REMEMBRANCE OF 1965 TAMIL
LANGUAGE STRUGGLE
Rajaji in a letter to Jawaharlal Nehru describing him as
the faithful servant of the nation urged that the Constitution should be
amended so as to make English indefinitely the language of the central
administration and for inter state purposes. But his sane advice was not
heeded. The Constitution of India Part XVII includes Articles 343 to 351, of
which 343 and 344 form Chapter 1 –Language of the Union : The official language
of the the Union shall be Hindi in the Devanagari Script .The English language
shall continue to be used for all official purposes of the Union for 15 years
from the commencement of the Constitution. When 15 years lapsed and time for
review in Parliament arrived .
Aringnar Anna was in Rajya Sabha and his views
on Hindi is summarized by Dr.A.Ramasamy Former Vice Chancellor of Alagappa
University in his book Struggle for Freedom of Languages in India . “ It would
not be a wonder if anyone gets angry
about the high status given to one language in a country of many languages. We
only oppose the adoption of Hindi as the Official language of India. We reject
Hindi and prevent its imposition when it attempts to exercise authority on us.
We call Hindi the language of oppression”
Meanwhile when Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Sastri, Union Minister for Information
and Broadcasting Indira Gandhi and all in the Union Cabinet were behind
theUnion Home Ministry circular of 5 th December 1964 which stated : From
January 26th of 1965 Hindi will become the official language of the
Union. Although provision had been made in the Official Language Act 1963 for
the continued use of English in addition
to Hindi, it is expected that Hindi will be used for all official purposes of
the Union after January 26 of 1965 “ . This news triggered the Anti Hindi
Agitation of 1965.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Executive under General Secretary
Navalar Ira.Nedunchezhian on 8 th January 1965 declared “ Though DMK
understands the importance of the Republic Day 26 January 1965 as the Union Government has chosen that day
for the imposition of Hindi to thwart the wishes and destroy the welfare of the
people of South and as the party has realized that if opposition to Hindi is
not shown on that day , Union Government may indulge in a false propaganda that
the South had accepted Hindi , it is resolved to observe Republic Day as a
Mourning Day as a symbolic portrayal of the feelings and anguish of the people
of South against Hindi.
On January 17 : 1965 : Tamilnadu Anti Hindi Conference was
held in Trichy Devar Hall. All political parties except Congress and Communists
participated. Rajaji inaugurated the
conference. Karumuthu Thiagaraja Chettiar unfurled the.Tamil flag with bow,
fish, and tiger representing the ancient Chera, Chozha Pandyan kingdoms of
Tamilnadu.. Chairman of Reception Committee Scientist G.D.Naidu welcomed the
audience. P.T.Rajan who presided over the conference recalled the assurance
given by Pandi Jawaharlal Nehru to non Hindi speaking states and chided over
its silent burial.K.A.P.Viswanathan was the Convener
A student leader Prakasam
who worked for this conference is one of the forgotten heroes. The student leaders who have found in history
books includes Law College Students A.Ravichandran, L.Ganesan, N.V.N.Somu, P..Srinivasan
who later defeated K.Kamaraj in 1967 polls, Madurai Thiyagaraja Arts College
Students K.Kalimuthu, N.Kamaraj,P.Jeyapragasam, Chennai Thiyagaraja Arts
College student N.Navalavan, Pachaiappas College Student Duraimurugan,S.Duraisamy,
American College Student A.Rahmankhan,
Presideny College Student M.M.Raman , Thanjavur Raja Sarfoji College Student
M.Natarajan [ Sasikala’s husband] , K.Rajamanickam, Saint Josephs College
Trichy S.Ragupathy, M.Ponniraivan, A.N.Dhayaneswaran, Annamalai University
M.Rajendran shot dead in police firing, T.M.Iraikuruvan, Madurai Medical
College student R.Sethu, Madras Medical College student Rex Sargunam, Alagappa
Arts College student Jeevakalaimani who organized Karaikudi Anti Hindi
Conference in 1966 in which Pondicherry Tagore Arts College Student N.Nandhivarman
spoke in the presence of Scientist G.D.Naidu ,A.Ramasamy the author of two
books on Language Struggle and Former Vice Chancellor of Alagappa University
A.Ramasamy, Coimbatore Agricultural College student Thenkatchi Swaminathan, the
list goes on. Few are mentioned here and some went to become Ministers and
Members of Parliament and some went into oblivion.
Aringnar Anna was arrested and taken in a police
lorry. Black flags fluttered from DMK
headquarters to Murasoli office and throughout Tamilnadu in DMK members houses.
In non violent agitations DMK cadres like Keezhapavoor Chinnasamy, Aranganathan
etc showed to the world that Tamils will sacrifice themselves to save their
mother tongue.
Professor C.Ilakuvanar who translated Tholkappiam, Tamil
Grammar in English was arrested and removed from service. Kalaignar
M.Karunanithi was sent to solitary imprisonment in Palayam Kottai.
Usually though emotional Tamils are peace loving, but in
the face of police firing and oppression violent incidents erupted all over
Tamilnadu. This Tamil uprising brought down the Congress regime in 1967 and
even after 50 years Congress could not capture power in Tamilnadu.
Looking back at the struggle I feel we were self content
with putting neon lights in Government buildings like Rippon Buildings etc
proclaiming Lon Live Tamil. J.Jayalalitha too put up a Tamil Mother Statue in
Madurai Vaigai River. Symbolism only is shown, real development of Tamil is in
the wane. When few students of Dhaka University of East Pakisthan who were shot
dead in police firing protesting against Urdu and for Bengali, independent
Bangladesh could lobby in UNESCO to make it declare that day a World Mother
Languages Day. We Tamils though being power in center and states have failed to
make Human Resources Development Ministry send a request to UNESCO failing to
which and Government be it Singapore, Malaysia, or Australia can take it up
with UNESCO to get legitimate place for Tamil struggle. One who wrote to UNESCO
and got their reply is praying this.
N.Nandhivarman
Thamizhmaamani Awardee of Pondicherry Government in 2010
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