Two posters that had been put up in the Udhagamandalam Railway Station stoked allegations of Hindi imposition and appropriation following which they were removed.

In one poster, a quote by national poet Subramania Bharathi, transliterated into English as: “Let us bring various literary forms and noble thoughts from all over the world,” was falsely attributed to Indian National Congress former president, Madan Mohan Malaviya. Meanwhile, another poster had a quote by Madabhushi Ananthasayanam Ayyangar, which read: “Non-Hindi speaking too realise their dreams with simple spoken Hindi.”

The poster that had a quote by Madabhushi Ananthasayanam Ayyangar, at the Ooty Railway Station
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

A section of visitors to the station objected to these posters with some voicing their opposition on social media.

“While the quote by Ananthasayanam Ayyangar can be seen as a subtle means of promoting Hindi, the other poster, of the quote by Bharathiar being falsely attributed to Malviya entirely is condemnable. As the posters have been sanctioned by the Union government, to be put up in a public space, the accuracy of such posters, and their potential to be interpreted as a means of imposing Hindi, should have been checked and vetted before being allowed to be put up,” said an activist from the Nilgiris, who had drawn the attention of the Southern Railways to the issue.

Tweeting about the issue, Nilgiris MP A. Raja of the DMK said “Hindi imposition is unacceptable! The use of Hindi in Indian railway stations in increasing every day. Especially in my constituency in the Nilgiris, the banners installed in Hindi at the 100-year-old Udhagamandalam railway station are hurting the sentiments of the Tamil people. I request the relevant authorities to immediately remove them. Tamil Nadu will never accept the imposition of Hindi.” He has also written to the Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw urging him “to respect the linguistic sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu and avoid compulsory inclusion of Hindi where it is not contextually necessary.”

When contacted, M. Vasudevan, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of the Salem Division of Southern Railways said the posters have been removed. “There is no ulterior motive for the posters being put up, and they have been there for more that four or five years. We are checking how they were put up at the railway station,” said Mr. Vasudevan, who added there were other posters too, including those of quotes by poet Rabindranath Tagore.

“There are two posters which were brought to our notice, and as we do not want to court any controversies, they were removed immediately,” said Mr. Vasudevan.