While Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya spoke in favour of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2019 Draft saying that it has been “twisted and misinterpreted”, several leaders of the coalition government in Karnataka have opposed it.
Bengaluru: From Congress Legislature Party (CLP) president Siddaramaiah to chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, many leaders of both parties of the coalition have opposed the National Education Policy (NEP) 2019 Draft and stated that it “would be of no use in a non-Hindi speaking state like Karnataka.”
Taking to Twitter, CLP leader Siddaramaiah posted a tweet which said, "New National Education Policy draft imposes Hindi in non-Hindi states & this goes against our sentiments."
"If recognition of regional identity is inconsistent according to few then imposition of Hindi is nothing but a brutal assault on our States," he added.
In another tweet, Siddaramaiah said that the Kannada language is the state's identity and learning any other language should be by choice and not by imposition.
Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy also opposed the NEP 2019 Draft and said that in the three-language course, two languages (Kannada and English in Karnataka) could be imposed but not the third language (Hindi).
However, Bengaluru South's newly elected MP, Tejasvi Surya spoke in favour of the draft saying it has been "twisted, misinterpreted and misunderstood."
Taking to Twitter, the BJP MP posted a tweet which said that he is proud of his language, Kannada, and its beauty and contribution to India's culture. However, few aspects of the NEP Draft have been "twisted, misinterpreted and misunderstood", Surya said.
He further went on to justify his statement. “The NEP is encouraging a child in a non-Hindi state to learn Hindi, it also directs the child in a Hindi-speaking state to learn a language spoken elsewhere in India like Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali and many other languages. The purpose is national integration and preservation of all languages,” the Bengaluru South MP added.
The issue on the Hindi imposition made noise after the BJP marked a massive victory in the recent Lok Sabha election. On May 31, several political leaders in Tamil Nadu opposed the Draft and said that the use of Hindi language in a non-Hindi state would not help a child in any way.
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.