The language war that has broken out between Tamil Nadu’s DMK and NDA at the Centre has taken a different turn in the Hindi heartland, with the Rashtriya Lok Dal, an NDA ally accusing the Samajwadi party, the principal opposition party in UP and Congress of being mute spectators when “insults are being thrown at Hindi.”
RLD MLAs — eight of them — staged a strong protest in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh’s statue outside the UP Assembly in support of the respect for the Hindi language and the New Education Policy (NEP 2020). This protest by RLD MLAs was against the DMK’s continuous opposition to the Hindi language and also questioned “the silence” of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress on the recent comments made by DMK leaders that the RLD said were disrespectful of Hindi.
Cabinet Minister Anil Kumar said, “SP’s best friend MK Stalin sahab is openly opposing Hindi. Why are SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi silent on this issue?”
“Rashtriya Lok Dal raised its voice against Tamil Nadu (DMK) Chief Minister MK Stalin’s opposition to Hindi for implementing the National Education Policy! But why are India Alliance’s big partners Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav silent, clarify your position. 24 crore people speak Hindi in the State.They need to know what the SP’s stance is on this matter,” he said.
The Tamil Nadu government has opposed the three-language formula under the new education policy-2020, claiming it facilitates a ‘back-door entry’ to teaching of Hindi in the state. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had even said that the State government will continue opposing the imposition of Hindi. Unlike other States, Tamil Nadu follows a two-language formula of teaching only English and Tamil in the State government-run schools across Tamil Nadu. The Centre had rubbished DMK’s claims of Hindi imposition, saying the three language formula could include any language, apart from Tamil and English, and not necessarily Hindi.
Bhupender Chaudhary of the RLD said the party is demanding answers from the SP and the Congress because the people of UP deserved to know their position when it came to demands of their ally, DMK. “There have been allegations by DMK that Hindi is subsuming other dialects, but these are false, and even experts have called them. Standardisation of language happens in every state. These kinds of statements create divisions in the country which we feel are detrimental for our unity, which is why RLD and minister Jayant Chaudhary are raising this issue.”
Mr Stalin had ramped up pressure on the centre in the ‘Hindi imposition’ row on Thursday, claiming 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,” Mr Stalin had said. 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”.
Union Minister of State for Education Jayant Singh on Sunday had also criticised DMK’s stance on this matter. He said that those complaining of Hindi being imposed are trying to impose “their rigid, narrow political viewpoint”. In a social media post, Mr Singh said “language cannot be imposed on anyone else”.
Language politics has been a sensitive subject in Tamil Nadu, and the DMK in the past has successfully led massive anti-Hindi agitation during which a number of pro-Tamil activists killed themselves, mostly by self-immolation, against imposition of the language. Dravidian parties, including the AIADMK, have slammed the BJP on this matter.
Jayant Singh, however, said it was important to read the policy document before jumping to conclusions. “For those who have not even read NEP 2020 but are alleging imposition of language (only for imposing their rigid, narrow political viewpoint),” Jayant Singh added and then shared the directive on local languages as listed in the NEP.
“There will be a greater emphasis on the use of the mother tongue/local language as a medium of instruction and as a language of interaction in the classroom,” the minister highlighted.
