Efforts to break country in name of language should stop: Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday took a swipe at the DMK over the language issue and stressed that the BJP is committed to protecting Hindi and all other Indian languages.

He said there is no competition but a spirit of cooperation between Hindi and other Indian vernaculars, asserting that efforts to break the country in the name of language should stop.

Addressing a programme organised by the BJP's 'Mahila Morcha' to pay a theatrical tribute to Tamil queen Velu Nachiyar, he said some people were creating controversy over Tamil and Hindi and lauded the effort to spread awareness about her in north India.

Singh said Hindi and other Indian languages strengthen each other.

Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK, a part of the opposition INDIA bloc, has been accusing the BJP-led Centre of imposing Hindi on the Dravidian state, and the war of words between the two parties is set to intensify as the state heads to assembly polls in the first half of the next year.

Some people consider Mughal king Aurangzeb as their ideal, Singh said, adding that he inflicted atrocities on followers of other religions.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ushered in the era of women-led development in the country, noting that they are now getting permanent commission in the armed forces.

The senior BJP leader on the occasion also paid tributes to Queen Mangammal, who was also from Tamil Nadu, and praised her rule.

He said women played a key role in turning India's freedom movement into a people's movement. PM Modi too has often lauded Nachiyar, an 18th-century queen, as among the inspirational figures who fought against the British rule.