On Sunday, a new hashtag #HindiTheriyadhuPoda, meaning 'Don’t know Hindi', began trending on Twitter with more than 1,70,000 tweets in less than 24 hours. The trend began after young actor Metro Shirish tweeted an image with music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja, wearing apparel with strong slogans against Hindi imposition.
Yuvan, son of legendary music director Ilaiyaraaja, wore a white t-shirt with an image of poet Thiruvalluvar and a slogan 'I am Tamil pesum Indhian' meaning 'I am a Tamil-speaking Indian'. Shirish wore a red t-shirt with 'Hindi Theriyadhu Poda' slogan inscribed on it. Hours after Shirish posted the picture, actors Shantanu Bhagyaraj and his wife Kiki Vijay posted a picture, wearing clothes with the same slogan. Soon, Tamil Twitter was in rage. Hashtags began trending, with a slew of t-shirts featuring poet Subramania Bharathi-style moustaches, anti-Hindi slogans and images of Thiruvalluvar, Periyar and Karunanidhi.
“I sell t-shirts with slogans based on the social trend in the state. This time it was Hindi. Since last evening I have sold close to 500 t-shirts,” said a woman entrepreneur. She preferred to remain anonymous owing to the numerous phone calls she has been receiving since Sunday morning. “There are bulk orders for t-shirts. But I am surprised that the orders are from youngsters, mostly individuals who are not associated with any political outfit,” she said.
There is an overwhelming mood in Tamil Nadu against Hindi imposition, which took shape after DMK leader Kanimozhi alleged that a CISF personnel questioned whether she was an Indian when she refused to respond to a query in Hindi. It was in the pre-Independence era, and later in the 1960s, that Tamil Nadu witnessed the Hindi agitation movement setting stage for the beginning of the Dravidian politics in the state. E.V. Ramasamy Periyar’s anti-Hindi movement in 1937, and later the student movements in 1965 led by the DMK against Hindi imposition, accused the language of being a tool of the Aryans to infiltrate Dravidian culture.
How anti-Hindi agitations gained steam post-Independence
The year 1965 saw violent student agitations and self-immolations against Hindi imposition in Tamil Nadu. The Constituent Assembly Debates record intensive arguments being made for and against the designation of Hindi as the ‘national language’. A member, R.V. Dhulekar, agitated for the usage of only Hindi for all official work. This was widely criticised by many leaders from the South, who felt that this would mean a very limited role for the non-Hindi speaking South Indians in the government as well as bureaucracy. The Constituent Assembly finally decided on Hindi as the official language, while providing a clause that stated the continuation of English as an official language for a period of 15 years. Later, in 1963, the Union government, headed by, Nehru passed the Official Languages Act, which provided for the continuation of English language for official purposes of the Union and for its use in Parliament.
What is the trigger now?
60 years down the line, Kanimozhi’s tweet has once again triggered passion against Hindi imposition and Tamil identity politics in the state. Her tweet, “Officials have not been sensitised to be inclusive and respect diversity”, received support from politicians across the country. Former finance minister P. Chidambaram shared his experiences at the airports. Former Karnataka chief minister and JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy wrote a long letter to her about his experiences of not knowing Hindi, detailing the attitude of people from Hindi-speaking states.
After Kanimozhi, Pe Maniyarasan, president of Thamildesa Podhu Udaimai Katchi claimed that the Union ministry for water resources replied in Hindi for his RTI questions on Cauvery issue.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Palaniswamy had also positioned himself strongly against the three-language formula in the centre’s New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, calling it "sad" and "disappointing".
“Hindi is looked at as tool of domination by the North Indians. Linguistic activists like me are able to clearly sense the growing irritation among the youngsters," says activist Aazhi Senthilnathan. "There is a strong feeling among the youth in Tamil Nadu that North Indians are dominating and that the Centre is imposing Hindi on them. This is just not in Tamil Nadu. It is happening across south India. The sign boards issue at the metro stations in Bengaluru is an example.” Senthilnathan pointed out that the clerical jobs in the PSUs and the nationalised banks are now being occupied by Hindi-speaking North Indians and this has irritated the people of the state.
He also points out that the youth in Tamil Nadu are the most disturbed because of this trend post 2014. “The labour category and the top clerical category at the PSUs are filled with North Indians. This has made the Tamils jobless, creating a North-South divide,” he adds. Senthilnathan points out that it is not a mere trend or a sentiment, but a livelihood issue.
On Sunday, after the Twitter trend exploded, Kanimozhi tweeted: “A spark is enough to ignite a sentiment. When we printed t-shirts in the era of blatant Hindi imposition we did not know that the youngsters would respond passionately like our forefathers in fighting discriminatory practices. Thank you.” She had also posted a pic of her surrounded by few young men and women wearing t-shirts with slogans against Hindi imposition printed on it.
Incidentally, the Tamil identity and the idea of linguistic pride that once mobilised various causes like the Jallikattu agitation seem to be once again gaining steam in the state.