No language will be imposed, says Union Minister S Jaishankar on new draft education policy

In the wake of massive outrage over the draft National Education Policy recommending to teach Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday assured to consult all the state governments before final implementation of the same. The draft National Education Policy 2019, prepared by a panel led by eminent scientist K Kasturirangan, refers to the inclusion of English and Hindi besides mother tongue in non-Hindi speaking states and wants the Hindi speaking states to include English, Hindi and one Indian language from other parts of India.

Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar wrote, "The National Education Policy as submitted to the Minister HRD is only a draft report. Feedback shall be obtained from general public. State Governments will be consulted. Only after this the draft report will be finalised. GoI (Government of India) respects all languages. No language will be imposed," Jaishankar tweeted.

The National Education Policy as submitted to the Minister HRD is only a draft report. Feedback shall be obtained from general public. State Governments will be consulted. Only after this the draft report will be finalised. GoI respects all languages. No language will be imposed

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) June 2, 2019

Jaishankar was replying to one of the Twitter users who posted a query regarding the newly introduced three-language policy. With this, he certainly followed the footsteps of his predecessor Sushma Swaraj, who used respond on Twitter to various queries and calls for assistance of several Indians abroad.

READ | Why does not North India learn Malayalam or Tamil?: Shashi Tharoor on three-language row

The three-language formula, what they called 'Hindi imposition', drew sharp reactions from several parts of India, especially those non-Hindi speaking states like Tamil Nadu, with several regional parties, including Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), warning of a language war on the issue.

Recalling the anti-Hindi agitations beginning as early as 1937 in Tamil Nadu, DMK chief MK Stalin in a statement said since 1968 the state was following the two-language formula of learning only Tamil and English, adding that the party would never tolerate imposition of Hindi and strongly oppose it.

Parties including the CPI and BJP's ally in the Lok Sabha elections, the PMK too alleged the recommendation on the three-language formula was "imposition of Hindi" and wanted scrapping it. Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan said "be it language or a project, if we do not like that, it should not be forced on us". He said his party would pursue legal options against it.

READ | Three-language row | Amid protests, Centre clarifies: 'Hindi will not be imposed' in schools

Seeking to cool frayed tempers, former HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, who is now minister for information and broadcasting in the new Modi Cabinet, on Saturday said a committee has just prepared a draft report regarding the policy and the final decision will be taken only after getting public feedback.