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{{short description|Series of protests in the southern Indian state}}
{{Dravidian parties}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
'''Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu''' refer to a series of agitations that happened in the ]n state of ] (formerly ] and part of ]) during both pre- and post-Independence periods. Several mass protests, riots, student and political movements happened in Tamil Nadu, concerning the official status of ] in the state and in the ].
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2013}}


{{good article}}
The first Anti-Hindi agitation was launched in 1937, in opposition to the introduction of compulsory teaching of Hindi in the schools of Madras Presidency by the first ] Government led by ] (Rajaji). This move was immediately opposed by ] and the opposition ] (later ]). The agitation which lasted three years was marked by fasts, conferences, marches, picketing and protests. The Government responded with a crackdown resulting in the death of two protesters and the arrest of 1,198 persons including women and children. The mandatory Hindi education was later withdrawn by the British Governor of Madras ] in February 1940 after the resignation of the Congress Government in 1939.


{{Infobox civil conflict
Adoption of an Official Language for the ] was one of the hotly debated issues during the framing of the ] after ] from ]. The language issue divided the framers into three different groups - the pro-Hindi group consisting of politicians mainly from Hindi-speaking areas, the pro-] group supported by ] and the anti-Hindi and pro-English group comprising mainly of South Indian leaders (a large majority of them from Tamil Nadu). After an exhaustive and divisive debate, a compromise was reached to adopt Hindi as the Official Language of India with English continuing to remain as an associate official language for fifteen years. At the end of fifteen years, Hindi would become the sole official language. The new Constitution came into effect on 26 January 1950.
| partof =
| date = 11 August 1937 – present<br />({{Age in years and months|day1=11|month1=8|year1=1937|duration=yes}})
| place = Present-day ], ]
| causes = ] by the ] (1947–present) and the ] (during 1937–65) to promote ] in the State
| goals = To prevent the ] in the State
| methods = *'''Non-violent'''- ]s, ], ]s, ], ], ],
*'''Violent'''- ], ], ], ], ]s.
| side1 = ] ] (1967–present)
----
'''Electoral parties'''<br/>
]
] †<br/>
] ]<br/>
]<br/>
] ]<br/>] ]<br/>] ]<br/>] ]<br/>] ] †<br/>] ]<br/>
] ]<br/>
] ]<br/>
]
----
'''Non-electoral organizations'''<br/>
] ] †<br/>
] ]<br/>
] ] † <br/>
] ]<br/>
] ]


Other Tamil organizations and general public
As provided for by the Constitution, the Indian Government made several efforts to spread Hindi in non-Hindi speaking regions and prepare the country for using Hindi as the sole official language after 1965. This was not acceptable to many non-Hindi Indian states, which advocated the continued use of English beyond 1965. The ] (DMK), a descendant of Dravidar Kazhagam, had continued its anti-Hindi policies during 1950s. As the opposition to abandoning English grew stronger, Jawaharlal Nehru assured the Indian Parliament in 1959, that English will continue indefinitely as an Associate Official language. To give statutory backing for his assurance, he passed the Official Languages Act in 1963. The text of the Act did not satisfy the opposition led by the DMK and increased their skepticism that his assurances may not be honoured by future administrations. The DMK launched state wide protests against the Act in Tamil Nadu.
| side2 = ] ] (1947–present)


] ] (1937–65)
As the day (26 January 1965) of switching over to Hindi as sole official language approached, the Anti-Hindi movement gained momentum with increased support from students who were worried that it would give unfair advantage to Hindi speakers in Central government jobs and public service examinations. The Tamil Nadu Students' Anti-Hindi Agitation Council was formed as an umbrella organisation of student unions from all over the state to co-ordinate the anti Hindi activities. The DMK lead by ], announced the observation of 26 January (also the ]) as a ''Day of mourning'' and prepared for protests. On 25 January, a full scale riot broke out in the southern city of ] sparked off by a minor altercation between agitating students and Congress party members. The riots spread all over Tamil Nadu and continued unabated for the next two months. The riots were marked by acts of violence, arson, looting, police firing and ] charges. The Congress Government of the Madras State, under Chief Minister ] called in para military forces to quell the agitation resulting in the deaths of about seventy persons (by official estimates) including two police men. To calm the situation, ], the then Prime Minister of India gave assurances that English would continue to be used as the official language as long the non-Hindi speaking states wanted. The riots subsided after Shastri's assurance and the student's agitation was called off. However, initial attempts to give legal backing to Shastri's assurance by amending the Official Languages Act in 1965 failed due to stiff opposition from pro-Hindi lobby.
* ]
* ] ] ''(auxiliary ; in 1965)''


----
The agitation of 1965 led to major political changes in Tamil Nadu. The DMK won the ] and the Congress has never managed to recapture power in the state since then. The Official Languages Act was eventually amended in 1967 by the Congress Government headed by ] to guarantee the indefinite use of Hindi and English as official languages. This effectively ensured the current "virtual indefinite policy of bilingualism" of the Indian Republic.
'''Electoral parties'''<br/>] ] (1937–65)<br/>
] ] †<br/>
] ] †<br/>
] ]
----
'''Non-electoral organizations'''<br/>
] ]<br/>] Hindustani Hitashi Sabha<br/>
] ]
*Other ] organizations
| notes = † = defunct parties / organizations
}}{{Dravidian politics-col}}
The '''anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu''' is the opposition to Hindi imposition in the southern Indian state of ] (formerly ] and part of ]) since the 20th-century. The agitations involve several mass protests, riots, student and political movements in Tamil Nadu concerning the official status of ] in the state.


The ], to protest the introduction of compulsory teaching of Hindi in the schools of Madras Presidency by the first ] (INC) government led by ]. This faced immediate opposition by ] and the opposition ]. The three-year-long agitation was multifaceted and involved ], conferences, marches, picketing and protests. Government crackdown resulted in the deaths of two protesters and the arrests of 1,198 persons (including women and children). After the government resigned in 1939, Governor ] withdrew the mandatory Hindi education in February 1940. After ] from the ], the adoption of an official language for the (to be) Republic was a hotly debated issue during the framing of the ]. Succeeding an exhaustive and divisive debate, Hindi was adopted as the official language of India with English continuing as an associate official language for a pre-set period of 15 years. After the new Constitution ], many non-Hindi States opposed efforts by the ] to make Hindi the sole official language after 26 January 1965.
==Background==
{{main|Languages of India}}
The ] has hundreds of languages. According to the Census of 2001, there are 1,635 rationalized mother tongues and 122 languages with more than 10,000 speakers.<ref name="census">{{cite web
| url = http://www.education.nic.in/language_new/lang_overview.asp
| title = Census of India 2001 - General Note
| publisher = Department of Education, Government of India
| date =
| accessdate = 2009-11-24
}}</ref> During the ], English was the ]. When the ] gained momentum in the early part of the 20th Century, efforts were undertaken to make ] (an amalgam of ] and ]) as a common language to unite various linguistic groups against the British Government. As early as 1918, ] established the ''Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha'' (Institution for the Propagation of Hindi in South India). In 1925, the ] switched to Hindustani from English for conducting its proceedings.<ref name="ramaswamy421"/> Both Gandhi and ] were supporters of Hindustani and Congress wanted to propagate the learning of Hindustani in non-Hindi speaking Provinces of India.<ref name="nehru1">{{cite book | first=Jawaharlal| last=Nehru| first2=Mohandas| last2=Gandhi| authorlink=Jawaharlal Nehru | coauthors= | origyear=| year=1937| title= The question of language: Issue 6 of Congress political and economic studies|edition= | publisher=K. M. Ashraf| location= | id= | pages= | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=R5upQgAACAAJ}}</ref><ref name="guha1">{{cite book | first=Ramachandra| last=Guha| | authorlink=Ramachandra Guha | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 2008| title= India after Gandhi|edition= | publisher=Harper Perennial| location= | id= ISBN 0060958588, ISBN 9780060958589| pages=128-131 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=EcSoIAAACAAJ}}</ref><ref name="ghose">{{cite book | first=Sankar| last=Ghose| authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1993| title= Jawaharlal Nehru, a biography |edition= | publisher=Allied Publishers| location= | id= ISBN 8170233690, ISBN 9788170233695| pages=216| url =http://books.google.com/books?id=MUeyUhVGIDMC&pg=PA216}}</ref> The idea of making Hindustani or Hindi the common language, was not acceptable to ], who viewed it as an attempt to make Tamils subordinate to ].<ref name="saraswathi">{{cite book | first=Srinivasan| last=Saraswathi| authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1994| title= Towards self-respect: Periyar EVR on a new world |edition= | publisher=Institute of South Indian Studies| location= | id= | pages=88-89| url =http://books.google.com/books?id=KRgLNgAACAAJ}}</ref>


The ] (DMK), a descendant of the ] (DK) in the then Madras State, led the opposition to Hindi. To allay their fears, Prime Minister ] enacted the ] to ensure the use of English beyond 1965. Still, there were apprehensions that his assurances might not be honoured by successive governments. As 26 January 1965 approached, the anti-Hindi movement gained momentum in Madras State with increased support from college students. On 25 January, a minor altercation between agitating students and INC party members triggered a full-scale riot in ], eventually spreading all over the State. The riots (marked by violence, arson, looting, police firing and ]s) continued unabated for the next two months. Paramilitary involvement (on the request of the State government headed by INC) resulted in the deaths of about 70 people (by official estimates) including two policemen. To calm the situation, the then Prime Minister ] assured that English would continue as the official language as long as the non-Hindi States wanted. The riots and student agitation subsided after this.
==Agitation of 1937-40==
The ] won the ] in ]. ] (Rajaji) became Chief Minister on 14 July 1937. He was a supporter of propagating Hindi in South India. Even before the elections, he had expressed support for Hindi in an article written in ''Sudesamithran'' on 6 May 1937:


The agitations of led to major political changes in the state. The DMK won the ] and the INC never managed to recapture power in the state since then. The Official Languages Act was eventually amended in 1967 by the Union government (headed by ]) to guarantee the indefinite use of Hindi and English as official languages. This effectively ensured the current "virtual indefinite policy of bilingualism" of the Indian Republic. There were also two similar (but smaller) agitations in 1968 and 1986 which had varying degrees of success. In the 21st century, numerous agitations in various forms have been continuing intermittently in response to covert and overt attempts of Hindi promulgation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=Nov 27, 2022 |title=TN: 85-year-old DMK cadre self-immolates in Salem protesting against 'Hindi imposition', CM Stalin reacts |url=https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/tn-85-year-old-dmk-cadre-self-immolates-in-salem-protesting-against-hindi-imposition-cm-stalin-reacts20221127013059 |website=]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-07 |title=Language Fracas |url=https://www.indialegallive.com/magazine/dahi-curd-fssai-language-fracas-karnataka-tamil-nadu-nandini-aavin/ |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=India Legal |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=October 2018 |title=Tamilians who can speak Hindi up 50% in 10 yrs across Tamil Nadu |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/despite-linguistic-politics-tamils-speaking-hindi-up-50-in-10-years/articleshow/66021459.cms |work=]}}</ref>
{{quotation|Government employment is limited. All cannot get it. Therefore one has to search for other jobs. For that and for business, knowledge of Hindi is necessary. Only if we learn Hindi, the south Indian can gain respect among the others.<ref name="more"/>}}


==Background==
On 11 August 1937<ref name="venu2">{{cite book | first= E.Es. | last=Venu| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1979| title= Why South opposes Hindi|edition= | publisher=Justice Publications| location= | id= | pages=54| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=83xIAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>, within a month of coming to power, he announced his intention to introduce Hindi language teaching in secondary schools by issuing a policy statement.<ref name="more"/> This move followed lobbying by Pro-Hindi organizations like ''Hindustani Seva Dal'' and ''Hindustani Hitashi Sabha''. These organisations had earlier convinced many Congress led Local Governments to introduce compulsory Hindi in schools in the early 1930s.<ref name="ramaswamy421"/> ] and the opposition ] led by ] immediately opposed the move. An Anti-Hindi conference was organised on 4 October 1937 to protest the announcement. On 21 April 1938, Rajaji went ahead and passed a Government Order making the teaching of Hindi compulsory in 125 Secondary schools in the Presidency. Rajaji's persistence was viewed by opponents as an attempt to destroy Tamil and promote Hindi. They started state wide protests against Rajaji and Hindi. The agitation was marked by protest marches, Anti-Hindi conferences, observing a Anti-Hindi day (3 December 1938)<ref name="baliga1">{{cite book | first= B. S. | last=Baliga| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2000| title=Madras district gazetteers, Volume 10,Part 1|edition= | publisher=Superintendent, Govt. Press| location= | id= | pages=244| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=jBxuAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>, fasts against Government policies, black flag demonstrations and picketing of Government Offices and institutions. It was active in Tamil speaking districts of the Presidency - ], ], ], ] and North ].<ref name="more"/> The agitation lasted till the order was withdrawn in February 1940. Two persons -Thalamuthu and Natarajan - lost their lives. Around 1,200 people including Periyar were imprisoned.
{{main|Languages of India}}{{see also|Linguistic imperialism}}
The Republic of India has hundreds of languages.<ref name="census">{{cite web
|url = http://www.education.nic.in/language_new/lang_overview.asp
|title = Census of India 2001 – General Note
|publisher = Department of Education, Government of India
|access-date = 24 November 2009
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091216134226/http://education.nic.in/language_new/lang_overview.asp
|archive-date = 16 December 2009
|url-status = dead}}</ref> During the ], English was the ]. When the ] gained momentum in the early part of the 20th century, efforts were undertaken to make ] as a common language to unite linguistic groups against the British government. As early as 1918, ] established the '']'' (Institution for the Propagation of Hindi in South India). In 1925, the Indian National Congress switched the language of its official business from English to Hindi.<ref name="ramaswamy421">{{Harvnb|Ramaswamy|1997| loc=ch. 4.21 (Battling the Demoness Hindi)}}</ref> Both Gandhi and ] were supporters of Hindi and Congress wanted to propagate the learning of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking provinces of India.<ref name="nehru1">{{cite book | first1=Jawaharlal| last1=Nehru| first2=Mohandas| last2=Gandhi| author-link=Jawaharlal Nehru | year=1937| title= The question of language: Issue 6 of Congress political and economic studies| publisher=K. M. Ashraf| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=R5upQgAACAAJ}}</ref><ref name="guha1">{{Harvnb|Guha|2008|pp=128–131}}</ref><ref name="ghose">{{cite book | first=Sankar| last=Ghose| year= 1993| title= Jawaharlal Nehru, a biography | publisher=Allied Publishers| isbn=978-81-7023-369-5| page=216| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=MUeyUhVGIDMC&pg=PA216}}</ref> The idea of making Hindi the common language forcefully, was not acceptable to Periyar, who viewed it as an attempt to make Tamils subordinate to ]ns.<ref name="saraswathi">{{cite book | first=Srinivasan| last=Saraswathi| year= 1994| title= Towards self-respect: Periyar EVR on a new world | publisher=Institute of South Indian Studies| pages=88–89| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=KRgLNgAACAAJ}}</ref>


==Agitation of 1937–1940==
===Support for the agitation===
{{Main|Anti-Hindi agitation of 1937–40}}
] and ] at Jinnah's residence in Bombay (8 January 1940)<ref name="more2">{{cite book | first=J.B.P| last=More| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1997| title=Political Evolution of Muslims in Tamilnadu and Madras 1930–1947 |edition= | publisher=Orient Blackswan| location= | id= ISBN 8125011927 ISBN 9788125011927| pages=172| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QDht7OyOjXMC}}</ref>]]
], ] and ] at Jinnah's residence in Bombay (8 January 1940)<ref name="more2">{{Harvnb|More|1997| p=172}}</ref>]]
The Anti-Hindi agitation was backed by Periyar's ] and the opposition Justice Party. Periyar eventually became the President of the Justice Party during the course of the agitation. The agitation was also supported by Tamil scholars like ], Somasundara Bharathi, K. Appadurai, Mudiyarasan and Ilakkuvanar. Women also participated in the agitation in large numbers. Moovalur Ramamirtham, Narayani, Va. Ba. Thamaraikani, Munnagar Azhagiyar, Dr. Dharmambal, Malar Mugathammaiyar, Pattammal and Seethammal were some of the women who were arrested for participating in the agitation.<ref name="sarkar"/> In November 1938, the Tamil Nadu Women's Conference was convened to demonstrate women's support for the movement.<ref name="ramaswamy522">{{cite book | first=Sumathy| last=Ramaswamy| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1997| title= Passions of the tongue: language devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970, |edition= | publisher=University of California Press| location= | id= ISBN 0520208056 ISBN 9780520208056| pages=Chapter 5.22| url=http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft5199n9v7&chunk.id=s1.5.22&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch5&brand=ucpress}}</ref> Despite the Anti-Brahmin sentiments espoused by the backers of the agitation a, few Brahmins like Kanchi Rajagopalachari also participated in the movement.<ref name="ramaswamy530">{{cite book | first=Sumathy| last=Ramaswamy| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1997| title= Passions of the tongue: language devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970, |edition= | publisher=University of California Press| location= | id= ISBN 0520208056 ISBN 9780520208056| pages=Chapter 5.30| url=http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft5199n9v7&chunk.id=s1.5.30&toc.depth=100&toc.id=ch5&brand=ucpress}}</ref>
The Tamil speaking Muslims in the Madras presidency supported the agitation (as opposed to the ] speaking Muslims, who supported the propagation of Hindi). P. Kaliffulah, a ] member representing ] in the Legislative Assembly, declared :


The Indian National Congress won the ] in Madras Presidency. ] became the chief minister on 14 July 1937. He was a supporter of propagating Hindi in South India. On 11 August 1937,<ref name="venu2">{{cite book | first= E.Es. | last=Venu| year=1979| title= Why South opposes Hindi| publisher=Justice Publications| page=54| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=83xIAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> within a month of coming to power, he announced his intention to introduce Hindi language teaching in secondary schools by issuing a policy statement.<ref name="more"/> On 21 April 1938, he issued a government order making the teaching of Hindi compulsory in 125 secondary schools in the presidency. Periyar and the opposition Justice Party led by ] immediately opposed the move. They started state-wide protests against Rajaji and Hindi.
{{quotation |I may at once say that I am a Rowther myself; my mother tongue is Tamil and not Urdu. I am not ashamed of it; I am proud of it.. We have not been told why Hindi after all has been chosen as the common language of India<ref name="more"/> }}


The agitation was backed by Periyar's ] and Justice Party. It also had the support of Tamil scholars like ], ], K. Appadurai, Mudiyarasan and ]. In December 1937, Tamil ] scholars were among the first to announce their opposition to the Hindi teaching in the ''Saiva Sidhandha Maha Samaja'' conference at ].<ref name="saivite1">{{cite journal|last=Venkatachalapathy|first=A. R.|date=8 April 1995|title=Dravidian Movement and Saivites: 1927–1944|journal=]|volume=30|issue=14|pages=761–768|issn=0012-9976|oclc=46735231|jstor=4402599}}</ref> Women also participated in the agitation in large numbers. ], Narayani, Va. Ba. Thamaraikani, Munnagar Azhagiyar, Dr. ], Malar Mugathammaiyar, Pattammal and Seethammal were some of the women who were arrested for participating in the agitation.<ref name="sarkar"/> On 13 November 1938,<ref name="ravichandran175">{{Harvnb|Ravichandran|C. A. Perumal|1982|p=175}}</ref> the Tamil Nadu Women's Conference was convened to demonstrate women's support for the movement.<ref name="ramaswamy522">{{Harvnb|Ramaswamy|1997| loc=ch. 5.22 (The Woman Devotee)}}</ref><ref name="srilata">{{cite book | first=K.| last=Srilata| year=2003| title=The other half of the coconut: women writing self-respect history: an anthology of self-respect literature (1928–1936) | publisher=Zubaan| isbn=978-81-86706-50-3| pages=11–12| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4AOnhw_0UREC&pg=PA11}}</ref> The agitation was marked by ] sentiments as the protesters believed ]s were attempting to impose Hindi and ] over Tamil.<ref name="ramaswamy524">{{Harvnb|Ramaswamy|1997| loc=ch. 5.24 (The Brahman Devotee)}}</ref><ref name="kannan8">{{Harvnb|Kannan|2010| p=53}}</ref><ref name="kannan9">{{Harvnb|Kannan|2010| pp=50–51}}</ref><ref name="phadnis">{{cite book | first1=Urmila | last1=Phadnis|author-link1=Urmila Phadnis|first2=Rajat| last2=Ganguly| year=2001| title=Ethnicity and nation-building in South Asia | publisher=SAGE| isbn=978-0-7619-9439-8| page=221| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wbf2wzyuWkUC&pg=PA221}}</ref> Despite the general anti-Brahminism of the agitation, a few Brahmins like Kanchi Rajagopalachari also participated in the movement.<ref name="ramaswamy530a">{{Harvnb|Ramaswamy|1997| loc=ch. 5.30 (The Devotee as Martyr)}}</ref>
In a letter written to the Viceroy ] in July 1938, ], the Governor of Madras acknowledged its popular support:
The Tamil speaking Muslims in the Madras presidency supported the agitation (in contrast to the ]-speaking Muslims, who supported the propagation of Hindi, since Hindi and Urdu are linguistically the same language called ]). The agitation was marked by fasts,<ref name="ramaswamy530a" /><ref name="kannan7">{{Harvnb|Kannan|2010| p=52}}</ref> protest marches, processions,<ref name="ramaswamy421"/><ref name="more"/><ref name="baliga1"/> picketing of schools teaching Hindi and government offices,<ref name="Irschick2">{{Harvnb|Irschick|1986| pp=220–226}}</ref> anti-Hindi conferences, observing an anti-Hindi day (1 July<ref name="ravichandran174">{{Harvnb|Ravichandran|C. A. Perumal|1982|p=174}}</ref> and 3 December 1938<ref name="baliga1">{{cite book | first= B. S. | last=Baliga| year=2000| title=Madras district gazetteers, Volume 10, Part 1| publisher=Superintendent, Govt. Press| page=244| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jBxuAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>) and black flag demonstrations. It was active in the Tamil speaking districts of the presidency – ], ], ], ] and ].<ref name="more"/> During the course of the agitation, two protesters – Natarajan and Thalamuthu – lost their lives in police custody.<ref name="ramaswamy530b">{{harvnb|Ramaswamy|1997|loc=Chapter 5.30}}</ref><ref name="geetha">{{cite book | first1=V| last1=Geetha|first2=S. V.| last2=Rajadurai| year=1998| title=Towards a non-Brahmin millennium: from Iyothee Thass to Periyar | publisher=Samya| isbn=978-81-85604-37-4| page=499| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-bh6AAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="bhattacharya">{{cite book | first1=Sabyasachi | last1=Bhattacharya| first2=Brahma | last2=Nand| first3=Inukonda | last3=Thirumali| year=2004| title=Repressed discourses: essays in honour of Prof. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya | publisher=Bibliomatrix| isbn=978-81-901964-1-3| page=259| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mavvAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>


]
{{quotation |Compulsory Hindi has been the cause of great trouble in this province and is certainly contrary to the wishes of the bulk of the population..<ref name="more"/> }}
The ruling Congress Party was divided on the Hindi issue. While Rajaji and his supporters stuck to their position, ] and ] were against it. They wanted Rajaji to make Hindi optional or to provide a conscience clause for allowing parents to withhold their children from Hindi classes. But Rajaji was firm in his stance. The police response to the agitation grew progressively brutal in 1939. During the agitation, a total of 1,198 protesters were arrested and out of them 1,179 were convicted (73 of those jailed were women and 32 children accompanied their mothers to prison).<ref name="sarkar">{{cite book | first=Tanika| last=Sarkar| year=2008| title=Women and social reform in modern India: a reader | publisher=Indiana University Press| isbn=978-0-253-22049-3| page=396| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JLGBUEs74n4C}}</ref> Periyar was fined 1,000 rupees and sentenced to one year of rigorous imprisonment for inciting "women to disobey the law" (he was released within six months on 22 May 1939 citing medical grounds)<ref name="ravichandran176">{{Harvnb|Ravichandran|C. A. Perumal|1982|p=176}}</ref> and Annadurai was jailed for four months.<ref name="baliga2">{{cite book | first= B. S. | last=Baliga| year=2000| title=Tamil Nadu district gazetteers, Volume 2| publisher=Superintendent, Govt. Press| page=85| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2VDAAAAYAAJ}}</ref><ref name="kalachuvadu2">{{cite web|url=http://kalachuvadu.com/issue-105/page44.asp |title=The son who named his mother |last=Thirunavukkarasu |first=K |date=September 2008 |work=Kalachuvadu Magazine |language=ta |access-date=3 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627120533/http://kalachuvadu.com/issue-105/page44.asp |archive-date=27 June 2009}}</ref> On 7 June 1939, all those arrested for participating in the agitations were released without explanation.<ref name="ravichandran176"/> Rajaji also organised pro-Hindi meetings to counter the agitators.<ref name="more">{{Harvnb|More|1997| pp=156–159}}</ref><ref name="Irschick2"/> On 29 October 1939, the Congress government resigned protesting the involvement of India in the Second World War, and the Madras provincial government was placed under governor's rule. On 31 October, Periyar suspended the agitation and asked the governor to withdraw the compulsory Hindi order.<ref name="ravichandran176"/> On 21 February 1940, Governor Erskine issued a press communique withdrawing compulsory Hindi teaching and making it optional.<ref name="sundararajan">{{cite book | first=Saroja| last=Sundararajan| year=1989| title= March to freedom in Madras Presidency, 1916–1947 | publisher=Lalitha Publications| page=546| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nr5HAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>


==Agitations of 1946–1950==
===The fasts===
From 1946 to 1950, there were sporadic agitations against Hindi by the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) and Periyar. Whenever the government introduced Hindi as a compulsory language in schools, anti-Hindi protests happened and succeeded in stopping the move.<ref name="williams">{{cite book | first1=Rohit | last1=Wanchoo| first2=Mukesh | last2=Williams| year=2007| title= Representing India: literatures, politics, and identities | publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-569226-6| page=73| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3uYTAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> The largest anti-Hindi imposition agitations in this period occurred from 1948 to 1950. After India's independence in 1947, the Congress government at the centre urged all states to make Hindi compulsory in schools. The Congress government of Madras Presidency under ] complied and made Hindi compulsory in the 1948–49 academic year. It also introduced a minimum qualification in Hindi for the promotion of students to higher classes. Periyar once again launched agitation against the imposition of Hindi. The 1948 agitation was supported by former Congress nationalists like ] and ], who recanted their earlier pro-Hindi policies. On 17 July, the DK convened an all party anti-Hindi conference to oppose the compulsory Hindi teaching. As in the agitation from 1938 to 1940, this agitation was also characterized by strikes, black flag demonstrations and anti-Hindi processions. When Rajaji (then the ]) visited Madras on 23 August, the DK staged a black flag demonstration against his visit. On 27 August, Periyar and Annadurai were arrested. The government did not change its position on Hindi and the agitation continued. On 18 December, Periyar and other DK leaders were arrested again. A compromise was reached between the government and agitators. The government stopped the legal action against the agitators and they in turn dropped the agitation on 26 December 1948. Eventually, the government made Hindi teaching optional beginning in 1950. Students who did not want to learn Hindi were allowed to participate in other school activities during Hindi classes.<ref name="ramaswamy421"/><ref name="ramaswamy522"/><ref name="ravichandran177">{{Harvnb|Ravichandran|C. A. Perumal|1982|pp=177–179}}</ref><ref name="vasantha">{{Harvnb|Kandasamy|Smarandache|2005| pp=108–110}}</ref>
On 1 May 1938, a young man named Stalin Jagadeesan went on a fast demanding the withdrawal of compulsory Hindi teaching. He became a symbol for the Anti-Hindi agitators. In an interview published in Periyar's magazine ''Viduthalai'' he declared that his fast was to prove that ''Tamil thai'' (lit.Mother Tamil) still had loyal sons. On 1 June, another man named Ponnusamy began a fast in front of Rajaji's house. Periyar did not approve of fasting as a form of protest. But other leaders of the agitation like ] used Jagadeesan as an example who declared in an Anti-Hindi meeting :


== Official languages and the Indian Constitution ==
{{quotation| If Jagadeesan dies, I am ready to take his place, and die along with ten others. As soon as Jagadeesan dies, you should also be prepared to die.}}
{{see also|Part Seventeen of the Constitution of India}}
Jagadeesan's fast was called off after ten weeks and it was reported that he had been eating regularly during the nights.<ref name="ramaswamy530"/>
The ] was established on 9 December 1946, for drafting a ] when India became independent. The Constituent Assembly witnessed fierce debates on the language issue. The adoption of a National Language, the language in which the Constitution was to be written in and the language in which the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly were to be conducted were the main linguistic questions debated by the framers of the Constitution.<ref name="hindu2">{{cite news

| url = http://www.hindu.com/mag/2004/01/18/stories/2004011800040300.htm
===The Tamil brigade===
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040526223044/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2004/01/18/stories/2004011800040300.htm
In August-September 1938, a protest march was jointly organised by Periyar's Self-Respect movement and the Muslim league. It was flagged of by Periyar and Khaliffullah. The marchers who called themselves ''Tamilar Padai'' (lit. Tamil brigade), started from ] on 1 August 1938. They were lead by Kumarasamy Pillai and Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammal. In the next 42 days, the marchers covered 234 villages and 60 towns. They addressed 87 public meetings and received widespread coverage in the Press. They reached ] on 11 September 1938 and were arrested for picketing Government offices. The march succeeded in raising Anti-Hindi and pro-Tamil support in smaller towns and villages they covered.<ref name="baliga1"/><ref name="ramaswamy421"/><ref name="more"/>
| url-status = dead

| archive-date = 26 May 2004
===Thalamuthu and Natarajan===
Two persons died during the agitation and were claimed as martyrs by the agitators. Their deaths fueled the protests further. Natarajan (a ]) was arrested On 5 December 1938. He was admitted to the hospital on the 30 December and died on 15 January 1939. On 13 February 1939, Thalamuthu Nadar was arrested with others for picketing the Hindu Theological High School in Madras. While imprisoned, he fell ill on 6 March and died on 11 March. The Government claimed that his death was due to ] and ] and he was already in poor health when he died. The Government dismissed their deaths and claimed they were illiterates. When the issue was raised in the Assembly, Rajaji dismissed it casually. The agitators were incensed by the Government attitude and turned the dead men into martyrs. Their funeral processions in Madras were attended by hundreds of mourners and witnessed fiery speeches denouncing the Government. Annadurai proclaimed that Natarajan’s name and deeds should be inscribed in gold in the history of the world. The agitators praised their sacrifices and claimed that the dead men had refused early release in exchange for ending their activities. In an interview given to the ''Sunday Observer'' on 27 January 1939, Natarajan's father K. Lakshmanan said when his son was hospitalized he refused to apologize to get an early release.<ref name="ramaswamy530">{{cite book | first=Sumathy| last=Ramaswamy| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1997| title= Passions of the tongue: language devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970 |edition= | publisher=University of California Press| location= | id= ISBN 0520208056 ISBN 9780520208056| pages=Chapter 5.30| url=http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft5199n9v7&chunk.id=s1.5.30&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch5&brand=ucpress}}</ref><ref name="geetha">{{cite book | first=V| last=Geetha|first2=S. V.| last2=Rajadurai| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1998| title=Towards a non-Brahmin millennium: from Iyothee Thass to Periyar |edition= | publisher=Samya| location= | id= ISBN 8185604371 ISBN 9788185604374| pages=499| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-bh6AAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="bhattacharya">{{cite book | first=Sabyasachi | last=Bhattacharya| first2=Brahma | last2=Nand| first3=Inukonda | last3=Thirumali|authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2004| title=Repressed discourses: essays in honour of Prof. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya |edition= | publisher=Bibliomatrix| location= | id= ISBN 8190196413 ISBN 9788190196413| pages=259| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mavvAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>

===Anti Brahminism===
The Anti-Hindi movement viewed the Hindi legislation as an attempt by Brahmins to impose Hindi and ] over Tamil. Rajaji's earlier attempt to translate a English Language Physics book into Tamil using Sanskrit words was viewed as proof of his preference of Sanskrit over Tamil. The Anti-Hindi movement portrayed the Brahmin dominated Tamil Nadu Congress party as a stooge of "Hindi Imperialists" from the North. The resistance of the Brahmin Tamil scholars for removing Sanskrit words from Tamil was viewed by some in the agitation as proof of Brahmin complicity in the attempt to destroy Tamil.<ref name="venkatachalapathy">{{cite book | title=andha kalathil kaapi illai| last=Vēṅkaṭācalapati|first=Ā. Irā |authorlink=A.R. Venkatachalapathy| date=2000| publisher=Kalachuvadu|pages=144-161|id=ISBN 8187477059| language= Tamil | authorlink=A R Venkatachalapathy}}</ref> Rajaji was identified as an enemy of Tamil. Dravidian movement newspapers carried cartoons depicting Rajaji hurling at dagger ''Tamil Thai'' and disrobing her. Similar banners were displayed in the processions taken out by Anti-Hindi agitators. In an Anti-Hindi meeting organised in August 1938, Pavalar Balasundaram accused the Brahmin community of "killing Tamil Thai". Rajaji's dismissal of Natarasan's death in the Assembly was denounced as "Aryans laughing while Tamils shed tears for their hero".<ref name="ramaswamy421">{{cite book | first=Sumathy| last=Ramaswamy| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1997| title= Passions of the tongue: language devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970, |edition= | publisher=University of California Press| location= | id= ISBN 0520208056 ISBN 9780520208056| pages=Chapter 4.21| url=http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft5199n9v7&chunk.id=s1.4.21&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch4&brand=ucpress}}</ref><ref name="ramaswamy524">{{cite book | first=Sumathy| last=Ramaswamy| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1997| title= Passions of the tongue: language devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970, |edition= | publisher=University of California Press| location= | id= ISBN 0520208056 ISBN 9780520208056| pages=Chapter 5.24| url=http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft5199n9v7&chunk.id=s1.5.24&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch5&brand=ucpress}}</ref>

===Government response===
The ruling Congress Party was divided on the Hindi issue. While Rajaji and his supporters stuck to their position, ] and ] were against it. They wanted Rajaji to make Hindi optional or to provide a conscience clause for allowing parents to withhold their children from Hindi Classes. Satyamurti also disagreed with the use of Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1932 against the Anti-Hindi agitators.<ref name="ramanathan"/> In a letter written to ] on 7 July 1938, he wrote:
<blockquote>I personally believe that where a parent or guardian swears an affidavit before a magistrate stating his reasons that it is against his conscience that his boy or girl should learn Hindustani compulsorily, the child may be exempted. I personally believe very few parents or guardians will claim this exemption. This will expose the hollowness of the agitation and kill it. I wish you to write to Sri. C. Rajagopalachari suggesting this to him. Moreover i am not not very happy over the use by the Madras Government of the Criminal Law Amendment Act against these Picketers..<ref name="ramanathan">{{cite book | first=K.V.| last=Ramanathan| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2008| title=The Satyamurti Letters, Volume II |edition= | publisher=Pearson Education India| location= | id= ISBN 8131716848 ISBN 9788131716847| pages=3,34| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=glA6t2p7arwC}}</ref></blockquote>

Rajaji defended his action in another Government Order issued on 14 June 1938:
<blockquote> The attainment by our Province of its rightful place in the national life of India requires that our educated youth should possess a working knowledge of the most widely spoken language in India. Government have therefore decided upon the introduction of Hindustani in the secondary school curriculum of our province. Government desire to make it clear that Hindi is not to be introduced in any elementary school whatsoever, the mother tongue being the only language taught in such schools. Hindi is to be introduced only in secondary schools and there too only in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd forms, that is to say in the 6th, 7th and 8th years of school life. It will not therefore interfere in any way with the teaching of the mother tongue in the secondary schools.…Hindi will be compulsory only in the sense that attendance in such classes will be compulsory and pupils cannot take Hindi as a substitute for Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam or Kannada, but must learn Hindi only in addition to one of these languages<ref name="ramaswamy421"/></blockquote>

He refused to give in to the demands of the agitators. He claimed they were motivated by their "pre judices of Anti-Aryanism" and "Hatred of the Congress".<ref name="ramaswamy421"/> He used the Criminal Law Amendment Act against the agitators. 1,198 protesters were arrested and out of them 1,179 were convicted (73 of those jailed were women and some of them went to jail with their children; 32 children accompanied their mothers to prison<ref name="sarkar">{{cite book | first=Tanika| last=Sarkar| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2008| title=Women and social reform in modern India: a reader |edition= | publisher=Indiana University Press| location= | id= ISBN 0253220491, ISBN 9780253220493| pages=396| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=JLGBUEs74n4C}}</ref>). Periyar was sentenced to one year<ref name="baliga2">{{cite book | first= B. S. | last=Baliga| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2000| title=Tamil Nadu district gazetteers, Volume 2|edition= | publisher=Superintendent, Govt. Press| location= | id= | pages=85| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=M2VDAAAAYAAJ}}</ref> of rigorous imprisonment. Rajaji also organised pro-Hindustani meetings to counter the agitators.<ref name="more">{{cite book | first=J.B.P| last=More| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1997| title=Political Evolution of Muslims in Tamilnadu and Madras 1930–1947 |edition= | publisher=Orient Blackswan| location= | id= ISBN 8125011927 ISBN 9788125011927| pages=156-9| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QDht7OyOjXMC}}</ref>

===Cancellation===
On 29 October 1939, Rajaji's Congress Government resigned protesting the involvement of India in the Second World War. Madras Provincial Government was placed under Governor's rule. On 21 February 1940, Governor Erskine, issued a press communique withdrawing compulsory Hindi teaching and making it optional.<ref name="sundararajan">{{cite book | first=Saroja| last=Sundarajan| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1989| title= March to freedom in Madras Presidency, 1916-1947 |edition= | publisher=Lalitha Publications| location= | id=| pages=546| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Nr5HAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>

==Agitations of 1940-1950==
During 1940-46, there were sporadic agitations against Hindi by the ] and Periyar. Whenever the Government introduced Hindi as a compulsory language in schools, Anti-Hindi protests happened and succeeded in stopping the Government.<ref name="williams">{{cite book | first=Rohit | last=Wanchoo| first2=Mukesh | last2=Williams| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2007| title= Representing India: literatures, politics, and identities |edition= | publisher=Oxford University Press| location= | id=ISBN 0195692268, ISBN 9780195692266| pages=73| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3uYTAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> The largest Anti-Hindi agitations in this period occurred in 1948-49. After India obtained independence in 1947, the Congress Government at the Centre urged all states to make Hindi compulsory in schools. The Congress Government of Madras Presidency under ] complied and made Hindi compulsory in 1948. Periyar once again launched a Anti-Hindi agitation. The 1948 agitation was supported by former Congress nationalists like ] and ], who recanted their earlier Pro-Hindi policies.<ref name="ramaswamy522"/><ref name="vasantha">{{cite book | first=W. B. Vasantha| last=Kandasamy | first2=Florentin| last2=Smarandache| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2005| title=Fuzzy and Neutrosophic Analysis of Periyar's Views on Untouchability |edition= | publisher=American Research Press| location= | id=ISBN 1931233004, ISBN 9781931233002| pages=110| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=hgb-MKcsSR0C}}</ref><ref name="ramaswamy421"/>

== Language and Indian constitution ==
The ] was established on 9 December 1946, for drafting a ] when India became independent. The Constituent Assembly witnessed fierce debates on the language issue. The adoption of a "National Language", the language in which the constitution was to be written in and the language in which the proceedings of the assembly were to be conducted were the main questions debated by the framers of the Constitution.<ref name="hindu2">{{cite news
| url = http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2004/01/18/stories/2004011800040300.htm
| title = Hindi chauvinism | title = Hindi chauvinism
| author = ] | author = Ramachandra Guha
| work = ] | work = ]
| publisher = ] | publisher = ]
| date = 2004-01-18 | date = 18 January 2004
| accessdate = 2009-11-26 | access-date =26 November 2009
| author-link = Ramachandra Guha
}}</ref> On one side were the members from the Hindi speaking provinces like Algu Rai Sastri, ], Balkrishna Sharma, ], (all from United Provinces), Babunath Gupta (Bihar), Hari Vinayak Pataskar (Bombay) and ] (Central Provinces and Berar). They moved a large number of pro-Hindi amendments and argued for adopting Hindi as the sole National Language.<ref name="austin">{{cite book | first=Granville| last=Austin| | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1966| title= The Indian constitution: cornerstone of a nation|edition= | publisher=Clarendon| location= | id= ISBN 0195649591, ISBN 9780195649598| pages=277 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=0y6OAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="prasad1">{{cite book | first=Rajendra| last=Prasad| | authorlink=Rajendra Prasad | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1984| title= Dr. Rajendra Prasad, correspondence and select documents, Volume 4| publisher=Allied Publishers| location= | id= ISBN 8170230020, ISBN 9788170230021| pages=110 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=EcSoIAAACAAJ}}</ref>
}}</ref> On one side were members from the "Hindi-speaking provinces" like Algu Rai Sastri, ], Balkrishna Sharma, ], (all from ]), Babunath Gupta (]), Hari Vinayak Pataskar (]) and ], ] (]). They moved a large number of pro-Hindi amendments and argued for adopting Hindi as the sole National Language.<ref name="austin">{{cite book | first=Granville| last=Austin| author-link= Granville Austin| year= 1966| title= The Indian constitution: cornerstone of a nation| publisher=Clarendon| isbn=978-0-19-564959-8| page=277 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=0y6OAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="prasad1">{{cite book | first=Rajendra| last=Prasad| author-link=Rajendra Prasad | year= 1984| title= Dr. Rajendra Prasad, correspondence and select documents, Volume 4| publisher=Allied Publishers| isbn=978-81-7023-002-1| page=110 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=EcSoIAAACAAJ}}</ref> On 10 December 1946, Dhulekar declared "People who do not know Hindi have no right to stay in India. People who are present in the House to fashion a constitution for India and do not know Hindi are not worthy to be members of this assembly. They had better leave."<ref name="hindu2"/><ref>Constitution Assembly Debates-Official Report (New Delhi: Lok Sabha Secretariat, 1988), Volume 1, p 26-27</ref>


The members of the Constituent Assembly in favor of recognizing Hindi as the National Language of India was further divided into two camps: the Hindi faction comprising Tandon, Ravi Shankar Shukla, Govind Das, ], and ]; and the Hindi faction represented by Jawaharlal Nehru and ].<ref name="annamalai1">{{cite book | first=E| last=Annamalai| year= 1979| title= Language movements in India | publisher=Central Institute of Indian Languages| chapter= Language Movements Against Hindi as An Official Language| chapter-url =http://www.ciil-ebooks.net/html/langMove/hinoff.html}}</ref> The adoption of Hindi as the national language was opposed by certain Constituent Assembly members from South India like ], G. Durgabai, ], ], N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar (all belonging to "Madras") and S. V. Krishnamurthy Rao (Mysore). This anti-Hindi block favoured "retaining" English as the "official" language.<ref name="annamalai1"/><ref name="hindu3"/> Their views were reflected in the following pronouncement of Krishnamachari:
On 10 December 1946, Dhulekar declared:
{{quotation| People who do not know Hindustani have no right to stay in India. People who are present in the House to fashion a constitution for India and do not know Hindustani are not worthy to be members of this assembly. They had better leave.<ref> Constitution Assembly Debates-Official Report (New Delhi: Lok Sabha Secretariat, 1988)'', Volume 1, p 26-27</ref><ref name="hindu2"/>}}


<blockquote>We disliked the English language in the past. I disliked it because I was forced to learn ] and ], for which I had no taste at all. If we are going to be compelled to learn Hindi, I would perhaps not be able to learn it because of my age, and perhaps I would not be willing to do it because of the amount of constraint you put on me. This kind of intolerance makes us fear that the strong Centre which we need, a strong Centre which is necessary will also mean the enslavement of people who do not speak the language at the centre. I would, Sir, convey a warning on behalf of people of the South for the reason that there are already elements in South India who want separation&nbsp;..., and my honourable friends in U.P. do not help us in any way by flogging their idea of "Hindi Imperialism" to the maximum extent possible. So, it is up to my friends in Uttar Pradesh to have a whole India; it is up to them to have a Hindi-India. The choice is theirs.<ref name="hindu2"/><ref>Constitution Assembly Debates-Official Report (New Delhi: Lok Sabha Secretariat, 1988), Volume 7, p235</ref></blockquote>
The pro-Hindi block was further divided into two camps<ref name="annamalai1">{{cite book | first=E| last=Annamalai| | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1979| title= Language movements in India | publisher=Central Institute of Indian Languages| location= | id= | pages=85| url =http://www.ciil-ebooks.net/html/langMove/hinoff.html}}</ref>:
*The Hindi faction comprising Tandon, Govind Das, ], ] and ]
*The Hindustani faction represented by ] and ].


After three years of debate, the assembly arrived at a compromise at the end of 1949.<ref name="guha1"/><ref name="brass1">{{cite book | first=Paul R.| last=Brass| year= 1994| title= The politics of India since independence| publisher=Cambridge University Press| isbn=978-0-521-45970-9| page=164 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=dtKe6XV8z7wC}}</ref> It was called the Munshi-Ayyangar formula (after K.M. Munshi and Gopalaswamy Ayyangar) and it struck a balance between the demands of all groups.<ref>{{cite web
The adoption of Hindi as the national language was opposed by members from South India like ], G. Durgabai, ], ], N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar (all belonging to Madras) and S. V. Krishnamurthy Rao (Mysore). This Anti-Hindi block favoured retaining English as official language.<ref name="annamalai1"/><ref name="hindu3"/> Their views were reflected in the following pronouncement of Krishnamachari:
|url = http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/constituent/vol9p33c.html

|title = Constituent Assembly Debate Proceeding (Volume IX) -Tuesday, the 13th September 1949
{{quotation|We disliked the English language in the past. I disliked it because I was forced to learn Shakespeare and Milton, for which I had no taste at all. If we are going to be compelled to learn Hindi, I would perhaps not be able to learn it because of my age, and perhaps I would not be willing to do it because of the amount of constraint you put on me. This kind of intolerance makes us fear that the strong Centre which we need, a strong Centre which is necessary will also mean the enslavement of people who do not speak the language at the centre. I would, Sir, convey a warning on behalf of people of the South for the reason that there are already elements in South India who want separation..., and my honourable friends in U.P. do not help us in any way by flogging their idea of "Hindi Imperialism" to the maximum extent possible. So, it is up to my friends in Uttar Pradesh to have a whole India; it is up to them to have a Hindi-India. The choice is theirs.<ref> Constitution Assembly Debates-Official Report (New Delhi: Lok Sabha Secretariat, 1988)'', Volume 7, p235</ref><ref name="hindu2"/>}}
|publisher = Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India

|access-date = 26 November 2009
After three years of debate, the assembly arrived at a compromise at the end of 1949.<ref name="guha1">{{cite book | first=Ramachandra| last=Guha| | authorlink=Ramachandra Guha | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 2008| title= India after Gandhi|edition= | publisher=Harper Perennial| location= | id= ISBN 0060958588, ISBN 9780060958589| pages=128-131 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=EcSoIAAACAAJ}}</ref><ref name="brass1">{{cite book | first=Paul R.| last=Brass| | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1994| title= The politics of India since independence|edition= | publisher=Cambridge University Press| location= | id= ISBN 0521459702, ISBN 9780521459709| pages=164 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=dtKe6XV8z7wC}}</ref> It was called the Munshi-Ayyangar compromise (after K.M. Munshi and Gopalaswamy Ayyangar) and it struck a balance between the demands of all groups.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/constituent/vol9p33c.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110102081430/http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/constituent/vol9p33c.html
|archive-date = 2 January 2011
| title = Constituent Assembly Debate Proceeding (Volume IX) -Tuesday, the 13th September 1949
|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref name="rai1">{{cite book | first=Alok| last=Rai| year= 2001| title= Hindi nationalism| publisher=Orient Blackswan| isbn=978-81-250-1979-4| page=110| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=fmnpssOM_3kC}}</ref> ] of the Indian Constitution was drafted according to this compromise. It did not have any mention of a "National Language". Instead, it defined only the "Official Languages" of the Union:<ref name="hindu3">{{cite news
| author =
| url = http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/Readers-Editor/article61129.ece
| publisher = Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India
| accessdate = 2009-11-26
}}</ref><ref name="rai1">{{cite book | first=Alok| last=Rai| | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 2001| title= Hindi nationalism|edition= | publisher=Orient Blackswan| location= | id= ISBN 8125019790, ISBN 9788125019794| pages=110| url =http://books.google.com/books?id=fmnpssOM_3kC}}</ref> ] of the ] was drafted according to this compromise. It did not have any mention of a "National Language". Instead, it defined only the "Official Languages" of the Union:<ref name="rao1">{{cite book | first=Pandu Rangi| last=Kodanda Rao| | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1969| title=Language issue in the Indian Constituent Assembly: 1946-1950: rational support for English and non-rational support for Hindi|edition= | publisher=International Book House| location= | id= ISBN , ISBN | pages=44-46| url =http://books.google.com/books?id=GPksAAAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref name="hindu3">{{cite news
| url = http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/Readers-Editor/article61129.ece
| title = Language issue again: the need for a clear-headed policy | title = Language issue again: the need for a clear-headed policy
| author = S. Viswanathan | author = S. Viswanathan
| work = ] | work = ]
| publisher = ] | publisher = ]
| date = 2009-12-07 | date = 7 December 2009
| accessdate = 2009-12-08 | access-date =8 December 2009
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100120072025/http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/Readers-Editor/article61129.ece| archive-date= 20 January 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="rao1">{{cite book | first=Pandu Rangi| last=Kodanda Rao| year= 1969| title=Language issue in the Indian Constituent Assembly: 1946–1950: rational support for English and non-rational support for Hindi| publisher=International Book House| pages=44–46| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=GPksAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>
}}</ref>


*] in ] script was to be the Official Language of the Indian Union. For fifteen years, English would also be used for all official purposes. (Article 343) ] in ] script would be the official language of the Indian Union. For fifteen years, English would also be used for all official purposes (Article 343). A language commission could be convened after five years to recommend ways to promote Hindi as the sole official language and to phase out the use of English (Article 344). Official communication between states and between states and the Union would be in the official language of the union (Article 345). English would be used for all legal purposes – in court proceedings, bills, laws, rules and other regulations (Article 348). The Union was duty bound to promote the spread and usage of Hindi (Article 351).
*A language commission could be convened after five years to recommend ways to promote Hindi as the sole official language and to phase out the use of English (Article 344)
*Official communication between states and between states and the Union will be the official language of the union. (Article 345)
*English would be used for all legal purposes - in court proceedings, bills, laws, rules and other regulations. (Article 348)
*The Union was duty bound to promote the spread and usage of Hindi. (Article 351)


India became independent on 15 August 1947 and the Constitution was adopted on 26 January 1950. India became independent on 15 August 1947 and the Constitution was adopted on 26 January 1950.


==The language commission == ==The language commission==
The adoption of English as official language along with Hindi was heavily criticized by Pro-Hindi politicians like ]'s founder ], who demanded that Hindi should be made National language.<ref name="prasad1">{{cite book | first=Christophe | last=Jaffrelot| | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1996| title= The Hindu nationalist movement and Indian politics: 1925 to the 1990s | publisher=C. Hurst & Co Publishers| location= | id= ISBN 1850653011, ISBN 9781850653011| pages=160 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=uywnx2IHH8cC}}</ref> Soon after the Constitution was adopted on 26 January 1950, efforts were made to propagate Hindi for official usage. In 1952, the Ministry of Education launched a voluntary Hindi teaching scheme. On 27 May 1952, use of Hindi was introduced in warrants for judicial appointments. In 1955, in-house Hindi training was started for all ministries and departments of the Central Government. On 3 December 1955, the Government started using Hindi (along with English) for "Specific purposes of the Union"<ref name="timeline1">{{cite web The adoption of English as official language along with Hindi was heavily criticized by pro-Hindi politicians like ]'s founder ], who demanded that Hindi should be made National language.<ref name="prasad2">{{cite book | first=Christophe | last=Jaffrelot| year= 1996| title= The Hindu nationalist movement and Indian politics: 1925 to the 1990s | publisher=C. Hurst & Co Publishers| isbn=978-1-85065-301-1| page=160 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=uywnx2IHH8cC}}</ref> Soon after the Constitution was adopted on 26 January 1950, efforts were made to propagate Hindi for official usage. In 1952, the ] launched a voluntary Hindi teaching scheme. On 27 May 1952, use of Hindi was introduced in warrants for judicial appointments. In 1955, in-house Hindi training was started for all ministries and departments of the central government. On 3 December 1955, the government started using Hindi (along with English) for "specific purposes of the Union".<ref name="timeline1">{{cite web
| url =http://rajbhasha.nic.in/eventseng.htm |url=http://rajbhasha.nic.in/IIContent.aspx?t=enevents
| title =Sequence of Events with respect to the Official Language of the Union |title=Sequence of Events with respect to the Official Language of the Union
| publisher = Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India
| date = |access-date=24 November 2009
|url-status=dead
| accessdate = 2009-11-24
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110802071514/http://rajbhasha.nic.in/IIContent.aspx?t=enevents
|archive-date=2 August 2011
}}</ref> }}</ref>
As provided for by Article 343, Nehru appointed the First Official Language Commission under the chairmanship of ] on 7 June 1955. The commission delivered its report on 31 July 1956. It recommended a number of steps to eventually replace English with Hindi (The report had dissenting notes from two non-Hindi members - ] from Tamil Nadu and ] from ]<ref name="simpson"/>).<ref name="kumar">{{cite book | first=Virendra| last=Kumar| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1993| title= Committees and commissions in India |edition= | publisher=Concept Publishing Company| location= | id= ISBN 8175963123 ISBN 9788175963122| pages=53-66| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=AXa6g_lJOWAC&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53}}</ref> The Parliamentary Committee on Official Language, chaired by ] was constituted in September 1957 to review the Kher commission report. After two years of deliberations, the Pant Committeee submitted its recommendations to the President on 8 February 1959. It recommended that Hindi should be made the primary official language with English as the subsidiary one. The Kher Commission and the Pant Committee recommendations were condemned and opposed by from non hindi politicians like Suniti Kumar Chatterji, ] and P. Subbarayan. The Academy of Telugu opposed the switch from English to Hindi in a convention held in 1956. ], once a staunch supporter of Hindi, organised a All India Language Conference on 8 March 1958 to oppose the switch.<ref name="annamalai1"/> He declared : As provided for by Article 343, Nehru appointed the First Official Language Commission under the chairmanship of ] on 7 June 1955. The commission delivered its report on 31 July 1956. It recommended a number of steps to eventually replace English with Hindi (the report registered "dissenting notes" from two members – ] from Madras State and ] from ].<ref name="simpson"/><ref name="kumar">{{cite book | first=Virendra| last=Kumar| year=1993| title= Committees and commissions in India | publisher=Concept Publishing Company| isbn=978-81-7596-312-2| pages=53–66| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AXa6g_lJOWAC&pg=PA53}}</ref> The Parliamentary Committee on Official Language, chaired by ] was constituted in September 1957 to review the Kher commission report. After two years of deliberations, the Pant Committee submitted its recommendations to the President on 8 February 1959. It recommended that Hindi should be made the primary official language with English as the subsidiary one. The Kher Commission and the Pant Committee recommendations were condemned and opposed by self-described "non-Hindi" politicians like ] and P. Subbarayan. The Academy of Telugu opposed the switch from English to Hindi in a convention held in 1956. Rajaji, once a staunch supporter of Hindi, organised an All India Language Conference (attended by representatives of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Assamese, Oriya, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali languages) on 8 March 1958 to oppose the switch, declaring "Hindi is as much foreign to non-Hindi speaking people as English is to the protagonists of Hindi."<ref name="annamalai1"/><ref name="simpson"/><ref name="fishman">{{cite book | first1=Joshua A. | last1=Fishman| first2=Andrew W.| last2=Conrad|first3=Alma| last3=Rubal-Lopez| year=1996| title= Post-imperial English: status change in former British and American colonies, 1940–1990 | publisher=Walter de Gruyter| isbn=978-3-11-014754-4| page=564| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SIu244rlVu8C&pg=PA564}}</ref>


As the opposition to Hindi grew stronger, Nehru tried to reassure the concerns of "non-Hindi speakers". Speaking in the parliamentary debate on a bill introduced by Anthony to include English in the ], Nehru gave an assurance to them (on 7 August 1959):<ref name="timeline1"/>
{{quotation|Hindi is as much foreign to non-Hindi speaking people as English is to the protagonists of Hindi.<ref name="simpson"/>}}


<blockquote>I believe also two things. As I just said, there must be no imposition. Secondly, for an indefinite period – I do not know how long – I should have, I would have English as an '''associate, additional language''' which can be used not because of facilities and all that&nbsp;... but because I do not wish the people of Non-Hindi areas to feel that certain doors of advance are closed to them because they are forced to correspond – the Government, I mean – in the Hindi language. They can correspond in English. So I could have it as an alternate language as long as people require it and the decision for that – I would leave not to the Hindi-knowing people, but to the non-Hindi-knowing people.<ref name="annamalai1"/><ref name="krishnaswamy">{{cite book | first=Lalitha| last=Krishnaswamy| year=2006| title= The story of English in India| publisher=Foundation Books| isbn=978-81-7596-312-2| page=113| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mBpFLdcEG7IC}}</ref><ref name="kannan1">{{Harvnb|Kannan|2010| pp=231–232}}</ref></blockquote>
As the opposition to Hindi grew stronger, Nehru tried to reassure the concerns of non-Hindi speakers. Speaking in the parliamentary debate on the Pant committee report Nehru gave an assurance to them (in September 1959)<ref name="timeline1"/>:
This assurance momentarily allayed the fears of the South Indians.<ref name="Hardgrave">{{Cite journal| doi = 10.2307/2642412| first = Robert L.|last=Hardgrave| title =The Riots in Tamilnad: Problems and Prospects of India's Language Crisis| journal = Asian Survey| volume = 5| issue = 8| pages = 399–407| publisher = University of California Press| date = August 1965| jstor = 2642412}}</ref> But the Hindi proponents were dismayed and Pant remarked "Whatever I achieved in two years, the prime minister destroyed in less than two minutes".<ref name="kannan1"/>


==DMK's "Anti-Hindi imposition" policies==
{{quotation | For an indefinite period - I do not know how long - I should have, I would have English as an associate, additional language not because of facilities and all that but because I do not wish the people of Non-Hindi areas to feel that certain doors of advance are closed to them because they are forced to correspond - the Government, I mean - in the Hindi language. They can correspond in English. So I could have it as an alternate language as long as people require it and the decision for that - I would leave not to the Hindi-knowing people, but to the non Hindi-knowing people<ref name="annamalai1"/><ref name="krishnaswamy">{{cite book | first=Lalitha| last=Krishnaswamy| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2006| title= The story of English in India|edition= | publisher=Foundation Books| location= | id= ISBN 8175963123 ISBN 9788175963122| pages=113| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mBpFLdcEG7IC}}</ref>}}
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) which split from the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1949, inherited the anti-Hindi policies of its parent organisation. DMK's founder Annadurai had earlier participated in the anti-Hindi imposition agitations during 1938–40 and in the 1940s. In July 1953, the DMK launched the ] against changing the name of a town from ] to ]. They claimed that the town's name (after ]) symbolised the exploitation of South India by the North.<ref name="mills">{{cite book | first1=James H.| last1=Mills| first2=Satadru| last2=Sen| year=2004| title=Confronting the body: the politics of physicality in colonial and post-colonial India| publisher=Anthem Press| isbn=978-1-84331-033-4| page=151| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2hIUBioZHHQC&pg=PT151}}</ref><ref name="sangam">{{cite web
This assurance momentarily allayed the fears of the South Indians.<ref name="Hardgrave">{{Cite journal| first = Robert L.|last=Hardgrave| title =The Riots in Tamilnad: Problems and Prospects of India's Language Crisis| journal = Asian Survey| volume = 5| issue = 8| pages = 399-407| publisher = University of California Press| date = August, 1965| url = http://www.jstor.org/pss/2642412| accessdate = 23 November 2009}}</ref>

==DMK's Anti-Hindi policies==
The ] (DMK) which split from the ] in 1949, inherited the Anti-Hindi policies of its parent organisation. DMK's founder ] had earlier participated in the Anti-Hindi agitations during 1938-40 and in the 1940s. In July 1953, the DMK launched an agitation for changing the name of a town - Dalmiapuram - to ]. They claimed that the town's name (after ]) symbolised the exploitation of South India by the North.<ref name="mills">{{cite book | first=James H.| last=Mills| first2=Satadru| last2=Sen| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2004| title=Confronting the body: the politics of physicality in colonial and post-colonial India|edition= | publisher=Anthem Press| location= | id= ISBN 1843310333 ISBN 9781843310334| pages=151| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=2hIUBioZHHQC&pg=PT151}}</ref><ref name="sangam">{{cite web
| url =http://www.sangam.org/2009/09/Anna_Centennial_3.php?print=true | url =http://www.sangam.org/2009/09/Anna_Centennial_3.php?print=true
| title = Anna in the dock (1953) | title = Anna in the dock (1953)
Line 141: Line 151:
| work = Anna's Birth Centennial Anthology Part 3 | work = Anna's Birth Centennial Anthology Part 3
| publisher = Sangam.org | publisher = Sangam.org
| date = 2009-09-16 | date = 16 September 2009
| accessdate = 2009-11-24 | access-date =24 November 2009
}}</ref> On 15 July 1953, ] (later Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu) and other DMK members erased the Hindi name in Dalmiapuram railway station's name board and lay down on the tracks. In the altercation with the Police that followed the protests, two DMK members lost their lives and several others including Karunanidhi were arrested.<ref name="ramaswamy">{{cite book | first=Sumathy| last=Ramaswamy| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1997| title= Passions of the tongue: language devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970|edition= | publisher=University of California Press| location= | id= ISBN 0520208056 ISBN 9780520208056| pages=108| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=YIlnH_582l8C}}</ref> }}</ref> On 15 July 1953, ] (later Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu) and other DMK members erased the Hindi name in Dalmiapuram railway station's name board and lay down on the tracks. In the altercation with the police that followed the protests, two DMK members lost their lives and several others including Karunanidhi and Kannadhasan were arrested.<ref name="ramaswamy">{{Harvnb|Ramaswamy|1997| p=108 | loc=ch. 5.29 (The Warrior Devotee)}}</ref>


In the 1950's DMK continued its Anti-Hindi policies along with the secessionist demand for ]. On 28 January 1956, Annadurai along with Periyar and Rajaji signed a resolution passed by the Academy of Tamil Culture endorsing the continuation of English as the official language.<ref name="aanli">{{cite book | first=| last=| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1958| title= Modern India rejects Hindi|edition= | publisher=Association for the Advancement of the National Languages of India| location= | id= | pages=29| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=AGcOAQAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref name="copley">{{cite book | first= Antony R. H. | last=Copley| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1978| title= The political career of C. Rajagopalachari, 1937-1954: a moralist in politics|edition= | publisher=Macmillan| location= | id= | pages=311| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Q-uYmpYmXuMC}}</ref> On 21 September 1957 the DMK convened a Anti-Hindi Conference to protest against the imposition of Hindi. It observed 13 October 1957 as "Anti-Hindi Day".<ref name="businessstandard">{{cite web In the 1950s DMK continued its anti-Hindi policies along with the secessionist demand for ]. On 28 January 1956, Annadurai along with Periyar and Rajaji signed a resolution passed by the Academy of Tamil Culture endorsing the continuation of English as the official language.<ref name="aanli">{{cite book | year=1958| title= Modern India rejects Hindi| publisher=Association for the Advancement of the National Languages of India| page=29| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGcOAQAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref name="copley">{{cite book | first= Antony R. H. | last=Copley| year=1978| title= The political career of C. Rajagopalachari, 1937–1954: a moralist in politics| publisher=Macmillan| page=311| isbn=9780333902127| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-uYmpYmXuMC}}</ref> On 21 September 1957 the DMK convened an anti-Hindi Conference to protest against the imposition of Hindi. It observed 13 October 1957 as "anti-Hindi Day".<ref name="businessstandard">{{cite news
| url =http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/a-script-which-karuna-would-never-imagined-in-tn/61923/on | url =http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/a-script-which-karuna-would-never-imagined-in-tn/61923/on
| title = A script which Karuna would never imagined in TN | title = A script which Karuna would never imagined in TN
| work = ] | work = ]
| publisher = Business Standard Ltd | publisher = Business Standard Ltd
| date = 2009-05-16 | date = 16 May 2009
| accessdate = 2009-11-24 | access-date =24 November 2009
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091201202600/http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/a-script-which-karuna-would-never-imagined-in-tn/61923/on| archive-date= 1 December 2009 | url-status= live| agency = Press Trust of India
}}</ref><ref name="swaminathan">{{cite book | first= S. | last=Swaminathan| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1974| title= Karunanidhi: man of destiny|edition= | publisher=Affiliated East-West Press| location= | id= | pages=8| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Q-uYmpYmXuMC}}</ref> On 31 July 1960, another open air Anti-Hindi conference was held at ], ].<ref name="venu">{{cite book | first= E.Es. | last=Venu| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1979| title= Why South opposes Hindi|edition= | publisher=Justice Publications| location= | id= | pages=76| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=83xIAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> In November 1963, DMK dropped its secessionist demand in the wake of the ] and the passage of the anti-secessionist 16th Amendment to the Indian Constitution. But the Anti Hindi stance remained and hardened with the passage of Official Languages Act of 1963.<ref name="rajagopalan">{{cite book | first= Swarna | last=Rajagopalan| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2001| title= State and nation in south Asia| publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers| location= | id= ISBN 1555879675, ISBN 9781555879679| pages=153-156| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=q7Yz5aGeoTsC&pg}}</ref>
}}</ref><ref name="swaminathan">{{cite book | first= S. | last=Swaminathan| year=1974| title= Karunanidhi: man of destiny| publisher=Affiliated East-West Press| page=8| isbn=9780333902127| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-uYmpYmXuMC}}</ref> On 31 July 1960, another open air anti-Hindi conference was held at ], Madras.<ref name="venu">{{cite book | first= E.Es. | last=Venu| year=1979| title= Why South opposes Hindi| publisher=Justice Publications| page=76| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=83xIAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> In November 1963, DMK dropped its secessionist demand in the wake of the ] and the passage of the anti-secessionist 16th Amendment to the Indian Constitution. But the anti-Hindi stance remained and hardened with the passage of Official Languages Act of 1963.<ref name="rajagopalan">{{cite book | first= Swarna | last=Rajagopalan| year=2001| title= State and nation in south Asia| publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers| isbn=978-1-55587-967-9| pages=153–156| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7Yz5aGeoTsC}}</ref> The DMK's view on Hindi's qualifications for official language status were reflected in Annadurai's response to the "numerical superiority of Hindi" argument: "If we had to accept the principle of numerical superiority while selecting our national bird, the choice would have fallen not on the peacock but on the common crow."<ref name="guha2">{{Harvnb|Guha|2008|pp=393}}</ref><ref name="indiatoday">{{cite news|title=Tongue tied|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/2692/COVER%20STORY/Tongue+tied.html|author=A R Venkatachalapathy|work=]|date=20 December 2007|publisher =]| access-date =8 December 2009|author-link=A R Venkatachalapathy}}</ref>


== Official Languages Act of 1963 ==
The DMK's view on Hindi's qualifications for Official language status were reflected in Annadurai's response to the "numerical superiority of Hindi" argument:
As the deadline stipulated in Part XVII of the Constitution for switching to Hindi as primary official language approached, the central government stepped up its efforts to spread Hindi's official usage. In 1960, compulsory training for Hindi typing and stenography was started. The same year, India's president ] acted on the Pant Committee's recommendations and issued orders for preparation of Hindi glossaries, translating procedural literature and legal codes to Hindi, imparting Hindi education to government employees and other efforts for propagating Hindi.<ref name="timeline1"/> Nehru said that the presidential orders did not contradict his earlier assurance and reassured that there would be no imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speakers.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2010-08-11|orig-date=1960|title=This Day That Age (August 12, 1960)|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/This-Day-That-Age-August-12-1960/article16127982.ece|access-date=2021-03-08|issn=0971-751X|quote=There is going to be no imposition of Hindi and English will continue as an additional or an associate language for all-India purposes till such time, as the non-Hindi people want to change it}}</ref>


To give legal status to Nehru's assurance of 1959, the ] was passed in 1963.<ref name=Duncan_B._Forrester>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.2307/2755179| first = Duncan B.|last =Forrester| title = The Madras Anti-Hindi Agitation, 1965: Political Protest and its Effects on Language Policy in India | journal = Pacific Affairs| volume = 39| issue = 1/2| pages = 19–36| publisher = Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia| year = 1996 | jstor = 2755179}}</ref> In Nehru's own words:
{{quotation|If we had to accept the principle of numerical superiority while selecting our national bird, the choice would have fallen not on the ] but on the common ].<ref name="guha2">{{cite book | first=Ramachandra| last=Guha| | authorlink=Ramachandra Guha | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 2008| title= India after Gandhi|edition= | publisher=Harper Perennial| location= | id= ISBN 0060958588, ISBN 9780060958589| pages=393 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=EcSoIAAACAAJ}}</ref><ref name="indiatoday">{{cite news|title=Tongue tied|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/2692/COVER%20STORY/Tongue+tied.html|author=]|work=]|date=2007-12-20|publisher =] | | accessdate = 2009-12-08}}</ref>}}
<blockquote>This is a Bill, in continuation of what has happened in the past, to remove a restriction which had been placed by the Constitution on the use of English after a certain date i.e. 1965. It is just to remove that restriction that this is placed.<ref name="annamalai1"/></blockquote>


The Bill was introduced in Parliament on 21 January 1963. Opposition to the Bill came from DMK members who objected to the usage of the word "may" instead of "shall" in section 3 of the Bill. That section read: "the English language '''may'''&nbsp;... continue to be used in addition to Hindi". The DMK argued was that the term "may" could be interpreted as "may not" by future administrations. They feared that the minority opinion would not be considered and non-Hindi speakers' views would be ignored. On 22 April, Nehru assured the parliamentarians that, for that particular case "may" had the same meaning as "shall". The DMK then demanded, if that was the case why "shall" was not used instead of "may". Leading the opposition to the Bill was Annadurai (then a Member of the ]). He pleaded for an indefinite continuation of the ''status quo'' and argued that continued use of English as official language would "distribute advantages or disadvantages evenly" among Hindi and non-Hindi speakers. The Bill was passed on 27 April without any change in the wording. As he had warned earlier, Annadurai launched statewide protests against Hindi.<ref name="annamalai1"/><ref name="rajagopalan"/><ref name="annadurai">{{cite book | first= C. N.| last=Annadurai| author-link=C. N. Annadurai| year=1975| title=Anna speaks at the Rajya Sabha, 1962–66| publisher=Orient Longman| page=65| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3CwdAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="hindu1">{{cite news
== Official languages act of 1963 ==
As the deadline stipulated in Part XVII of the Constitution for switching to Hindi as primary official language approached, the Union Government stepped up its efforts to spread Hindi's official usage. In 1960, compulsory training for Hindi typing and stenography was started. The same year, India's president ] acted on the Pant Committee's recommendations and issued orders for preparation of Hindi glossaries, translating procedural literature and legal codes to Hindi, imparting Hindi education to Government employees and other efforts for propagating Hindi.<ref name ="timeline1"/>

To give legal status to Nehru's assurance of 1959, the ] was passed in 1963<ref name=Duncan_B._Forrester>{{Cite journal| first = Duncan B.|last =Forrester| title = The Madras Anti-Hindi Agitation, 1965: Political Protest and its Effects on Language Policy in India | journal = Pacific Affairs| volume = 39| issue = 1/2| pages = 19-36| publisher = Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia| date = 196| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/2755179 |accessdate = 23 November 2009}}</ref>. In Nehru's own words :
{{quotation |This is a Bill, in continuation of what has happened in the past, to remove a restriction which had been placed by the Constitution on the use of English after a certain date i.e. 1965. It is just to remove that restriction that this is placed.<ref name ="annamalai1"/>}}

The bill was introduced in Parliament on 21 January 1963. Opposition to the Bill came from DMK members who objected to the usage of the word "may" instead of "shall" in section 3 of the bill ("the English language '''may''', as from the appointed day, continue to be used in addition to Hindi"). DMK 's argument was that the term "may" could be interpreted as "may not" by future Governments. They feared that minority opinion will not be considered and non Hindi speakers' views would be ignored. On 22 April, Nehru assured the parliamentarians that, for that particular case "may" had the same meaning as "shall". The DMK then demanded, if that was the case why "shall" was not used instead of "may". Leading the opposition to the bill was Annadurai (then a Member of the ]). He pleaded for the indefinite continuation of the status quo. He argued for the continuation of English as Official Language as it "distributes advantages or disadvantages evenly". The Bill was passed on 27 April without any change in the wording. As he had warned earlier, Annadurai launched state wide protests against Hindi.<ref name="annamalai1"/><ref name="rajagopalan"/><ref name="annadurai">{{cite book | first= C. N.| last=Annadurai| authorlink=C. N. Annadurai| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1975| title=Anna speaks at the Rajya Sabha, 1962-66| publisher=Orient Longman| location= | id= ISBN | pages=65| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3CwdAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="hindu1">{{cite news
| url = http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/01/16/stories/2005011600260300.htm | url = http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/01/16/stories/2005011600260300.htm
| title = Hindi against India | title = Hindi against India
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| work = ] | work = ]
| publisher = ] | publisher = ]
| date = 2005-01-16 | date = 16 January 2005
| accessdate = 2007-08-30 | access-date =30 August 2007
}}</ref> In November 1963, Annadurai was arrested along with 500 DMK members for burning part XVII of the Constitution at an Anti-Hindi Conference.<ref name="recorder">{{Cite journal| first =|last=| title =| journal =Indian recorder and digest| volume = 9| issue = 9-12| pages = 26| publisher = Diwan Chand Information Centre| date = Sep-Nov 1963| url =| accessdate = 23 November 2009}}</ref> | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070828182942/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/01/16/stories/2005011600260300.htm| archive-date= 28 August 2007 | url-status= dead}}</ref> In November 1963, Annadurai was arrested along with 500 DMK members for burning part XVII of the Constitution at an anti-Hindi Conference.<ref name="recorder">{{Cite journal| title =none| journal =Indian Recorder and Digest| volume = 9| issue = 9–12| page = 26| publisher = Diwan Chand Information Centre| date = Sep–Nov 1963}}</ref> He was sentenced to six months in prison.<ref name="kannan2">{{Harvnb|Kannan|2010| p=273}}</ref> On 25 January 1964, a DMK member, Chinnasamy, committed suicide at Trichy by self-immolation, to protest the "imposition of Hindi". He was claimed as the first "language martyr" of the second round of the anti-Hindi struggle by the DMK.<ref name="kannan3">{{Harvnb|Kannan|2010| p=278}}</ref>


Nehru died in May 1964 and ] became Prime Minister of India. Shastri and his senior cabinet members ] and ] were strong supporters of Hindi being the sole official language. This increased the apprehension that Nehru's assurances of 1959 and 1963 will not be kept despite Shastri's assurances to the contrary.<ref name="hindu1"/> Concerns over the preference of Hindi in Central Government Jobs, Civil service examinations and the fear that English will be replaced with Hindi as medium of instruction brought students into the Anti-Hindi Agitation camp in large numbers. On 7 March 1964, the chief minister of Madras State, ] at a session of the Madras Legislative Assembly recommended the introduction of ] (English, Hindi and Tamil) in the state.<ref name="recorder2">{{Cite journal| first =|last=| title =| journal=Indian recorder and digest| volume = 10| issue =| pages = 19| publisher = Diwan Chand Information Centre| date = 1964| url=| accessdate = 23 November 2009}}</ref> Apprehension over the Three-language formula increased student support for the Anti-Hindi cause<ref name="Hardgrave"/> Nehru died in May 1964 and Lal Bahadur Shastri became Prime Minister of India. Shastri and his senior cabinet members ] and ] were strong supporters of Hindi being the sole official language. This increased the apprehension that Nehru's assurances of 1959 and 1963 would not be kept despite Shastri's assurances to the contrary.<ref name="hindu1"/> Concerns over the preference of Hindi in central government jobs, civil service examinations and the fear that English would be replaced with Hindi as medium of instruction brought students into the anti-Hindi imposition agitation camp in large numbers.<ref name="mitra"/> On 7 March 1964, the chief minister of Madras State, ] at a session of the ] recommended the introduction of ] (English, Hindi and Tamil) in the state.<ref name="recorder2">{{Cite journal| title =none| journal=Indian Recorder and Digest| volume = 10| page = 19| publisher = Diwan Chand Information Centre| year = 1964}}</ref> Apprehension over the Three-language formula increased student support for the anti-Hindi cause.<ref name="Hardgrave"/>


==Agitation of 1965== ==Agitation of 1965==
], V. P. Raman, ] and ] with ]]] ], ], ] and ] ]]
===Events leading up to January 26===
As January 26, 1965 neared, the Anti Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu grew in numbers and urgency. In January the Tamil Nadu Students Anti Hindi Agitation Council was formed as an umbrella student organisation to coordinate the Anti Hindi efforts.<ref name="widmalm">{{cite book | first= Sten | last=Widmalm| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2002| title=Kashmir in comparative perspective: democracy and violent separatism in India| publisher=Routledge| location= | id= ISBN 0700715789 ISBN 9780700715787 | pages=107| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=eOnwrHsyXDQC}}</ref><ref name="annamalai1"/> The office beares of the council were student union leaders from all over Tamil Nadu including ], ], Na. Kamarasan, Seyaprakasam, Ravichandran, ], ], ], K. Raja Mohammad, Navalavan, M. Natarajan and ].<ref name="kalachuvadu">{{cite web
| url =http://www.kalachuvadu.com/issue-106/page32.asp
| title = Interview with Pa. Seyaprakasam
| language = ]
| work = Kalachuvadu Magazine
| publisher = Kalachuvadu Publishers
| date = October 2008
| accessdate = 2009-11-24
}}</ref> Explaining the anxiety of the students, '']'' noted in its editorial on 6 February 1965:
{{quotation|It was inevitable that the Madras students should have taken the lead in opposing the elevation of Hindi. After all a decision whether Hindi or English is to be the official language of the country affects them much more than any other section of the population. It is the students of the South who stand to lose most, when Hindi alone becomes the official language.<ref name="sundaresan">{{cite book | first= D| last=Sundaresan| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2000| title=Language for state administration: a historical account| publisher=Jothi Lakshmi Publishers| location=Chennai | id= | pages=2| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=k84bAQAAIAAJ}}</ref>}}


As 26 January 1965 approached, the anti-Hindi imposition agitation in Madras State grew in numbers and urgency. The Tamil Nadu Students Anti Hindi Agitation Council was formed in January as an umbrella student organisation to coordinate the anti-Hindi efforts.<ref name="annamalai1"/><ref name="widmalm">{{cite book | first= Sten | last=Widmalm| year=2002| title=Kashmir in comparative perspective: democracy and violent separatism in India| publisher=Routledge| isbn=978-0-7007-1578-7 | page=107| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eOnwrHsyXDQC}}</ref> The office bearers of the council were student union leaders from all over Madras State including ], ], Jeeva Kalaimani, ], Seyaprakasam, Ravichandran, ], ], ], K. Raja Mohammad, Navalavan, M. Natarajan and ].<ref name="kalachuvadu">{{cite web
Several student conferences (sponsored by industrialists like ] and Karimuthu Thyagaraja Chettiar) were organised throughout the state to protest against Hindi imposition.<ref name="Hardgrave"/>. On 17 January, The Madras State Anti-Hindi Conference was convened in ]. Participants included Rajaji (]), ] (DMK), ] (Justice Party), G. D. Naidu, Karimuthu Thyagaraja Chettiar, ] (We Tamils Party) and Muhammad Ismail (Muslim League)<ref name="annamalai1"/><ref name="karat">{{cite book | first= Prakash| last=Karat| authorlink= Prakash Karat| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1973| title=Language and nationality politics in India| publisher=Orient Longman| location= | id= | pages=92| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EbG2AAAAIAAJ}}</ref> In the Conference Rajaji declared that the Part XVII of the Constitution should "be heaved and thrown into the Arabian Sea."<ref name="indiatoday"/> On 16 January, Annadurai announced that 26 January (also the ]) would be observed as a day of mourning. He wrote to Shastri asking for the language transition to be postponed by a week so that Tamils could celebrate Republic Day with the rest of the country. Shastri refused and the stage was set for the confrontation.
|url = http://www.kalachuvadu.com/issue-106/page32.asp
|title = Interview with Pa. Seyaprakasam
|language = ta
|work = Kalachuvadu Magazine
|publisher = Kalachuvadu Publishers
|date = October 2008
|access-date = 24 November 2009
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090505141357/http://www.kalachuvadu.com/issue-106/page32.asp
|archive-date = 5 May 2009}}</ref><ref name="sundaresan">{{cite book | first= D| last=Sundaresan| year=2000| title=Language for state administration: a historical account| publisher=Jothi Lakshmi Publishers| location=Chennai | page=2| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k84bAQAAIAAJ}}</ref>


Several student conferences were organised throughout the state to protest against Hindi imposition.<ref name="Hardgrave"/> On 17 January, the Madras State Anti-Hindi Conference was convened at ] and was attended by 700 delegates from Madras, Maharashtra, Kerala and Mysore. They called for the indefinite suspension of Part XVII of the constitution.<ref name="annamalai1"/><ref name="kannan4">{{Harvnb|Kannan|2010| p=287}}</ref><ref name="karat">{{cite book | first= Prakash| last=Karat| author-link= Prakash Karat| year=1973| title=Language and nationality politics in India| publisher=Orient Longman| page=92| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbG2AAAAIAAJ}}</ref> The Home and Information & Broadcasting ministries of the central government (headed by Nanda and Indira Gandhi respectively) upped the ante and issued circulars for replacing English with Hindi from 26 January.<ref name="kannan5">{{Harvnb|Kannan|2010| p=288}}</ref> On 16 January, Annadurai announced that 26 January (also the ]) would be observed as a day of mourning. Chief minister Bhaktavatsalam warned that the state government would not tolerate the sanctity of the Republic day blasphemed and threatened the students with "stern action" if they participated in politics. The DMK advanced the "Day of Mourning" by a day. On 25 January, Annadurai was taken into preventive custody along with 3000 DMK members to forestall the agitations planned for the next day.<ref name="annadurai1">{{cite book | first= C. N.| last=Annadurai| author-link=C. N. Annadurai| year=1975| title=Anna speaks at the Rajya Sabha, 1962–66| publisher=Orient Longman| page=77| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3CwdAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> On 26 January, 50,000 students from Madras city's colleges marched from Napier park to the Government secretariat at ] and unsuccessfully tried to petition the chief minister.<ref name="kannan5"/>
==="Day of mourning"===
Madras State’s Chief Minister ] warned that the state government would not tolerate the sanctity of the Republic day blasphemed and threatened the students with "stern action" if they participated in politics. The DMK advanced the "Day of Mourning" by a day. On 25 January, Annadurai was taken into preventive custody along with 3000 DMK members to forestall the agitations planned for the next day.<ref name="annadurai1">{{cite book | first= C. N.| last=Annadurai| authorlink=C. N. Annadurai| coauthors= | origyear=| year=1975| title=Anna speaks at the Rajya Sabha, 1962-66| publisher=Orient Longman| location= | id= ISBN | pages=77| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3CwdAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>


On 25 January, a clash between agitating students and Congress party workers in ] went out of control and became a riot. Rioting soon spread to other parts of the State.<ref name="Hardgrave"/><ref name="kalachuvadu"/> Police responded with lathi charges and firing on student processions. Acts of arson, looting and damage to public property became common. Railway cars and Hindi name boards at railway stations were burned down; telegraph poles were cut and railway tracks displaced. The Bhaktavatsalam Government considered the situation as a law and order problem and brought in para military forces to quell the agitation. Incensed by police action, violent mobs killed two police men. Several agitators committed suicide by self-immolation and by consuming poison. In two weeks of riots, around 70 people were killed (by official estimates). Some unofficial reports put the death toll as high as 500. A large number of students were arrested. The damage to property was assessed to be ten million rupees.<ref name="ramaswamy530a" /><ref name="Hardgrave"/><ref name="hindu1"/><ref name="mitra"/><ref name="kalachuvadu"/><ref name="thirumavalavan">{{cite book | first= Thol. | last=Thirumavalavan| year=2004| title=Uproot Hindutva: the fiery voice of the liberation panthers| publisher=Popular Prakashan| isbn=978-81-85604-79-4 | page=125| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HfNRO-LtsN4C}}</ref><ref name="time1">{{cite magazine
===Madurai incident===
In the morning of 25 January, students in ] took out a procession toward the Thilagar ''thidal'' (lit. Grounds) at the centre of the city. Their intention was to stage a public burning of Part XVII of the constitution. They burned a huge effigy of "Hindi Demoness" and shouted slogans against Hindi like "Down with Hindi" and "Hindi Never, English Ever" . As the procession approached the Congress Party district office at North Masi Street, some Congress "volunteers" who had arrived in a Jeep shouted insults and obscenities at the students. A volley of sandals from the students returned the insult. The provoked Congress volunteers, who ran back into the Party’s office, returned with knives and attacked students, wounding seven. As the riot broke out, students set fire to the pandal in the Congress office, constructed for the Republic day celebrations. When news of the attack spread riots broke out in Madurai and other parts of the State. In retaliation for the attack, students cut down flag poles of the Congress party all over Madurai.<ref name ="kalachuvadu"/><ref name ="Hardgrave"/>

===Two months of riots===
As the riots spread, police responded with lathi charges and firing on student processions. This further inflamed the situation. Acts of arson, looting and damage to public property became common. Railway cars and Hindi name boards at railway stations were burned down. The Bhaktavatsalam Government considered the situation as a law and order problem and brought in para military forces to quell the agitation. Incensed by police action, violent mobs killed two police men. Five agitators (Sivalingam, Aranganathan, Veerappan, Muthu, and Sarangapani) committed suicide by pouring gasoline and setting themselves on fire and three more (Dandapani, Muthu, and Shanmugam) died by consuming poison. In two weeks of riots, around 70 people were killed (by official estimates). Some unofficial reports put the death toll as high as 500. A large number of students were arrested.<ref name="ramaswamy530"/><ref name="hindu1"/><ref name="thirumavalavan">{{cite book | first= Thol. | last=Thirumavalavan| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2004| title=Uproot Hindutva: the fiery voice of the liberation panthers| publisher=Popular Prakashan| location= | id= ISBN 8185604797 ISBN 9788185604794 | pages=125| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HfNRO-LtsN4C}}</ref><ref name="time1">{{cite web
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940936,00.html | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940936,00.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071014111537/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940936,00.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 14 October 2007
| title = India: The Force of Words | title = India: The Force of Words
| work = ] | magazine = ]
| date = 19 February 1965
| publisher = ]
| date = 1965-02-19 | access-date =24 November 2009
}}</ref><ref name="guha3">{{Harvnb|Guha|2008|pp=394}}</ref>
| accessdate = 2009-11-24
}}</ref><ref name="guha3">{{cite book | first=Ramachandra| last=Guha| | authorlink=Ramachandra Guha | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 2008| title= India after Gandhi|edition= | publisher=Harper Perennial| location= | id= ISBN 0060958588, ISBN 9780060958589| pages=394 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=EcSoIAAACAAJ}}</ref><ref name="Hardgrave"/><ref name="kalachuvadu"/>


On 28 January, classes in ] and ] were suspended indefinitely. Within the Congress, opinion was divided - On 31 January , a group of Congress leaders including ] Chief minister ], Bengal Congress leader ], Union Minister ] and Congress president ] met in Bangalore and issued an appeal not to force Hindi on non-Hindi speaking areas as they believed it might endanger the unity of the country. Morarji Desai refused their demands regretting that Hindi was not made official before the anti-Hindi protests crystallized. He said Congress leaders in Madras should convince people there and no regional sentiments should come in the move to forge the integration of the country.<ref name="hindu1"/> Union Home Minister Gulzari Lal Nanda agreed with Bhaktavatsalam's handling of the agitation and commended him for standing "hard as a rock".<ref name="akbar">{{cite book | first=M.J.| last=Akbar| | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year=1985| title=India: the siege within|edition= | publisher=Penguin Books| location= | id=| pages=91 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=rgduAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="ganesan">{{cite book | first=Pi. Ci| last=Kaṇēcan| | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year=2003| title=C.N. Annadurai: Builders of Modern India|edition= | publisher=Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India| location= | id=ISBN 8123011016, ISBN 9788123011011| pages=62 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=5oduAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> On 28 January, classes in ], ] and other colleges and schools in the state were suspended indefinitely. Within the Congress, opinion was divided: one group led by ] wanted the government not to impose Hindi on the Tamils; but others like Morarji Desai did not relent.<ref name="hindu1"/> Home minister Nanda agreed with Bhaktavatsalam's handling of the agitation.<ref name="akbar">{{cite book | first=M.J.| last=Akbar| year=1985| title=India: the siege within| publisher=Penguin Books| page=91 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=rgduAAAAMAAJ | isbn=0-14-007576-3}}</ref><ref name="ganesan">{{cite book | first=Pi. Ci| last=Kaṇēcan| year=2003| title=C.N. Annadurai: Builders of Modern India| publisher=Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India| isbn=978-81-230-1101-1| page=62 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=5oduAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> Rioting continued throughout the first week of February and by the second week students lost control of the agitation. Violence continued despite Annadurai's appeal for calm. Efforts were made by both sides to find a compromise. On 11 February, ] and ], two union ministers from Madras state, resigned protesting the government's language policy.<ref name="annamalai1"/><ref name="mitra"/><ref name="time1"/><ref name="kannan6">{{Harvnb|Kannan|2010| pp=290–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/feb/18cs.htm |title=C Subramaniam awarded Bharat Ratna |date=18 February 1998 |work=] |access-date=26 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203092215/http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/feb/18cs.htm |archive-date=3 February 2014}}</ref> President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan refused to accept the Prime Minister Shastri's recommendation that their resignations be accepted. Shastri backed down and made a broadcast through ] on 11 February. Expressing shock over the riots, he promised to honour Nehru's assurances. He also assured Tamils that English would continue to be used for centre-state and intrastate communications and that the ] examination would continue to be conducted in English.<ref name="hindu1"/><ref name="kannan6"/>


===Impact===
Rioting continued through out the first week of February. On February 6, student representatives met Bhatavatsalam to find a compromise. But the talks failed and violence continued unabated. Processions, fasts, general strikes, burning of Hindi books, destruction of Hindi name boards, agitations in front of Post offices became commonplace. In a Union cabinet meeting on 11 February, ], Minister for Food demanded statutory recognition for English as Official Language. When he was voted down, he resigned along with another minister from Tamil Nadu (]).<ref name="time1"/><ref name="annamalai1"/>
Shastri's assurances calmed down the volatile situation. On 12 February, the students council postponed the agitation indefinitely<ref name="minerva">{{cite book | last=International Association for Cultural Freedom| year= 1964| title=Gerhard Fleischer d. Jüng| publisher=Minerva, Volume 3| page=277 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=WPsbAAAAIAAJ}}</ref> and on 16 February, C. Subramaniam and O. V. Alagesan withdrew their resignations. Sporadic acts of protests and violence continued to happen throughout February and early March. On 7 March, the administration withdrew all the cases filed against the student leaders and on 14 March, the Anti-Hindi Agitation Council dropped the agitation.<ref name="straitstimes1">{{cite web

==Impact of 1965 agitation==
=== Immediate impact===
Faced with open revolt in his cabinet, Shastri buckled down and made a broadcast through ] on February 11. Expressing shock over the riots, he promised to honour Nehru's assurances. Further he made four assurances of his own:<ref name="hindu1"/>

1) Every state will have complete and unfettered freedom to continue to transact its own business in the language of its own choice, which may be the regional language or English.<br />
2) Communications between one State to another will either be in English or will be accompanied by authentic English translation.<br />
3) The non-Hindi states will be free to correspond with the Central Government in English and no change will be made in this arrangement without the consent of the non-Hindi States.<br />
4) In the transaction of business at the Central level, English will continue to be used.

Later he added a fifth assurance: The ] examination would continue to be conducted in English rather than in Hindi alone.<ref name="hindu1"/>

His assurances calmed down the volatile situation. On 12 February, the students council postponed the agitation indefinitely<ref name="minerva">{{cite book | first=| last=International Association for Cultural Freedom| | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1964| title=Gerhard Fleischer d. Jüng|edition= | publisher=Minerva, Volume 3| location= | id= | pages=277 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=WPsbAAAAIAAJ}}</ref> and on 16 February, C. Subramaniam and O. V. Alagesan withrew their resignations. Sporadic acts of protests and violence continued to happen throughout February and early March. On 7 March, the Government withdrew all the cases filed against the student leaders and on 14 March, the Anti-Hindi Agitation Council dropped the agitation.<ref name="straitstimes1">{{cite web
| url = http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/TOC.aspx?issueid=straitstimes19650316 | url = http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/TOC.aspx?issueid=straitstimes19650316
| title = Anti-Hindi student boycott off | title = Anti-Hindi student boycott off
| work = ] | work = ]
| publisher = ] | publisher = ]
| date = 1965-03-16 | date = 16 March 1965
| accessdate = 2009-11-24 | access-date =24 November 2009
}}</ref>. Shastri's climb down angered the pro-Hindi activists in North India. Members of ] prowled the streets of New Delhi, blackening out English signs with tar.<ref name="time2">{{cite web }}</ref> Shastri's climbdown angered the pro-Hindi activists in North India. Members of ] went about the streets of ], blackening out English signs with tar.<ref name="time2">{{cite magazine
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839301,00.html |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839301,00.html
| title = Retreat to English |title=Retreat to English
|magazine=Time
| work = ]
|date=5 March 1965
| publisher = ]
|access-date=30 August 2007
| date = 1965-03-05
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930115434/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C839301%2C00.html
| accessdate = 2007-08-30
|archive-date=30 September 2007
}}</ref>
|url-status=dead
===Impact on 1967 election===
}}</ref> The agitation for imposition slowly changed into a general anti-Congress organisation.<ref name="kalachuvadu"/> In the ], student leader P. Seenivasan contested against Kamaraj in the ] constituency. A large number of students from all over the state campaigned for him and ensured his victory: the Congress party was defeated and DMK came to power for the first time in Madras State.<ref name="hindu3"/><ref name="kandaswamy">{{cite book | first=P.| last=Kandaswamy| year= 1965| title= The Political Career of K. Kamaraj | publisher=Concept Publishing Company| id= {{Listed Invalid ISBN|81-7122-801-8}} | pages=117 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=bOjT3qffnMkC}}</ref><ref name="rudolf">{{Cite journal| first1 =Lloyd I.|last1=Rudolph|first2 =Susanne|last2=Hoeber Rudolph| title =New Era for India: The Fourth General Election| journal =The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists| volume = 24| issue = 2| pages = 35–40| publisher =Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science| date = February 1968| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=KQcAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA35| access-date =9 December 2009|doi=10.1080/00963402.1968.11457636|bibcode=1968BuAtS..24b..35R}}</ref>
{{main|Madras State legislative assembly election, 1967}}

After dropping the agitation in March 1965, the Tamil Nadu Students Anti-Hindi Agitation council continued to push for the scrapping the Three Language formula and a constitutional amendment to drop part XVII. On 11 May, a three person delegation of the student council met with Prime minister Shastri to press their demands.<ref name="indianreview">{{cite book | first=| last=| | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1965| title= The Indian review, Volume 64|edition= | publisher=G.A. Natesan & Co| location= | id= | pages=329 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=S5IPAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> The Anti-Hindi agitation slowly changed into a general anti-Congress organisation with the goal of defeating the congress in the 1967 election.<ref name="kalachuvadu"/> On 20 February 1966, the first state wide conference of the council was held. It was attended by Rajaji who asked the students to work toward defeating the Congress.<ref name="ahluwalia">{{cite book | first=Sagar | last=Ahluwalia| | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1969| title= Anna: the tempest and the sea|edition= | publisher=Young Asia Publications| location= | id= | pages=52| url =http://books.google.com/books?id=L5aIeOaGDhIC}}</ref> In the 1967 elections, student leader ] contested against Kamaraj in the ] constituency. A large number of students from all over Tamil Nadu campaigned for him and ensured his victory. The Congress Government was defeated and DMK came to power for the first time in Tamil Nadu.<ref name="kandaswamy">{{cite book | first=P.| last=Kandaswamy| | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1965| title= The Political Career of K. Kamaraj |edition= | publisher=Concept Publishing Company| location= | id= ISBN 8171228018| pages=117 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=bOjT3qffnMkC}}</ref><ref name="hindu3"/>
The Anti-Hindi imposition agitations in Tamil Nadu also had a considerable impact on the neighbouring states of ], ] and ]. The 1965 agitations evoked a strong response from the Tamils of Bangalore city.<ref name="nairp268">{{cite book|title=The Promise of the Metropolis: Bangalore's Twentieth Century|first=Janaki|last=Nair|publisher=Oxford India Paperbacks|page=268}}</ref> In Mysore, over 2000 agitators gathered to protest Hindi and the police had to launch a lathi charge when the agitation grew violent. In Andhra Pradesh, trains were damaged and colleges were shut down.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.scribd.com/collections/2334276/The-Struggle-For-English-1963-68-in-India | title=The Struggle for English (1963-68) in India}}</ref>

==Official Languages (Amendment) Act of 1967==


==Offical Languages (Amendment) Act of 1967==
===Amendment efforts in 1965=== ===Amendment efforts in 1965===
Efforts to amend the Official Languages Act according to Shastri's assurances given in February 1965 faced stiff resistance from the pro-Hindi lobby. On February 16, fifty five MPs from 8 different states publicly disclosed their disapproval of any change in the Language policy. On February 19, 19 MPs from ] and ] voiced their opposition for change and on 25 February, 106 Congress MPs met the Prime Minister to request him not to amend the Act. However, Congress MPs from Madras did not debate the issue on the Parliament floor but met the Prime Minister on 12 March. Congress and opposition parties hesitated to debate the issue in Parliament as they did not wish to make their bitter divisions on public. On 22 February at a meeting in Congress Working Committee, ] pressed for the amendment to Official Languages Act, but received instant opposition from Morarji Desai, ] and ]. The Congress working committee finally agreed to a resolution which amounted to slowing down of Hindi-isation, strong implementation of ] in Hindi and non-Hindi speaking states, conduction of public services exam in all regional languages. These decisions were agreed upon during the Chief Minister meeting which was held on February 24.<ref name="Duncan B. Forrester"/> Efforts to amend the Official Languages Act according to Shastri's assurances given in February 1965 faced stiff resistance from the pro-Hindi lobby. On 16 February 55 MPs from 8 different states publicly expressed their disapproval of any change in the Language policy. On 19 February 19 MPs from ] and ] voiced their opposition for change and on 25 February 106 Congress MPs met the Prime Minister to request him not to amend the act. However, Congress MPs from Madras did not debate the issue on the Parliament floor but met the Prime Minister on 12 March. Congress and opposition parties hesitated to debate the issue in Parliament as they did not wish to make their bitter divisions in public. On 22 February at a meeting in Congress Working Committee, ] pressed for the amendment to Official Languages Act, but received instant opposition from Morarji Desai, ] and Ram Subhag. The Congress working committee finally agreed to a resolution which amounted to slowing down of Hindi-isation, strong implementation of the ] in Hindi and non-Hindi speaking states, and conduct of the public services exam in all regional languages. These decisions were agreed upon during the Chief Ministers' meeting which was held on 24 February.<ref name="Duncan B. Forrester">{{Cite journal| first = Duncan B. |last=Forrester| title = The Madras Anti-Hindi Agitation, 1965: Political Protest and its Effects on Language Policy in India | journal = Pacific Affairs| volume = 39| issue = 1/2| pages = 19–36| publisher = Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia| date = 196| jstor = 2755179 |doi=10.2307/2755179}}</ref>


Three language formula was not strictly enforced either in South or Hindi-speaking areas. The changes to public services exams were impractical and not well received by Government officials. The only real concession to the south was the assurance that the Official Languages Act would be modified. However, any effort to follow through with that pledge received stiff resistance. In April 1965, a meeting of a Cabinet sub-committee comprising Gulzari lal Nanda, ], ], ], ] and ] and no Southern members debated the issue and could not come to any agreement. The sub-committee recommended the continuation of English and Hindi as joint link languages and was not in favour of either quota system or use of regional languages in public services exams. They drafted an amendment to Official Languages Act incorporating Nehru's assurances explicitly. This bill guaranteeing the use of English in Inter State and State to Union communication as long as desired by Non-Hindi states was approved for discussion by the Speaker on August 25. The Bill was withdrawn on August 25 after a bitter debate citing inopportune time due to the ongoing ] and Kashmir crisis at that time.<ref name="Duncan B. Forrester"/> The three language formula was not strictly enforced either in South or Hindi-speaking areas. The changes to public services exams were impractical and not well received by government officials. The only real concession to the south was the assurance that the Official Languages Act would be modified. However, any effort to follow through with that pledge received stiff resistance. In April 1965, a meeting of a cabinet sub-committee comprising Gulzari lal Nanda, A. K. Sen, Satyanarayan Sinha, ], ] and ] and but no southern members debated the issue and could not come to any agreement. The sub-committee recommended the continuation of English and Hindi as joint link languages and was not in favour of either quota system or use of regional languages in public services exams. They drafted an amendment to Official Languages Act incorporating Nehru's assurances explicitly. This Bill guaranteeing the use of English in inter-state and state-Union communications as long as desired by Non-Hindi states was approved for discussion by the Speaker on 25 August. But it was withdrawn after a bitter debate citing inopportune time due to the ongoing ] and Kashmir crisis at that time.<ref name="Duncan B. Forrester"/>


===Amendment in 1967=== ===Amendment in 1967===
Shastri died in January 1966 and ] became the prime minister. The election of 1967 saw Congress retaining power with a reduced majority. In Tamil Nadu, Congress was defeated and DMK came to power. In November 1967, a new attempt to amend the bill was made. On 27 November,<ref name="mitra">{{cite book | first=Subrata Kumar| last=Mitra| | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 2006| title=The puzzle of India's governance: culture, context and comparative theory|edition= | publisher=Routledge| location= | id= ISBN 0415348617, ISBN 9780415348614| pages=119 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=ZMZjAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> the bill was tabled in the parliament and was passed on 16 December (by 205 votes to 41 against<ref name="chandra">{{cite book | first=Bipan| last=Chandra| authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1989| title=India after independence |edition= | publisher=Penguin Books| location= | id=| pages=96 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=iAZuAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>). It received presidential assent on 8 January 1968 and came into effect.<ref name="Mohammada">{{cite book | first=Malika | last=Mohammada | authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 2005| title=Culture of Hindi |edition= | publisher=Kalinga Publications| location= | id= ISBN 8187644737, ISBN 9788187644736| pages=184 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=ZMZjAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> The Amendment modified<ref name="rajbasha">{{cite web Shastri died in January 1966 and Indira Gandhi became prime minister. The election of 1967 saw Congress retaining power with a reduced majority in the centre. In Madras State, Congress was defeated and DMK came to power thanks to the support of the entire student community who had taken up the challenge thrown by Kamaraj to defeat him in the elections. The Students' Election Army did door to door campaign urging people to vote against Congress to teach them a lesson for all the atrocities committed by the Bhaktavatsalam Government to students under Defence of India Rules etc., P. Sreenivasan defeated Kamaraj in Virudhunagar. In November 1967, a new attempt to amend the Bill was made. On 27 November,<ref name="mitra">{{cite book | first=Subrata Kumar| last=Mitra| year= 2006| title=The puzzle of India's governance: culture, context and comparative theory| publisher=Routledge| isbn=978-0-415-34861-4| pages=118–20 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=dnoW56MhJZMC&pg=P118}}</ref> the Bill was tabled in Parliament; it was passed on 16 December (by 205 votes to 41 against<ref name="chandra">{{cite book | first=Bipan| last=Chandra| year= 1989| title=India after independence | publisher=Penguin Books| page=96 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=iAZuAAAAMAAJ | isbn=0-670-88269-0}}</ref>). It received presidential assent on 8 January 1968 and came into effect.<ref name="Mohammada">{{cite book | first=Malika | last=Mohammada | year= 2005| title=Culture of Hindi | publisher=Kalinga Publications| isbn=978-81-87644-73-6| page=184 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=ZMZjAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> The Amendment modified<ref name="rajbasha">{{cite web
| url =http://www.rajbhasha.gov.in/dolacteng.htm |url = http://rajbhasha.nic.in/GOLPContent.aspx?t=endolact
| title = The Official Languages Act 1963 (As amended on 1967) |title = The Official Languages Act 1963 (As amended on 1967)
| publisher = Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |publisher = Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India
| date = |access-date = 24 November 2009
|url-status = dead
| accessdate = 2009-11-24
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110517063603/http://rajbhasha.nic.in/GOLPContent.aspx?t=endolact
}}</ref> section 3 of the 1963 Act to guarantee the ""virtual indefinite policy of bilingualism"<ref name="chandra"/> (English and Hindi) in official transactions.<ref name="ammon">{{cite book | first=Ulrich| last=Ammon | first2=Marlis | last2=Hellinger|authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1992| title=Status change of languages |edition= | publisher=Walter de Gruyter| location= | id= ISBN 3110126680, ISBN 9783110126686| pages=188 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=uyY6HJYcEKYC}}</ref>
|archive-date = 17 May 2011}}</ref> section 3 of the 1963 act to guarantee the "virtual indefinite policy of bilingualism"<ref name="chandra"/> (English and Hindi) in official transactions.<ref name="ammon">{{cite book | first1=Ulrich| last1=Ammon | first2=Marlis | last2=Hellinger| year= 1992| title=Status change of languages | publisher=Walter de Gruyter| isbn=978-3-11-012668-6| page=188 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=uyY6HJYcEKYC}}</ref>


==Agitation of 1968== ==Later agitations==
The Anti-Hindi agitators of Tamil Nadu were not satisfied with the 1967 Amendment, as it did not address their concerns about the Three language Formula. However with DMK in power, they hesitated to restart the agitation. The Tamil Nadu Students' Anti-Hindi Agitation council split into several factions. The moderate factions favored letting Annadurai and the Government to deal with the situation. The extremist factions restarted the agitations. They demanded


=== 1968 ===
*Scrapping of the Three language formula and an end to teaching of Hindi.
The anti-Hindi imposition activists from Madras State were not satisfied with the 1967 Amendment, as it did not address their concerns about the three language formula. However, with DMK in power, they hesitated to restart the agitation. The Tamil Nadu Students' Anti-Hindi Agitation council split into several factions. The moderate factions favored letting Annadurai and the government to deal with the situation. The extremist factions restarted the agitations. They demanded scrapping of the three language formula and an end to teaching of Hindi, abolishing the use of Hindi commands in the ] (NCC), banning of Hindi films and songs and closure of the ''Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachara Sabha'' (Institution for Propagation of Hindi in South India).
*Abolishing the use of Hindi commands in the ] (NCC).
*Banning of Hindi films and songs.
*Closure of the ''Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachara Sabha'' - the Institution for propagation of Hindi in South India.


On 19 December 1967, the agitation was restarted. It turned violent in 21 December and acts of arson and looting were reported in the state. Annadurai defused the situation by accepting most of their demands.<ref name="mitra"/><ref name="madrasreport">{{cite book | first=| last=| authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1968| title= Madras State administration report|edition= | publisher=Govt of Madras| location= | id= | pages=116| url =http://books.google.com/books?id=1nAdAAAAIAAJ}}</ref> On 23 January 1968, a resolution was passed in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. It accomplished the following:<ref>{{cite web On 19 December 1967, the agitation was restarted. It turned violent on 21 December and acts of arson and looting were reported in the state. Annadurai defused the situation by accepting most of their demands.<ref name="mitra"/><ref name="madrasreport">{{cite book | year= 1968| title= Madras State administration report| publisher=Govt of Madras| page=116| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=1nAdAAAAIAAJ}}</ref> On 23 January 1968, a resolution was passed in the Legislative Assembly. It accomplished the following:<ref>{{cite web
| url =http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/archive/Resumes/04assly/04_02_2.pdf |url = http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/archive/Resumes/04assly/04_02_2.pdf
| title = The Madras Legislative Assembly - IV Assembly, 2nd Section, 2nd Meeting (23 January 1968) |title = The Madras Legislative Assembly – IV Assembly, 2nd Session, 2nd Meeting (23 January 1968)
| publisher = Government of Tamil Nadu |publisher = Government of Tamil Nadu
| date = |access-date = 24 November 2009
|url-status = dead
| accessdate = 2009-11-24
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120220050622/http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/archive/Resumes/04assly/04_02_2.pdf
}}</ref>
|archive-date = 20 February 2012}}</ref>

*The Three-Language policy was scrapped and Hindi was eliminated from the curriculum. Only English and Tamil were to be taught.
*The use of Hindi commands in NCC was banned.
*Tamil was to be introduced as medium of instruction in all colleges and as the language of administration within five years.
*The Central Government was urged to end the special status accorded to Hindi in the Constitution and treat all languages equally.
*The Central Government was urged to provide financial assistance for development of all languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.


The Three-Language Policy was scrapped and Hindi was eliminated from the curriculum. Only English and Tamil were to be taught and the use of Hindi commands in the NCC was banned. Tamil was to be introduced as the medium of instruction in all colleges and as the "language of administration" within five years, the Central Government was urged to end the special status accorded to Hindi in the Constitution and "treat all languages equally", and was urged to provide financial assistance for development of all languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. These measures satisfied the agitators and "normalcy" returned by February 1968.<ref name="mitra"/>
The agitators were satisfied and normalcy returned by February 1968.<ref name="mitra"/>


==Agitation of 1986== === 1986 ===
In 1986, Indian Prime minister ] introduced the "National Education Policy".<ref>{{cite web In 1986, Indian Prime minister ] introduced the "National Education Policy".<ref>{{cite web
| url =http://www.education.nic.in/cd50years/g/T/49/Toc.htm |url = http://www.education.nic.in/cd50years/g/T/49/Toc.htm
| title = National Policy on Education - 1986 |title = National Policy on Education – 1986
| publisher = Ministry of Education Website, Government of India |publisher = Ministry of Education Website, Government of India
| date = |access-date = 24 November 2009
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091017212228/http://www.education.nic.in/cd50years/g/t/49/Toc.htm
| accessdate = 2009-11-24
|archive-date = 17 October 2009
}}</ref> This education policy provided for setting up ], where the DMK claimed teaching of Hindi would be compulsory.<ref name="deccanchronicle1">{{cite news
|url-status = dead}}</ref> This education policy provided for setting up ], where the DMK claimed teaching of Hindi would be compulsory.<ref name="deccanchronicle1">{{cite news
| url =http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/call-start-navodaya-schools-grows-louder-023 | url =http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/call-start-navodaya-schools-grows-louder-023
| title = Call to start Navodaya schools grows louder | title = Call to start Navodaya schools grows louder
| work = ] | work = ]
| date = 4 November 2009
| publisher = ]
| date = 2009-11-04 | access-date =8 December 2009
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204000348/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/call-start-navodaya-schools-grows-louder-023
| accessdate = 2009-12-08
| archive-date=4 December 2010
}}</ref> The ] (ADMK) led by ] (which had split from the DMK in 1972), was in power in Tamil Nadu and the DMK was the main opposition party. Karunanidhi announced an agitation against the opening of Navodaya Schools in Tamil Nadu. On 13 November, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution demanding the repeal of Part XVII of the constitution and for making English the sole official language of the union.<ref name="assembly2">{{cite web
}}</ref> The ] (ADMK) led by ] (which had split from the DMK in 1972), was in power in Tamil Nadu and the DMK was the main opposition party. Karunanidhi announced an agitation against the opening of ] in Tamil Nadu. The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya program, supported fully by the ], was established to identify gifted and talented students from economically disadvantaged and historically neglected communities, throughout every state and Union Territory in India and provide for them an education on par with elite residential schools traditionally available in India only for children of the wealthy as well as children of the political class. On 13 November, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution demanding the repeal of Part XVII of the constitution and for making English the sole official language of the union.<ref name="assembly2">{{cite web
| url =http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/archive/Resumes/08assly/08_03.pdf
|url = http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/archive/Resumes/08assly/08_03.pdf
| title = The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, XVII Assembly Third Session (12 November - 22 December, 1986)
|title = The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, XVII Assembly Third Session (12 November – 22 December 1986)
| publisher = Government of Tamil Nadu
|publisher = Government of Tamil Nadu
| date =
|access-date = 24 November 2009
| accessdate = 2009-11-24
|url-status = dead
}}</ref><ref name="kumar1">{{Cite journal| first =K.|last=Kumar| title =Anti-Hindi Week| journal =''Economic and Political Weekly''| volume =21| issue = 42| pages = 1838-1839 | publisher =Economic and Political Weekly| date = 18 October, 1986| url = http://www.jstor.org/pss/4376232| accessdate = 08 December 2009}}</ref><ref name="dmk">{{cite web
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110105142951/http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/archive/Resumes/08assly/08_03.pdf
| url =http://www.dmk.in/ahindi.html
|archive-date = 5 January 2011}}</ref><ref name="kumar1">{{Cite journal| first =K.|last=Kumar| title =Anti-Hindi Week| journal =Economic and Political Weekly| volume =21| issue = 42| pages = 1838–1839 | date = 18 October 1986| jstor = 4376232}}</ref><ref name="dmk">{{cite web
| title = Anti Hindi Agitation - 1984
|url = http://www.dmk.in/ahindi.html
| publisher = ]
|title = Anti Hindi Agitation – 1984
| date =
|publisher = ]
| accessdate = 2009-11-24
|access-date = 24 November 2009
}}</ref>
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090619081628/http://www.dmk.in/ahindi.html
|archive-date = 19 June 2009}}</ref>


On 17 November 1986, DMK members protested against the new education policy by burning Part XVII of the Constitution.<ref name="assembly2"/> 20,000 DMK members including Karunanidhi were arrested.<ref name="dmk"/> 21 persons committed suicide by self immolation.<ref>{{cite news On 17 November 1986, DMK members protested against the new education policy by burning Part XVII of the Constitution.<ref name="assembly2"/> 20,000 DMK members, including Karunanidhi, were arrested.<ref name="dmk"/> 21 persons committed suicide by self-immolation.<ref>
{{cite news
| url =http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/06/02/stories/2002060201871700.htm |url = http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/06/02/stories/2002060201871700.htm
| title =Politics and suicides |title = Politics and suicides
| work = ] |work = ]
|publisher = ]
|date = 6 February 2002
|access-date = 24 November 2009
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091130100838/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/06/02/stories/2002060201871700.htm
|archive-date = 30 November 2009
|url-status = usurped}}
</ref> Karunanidhi was sentenced to ten weeks of rigorous imprisonment. Ten DMK MLAs including ] were expelled from the Legislative Assembly by the speaker ].<ref name="assembly2"/> Rajiv Gandhi assured Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu that Hindi would not be imposed.<ref name="indiatoday2">{{cite book | year= 1986| title= India today, Volume 11| publisher=Living Media India Pvt. Ltd| page=21| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=oC0KAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> As part of the compromise, Navodhaya schools were not started in Tamil Nadu. Currently, Tamil Nadu is the only state in India without Navodaya schools.<ref>{{cite news
| url =http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/article26936.ece
| title =Sibal urges T. Nadu govt to start Navodaya schools
| newspaper = ]
| publisher = ] | publisher = ]
| date = 2002-02-06 | date = 30 September 2009
| accessdate = 2009-11-24 | access-date =24 November 2009
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091208010809/http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article26936.ece| archive-date= 8 December 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref>
}}</ref> Karunanidhi was sentenced to ten weeks of rigorous imprisonment. Ten DMK MLAs including ] were expelled from the Legislative Assembly by the speaker ].<ref name="assembly2"/> Rajiv Gandhi assured Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu that Hindi would not be imposed.<ref name="indiatoday2">{{cite book | first=| last=| authorlink= | coauthors= | origyear=| year= 1986| title= India today, Volume 11|edition= | publisher=Living Media India Pvt. Ltd| location= | id= | pages=21| url =http://books.google.com/books?id=oC0KAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> As part of the compromise, Navodhaya schools were not started in Tamil Nadu. Currently, Tamil Nadu is the only state in India without Navodhaya schools.<ref>{{cite web
| url =http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article26936.ece
| title =Sibal urges T.Nadu govt to start Navodaya schools
| work = ]
| publisher = ]
| date = 2009-09-30
| accessdate = 2009-11-24
}}</ref>


==Legacy== === 2014 ===
In 2014, the ] ordered that "government employees and officials of all ministries, departments, corporations or banks, who have made official accounts on ] should use ], or both Hindi and English but give priority to Hindi".<ref>{{cite news|author=Aman Sharma |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-06-17/news/50651316_1_home-ministry-prime-minister-narendra-modi-government-officials |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140620154758/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-06-17/news/50651316_1_home-ministry-prime-minister-narendra-modi-government-officials |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 June 2014 |title=Home Ministry asks bureaucrats to use Hindi on social networking sites |work=]|date=17 June 2014 |access-date=17 August 2014}}</ref> This move was immediately opposed by all the political parties in ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/tamil-nadu-parties-including-bjp-allies-oppose-hindi-114062000795_1.html |title=Tamil Nadu parties, including BJP allies, oppose Hindi |work=Business Standard|date=20 June 2014 |access-date=17 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kalra |first=Aditya |title=Modi's push for Hindi struggles to translate in some states |publisher=In.reuters.com |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/india-language-hind-modi/modis-push-for-hindi-struggles-to-translate-in-some-states-idINKBN0EU1B720140619 |access-date=17 August 2014}}</ref> Terming the move on use of Hindi as being "against letter and spirit" of the ] the Tamil Nadu ] ] cautioned that this direction may "cause disquiet to the people of Tamil Nadu who are very proud of and passionate about their linguistic heritage", and asked the ] to suitably modify the instructions to ensure that English was the language of communication on social media.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-06-20/news/50739013_1_social-media-hindi-english-language |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140623172650/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-06-20/news/50739013_1_social-media-hindi-english-language |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 June 2014 |title=Ensure that English is used on social media: Jaya to Modi |work=The Economic Times|date=20 June 2014 |access-date=17 August 2014}}</ref> The major opposition party ] advised prudence, expressing fear that such directions may result in a backlash in non-Hindi states, especially Tamil Nadu and also said that the "Government would be well-advised to proceed with caution".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/hindi-issue-cong-advises-caution-says-backlash-in-nonhindi-states/article6133644.ece |title=Hindi issue: Cong advises caution, says backlash in non-Hindi states |work=The Hindu|date=20 June 2014 |access-date=17 August 2014}}</ref> These protests ensured the continuous official usage of English.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ensure-english-is-used-on-social-media-jaya-to-pm/article1-1231522.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140621091905/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ensure-english-is-used-on-social-media-jaya-to-pm/article1-1231522.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 June 2014 |title=Modi govt softens stand on Hindi diktat after row |work=]|access-date=17 August 2014}}</ref>

==Impact==
{{See also|Rise of Dravidian parties to power in Tamil Nadu|Languages with official status in India|l2=Official Languages of India}} {{See also|Rise of Dravidian parties to power in Tamil Nadu|Languages with official status in India|l2=Official Languages of India}}
]
The anti-Hindi imposition agitations of 1937–40 and 1940–50 led to a change of guard in the Madras Presidency. The main opposition party to the Indian National Congress in the state, the Justice Party, came under Periyar's leadership on 29 December 1938.<ref name="vasantha2">{{Harvnb|Kandasamy|Smarandache|2005| p=109}}</ref> In 1944, the Justice Party was renamed as Dravidar Kazhagam. The political careers of many later leaders of the ], such as C. N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi, started with their participation in these agitations. The agitations stopped the compulsory teaching of Hindi in the state.<ref name="ramaswamy421"/><ref name="ramaswamy530a" /> The agitations of the 1960s played a crucial role in the defeat of the Tamil Nadu Congress party in the ] and the continuing dominance of Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu politics.<ref name="hindu3"/> Many political leaders of the DMK and ADMK, like P. Seenivasan, K. Kalimuthu, Durai Murugan, Tiruppur. S. Duraiswamy, Sedapatti Muthaiah, K. Raja Mohammad, M. Natarajan and L. Ganesan, owe their entry and advancement in politics to their stints as student leaders during the agitations, which also reshaped the Dravidian Movement and broadened its political base, when it shifted from its earlier pro-Tamil (and anti-Brahmin) stance to a more inclusive one, which was both anti-Hindi and pro-English. Finally, the current two-language education policy followed in Tamil Nadu is also a direct result of the agitations.


In the words of Sumathi Ramaswamy (professor of history at ]),<ref>{{cite web
The Anti-Hindi agitations of 1937-40 and 1940-50 led to a change of guard in the politics of ]. The main alternative to the ] - ], came under Periyar's leadership on 29 December 1938.<ref name="vasantha2">{{cite book | first=W. B. Vasantha| last=Kandasamy | first2=Florentin| last2=Smarandache| authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2005| title=Fuzzy and Neutrosophic Analysis of Periyar's Views on Untouchability |edition= | publisher=American Research Press| location= | id=ISBN 1931233004, ISBN 9781931233002| pages=110| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=hgb-MKcsSR0C}}</ref> In 1944 it was renamed as ]. Political careers of many later leaders of the ], ] and ] began from their participation in these agitations.<ref name="ramaswamy421"/><ref name="ramaswamy530"/> They succeeded in stopping the compulsory teaching of Hindi in the schools of Tamil Nadu.<ref name="hindu3"/> The agitations of the 1960s played a crucial role in the defeat of the Tamil Nadu Congress party in the ] and the continuing dominance of Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu politics.<ref name="hindu3"/> Many political leaders of the ] and ] like ], ], ], ], ], K. Raja Mohammad, M. Natarajan and ] owe their entry and advancement in politics to their stints as student leaders of these agitations. The current two Language education policy followed by Tamil Nadu is also the direct result of these agitations. They also reshaped the Dravidian Movement to broaden its political base by shifting from its earlier pro-Tamil (and anti-Brahmin) stance to a more inclusive one which was both anti-Hindi and pro-English.

In the words of Sumathi Ramaswamy (Professor of History at ]),<ref>{{cite web
| url =http://fds.duke.edu/db/aas/history/faculty/sr76 | url =http://fds.duke.edu/db/aas/history/faculty/sr76
| title =Prof. Sumathi Ramaswamy Faculty Webpage | title = Prof. Sumathi Ramaswamy Faculty Webpage
| publisher = Department of History, ] | publisher = Department of History, ]
| date = | access-date =24 November 2009
}}</ref>
| accessdate = 2009-11-24
}}</ref> The Anti-Hindi agitations :


{{quotation|(knit) together diverse, even incompatible, social and political interests... Their common cause against Hindi had thrown together religious revivalists like ] (1876-1950) with avowed atheists like ] and ] (1891-1964); men who supported the Indian cause like ] (1883-1953) and ] with those who wanted to secede from India like ] and ] (b.1924); university professors like Somasundara Bharati (1879-1959) and M.S. Purnalingam Pillai (1866 -1947) with uneducated street poets, populist pamphleteers and college students.<ref name="simpson">{{cite book | first=Andrew| last=Simpson | authorlink=| coauthors= | origyear=| year=2007| title=Language and national identity in Asia |edition= | publisher=Oxford University Press| location= | id=ISBN 0199267480, ISBN 9780199267484| pages=71| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=F3XvBbdWCKYC}}</ref><ref name="ramaswamy2">{{cite journal |last=Ramaswamy|first=Sumathy |title=The demoness, the maid, the whore, and the good mother: contesting the national language in India|journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language |volume=140 |issue=1 | pages =1-28 |year=1999 |url=http://www.reference-global.com/doi/abs/10.1515/ijsl.1999.140.1}}</ref> <blockquote> together diverse, even incompatible, social and political interests&nbsp;... Their common cause against Hindi imposition had thrown together religious revivalists like Maraimalai Atikal (1876–1950) with avowed atheists like Ramasami and ] (1891–1964); men who supported the Indian cause like ] (1883–1953) and M. P. Sivagnanam with those who wanted to secede from India like Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi (b. 1924); university professors like Somasundara Bharati (1879–1959) and M.S. Purnalingam Pillai (1866–1947) with uneducated street poets, populist pamphleteers and college students.<ref name="simpson">{{cite book | first=Andrew| last=Simpson | year=2007| title=Language and national identity in Asia | publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-926748-4| page=71| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3XvBbdWCKYC}}</ref><ref name="ramaswamy2">{{cite journal|last=Ramaswamy |first=Sumathy |title=The demoness, the maid, the whore, and the good mother: contesting the national language in India |journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language |publisher=] |issue=140 |pages=1–28 |year=1999 |doi=10.1515/ijsl.1999.140.1 |s2cid=144462193 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref></blockquote>
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The Anti-Hindi agitations ensured the passage of Official Languages Act of 1963 and its amendment in 1967, thus ensuring the continued use of English as an ] of India. They have effectively brought about the "virtual indefinite policy of bilingualism" of the ].<ref name="simpson"/> The anti-Hindi imposition agitations ensured the passage of the Official Languages Act of 1963 and its amendment in 1967, thus ensuring the continued use of English as an official language of India. They effectively brought about the "virtual indefinite policy of bilingualism" of the Indian Republic.<ref name="simpson"/><ref>{{cite book | title=The state of India's democracy|author1=Šumit Ganguly |author2=Larry Jay Diamond |author3=Marc F. Plattner | year=2007| page=51| publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press and the National Endowment for Democracy| isbn=978-0-8018-8791-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Observations on language spread in multi-lingual societies: Lessons learnt from a study of Ancient and Modern India |journal=ELK Asia Pacific Journal of Social Sciences |url=https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?oi=bibs&cluster=3225131825144652395&btnI=1&hl=en |last=Mandavilli |first=Sujay Rao |issue=1 |volume=1 |year=2015 |eissn=2349-2317}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
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== References == == Notes ==
{{Reflist|2}} {{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book | first=Ramachandra| last=Guha| author-link=Ramachandra Guha | year= 2008| title= India after Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy| publisher=]| isbn=978-0-06-095858-9| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=EcSoIAAACAAJ|oclc=76961156}}
*{{cite book| title=Tamil Revivalism in the 1930s| last=Irschick| first=Eugene F.| year=1986| oclc=15015416| publisher=Cre-A| url=http://history.berkeley.edu/faculty/Irschick/Tamil.pdf| location=Madras| access-date=26 March 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610180818/http://history.berkeley.edu/faculty/Irschick/Tamil.pdf| archive-date=10 June 2010| url-status=dead}}
*{{cite book | first1=W. B. Vasantha| last1=Kandasamy | first2=Florentin| last2=Smarandache| author-link2=Florentin Smarandache| year=2005| title=Fuzzy and Neutrosophic Analysis of Periyar's Views on Untouchability | publisher=American Research Press| isbn=978-1-931233-00-2| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hgb-MKcsSR0C|oclc=125408444}}
*{{cite book | title=Anna: The Life and Times of C. N. Annadurai |last=Kannan|first=R.| year=2010|isbn=978-0-670-08328-2| publisher=]}}
*{{cite book | first=J.B.P| last=More| year=1997| title=Political Evolution of Muslims in Tamil Nadu and Madras 1930–1947 | publisher=]| isbn=978-81-250-1192-7| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDht7OyOjXMC|oclc=37770527}}
* {{cite book |first=Sumathy|last=Ramaswamy|year=1997|title= Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891–1970|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-520-20805-6|oclc=36084635|url=http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft5199n9v7;brand=ucpress }}
*{{cite book|last=Ravichandran|first=R|author2=C. A. Perumal|title=Dravidar Kazhagam – a Political Study|location=Madras|chapter=5|chapter-url=http://dspace.vidyanidhi.org.in:8080/dspace/bitstream/2009/4724/6/MAU-1982-082-5.pdf|access-date=17 February 2010|publisher=]|year=1982|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721181844/http://dspace.vidyanidhi.org.in:8080/dspace/bitstream/2009/4724/6/MAU-1982-082-5.pdf|archive-date=21 July 2011|url-status=dead}}
{{refend}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
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* ], (). '']'' 29, 3: 337–62. (For the national language debate in Indian Constituent Assembly)
*. '']''. 29 January 1965. Editorial on the 1965 agitation.
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*https://www.scribd.com/collections/2334276/The-Struggle-For-English-1963-68-in-India
*{{Cite web|url=http://keetru.com/index.php/2009-10-07-10-47-41/thamil-desam-thamilar-kannotam-feb-1-2015/28412-1965|title=1965 ஆம் ஆண்டும் மொழிப்போரும் பெரியாரின் எதிர்ப்பும்|trans-title=Year 1965, Language struggles and Opposition by Periyar|language=ta|website=keetru.com|author=Kadhir Nilavan|date=27 April 2015|access-date=13 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014005325/http://keetru.com/index.php/2009-10-07-10-47-41/thamil-desam-thamilar-kannotam-feb-1-2015/28412-1965|archive-date=14 October 2017}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Hindi Agitations of Tamil Nadu}}
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Latest revision as of 18:54, 12 January 2025

Series of protests in the southern Indian state

Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu
Date11 August 1937 – present
(87 years, 5 months)
LocationPresent-day Tamil Nadu, India
Caused byVarious attempts by the Government of India (1947–present) and the Government of Madras (during 1937–65) to promote Hindi language in the State
GoalsTo prevent the imposition of Hindi in the State
Methods
Parties

Government of Tamil Nadu (1967–present)

Electoral parties
Justice Party †
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi
Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
All-India Muslim League †
Indian Union Muslim League
Manithaneya Makkal Katchi
Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi
Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam

Non-electoral organizations
Self-Respect Movement †
Dravidar Kazhagam
Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam †
Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam
Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam

Other Tamil organizations and general public

Government of India (1947–present)

Government of Madras (1937–65)

Electoral parties
Indian National Congress (1937–65)
Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh †
Janata Party †
Bharatiya Janata Party

Non-electoral organizations
Hindustani Seva Dal
Hindustani Hitashi Sabha
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

† = defunct parties / organizations
This article is part of a series on the
Dravidian politics
Political partiesState parties
Union cabinet ministers
Chief ministers
Speakers
Leaders of the opposition
Others

The anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu is the opposition to Hindi imposition in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu (formerly Madras State and part of Madras Presidency) since the 20th-century. The agitations involve several mass protests, riots, student and political movements in Tamil Nadu concerning the official status of Hindi in the state.

The first agitation was launched in 1937, to protest the introduction of compulsory teaching of Hindi in the schools of Madras Presidency by the first Indian National Congress (INC) government led by C. Rajagopalachari. This faced immediate opposition by "Periyar" E. V. Ramasamy and the opposition Justice Party. The three-year-long agitation was multifaceted and involved fasts, conferences, marches, picketing and protests. Government crackdown resulted in the deaths of two protesters and the arrests of 1,198 persons (including women and children). After the government resigned in 1939, Governor Lord Erskine withdrew the mandatory Hindi education in February 1940. After India's independence from the United Kingdom, the adoption of an official language for the (to be) Republic was a hotly debated issue during the framing of the Indian Constitution. Succeeding an exhaustive and divisive debate, Hindi was adopted as the official language of India with English continuing as an associate official language for a pre-set period of 15 years. After the new Constitution came into effect on 26 January 1950, many non-Hindi States opposed efforts by the Union government to make Hindi the sole official language after 26 January 1965.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a descendant of the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) in the then Madras State, led the opposition to Hindi. To allay their fears, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru enacted the Official Languages Act in 1963 to ensure the use of English beyond 1965. Still, there were apprehensions that his assurances might not be honoured by successive governments. As 26 January 1965 approached, the anti-Hindi movement gained momentum in Madras State with increased support from college students. On 25 January, a minor altercation between agitating students and INC party members triggered a full-scale riot in Madurai, eventually spreading all over the State. The riots (marked by violence, arson, looting, police firing and lathi charges) continued unabated for the next two months. Paramilitary involvement (on the request of the State government headed by INC) resulted in the deaths of about 70 people (by official estimates) including two policemen. To calm the situation, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri assured that English would continue as the official language as long as the non-Hindi States wanted. The riots and student agitation subsided after this.

The agitations of led to major political changes in the state. The DMK won the 1967 assembly election and the INC never managed to recapture power in the state since then. The Official Languages Act was eventually amended in 1967 by the Union government (headed by Indira Gandhi) to guarantee the indefinite use of Hindi and English as official languages. This effectively ensured the current "virtual indefinite policy of bilingualism" of the Indian Republic. There were also two similar (but smaller) agitations in 1968 and 1986 which had varying degrees of success. In the 21st century, numerous agitations in various forms have been continuing intermittently in response to covert and overt attempts of Hindi promulgation.

Background

Main article: Languages of IndiaSee also: Linguistic imperialism

The Republic of India has hundreds of languages. During the British Raj, English was the official language. When the Indian independence movement gained momentum in the early part of the 20th century, efforts were undertaken to make Hindi as a common language to unite linguistic groups against the British government. As early as 1918, Mahatma Gandhi established the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha (Institution for the Propagation of Hindi in South India). In 1925, the Indian National Congress switched the language of its official business from English to Hindi. Both Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were supporters of Hindi and Congress wanted to propagate the learning of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking provinces of India. The idea of making Hindi the common language forcefully, was not acceptable to Periyar, who viewed it as an attempt to make Tamils subordinate to North Indians.

Agitation of 1937–1940

Main article: Anti-Hindi agitation of 1937–40
Five men sitting in chairs around a small table. Four of them are wearing suits and one is wearing a shawl and a dhoti. The one wearing the shawl has a flowing white beard.
Right to left: B. R. Ambedkar, Periyar and Jinnah at Jinnah's residence in Bombay (8 January 1940)

The Indian National Congress won the 1937 elections in Madras Presidency. Rajaji became the chief minister on 14 July 1937. He was a supporter of propagating Hindi in South India. On 11 August 1937, within a month of coming to power, he announced his intention to introduce Hindi language teaching in secondary schools by issuing a policy statement. On 21 April 1938, he issued a government order making the teaching of Hindi compulsory in 125 secondary schools in the presidency. Periyar and the opposition Justice Party led by A. T. Panneerselvam immediately opposed the move. They started state-wide protests against Rajaji and Hindi.

The agitation was backed by Periyar's Self-Respect Movement and Justice Party. It also had the support of Tamil scholars like Maraimalai Adigal, Somasundara Bharathiar, K. Appadurai, Mudiyarasan and Ilakkuvanar. In December 1937, Tamil Saivite scholars were among the first to announce their opposition to the Hindi teaching in the Saiva Sidhandha Maha Samaja conference at Velur. Women also participated in the agitation in large numbers. Moovalur Ramamirtham, Narayani, Va. Ba. Thamaraikani, Munnagar Azhagiyar, Dr. S. Dharmambal, Malar Mugathammaiyar, Pattammal and Seethammal were some of the women who were arrested for participating in the agitation. On 13 November 1938, the Tamil Nadu Women's Conference was convened to demonstrate women's support for the movement. The agitation was marked by anti-Brahmin sentiments as the protesters believed Brahmins were attempting to impose Hindi and Sanskrit over Tamil. Despite the general anti-Brahminism of the agitation, a few Brahmins like Kanchi Rajagopalachari also participated in the movement. The Tamil speaking Muslims in the Madras presidency supported the agitation (in contrast to the Urdu-speaking Muslims, who supported the propagation of Hindi, since Hindi and Urdu are linguistically the same language called Hindustani). The agitation was marked by fasts, protest marches, processions, picketing of schools teaching Hindi and government offices, anti-Hindi conferences, observing an anti-Hindi day (1 July and 3 December 1938) and black flag demonstrations. It was active in the Tamil speaking districts of the presidency – Ramnad, Tirunelveli, Salem, Tanjore and North Arcot. During the course of the agitation, two protesters – Natarajan and Thalamuthu – lost their lives in police custody.

Front page of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy's periodical Kudiyarasu (3 September 1939). The headline reads "Veezhga Indhi" (Down with Hindi)

The ruling Congress Party was divided on the Hindi issue. While Rajaji and his supporters stuck to their position, Sathyamurti and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan were against it. They wanted Rajaji to make Hindi optional or to provide a conscience clause for allowing parents to withhold their children from Hindi classes. But Rajaji was firm in his stance. The police response to the agitation grew progressively brutal in 1939. During the agitation, a total of 1,198 protesters were arrested and out of them 1,179 were convicted (73 of those jailed were women and 32 children accompanied their mothers to prison). Periyar was fined 1,000 rupees and sentenced to one year of rigorous imprisonment for inciting "women to disobey the law" (he was released within six months on 22 May 1939 citing medical grounds) and Annadurai was jailed for four months. On 7 June 1939, all those arrested for participating in the agitations were released without explanation. Rajaji also organised pro-Hindi meetings to counter the agitators. On 29 October 1939, the Congress government resigned protesting the involvement of India in the Second World War, and the Madras provincial government was placed under governor's rule. On 31 October, Periyar suspended the agitation and asked the governor to withdraw the compulsory Hindi order. On 21 February 1940, Governor Erskine issued a press communique withdrawing compulsory Hindi teaching and making it optional.

Agitations of 1946–1950

From 1946 to 1950, there were sporadic agitations against Hindi by the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) and Periyar. Whenever the government introduced Hindi as a compulsory language in schools, anti-Hindi protests happened and succeeded in stopping the move. The largest anti-Hindi imposition agitations in this period occurred from 1948 to 1950. After India's independence in 1947, the Congress government at the centre urged all states to make Hindi compulsory in schools. The Congress government of Madras Presidency under Omandur Ramasamy Reddiar complied and made Hindi compulsory in the 1948–49 academic year. It also introduced a minimum qualification in Hindi for the promotion of students to higher classes. Periyar once again launched agitation against the imposition of Hindi. The 1948 agitation was supported by former Congress nationalists like M. P. Sivagnanam and Thiru. Vi. Ka, who recanted their earlier pro-Hindi policies. On 17 July, the DK convened an all party anti-Hindi conference to oppose the compulsory Hindi teaching. As in the agitation from 1938 to 1940, this agitation was also characterized by strikes, black flag demonstrations and anti-Hindi processions. When Rajaji (then the Governor-General of India) visited Madras on 23 August, the DK staged a black flag demonstration against his visit. On 27 August, Periyar and Annadurai were arrested. The government did not change its position on Hindi and the agitation continued. On 18 December, Periyar and other DK leaders were arrested again. A compromise was reached between the government and agitators. The government stopped the legal action against the agitators and they in turn dropped the agitation on 26 December 1948. Eventually, the government made Hindi teaching optional beginning in 1950. Students who did not want to learn Hindi were allowed to participate in other school activities during Hindi classes.

Official languages and the Indian Constitution

See also: Part Seventeen of the Constitution of India

The Indian Constituent Assembly was established on 9 December 1946, for drafting a Constitution when India became independent. The Constituent Assembly witnessed fierce debates on the language issue. The adoption of a National Language, the language in which the Constitution was to be written in and the language in which the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly were to be conducted were the main linguistic questions debated by the framers of the Constitution. On one side were members from the "Hindi-speaking provinces" like Algu Rai Sastri, R.V. Dhulekar, Balkrishna Sharma, Purushottam Das Tandon, (all from United Provinces), Babunath Gupta (Bihar), Hari Vinayak Pataskar (Bombay) and Ravi Shankar Shukla, Seth Govind Das (Central Provinces and Berar). They moved a large number of pro-Hindi amendments and argued for adopting Hindi as the sole National Language. On 10 December 1946, Dhulekar declared "People who do not know Hindi have no right to stay in India. People who are present in the House to fashion a constitution for India and do not know Hindi are not worthy to be members of this assembly. They had better leave."

The members of the Constituent Assembly in favor of recognizing Hindi as the National Language of India was further divided into two camps: the Hindi faction comprising Tandon, Ravi Shankar Shukla, Govind Das, Sampurnanand, and K. M. Munshi; and the Hindi faction represented by Jawaharlal Nehru and Abul Kalam Azad. The adoption of Hindi as the national language was opposed by certain Constituent Assembly members from South India like T.T. Krishnamachari, G. Durgabai, T. A. Ramalingam Chettiar, N. G. Ranga, N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar (all belonging to "Madras") and S. V. Krishnamurthy Rao (Mysore). This anti-Hindi block favoured "retaining" English as the "official" language. Their views were reflected in the following pronouncement of Krishnamachari:

We disliked the English language in the past. I disliked it because I was forced to learn Shakespeare and Milton, for which I had no taste at all. If we are going to be compelled to learn Hindi, I would perhaps not be able to learn it because of my age, and perhaps I would not be willing to do it because of the amount of constraint you put on me. This kind of intolerance makes us fear that the strong Centre which we need, a strong Centre which is necessary will also mean the enslavement of people who do not speak the language at the centre. I would, Sir, convey a warning on behalf of people of the South for the reason that there are already elements in South India who want separation ..., and my honourable friends in U.P. do not help us in any way by flogging their idea of "Hindi Imperialism" to the maximum extent possible. So, it is up to my friends in Uttar Pradesh to have a whole India; it is up to them to have a Hindi-India. The choice is theirs.

After three years of debate, the assembly arrived at a compromise at the end of 1949. It was called the Munshi-Ayyangar formula (after K.M. Munshi and Gopalaswamy Ayyangar) and it struck a balance between the demands of all groups. Part XVII of the Indian Constitution was drafted according to this compromise. It did not have any mention of a "National Language". Instead, it defined only the "Official Languages" of the Union:

Hindi in Devanagari script would be the official language of the Indian Union. For fifteen years, English would also be used for all official purposes (Article 343). A language commission could be convened after five years to recommend ways to promote Hindi as the sole official language and to phase out the use of English (Article 344). Official communication between states and between states and the Union would be in the official language of the union (Article 345). English would be used for all legal purposes – in court proceedings, bills, laws, rules and other regulations (Article 348). The Union was duty bound to promote the spread and usage of Hindi (Article 351).

India became independent on 15 August 1947 and the Constitution was adopted on 26 January 1950.

The language commission

The adoption of English as official language along with Hindi was heavily criticized by pro-Hindi politicians like Jana Sangh's founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who demanded that Hindi should be made National language. Soon after the Constitution was adopted on 26 January 1950, efforts were made to propagate Hindi for official usage. In 1952, the Ministry of Education launched a voluntary Hindi teaching scheme. On 27 May 1952, use of Hindi was introduced in warrants for judicial appointments. In 1955, in-house Hindi training was started for all ministries and departments of the central government. On 3 December 1955, the government started using Hindi (along with English) for "specific purposes of the Union".

As provided for by Article 343, Nehru appointed the First Official Language Commission under the chairmanship of B. G. Kher on 7 June 1955. The commission delivered its report on 31 July 1956. It recommended a number of steps to eventually replace English with Hindi (the report registered "dissenting notes" from two members – P. Subbarayan from Madras State and Suniti Kumar Chatterji from West Bengal. The Parliamentary Committee on Official Language, chaired by Govind Ballabh Pant was constituted in September 1957 to review the Kher commission report. After two years of deliberations, the Pant Committee submitted its recommendations to the President on 8 February 1959. It recommended that Hindi should be made the primary official language with English as the subsidiary one. The Kher Commission and the Pant Committee recommendations were condemned and opposed by self-described "non-Hindi" politicians like Frank Anthony and P. Subbarayan. The Academy of Telugu opposed the switch from English to Hindi in a convention held in 1956. Rajaji, once a staunch supporter of Hindi, organised an All India Language Conference (attended by representatives of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Assamese, Oriya, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali languages) on 8 March 1958 to oppose the switch, declaring "Hindi is as much foreign to non-Hindi speaking people as English is to the protagonists of Hindi."

As the opposition to Hindi grew stronger, Nehru tried to reassure the concerns of "non-Hindi speakers". Speaking in the parliamentary debate on a bill introduced by Anthony to include English in the Eighth Schedule, Nehru gave an assurance to them (on 7 August 1959):

I believe also two things. As I just said, there must be no imposition. Secondly, for an indefinite period – I do not know how long – I should have, I would have English as an associate, additional language which can be used not because of facilities and all that ... but because I do not wish the people of Non-Hindi areas to feel that certain doors of advance are closed to them because they are forced to correspond – the Government, I mean – in the Hindi language. They can correspond in English. So I could have it as an alternate language as long as people require it and the decision for that – I would leave not to the Hindi-knowing people, but to the non-Hindi-knowing people.

This assurance momentarily allayed the fears of the South Indians. But the Hindi proponents were dismayed and Pant remarked "Whatever I achieved in two years, the prime minister destroyed in less than two minutes".

DMK's "Anti-Hindi imposition" policies

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) which split from the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1949, inherited the anti-Hindi policies of its parent organisation. DMK's founder Annadurai had earlier participated in the anti-Hindi imposition agitations during 1938–40 and in the 1940s. In July 1953, the DMK launched the Kallakudi demonstration against changing the name of a town from Kallakudi to Dalmiapuram. They claimed that the town's name (after Ramkrishna Dalmia) symbolised the exploitation of South India by the North. On 15 July 1953, M. Karunanidhi (later Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu) and other DMK members erased the Hindi name in Dalmiapuram railway station's name board and lay down on the tracks. In the altercation with the police that followed the protests, two DMK members lost their lives and several others including Karunanidhi and Kannadhasan were arrested.

In the 1950s DMK continued its anti-Hindi policies along with the secessionist demand for Dravida Nadu. On 28 January 1956, Annadurai along with Periyar and Rajaji signed a resolution passed by the Academy of Tamil Culture endorsing the continuation of English as the official language. On 21 September 1957 the DMK convened an anti-Hindi Conference to protest against the imposition of Hindi. It observed 13 October 1957 as "anti-Hindi Day". On 31 July 1960, another open air anti-Hindi conference was held at Kodambakkam, Madras. In November 1963, DMK dropped its secessionist demand in the wake of the Sino-Indian War and the passage of the anti-secessionist 16th Amendment to the Indian Constitution. But the anti-Hindi stance remained and hardened with the passage of Official Languages Act of 1963. The DMK's view on Hindi's qualifications for official language status were reflected in Annadurai's response to the "numerical superiority of Hindi" argument: "If we had to accept the principle of numerical superiority while selecting our national bird, the choice would have fallen not on the peacock but on the common crow."

Official Languages Act of 1963

As the deadline stipulated in Part XVII of the Constitution for switching to Hindi as primary official language approached, the central government stepped up its efforts to spread Hindi's official usage. In 1960, compulsory training for Hindi typing and stenography was started. The same year, India's president Rajendra Prasad acted on the Pant Committee's recommendations and issued orders for preparation of Hindi glossaries, translating procedural literature and legal codes to Hindi, imparting Hindi education to government employees and other efforts for propagating Hindi. Nehru said that the presidential orders did not contradict his earlier assurance and reassured that there would be no imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speakers.

To give legal status to Nehru's assurance of 1959, the Official Languages Act was passed in 1963. In Nehru's own words:

This is a Bill, in continuation of what has happened in the past, to remove a restriction which had been placed by the Constitution on the use of English after a certain date i.e. 1965. It is just to remove that restriction that this is placed.

The Bill was introduced in Parliament on 21 January 1963. Opposition to the Bill came from DMK members who objected to the usage of the word "may" instead of "shall" in section 3 of the Bill. That section read: "the English language may ... continue to be used in addition to Hindi". The DMK argued was that the term "may" could be interpreted as "may not" by future administrations. They feared that the minority opinion would not be considered and non-Hindi speakers' views would be ignored. On 22 April, Nehru assured the parliamentarians that, for that particular case "may" had the same meaning as "shall". The DMK then demanded, if that was the case why "shall" was not used instead of "may". Leading the opposition to the Bill was Annadurai (then a Member of the Rajya Sabha). He pleaded for an indefinite continuation of the status quo and argued that continued use of English as official language would "distribute advantages or disadvantages evenly" among Hindi and non-Hindi speakers. The Bill was passed on 27 April without any change in the wording. As he had warned earlier, Annadurai launched statewide protests against Hindi. In November 1963, Annadurai was arrested along with 500 DMK members for burning part XVII of the Constitution at an anti-Hindi Conference. He was sentenced to six months in prison. On 25 January 1964, a DMK member, Chinnasamy, committed suicide at Trichy by self-immolation, to protest the "imposition of Hindi". He was claimed as the first "language martyr" of the second round of the anti-Hindi struggle by the DMK.

Nehru died in May 1964 and Lal Bahadur Shastri became Prime Minister of India. Shastri and his senior cabinet members Morarji Desai and Gulzari Lal Nanda were strong supporters of Hindi being the sole official language. This increased the apprehension that Nehru's assurances of 1959 and 1963 would not be kept despite Shastri's assurances to the contrary. Concerns over the preference of Hindi in central government jobs, civil service examinations and the fear that English would be replaced with Hindi as medium of instruction brought students into the anti-Hindi imposition agitation camp in large numbers. On 7 March 1964, the chief minister of Madras State, M. Bhaktavatsalam at a session of the Madras Legislative Assembly recommended the introduction of Three-language formula (English, Hindi and Tamil) in the state. Apprehension over the Three-language formula increased student support for the anti-Hindi cause.

Agitation of 1965

five men and a boy sitting in chairs. Four of the men are middle aged and one is in his seventies. One of the middle aged men is leaning toward and speaking to the old man.
(Front row : left to right) K. A. Mathialagan, C. N. Annadurai, Rajaji and M. Karunanidhi

As 26 January 1965 approached, the anti-Hindi imposition agitation in Madras State grew in numbers and urgency. The Tamil Nadu Students Anti Hindi Agitation Council was formed in January as an umbrella student organisation to coordinate the anti-Hindi efforts. The office bearers of the council were student union leaders from all over Madras State including P. Seenivasan, K. Kalimuthu, Jeeva Kalaimani, Na. Kamarasan, Seyaprakasam, Ravichandran, Tiruppur. S. Duraiswamy, Sedapatti Muthaiah, Durai Murugan, K. Raja Mohammad, Navalavan, M. Natarajan and L. Ganesan.

Several student conferences were organised throughout the state to protest against Hindi imposition. On 17 January, the Madras State Anti-Hindi Conference was convened at Trichy and was attended by 700 delegates from Madras, Maharashtra, Kerala and Mysore. They called for the indefinite suspension of Part XVII of the constitution. The Home and Information & Broadcasting ministries of the central government (headed by Nanda and Indira Gandhi respectively) upped the ante and issued circulars for replacing English with Hindi from 26 January. On 16 January, Annadurai announced that 26 January (also the Republic Day of India) would be observed as a day of mourning. Chief minister Bhaktavatsalam warned that the state government would not tolerate the sanctity of the Republic day blasphemed and threatened the students with "stern action" if they participated in politics. The DMK advanced the "Day of Mourning" by a day. On 25 January, Annadurai was taken into preventive custody along with 3000 DMK members to forestall the agitations planned for the next day. On 26 January, 50,000 students from Madras city's colleges marched from Napier park to the Government secretariat at Fort St. George and unsuccessfully tried to petition the chief minister.

On 25 January, a clash between agitating students and Congress party workers in Madurai went out of control and became a riot. Rioting soon spread to other parts of the State. Police responded with lathi charges and firing on student processions. Acts of arson, looting and damage to public property became common. Railway cars and Hindi name boards at railway stations were burned down; telegraph poles were cut and railway tracks displaced. The Bhaktavatsalam Government considered the situation as a law and order problem and brought in para military forces to quell the agitation. Incensed by police action, violent mobs killed two police men. Several agitators committed suicide by self-immolation and by consuming poison. In two weeks of riots, around 70 people were killed (by official estimates). Some unofficial reports put the death toll as high as 500. A large number of students were arrested. The damage to property was assessed to be ten million rupees.

On 28 January, classes in Madras University, Annamalai University and other colleges and schools in the state were suspended indefinitely. Within the Congress, opinion was divided: one group led by K. Kamaraj wanted the government not to impose Hindi on the Tamils; but others like Morarji Desai did not relent. Home minister Nanda agreed with Bhaktavatsalam's handling of the agitation. Rioting continued throughout the first week of February and by the second week students lost control of the agitation. Violence continued despite Annadurai's appeal for calm. Efforts were made by both sides to find a compromise. On 11 February, C. Subramaniam and O. V. Alagesan, two union ministers from Madras state, resigned protesting the government's language policy. President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan refused to accept the Prime Minister Shastri's recommendation that their resignations be accepted. Shastri backed down and made a broadcast through All India Radio on 11 February. Expressing shock over the riots, he promised to honour Nehru's assurances. He also assured Tamils that English would continue to be used for centre-state and intrastate communications and that the All India Civil Services examination would continue to be conducted in English.

Impact

Shastri's assurances calmed down the volatile situation. On 12 February, the students council postponed the agitation indefinitely and on 16 February, C. Subramaniam and O. V. Alagesan withdrew their resignations. Sporadic acts of protests and violence continued to happen throughout February and early March. On 7 March, the administration withdrew all the cases filed against the student leaders and on 14 March, the Anti-Hindi Agitation Council dropped the agitation. Shastri's climbdown angered the pro-Hindi activists in North India. Members of Jan Sangh went about the streets of New Delhi, blackening out English signs with tar. The agitation for imposition slowly changed into a general anti-Congress organisation. In the 1967 election, student leader P. Seenivasan contested against Kamaraj in the Virudhunagar constituency. A large number of students from all over the state campaigned for him and ensured his victory: the Congress party was defeated and DMK came to power for the first time in Madras State.

The Anti-Hindi imposition agitations in Tamil Nadu also had a considerable impact on the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Mysore and Kerala. The 1965 agitations evoked a strong response from the Tamils of Bangalore city. In Mysore, over 2000 agitators gathered to protest Hindi and the police had to launch a lathi charge when the agitation grew violent. In Andhra Pradesh, trains were damaged and colleges were shut down.

Official Languages (Amendment) Act of 1967

Amendment efforts in 1965

Efforts to amend the Official Languages Act according to Shastri's assurances given in February 1965 faced stiff resistance from the pro-Hindi lobby. On 16 February 55 MPs from 8 different states publicly expressed their disapproval of any change in the Language policy. On 19 February 19 MPs from Maharashtra and Gujarat voiced their opposition for change and on 25 February 106 Congress MPs met the Prime Minister to request him not to amend the act. However, Congress MPs from Madras did not debate the issue on the Parliament floor but met the Prime Minister on 12 March. Congress and opposition parties hesitated to debate the issue in Parliament as they did not wish to make their bitter divisions in public. On 22 February at a meeting in Congress Working Committee, K. Kamaraj pressed for the amendment to Official Languages Act, but received instant opposition from Morarji Desai, Jagjivan Ram and Ram Subhag. The Congress working committee finally agreed to a resolution which amounted to slowing down of Hindi-isation, strong implementation of the three language formula in Hindi and non-Hindi speaking states, and conduct of the public services exam in all regional languages. These decisions were agreed upon during the Chief Ministers' meeting which was held on 24 February.

The three language formula was not strictly enforced either in South or Hindi-speaking areas. The changes to public services exams were impractical and not well received by government officials. The only real concession to the south was the assurance that the Official Languages Act would be modified. However, any effort to follow through with that pledge received stiff resistance. In April 1965, a meeting of a cabinet sub-committee comprising Gulzari lal Nanda, A. K. Sen, Satyanarayan Sinha, Mahavir Tyagi, M. C. Chagla and S. K. Patil and but no southern members debated the issue and could not come to any agreement. The sub-committee recommended the continuation of English and Hindi as joint link languages and was not in favour of either quota system or use of regional languages in public services exams. They drafted an amendment to Official Languages Act incorporating Nehru's assurances explicitly. This Bill guaranteeing the use of English in inter-state and state-Union communications as long as desired by Non-Hindi states was approved for discussion by the Speaker on 25 August. But it was withdrawn after a bitter debate citing inopportune time due to the ongoing Punjabi Suba movement and Kashmir crisis at that time.

Amendment in 1967

Shastri died in January 1966 and Indira Gandhi became prime minister. The election of 1967 saw Congress retaining power with a reduced majority in the centre. In Madras State, Congress was defeated and DMK came to power thanks to the support of the entire student community who had taken up the challenge thrown by Kamaraj to defeat him in the elections. The Students' Election Army did door to door campaign urging people to vote against Congress to teach them a lesson for all the atrocities committed by the Bhaktavatsalam Government to students under Defence of India Rules etc., P. Sreenivasan defeated Kamaraj in Virudhunagar. In November 1967, a new attempt to amend the Bill was made. On 27 November, the Bill was tabled in Parliament; it was passed on 16 December (by 205 votes to 41 against). It received presidential assent on 8 January 1968 and came into effect. The Amendment modified section 3 of the 1963 act to guarantee the "virtual indefinite policy of bilingualism" (English and Hindi) in official transactions.

Later agitations

1968

The anti-Hindi imposition activists from Madras State were not satisfied with the 1967 Amendment, as it did not address their concerns about the three language formula. However, with DMK in power, they hesitated to restart the agitation. The Tamil Nadu Students' Anti-Hindi Agitation council split into several factions. The moderate factions favored letting Annadurai and the government to deal with the situation. The extremist factions restarted the agitations. They demanded scrapping of the three language formula and an end to teaching of Hindi, abolishing the use of Hindi commands in the National Cadet Corps (NCC), banning of Hindi films and songs and closure of the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachara Sabha (Institution for Propagation of Hindi in South India).

On 19 December 1967, the agitation was restarted. It turned violent on 21 December and acts of arson and looting were reported in the state. Annadurai defused the situation by accepting most of their demands. On 23 January 1968, a resolution was passed in the Legislative Assembly. It accomplished the following:

The Three-Language Policy was scrapped and Hindi was eliminated from the curriculum. Only English and Tamil were to be taught and the use of Hindi commands in the NCC was banned. Tamil was to be introduced as the medium of instruction in all colleges and as the "language of administration" within five years, the Central Government was urged to end the special status accorded to Hindi in the Constitution and "treat all languages equally", and was urged to provide financial assistance for development of all languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. These measures satisfied the agitators and "normalcy" returned by February 1968.

1986

In 1986, Indian Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi introduced the "National Education Policy". This education policy provided for setting up Navodaya Schools, where the DMK claimed teaching of Hindi would be compulsory. The Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) led by M. G. Ramachandran (which had split from the DMK in 1972), was in power in Tamil Nadu and the DMK was the main opposition party. Karunanidhi announced an agitation against the opening of Navodaya schools in Tamil Nadu. The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya program, supported fully by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, was established to identify gifted and talented students from economically disadvantaged and historically neglected communities, throughout every state and Union Territory in India and provide for them an education on par with elite residential schools traditionally available in India only for children of the wealthy as well as children of the political class. On 13 November, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution demanding the repeal of Part XVII of the constitution and for making English the sole official language of the union.

On 17 November 1986, DMK members protested against the new education policy by burning Part XVII of the Constitution. 20,000 DMK members, including Karunanidhi, were arrested. 21 persons committed suicide by self-immolation. Karunanidhi was sentenced to ten weeks of rigorous imprisonment. Ten DMK MLAs including K. Anbazhagan were expelled from the Legislative Assembly by the speaker P. H. Pandian. Rajiv Gandhi assured Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu that Hindi would not be imposed. As part of the compromise, Navodhaya schools were not started in Tamil Nadu. Currently, Tamil Nadu is the only state in India without Navodaya schools.

2014

In 2014, the Home Ministry ordered that "government employees and officials of all ministries, departments, corporations or banks, who have made official accounts on social networking sites should use Hindi, or both Hindi and English but give priority to Hindi". This move was immediately opposed by all the political parties in Tamil Nadu. Terming the move on use of Hindi as being "against letter and spirit" of the Official Languages Act the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa cautioned that this direction may "cause disquiet to the people of Tamil Nadu who are very proud of and passionate about their linguistic heritage", and asked the prime minister to suitably modify the instructions to ensure that English was the language of communication on social media. The major opposition party Indian National Congress advised prudence, expressing fear that such directions may result in a backlash in non-Hindi states, especially Tamil Nadu and also said that the "Government would be well-advised to proceed with caution". These protests ensured the continuous official usage of English.

Impact

See also: Rise of Dravidian parties to power in Tamil Nadu and Official Languages of India
A memorial for those who died in the Anti-Hindi imposition agitations in Chennai

The anti-Hindi imposition agitations of 1937–40 and 1940–50 led to a change of guard in the Madras Presidency. The main opposition party to the Indian National Congress in the state, the Justice Party, came under Periyar's leadership on 29 December 1938. In 1944, the Justice Party was renamed as Dravidar Kazhagam. The political careers of many later leaders of the Dravidian Movement, such as C. N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi, started with their participation in these agitations. The agitations stopped the compulsory teaching of Hindi in the state. The agitations of the 1960s played a crucial role in the defeat of the Tamil Nadu Congress party in the 1967 elections and the continuing dominance of Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu politics. Many political leaders of the DMK and ADMK, like P. Seenivasan, K. Kalimuthu, Durai Murugan, Tiruppur. S. Duraiswamy, Sedapatti Muthaiah, K. Raja Mohammad, M. Natarajan and L. Ganesan, owe their entry and advancement in politics to their stints as student leaders during the agitations, which also reshaped the Dravidian Movement and broadened its political base, when it shifted from its earlier pro-Tamil (and anti-Brahmin) stance to a more inclusive one, which was both anti-Hindi and pro-English. Finally, the current two-language education policy followed in Tamil Nadu is also a direct result of the agitations.

In the words of Sumathi Ramaswamy (professor of history at Duke University),

together diverse, even incompatible, social and political interests ... Their common cause against Hindi imposition had thrown together religious revivalists like Maraimalai Atikal (1876–1950) with avowed atheists like Ramasami and Bharathidasan (1891–1964); men who supported the Indian cause like T.V. Kalyanasundaram (1883–1953) and M. P. Sivagnanam with those who wanted to secede from India like Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi (b. 1924); university professors like Somasundara Bharati (1879–1959) and M.S. Purnalingam Pillai (1866–1947) with uneducated street poets, populist pamphleteers and college students.

The anti-Hindi imposition agitations ensured the passage of the Official Languages Act of 1963 and its amendment in 1967, thus ensuring the continued use of English as an official language of India. They effectively brought about the "virtual indefinite policy of bilingualism" of the Indian Republic.

See also

Notes

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