'Hindi Theriyathu Poda' t-shirts set Tamil Twitter on fire

Four t-shirts with strong words. Two celebrities. And a powerful message against “Hindi imposition” in Tamil Nadu.

A picture of popular music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja and a young actor, ‘Metro’ Shirish, wearing designer t-shirts that say they are Tamil-speaking Indians and do not know Hindi has set the Tamil Twitter on fire.

Raja, an accomplished composer himself, and son of legendary music director Ilaiyaraaja, wearing a t-shirt with an image of poet-saint Thiruvalluvar and “I am a Tamizh pesum Indian” printed on it is listening to Shirish whose t-shirt says Hindi Theriyadhu Poda (I do not know Hindi. Go man).

This picture with a caption “deep in discussion, good things coming our way...!” posted by Shirish at 5.37 pm on Saturday set off a frenzied action on Twitter with appreciation pouring in from various quarters for the celebrities and the design, which many say is the brain-child of a DMK leader, for the “strong message.”

Soon, one of the popular verses used on the t-shirts, Hindu Theriyathu Poda, was converted into a hashtag in both Tamil and English along with #TamilSpeaking Indian that trended for the whole of Sunday. #HindiTheriyathuPoda had over 1.75 lakh mentions on Twitter at the time of writing.

As a retaliatory action, another hashtag, DMK Venam Poda (No need for DMK. Go man), was also trended on Twitter on Sunday afternoon with over 37,000 mentions. The BJP also took objection to the t-shirts and trending of anti-Hindi hashtags on Twitter, accusing the DMK of being behind the move.

Also Read: TN political parties demand action against AYUSH secretary for 'Hindi imposition'

By Sunday evening, the t-shirts became both a fashion and a political statement with people posting pictures wearing them on social media. DMK youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin was seen wearing the t-shirt during a virtual meeting on Sunday evening.

The release of the t-shirts come close on the heels of Tamil Nadu opposing “imposition of Hindi” by Centre on non-Hindi speaking states after DMK MP Kanimozhi was asked by a CISF personnel at Chennai Airport if she was Indian for not knowing Hindi and a Secretary-level officer asked doctors from the state to leave a virtual conference for not knowing the language.

The t-shirts that come in four designs are being marketed by a woman entrepreneur, who says she has received numerous calls and messages for orders since Saturday evening.

Besides the two designs that Yuvan and Shirish wore, the t-shirts have two more models with “I am Indian. I don’t speak Hindi” and “Tamil Speaking Indian” with pictures of poet Bharathiar, Thiruvalluvar, Periyar and M Karunanidhi printed on them.

Twitter users said the t-shirts reflect the “current mood” in Tamil Nadu which is against Hindi imposition. The #HindiTheriyathuPoda in English and Tamil and #TamilSpeakingIndian hashtags were trending on Twitter with people using the hashtags to air their views on “Hindi imposition.”

“Rather than saying I don’t know India it is good for a Tamil to ask people to learn Tamil. This is what the New Education Policy says and how will people who do not have the thought of spreading Tamil know this?” BJP spokesperson Narayanan Tirupathy asked.