After the ‘Hindi Theriyathu Poda’ t-shirt campaign (started by DMK MP Kanimozhi and advertised by the party’s sympathizers in the media and cinema industry) fell flat, the DMK once again pounced on the opportunity to do its language politics over another incident, this time, over an IRCTC railway ticket.
A passenger who had booked a train ticket from Madurai to Chennai through IRCTC website had reportedly received the text message containing her ticket details in Hindi.
Sharing a screenshot of this message, South Chennai DMK MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian tweeted in Tamil saying that IRCTC was imposing Hindi although the Constitution recognizes 23 languages as official language. She claimed that the Government of India was imposing Hindi through ‘insidious means’.
Indian constitution recognises 23 languages as its official language. But @IRCTCofficial is still imposing Hindi on the train passengers who book tickets through its website vis its ticket booking services.
1/3 pic.twitter.com/oCmBWs9IQU— தமிழச்சி (@ThamizhachiTh) October 4, 2020
Central Chennai DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran sharing the same screenshot asked also made hue and cry about Hindi imposition.
Why is Hindi being repeatedly thrusted upon the people of Tamil Nadu by the Railway Ministry? How does it make any sense to send notifications & communications to passengers in a language alien to us?#stophindilmposition #railways @RailMinIndia @PiyushGoyal @GMSRailway pic.twitter.com/QySfaO8SQJ
— தயாநிதி மாறன் Dayanidhi Maran (@Dayanidhi_Maran) October 4, 2020
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader Dr. Ramadoss too jumped the bandwagon and claimed that the IRCTC had been sending the ticket messages in Hindi for the past two days. He said that sending ticket text messages in Hindi was a ‘planned Hindi imposition’.
தமிழ்நாட்டில் தொடர்வண்டி பயணச்சீட்டு முன்பதிவுக்கான குறுஞ்செய்திகள் கடந்த இரு நாட்களாக இந்தியில் அனுப்பப்படுகின்றன. இந்தி பேசாத மக்களுக்கு இந்தியில் குறுஞ்செய்தி அனுப்புவது திட்டமிட்ட இந்தித் திணிப்பு ஆகும். இதை தொடர்வண்டித்துறை கைவிட வேண்டும்!@DrmChennai @GMSRailway
— Dr S RAMADOSS (@drramadoss) October 4, 2020
Following this, The News Minute which had earlier given enough publicity to Kanimozhi’s ‘Hindi Theriyathu Poda’ campaign, carried a story about this incident with the title “IRCTC sends TN woman ticket confirmation text in Hindi, sparks language imposition row”.
IRCTC sends TN woman ticket confirmation text in Hindi, sparks language imposition row https://t.co/6Rx44mPsak
— Ragamalika (@rgmlk) October 5, 2020
However, their efforts to rake up language sentiments failed as the IRCTC and Southern Railways busted the claims of ‘Hindi imposition’.
The IRCTC replying to Thamizhachi Thangapandian’s tweet said that at the time of registration, the user had the option to select their language preference – either English or Hindi and that in the said case the user had chosen Hindi as the preferred language.
It may be stated that at the time of registration, user has the option to select language preference either English or Hindi. In the instant case the preferred language was selected as Hindi. 1/2
— IRCTC (@IRCTCofficial) October 5, 2020
Replying to Dayanidhi Maran’s tweet IRCTC clarified that the User ID ‘selvimano05’ through which the ticket was booked had set the preferred language as Hindi, which was the reason for the ticket getting generated in Hindi.
Sir, PNR 4825831006 has been booked by User ID selvimano05. User has set his/her preferred language as Hindi. As a result, SMS for tocket booked by this User has been sent in Hindi.
— IRCTC (@IRCTCofficial) October 4, 2020
The Southern Railways too through its official handle clarified that choosing a language is an option in e-ticketing and that in the said case the user had indicated the preferred language as Hindi. In its statement, the Southern Railways requested the passengers to choose the correct language while registering in the IRCTC website.
Language is an option in E-Ticketing @DrmChennai @SalemDRM @drmmadurai @DRMTPJ @TVC138 @propgt14 pic.twitter.com/amtV9qIXDu
— Southern Railway (@GMSRailway) October 4, 2020
A user while registering himself/herself in the IRCTC website is asked to set the preferred language.
Even after the clarification from IRCTC and Southern Railways, neither the DMK leaders who cried foul acknowledged the response given nor did The News Minute which had carried the story claiming of ‘sparking Hindi imposition row’ clarified the matter to the public.