Chennai:
A signboard in Hindi on a state highway in Tamil Nadu has triggered a political row after DMK president and former chief minister MK Stalin accused the TVK government of language imposition.
Within hours, the Tamil Nadu government removed the Hindi lettering from the signboard on the Sathankulam-Nazareth state highway in Thoothukudi district and suspended two highways department officials.
Departmental action has been initiated against the assistant divisional engineer and assistant engineer who have been suspended, the state government said on Friday, warning that stringent action would be taken against officials who act against Tamil Nadu’s two-language policy.
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Stalin, in a post on X, said Tamil Nadu had so far been confronting what he described as Hindi imposition by the Union government, and questioned whether the state government was now doing the same.
He also took a swipe at the TVK government over what he described as its tendency to take a decision and then make a “U-turn” after opposition emerges.
Stalin asked whether the episode was another attempt by the TVK government to look deep into an issue and then make a U-turn after protests and warned the government to recognise the danger and change its approach.
READ | MK Stalin Warns Against Hindi Imposition And NEET
He said the two-language policy was Tamil Nadu’s “lifeline” and warned the government against playing with it.
The signboard on State Highway-93 between Sathankulam and Nazareth had the destinations written in Hindi along with Tamil and English. The Hindi lettering was subsequently removed.
Why Hindi Is A Sensitive Issue In Tamil Nadu
The controversy comes against the backdrop of Tamil Nadu’s long and politically charged history over the language issue.
The state witnessed major anti-Hindi agitations in the 1960s, with protests resulting in loss of lives and becoming a defining moment in Tamil Nadu’s political history.
The agitations also helped propel the DMK to power in the 1967 assembly election. The language issue subsequently resulted in a political arrangement under which English continued alongside Hindi for official purposes at the national level, while Tamil Nadu retained its own two-language approach of Tamil and English.
Language has remained a highly sensitive political issue in Tamil Nadu ever since. Successive state governments have resisted the three-language formula and opposed attempts to introduce Hindi through education or administration.
Tamil Nadu has refused to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) that pushed the three-language formula, maintaining its established two-language policy of Tamil and English.
