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Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party president K Annamalai accused certain political parties of making "unnecessary controversy" and trying to divide the country on the basis of language, taking a veiled jibe at Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which has alleged that the union government is trying to impose Hindi over non-hindi speaking states.
"Some political parties still want to divide our country based on language. Mother tongue is important for everyone. Mahakavi Bharati called Tamil the greatest language after knowing more than 10 languages. So people should study more languages," he told ANI while he was in Prayagraj. Annamalai's comments come amidst Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M K Stalin writing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi few days ago regarding the release of 'Samagra Shiksha' funds after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that they won't be released until the 'three language policy' of National Education Policy (NEP) is implemented in the state. The Tamil Nadu BJP chief assured that the students will not be forced to learn a particular language, instead they can choose any one language they would want. "The NEP emphasises studying one Indian language. It could be any language. In Tamil Nadu, students could study any other Dravidian language also. Political parties are unnecessarily making controversy," he said. The incumbent Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led government has constantly attacked the Central government regarding the imposition of the Hindi language in the state and had stated that the Centre isn't releasing funds to implement the NEP (New Education Policy). The Union Education minister has categorically refuted any claims by Tamil Nadu, saying these are "imaginary concerns." "One point I want to re-emphasize is that the NEP is not recommending imposition of any language on the respective students of a state. That means, in no way the NEP is recommending imposition of Hindi in Tamil Nadu," Pradhan asserted. He emphasized that the primary essence of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is to bring global standards to education, and simultaneously, it has to be rooted in India. Pradhan said, "It has to promote linguistic and cultural heritage from states like Tamil Nadu. The Government of India is conducting all the entrance examinations in all major 13 languages and one among them is Tamil also."
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