By Venkatachari Jagannathan
The nearly 100-year old anti-Hindi imposition volcano recently erupted again in Tamil Nadu and the lava that came out is slowly cooling down.
Since 1960s, this anti-Hindi volcano erupts in TN at regular intervals triggered by different events –statement by an Union Minister, statement by the Governor, central government’s policy, actions of central government undertakings or its employees or even to deflect the focus away from the issues faced by the incumbent state government.
In the 1930s, the erstwhile Madras Presidency saw anti-Hindi agitations when Hindi was sought to be introduced as a subject in schools.
However, in 1965, the strong anti-Hindi agitation led by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) resulted in several deaths owing to police firing. And it was the main reason to catapult DMK to power for the first time in 1967, defeating the Congress.
Context for the current controversy
The latest anti-Hindi agitation was triggered by the statements made by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Varanasi that Tamil Nadu should implement the New Education Policy 2020.
Pradhan also said that funds under the `Samagra Shiksha’ scheme will not be released to Tamil Nadu unless it implements the New Education Policy.
Reacting to that, DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin said the government will not implement NEP even if the Centre gives Rs.10,000 crore.
Majority of students in TN are in the 3-language stream
At the political front, the Tamil Nadu BJP’s leader K Annamalai and others in his party point out that the costly schools run by DMK leaders are under the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) where Hindi is one of the subjects taught.
They ask why the state government won’t offer the third language free of cost in its schools for the benefit of poor students.
According to the BJP, the state already follows a three language formula in private schools and the two language formula is implemented only for the government or government aided schools.
The Tamil Nadu BJP leaders say that 56 lakh school students in private schools learn three languages and 52 lakh schools in government and government-aided schools are compelled to study only two languages, leaving them at a disadvantage.
Is the anti-Hindi a burning issue and will it get votes?
The anti-Hindi issue in Tamil Nadu has been kept alive by the political parties since the 1960s and it will be so for several years to come.
“Opposing Hindi imposition is one of the fundamental ideologies of the DMK party. The party would erupt if it senses Hindi is being imposed or any of its fundamental ideologies are touched,” former MP and Member of AIADMK K.C. Palanisamy told this writer.
“The BJP without realising the ground political reality in Tamil Nadu is hitting at DMK’s fundamental ideology. Instead the BJP and others should focus on the non-performance of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu,” Palanisamy added.
It is also said the BJP could be deliberately needling DMK on its ideological issues so that the narrative that these are the two major parties in the state hogging the limelight with the divided AIADMK on the wane could be set.
There’s a school of thought which believes neither DMK nor BJP will gain from Hindi and the 3-language policy becoming the focal point of political campaigning as the issue has outlived its shelf life. Hence, DMK won’t get any traction from it and BJP may dent its alliance prospects as potential allies are receiving confusion signals.
From a tactical standpoint, DMK’s aggression on Hindi could also be a way to split the anti-government votes across the opposition, with Seeman-led NTK and AIADMK being the beneficiaries. AIADMK is an offshoot of DMK and the parties’ core ideology is similar.
Don’t count out delimitation as another flashpoint
With the elections for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections slated in 2026, DMK will look for emotive issues to undergird its campaign. Even as the debate over Hindi was raging, the state government called for an all-party meeting on March 5 on the issue of delimitation. BJP has already said that it will not attend the meeting, thereby, staking out a position that is clearly in contrast to DMK and other major political parties in the state.
The battle for the 2026 assembly election is well and truly underway.
(Venkatachari Jagannathan is an independent journalist. He can be reached at venkatacharijagannathan@gmail.co)
Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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