Hindi imposition row: Name board outside Tiruchirappalli railway office removed after uproar

As the issue grabbed headlines and DMK cadres taking to streets, Tiruchirappalli Divisional Railway authorities removed words written in Hindi, Tamil and English.

Southern Railways' decision to the name newly-built entrance of its Tiruchirappalli divisional office as Kartavya Dwar has triggered a major row in Tamil Nadu with political leaders, including Chief Minister M K Stalin, terming the move as “Hindi imposition”. 

As the issue grabbed headlines and DMK cadres taking to streets against Hindi imposition, the Tiruchirappalli Divisional Railway authorities removed the words written in Hindi, Tamil, and English on the newly built entrance arch, instead of using appropriate terms in respective languages.

Stalin said the BJP's Hindi imposition was crossing all limits as they have now begun to write Hindi names in English and Tamil. 

 “Their policy looks like one language, three scripts. They had already imposed the name Pavishya Nidhi Bhavan on the offices of Employees' Provident Fund (EPFO). For criminal laws too, they use Sanskrit names written in English script. The Union Ministry of Water Resources has been renamed Jal Shakti,” Stalin added. 

The BJP did the same with the name change of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Stalin said, adding that the Union Government’s arrogance was only increasing. 

“These people who provoke the self-respect of Tamils must be taught a proper lesson. They must immediately abandon this attempt to impose Hindi even in Tamil and English names and replace them with proper Tamil names. Otherwise, the Union BJP government will have to feel the heat of Tamils' anger,” he added. 

Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami also condemned the move and demanded that the Hindi names be removed.