Hindi signage row: Tamil Nadu suspends 2 officials over ‘two-language policy’ violation

Chennai: Hindi featuring prominently alongside Tamil and English on a signboard of a highway maintained by the Tamil Nadu Highways Department in Thoothukudi district has triggered a major controversy.

After coming under fire from various quarters for allegedly “imposing Hindi on its own people”, the TVK government suspended two senior officials for violating the state’s two-language policy.

The department also acted swiftly after television news channels aired videos of the signage, blackening the Hindi letters on it.

N Bhoominathan, Assistant Divisional Engineer, National Highways Sub-Division, Thoothukudi, and T Muthulakshmi, Assistant Engineer, National Highways Section, Kalakadu, were placed under suspension, according to orders issued by the Director-General of Highways.

The signage in question, located near Sathankulam and Nazareth on State Highway-93, which connects Alwarthirunagari in Thoothukudi district with Valliyur in Tirunelveli district, featured Hindi lettering.

“Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against the two engineers of the Highways Department since their action went against Tamil Nadu’s two-language policy. Strict action will be taken against officials who violate the two-language policy,” a statement issued by the Director of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) said.

The issue sparked controversy as signboards and milestones on roads maintained by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Tamil Nadu feature only Tamil and English. The NHAI’s attempt to introduce Hindi on signboards in 2017 triggered widespread protests across the state, following which the agency reverted to using Tamil and English.

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Activists and political parties condemned the use of Hindi on signboards in Tamil Nadu, particularly on a road maintained by the state government’s Highways Department. They questioned whether the TVK government was “testing the waters” for backdoor “Hindi imposition”.

DMK president M K Stalin warned the TVK government against interfering with the state’s two-language policy, which he described as the “life-breath of Tamil Nadu”.

“Tamil Nadu in the past faced the Union Government's imposition of Hindi. But now it seems the change they (TVK) spoke of is the state government itself imposing Hindi. Is this yet another attempt by the TVK government, which tests the waters in everything and takes a ‘U-turn’, the moment opposition erupts?” he asked.

Stalin also accused the TVK government of running a “reels administration” and urged it to recognise the risks of such actions and change its approach. He also took a veiled dig at the ruling party’s outreach efforts outside the state.

Tamil Nadu has followed a two-language policy of Tamil and English since 1968 and has continued to oppose the imposition of Hindi. Successive state governments have refused to implement the National Education Policy 2020 and allocate land for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, citing concerns over Hindi imposition.