting that the imposition of anything fuels enmity, which ultimately jeopardizes unity.

On Thursday, CM Stalin referenced a famous quote to challenge the Centre’s position, stating, “When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”

In a post on the social media platform X, he noted, “This quote reminded me of how some ‘entitled bigots’ label Tamil Nadu’s pursuit of linguistic equality as chauvinistic and anti-national.”

He criticized BJP leaders for questioning the DMK government's patriotism despite its notable contributions to national initiatives.

CM Stalin highlighted that the DMK had allocated the highest funds during the Chinese aggression, the Bangladesh Liberation War, and the Kargil War. He juxtaposed this with the BJP’s ideological foundations, stating, “The very individuals who glorify Godse’s ideology have the audacity to question the DMK's patriotism, while their ideological predecessor is the one who assassinated ‘Bapu’ Gandhi.”

CM Stalin’s comments arise amid ongoing discussions regarding the three-language policy introduced in NEP 2020. He reaffirmed his stance against it, stating that advocating for linguistic equality should not be misconstrued as chauvinism.

“Chauvinism is naming the three criminal laws that govern 140 crore citizens in a language that Tamils cannot even pronounce or comprehend by reading,” he remarked.

“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.”

As both Tamil Nadu CM and DMK leader, Stalin contended that imposing any language upon people cultivates division and undermines national unity.

He further accused “Hindi zealots” of viewing their language privilege as natural while labeling Tamil Nadu’s dissent as treason.

“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,” CM Stalin expressed on his X handle.

On Wednesday, CM Stalin also challenged the BJP’s assertion that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a profound affection for Tamil, questioning why such sentiments are not manifested in actual policies.

“If the BJP’s claim that our Hon’ble PM has great love for Tamil is true, why is it never reflected in action?” he questioned in a social media post.

He urged the Union government to take concrete actions instead of symbolic gestures like installing the Sengol in Parliament. He suggested, “Rather than installing Sengol in Parliament, uninstall Hindi from Union government offices in Tamil Nadu. Instead of hollow praise, make Tamil an official language on par with Hindi and allocate more funds for Tamil than for a dead language like Sanskrit.”

CM Stalin also pointed out inequities in the funding for language development, noting that despite Tamil being spoken by eight crore people, it receives only Rs 74 crore from the Union government, while Sanskrit, spoken by merely a few thousand, is allocated Rs 1,488 crore.

On March 2, CM Stalin expressed support for a protest by the Tamil diaspora in the US against the Union government’s three-language policy. He shared a news report and video of the protest in solidarity with the demonstrators. The protest occurred in Dallas, where a group of Tamils expressed their discontent with NEP 2020, especially its push for a three-language system that includes Hindi. The demonstrators accused the BJP-led Centre of trying to impose Hindi on Tamil Nadu, thus undermining the state’s long-standing two-language policy.