Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K Selvaperunthagai on Tuesday criticized the BJP-led Union government after Hindi appeared as the default language on the homepage of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India’s website.Taking to social media platform X, Selvaperunthagai accused the Centre of promoting a “Hindi-centric” agenda. He urged the government to cease the “Hindiisation of government websites” and respect the linguistic diversity of India.
“The Union government must abandon activities that hurt the sentiments of non-Hindi speakers and infringe on their language rights,” said the MLA, emphasizing the need for inclusivity in government services.
Southern Leaders Join Criticism
The sudden appearance of Hindi as the default language on LIC’s website earlier in the day led to widespread criticism, especially from southern states. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin condemned the move, terming it an act of disregard for linguistic inclusivity. He demanded immediate action to restore a multilingual interface.
Leaders from other southern states echoed similar sentiments, emphasizing the importance of ensuring accessibility for speakers of all languages across India.
LIC Clarifies as Backlash Mounts
Responding to the backlash, LIC issued a clarification on Tuesday evening, attributing the incident to a technical glitch. The insurance company stated that the issue had temporarily prevented users from accessing webpages in both English and Hindi.
“Users can now view the portal in dual languages, as was always intended,” LIC announced on its social media accounts.
Call for Respecting Language Diversity
Selvaperunthagai reiterated the importance of recognizing India’s linguistic diversity and respecting the rights of non-Hindi-speaking populations. He further criticized what he termed the “saffronisation” of official platforms and called for an end to policies that marginalize regional languages.
The incident reignites the ongoing debate over language imposition in India, with leaders from Tamil Nadu and other non-Hindi-speaking states consistently advocating for equal representation of all languages in national platforms and services.