THE LANGUAGE DISPUTE IN TAMIL NADU IS DECADES OLD

                    Courtesy: THE HINDU

Tamil Nadu has opposed national education policies for several decades due to its anti-Hindi stance. This time the dispute between the Centre and Tamil Nadu government is getting deeper. In Tamil Nadu, Congress and leftist parties are also opposing this formula.

CM Stanil says that the new education policy weakens social justice, it can endanger the Tamil language. This poses a direct threat to the future of our children.

South actress Ranjana Nachiyar is also unhappy with the three-language formula and has resigned from the BJP membership in protest against it. She believes that implementing the three-language policy threatens the linguistic and cultural integrity of the Tamil-speaking people.

 

 

Refusal to give money under Samagra Shiksha Yojana

The central government has refused to release a budget of Rs 2,152 crore to Tamil Nadu under the Samagra Shiksha Yojana. The Center says that Tamil Nadu has refused to implement the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The State government says that under the new education policy, the Central Government wants to impose Hindi.

To understand what is right and what is wrong, it is necessary to understand the three-language formula.

 

What is the new education policy?

The new education policy was implemented in the year 2019. Under this policy, students of the state will have to learn three languages ​​which include the study of Tamil, English, and any other Indian language. It is not clearly stated in this policy that this third language should be only Hindi, it can be any Indian language.

The policy states that the three languages ​​to be taught to children will be the choice of states, regions, and students. The first language can be the mother tongue or regional language of the state. The second language can be any other. But the Center encourages Hindi in this case. However, Hindi is not a compulsory language. States can choose a second language. The third language can also be English or any other foreign language.

 

 

The argument of the state government does not hold water

In Tamil Nadu, students are taught in English and Tamil. In other South Indian states, Hindi is also taught as a third language. Stalin says that Hindi is just a mask and the real intention of the central government is to impose Sanskrit.

He also argues that due to Hindi, many dialects like Awadhi, Brij, etc. have disappeared from North India. He gives the example of Rajasthan and says that the central government is trying to impose Sanskrit by removing Urdu there.

Many leaders of Tamil Nadu believe that an attempt is being made to impose Sanskrit through Hindi which can destroy their old heritage. This is the main reason for their opposition.

Protests deprive Tamil Nadu of the benefit of Navodaya Vidyalaya

  

The central government has established Navodaya Vidyalayas in every district of the country. According to the rules, three languages ​​are taught in every Navodaya Vidyalaya from sixth to ninth standard. Hindi and English are compulsory in these and the third language can be any Indian language.

The Tamil Nadu government had so much objection to Hindi that till now no Navodaya school has been opened in any district of the state. In all the states of the country except Tamil Nadu, students are taught three languages, but in Tamil Nadu, students study only Tamil and English.

In 1948-49, the University Education Commission headed by Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan investigated this subject in detail and said that it would not be appropriate to suddenly replace English with Hindi as the official language. The commission had said that Hindi should be given the status of a federal language and local languages ​​should be for the states. English can be removed gradually.

For this, it is necessary to promote Hindi throughout the country. On this basis, the country's education policies were decided, and every time Tamil Nadu opposed the new education policy.

The commission had said that every student studying in college should know any other language of the country in addition to his regional language. Along with this, he should also be able to read and write English. This is where the three-language formula started.

This proposal was accepted by the National Education Commission (Kothari Commission) of 1964-66 and it was included in the National Education Policy, 1968 passed by the Indira Gandhi government.

This formula has also been retained in the National Education Policy of 1986 passed by the Rajiv Gandhi government and the latest NEP of 2020.

 

 

This controversy is quite old.

In 1963, when the proposal to make Hindi the official language came up, violent protests started in Tamil Nadu. After the death of 70 people, the language policy was amended in 1967 and English along with Hindi remained the official language. After this, in 1986, Rajiv Gandhi's government also had to face opposition on this issue. This incident impacted the social and economic development of India.

Era Sezhiyan is a well-known writer of the Tamil language and was an MP during the days of protests. In an interview with BBC, Sezhiyan said that even today, whenever a slight attempt is made to introduce Sanskrit or Hindi, protests erupt in Tamil Nadu. But now there is no atmosphere of fear like before when Hindi is imposed.

Tamil historian AR Venkatachalapati says, "Cultural unity can be strengthened only by giving equal status to all languages. If someone in a remote area of ​​Tamil Nadu has to do some work at a bank ATM, he has to resort to English or Hindi, but he does not have the option of Tamil."

In fact, the opposition to Hindi in Tamil Nadu dates back to 1937, when Chakravarti Rajagopalachari's government supported the introduction of Hindi in Madras province but the Dravida Kazhagam (DK) opposed it. The protest then took the form of violent clashes and two people died in it.

In any case, opposition to Hindi has always been a major factor in Tamil Nadu's politics. The reason behind the movement in the 1960s was also political. This movement in 1965 raised the question of Dravidian identity and since then Dravidian identity and language have been an issue there. However, the kind of opposition that leaders in Tamil Nadu show towards Hindi is not seen among the common people.

To promote Hindi in the states of South India, Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha was established in Chennai in 1918, which is still active. The Sabha is teaching Hindi here and about 65 percent of the people studying Hindi are Tamil speakers. The number of people learning Hindi from Hindi Prachar Sabha is constantly increasing.

In 2022, the central government started Kashi-Tamil Sangam. Through this, it is trying to bring Kashi and Tamil closer and connect the South with the cultural unity of North India. Talks are going on with people on both these lines.

A few years ago, former US President Barack Obama also advised Americans to learn Hindi and said that "without learning Hindi, we will not be able to function in the future". This warning of Barack Obama is not without reason. The whole world is becoming aware of the fact that India is an emerging world power.

And there is a state like Tamil Nadu which instead of understanding the importance of Hindi, does politics in its name. The new education policy aims to strengthen and develop Indian languages by focusing on students' individual needs, interests, and abilities.

Divisive forces in society are a hindrance in preventing its implementation. These need to be dealt with strictly. Knowing and speaking a variety of languages is a pleasure in itself. In my opinion, the more languages ​​a person knows, the more he will benefit. This will help students to improve their communication skills. This will bring students closer to Indian culture.