Letter to BS: Hindi imposition controversy is deeper than it looks like

The opposition to the imposition of Hindi stems not just from the linguistic perspective, but also from the perception of it a being a 'cultural invasion'

The government did well to retreat from the perilous course of imposing Hindi and drop the ‘Hindi clause’ from the draft NEP in the face of the backlash from Tamil Nadu and some other non-Hindi speaking states. At the same time, it has to do more to assure southerners that it has no intention to make the study of Hindi in schools compulsory. To put it plainly, it has to abandon the ill-conceived proposal to introduce and implement the three-language formula across the country. It is pointless to say that students are free to make a choice. The problem is