Tamils could scale great heights in various spheres only because of their command over English, the global language, which was made possible because of Tamil martyrs who laid their lives and shed their blood to uphold Tamil and oppose imposition of Hindi decades back, said Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Durai Vaiko here on Wednesday.
Addressing a Language Martyrs Day meeting organised by the party, Mr. Durai said that the Tamil language movement not only helped in protecting the language, but also the Tamil culture. As a result of halting imposition of Hindi, Tamils learnt the global language and were able to compete in the international arena on various spheres and were successful.
Even countries such as China and Japan, which had in the past vehemently opposed English, have now allowed their children to learn English for their economic development and in the interest of the future of their younger generation. However, the people of north Indian States, who could not learn English, lagged behind and were migrating to Tamil Nadu seeking employment as manual labourers.
But, in India, Home Minister Amit Shah has proposed to make India free of English. “It is only aimed at imposing Hindi,” he charged. It would act against the prosperity of Tamils, he said.
Mr. Durai also opposed the New Education Policy that insisted upon students to choose Hindi as second language. “We want the students and their parents to make the choice on second language and not allow the RSS and BJP dictate terms on this issue,” he said.
If the BJP leaders were really interested in development of Tamil, they should make Tamil an official language, and also allow Tamil the official language in High Court and declare Tirukkural a national book.
“If the BJP tried to impose Hindi to destroy Tamil and its culture, it will have to face another Tamil language movement,” he warned.
