Senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader TKS Elangovan, on Monday, 6 June, added fresh impetus to the Hindi imposition row, and said that imposing Hindi on Tamils would bring them down to the status of Shudras.
'Shudra' is a term used to denote the lower rung in the caste system.
While speaking at a conference on language imposition organised by the DMK, he added that the Hindi-speaking states were underdeveloped.
"What will Hindi do? Only make us shudras. It will do no benefit to us," he said.
...this should not be allowed...if we did, we will be slaves, shudras," he added.
In his remarks that have now gone viral, he said that attempts were being made to "impose Manu dharma through the imposition of Hindi."
The DMK leader, who opposed Union Home Minister Amit Shah's pitch for Hindi, defended himself saying he "did not coin the word Shudra."
'Hindi Speaking States Are Underdeveloped'
Elangovan compared non-Hindi speaking states like West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, to Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar and termed them underdeveloped.
"The undeveloped States are (the Hindi-speaking) Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and the newly created ones (apparently Uttarakhand). Why should I learn Hindi," he asked.
Hindi imposition has been a sensitive subject in Tamil Nadu and the DMK had successfully used the issue to mobilise public support in the 1960s.
"Many said you will get jobs if you learn Hindi. Is it so...look here in Coimbatore, who is selling pani puri. It is them (Hindi-speaking individuals)," he said.
He, however, later denied his remarks amounting to 'profiling.'
Background
Elangovan's remarks come after his party colleague and State Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy's jibe that Hindi-speaking people were selling 'pani puri' in the State.
The ruling party has been decrying attempts to 'impose' the language ever since Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee in New Delhi, said that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English.
The state government has even alleged the imposition of Hindi in the National Education Policy 2020 and has made it clear that Tamil Nadu will follow its two-language formula – Tamil and English.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI, and The New Indian Express.)
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