Language of politics

More voices from the state demand learning of Hindi

- G.C. Shekha

For a state that has kept the language fire burning furiously, it was no surprise that both the ruling and opposition parties of Tamil Nadu joined hands yet again to shoot down the three-language formula proposed by the National Educational Policy (NEP). They quickly dubbed the policy as yet another attempt to impose Hindi or Sanskrit on unsuspecting Tamils and swore by the two-language formula implemented since 1967.

Only this time contrarian voices against the two-language formula are ringing out loud and clear, raising questions if the concept has outlived its political utility. For the first time, the chief minister’s stand that the two-language formula would persist has been openly questioned by a well-known educationist. “The two-language formula deprived poor and rural students of government schools of learning an additional language while the rich and urban students of CBSE, Central, and private schools have the freedom to study any language they wish,” said E. Balagurusamy, former vice-chancellor of Anna University.