The little yellow and white milestones along the national highways in Tamil Nadu are at the centre of a raging debate on Twitter. According to news reports, English signs on milestones on the national highways are being replaced by Hindi and Tamil signs. Bring back the age-old debate of national language, Tamilians are taking to Twitter using hashtag “StopHindiChauvnism” to vent their frustration over what they see as a forced imposition of Hindi.
Reports state that in Vellore and Krishnagiri districts, the National Highway Authority of India has replaced English signs with those in Hindi. Besides being a hassle to motorists who have no knowledge of Hindi, this is also being seen as a violation of the three-language policy of road signage—regional language of the state, Hindi and English.
#StopHindiChauvinism you don't learn Kannada,Tamil or Bangla in Northern part.want us to learn Hindi here in South Hypocrisy at its best
— Vijeth Kumar Shetty (@vijeth_pesce) April 3, 2017
Dear Hindi speakers, this tag is not against you. This is against a bull dozing Govt that takes us for granted. Peace. #StopHindiChauvinism
— N (@nethraa_) April 3, 2017
our unity lies in diversity. lets not hamper it ! hindi is spoken by a good no. of ppl bt let ppl preserve their lang. #StopHindiChauvinism
— srishti kashyap (@kashyapsrishti9) April 5, 2017
#StopHindiChauvinism Stop imposing Hindi on rest of India. Gujarat High Court already ruled Hindi alien language in state. Ditto for rest.
— Vivek Dev (@vivek2456) April 5, 2017
#StopHindiChauvinism #stopHindiImposition @narendramodi @SushmaSwaraj @arunjaitley @rsprasad @PrannoyRoyNDTV @BDUTT @vikramchandra pic.twitter.com/bxHhTJsJt6
— Arunkumar (@arunztweetz) April 5, 2017
உண்மையாகவே புரியல.#StopHindiChauvinism pic.twitter.com/G3h0nfBdbZ
— உதயராஜ் (@udhai_3) April 5, 2017
Twitter users said that while Hindi is an official language, it is not the national language of India and should not be imposed. Not just Tamilians, social media users from across the country have been supporting the protest.
Dear Southies kudos to you for stopping the Hindi onslaught. Love from - A Bihari who lost his language i.e. Bhojpuri. #StopHindiChauvinism
— Rogue Academic (@rogueacademic88) April 3, 2017
