Rajinikanth, an actor turned politician, on the 18th of September, shared his views about the Central Government’s ‘One Country, One Language’ initiative.
Rajinikanth, on the 18th of September, addressed the media at the Chennai Airport and said, “A common language in any country will help its unity and development. Unfortunately, it is not possible in India. Not just Hindi, the imposition of any language will not be accepted by states in the South and even some in North India.”
The comments of Mr. Rajinikanth came after Amit Shah, the Home Minister of India, on the 14th of September, hinted at imposing Hindi as a common or first language across India.
According to the statement of Amit Shah, Hindi is a language which can unite India and can represent the identity of India globally.
While some of the leaders in India supported the initiative of Amit Shah, another section of leaders, especially those from South India, criticised the move.
M.K. Stalin, the President of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK,) called it a “deliberate attempt” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to make non Hindi speakers feel like “second class citizens.”
M.K. Stalin also said the DMK, on the 20th of September, will launch a Statewide agitation in Tamil Nadu and will protest against the BJP for the same.
Kamal Haasan, another actor turned politician belonging to Tamil Nadu, said the imposition of any language can result in a protest “much bigger than the Jallikkattu protest, which was a relatively smaller one.”
This is not the first time the BJP tried to impose Hindi across India.
Recently, the Government of India’s three language plan under the draft National Education Policy (NEP,) 2019 stated Hindi, which was an optional subject in South Indian states so far, would be made mandatory.
However, Tamil Nadu and other South Indian states protested against the provision, following which, the GoI released a new one. According to the new provision, students can choose a language of their choice and it would not be compulsory to choose Hindi, as was the case before.
An official announcement regarding the One Country, One Language initiative is yet to be made.
Stay tuned for further updates.
