An octogenarian set himself on fire in southern India to protest against the language policy of the government in New Delhi, accused of wanting to impose the use of Hindi throughout the country, a language spoken mainly in the north, police said on Sunday.
Language is a hot topic in India, where there are hundreds, with English serving as the official vehicular language while state governments use the regional languages. According to the latest census, in 2011, only 44% of Indians spoke Hindi.
Last month, a group of lawmakers led by influential interior minister Amit Shah reportedly recommended making Hindi the official national language, including for education.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist, for his part criticizes the use of English which he believes is due to a “slave mentality” and promotes the use of Indian languages.
But his opponents accuse him of wanting to impose Hindi above all, which displeases the populations of the south of the country where Dravidian languages are spoken, a family completely different from those of the Indo-European languages of which Hindi is a part. .
Police say MV Thangavel, an 85-year-old farmer, doused himself in fuel and set himself on fire on Saturday in Salem, southern Tamil Nadu state, while holding up a sign reading: ‘Modi government, stop imposing ‘hindi . Why should we choose Hindi instead of Tamil with its rich literature? […] This will damage the future of our young people.”
Mr Thangavel killed himself in front of a local DMK party, in power in Tamil Nadu and of which he was an activist, a police official said.
MK Stalin, the leader of this party critical of the Modi government, offered his condolences to the family of the deceased, but asked that no one else commit suicide. “We must not lose another life,” he pleaded, urging his supporters to “fight against the imposition of Hindi politically, democratically.” “Let’s not let narrow-mindedness ruin a beautiful country of diversity,” he added.
