The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief MK Stalin has called for making Tamil as an official language of India. India has 22 languages recognised under the Eighth Schedule.
"On behalf of the DMK, we warmly welcome the Prime Minister's acceptance of the historical fact that "Tamil is the world's oldest language".
"At this point, I request the Prime Minister to make all the 22 languages in Schedule 8 to be the State of India," MK Stalin tweeted.
The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution consists of the following 22
languages: (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17)Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri.
PM Modi in his historic speech at the UNGA had quoted Tamil poet Kaniyan Pungundranar.
"3000 years ago, a great poet of India, Kaniyan Pungundranar wrote in Tamil - the most ancient language of the world "Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelirwhich means 'We belong to all places, and everyone'. This sense of belonging beyond borders is unique to India."
Stalin's remark comes after senior BJP leader Narayanan Thirupathy accused the DMK of playing language politics in the State and claimed that the Dravidian party wants to create unrest in Tamil Nadu.
Stalin is the leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
The Tamil Nadu BJP has charged DMK of stoking controversy and playing a 'divisive' politics of language.
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