Stalin leads protests against ‘saffron’ NEP

Tamil Nadu chief government minister MK joseph stalin on midweek led a state-wide dissent against the unification government amid a raging uproar over the National Education Policy (NEP), which he dubbed as a “saffron policy” aimed at developing Hindi and not the nation, and the proposed delimitation exercise, which he claimed was a sword hanging over south India.“We oppose NEP as it will completely destroy Tamil Nadu’s education growth. The NEP does not accept reservation that is social justice. This policy denies the assistance amount to scheduled castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs) and other backward classes (OBCs),” Stalin said at a public rally.Tamil Nadu views the three-language formula, a key aspect of NEP, as a “proxy for Hindi imposition”, he said, accusing the Centre of withholding funds to the state for opposing implementation of certain central schemes, including NEP.“Can there be more anarchy than saying that if you do not adopt the Hindi language, we will not provide funds?” the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief claimed, asserting the state will continue its two-language (English and Tamil) policy which has been in place since 1968.Alleging that it was not the NEP but a “saffron policy”, Stalin said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I have an appeal! Try to develop India rather than Hindi. Sanskrit cannot be developed even if you spend thousands of crores. You will spend crores to develop a language that is not spoken by the people. Will you betray our Tamil language that is recognised in several countries and spoken by the people?”His remarks came a day after Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan accused the Stalin government of trying to score political brownies to “revive” the ruling party’s fortunes, saying the DMK’s “latest cacophony” on language imposition and its stance on NEP’s three-language formula exposed their “hypocrisy”.In his address, the DMK chief said Pradhan should not take a class on democracy for the Tamil people.Stalin also reiterated his position on the proposed delimitation exercise of Lok Sabha seats, saying it was a “sword” that hangs over not only Tamil Nadu but the entire south India.“The BJP, which could not get the expected victory in southern states, wants to sustain power through wins in northern states alone and that is the conspiracy! They are trying to develop themselves by increasing the number of MPs in the states where they have influence. The DMK will stop this. We will take along all the parties of southern states and stop it,” Stalin said.The DMK chief said he has sent letters to 29 parties in seven states — Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, West Bengal and Punjab — and that a meeting with the parties will be held on March 22 in Chennai.The DMK organised similar meetings to condemn the Centre over NEP and delimitation issues across the state on Wednesday.The BJP hit back, with its state unit chief K Annamalai accusing the DMK of playing “language politics” to cover its failure on the education front in the state.“Tamil Nadu’s education system is collapsing because of disastrous policies, and DMK is directly responsible for it,” he alleged. “Instead of fixing schools, they’re playing language politics to cover up their failures.”