‘Why do you think that the whole world should speak Hindi?’, Kanimozhi explained the whole controversy in response to 5 questions

New Delhi : The Central Government and the DMK of Tamil Nadu are stunned by the National Education Policy (NEP). This week, there was a lot of debate and dispute on this issue in Parliament. Why is DMK opposing NEP and why DMK leaders have so much opposition to Hindi? Poonam Pandey of NBT spoke to DMK leader and MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on this issue. Here are the major parts of the conversation-Question 1: The central government and BJP say that Tamil Nadu government and DMK are opposing NEP only for politics, what will you say on this charge?
answer : The central government has to understand that this struggle has not started from today. It began against imposing Hindi in the 1930s. So how can it be called politics? And this movement M.K. Stalin did not start. This movement was started by leaders of various regions, ideologies and political backgrounds which later became a mass movement. Tamil Nadu has lost his/her people’s lives in this struggle.

Therefore, they should understand its seriousness before saying anything politics or electoral politics. We are not opposing NEP because this is the BJP’s policy, but is doing because Tamil Nadu has accepted the two-language policy. And now if you are forcing us to read three languages ​​then we will not accept it. NEP says that three-language policy has to be accepted, but in Parliament we were exempted from it.

A resolution was passed in the House of Parliament, amendments were made and Tamil Nadu was exempted from this policy. Now you want to tamper with this decision. So who is actually doing politics? When it was already exempted, why is there an attempt to change it now? We are not saying that we do not believe in the whole NEP but we have objections to some points. We do not want the exam in the fifth grade. We cannot accept three-language policy.

We cannot close schools only because there are not enough students. There are many such schools in Tamil Nadu, especially in tribal and hilly areas, where it is not easy for children to reach the school. We also run schools where there are only three or two students. Even the school was not closed for a student. The future of children is the future for us and not by mixing schools and cutting expenses.

Question 2: You are saying that three language formulas are to be imposed Hindi but NEP states that any two Bhartish languages ​​should be taught, it is not necessary that it is Hindi?
answer : Today we have AI apps that can translate any language immediately. Then what is the need to put so much burden on a child, who is already learning science, maths, physics and new things. Why should the child be given the burden of learning another language, especially when he/she does not have any inclination or he/she does not feel the need to learn?

You say that we are talking about teaching any Indian language, not Hindi. But if a student says in Kerala that he/she wants to study English, Malayalam and Bhojpuri, will the school be able to provide Bhojpuri teacher for him/her? Or Bengali teacher. If only two-four students want to read it? This is practically not possible. In the end, what will happen, the schools will make only those languages ​​available, for which the teachers are already present and the Hindi teacher already has an established system, then every state will have to adopt Hindi only.

We are seeing that in Hindi speaking states, students are becoming dependent on the same language, they are not being able to become bilingual. We do not want the same to our students. It is clear in research that many languages ​​are becoming extinct due to imposition of Hindi. How many people speak Hindi in Rajasthan and how many their mother tongues? What happened to Maithili? Then why should we let this happen with our mother tongue, which is a classical language and which we are proud of.

Question 3: The central government has said that the fund will be given only when the NEP is implemented. How will you proceed on this?
answer : The education comes in the Concurrent List, it is not a subject that is in the Center List. Therefore, the central government has no right to impose it on anyone. You cannot say that we have to compulsorily implement NEP. You can only discuss with us. It cannot be forcibly imposed on us. It is unconstitutional, and preventing budgetary allocation is completely against undemocratic and federal structure.

Question 4: Assembly elections are going to be held next year. How much will this issue affect the election?
answer : I do not see it as an election issue, this is an emotional issue. It has lived in Tamil Nadu since the 1930s and people are still reacting to it. Therefore it is beyond any electoral mathematics. In Tamil Nadu, only BJP is in favor of three-language policy but its political influence is very less here. Every political party, even the opposition AIADMK supports the two-language policy and opposes the three-language policy.

If this was a matter of political gains for us, then our main opposition party would have taken a different stand from it. But we are both in the same position. So how can we call it a political issue? BJP has no significant impact in Tamil Nadu. If we are fighting BJP on this issue, then how can it be an electoral victory for us.

Question 5: Does the people of Tamil Nadu not really want to learn Hindi? Why so much opposition to Hindi?
answer : Tell me why you should learn Hindi? Give me a concrete reason why everyone should learn Hindi? Why don’t you ask me why I don’t learn Bengali? Why doesn’t Bhojpuri learn? Why do people in Uttar Pradesh learn Malayalam or Tamil? Why do people in Karnataka learn other languages ​​other than Kannada? Why do you think that the whole world should speak Hindi?

If I need to live in a state, where Tamil or English is not spoken, I will learn the language there. IAS officers who come in Tamil Nadu cadre or who go from Tamil Nadu to another state learn the language of that state – bolna, read, write, everything. And he/she would not have learned this in school. How many people go to Germany to study and learn German language, because there is a need. People will learn themselves when needed. Then why should we force someone?

This is not easy for everyone. If a privilege comes from the background, he/she can take tuition, he/she can have ten people for help. But it will be difficult for those who have never heard Hindi in their lives, it will be difficult for them to learn. Then why should this additional burden be put on children? Let them learn two languages ​​properly. If a student is interested, he/she can also learn ten languages. But the decision should be of the student, not anyone else.