Paying tributes on the occasion of Language Martyrs Day, he said, "a state that loved its language like its life, unitedly struggled against Hindi imposition; protested with the same intensity every time it was imposed." "Language Martyrs Day; there is no place for Hindi then, now and forever (in TN)," the Dravidian party chief said in a social media post. Tamil Nadu, by leading the anti-Hindi agitation, "safeguarded the right and identity of various linguistic national races in the sub-continent," Stalin added. Language Martyrs’ Day is observed every year on January 25 to remember those who lost their lives resisting compulsory Hindi, particularly during the anti-Hindi movements of the 1930s and the mass agitation of 1965. The 1965 agitation, marked by widespread student participation and public protests across Tamil Nadu, resulted in several deaths and left an indelible mark on the state’s collective memory.

Source: The Telegraph January 25, 2026 06:17 UTC