‘Tamilians have lost lives for language, don’t play with it’: Kamal Haasan

Amid the fresh faceoff between the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government over the three-language policy introduced in the New Educational Policy (NEP) 2020, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan warned against playing with Tamilians’s sentiments.

Addressing the cadres on the 8th foundation day of his party, Makkal Needhi Maiyam, in Chennai, Haasan emphasized the importance of linguistic pride and underscored the challenges faced by Tamilians in their fight to preserve their language.

"Tamilians have lost their lives for a language. Don't play with those things. Tamilians, even children, know what language they need. They have the knowledge to choose which language they need," he said.

The fresh row erupted after Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s comment indicating that Tamil Nadu will not be provided funds under Samagara Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) until the NEP is implemented in the state.

Pradhan’s remarks sparked off a political storm in the southern state with both the ruling DMK and the opposition AIADMK accusing the Centre of imposing Hindi.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin even termed Pradhan’s remarks as “blackmailing” and asked which constitutional provision made the three-language formula mandatory.

‘Attempts to create divisions in the name of language’

As the language row is raging, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday underscored the importance of preventing attempts being made to create divisions in the name of language.

Inaugurating the 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in Delhi, Modi said today all languages in the country are viewed as mainstream languages.

“Indian languages have never had mutual enmity; instead, they have always adopted and enriched each other,” he said.