Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 10: The language war between the Centre and Tamil Nadu escalated further on Monday with the union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan using some offensive terms for the ruling party members of Tamil Nadu, which was subsequently expunged from the records of the Lok Sabha, and the Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin asking the union minister to “mind his tongue.”
The language war over the National Education Policy (NSP), which the DMK government in Tamil Nadu consider as the Centre’s way of imposing Hindi on the southern states, saw its impact both inside and outside Parliament after Mr Pradhan criticised the Stalin government for “ruining the future of students (from the state)”. He also used a pejorative – to describe Tamil Nadu – that he later withdrew and was then expunged from the Lok Sabha’s records.
Mr Stalin immediately delivered a feisty response, on X he told Mr Pradhan to “mind his words” and said, “The Union Education Minister, who thinks of himself as a king and speaks arrogantly, needs to be disciplined!”
“They (the DMK) are being dishonest. They are not committed to Tamil Nadu students. They are ruining the future of Tamil Nadu students. Their only job is to raise language barriers. They are doing politics… mischief. They are undemocratic,” Mr Pradhan raged in the Lok Sabha. The DMK hit back with a privilege motion K Kanimozhi submitted to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
His remarks followed his earlier claim – that Tamil Nadu had, in fact, agreed to fully implement the new education policy, including its three-language formula, only to backtrack later, allegedly in hopes of using the emotionally charged issue to get votes in next year’s Assembly election.
He also claimed “internal bickering” in the DMK – which has dominated recent elections in the state, including the 2021 Assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha polls – had led to this stand-off. Mr Pradhan’s remarks triggered a row in the Lok Sabha that was then adjourned for 30 minutes.
DMK MPs then continued to protest against his comment outside the Parliament building. The minister’s jab drew a biting response from Mr Stalin, who said Mr Pradhan “thinks of himself as a king”. “You are insulting the people of Tamil Nadu. Does the Honourable Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, accept this?” Mr Stalin asked, tagging the PM and continuing, “We have not come forward to implement your plan (the three-language formula) … and no one can force us…”
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister then demanded a definitive answer from Mr Modi on threats by Mr Pradhan last month – that the centre would withhold funds for the state’s education sector unless it complies with the three-language policy. Mr Stalin had branded the warning as “blackmail.”
Mr Stalin wanted to know whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoned the comments insulting the people of the State. “Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan, who assumes that he is a king and speaks with arrogance, should mind his tongue. You, who have been deceiving [us] by not giving funds to Tamil Nadu, are saying Tamil Nadu MPs are uncivilised?” Mr Stalin charged in a social media post.
Mr Stalin further said: “You are insulting the people of Tamil Nadu. Is Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepting this?” The CM went on to cite a communication from Mr Pradhan and said: “Isn’t it you who sent a letter saying that the Tamil Nadu government rejected the MoU for PM SHRI over the NEP [National Education Policy] and the three-language policy,” Mr Stalin asked, sharing a copy of the communication on social media.
Directly addressing the Minister, Mr Stalin said: “Mr Pradhan, we act only by respecting the sentiments of the people, unlike you, who oblige by the words from Nagpur [RSS headquarters]!” The CM said: “We did not come forward to implement your programme. When that is the case, no one can force us to implement it.” Mr Stalin further said: “Just clarify whether you will release the funds due to the students of Tamil Nadu, which you collected from us as tax.”
Mr Pradhan made the objectionable remarks in the Lok Sabha while responding to concerns raised by Chennai South MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian, made remarks questioning the civility and democratic nature of the MPs from the State.
It wasn’t just Mr Pradhan and Mr Stalin firing at each other; ex-Andhra Pradesh Governor and BJP leader from Tamil Nadu Tamilisai Soundarajan accused the DMK of denying students from poorer sections the right to study a third language. “When children from affluent families (can) study three languages, why is the same opportunity being denied to poor children…?” she asked.
Meanwhile, from across the aisle, the DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran and K Kanimozhi hit out at the narrative the party had reneged on a promise to fully implement the new education policy. “… DMK never agreed to NEP or three-language policy… all we said is our students need not learn three languages while students from the north learn only one. We are not against Hindi… if students want to learn… they are free to do so but it should not be compulsory…” Mr Maran said.
The row over ‘Hindi imposition’ – a sensitive topic in the south, and particularly in Tamil Nadu, where violent ‘anti-Hindi’ riots broke out in the 1960s and which has always been opposed to the language being foisted on it – has re-erupted with the BJP pushing its new education policy.
The DMK argues Tamil Nadu has flourished with a two-language system (Tamil and English) and sees no need for a third. The BJP maintains its formula will benefit people travelling to other states.
Last week Mr Stalin and Union Home Minister Amit Shah exchanged jabs. Mr Shah claimed the centre had done more for Tamil speakers than the state party, pointing to a decision to allow candidates for the Central Armed Police Force entrance test to write in their mother tongue. “I want to urge the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to take steps towards introducing the curriculum of medical and engineering courses in Tamil as soon as possible,” he declared.
The centre had actually approved conducting the CAPF exams in 13 regional languages in 2023, days after Mr Stalin protested the decision to conduct it only in Hindi and English. “History is clear. Those who tried to impose Hindi on Tamil Nadu have either been defeated or later changed their stance and aligned with DMK (the unspoken reference was to the Congress, which was in power at the centre during the anti-Hindi riots of the 1960s and is now a firm ally). Tamil Nadu will not tolerate Hindi colonialism replacing British colonialism,” the Chief Minister responded.
