Priyanka Tiwari
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The statement made by Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister M.K. Stalin that rubs ‘Hindi imposition’ in the wrong way has been termed as a “shallow attempt” by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw with the intent of socially carving out spaces to hide behind the poor governance of his state and asked whether congress leader Rahul Gandhi also shared that view with the DMK leader.
As he posted on X, Vaishnaw said, This will be poor governance, attempted through divided measures only. To Stalin’s letter, where he addressed the DMK’s lower ranked members, he argued that a great number of north Indian languages like Maithili, Brajbhasha, Bundeli and Awadhi spoken in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, “have been destroyed by the hegemonic Hindi.”
Poor governance will never be hidden by such shallow attempts to divide society.
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) February 27, 2025
It will be interesting to know what the Leader of the Opposition, @RahulGandhi Ji, has to say on this subject. Does he, as MP of a Hindi-speaking seat, agree? https://t.co/Oj2tQseTno
Stalin, in his response to question on Clause 370 in reference to abolition of veto power by norther states put forth by Vawehwaha, said all bordering central Indian states are Hindi belt. In his post, Vaishnaw asked whether the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha accepted this viewpoint.
Stalin spoke out against the center during the three-language debate, arguing that the imposition of Hindi has ‘swallowed’ 25 north Indian languages over the years. He noted that ancient mother tongues are “gasping for survival” due to the dominance of Hindi. “The drive towards a singular Hindi identity is what kills ancient mother tongues. UP and Bihar were never just ‘Hindi heartlands’,” he noted in a post on X on Thursday.
He had previously stated that the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam DMK will not stand against Hindi as long as it is not forced upon Tamil Nadu because doing so is a way of ridiculing the self-value of the people of the state. “For those asking why DMK still opposes Hindi, my humble response to them as one among you is –– because you still impose it on us.” He added, “We won’t oppose if you don’t impose; won’t blacken Hindi words in Tamil Nadu. Self-respect is something that Tamils cherish and we cannot allow anyone to play with it.”
