MK Stalin opposes proposal to replace English with Hindi as medium of instruction in IITs, KVs

NEW DELHI: The "Hindi imposition" debate has erupted once again after the parliamentary panel suggested that the medium of instruction in IITs, central universities and Kendriya Vidyalayas in Hindi-speaking states should be Hindi and in other parts of India their respective local language.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin in a Twitter thread criticized the proposals made in the 11th volume of the report of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language and said that the recommendations are a “direct onslaught on India's soul”.

He pointed out that the report has recommended that English be replaced with Hindi as the medium of instruction in all central institutions like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AllMS), central universities and Kendriya Vidyalayas.

The Tamil Nadu chief minister said that the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution has 22 languages including Tamil entitled to equal rights, and questioned what made “the Union home minister Amit Shah-led committee to recommend that Hindi be made the common language of India”.

He further questioned why the committee recommended discontinuing English language question papers in the union recruitment examinations to give preference for Hindi.

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Stating that the imposition of Hindi is against the integrity of India, the CM said, “It is against the spirit of the Constitution to provide undue, unfair advantage to Hindi and discriminate against other Indian languages while raising "Bharat Mata ki Jai" as a political slogan in the parliament.”

“If implemented, the vast non-Hindi speaking population will be made second-class citizens in their own land,” CM MK Stalin said.

If implemented, the vast non-Hindi speaking population will be made second-class citizens in their own land.

Imposing Hindi is against the integrity of India.

The BJP govt would do well to learn lessons from the Anti-Hindi agitations in the past. #StopHindiImposition 2/2 pic.twitter.com/0R1IuvtzEx

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) October 10, 2022

The committee suggested that in all technical and non-technical institutions in the country, Hindi or local language should be used as the medium of instruction and the use of English should be made optional, sources said, as per PTI report.

BJP member Rita Bahuguna Joshi said English is an “alien language” and “we want it to be eliminated” and it should be replaced by Hindi and other regional languages.