Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Bold Stand Against Imposition of Hindi

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin voiced strong opposition against the belief that Hindi is India’s national language following an incident at Goa’s Dabolim airport. Reacting to a CISF personnel’s intimidation of a Tamil woman engineer for not knowing Hindi, Stalin clarified that Hindi is solely an official language, not the national one.

Stalin emphasized India’s diverse linguistic fabric, condemning the CISF personnel’s behaviour and calling for respect for all languages at airports. He highlighted the need for federal principles to be upheld and urged against the recurring instances of non-Hindi speakers facing harassment.

Udhayanidhi Stalin, the State Minister for Youth Affairs, joined in condemning the incident, emphasizing that the CISF’s duty is security, not instructing languages. The demand for action against such imposition of Hindi on non-speakers was raised by PMK founder S Ramadoss, who stressed the importance of acknowledging Hindi solely as an official language, not the national one.

The incident involved a woman engineer, Sharmilaa Rajasekaran, who faced ridicule at the airport for not knowing Hindi. Despite the apology from higher officials, Sharmilaa urged for sensitization towards linguistic equality among personnel.

Stalin’s firm stance against the imposition of Hindi reflects the ongoing debate surrounding linguistic rights and the need to respect India’s multilingual diversity.