The judge also observed that when such elements use “Tamil Culture, Tamil Race, and Tamil Language” as a weapon for their sinister plans, the government should be careful enough to see that no action of the government would pave way for or strengthen the propaganda made by these elements especially with regard to emotive language issues.
Madras High Court Justice N Kirubakaran has made significant observations over chauvinism and politics of language. The judge said “some outfits and parties in the guise of Tamil Nadu and Tamil language’s liberation are trying to cause restiveness and anxiety. The governments (state and Central) must ensure language as personal freedom and that it does not stoke any unrest”. Madras High Court division bench headed by Justice B Kirubakaran while disposing of a bail application filed by one Kalailingam, a member of banned Tamil Nadu Viduthalai Padai (Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA), made very important remarks over politics of language in the state. The petitioner was arrested for plotting a bomb blast at the then Union Minister and present Puducherry Chief Minister Naryanaswamy.
Justice Kirubakaran cautioned that the two-pronged sectarianism, religion and language. “people should resist all such forces that thrive on divisiveness. The Judge said “especially the Central government should keep a serious vigilance on religious fundamentalists groups, communal elements, and anti-national forces and their supporters, flow of funds particularly in North-east, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, West Bengal, Punjab, Odisha, Bihar and Chattisgarh where these elements are active and radicalizing youth by creating fear psychosis. These elements ridiculed the sacrifices made by the brave soldiers on the borders and disturbed states and glorified terrorists and trouble creators in the name of human right violations”.
He further said “regular reviews should be made in the suspected areas in cooperation with all agencies and a comprehensive scheme has to be devised including constant vigil on cyberspace. Scientific advancement like the internet are effectively used by these elements for spreading false information, hate messages and misleading propaganda”. He said “By freedom of expression”, one can protest against the Government and not against the nation. There is a huge difference between the fight against the people in power and fight against the country. His remarks are an eye-opener to all who are concerned about the security of the nation.
The judge in his order said “disgruntled elements are stated to be mainly responsible for thousands of agitations in Tamil Nadu. It is a fact that Tamil Nadu tops the list of most protests in India since 2009. For example, Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of protests among all states recording 20,450 while Punjab came under the Bureau of Police Research and Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, Union of India. In Tamil Nadu most cases are being registered by the National investigation Agency (NIA) and more number of terror activities are carried out. Since 2014, the National Investigation Agency has claimed to have arrested 127 ISI sympathisers across the nation and the highest number of 33 were from Tamil Nadu”.
He said “some of the organisations in the name of fighting for the rights of the people always raise their voice for rights, forgetting about corresponding duties. These people, in effect, they also do not have any faith in the system. They always support separatists, secessionist forces and those who celebrate our countries and criminals in the name of violations of human rights. Sometimes, these groups themselves make anti-national comments making use of “Right to expression” and ‘Freedom of Expression”. By “freedom of expression” , one can protest against the Government and not against the nation. There is a huge difference between the fight against the people in power and fight against the country. These elements also do a lot of damage to our country and democracy and therefore, people should be wary of those elements.” He explained that “When these elements take “Tamil Culture, Tamil Race, and Tamil Language” as a weapon for their sinister plans, the government should be careful enough to see that no action of the government would pave way for or strengthen the propaganda made by these elements especially with regard to emotive language issues. Already political parties are waiting to make use of such positions to arouse linguistic chauvinism to harvest political gains”.
Highlighting that Bharat is a multiracial, multicultural, multilingual and multi-religious nation. “Peace and harmony have to be maintained for that”, he stressed. The judge said the above suggestions are only in the interest of safeguarding the unity and integrity of the nation. There should be no room for linguistic chauvinists to create any unrest in the name of language in any part of the country”. He also said that non-Congress parties coming to power since 1967 stands witness to the prominence of Tamil language.
Justice Kirubakaran said the Centre should not create an impression among the public that a particular language is being discriminated against and a few are being given importance. He said such a policy would give room for linguistic chauvinists to create unrest in Bharat. The judge said “when there are 22 languages recognized under the Constitution, all such languages are entitled to equal treatment and protection”.
However, Justice Hemalatha differed with the opinion of Judge B Kirubakaran. As they are not relevant to the present petition”. She said “While agreeing dismissal of the bail appeal, I don’t subscribe to the views expressed by Hon’ble Justice N Kirubakaran with regard to the Tamil organizations, the languages and the consequent suggestions given to the government. Learning language is a matter of one’s personal choice”.
Justice Kirubakaran’s remarks gain significance in the current prevailing situation in the state. Thanks the patronage of the successive Dravidian governments, Tamil Nadu has become a heaven for Muslim fundamentalist forces, evangelical missionaries, Tamil nationalist forces, anti –national forces. DMK has been already whipping off the anti-imposition and NEP issues by misleading the youth and people. Many view this as an indirect indictment of the DMK’s language policy which tries for political gain in the ensuing next year’s assembly polls.
