Allegations of Hindi imposition on Tamils incorrect: Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday clarified that there would be no imposition of Hindi language on Tamilians or non-Hindi speaking population.

"The allegations of Hindi imposition is definitely not correct. The central government is not forcing Hindi language on anybody," she said while speaking to reporters in Chennai this morning.

The Union Minister also stated that the Centre, in turn, is making efforts to propagate Tamil language under Shreshtha Bharat Scheme.

"On the contrary, under Shreshtha Bharat Scheme, the government is only propagating the Tamil language. Whatever has happened recently, it has happened at an administrative level, it cannot be taken as an imposition," she said.

Recently, DMK member Kalanidhi Veeraswamy and BJP member Rajiv Pratap Rudy sparred in the Lok Sabha as the former accused the BJP-led NDA government of making attempts to impose Hindi on Tamil Nadu and the latter stating that needless allegations were being made and Hindi is a national language.

Veeraswamy, who was making his maiden speech in the lower house, had said there have been three attempts by the BJP-led NDA government to impose Hindi on Tamil people.

"We have agitated, protested and successfully thwarted these devious designs. We have been fighting against the imposition of Hindi for several decades since the 1930s. I am sure that this is the same case with all the other states as well. The spirit and determination of our late leaders live in the form of our current leader. We will continue to protect our linguistic pride," he had stated.