‘Language war’ being waged in Tamil Nadu, says Governor: ‘Forces not happy with Bharat rising’

His remarks come at a time when the state’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government led by Chief Minister M K Stalin is in the middle of a tussle with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre over the perceived imposition of Hindi under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

“There are forces — outside the country and within — that are not happy with Bharat rising,” he said, alleging that these forces aim to divide the nation along racial and linguistic lines. Drawing parallels to British colonial tactics, he added: “They are trying to create division among the people… All these are anti-Sanatan forces, but they do not know Sanatana is eternal.”

He asserted that “no one is imposing any language on another,” and challenged the dominant political narrative in Tamil Nadu, where the Dravidian parties have long championed a two-language policy that mandates Tamil and English in schools while opposing the inclusion of Hindi.

“People are free to choose language in India. Unfortunately, in our state, people are not free,” Ravi said, in a veiled critique of the state government led by the DMK. “We should not create problems and provoke by spreading lies. There is no war. There is no imposition. But people must have the freedom to choose the language they want to study.”

A statement released by the Raj Bhavan on Friday also described the state’s two-language policy as “rigid”. The statement claimed that students in Tamil Nadu felt “hugely deprived” of opportunities compared to their peers in neighbouring states.

The Raj Bhavan post on social media cited interactions between the Governor and leaders, entrepreneurs, and students from southern Tamil Nadu. “They feel that unfortunately, in the name of opposition to Hindi, they are not allowed to study even other South Indian languages. This is indeed unfair. Our youth must have the choice to study languages,” the statement read.