Amid ongoing tensions with the Centre over the three-language policy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday questioned why Southern students should learn a third language when students in Northern India are not required to.
In a post on X, Stalin challenged critics of Tamil Nadu’s language stance, asking, “Why don’t they first say which third language is being taught up North? If they had just taught two languages properly there, where’s the need for us to learn a third?”
Echoing this sentiment, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin issued a strong warning on Sunday against the central government’s alleged attempts to impose Hindi through the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. He reaffirmed that Tamil Nadu would never accept the NEP or any form of Hindi imposition.
Meanwhile, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan defended the NEP, stating in Haridwar that the policy aims to promote all Indian languages equally and does not mandate Hindi as the sole language. Pradhan insisted that the three-language formula is meant to strengthen linguistic diversity, not enforce any one language.
The Tamil Nadu government remains steadfast in its opposition to the NEP, accusing the Centre of trying to impose Hindi and disrupt the state’s long-standing two-language policy.
