CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday attacked the BJP-led Centre for imposing Hindi “wherever they could” in the country.

His remarks came after the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) website had read “all Hindi” with Hindi, not English, being set as the default language, earlier today.

The LIC website issue, even though clarified as a technical goof-up later on, shows how the Central government is always looking for an opportunity to impose Hindi, Palaniswami said.

The website of a public sector unit appearing in full Hindi, though temporarily, has caused great anxiety among non-Hindi-speaking people, Palaniswami said in a social media post on Tuesday, attaching a screenshot of the entirely Hindi LIC website.

Pointing out that the country is known for its plurality in different spheres—culture, language, and politics-Palaniswami said such a move is a threat to it. It is unacceptable to enforce oneness against the country's diversity, as it would disturb its stability, he added.

The Leader of the Opposition urged the Centre to desist from such efforts at imposing Hindi on non-Hindi-speaking people.

Talking about the issue, AIADMK leader Kovai Sathyan said, this exposes the double standards of BJP. “They make all the attempts to impose Hindi through backdoors of the central government-run agencies and offices. Earlier it was in railways when the circulars were all sent out in Hindi. It was taken aback later on. Then it was in post offices. Now it is the turn of one of the largest insurance corporations in India, LIC. It indicates the sneaking of imposing Hindi through backdoor channels,” he said.

Many leaders from southern states including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin strongly condemned LIC and demanded immediate change of the language interface.