‘No Place For Hindi Then, Now Or Ever’: Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin Pays Tribute To Language Martyrs
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday paid homage to the state’s ‘Language Martyrs’, who lost their lives during the anti-Hindi agitations, asserting that there was “no place” for Hindi in Tamil Nadu, now or in the future.
Marking Language Martyrs Day, the DMK president said Tamil Nadu was a state that loved its language like its own life and had unitedly resisted Hindi imposition whenever it was enforced. “A state that loved its language like its life, unitedly struggled against Hindi imposition; protested with the same intensity every time it was imposed,” Stalin said.
In a post on X, the Dravidian party chief wrote, “Language Martyrs’ Day of Glorious Tribute: Neither then, nor now, nor ever will Hindi have a place here!”
மொழிப்போர்த் தியாகிகள் வீரவணக்க நாள்: அன்றும் இன்றும் என்றும் இந்திக்கு இங்கே இடமில்லை!
மொழியை உயிராய் நேசிக்கும் ஒரு மாநிலம், இந்தித் திணிப்புக்கு எதிராக ஒன்றுதிரண்டு போராடியது. திணித்த ஒவ்வொரு முறையும் அதே வீரியத்தோடு போராடியது.
இந்தியத் துணைக் கண்டத்திலுள்ள பல்வேறு மொழிவழித்… pic.twitter.com/EmVm1TqTXy— M.K.Stalin – தமிழ்நாட்டை தலைகுனிய விடமாட்டேன் (@mkstalin) January 25, 2026
Stalin also shared a short video recounting the history of the anti-Hindi agitation, which reached its peak in 1965. The video referenced the language martyrs and highlighted the role of late DMK leaders C N Annadurai and M Karunanidhi in the movement.
Referring to the agitation, the chief minister said Tamil Nadu, by spearheading the anti-Hindi movement, had “safeguarded the right and identity of various linguistic national races in the sub-continent.”
“I pay my grateful respects to those martyrs who gave their precious lives for Tamil. No more life will be lost in the language war; our love for Tamil will never die! We shall oppose Hindi imposition forever,” Stalin said, using the hashtags #LanguageMartyrsDay and #StopHindiImposition.
The chief minister also paid floral tributes at the memorial of Language Martyrs Thalamuthu and Natarasan. He further inaugurated their busts at the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) building in the city.
The term ‘Language Martyrs’ refers to those who sacrificed their lives, largely through self-immolation, during the anti-Hindi agitation across Tamil Nadu in 1964-65.
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Tamil Nadu continues to follow the two-language policy of Tamil and English. The DMK has been alleging Hindi imposition through the Centre’s National Education Policy, 2020.
AIADMK chief and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam leader Vijay also paid tributes to the Language Martyrs. “Mother Tamil is equal to our life,” Palaniswami said in a social media post.
(With PTI inputs)