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Tracing history: South has always resisted Hindi

The love for Tamil extended to and integrated with the polity of the state so well that no national party has ever gained dominance in the state's politics.

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Arignar Anna (Anna the Scholar), who served as the Chief Minister of Madras, in 1969, rechristened the state to Tamil Nadu. The love for Tamil extended to and integrated with the polity of the state so well that no national party has ever gained dominance in the state's politics. Only mainstream Dravidian parties have ruled the state since then.

Since 1968, Tamil Nadu has been following a two-language formula in schools — English and Tamil. This came into effect in the wake of the promise made by the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri that Hindi will not be imposed in states where it is not the mother tongue of the people. He gave his word of honour after intense linguistic riots over the issue of language.

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Experts say that the love of language down South transcends community, caste, and religion. Communication Expert K Narahari mentions an anecdote when Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh met Abdul Kalam and started conversing with him in chaste Urdu, assuming that as a Muslim the former President will be proficient in the language. However, his hopes were quashed when Kalam admitted that he knows only English and Tamil. Thus, in states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala love for the language transcends communities and religions.

The resistance to Hindi in the South also emerges from the fact that the need for learning is not linked with economy or survival.

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"The South is comfortable conducting its daily business in its local language. Hence, the need to learn Hindi never percolates to the lowest strata of the economy. A carpenter can survive in Tamil Nadu without knowing Hindi," claims Narahari.

"There are North Indians, who migrated to the South following a boom in Information Technology (IT) and many of them insisted that the local populace speaks to them in Hindi. People's attitudes also play a part in disliking a language," explains Narahari.

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Hindi's closest cousin in the South is the Dakkhani Urdu which developed in the Nizam Courts and draws from Southern dialects like Marathi, Urdu, and Hindi. Even in Karnataka, the influence of Hindi is limited to Dakkhani Urdu speaking erstwhile Nizam states of Gulbarga, Bidar, Bijapur and Yadgir. The South also tends to hyphenate a pro-hindutva disposition at the Centre that is pushier about the imposition of Hindi and its ideology of Hindi, Hindu and Hindustan.Despite all efforts Hindi continues to be an alien language in the South.

Ulaganathan Ganesan is a Senior Journalist and media educator who did his schooling in Tamilnadu and spend his journalistic career in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

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He informs that Tamilnadu follows a two language formula. Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana follow a three language formula in primary schools where Hindi is not compulsory and optional. Ulaganathan points out to the ease of speaking English in the South as one reason. This he attributes to teaching of English in schools right from the first standard. Hence, when imposing Hindi officially failed indirect methods were adopted. He points that in 2015 the Ministry of Railways carried out exams for 4th grade employees in Karnataka in Hindi. Locals protested and called this as a ploy to ensure that only people from the Hindi-speaking states go the jobs. The erstwhile CM Siddharamaih also protested strongly and a re-exam had to be conducted. Another flash point was in 2017 when the Bangalore Metro rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) used three language signboards using Kannada, English and Hindi in the railway stations. Members of Kannada Rakshan Vedike defaced some station boards and called this an imposition of Hindi as major portion of the fund to project was given by state government. The pro Kannada activists protested outside the metro stations and started online campaign with Twitter hashtag #NammaMetroHindiBeda (Our Metro, We don't want Hindi).

However, Ulaganathan clarifies that there is no opposition to Hindi but it's imposition.

" Recently there was video of Stalin's grandchildren speaking to PM Modi in Hindi. Things have changed after the IT boom in South India. However, there needs to be a systematic way of promoting a language," he says.

Rohini Ramamurthy, a psychologist and a storyteller from Mumbai was born in Madras and came to Mumbai as a month old baby. Since then Rohini learnt Marathi, Hindi, English, Kannada along with her mother tongue Tamil growing up in the South Indian neighborhood of Matunga. Rohini reiterates that it is important to learn more than one language as it helps to negotiate a world that goes beyond your immediate universe.

" Some relatives of ours from Chennai who never left the South who when travel to Mumbai or North find themselves extremely challenged. Had they learnt more than one language they would have been in a much better place. Learning many languages is necessary if you have to move beyond your comfort zone, " quips and concludes Rohini.

Of Identity Crisis

  • Since 1968, Tamil Nadu has been following a two-language formula in schools 
  • Lal Bahadur Shastr had promised Hindi won’t be imposed in states where  it is not the mother tongue of the people
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