Chennai: Claiming victory after Union Home Minister Amit Shah clarified he never pitched for imposition of Hindi, DMK on Wednesday put off its proposed 20 September protest over the issue. Citing Shah’s assertion that he has never asked for imposition of Hindi anywhere in the country, DMK President M K Stalin said the state-wide protest demonstrations in Tamilnadu has been “postponed temporarily”.
He said Shah has also opined that his views on Hindi had been “wrongly understood.” “We consider his (Shah’s) clarification as a big victory for the DMK following the party’s announcement of protest demonstrations,” Stalin told reporters here, two days after the party announced the agitation. However, if Hindi was imposed, the DMK will oppose it at all times, he warned.
Seeking to put to rest the controversy over his remarks on Hindi, Shah, also the BJP president, at an event in Delhi
on Wednesday said he has never asked for imposition of Hindi anywhere in the country but advocated its use as the second language.
The Home Minister said he has been repeatedly pitching for strengthening regional languages. Meanwhile, the ruling AIADMK said it never misunderstood Shah’s remarks and accused the DMK of wrongly interpreting it and using it for political mileage. “A language is the identity of a race, culture and tradition. We will hence, never accept Hindi imposition or for that matter thrusting of any other language. We never misunderstood Home Minister Shah’s views,” AIADMK spokesperson R M Babu Murugavel told PTI.
Referring to DMK postponing the protest, he said they have “blackened their face.” State Congress chief K S Alagiri claimed the Centre was ‘rattled’ by the protest call by parties in Tamilnadu and hence utilised the office of Governor to convey that Hindi will not be imposed. “This is no doubt a victory for our alliance,” he added.
Replying to a question, Stalin said Shah might have given the clarification as DMK’s protest may spread across the
nation. He also said Tamilnadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, whom he met earlier Wednesday in a sudden development, too opined that Shah’s view had been misunderstood. The Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly said
he was invited by the Raj Bhavan for a meeting with Purohit. When the Governor broached the topic of DMK’s proposed
protest on 20 September, he explained it was against Hindi imposition following Shah’s recent Hindi pitch.
“After we explained the reason for our protest, the Governor said Home Minister Amit Shah’s views have been misunderstood. The Governor was categorical that Hindi will not be imposed in Tamil Nadu,” Stalin said. The top Dravidian party leader flanked by senior party colleagues Duraimurugan and T R Baalu said he asked Purohit if the Central government will come forward to convey it. “Governor gave us an assurance that he is a representative of the Union government and that he was conveying it to us only after the Centre wanted him to convey it,” Stalin said.
He said Shah has clarified that he was not “for Hindi as the nation’s sole language… made it very clear he has been
wrongly understood,” Stalin added. On Monday, a high-level DMK meet had announced state-wide protestĀ demonstrations would be held on 20 September to condemn Shah’s Hindi pitch. Besides DMK, other parties in the state, including the ruling AIADMK, have opposed Shah’s remarks.