Languages with official status in India
Even though the English language is not included in the Eighth Schedule (as it is a foreign language), it is one of the official languages of the Union of India.
Of the 22 official languages, 15 are Indic, four are Dravidian, two are Tibeto-Burman, and one is Munda.
Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu
The Republic of India has hundreds of languages. During the British Raj, English was the official language. When the Indian Independence Movement gained momentum in the early part of the 20th century, efforts were undertaken to make Hindustani as a common language to unite various linguistic groups against the British Government. As early as 1918, Mahatma Gandhi established the "Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha" (Institution for the Propagation of Hindi in South India). In 1925, the Indian National Congress switched to Hindustani from English for conducting its proceedings. Both Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were supporters of Hindustani and Congress wanted to propagate the learning of Hindustani in non-Hindi speaking Provinces of India. The idea of making Hindustani or Hindi the common language, was not acceptable to Periyar, who viewed it as an attempt to make Tamils subordinate to North Indians.