'Rise above politics': Dharmendra Pradhan requests Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin to reconsider NEP stance

Pradhan has requested Stalin to "not politicise education".

The Education Minister has written a long letter to Stalin appealing to the CM of the southern state to backtrack from his stance.

Pradhan wrote on X, "Highly inappropriate for a State to view NEP 2020 with a myopic vision and use threats to sustain political narratives.

"Hon’ble PM @narendramodi ji’s govt. is fully committed to promote and popularise the eternal Tamil culture and language globally. I humbly appeal to not politicise education and rise above political differences in the best interest of our students."

Addressing Tamil Nadu's opposition to the three-language formula, Pradhan wrote in the letter, "The Hon'ble Prime Minister during his visit to Chennai on 26th May, 2022 had said 'Tamil language is eternal and Tamil culture is global. The Government is fully committed to popularising Tamil language and culture'."

"As you are aware, under the directions of the Hon'ble Prime Minister, Kashi Tamil Sangamam and Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam were organised by the Government of India to celebrate our shared diversity and cultural confluence between Tamil Nadu and other parts of India," he added.

Pradhan went on to say that the NEP's aim is to promote India's "rich linguistic heritage".

"Let me unequivocally state that there is no question of imposing any language on any state or community. NEP 2020 upholds the principle of linguistic freedom and ensures that students continue to learn in the language of their choice," the union minister wrote.

Pradhan said the three-language policy, which in his words has been the "backbone of India's education framework since 1968', was never implemented in true sense "leading to a decline in the systematic teaching of Indian languages in schools".

Earlier, Stalin accused the Centre of blackmailing Tamil Nadu by withholding funds for not implementing NEP 2020.

Stalin had posted on X, "Denying funds to the best-performing states for refusing to bow to the #NEP, while generously rewarding those who are not delivering on the objectives – Is this how the Union BJP Government plans to promote quality education and equity? I leave it to the wisdom of our nation and our people to decide!"

On the occasion of International Mother Language Day, Tamil Nadu Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin on Friday made a veiled attack on the Centre over the alleged imposition of Hindi.

Udhayanidhi wrote on X, "A mother tongue is not just a tool for communication. It is the foundation of a nation's identity, culture, and history. This is the basis for our desire to protect Tamil and the fascist conspiracy to impose Hindi. Tamil Nadu has been defeating all the schemes that have been tried to defeat Tamil for almost a century.

"It will continue to fall. 'Our enemy has hidden somewhere - let us unite and protect our Tamil language in accordance with the lines of revolutionary poet Bharathidasan.'."