Kamal Haasan urges voluntary language learning, opposes Hindi imposition in South
Kamal Haasan has addressed the issue of Hindi imposition in the south while promoting his new film, 'Thug Life'. Despite being involved in a controversy over his comments on Kannada, the actor made his stance clear. He emphasised that learning should happen without imposition and that education must take the shortest route without hurdles.Haasan faced backlash after stating that Kannada was born out of Tamil. His film 'Thug Life' was not released in Karnataka following his refusal to apologise. Now, in an interview with PTI, Haasan said, "I am the actor from 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye'. Without imposition, we will learn. Don't impose, because this is ultimately education and we must take the shortest route to education and not put hurdles in its way.'advertisementThe ruling party in Tamil Nadu has strongly opposed the three-language policy introduced under the National Education Policy (NEP), accusing the BJP-led NDA government of attempting to impose Hindi - a claim the Centre has denied. Actor Kamal Haasan echoed the concerns raised by states like Punjab, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, stating that imposing a particular language hinders the learning process.
Haasan further argued that for global opportunities, students should be encouraged to learn international languages such as English, Spanish, or Chinese. He emphasised that English education has a deep-rooted history in India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, and abruptly replacing it with Hindi could render many people functionally illiterate. He also questioned the government's commitment to protecting language rights and voiced concerns over the push for Hindi.Kamal Haasan added, "And English seems to be fair enough. You can do Spanish also, or Chinese. But I think the most practical thing where the shortest route to that is that we have 350 years of English education, slowly but steadily. So when you suddenly replace it, it's all over again. You make unnecessarily many people illiterate, especially in Tamil Nadu."advertisementHe continued, "You suddenly force all through Hindi and you tell them that you will not get your job beyond the Vindhyas, then you start wondering, what about the promises? What about my language? Am I not one of the 22 (official languages)? These are the questions that are coming."Meanwhile, 'Thug Life' faced backlash in Karnataka after a controversy over his remarks about the Kannada and Tamil languages. The film hit theatres on June 5 and also features Silambarasan TR and Trisha Krishnan.Tune InMust Watch
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