Vetrimaaran and son wear 'Tamizh pesum Indian' tees furthering dissent

Chennai

National Award winning Tamil director Vetrimaaran along with his son took a snap wearing 'Tamizh pesum Indian' (Tamizh speaking Indian), as a sign of protest against Hindi imposition.

It all started with music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja and his friend wearing T-shirts 'Tamizh pesum Indian' and 'Hindi theriyathu poda' posted a pic of theirs in social media.

This garnered attention among political spheres with DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi appreciating the music composer's gesture. She even posted a similar picture of young people around her wearing such t-shirts.

Soon, many celebrities took the cue and posted pictures wearing the t-shirts.

The displeasure about Hindi imposition fumed with the introduction of 3-language policy in the National Education Policy (NEP 2020).

Things intensified with Kanimozhi being embarrassed in the Chennai airport for not knowing Hindi, recently. This dissent gained shape to become a movement with director Vetrimaaran sharing his harrowing experience at the Delhi airport in 2011 to a popular Tamil magazine.

The hashtag 'Hindi theriyadhu poda' trended rampantly on social media.

Given the popular negative opinion BJP has in Tamil Nadu, this protest against Hindi imposition would add to its woes with the state in the run-up for assembly polls in 2021.