No Hindi on curd packets: Tamil Nadu CM Stalin

Stalin asked FSSAI to 'respect people’s feelings' and not to ask states to keep their mother tongues away

Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday condemned FSSAI for insisting that curd packets in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka be labelled as ‘dahi’ in Hindi, while taking an indirect dig at the BJP saying those responsible for such “brazen disregard to our mother tongues” will be “banished” from the South.

His reaction came after Dairy Development Minister S M Naser said the state government has decided not to implement the direction from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. “We will not implement the order to mention dahi in Hindi in curd packets sold by Aavin, the state cooperative society,” Naser said.

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In strong tweets, Stalin asked the FSSAI to “respect people’s feelings” and not to ask states to keep their mother tongues away. “Don’t ever indulge in the act of pinching the child and then rocking the cradle. You will go missing even before you rock the cradle,” the Chief Minister said in Tamil.

Minutes later, he tweeted in English: “The unabashed insistence of #HindiImposition have come to the extent of directing us to label even a curd packet in Hindi, relegating Tamil & Kannada in our own states. Such brazen disregard to our mother tongues will make sure those responsible are banished from the South forever.”

Stalin’s strong reaction came after FSSAI told the milk federations in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to display the word ‘dahi’ in curd packets sold by them prominently and add Kannada and Tamil equivalents in brackets.