Chennai, Jan 11 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday reiterated his concerns over Sri Lanka’s proposed new Constitution which threatens to marginalise the Tamils.
Speaking at the Non-Resident Tamils Day 2026 event at the Chennai Trade Centre here, Stalin said he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi only on January 11 regarding the issue.
“Wherever Tamils are, in any country, our aim is for them to live well. With that intent, I wrote to the Prime Minister accepting the requests of Sri Lankan Tamil representatives,” the CM added.
He had urged that Modi must impress upon Sri Lanka to make sure that principles such as equality and devolution of power for the minority Tamil people are enshrined in the new Constitution of the island nation.
Writing to PM Modi, the chief minister said that the current government in Sri Lanka, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is accelerating efforts to introduce a new Constitution “under the guise of resolving ethnic issues.” However, this proposed framework appears to again reinforce a unitary “Ekkiyarajya” (unitary state) model, which threatens to further marginalise the Tamils by ignoring their legitimate aspirations for political autonomy.
Addressing the question of linguistic hatred, Stalin said that Dravidian movement fought for the language and not for creating division among people.
“It is the Dravidian Progressive Federation that gave lives to protect language rights. We may have linguistic and ethnic pride. But we will never turn it into linguistic or ethnic hatred. Let no divisions arise among us,” he said.
Although some people mock Tamilians as ‘imaginary enthusiasts’ and ‘ethnicists’ for reveling in the glory of Tamil literature and culture, the chief minister urged Tamilians world over not to give into divisive politics.
“If language perishes, the ethnicity perishes. If ethnicity perishes, our culture perishes. If culture perishes, our identity vanishes. Without identity, we lose the right to call ourselves Tamils,” he added.
Stalin emphasised Tamil unity through language, citing Keezhadi excavations that established a 4,000-year-old urban civilisation with evidence of paddy cultivation, education, brick drains and iron use.
At the event, Stalin presented awards to outstanding expatriate Tamils and outlined a slew of welfare initiatives by his Dravidian Model government for the diaspora. He also invited expatriates to contribute ideas for Tamil Nadu’s future alongside locals.
State Ministers T M Anbarasan, M P Swaminathan, S M Nasar, R Rajendran and T R P Rajaa, were also present. PTI JR JR KH
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