If the Tamil people are united and speak in one voice, everyone will acknowledge the greatness of their language and culture, saud senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who is lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with the INX Media case, on Sunday.
His remark came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the Howdy Modi event in the US, had said the country's various languages are an important identity of its liberal and democratic society.
"If the Tamil people are united and speak in one voice, everyone will acknowledge the greatness of Tamil language and culture," Chidambaram said.
PM Modi in his UNGA speech on Friday had also invoked famous Tamil philosopher Kaniyan Pungundranar.
PM Modi had highlighted the importance of linguistic diversity at a time when Home Minister Amit Shah pitched for Hindi as a common language, which drew flak from Opposition parties.
However, Shah had later clarified that he never asked for imposition of Hindi over native languages in the country but advocated its use as the second language.
After Shah said Hindi is the most spoken language which can unite the nation as a common language, Tamil Nadu parties rallied against it.
AIADMK leader and Tamil culture Minister K Pandiarajan said: "if the Centre imposes Hindi unilaterally, there will only be (adverse) reaction and no support, not only in Tamil Nadu, but also in states like Bengal, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh."
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