In the ongoing debate on the alleged 'imposition of languages' in southern states, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin intensified his criticism of the three-language formula on Monday, asking the centre if it applied the model in northern states.
Stalin, in a social media post, questioned the critics why they didn't first say which third language was being taught in North India.
"Some guardians of lopsided policies, wailing in great concern, ask, 'Why are you denying Tamil Nadu students the opportunity to learn a third language?' Well, why don't they first say which third language is being taught up north? If they had just taught two languages properly there, where do we need to learn a third?" Stalin said on X.
The chief minister’s comments come in the wake of a strong statement from Tamil Nadu’s deputy chief minister and his son Udhayanidhi Stalin, who opposed the Centre’s alleged attempts to impose Hindi on the state.
On Sunday, Udhayanidhi declared that Tamil Nadu would never accept the NEP or any form of Hindi imposition.
He accused the central government of trying to push Hindi “sideways” through the NEP, despite the state’s longstanding resistance to such policies.
The Tamil Nadu government has strongly opposed implementing the New Education Policy (NEP) of 2020, raising concern over the "three-language formula" and alleging that the Centre wants to 'impose' Hindi.
Centre's stance on NEP
On the other side of the debate, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan clarified the government's intentions behind the NEP’s three-language policy arguing that it is designed to promote all Indian languages.
"National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 should give importance to Indian languages. All Indian languages have equal rights, and all should be taught in the same way. This is the objective of the NEP. Some people in Tamil Nadu are opposing it for political purposes. We have not said anywhere in the NEP that only Hindi will be taught," Pradhan said in Haridwar.