Amaravathi (Andhra Pradesh), India, March 15 (ANI): In the midst of the continuing dispute between the Central government and Tamil Nadu , The Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan On Saturday, he elucidated his position regarding the controversy surrounding the Hindi language, stating that he has never been against Hindi itself as a language but rather opposes its mandatory enforcement.
On a post on X, Kalyan addressed the misconceptions surrounding the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, stressing that the policy provides students with the option to select from various Indian languages, such as their native tongue, along with an additional foreign language.
"Forcefully imposing a language or blindly rejecting it doesn’t aid in achieving the goal of national and cultural integration for our India. I have never been against Hindi as a language. My objection was solely towards making it mandatory. Since even NEP 2020 doesn’t mandate Hindi, propagating misleading stories about its enforcement is simply aimed at confusing people," Kalyan stated.
The leader of Jana Sena criticized the circulation of incorrect stories regarding the enforcement of Hindi, asserting that these assertions confuse people and hinder the aim of promoting national cohesion and multilingualism.
According to NEP 2020, students have the option to study any two Indian languages (such as their native tongue) alongside a foreign language. They may choose not to take Hindi and instead select from options like Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Sanskrit, Gujarati, Assamese, Kashmiri, Odia, Bengali, Punjabi, Sindhi, Bodo, Dogri, Konkani, Maithili, Meitei, Nepali, Santali, Urdu, or any other Indian language,” he stated.
"The multilingual approach aims to provide students with choices, foster national cohesion, and maintain India’s extensive linguistic heritage. Misunderstanding this policy for political purposes and asserting that Pawan Kalyan Altering his position only indicates a deficiency of comprehension. Jana Sena Party strongly upholds the principle of linguistic freedom and educational choices for all Indians," Pawan Kalyan said.
On Friday, Kalyan criticised Tamil Nadu politicians for his accusation of "hypocrisy" concerning the supposed enforcement of Hindi within the state.
He highlighted that even though these leaders are against Hindi, they permit Tamil films to be dubbed into the language for monetary reasons.
Kalyan's comments come amid Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin charging the Union government with Hindi imposition and declining to adopt the three-language framework outlined in the NEP as a form of opposition. (ANI)
