Zee Media Bureau/Ajith Vijay Kumar
Chennai: Having faced the ignominy of complete rout in the Lok Sabha polls, DMK chief M Karunanidhi has found an emotive to chart his comeback into political prominence. Karunanidhi, Thursday, hit out at the Narendra Modi-led government for giving priority to Hindi.
The Union Home Ministry had recently issued an order asking government departments and bureaucrats to use Hindi on social media for their official accounts.
Karnuanidhi said, “"No one can deny it`s a beginning to impose Hindi against one`s wish to treat non-Hindi speakers as second class citizens. Why is priority being given to Hindi in social media?”
The 90-year-old former Tamil Nadu chief minister also advised the Prime Minister on what his priorities. “Well wishers want him to focus on development,” he said.
The DMK chief also mentioned the assurance given by India`s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru`s assurance that English would remain official language as long as non Hindi speakers want.
However, the Modi government is going ahead with its plan to promote use of Hindi. After the Prime Minister`s Office, the Ministry of Home Affairs has also started to work in Hindi.
MoS Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju has issued a clarification. He said that the government was not promoting Hindi at the cost of regional languages.
The anti-Hindi agitation has a long history in cradle of Dravidian politics, Tamil Nadu.
From pre-independence time when Periyar opposed the introduction of Hindi in Madras Presidency by C Rajagopalachari `Rajaji` to the violent student protests in 1965 against the move to make Hindi the official language across the country.
