'Linguistic Tyranny': Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin Slams LIC For 'Hindi Imposition' On Its Website

Stalin said that the LIC had been reduced to a propaganda tool for Hindi imposition on its revamped website.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday hit out at the state insurer Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), which he said had been “reduced to a propaganda tool for Hindi imposition” as even the option to select English on its website was displayed in Hindi.

The revamped LIC website has turned all Hindi with no English option leaving the non-Hindi users high and dry.

In a post on X, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister wrote, “The LIC website has been reduced to a propaganda tool for Hindi imposition. Even the option to select English is displayed in Hindi! This is nothing but cultural and language imposition by force, trampling on India's diversity. LIC grew with the patronage of all Indians. How dare it betray the majority of its contributors? We demand an immediate rollback of this linguistic tyranny” with hashtag #StopHindiImposition.

Tamil netizens while reacting to Stalin's post, also vented their anger over Hindi imposition on LIC website.

"LIC’s blatant promotion of Hindi is unacceptable! The Union Government must stop this cultural and linguistic imposition immediately," Ibrahim, a netizen wrote. One netizen even suggested to boycott LIC.

"Let us boycott LIC. There are many other companies from whom we can buy policies," he wrote in a post.

Leader of the Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami also flayed the LIC for Hindi imposition.

“Hindi imposition on LIC website - Strong condemnation! The default language on the website of public sector company LIC India has been changed to Hindi.

The LIC website is currently unusable for people who do not know Hindi. The option to change the language of the website is also in Hindi, so it is impossible to find it.

It is condemnable that the central government is working on the idea of imposing Hindi wherever and in whatever way.

In India, which is diverse in everything from language, culture, organization, and politics, imposing uniformity is an act that affects the balance of the country. It is not acceptable.

I urge the central government to change the default language of the website to English so that all people can use it and not to engage in any action to impose Hindi,” Palaniswami wrote in a post on X.

MDMK General Secretary Vaiko has issued a statement, saying, "Narendra Modi-led BJP has been carrying out outrageous Hindi imposition for a decade. Radio and television are being converted into Hindi. The central BJP government is forcefully introducing the Hindi language in many forms, such as changing name of criminal laws to imposing Hindi and Sanskrit."