Chennai, March 4 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday strongly criticised the BJP government at the Centre, accusing it of "exceeding its limits" in promoting Hindi and condemning the move to name the entrance arch of the Tiruchirappalli railway divisional office in that language.
The entrance arch of the railway divisional office in Tiruchirappalli was recently named 'Kartavya Dwar' (Gate of Duty), sparking a political controversy over the imposition of Hindi in the state.
Taking strong exception to this, the chief minister claimed that the Union BJP government is engaged in a "deceitful" promotion of Hindi by writing the Hindi name alongside Tamil and English names under the guise of "one language, three scripts."
"They have written 'Kartavya Dwar' on the entrance arch of the Tiruchirappalli division office of the Railways. The attempt to impose Hindi on Tamil and English names should be abandoned, and proper Tamil names should be included immediately," Stalin said on the social media platform 'X'.
Otherwise, the BJP government will face the wrath of the Tamils, he warned.
The Centre had already renamed Provident Fund Offices (EPFO) as 'Bhavishya Nidhi Bhavan' and was giving Sanskrit names for the new criminal laws in English.
"The name of the Union Water Resources Ministry has been changed to 'Jal Shakti', and the 100-day employment guarantee scheme named after Mahatma Gandhi has also been renamed. This shows increasing bitterness and arrogance," he pointed out.
"We need to give these people who are trying to undermine the self-respect of Tamils a proper lesson," Stalin, who is the president of the DMK, said.