New Delhi: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has been at the forefront of opposing the three-language formula in the draft National Education Policy (NEP), slamming it as yet another attempt to “impose Hindi on the southern states”.
On Thursday, DMK chief M.K. Stalin went a step further on the party’s politics over language, demanding that Tamil be made an official language in central government offices.
But ThePrint has now learnt that while the DMK vehemently opposes the “imposition of Hindi”, Stalin’s daughter, Senthamarai Sabareesan, is among the DMK leaders and their relatives who run over 40 schools in the state with Hindi in the curriculum.
All of these schools, including the Sun Shine Senior Secondary School run by Sabareesan, are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The CBSE schools follow the three-language formula and Hindi has to be mandatorily taught right up to Class 8. In effect, the schools run by the DMK leaders teach Hindi to their students.
The schools also go against the very grain of the anti-Hindi movement in the state. Tamil Nadu has a history of opposing Hindi and since 1968, following anti-Hindi agitations in the state, it has been following a two-language policy — of teaching students English and Tamil. With all of the DMK-run schools affiliated to the CBSE, they follow the three-language formula.
The party’s Rajya Sabha MP, R.S. Bharathi, confirmed that Hindi is taught in these schools but added that they are run by the DMK leaders in their personal capacity.
“The DMK is not affiliated to any school. Officially we do not run any school,” Bharathi said. “If any DMK person is running a school, then it is in his personal capacity. We have categorically stated that we are not against Hindi but we are against the imposition of Hindi,” he added.
“Even during the time of Periyar, his own buildings in 1938 were given to schools that taught Hindi. This shows we had nothing to do with the language but with the forceful imposition of the language.”
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Schools owned by prominent DMK leaders
Sun Shine Senior Secondary School, run by Stalin’s daughter Sabareesan, isn’t the only school owned by a prominent DMK member offering Hindi in its curriculum. While calls to the school went unanswered, its official website states that it offers Hindi as a third language at all levels from Class 1 to 10. For classes 9 and 10, the school offers French, along with English and Tamil.
Of the other schools, one is run by R. Mani, the brother-in-law of DMK MLA from Tiruvannamalai, K. Pitchandi. The MLA’s brother, K. Karunanidhi, also runs a school.
The three-time DMK MP, S. Jagathrakshakan, owns the Shree Bharat Vidyaashram. He refused to comment on the issue.
Another DMK MP, R. Gandhi, and his son, Vinod Gandhi, own The Geekay World School, which is affiliated to both the CBSE and the Cambridge curriculum.
When ThePrint contacted another of these schools — the Chennai Public School — an official at the admission help desk confirmed that Hindi and Tamil are mandatory till Class 5. The school is owned by Devaraj, brother of prominent DMK leader Arcot Veerasamy.
The revelation has the BJP up in arms in the state. K.T. Raghavan, a BJP member from Tamil Nadu, accused the DMK of hypocrisy.
“Politicians from the DMK are big hypocrites. They have been at the forefront of opposing Hindi teaching in the state but all their schools have Hindi as a third language,” he said. “They may blame this on the CBSE but if they are so insistent on their principles, they should run state board schools and not CBSE ones,” Raghavan added.
“It’s only because they want to make more money, they are running CBSE schools,” he alleged.
The DMK leaders have in the past also opposed the central government’s Navodaya Vidyalayas in the state, citing Hindi being mandatory.
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