The DMK president claimed that Shah's statement will affect the unity of the country, and demanded the Minister takes his statement back.
As the nation observes the occasion of Hindi Diwas, Tamil political stalwart and DMK president MK Stalin on Saturday heavily critiqued the idea of 'imposition' of the Hindi language. He specifically referred to remarks made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on this day regarding the unification of the country through one language, Hindi. Critiquing Shah's idea, MK Stalin, true to the Tamil history of language chauvinism, said that his party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, would be ready for a 'language war' if the Prime Minister did not clarify his stand on the language issue. "The DMK will not hesitate to unite states which stand to lose rights due to this Hindi dominance," he warned.
The DMK president claimed that Shah's statement will affect the unity of the country, and demanded the Minister takes his statement back.
News agency ANI quoted Stalin as having said, "We've been continuously waging a protest against the imposition of Hindi. Today's remarks made by Amit Shah gave us a jolt, it will affect the unity of the country. We demand that he takes his statement back."
He added by saying, "Day after tomorrow we will be holding our executive party meeting where will be taking up this issue further."
On the occasion of Hindi Diwas, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday stressed on the need to have a unifying language that becomes a mark of India's identity in the world and keeps "foreign languages" from finding a place in the country.
"Though I believe that the diversity of languages and dialects is one of the biggest strengths of India, there is a need for our country to have one language, so that foreign languages don't find a place. This is why our freedom fighters envisioned Hindi as 'Raj bhasha'," Shah said in his address at a Hindi Diwas programme.
Shah said that any nation that abandons its language cannot preserve its culture and consequently loses its existence.
"This is India not Hindia," Stalin responded to Shah's statements today, "There is a threat to India's unity after attempting to thrust Hindi in railways, postal and railway jobs."
The DMK president said that the Home Minister's views are condemnable because they are 'threatening India's integrity'.
Earlier, Home Minister Shah had appealed the citizens to use their mother tongue more so as to preserve its existence. "A language stays alive only when the community of its speakers take pride in it, promote it, and encourage the young generation to use it.
India has two official languages - Hindi and English, and 22 scheduled languages. The country does not have any national language, a fact which has been a subject of much debate since independence.
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