“No place for Hindi then, now and forever”: Stalin on Language Martyrs Day

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin on Sunday strongly reaffirmed the state’s long-standing opposition to Hindi imposition, declaring that there was “no place for Hindi then, now and forever” in Tamil Nadu. His remarks, made on the occasion of Language Martyrs Day, once again brought the language question to the centre of the state’s political discourse.

Paying homage to those who lost their lives during the anti-Hindi agitations of the 1960s, Stalin said Tamil Nadu had a proud history of safeguarding its linguistic identity through united resistance. In a social media post, the Chief Minister described the language martyrs as those who “loved Tamil like their life” and stood up against what they saw as repeated attempts to impose Hindi on the state.

“Language Martyrs Day; there is no place for Hindi then, now and forever,” Stalin said, sharing a video recalling the anti-Hindi protests that peaked in 1965. The video also highlighted the role of former DMK leaders C N Annadurai and M Karunanidhi, who shaped the Dravidian movement’s ideological opposition to linguistic dominance by the Centre.

Stalin said Tamil Nadu’s struggle against Hindi imposition had wider national significance, arguing that it helped protect the rights and identities of various linguistic groups across the subcontinent. “I pay my grateful respects to those martyrs who gave their precious lives for Tamil. No more life will be lost in the language war; our love for Tamil will never die,” he said, adding that the state would continue to oppose Hindi imposition “forever”.

Language Martyrs Day commemorates those who died, many by self-immolation during protests against the Centre’s move to promote Hindi as the sole official language in the mid-1960s. The agitation eventually led to assurances on the continued use of English alongside Hindi for official purposes and cemented Tamil Nadu’s commitment to the two-language policy of Tamil and English, which the state follows to this day.

Stalin’s remarks come amid the DMK’s continued criticism of the Centre’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which the party alleges indirectly promotes Hindi through curricular and administrative measures. The language issue has remained a key ideological plank for the DMK and its predecessors, often serving as a rallying point against perceived centralisation and cultural homogenisation.