An 85-year-old man set himself on fire in Tamil Nadu after protesting against the imposition of Hindi. This incident has created a lot of excitement.
Salem District Mettur next to B.N. Thangavel (pictured), a farmer from Thalayur under Patti Municipality, was a DMK party official.
A former union farmer union organizer of the DMK, he is survived by his wife Janaki and two sons Mani and Ratnavel.
He is very fond of DMK. He participated in various protests held by the party and went to jail.
He had been speaking against the imposition of Hindi, and yesterday morning he went to the DMK office in Thalayur. While chanting against Hindi, he poured petrol on his body and set himself on fire. The bystanders panicked and ran to save the goldsmith. But his whole body was engulfed in flames and he collapsed dead on the spot.
Before setting fire, he wrote some words on a white paper and kept it in his hand.
“Modi government, central government, don’t rush. Why Hindi if the mother tongue is Tamil? Affecting the lives of Hindi students. Get rid of Hindi,” he wrote in the paper.
Police are investigating the incident.
Hindi is the most widely spoken language in the northern states of India and is used by 44 percent of the country
According to a 2011 survey by Wataka.
The Official Language Committee, headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, submitted a report to President Draupadi Murmu last month to teach courses like medicine and engineering in Hindi and make Hindi the official national language. There was opposition to this in states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala.