Tamil News

Stop Hindi Imposition: Celebrities React To Centre’s Draft Education Policy

By Aarthi Murali

After the huge backlash and protests to the Central Government’s National Educational Policy, from politicians, people and celebrities in the south, particularly Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the centre has altered the policy and released a revised draft removing the requirement for making Hindi a mandatory third language in schools.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The Ministry of Human Resource Development and other central government ministers were quick to clarify that this was not the final policy, and they were still getting feedback from leaders in the south.

The anti-Hindi voice has only been growing louder since then, with the support of activists and leaders like Stalin, Kanimozhi, Siddaramiah, and HD Kumaraswamy. The DMK passed a resolution in Tamil Nadu saying it will strongly oppose any threat to the two-language formula in the state.

Kannada actors like Prakash Belawadi and Chetan are known for the anti-Hindi protests that they have been staging for the last few years. Kamal Haasan spoke to the media on June 1 and said that Makkal Needhi Maiam will strongly oppose Hindi imposition. He dismissed views that learning Hindi will help with the job crisis, and said it was not getting better under the present economic conditions anyway.

Composer AR Rahman was also among the first celebrities to join the opposition. He shared the song ‘Innum Konjam Neram’ sung by a Punjabi singer, and said, “Tamizh is spreading in Punjab.” He later welcomed the revision in the draft policy.

A response for actor-politician Rajinikanth is awaited.

Director Suseenthiran shared a bio about his work in Tamil films published in The Hindu.

Actor RJ Balaji shared a deleted scene from LKG where he tells a journalist that Hindi is not the national language and he need not speak or learn the language.

Siddharth, Khushboo Sundar, Chinmayi among others tweeted against the imposition.

Director-producer Pa Ranjith’s Neelam Cultural Centre also joined the protests.

Ayushmann Khurrana was the only Bollywood actor to speak against Hindi imposition.

While the strong backlash from leaders and others poured in, the Tamil meme nation hit back once again at the central government.

Image Courtesy: Alex Livingston Twitter Handle

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Aarthi Murali is a Alum at Silverscreen India, and can be reached by email at aarthi.murali@silverscreen.in