BJP dares DMK to deface Hindi on currency notes

CHENNAI: State BJP unit on Sunday dared the ruling DMK to take its protest against Hindi to the next level by defacing the words on currency notes, in response to the Dravidian major’s agitation to deface Hindi words on signboards of railway stations.

State BJP vice-president Narayanan Thirupathy threw the challenge at the DMK, questioning the Dravidian party’s sincerity in opposing the perceived imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states. “If the DMK is genuinely committed to its cause, why stop at merely blacking out Hindi words on railway signages?” Narayanan Thirupathy asked.

The BJP leader dared the DMK to take its protest to the next level by defacing Hindi on currency notes. “If you have the courage of your convictions, why not black out the Hindi words on the 500 rupee notes in your possession?” he asked, posing a challenge at the DMK. His comments come in the wake of recent incidents in which DMK cadre defaced Hindi letters on railway signages at Pollachi railway junction and Palayamkottai railway station in Tirunelveli, protesting the BJP-led Centre’s implementation of the three-language formula as part of the National Education Policy (NEP 2020). The BJP leader also questioned the DMK’s priorities, asking if the party’s love for the Tamil language was genuine or merely a political gimmick.

“Do you have the guts to wipe out the Hindi words from your passports using tar, as you did with the railway signages?” he asked. He also criticised that the DMK was adopting double standards, claiming that the party was seeking respect for its late leader Karunanidhi while ignoring the plight of poor, rural children who were being denied education in their mother tongue.