"BJP-led Centre pays lip service to Tamil for votes," alleges CM Stalin
 (1)_vb_08.jpeg)
Chennai (PTI) : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday alleged that the BJP-led union government paid mere lip service to Tamil language for the sake of votes and dubbed the ruling party at the Centre as Tamil's "enemy."
Writing to party workers as part of his series on the theme of "all-time opposition to Hindi imposition," Stalin recalled DMK founder leader C N Annadurai's views on the issue. Decades ago, Anna had said that the party's objective is not to oppose Hindi, but to get equal recognition to Indian languages including Tamil.
While the BJP claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi held Tamil in high esteem and that the 3-language formula is for the growth of languages of the states, the difference in allocation of funds for Tamil and Sanskrit would make it pretty clear that they are "enemies" of Tamil, Stalin alleged.
As per the Union Education ministry's data, during the period between 2014 and 2023, the union government allotted Rs 2,435 crore to the Central Sanskrit University and the National Sanskrit University. During the same period, only Rs 167 crore was allotted to Central Institute of Classical Tamil. Fund allocation and expenditure has increased manifold for the promotion of Sanskrit and Hindi. "The union government, out-and-out, is functioning with a feeling of linguistic hegemony and pays mere lip service to Tamil for the sake of votes," the chief minister alleged.
The BJP-led Centre, which is betraying Tamil Nadu by not allotting funds due to the state, is also betraying by not allocating funds for Tamil language and it is trying to "destroy" Tamil and languages of other states through the "languages of dominance," Hindi and Sanskrit. Disapproving it, the DMK president said the consequences of imposing a language could be understood by perusing the history of world.
"All Indian languages including Tamil listed in the 8th schedule of the Constitution are India's national languages," he said.
However, if Hindi alone is claimed to be the national language, it is a manifestation of dominance.
Claiming that Sanskrit is India's root language is an "attempt to consign us to servitude." If Sanskrit is taken as the root language, it meant that all other languages originated only from it. "That is, they are trying to establish that all the languages in India had their roots in Sanskrit. It was linguist Robert Caldwell who had, 175 years ago, by way of his studies had made it known to the world that Dravidian languages including Tamil had unique characteristics," Stalin said.
On March 4, Stalin wondered why the union government has not facilitated setting up of an institution to teach Tamil or other south Indian languages to people of states in north India.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
