TN pauses bill banning Hindi hoardings, movies, songs after backlash
What's the story
The Tamil Nadu government has decided to put a proposed anti-Hindi bill on hold, India Today reported. The decision comes after widespread criticism of the legislation, which sought to ban Hindi hoardings, boards, movies, and songs in the state. An emergency meeting with legal experts was held on Tuesday night to discuss the proposed legislation. The bill was reportedly supposed to be tabled on Wednesday.
Bill
We won't do anything against the Constitution: DMK leader
Defending the proposed bill, senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader TKS Elangovan told News18 earlier, "We won't do anything against the Constitution. We will abide by it. We are against the imposition of Hindi." Officials say the action is a constitutional response to what the state regards as the central government's push for Hindi dominance under the three-language formula.
Political criticism
BJP slams proposed bill
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has slammed the proposed bill. Vinoj Selvam of the BJP called it "stupid and absurd," arguing that language shouldn't be politicized. He also alleged that the ruling DMK is using this issue to distract from other controversies, including recent court cases and the controversial Foxconn investment issue.
Logo debate
Rupee symbol controversy
In March this year, the MK Stalin government had replaced the national rupee symbol with a Tamil letter (ru) in the 2025-26 state budget logo. The move had drawn criticism from BJP leaders and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. However, DMK defended it as an effort to promote the Tamil language.