The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and President of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), MK Stalin, has strongly denounced the incident involving the alleged "humiliation" of a Tamil woman at Goa airport. The woman, identified as Sharmila, encountered difficulties during a security check and expressed her lack of proficiency in Hindi to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel. Stalin, emphasizing that Hindi is not the national language of India, expressed deep concern over the recurrent instances where individuals from non-Hindi speaking states face harassment for not knowing Hindi and are compelled to accept the erroneous belief that Hindi holds national status.
In a written statement, Stalin highlighted the disturbing nature of such incidents, particularly instances where CISF personnel allegedly subjected passengers to humiliation based on language differences. The incident in question involved an officer asserting that Tamil Nadu is part of India and insisting that everyone in the country should learn Hindi. Despite Sharmila clarifying that Hindi is not the national language but only the official one, the officer reportedly dismissed her explanation and suggested that she verify it through an internet search. The situation escalated as the officer loudly proclaimed that everyone in India should learn Hindi.
Adding to the condemnation, Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin criticized the central security forces, emphasizing that their primary responsibility is maintaining safety rather than providing Hindi lessons. Udhayanidhi, a vocal critic of alleged "Hindi imposition," called upon the central government to take immediate action against the security personnel involved in the incident.
Expressing his dismay at the coercive actions taken against the woman, even as she was accompanied by a child, Udhayanidhi stressed that incidents of this nature should no longer be tolerated at airports. He strongly condemned the use of security forces for imposing language preferences, emphasizing that in the linguistically diverse Indian Union, the continuous imposition of Hindi on speakers of other languages goes against the principles of federalism. Udhayanidhi urged the Union Government to refrain from endorsing such trends and to promptly address the situation. In his statement, he asserted that the right to language is a fundamental human right, and those with authoritarian inclinations must recognize and respect this right.
