Hindi imposition row: Tamil Nadu says no to 'dahi,' will only use 'tayir'; check details

The Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation, familiarly known as Aavin, has said it will not use the Hindi term 'Dahi' in its printed sachets, as directed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and that it would only stick to the Tamil word 'tayir' to denote the product.

Chief Minister MK Stalin had decried the move as an attempt to "impose Hindi", Dairy Development Minister SM Nasar admitted the government had received a letter asking it to implement the directive before August.

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The BJP's state unit also wanted the FSSAI to withdraw the notification. There is no place for Hindi in the State, Nasar said.

Aavin will stick to the Tamil word 'tayir' for its curd preferred by a majority of consumers in the State, a senior official said.

BJP state unit chief K Annamalai said the notification was not in tandem with Centre's policy of promoting regional languages.

In a tweet, Annamalai said, "The notification released by FSSAI for the use of (the word) Dhahi in curd sachets produced by state-run cooperative societies is not in tandem with the policy of our Hon PM Thiru @narendramodi avl to promote regional languages. We want an immediate rollback of the notification."

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Meanwhile, DMK functionaries trended the Twitter hashtag "DahiNahipoda" (No to Dahi, go on) to oppose "Hindi imposition."

On Wednesday, CM Stalin condemned imposition of Hindi even in labelling curd and said those responsible for it would be "banished" from the southern parts of the country. On his Twitter handle, Stalin posted a news report on FSSAI directing Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) to label curd as "dahi" prominently.

The Bengaluru datelined report had said the FSSAI directed the KMF to use the Kannada equivalent for curd "mosaru" in brackets.

"The FSSAI clarification on labelling curd has come recently after Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka milk federations sought usage of local names on the curd sachets," the report said.

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(With inputs from PTI)