Chennai, Nov 11:
MDMK general secretary Vaiko has announced a statewide agitation to smear black tar over Hindi lettering on National Highway milestones across Tamil Nadu, protesting what he described as the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) renewed attempts to impose Delhi’s linguistic hegemony.
In an official statement issued on Wednesday, Vaiko condemned the NHAI for erecting new milestones and repainting old ones inscribed with Hindi lettering alongside Tamil and English, citing recent works along the Thanjavur–Salem National Highway (NH-136). Reminding that Tamil Nadu has resisted Hindi hegemony since the historic 1952 railway station anti-Hindi agitations led by Periyar E.V. Ramasamy and C.N. Annadurai, Vaiko affirmed: “Tamil Nadu can never sign a deed of slavery to Hindi dominance; that has been the steadfast language policy followed by the state since 1967.”
Under the party’s action plan, MDMK high-level committee member Aaduthurai R. Murugan will lead district secretaries and cadres on November 12 to smear black tar over Hindi names on milestones along the Thanjavur–Salem corridor. Vaiko warned that if the NHAI persists with inscribing Hindi on state highways, he will personally lead a direct agitation across the state after November 29.