Language politics should not hinder students' interests: Tamil Nadu BJP

The Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP on Tuesday appealed to political parties opposed to the three-language formula suggested in the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 not to allow politics to come in the way of students' interests.

State BJP President L Murugan also asked them not to shut the doors for the students of other states from learning Tamil.

Maintaining that the political parties in the state are making false claims about Sanskrit or Hindi imposition under the NEP, Murugan said Tamil Nadu's rejection of the three-language formula might discourage the students of other states from learning Tamil as one of their languages.

Questioning the rationale in comparing the situation during the anti-Hindi agitations in the 1960s to the present time, Murugan on Tuesday asked, "is the situation during 1968 and 2020 the same?"

"Have not times or views changed," he said in a statement here.

When Tamil Nadu boycotts a third language at a time when the students from the state are given an opportunity to learn an additional Indian language like Malayalam, Telugu or Kannada, does not this stand create a situation where students from other states could boycott learning Tamil, the BJP leader sought to know.

"The NEP does not make it mandatory to learn Hindi or Sanskrit. Now that a conducive environment has been created under the new policy, children will be keen on learning more languages," Murugan said.

Already CBSE and matriculation schools in the state teach various languages to the students. Following dual language policy will mean that students in state government schools will be denied the opportunity to learn more languages, he claimed.

Amid stiff resistance from the opposition bloc led by the DMK, Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Monday made it clear the state government will not follow the three-language formula proposed in NEP 2020 and announced that the existing two-language system will continue.