Hindi imposition row: MK Stalin slams Centre for proposed three-language formula, says draft policy will spell 'disaster' for BJP

Chennai: DMK president MK Stalin on Saturday said that the BJP government at the Centre should not even think about the three language policy and warned that such “greedy” things will cause “disaster”. [caption id=“attachment_4692091” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of DMK leader MK Stalin. PTI[/caption] A controversy broke out in Tamil Nadu on Saturday over the new Draft Education Policy of the Centre that has recommended a three language formula with political parties opposing “imposition” of Hindi in the state. “The BJP government should not even think about the three-language policy in Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu, having a two-language policy, is like honeycomb and BJP is trying to throw a stone at it by inflicting a three-language policy again. BJP should not even think about it in their dreams. Such greedy and wrong thing will cause disaster,” Stalin said. His comment comes in the wake of the draft education policy prepared by the Kasturirangan Committee, released yesterday, which spoke of continuation of the three language formula in the schools. In the Draft National Education Policy 2019, the three language formula recommends inclusion of English and Hindi besides mother tongue in the non-Hindi state, while the Hindi-speaking states should include English and Indian language from other parts of India. The draft policy said multilingualism is a necessity of India as of much of the developed world and must be considered a boon and an opportunity for learning and expanding one’s horizons rather than a burden. Children learn languages extremely quickly when immersed early and multilingual children in studies around the world have also been found to learn faster and be placed better later in life than those who are unilingual, it said.