In a recent interview with Karan Thapar on The Wire, Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services, P.T.R. Palanivel Thiagarajan (PTR), showcased a level of arrogance and hypocrisy that has become emblematic of the DMK’s approach to governance and policy. While defending Tamil Nadu’s two-language policy and opposing the National Education Policy (NEP), PTR’s arguments were riddled with contradictions, elitism, and a blatant disregard for facts.
In the interview not only did he insult Hindi speakers but also ridiculed children in UP and Bihar.
Throughout the video, he kept harping on one point alone – TN government school children should study only 2 languages. He called it an “ethnically, culturally, and economically, sophisticated approach” that has apparently yielded spectacular results. Well, the ASER Report 2024 will probably be laughing in a corner. Speaking to Karan Thapar, he said, “We are elected by the people, we are legislators, we form a government, we have a government policy. Our policy is a two-language policy. We are very very clear that we do not want a three-language policy. It doesn’t matter to me what Mr Yadav thinks. I’m so glad. How many children in Uttar Pradesh know three languages? How many children in Bihar know three languages? Since you have such a fantastic idea that every child can learn three languages, what has been the outcome in our country for the last 75 years? What percentage of our children are spectacularly good at two? Let’s start then with three. What do you mean children are spectacularly good at learning? Where have been the outcomes to show any of this to be true? We are very clear we want a two-language formula; it is both an ethnically, culturally, and economically, sophisticated approach that has yielded spectacular results. Tell me one place where a three-language formula in this country has yielded better results than the state of Tamil Nadu and explain to me why we should change our policy for the sake of somebody else.”
But here’s the hypocrisy of PTR that we are exposing.
PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan is married to an American woman, Margaret Thiagarajan, and has two children Palani and Vel. As per this report published in The Hindu in 2017, it was revealed that Palani (then 12 years of age) and Vel (then 10 years of age), we have PTR himself admitting that the children studied at The American School in Chennai.
While English is the medium of instruction at The American School in Chennai, they also offer “world languages (French and Spanish)” for students in Grades 3–5. They also offer English as an additional language for students whose mother tongue/language spoken at home is not English.
It is at this grade that students in India under NEP 2020 are also introduced to another language (Indian). So if PTR’s sons could study world languages apart from English, then why is he denying the opportunity of government school students in Tamil Nadu to learn another Indian language is what critics ask.
PTR’s Schooling
For all the Dravidianist talk that PTR and his father/grandfather, who were hardcore Dravidianist leaders, spoke, PTR himself is an alumnus of The Lawrence School, Lovedale, and Vikaasa School, Madurai as per Wikipedia.
It is a known fact that The Lawrence School offers French as an additional language for its students.
PTR belonged to Class of 1983. Learning French was vogue then as much as it is in vogue now.
Ultimately, PTR’s stance appears less about preserving Tamil Nadu’s cultural identity and more about perpetuating a divisive and elitist agenda that denies students the chance to thrive in a multilingual, interconnected world. Would leaders like PTR align their personal practices with their public policies and prioritize the holistic development of all students, rather than imposing arbitrary limitations rooted in political rhetoric?
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