Tamil Nadu Minister says Google app enough, slams Hindi imposition in schools
Tamil Nadu Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Thursday reiterated the state government's opposition to the imposition of Hindi, arguing that language learning must remain a matter of choice, not compulsion. Referring to a recent controversy in Karnataka, where around 90,000 students reportedly failed their examinations due to the imposition of Hindi, the Minister questioned the logic behind forcing students to study a language they may not choose voluntarily.advertisementQuestioning the necessity of learning Hindi for translation or communication purposes in the modern era, he said, 'We want to make our children scientists, architects, doctors. But they want to make them translators, for which a Google app is enough.' He argued that mobile technology now provides easy access to real-time translation, making it unnecessary to 'toil and study for a year' just to understand or speak another language.
'There is a difference between option and compulsion. If you are compelled to study, do not accept it,' the Minister said while speaking at a public function. He invoked the words of DMK founder CN Annadurai, who, in 1967, had declared that development should not come at the cost of linguistic imposition. 'Anna said imposing is different from educating. He said that if they say you can only develop if you learn Hindi, we do not need such development,' Anbil Mahesh said.advertisementThe Minister stated that Tamil Nadu's stand has always been to encourage multilingual learning, as long as it remains voluntary. 'Learn as many languages as you want. Learn all the 22 languages in the 8th Schedule. But do not impose,' he added.His remarks come in the wake of continuing resistance in Tamil Nadu against the push for Hindi under the Union government's National Education Policy (NEP), which has faced criticism for allegedly promoting a one-language agenda. The Minister's comments also reflect the DMK government's long-standing policy of two-language education and its emphasis on linguistic pride and regional identity.
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