Massive outrage by Kannadigas and from other South Indian states on Twitter over the imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states have forced Center to revise its Education Draft Policy.
As per the reports, earlier the policy made it compulsory for non-Hindi speaking states to learn Hindi. But now the HRD ministry has decided to tweak the draft of the National Education policy and says that the students are free to select the language of their choice for studying.
Revised Draft Policy Drops Mention Of Hindi
The revised draft of the policy says, “In keeping with the principle of flexibility, students who wish to change one or more of the three languages they are studying may do so in Grade 6 or Grade 7, so long as they are able to still demonstrate proficiency in three languages.” Interestingly, the revised draft does not mention Hindi in its “Flexibility in the three-language formula” clause.
However, the policy does stress proficiency in either of the three languages. The earlier draft education policy irked the southern states with the Tamilians expressing their protests on Twitter followed by Kannadigas. The Twitter users said that they will never tolerate the imposition of Hindi in states that do not speak the language.
TN is not against Hindi, it is against forcing Hindi.
Knowing many languages is a strength. But that should be by choice and not by imposition.
And here is a deleted scene from #LKG ?? #HindiIsNotTheNationalLanguage pic.twitter.com/lCcqsbRogI— RJ Balaji (@RJ_Balaji) June 2, 2019
The previous version made English and Hindi mandatory for everyone in the non-Hindi speaking states whereas a third language was made mandatory in Hindi-speaking states.
Sharp Reactions From Celebrities & Leaders
The earlier education draft policy recommendations attracted sharp reactions from actor Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam and DMK leader Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The DMK was fast to react against this new draft policy of the Center and even passed a resolution against it and said that the NDA govt. is trying its patience.
Protest against Hindi imposition! @sifydotcom cartoon #HindiImposition pic.twitter.com/4jJbPW8JZS
— Satish Acharya (@satishacharya) June 3, 2019
Siddaramaiah, the former CM of Karnataka also lashed out at the Union government saying that imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states is nothing short of a brutal assault.
Hindi imposition nothing but an assault on states: Siddaramaiah https://t.co/dlVNNkGIQU pic.twitter.com/sMUGijOBHU
— NDTV (@ndtv) June 3, 2019
According to the Minister for Information and Broadcasting in Modi 2.0 government, Prakash Javadekar a committee has already come up with a draft report on this education policy and the Center is yet to take a decision on its implementation.
