PM Modi can't push Hindi on Tamil Nadu: DMK leader on language row

In an exclusive conversation with India Today, DMK MP and Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi Somu launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tamil Nadu for the Gangaikonda Cholapuram millenary celebrations. The DMK leader questioned the Prime Minister’s "selective interest" in Tamil heritage while accusing him of playing political drama ahead of elections.

“Modi says he loves and respects Tamil. Then why impose the three-language policy on us?” she asked, referring to the controversial New Education Policy that proposes Hindi as a mandatory language alongside English and the regional tongue. “He should retract the third-language policy. Let English remain the communicating language" she said

Somu also took strong exception to PM Modi carrying Ganga water to the event, calling it inappropriate for a national leader. “He represents the entire country. He can't get into religious things. He is the Prime Minister for everyone, not for one particular community,” she said. “He can't follow all these superstitions.”

On the Keezhadi archaeological findings, which many scholars believe provide evidence of an advanced, ancient Tamil civilisation, she accused the BJP-led Centre of deliberately downplaying the discovery. “Keezhadi will turn the whole history around and establish that Tamil is the oldest language. Modi doesn’t want this. He doesn’t want the Southern states to flourish” she alleged.

In a sharp remark aimed at the Prime Minister, she said “He is someone who makes a child sit on his lap but also pinches it. That’s the kind of split personality we are seeing. You can’t pretend to honour Tamil civilisation at Gangaikonda Cholapuram while rejecting Keezhadi findings.”

The DMK MP also questioned the Prime Minister’s visibility in Tamil Nadu. “He only comes during elections. And now, when elections are around the corner, he is back here. But at other times, he’s out of the country. Why is he touring abroad during election season? He has walked away to some other country.”

When asked about the ongoing state tour by AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami, she dismissed it as politically inconsequential. “There is a big air of confusion between the AIADMK and BJP. Amit Shah says it’s a coalition, and EPS says ADMK will come to power on its own. There’s no synchronization", she noted, adding “EPS is someone who became Chief Minister through the backdoor.”

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