Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin intensifying his tirade against alleged `Hindi imposition’ by the Center, he asserted that “we will oppose Hindi imposition. Hindi is the mask, Sanskrit is the hidden face.”
The ruling DMK has been alleging Hindi imposition by the Centre through the 3-language formula as part of the National Education Policy (NEP), a charge denied by the Union Government.
In a letter to the partymen, he claimed forced adoption of the language in other states had “destroyed 25 native north Indian languages in 100 years”. The ruling BJP hit back quickly, dismissing the remark as “silly”.
“The push for a ‘monolithic Hindi identity’ is what kills ancient languages. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were never ‘Hindi heartlands’… their real languages are now relics of the past,” he said.
Stalin lamented that many North Indian languages spoken in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh such as Mythili, Brajbhasha, Bundelkhandi and Awadhi “have been destroyed by the hegemonic Hindi.”
“More than 25 north Indian native languages have been destroyed by the invasion of hegemonic Hindi-Sanskrit languages. The century-old Dravidian movement safeguarded Tamil and its culture because of the awareness it created and the various agitations,” he added.
Countering BJP’s contention that the third language according to the NEP could be even a foreign one, Stalin claimed that according to the 3-language policy schedule, “only Sanskrit is being promoted in many states.” He warned that if Tamil Nadu accepts the trilingual policy, the mother language will be ignored and there will be Sanskritization in the future.
Stalin alleged that Sanskrit teachers had replaced Urdu counterparts in Rajasthan schools. “… should ask (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi how many boards in south Indian languages were put up during the Maha Kumbh and Tamil Sangamam (in Varanasi) …”
In a post on X, he also slammed the centre – which had countered the ‘Hindi imposition’ critique by accusing Tamil political leaders of twisting facts to build a favourable political narrative before the 2026 election – for “attacking languages to destroy race and culture”.