Tamil Nadu: Celebs and DML post pictures wearing anti-Hindi & pro-Tamil slogans on Twitter

People of Tamil Nadu took to social media to share pictures wearing T-shirts with anti-Hindi and pro-Tamil slogans. The purported 'imposition of Hindi' in the state sparked a debate over the languages. Actor Shirish Saravanan posted a picture of himself and music composer Yuvan Sankar Raja wearing t-shirts with anti-Hindi slogans on September 5. Soon after DMK Member of Parliament Kanimozhi took to Twitter to share a similar picture and encouraged people to wear t-shirts with anti-Hindi and pro-Tamil slogans and upload pictures on social media. 

Tamil Nadu goes Anti-Hindi & Pro-Tamil

Social media has been flooded with pictures of people wearing t-shirts with anti-Hindi and pro-Tamil slogans since actor Shirish Saravanan, also known as Metro Shirish posted a picture with Yuvan Sankar Raja. In the picture, the two can be seen wearing t-shirts that read 'Hindi theriyathu poda' (I don't know Hindi) and 'I am a Tamil pesum Indian' (I am a Tamil speaking Indian). 

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DMK MP Kanimozhi also posted a similar picture with a comment that read, "A spark is enough to ignite a sentiment. When we printed Tshirts, in the era of blatant Hindi imposition, we didn't know that the youngsters would respond passionately like our forefathers in fighting discriminatory practices. Thank you."

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Earlier in August, DMK's Kanimozhi claimed that a CISF constable at Chennai Airport questioned her nationality over language problems. As per media reports, Kanimozhi could not understand what the constable said when she spoke in Hindi and requested the costable to speak in Tamil or English. Following this, the constable asked the DMK MP if she was an Indian or not as she did not know Hindi. 

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Anti-Hindi Protests in Tamil Nadu

During the pre and post-independence period, Tamil Nadu has seen several anti-Hindi agitations from 1937 to 1950. Hindi and Tamil led to a major divide in the political parties of Tamil Nadu as well. There were several other anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu in 1963, 1965, 1968,1986 and 2014. Tamil Nadu saw several mass protests, riots, student and political movements over Hindi and Tamil. 

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