An 85-year-old farmer from Tamil Nadu’s Salem district set himself up in fire outside the DMK office to protest against the imposition of Hindi language. On Saturday morning, Thangavel, a former agriculture union organiser for the party, held a protest in front of their Thalaiyur, close to Mettur, office.
Around 11 am, he allegedly poured himself in petrol, set himself ablaze, and died instantly. Thangavel was upset over the alleged Center’s initiative to adopt Hindi as a medium of communication.
According to media reports, Thangavel, before self-immolating oneself, in a banner wrote, “Modi government, central government, we don’t want Hindi,” adding that their native speech is Tamil and clowns speak Hindi. He said imposing the Hindi language will affect the lives of students, adding, “Get rid of Hindi, get rid of Hindi, get rid of Hindi.”
Also Read: ISRO: PSLV-C54 successfully places earth observation satellite, 8 nanosatellites in orbit
Notably, the state’s ruling party, led by DMK youth wing secretary and CM MK Stalin’s son Udayanidhi, issued a warning that the party would protest the BJP in Delhi if Hindi were designated the state’s official language.
The DMK had also organised a large protest, announcing that it would not watch helplessly as the BJP-led Central government ignored the concerns of the populace.
Earlier, a parliamentary panel had suggested that the IITs in Hindi-speaking states and other regions of the country should teach in Hindi as their principal language of instruction in both technical and non-technical higher education institutions. The group also recommended that Hindi be added to the list of UN recognised languages. Large-scale protests followed this.
For all the news update subscribe our YouTube channel ‘DNP India’. You can also follow us on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER.
