M K Stalin condemns celebrating 'Hindi month' in Tamil Nadu, urges PM Modi to respect local languages instead

Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday strongly condemned the Doordarshan kendra Chennai's Hindi month valedictory function in which Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi presided as chief guest and the DMK students wing staged a protest condemning the Centre.

Stalin, registering his protest, said in a multilingual nation, celebrating Hindi month in non-Hindi-speaking states, "is seen as an attempt to belittle" other languages. "I strongly condemn the celebration of Hindi Month valedictory function along with the golden jubilee celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan. Hon’ble @PMOIndia, The Constitution of India does not grant national language status to any language," the Chief Minister said in a post on 'X'.

Furthermore, he said: "Therefore, I suggest that holding such Hindi-oriented events in non-Hindi speaking states could be avoided, and instead, the celebration of the local language month in the respective states should be encouraged."

The DMK students' wing members gathered in front of the DD Tamil office where the governor attended the valedictory this evening. The wing's president R Rajiv Gandhi said the BJP-led government was consistently involved in attempts to impose Hindi on the non-Hindi speaking states.

"This is condemnable. The DMK and a majority of political parties in the state are opposing the move to thrust Hindi on Tamil Nadu. But, the Centre is only adding fuel to the fire," Gandhi told reporters later.