Protests against the imposition of Hindi were carried out by Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) workers led by K Veeramani in Chennai on Saturday, April 30. The protest, which saw the participation of roughly 250 people, saw protesters wearing black carrying placards, waving black flags and sloganeering against the Union government. The protest was a procession from Periyar Thidal to Egmore railway station, and was inaugurated by Communist leader Mutharasu.
Protesters also carried a bucket of black paint to paint over the Hindi letters on the board at the Egmore railway station. Those who wanted to deface the signboards were detained by the police officials after their march. The Mayiladuthurai district secretary of DK’s said “Dravidians have been protesting against Hindi since 1938. Periyar led the movement and following his footsteps our leader K Veeramani is protesting against the Hindi imposition. We won then and will always win.” Dravidar Kazhagam member Olivannan, 35, claimed, “Their ultimate aim is to make Sanskrit the mother tongue and as a first step they are imposing Hindi.”
Dravida Kazhagam workers led by K Veeramani staged a protest against the Union government's efforts to impose Hindi in the disguise of National Educational policy.
— Megavarshini Somasundaram (@MegavarshiniS) April 30, 2022
The protesters wanted to deface Hindi letters at Egmore Station they were taken into preventive custody. pic.twitter.com/0Mo8028TG6
The youth wing of DK organised a meeting led by president K Veeramani on the premises of Periyar Thidal, Vepery. Gummidipoondi district secretary of DK’s youth wing B Chakravarthy said that the protest was conducted against the imposition of Hindi language under the guise of the National Educational policy. “Imposing a particular language and culture in a country which speaks hundreds of languages seems unfair. We, the members of DK, are striving for social justice and will continue to do so,” he said.
The members alleged that the union government is trying to destroy Tamil and bring in their language thereby to benefit the people of North India. RSS is making the decisions, the prime minister is acting accordingly, they said.
K Veeramani, the president of DK said that it is more than just a language imposition, it is a cultural imposition. “We are not opposing Hindi, let people learn it by choice. The Union government should not impose a particular language across the country. Unity in diversity, don't deny the diversity,” he said. He raised a question stating why not teach Tamil in the North Indian states. On elaborating about the protest and the idea of defacing boards, he said “This is the writing on the wall, let them learn it.”