Saffron ecosystem has been making desperate attempts to thrust Hindi on the state. Stalin’s protest even prompted them to describe him and his DMK as chauvinists and anti-nationals. It is really unfortunate that the rightist forces and Hindu zealots in their frenzy even forgot the basic fact that demanding linguistic equality was not chauvinism but a rightful assertion. This forced Stalin to accuse "Hindi zealots" of treating Tamil people as second-class citizens and imposing their language on non-Hindi speakers.

Nevertheless a deeper analysis would reveal that Stalin was simply articulating the feelings of the people of the state. His assertion manifested the subnational aspiration. The saffron ecosystem and Hindu Zealots were simply distorting the facts and presenting in a convoluted manner before the people to confuse them. The Hindi speaking people otherwise too have been rushing to the southern states for jobs and better future perspective, they are yet to assimilate with the Kannada, Malayalam or Telugu culture and its people.

The term "subnational" is often used in discussions about decentralization, regional autonomy, and the relationship between national and local governments. It is a political idea that emphasizes the identity and interests of a region or group within a nation, potentially leading to demands for greater autonomy or even secession. No denying that a party which has been advocating the line of one nation, one party, one language could not appreciate the political philosophy of sub nationalism. They abhor this idea.

Obviously, RSS advocating a new line must have dampened the spirit of leaders like Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. RSS has charted a major unfamiliar territory which has been basically opposed to regional languages and have been complaining of giving too much primacy to English in education, governance and business at the cost of Hindi. It is also significant to point out that their desperation to thrust Hindi on states as the national language has projected Hindi as the language of reactionaries and class enemies. Though Hindi connects India's diverse cultures, a legacy of the Indo-Aryan languages, and a unifying force with a rich literary and cultural heritage, these fanatics have denigrated it and turned others as its die-hard enemies.

RSS joint general secretary C.R. Mukunda’s comment, coming at the end of the Bengaluru session endorsing a three-language education formula came as a surprise. RSS has been protagonist of “Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan”. But Mukunda much against the general perception claimed that the three-language policy as one necessary to meet the requirements of modern-day life, marked by geographical mobility. He said; “Every person, not just in the school system but in society too, has to learn multiple languages. One is our mother tongue, another would be the regional language or the market language (of the place) where we live”.

What a paradox on the same day Amit Shah told parliament; “I want to tell those who are spewing venom in the name of language that you love a language which is used thousands of kilometres away from us, but you do not like Indian languages. How will the system of this country run? A lot has been done to divide the nation in the name of language. It should stop now. The nation has left this issue behind.”

Quite significantly speaking in Kerala last month, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had asked Hindus to shun English. Like Lohia once did, the RSS chief considers English to be the language of an Anglicised elite whose minds are colonised. He hoped that the language would soon be banished from India. While speaking he however forgot the bare fact that English has now become the language of social mobility and professional advancement.

Nonetheless the two divergent stands of the saffron ecosystem; one of Mukunda and other of Amit Shah, provide a clear insight that BJP and RSS are poles apart on this issue. Significantly while RSS has in recent times been trying to shed its image as a band of Hindi zealots, keen to undermine regional Indian languages as well as English, the BJP is advocating Hindi as the major language for the southern states.

It is the tough resistance from the local people to their efforts to penetrate into the southern states, that has made RSS redraw its strategy. But BJP under their demagogue leadership still continues to repose its trust in bullying the states and depend on Hindi to spread. RSS has come to realise that its spread has reached to the optimum level and if it has to expand it must renew and rework its social and cultural relations with the local people of these states. On the contrary Amit Shah is toying with the idea to bulldoze and misuse the state machinery to make them fall and follow in his footsteps.

Stalin is quite right in questioning the process of renaming of India's three key criminal laws, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Act. He sought to know why Tamil and other regional languages were excluded in naming laws that govern 140 crore citizens. He said, "Chauvinism is naming the three criminal laws in a language that Tamils cannot even pronounce or comprehend by reading".

Taking a strong stand against the National Education Policy (NEP), Stalin referred to it as "poison" that Tamil Nadu refuses to accept. "Imposition of anything breeds enmity. Enmity threatens unity. Hence, the true chauvinists and anti-nationals are the Hindi zealots who believe their entitlement is natural but our resistance is treason".

Saffron ecosystem ought to realise that Tamil Nadu’s opposition to Hindi imposition is based on politics and on culture. As a part of their strategy to turn India into one nation and demolish its pluralist character, the diversity, Saffron ecosystem has been striving to impose Hindi. They also knew that the people of the Dravidian ancestry have been opposed to the dominance of the upper castes. They revert their language no less than their mother. Obviously they can accept any disrespect to their language.

He said “The delimitation exercise, if carried out, will strike at the very foundation of federalism in India. It will erode the essence of democracy. Our voices in parliament will be silenced. Our rights will be compromised. This is nothing but a deliberate attempt to undermine certain states. States that have controlled their population growth, governed efficiently and contributed significantly to national progress must not be punished by the union government.”

Stalin was absolutely right in saying that even if the number of Lok Sabha seats is raised above the current 543, the states get the same share of seats that they got as per the 1971 Census. India’s population is expected to reach 1.42 billion by 2026. Under the present guidelines, larger states in the north like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (together they send 120 MPs to the Lok Sabha) could gain as much as 128 and 70 seats respectively. On the other hand states like Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will see a marginal rise. Kerala is likely to lose one seat. (IPA Service)