Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has initiated a blistering attack on India’s Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for using Hindi on its website, especially in Tamil Nadu.
Stalin has charged that the LIC portal has been ‘reduced to a mere crusader for Hindi imposition’. Using a vernacular micro-blogging site called X, the DMK leader shared his discomfort in a post, saying that even the option for English was in Hindi, indicating his opposition to using Hindi in the regional language domains.
Stalin even went on to describe Hindi USED on the website as a ‘language imperialism’ that humiliates India’s multilingualism. He described LIC, an institution established by citizens from all over India, as having let down most of its contributors, especially those in Tamil Nadu. Edwards also asked, “How dare it betray most of its contributors?” Stalin intervened, demanding the reversal of what he described as ‘linguistic oppression’.
Dr S Ramadoss of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) party has also joined the controversy, referring to the move as a ‘daylight eloquence on the other language speaking people.’
This incident has further enhanced the Tamil Nadu debate concerning maintaining the Tamil culture and language. Despite this, Stalin and his deputy, Udhayanidhi Stalin, have always complained that the use of Tamil subjugates Hindi.
In October, Stalin protested to the Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi over removing the word “Dravida” from the state song at one convened ground function. These remarks from Stalin show his willingness to protect Tamil culture and language, and anything he feared would change the status quo that Hindi is being forced down the people’s throats in Tamil Nadu.
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