TIRUCHY: Officials of the Tiruchy railway division on Wednesday removed the Tamil transliteration of the Hindi title ‘Kartavya Dwar – The Gateway of Duty’ from a newly inaugurated arch at the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) office at Tiruchy railway junction, following criticism from Chief Minister MK Stalin, opposition parties and other political leaders.
The arch was newly constructed and was inaugurated by Tiruchy Divisional Railway Manager Balak Ram Negi on Tuesday.
The title placed atop the arch in three languages, Tamil, Hindi and English, sparked a controversy.
The Hindi phrase ‘Kartavya Dwar’, meaning ‘Gateway of Duty’, was transliterated into Tamil and English instead of being translated into the respective languages.
As soon as the news spread, criticism started pouring in from various quarters.
In a post on ‘X’, Chief Minister MK Stalin stated that the BJP government was going overboard in its alleged Hindi imposition. The BJP led Union government would have to face the heat from Tamils if the Hindi word was not replaced with an apt Tamil word, he added.
On his ‘X’ handle, Madurai CPM MP Su Venkatesan condemned the BJP government, stating that “the sole duty of the Union government was to impose Hindi. This escalated the issue into the next level.”
Appealing for the replacement of the Hindi word on the arch, TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai termed it a direct insult to the unique identity of the State, which is rooted in the Tamil language.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami also appealed to replace the Hindi word in his statement. A section of DMK local functionaries blackened the Hindi words written on a plaque placed on the wall of the arch, accusing the BJP government of indulging in ‘Hindi imposition’.
Meanwhile, in a post on ‘X’, BJP leader Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan appealed to the Railway Minister to instruct the railway authorities to properly translate the Hindi word and place the board in Tamil to rectify the mistakes allegedly committed by some officials.
She also stated that the Union government was being unnecessarily blamed as if it were trying to impose Hindi in Tamil Nadu.
When contacted, a senior official from the Tiruchy Railway Division told TNIE that the Hindi phrase would be replaced with an apt Tamil phrase. “We strongly respect the sentiments of the Tamil people.
Now the phrase has been covered with a cloth. Once the new letters are ready, they will be placed properly,” he said.