'Spreading Poison': Amit Shah Tears Into Stalin's DMK Over Language Row
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha during a discussion on the working on Home Ministry, Shah said DMK is involved in a language controversy to hide corruption
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused MK Stalin’s DMK of spreading poison in the name of language amid allegations of Hindi imposition in Tamil Nadu by the Centre.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha during a discussion on the working on Home Ministry, Shah said DMK is involved in a language controversy to hide their corruption.
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“They run shops on language to hide their corruption. Every language is like a jewel of the country. Are they trying to say that we are against any language of the South? Those who are doing politics in the name of your language, they have their own agenda," he said.
The Home Minister further alleged that DMK is dividing the country in the name of language.
“You (Tamil Nadu government) have not had the courage to translate engineering and medical exams in Tamil. They are spreading poison in the name of language. You like language, which is thousands of kilometres away, but don’t like Indian language. You should not divide the country in the name of language. You are trying to hide your wrongdoings and your corruption in the name of language. You should speak about development. We will expose you, and we will go to every village to expose your wrongdoings," he added.
Rajya Sabha MPs from Tamil Nadu on Friday accused the Centre of imposing the Hindi language on the state amid the escalating row between the state government and Centre over the implementation of the three-language formula outlined in the National Education Policy.
Participating in the discussion on the working of the Ministry of Home Affairs, MDMK chief Vaiko alleged that the state was being “victimised" by the Home Ministry, which releases disaster relief funds.
“The Minister of Home Affairs who is releasing the disaster relief funds has victimised our state just because we are against your Hindutva policy, RSS policy and imposition of Hindi and Sanskrit," Vaiko said.
Asserting that Tamil is the mother tongue of nearly 120 million people living in more than 114 countries of the world besides India, he said, “I would like to ask the Home Minister when he visited the first time, he said Hindi will be definitely imposed, then an agitation started".
Vaiko further called himself a “product of anti-Hindi agitation".
M Thambidurai of the AIADMK said he supports what Vaiko said regarding the language issue.
“Tamil must be made the official language of this country. This is a long-pending demand of the AIADMK party and (late) Jayalalitha also raised this issue," Thambidurai said.
The DMK has accused the Centre of imposing Hindi in Tamil Nadu in the garb of three-language formula as proposed in the new National Education Policy, a charge denied by the Modi government. The Stalin government has raised repeatedly concerns over the NEP and did not implement the policy in the state.
Who Is Udaya Kumar, The Tamilian Who Designed Rupee Symbol?
Upping the ante on the language row, the Tamil Nadu government has recently replaced the Indian rupee symbol with Tamil letter ‘Ru’. Stalin said that this shows their determination over the language policy while the BJP termed the move as “political drama" and “stupid".
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