Back in 2019, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the centre proposed the National Education Policy (NEP) that included a 3-language system for schools, actor Suriya voiced out his opposition to the imposition of Hindi on students in the state of Tamil Nadu.
He opposed the NEP saying that it tried to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states and that the policy as a whole is anti-poor. He claimed that the draft NEP was against rural students.
• Epaper : Draft NEP against rural students : @Suriya_offl | #Suriya #SuriyaStandsForEducation @Karthi_Offl @rajsekarpandian pic.twitter.com/ViEmDyXGQF
— Jithu Suriya ✨ (@jithusuriya) July 14, 2019
“From three years, three languages are being imposed on students and government school students are most affected by this,” he had said.
“I find it difficult to teach even my kids the third language, who will teach the government school students then? If we are going to be silent about this policy, it will be imposed on us,” he had claimed.
A few months ago, he even shifted to Mumbai with his wife and children allegedly for reasons varying from his wife, Jyothika’s acting career to their children’s schooling to his mother-in-law’s health. He is said to have allegedly bought a luxurious apartment worth ₹70 crores in a gated-community in Mumbai.
In a tweet yesterday to promote his upcoming film Kanguva, he tweeted in 6 languages including Hindi to attract audience attention.
நலமா… కుశలమా… ಸೌಖ್ಯವಾ… സുഗമാ… क्या बात हैं… Wassup mate…#GlimpseOfKanguva https://t.co/itW89Vwnb3@directorsiva @ThisIsDSP @StudioGreen2
— Suriya Sivakumar (@Suriya_offl) July 22, 2023
However, netizens were quick to call out his apparent hypocrisy. They pointed out that Suriya had been vocal against Hindi “imposition” allegedly under the NEP, and his multi-language tweet seemed contradictory to his previous stance.
6 Faces of Hypocrisy in 1 tweet. https://t.co/Hs7qTZIVyl
— Aryabhata | ஆர்யபட்டா 🕉️ (@Aryabhata99) July 24, 2023
மூன்று மொழியெல்லாம் தமிழ்நாட்டு குழந்தைகளால் படிக்க முடியாதுன்னு கூவிட்டு, 6 மொழில தன் படத்துக்கு விளம்பரம் தேடறான் பாருங்க..
இதுதான் தமிழ்நாட்டில் உள்ள அநேக போராளிகளின் உண்மை முகம்.. pic.twitter.com/xlIJuvDEko
— Vij Sriram (@sriramchennai07) July 23, 2023
இந்தி தெரியாது போடா மயிறு… https://t.co/rOkQsHn3HO
— Johny Bhai 🇮🇳 (@Johni_raja) July 23, 2023
This is not the first time ‘actor’ Suriya has been called out for his hypocrisy.
His film ‘Jai Bhim’ features a controversial scene in which a north-Indian man gets slapped for speaking Hindi.
Prakash Raj who plays the role of a police officer slaps a north-Indian (who has been stereotyped as a ‘Marwari’ Saet) for speaking in Hindi and asks him to speak in Tamil. In Hindi, the same scene shows Prakash Raj uttering the dialogue “Speak the truth”. Only in Telugu and Tamil, the makers of the film seem to have deliberately kept the dialogue to exploit linguistic faultlines.
'உண்மையை பேசு' என்று அடி விழுவதாக ஹிந்தியில் வருகிறது..'தெலுங்கில்' பேசு என்று அடி விழுவதாக தெலுங்கில் வருகிறது..
திட்டமிட்டு தமிழ் மற்றும் தெலுங்கில் மட்டுமே மொழி வெறியையும் பிரிவினையையும் வளர்க்க இந்த காட்சி வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.. pic.twitter.com/ycTSGmMJda
— SundarRajaCholan☀சுந்தர்ராஜசோழன்☀ (@sundarrajachola) November 2, 2021
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