Narendra Modi sends a message to South India: PM is shaping thought process on Tamil language, Christians, Muslims

By addressing Tamil as the oldest language in the world on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was correcting the misconception that the BJP was a party which favoured Hindi heartland in the north and negated south India A day after returning from his week-long trip to the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Chennai on Monday to attend the convocation ceremony at IIT Madras and address the students. The location had its own significance, in terms of messaging, which was not just symbolic but to also define the value the prime minister attaches to the Tamil language and the Tamil people, which should now become part of the value system of his party, the BJP, and internalised by its leaders and vast mass of party workers and ought to be the government policy. By saying so, the prime minister was also correcting the misconception and disinformation, which BJP rivals and critics had been trying to spread against the ruling party – the BJP was a party for “Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan”, a party which favoured Hindi heartland in north and negated south India. By asserting that Tamil was the most ancient language, Modi was conveying that he, his party and the government, nor could anybody else, undermine its importance, relevance and value.