CHENNAI: After sustained opposition from leaders across Tamil Nadu, the ‘Kartavya Dwar’ signage at the Tiruchirappalli Divisional Railway Office was removed.
Reacting to the development, Chief Minister M K Stalin said the issue was not merely about language but about what he termed as “arrogance of dominance”. In a post on X, he said, “It is not just the Hindi script that has been removed; it is also the arrogance of dominance.”
He further alleged that those who pretend to be Tamil-loving while acting otherwise would be rejected by the people. “Those who hide one thing inside and say something else outside and those who support them as a sign of slavery and betray Tamil Nadu will be removed by the people of Tamil Nadu,” he said, adding, “Tamil Nadu will forever be #OutOfControl because of Delhi’s arrogance.”
The controversy had erupted over the naming of the entrance gate of the newly constructed Tiruchirappalli Divisional Railway Office as ‘Kartavya Dwar’ (‘Gateway of Duty’), drawing objections from leaders cutting across party lines.
DMK Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva wrote to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw seeking revocation of the name, stating that such changes cause concern in a non-Hindi speaking State. Madurai MP Su Venkatesan of the CPI(M) also criticised the move and demanded that the Hindi name be replaced with a Tamil one.
Senior BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan, however, maintained that mistakes by some officials should not lead to the Centre being unnecessarily blamed for attempting to impose Hindi in Tamil Nadu. She urged that the Tamil name board be properly displayed at the entrance.
With the signage removed, the issue has once again pushed the language debate to the centre stage of Tamil Nadu politics.
