The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) found itself at the center of a linguistic controversy on Tuesday after its official website’s homepage displayed content predominantly in Hindi, sparking sharp criticism from Tamil Nadu's political leadership. The issue has reignited the debate over Hindi imposition with Chief Minister MK Stalin and opposition leaders voicing strong objections.
CM MK Stalin criticised the move, describing it as a deliberate attempt to impose Hindi at the expense of India's linguistic diversity. "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," he said.
DMK MP TKS Elangovan echoed Stalin’s sentiments, accusing the central government of disregarding India’s linguistic plurality. "This government thinks India is a country with only a single language. There is a fight in UP, every area people speak a different Hindi and they fight for their rights of their own language, that is going on within the Hindi speaking people," Elangovan remarked, alleging that the website’s changes aimed to deter non-Hindi speakers from engaging with LIC.
The LIC website has been reduced to a propaganda tool for Hindi imposition. Even the option to select English is displayed in Hindi!
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) November 19, 2024
This is nothing but cultural and language imposition by force, trampling on India's diversity. LIC grew with the patronage of all Indians. How… pic.twitter.com/BxHzj28aaX
AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami also condemned the move, labeling it "reprehensible." He argued that the website, in its current form, alienates non-Hindi-speaking users. "LIC's website is currently unusable for people who do not know Hindi. The language change option of the website is also in Hindi so it is not possible to find it. It is reprehensible that the central government is working with the intention of imposing Hindi wherever and however," he said.
Further, he urged the Centre to change the default language of the website back to English.
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