New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has opposed the celebration of Hindi month closing ceremony along with the golden jubilee celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan. He also said that in non-Hindi speaking states, such events are seen as an attempt to degrade other languages.

He wrote a letter to PM Modi on Friday raising concerns over linguistic diversity and representation, in which he stressed that the Indian Constitution does not grant national language status to any language and that Hindi and English are only for official purposes. He suggested avoiding Hindi language programmes in non-Hindi speaking states.

'An attempt to degrade other languages'

Stalin posted on Instagram in this regard and wrote, 'I strongly condemn the celebration of Hindi month closing ceremony along with the golden jubilee celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan. Hon'ble @PMOIndia, the Constitution of India does not give the status of national language to any language. In a multilingual nation, celebrating Hindi month in non-Hindi speaking states is seen as an attempt to degrade other languages. Therefore, I suggest that such Hindi-oriented events in non-Hindi speaking states may be avoided and instead the celebration of local language month in the respective states should be encouraged.'

Stalin, in a letter to PM Modi, said, "It is announced that the closing ceremony of Hindi month celebrations and golden jubilee celebrations of Chennai Television will be held on Doordarshan Tamil in Chennai this evening and Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi will be the special guest. This blatant attempt to impose Hindi is strongly condemned. India has 122 languages, which are spoken by a large number of people and 1599 other languages."

No point in celebrating one language: Stalin

He said, 'When India is a country of diversity, there is no justification to celebrate only one language. In a country where more than 1700 languages ​​are spoken, especially in a state where the world's oldest language Tamil is spoken only in Hindi, this will affect the diversity of the country. The central government should not be held responsible for this.'

He said that in a multilingual country like India, celebrating Hindi month in non-Hindi speaking states is seen as an attempt to undermine other languages. Stalin further suggested in his letter that if possible, Hindi language based programmes in non-Hindi speaking states may be avoided or if permitted, local language festivals should also be celebrated with equal enthusiasm in the respective states.

Suggestion to celebrate local language month

Stalin suggested, 'If the central government still wants to hold such programmes, they can also celebrate local language month to promote harmony among languages.' The Tamil Nadu chief minister wrote that India has no national language and if Hindi month is being celebrated, the same should be done with the Tamil language.