Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin has appealed to the student community to remain vigilant and not be swayed by arguments in favour of alleged imposition of Hindi in the state.
He was speaking after opening a new auditorium at the Nadanam government arts college for men on Sunday, April 20. The building was built at a cost of Rs 4.8 crore using the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) local area development fund of Health Minister Ma Subramanian, as per a report by The New Indian Express.
While referring to the 1965 language struggle, Udhayanidhi said, "Your seniors had fought against Hindi imposition without expecting any reward. Their struggle protected Tamil. The best way you can honour them, as juniors, is by carrying the mantle forward and continuing the fight against Hindi imposition through the three-language policy in the New Education Policy (NEP)."
Recalling an incident from the 1980s, when former Chief Minister Karunanidhi spoke on the campus at a function organised by Thayagam Kavi (currently Thiru Vi Ka Nagar MLA), the then chairman of Nandanam Arts College Students' Union, he said, "In his speech delivered on this very campus, Karunanidhi emphasised the need to resist Hindi imposition. Today, an auditorium named 'Kalaignar Kalaiyarangam' stands on this campus in his honour. I hope the students of today carry the same spirit in upholding the core values of the Dravidian movement such as social justice, human rights, and women's rights."
"Dravidian leaders such as Periyar EV Ramasamy, Annadurai, and Karunanidhi did not encourage students to jump into protests, instead, they wanted them to focus on their studies. But now, the Union Government is disrupting students' education through NEET and the new education policy," he added, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
Udhayanidhi also reminded the audience that Justice Party leader C Natesan established the Dravidian Hostel at Triplicane, Chennai, in 1916 to provide accommodation for students from disadvantaged communities who came to the city to pursue their education.
He said, "Last week, Chief Minister Stalin inaugurated a boys' hostel named after MC Raja with modern facilities in Saidapet (built at a cost of Rs 44.5 crore). This is the success of the Dravidian model."
