'Not imposition,' says Karti Chidambaram — as Stalin mocks TVK's latest Hindi U-turn

Tamil Nadu's language fault line cracked open again this weekend — and this time, the surprise came from within the INDIA bloc's own ranks. Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said in Sivaganga on Saturday that the appearance of Hindi on a highways signboard "cannot be treated as Hindi imposition." The remark landed even as the TVK government suspended two highways engineers for doing exactly that: allowing Hindi lettering on a signboard on State Highway 93 near Sathankulam in Thoothukudi district. The board, installed near the Thiruchendur Road junction close to the Karumeni river bridge on the newly built Sathankulam–Nazareth road, carried place names — Thoothukudi, Tiruchendur, Alwarthirunagari, Tirunelveli — in Tamil first, then Hindi, then English. After images went viral on social media, the Hindi portion was removed and the board replaced with a Tamil-and-English version. Highways Director General R. Selvadurai placed Assistant Divisional Engineer N. Boominathan and Assistant Engineer T. Muthulakshmi under suspension on Thursday, and departmental action has been initiated against both. Public Works Minister Aadhav Arjuna said an initial inquiry found the board violated the state's two-language policy, and warned of tough action against violators. The opposition was unsparing. DMK president and former chief minister M.K. Stalin wrote on X: "So far, Tamil Nadu has been facing the Union government's imposition of Hindi. Now, it seems the state government itself is taking up that role, which appears to be the change they had promised." In Tamil, he went further: "இதுவரை ஒன்றிய அரசின் இந்தித் திணிப்பைத்தான் தமிழ்நாடு எதிர்கொண்டு வந்தது. தற்போது, மாநில அரசே அந்தப் பணியைச் செய்வதுதான் அவர்கள் சொன்ன மாற்றம் போல." Stalin asked whether this was "yet another attempt by the TVK government to first test the waters in everything and then take a 'U-turn' once opposition emerges" — and accused the government of running a "reels government for North Indian influencers." "The two-language policy is Tamil Nadu's lifeline. Do not play with it!" he warned. PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss also condemned the board. Karti, however, broke from the outrage. Speaking to reporters, he said many highway travellers simply use Google Maps, that the signage would help visitors from other states travel without confusion, and pointed out that in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, there are signboards in Tamil. He clarified that he remains opposed to the imposition of Hindi and that Tamil Nadu's two-language formula of Tamil and English "shall continue." The episode is the latest in a pattern of announce-and-retreat governance: the TVK government withdrew its controversial RTI exemption for the Law and Order department within days of issuing it last month, and has now ordered Hindi scrubbed from a signboard it allowed to go up. Each time, the reversal follows the same script — a quiet order, a viral backlash, a hasty U-turn, and suspensions handed down the chain.