Recently, Music Director Abdul Khaliq (earlier known as Yuvan Shankar Raja) posted a picture wearing a t-shirt that says “I am a Tamil speaking Indian” standing next to a person wearing the t-shirt “Hindi theriyathu poda” (I don’t know Hindi, Get lost!). This triggered a row with the hashtag #இந்தி_தெரியாது_போடா.
But netizens were quick enough to point out the hypocrisy of this another woke ‘star’ from Kollywood, who had no qualms in scoring music for Hindi films, working with Hindi actors, singing Hindi songs for money and fame.
This new t-shirt storm is supposedly against ‘imposition of Hindi’ on non-Hindi speakers bringing to the discussion table the National Education Policy 2020 and the three language policy.
‘Hindi Imposition’ is a term used by ‘Dravidian’ fanatics especially the DMK in Tamil Nadu to ignite language chauvinism in the hope of getting some votes when their failure stands exposed. Sadly, even in 2020, this technique seems to be working for them. But Tamil people need to wake up from their deep slumber and question the absurdity of those politicians who talk endlessly about the current regime imposing Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states while the same hypocrites run private CBSE schools with Hindi as second language all over the state.
In the name of opposing the three language policy, what these Dravidian fanatics are doing is to disadvantage government school children while the private school children continue to benefit from learning three languages. This also works well for their business as aspirational parents put their wards in private schools that are mostly run by politicians, businessmen and their benamis, where English and Hindi are taught.
On the other hand we have the ‘woke’ film actors who enjoy rich, comfortable and luxurious lifestyle earning money and fame by working with people across the country and dealing with people who speak Hindi. These actors who can afford to send their kids to a top school where children are exposed to multiple languages (including Hindi) make hue and cry when the government tries to provide an opportunity for poor children to learn.
To critique the NEP by reading and understanding the provisions in it is necessary. But what is irking is when these hollow heads expose their double standards without even having read it.
It’s an absolutely folly when the Dravidian politicians say that their language is under threat due to the three language policy. If that is the case, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Odiya Marathi, Bengali, etc must be under threat now as they have been following the three language policy for years.
What the NEP 2020 does is that it provides children across India to learn and celebrate languages native to this land. Whilst schools in non-Hindi speaking would teach Hindi/other language as the third language along with English and regional native languages, schools in Hindi speaking states would offer languages from other parts of India. This totally provides opportunities for other language students to explore Tamil too.
Also, the policy clearly states in full capitals that no language will be imposed on anyone. This leaves one wondering whether these fanatics who claim to don’t know Hindi atleast know how to read simple English.
Multilingualism will also play a greater part in the student’s cognitive skills at a later point of time. Educationists, psychologists, researchers have time and again emphasized that exposure to multiple languages enhances their cognitive development. People who grow up multilingual have faster, more accurate and more robust mental capacities.
The NEP 2020 that lays stress on three language policy is definitely not going to replace/kill the native language of any state. What these mindless Dravidian chauvinists do in the name of opposing Hindi will kill only kill poor childrens’ future.