It was launched in 1937 in opposition to the introduction of compulsory teaching of Hindi in the schools of the province by the Indian National Congress government led by C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji).

This move was immediately opposed by E. V. Ramasamy (Periyar) and the opposition Justice Party (later Dravidar Kazhagam).

The government responded with a crackdown resulting in the death of two protesters and the arrest of 1,198 persons including women and children.

The mandatory Hindi education was later withdrawn by the British governor of Madras Lord Erskine in February 1940 after the resignation of the Congress government in 1939.

When the Indian Independence Movement gained momentum in the early part of the 20th century, efforts were undertaken to make Hindustani as a common language to unite various linguistic groups against the British Government.

"[7] On 11 August 1937,[8] within a month of coming to power, he announced his intention to introduce Hindi language teaching in secondary schools by issuing a policy statement.

These organisations had earlier convinced many Justice Party led local governments to introduce compulsory Hindi in schools in the early 1930s.

On 21 April 1938, Rajaji went ahead and passed a government order (G.O) making the teaching of Hindi compulsory in 125 Secondary schools in the Province.

It was active in Tamil speaking districts of the Province - Ramnad, Tirunelveli, Salem, Tanjore and North Arcot.

The Justice party was led by older, established leaders like Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu and Pannirselvam, who did not have reputations as agitators and derived their power from patronage.

The agitation was also supported by Tamil scholars like Maraimalai Adigal, Somasundara Bharathi, K. Appadurai, Mudiyarasan, K. A. P. Viswanatham and Ilakkuvanar.

In December 1937, Tamil Saivite scholars were among the first to announce their opposition to the Hindi teaching in the Saiva Sidhandha Maha Samaja conference at Velur.

Thamaraikani, Munnagar Azhagiyar, Dr. S. Dharmambal, Malar Mugathammaiyar, Pattammal and Seethammal were some of the women who were arrested for participating in the agitation.

P. Khalifulla Sahib, a Muslim League member representing Trichy in the Legislative Assembly, declared "I may at once say that I am a Rowther myself; my mother tongue is Tamil and not Urdu.

[19] Acknowledging the agitation's popular support, Lord Erskine, the then Governor of Madras wrote to Viceroy Linlithgow in July 1938 that "Compulsory Hindi has been the cause of great trouble in this province and is certainly contrary to the wishes of the bulk of the population..."[7] On 1 May 1938, a young man named Stalin Jagadeesan went on a fast demanding the withdrawal of compulsory Hindi teaching.

In an interview published in Periyar's magazine Viduthalai he declared that his fast was to prove that Tamil Thai (lit.

Their funeral processions in Madras were attended by hundreds of mourners and witnessed fiery speeches denouncing the government.

The agitators praised their sacrifices and claimed that the dead men had refused early release in exchange for ending their activities.

In an interview given to the Sunday Observer on 27 January 1939, Natarajan's father K. Lakshmanan said when his son was hospitalized he refused to apologize to get an early release.

The anti-Hindi movement portrayed the Brahmin-dominated Tamil Nadu Congress party as a stooge of "Hindi Imperialists" from the North.

Dravidian movement newspapers carried cartoons depicting Rajaji hurling a dagger at Tamil Thai and disrobing her.

In an anti-Hindi meeting organised in August 1938, Pavalar Balasundaram accused the Brahmin community of "killing Tamil Thai".

Rajaji's dismissal of Natarajan's death in the Assembly was denounced as "Aryans laughing while Tamils shed tears for their hero".

Rajaji complained that the agitators were describing their opponents "by caste, by their sacred thread, by the tuft of the hair on their head".

[30] In a letter written to Mahatma Gandhi on 7 July 1938, he wrote: I personally believe that where a parent or guardian swears an affidavit before a magistrate stating his reasons that it is against his conscience that his boy or girl should learn Hindustani compulsorily, the child may be exempted.

[31] On 21 February 1940, Governor Erskine, issued a press communique withdrawing compulsory Hindi teaching and making it optional.

[2][18] The agitations also reshaped the Dravidian Movement and broadened its political base, when it shifted from its earlier pro-Tamil stance to a more inclusive one, which was both anti-Hindi and pro-English.

In the words of Sumathi Ramaswamy (Professor of History at Duke University),[36] [The anti-Hindi agitations knit] together diverse, even incompatible, social and political interests... Their common cause against Hindi had thrown together religious revivalists like Maraimalai Atikal (1876-1950) with avowed atheists like Ramasami and Bharathidasan (1891-1964); men who supported the Indian cause like T.V.