Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu

The Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu were a series of agitations that happened in the Indian state of Tamil
Nadu (formerly Madras State and part of Madras Presidency) during both pre- and post-Independence periods.
The agitations involved several mass protests, riots, student and political movements in Tamil Nadu, and
concerned the official status of Hindi in the state and in the Indian Republic.
The first anti-Hindi agitation was launched in 1937, in opposition to the introduction of compulsory teaching of
Hindi in the schools of Madras Presidency by the first Indian National Congress government led by C.
Rajagopalachari (Rajaji). This move was immediately opposed by E. V. Ramasamy (Periyar) and the opposition
Justice Party (later Dravidar Kazhagam). The agitation, which lasted three years, was multifaceted and involved
fasts, conferences, marches, picketing and protests. The government responded with a crackdown resulting in
the death of two protesters and the arrest of 1,198 persons including women and children. The mandatory Hindi
education was later withdrawn by the British Governor of Madras Lord Erskine in February 1940 after the
resignation of the Congress Government in 1939.
Adoption of an official language for the Indian Republic was a hotly debated issue during the framing of the
Indian Constitution after India's independence from Britain. After an exhaustive and divisive debate, Hindi was
adopted as the official language of India with English continuing as an associate official language for a period
of fifteen years, after which Hindi would become the sole official language. The new Constitution came into
effect on 26 January 1950. Efforts by the Indian Government to make Hindi the sole official language after
1965 were not acceptable to many non-Hindi Indian states, who wanted the continued use of English. The
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a descendant of Dravidar Kazhagam, led the opposition to Hindi. To
allay their fears, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru enacted the Official Languages Act in 1963 to ensure the
continuing use of English beyond 1965. The text of the Act did not satisfy the DMK and increased their
skepticism that his assurances might not be honoured by future administrations.
As the day (26 January 1965) of switching over to Hindi as sole official language approached, the anti-Hindi
movement gained momentum in Madras State with increased support from college students. On 25 January, a
full-scale riot broke out in the southern city of Madurai, sparked off by a minor altercation between agitating
students and Congress party members. The riots spread all over Madras State, continued unabated for the next
two months, and were marked by acts of violence, arson, looting, police firing and lathi charges. The Congress
Government of the Madras State, called in paramilitary forces to quell the agitation; their involvement resulted
in the deaths of about seventy persons (by official estimates) including two policemen. To calm the situation,
Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri gave assurances that English would continue to be used as the
official language as long the non-Hindi speaking states wanted. The riots subsided after Shastri's assurance, as
did the student agitation.
The agitations of 1965 led to major political changes in the state. The DMK won the 1967 assembly election
and the Congress Party never managed to recapture power in the state since then. The Official Languages Act
was eventually amended in 1967 by the Congress Government headed by Indira Gandhi to guarantee the
indefinite use of Hindi and English as official languages. This effectively ensured the current "virtual indefinite
policy of bilingualism" of the Indian Republic. There were also two similar (but smaller) agitations in 1968 and
1986 which had varying degrees of success.
Their views were reflected in the following pronouncement of Krishnamachari (was finance minister in 1956
during Nehru period):
We disliked the English language in the past. I disliked it because I was forced to learn Shakespeare and Milton,
for which I had no taste at all. If we are going to be compelled to learn Hindi, I would perhaps not be able to
learn it because of my age, and perhaps I would not be willing to do it because of the amount of constraint you
put on me. This kind of intolerance makes us fear that the strong Centre which we need, a strong Centre which
is necessary will also mean the enslavement of people who do not speak the language at the centre. I would, Sir,
convey a warning on behalf of people of the South for the reason that there are already elements in South India
who want separation..., and my honourable friends in U.P. do not help us in any way by flogging their idea of
"Hindi Imperialism" to the maximum extent possible. So, it is up to my friends in Uttar Pradesh to have a whole
India; it is up to them to have a Hindi-India. The choice is theirs.
[33][39]

Official Languages Act of 1963
As the deadline stipulated in Part XVII of the Constitution for switching to Hindi as primary official language
approached, the central government stepped up its efforts to spread Hindi's official usage. In 1960, compulsory
training for Hindi typing and stenography was started. The same year, India's president Rajendra Prasad acted
on the Pant Committee's recommendations and issued orders for preparation of Hindi glossaries, translating
procedural literature and legal codes to Hindi, imparting Hindi education to government employees and other
efforts for propagating Hindi.
[44]

To give legal status to Nehru's assurance of 1959, the Official Languages Act was passed in 1963.
[62]
In Nehru's
own words:
This is a Bill, in continuation of what has happened in the past, to remove a restriction which had been placed
by the Constitution on the use of English after a certain date i.e. 1965. It is just to remove that restriction that
this is placed.
[37]

The Bill was introduced in Parliament on 21 January 1963. Opposition to the Bill came from DMK members
who objected to the usage of the word "may" instead of "shall" in section 3 of the Bill. That section read: "the
English language may...continue to be used in addition to Hindi". The DMK argued was that the term "may"
could be interpreted as "may not" by future administrations. They feared that the minority opinion would not be
considered and non-Hindi speakers' views would be ignored. On 22 April, Nehru assured the parliamentarians
that, for that particular case "may" had the same meaning as "shall". The DMK then demanded, if that was the
case why "shall" was not used instead of "may". Leading the opposition to the Bill was Annadurai (then a
Member of the Rajya Sabha). He pleaded for an indefinite continuation of the status quo and argued that
continued use of English as official language would "distribute advantages or disadvantages evenly" among
Hindi and non-Hindi speakers. The Bill was passed on 27 April without any change in the wording. As he had
warned earlier, Annadurai launched state wide protests against Hindi.
[37][59][63][64]
In November 1963, Annadurai
was arrested along with 500 DMK members for burning part XVII of the Constitution at an anti-Hindi
Conference.
[65]
He was sentenced to six months in prison.
[66]
On 25 January 1964, a DMK member,
Chinnasamy, committed suicide at Trichy by self-immolation, to protest the "imposition of Hindi". He was
claimed as the first "language martyr" of the second round of the anti-Hindi struggle by the DMK.
[67]

Nehru died in May 1964 and Lal Bahadur Shastri became Prime Minister of India. Shastri and his senior cabinet
members Morarji Desai and Gulzari Lal Nanda were strong supporters of Hindi being the sole official language.
This increased the apprehension that Nehru's assurances of 1959 and 1963 will not be kept despite Shastri's
assurances to the contrary.
[64]
Concerns over the preference of Hindi in central government jobs, civil service
examinations and the fear that English would be replaced with Hindi as medium of instruction brought students
into the anti-Hindi agitation camp in large numbers.
[68]
On 7 March 1964, the chief minister of Madras State, M.
Bhaktavatsalam at a session of the Madras Legislative Assembly recommended the introduction of Three-
language formula (English, Hindi and Tamil) in the state.
[69]
Apprehension over the Three-language formula
increased student support for the anti-Hindi cause.
[50]

Agitation of 1986
In 1986, Indian Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi introduced the "National Education Policy".
[96]
This education
policy provided for setting up Navodaya Schools, where the DMK claimed teaching of Hindi would be
compulsory.
[97]
The Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) led by M. G. Ramachandran (which had split
from the DMK in 1972), was in power in Tamil Nadu and the DMK was the main opposition party.
Karunanidhi announced an agitation against the opening of Navodaya Schools in Tamil Nadu. On 13
November, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution demanding the repeal of
Part XVII of the constitution and for making English the sole official language of the union.
[98][99][100]

On 17 November 1986, DMK members protested against the new education policy by burning Part XVII of the
Constitution.
[98]
20,000 DMK members including Karunanidhi were arrested.
[100]
21 persons committed suicide
by self-immolation.
[101]
Karunanidhi was sentenced to ten weeks of rigorous imprisonment. Ten DMK MLAs
including K. Anbazhagan were expelled from the Legislative Assembly by the speaker P. H. Pandian.
[98]
Rajiv
Gandhi assured Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu that Hindi would not be imposed.
[102]
As part of the
compromise, Navodhaya schools were not started in Tamil Nadu. Currently, Tamil Nadu is the only state in
India without Navodhaya schools.
[103]