Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday said it was “an outright lie” to claim there is no Hindi imposition in the state, responding to remarks by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on the three-language policy.
In a statement, Stalin termed the Union minister’s comments “irresponsible” and said they reflected disregard for India’s diversity, federal values and respect for states. He reiterated that Tamil Nadu rejects the three-language policy, stressing that the issue is not opposition to any language but resistance to imposition and protection of constitutional rights.
Stalin argued that the policy cannot be called voluntary when non-Hindi-speaking states are effectively compelled to accept a third language and when education funding is linked to compliance. He alleged that withholding Rs 2,200 crore under the Samagra Shiksha scheme was unlawful and amounted to retaliation for Tamil Nadu’s refusal to accept Hindi, adding that the funds are not discretionary grants but money collected through taxes and owed to the people.
Questioning the Centre’s approach, he asked what third language is actually implemented in schools in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, and how many PM SHRI schools in the North genuinely teach southern languages such as Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu, or other Indian languages like Bengali, Odia and Marathi. He also sought details on how many Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan schools teach Tamil and how many Tamil and other southern language teachers have been appointed in the last 10 years.
Stalin said Tamil Nadu would not accept language imposition under any circumstances, even if framed as financial pressure or “national interest”. He maintained that the policy burdens students, violates states’ rights and dilutes India’s linguistic plurality, while asserting that Tamil Nadu’s language model has been a success and that opposition to Hindi imposition is about dignity and safeguarding true diversity.
