DMK should wake up. Anti-Hindi politics isn’t working on Tamil Nadu voters anymore

The three-language formula suggested by NEP 2020 has become a face-saver for the DMK government to sweep all its failures under the carpet.

M K Stalin addressing the party's General Council Meeting | PTI

With the state assembly election around the corner, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government in Tamil Nadu, staring at a likely defeat due to the anti-incumbency factor, has got what it needed the most—a straw to clutch at. 

The three-language formula suggested by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has become a face-saver for the DMK government to sweep all its failures under the carpet. The party, which amalgamated anti-Hindi, anti-North, anti-Brahminism (a euphemism for anti-Hindu politics), and opposition to the central government is once again reviving the “down with Hindi” agitation.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s anti-Hindi rhetorics are not likely to earn him political dividends this time for several reasons, mainly because of the hollowness of his understanding of the provisions of the NEP 2020. 

The TLF and DMK’s rise 

The three-language formula is not a new idea. The University Education Commission made the first recommendation for such a policy in 1948-1949, which did not find the study of three languages to be an extravagance and quoted the example of other multilingual nations such as Belgium and Switzerland. It accepted that Modern Standard Hindi was a minority language, and had no superiority over Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Malayalam, Assamese and Gujarati—all of which had a longer history and greater body of literature. However, the commission foresaw Hindi eventually replacing English as the link language in a federal structure of governance.

In 1952, the Mudaliar Commission was set up under the chairmanship of former Vice Chancellor of Madras University, Dr Lakshmana Swami Mudaliar. It reviewed secondary school education and recommended that students learn three languages in secondary schools: the national language, a regional language, and a foreign language. 

Later, the Kothari Commission was established in 1964 as an ad-hoc body under the former chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), Daulat Singh Kothari. The commission, also known as the National Education Commission, in its 1966 report recommended the three-language formula (TLF). It was aimed at promoting national integration and multilingualism in India’s education system. Students were recommended to learn their mother tongue or regional language as their first language. The formula sought to serve three functions—accommodating group or regional identity, affirming national unity, and increasing administrative efficiency. 

While the TLF was implemented nationally in 1968 under the NEP, the Congress government in Tamil Nadu (then Madras State) faced the wrath of anti-Hindi agitation spearheaded by the DMK. It led to the defeat of the Congress and the emergence of the DMK under the leadership of CN Annadurai. In 1968, Tamil Nadu was the only state across the country to adopt a two-language policy, Tamil and English.

The NEP 1986, which came up with path-breaking recommendations like Operation Blackboard, also retained the three-language formula and supported the promotion of Hindi as the third and link language. Again, the Tamil Nadu government refused to accept it and derived political benefits from the anti-Hindi sentiments that had been prevalent in the state since the 1960s. 

The NEP 2020 also retained the same three-language formula but offered much greater flexibility and more choices for non-Hindi-speaking states. It does not propose Hindi to be made compulsory, even in Hindi-speaking states. Without imposing any language on any state, it leaves the choice to the states, regions and students, as long as at least two of the three languages are native to India. 

Ironically, English has become a ‘native’ language of India by default. While the Constitution provides that Hindi is the official language of the Union, English was originally meant to continue for only 15 years from 1950. However, the Official Languages Act 1963 allows English to continue as an official language, in addition to Hindi, for all official purposes of the Union without any time limit.

Anti-Hindi politics 

The NEP 2020 incidentally recommends learning foreign languages such as Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian as an optional subject in middle and high school to help students become more globally aware. Indian classical languages such as Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia have also been recommended as optional subjects. The DMK and its leadership should apologise to the people of Tamil Nadu for misleading and resorting to the lowest form of political deception by saying that NEP 2020 imposes Hindi.

In fact, since the NEP 2020 says that states adopting the three-language formula receive funds earmarked under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, the Tamil Nadu government is free to choose any language as the third language, not necessarily Hindi. The DMK government should set aside its political chicanery and ego and adopt a policy that is meant for the entire country instead of fanning anti-Hindi, anti-Centre agitations. 

The DMK government appears to have realised the futility of its agitation as the truth is out on social media and the public domain. Probably that’s why Stalin said that opposition to Hindi would go once the Centre stopped imposing Hindi. The DMK’s main political planks like Dravidian separatism, anti-Hindi sentiments and blaming the Centre and the North for Tamil Nadu’s economic backwardness won’t appeal to the young new voters who are ambitious. These clichéd phrases don’t enthuse them. 

The absolute failure of regional parties, the willingness of the BJP to forge newer alliances and the emergence of dynamic leaders like former IPS officer K Annamalai, have clearly unnerved the DMK. Issues like anti-Hindi agitation, which catapulted it to power in the sixties, are no longer issues for the voters of Tamil Nadu. The DMK should wake up and smell the coffee.

Seshadri Chari is the former editor of ‘Organiser’. He tweets @seshadrichari. Views are personal.

(Edited by Ratan Priya)