'Fanatics' imposing Hindi on us, charges Karunanidhi

Days after demanding the removal of a controversial cartoon on anti-Hindi stir, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Tuesday charged some officials and 'fanatics' with trying to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states and asked the Centre to keep the promise give by late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on the language issue.

'Even if the (central) government does not involve in any such efforts, some officers here and there and Hindi fanatics are employing themselves to the maximum level possible to impose the language,' he wrote in party mouthpiece Murasoli.

Referring to the cartoon allegedly showing the anti-Hindi agitation in bad light in class XII NCERT political science book, he alleged it was part of efforts to impose the language.

'Similarly, I have been informed that one of the criterion for consideration for promotion in public sector banks is the efforts towards promoting Hindi.

'The Centre should take note of such issues affecting thousands of officers from non-Hindi speaking states and take efforts to ensure that the promise made by Nehru (that Hindi will not be imposed on non-Hindi speaking people), is kept,' he said.

Karunanidhi, whose DMK is a key partner of the United Progressive Alliance, also sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to help five Indian fishermen hailing from the state who are languishing in a Sri Lankan jail, and slammed his archrival and Chief minister j Jayalalithaa saying she had stopped with just announcing a relief of Rs 2 lakh for each of their families.