KPCC Vice President Opposes Hindi Imposition, Says ‘One Language, One Country’ is Unacceptable
Mangaluru: “On the day that PM Modi was re-elected for another five years, he coined a slogan or ‘NARA’ as it is called in Hindi. He said that the full form of NARA was National-Ambition Regional-Aspiration. However, based on the Kasturirangan report, they have recommended a language formula to overhaul the education system. Rajiv Gandhi had also overhauled the education system by suggesting a ‘Walk the Talk’ approach over the traditional ‘Chalk Talk’ method. He was also the person who suggested the renaming of the Education Ministry to the Human Resources Development Ministry. However, this draft policy attempts to impose Hindi as a compulsory language from 5th standard onwards. We are not against the Hindi language but we are against the specific imposition of any language” said KPCC Vice President Prof. Radhakrishna in a press meet held at the DCC Office, Mallikatta here, on June 3.
Addressing the mediapersons Radhakrishna said, “Almost everyone knows Hindi in places like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. But, the people of Uttara Kannada speak Malayalam, Tamil or Telegu languages apart from Kannada. Such people will face difficulty with this rule and that is why we are against the imposition of Hindi in such places. We do not believe in ‘Ek Desh, Ek Basha’ or ‘one country, one language’. Instead, we believe in ‘Anek Bashe, Anek Vesh, Ek Desh’ or ‘Different languages, different states, and one country’. Kasturirangan and I had previously worked together. His report was submitted to the ministry six months ago. But, why did the government release it only after the elections were over?”
Radhakrishna further said, “PM Modi recently prayed to the Constitution before starting his parliamentary meeting. It is a good gesture. He had done the same thing in 2014 by prostrating before the entrance of Parliament. However, he has appointed certain individuals who are against the Constitution as cabinet ministers. The new HRD minister, former Uttarakhand CM Ramesh Pokhriyal, has given an incorrect date of birth. How can we accept him as the education minister? Ramesh Pokhriyal affixes a Dr. before his name, but he only has an honorary doctorate. As per convention, honorary doctorates are not supposed to use the prefix ‘Dr’. Additionally, he has apparently received this doctorate from the “Open International University” in Colombo, Sri Lanka. When the media investigated the matter, the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka, as well as the Association of Indian Universities, said that the Open International University is not recognized by them and that it is not accepted internationally. As a Congress worker and as a member of the education sector, I demand that PM Modi take appropriate action against Ramesh Pokhriyal.”
DCC President Harish Kumar, Congress spokesperson AC Vinayaraj, Sadashiv Ullal, Sudhir TK, and others were also present.