NEW DELHI: Actor and politician Kamal Haasan on Friday emphasised the linguistic pride among Tamilians and warned those who might take language issues lightly.
Amid the ongoing row between state government and Centre National Education Policy (NEP), Hassan referred to the state’s historic struggle against the imposition of Hindi and said that people of Tamil Nadu have the knowledge to choose which language they need.
“Tamilians have lost their lives for a language. Don’t play with those things. Tamilians, even children, know what language they need. They have the knowledge to choose which language they need,” Haasan said while addressing party cadres in Chennai on the 8th foundation day of his party, Makkal Needhi Maiyam (MNM).
This comes after Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan responded to Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalis’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, clarifying that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 does not mandate any language.
He targeted the Tamil Nadu CM for interpreting NEP 2020 with a “myopic vision” and for portraying progressive educational reforms as political threats. Pradhan also stated that the chief minister’s letter to PM contradicted the spirit of cooperative federalism.
In his letter to the Prime Minister on Thursday, Stalin expressed concerns over Union education minister Pradhan’s statement that Tamil Nadu’s ‘Samagra Shiksha’ funds would not be released unless the state implements the ‘three-language’ policy outlined in NEP 2020.
Meanwhile, BJP’s Tamil Nadu chief Annamalai supported the three-language policy, saying that learning a third language is beneficial for Tamil Nadu. He also accused the DMK and its allies of misleading the public by claiming that Hindi would be mandatory under the new education policy.
Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin argued that “Hindi will destroy Tamil like it did many North Indian languages.”
The INDIA bloc parties united to protest against the BJP-led central government, accusing it of encroaching on state rights, denying funds in the Union Budget, and withholding educational funds for Tamil Nadu.
“Hindi destroyed the local languages of states in the north such as Rajasthani, Haryanvi, Bhojpuri, and other Bihari languages and has become the primary local language. The same will happen if Hindi is implemented in Tamil Nadu too. Almost 99% of Tamils who are now working abroad and in prestigious organisations such as Isro were from govt schools who did not study Hindi,” Udhayanidhi said at the protest.