Chennai: A Tamil Nadu-based lawyer has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court, seeking the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and West Bengal.
Chennai-based lawyer G.S. Mani filed the PIL on Thursday, arguing that these states are constitutionally and legally obligated to implement the NEP and sign the necessary Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The petition comes amid an ongoing debate over the alleged imposition of Hindi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s strong opposition to the NEP’s three-language policy.
Tamil Nadu currently follows a two-language system, teaching only Tamil and English, and has opposed the inclusion of Hindi. The state government has accused the Centre of attempting to impose Hindi through the NEP.
However, Mani contends that this claim is false, arbitrary, and politically motivated, and that it goes against the fundamental right to free and effective education. In his plea, Mani acknowledged that the SC does not have the direct authority to force a state government to accept a policy or sign an MoU, however, he argued that the apex court can issue directives if constitutional provisions or laws are being violated.
In such cases, the state government could be compelled to take specific actions. The petitioner further stated that the NEP does not mandate the imposition of Hindi and accused Tamil Nadu’s leadership of misrepresenting the policy for political reasons.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin reiterated his opposition to the NEP and its language policy, accusing the BJP-led central government of disregarding linguistic equality.
Using a well-known quote, he stated: “When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”
Taking to social media platform X, Stalin criticised those who, in his words, “brand Tamil Nadu’s demand for linguistic equality as chauvinistic and anti-national.”
He also accused BJP leaders of questioning the patriotism of the DMK government, despite its historic contributions to national causes such as the Chinese Aggression, the Bangladesh Liberation War, and the Kargil War.
Further attacking the BJP’s ideological stance, Stalin remarked: “The very people who glorify Godse’s ideology have the audacity to question the patriotism of the DMK, while their ideological forefather is the one who assassinated ‘Bapu’ Gandhi.”
Stalin maintained that opposing the three-language policy does not amount to linguistic chauvinism. Instead, he argued that forcing a language on people creates division and weakens national unity.
He described “Hindi zealots” as those who consider their language privilege natural, while dismissing Tamil Nadu’s resistance as treason. In a sharp rebuke of the Centre, he stated.
Stalin said, “Chauvinism is naming the three criminal laws that govern 140 crore citizens in a language that Tamils cannot even pronounce or comprehend by reading. Chauvinism is treating a state that contributes the most to the nation as second-class citizens and denying its fair share for refusing to swallow the poison called NEP.”
On Wednesday, Stalin also questioned the BJP’s claims of promoting Tamil, pointing out that the Union government’s actions contradict its rhetoric.
“If the BJP’s claim that our Hon’ble PM has great love for Tamil is true, why is it never reflected in action?” he asked in a social media post.
He urged the Centre to take concrete steps rather than relying on symbolic gestures, such as installing the Sengol in Parliament.
“Rather than installing Sengol in Parliament, uninstall Hindi from Union government offices in Tamil Nadu. Instead of hollow praise, make Tamil an official language on par with Hindi and allocate more funds for Tamil than for a dead language like Sanskrit.”
Stalin highlighted funding disparities, noting that despite having eight crore speakers, Tamil receives only Rs 74 crore from the Union government, while Sanskrit, spoken by only a few thousand, gets Rs 1,488 crore.
(IANS)
