Chennai, Oct 12:
Congress MP Manickam Tagore has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of promoting Hindi imposition, alleging that the Prime Minister spoke in English only briefly before continuing his address in Hindi during his Chennai visit.
In a social media post, Tagore contrasted Modi’s speech with that of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had addressed people in Tamil Nadu in English the previous day. He argued that Tamil Nadu takes pride in its language, culture and identity and would not accept the imposition of one language on speakers of other languages.
Tagore said people should be free to learn languages of their choice, but rejected attempts to impose a language for political purposes. He stressed that every Indian language deserved equal respect and that national unity depended on respecting linguistic diversity rather than promoting one language over others.
His remarks have renewed the debate over language policy in Tamil Nadu, where opposition to the compulsory imposition of Hindi has long been a central political issue.