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The politics over the Hindi language has reared its head once again, this time in the form of the #StopHindiChauvinism trend. The hashtag, which originated in Tamil Nadu, has picked up steam and has been trending on Twitter for the last few days.
While this isn’t the first time that Twitter has erupted over the Hindi vs other languages issue, this wave of the #StopHindiChauvinism campaign appears to have been triggered by the reports of that milestones on highways in Tamil Nadu have been repainted to feature names of places in Tamil and Hindi.
TN Highway Milestones Row
On 29 March, The New Indian Express reported that English signs on highway milestones in Vellore and Krishnagiri were replaced with the names of the places in Hindi. The move is an alleged violation of the three-language policy for road signs (state language, English and Hindi).
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president MK Stalin issued a statement on 31 March, warning the BJP-led central government against “bringing Hindi hegemony through the backdoor in Tamil Nadu”. According to reports, Stalin threatened to call a protest if the Centre continued to promote Hindi.
The #StopHindiChauvinism began trending on 3 April.
Netizens from other non-Hindi speaking states also joined in.
The Naysayers
There were also others who said the debate was a trivial one.
Indian Idol Winner LV Revanth Insulted Over Hindi
Meanwhile, singer LV Revanth, who recently won Indian Idol 9, made headlines when he told the Times of India in an exclusive interview that he did not know Hindi.
“Whenever I went for auditions, I was often insulted for not knowing Hindi and wanting to become a playback singer. People made fun of me, but when I hold the mic I forget everything and that has helped me in moving forward in life,” the singer told the daily.
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