'English is enough for us': Rangoli protest against Hindi 'imposition' by Centre in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: Amid protests against "Hindi imposition" by the Union government, people in a neighbourhood in Chennai on Wednesday drew rangolis outside their homes with slogans against "forcing languages" on the people of Tamil Nadu.

The protests come amidst a war of words between the DMK dispensation and the BJP government at the Centre over the release of funds under Samagra Shiksha (SS) scheme and the National Education Policy 2020.

Around 200 people drew rangolis outside their homes in Ayapakkam on the outskirts of Chennai protesting against alleged imposition of Hindi. The protest idea was conceived by a local self-help group and implemented by the people.

“Where is TN’s money?”, “Stop imposing Hindi on us”, “Why should we learn Hindi”, “Don’t impose your hegemony on us,” and “English is enough for us” are some of the slogans that people wrote along with the rangolis. The protest comes a day after DMK, and its alliance partners organised an agitation against alleged imposition of Hindi in Tamil Nadu after the Union government said it won’t release funds to the state till it implements NEP 2020.

Taking to X, Chief Minister M K Stalin lauded people for drawing the rangolis and recalled a poem by Bharathidasan in which he said it was necessary to oppose Hindi if it was imposed.

The protest also came at a time Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin appealed to all political parties in Tamil Nadu to come together to oppose the "imposition" of Hindi in the state.

"AIADMK, instead of finding fault with us, should firmly oppose the NEP. We should protest jointly against it. The party which bears the name of Anna (former Chief Minister C N Annadurai) and Dravidam should not remain silent on this issue," he said.

Tamil Nadu is opposed to the three-language formula and maintains that the two-language formula which has been implemented in the state since 1968 was enough.