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MK Stalin vs Dharmendra Pradhan: Centre can’t blackmail, says DMK leader; union minister fires back with Hindi argument
The war of words between the Centre and Tamil Nadu has heated up, with education minister Dharmendra Pradhan saying that there is nothing wrong with students of the state learning another language. His comments come a day after M K Stalin accused the Centre of ‘blackmailing’ over NEP.
As the war of words between the DMK and central government heats up, Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said that the Centre will implement the New Education Policy (NEP) across India, dismissing the Tamil Nadu government’s opposition to the NEP as “politics”.
“To create competition among students, to create a level-playing field, we have to come to a common platform. NEP is the new aspirational common platform. I respect all languages. This NEP, envisioned by PM Modi, is giving emphasis to the mother tongue,” he said.
The Centre and the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government have been at loggerheads over the implementation of NEP and the three-language formula proposed in the policy.
NEP does not impose Hindi: Dharmendra Pradhan
Acknowledging that Tamil is one of the oldest languages, Pradhan said there was nothing wrong with students in Tamil Nadu being multilingual and learning other languages.
“It can be Tamil, English and other Indian languages," he told reporters in Delhi.
“There is no imposition of Hindi or any other language on them. Some friends in Tamil Nadu are doing politics. But the Indian government is committed to implementing NEP and there are certain conditions with NEP,” he added.
The minister accused the Tamil Nadu government of having political interests and not implementing NEP due to those.
“Tamil Nadu (government) is not implementing the policy because of its political interests but to create competition among students, to create a level-playing field, we have to come to a common platform. The NEP is the new aspirational common platform. I respect all languages,” Pradhan said.
NEP: MK Stalin accuses Centre of ‘blackmailing’
In a post on X on Sunday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader M K Stalin said Dharmendra Pradhan was “blackmailing” the state by refusing to release funds unless it accepted the NEP.
In the post, Stalin shared a purported video of Pradhan talking to reporters in Varanasi. In the video, Pradhan is heard saying that Tamil Nadu must follow the Constitution and that the three-language policy is the rule of law.
“Can the Education Minister say which section of the Indian Constitution makes the three-language policy mandatory? India is a union of states. Education is in the concurrent list. The Union Government does not have monopoly over this. Tamils will not tolerate the audacity of blackmailing them by saying, “There will be no funds for Tamil Nadu until we accept the trilingual policy”,” he said in the post.
Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhaynidhi Stalin also protested against the comments, saying that the threat to withdraw funds was unacceptable.
CM Stalin had also earlier this month accused the Centre of resorting to "open blackmail" by snatching away ₹2,152 crore meant for the state and giving it to other states for refusing to accept the National Education Policy.
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Business NewsNewsMK Stalin vs Dharmendra Pradhan: Centre can’t blackmail, says DMK leader; union minister fires back with Hindi argument
First Published:17 Feb 2025, 05:03 PM IST
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