CHENNAI: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s letter to Chief Minister MK Stalin, accusing the ruling DMK for not signing the PM Schools for Rising India (PM-Shri) scheme has kicked up a storm on Friday, with Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin saying, it’s the centre, and not Tamil Nadu, that is playing language politics.
Speaking to reporters, Udhayanidhi said, “We have already made it clear that we will never accept the three-language policy. There is nothing political in this; everyone knows who is actually playing politics.” Recalling Tamil Nadu’s long history of resisting Hindi imposition, he said, “Tamil Nadu is a state where many lives have been sacrificed for the cause of Tamil language,” adding the rights of Tamils to learn in one’s mother tongue will never be given away.
Meanwhile, DMK’s students’ wing has scheduled a statewide demonstration on February 25, and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) has planned a black flag protest against Pradhan during his visit to Chennai on February 28. TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai said the protest is in response to Pradhan’s reported insistence that Tamil Nadu agree to the three-language policy to receive the Union’s share of funds for the Samagra Shiksha scheme.
A meeting of the DMK students wing functionaries, chaired by its secretary CVMP Ezhilarasan, was held at the party headquarters on Friday. During the meeting, five resolutions were unanimously adopted. Key resolutions included the wing’s commitment to opposing policies introduced by the Union government, such as the recent UGC draft regulations, NEET, Common University Entrance Test (CUET), and the National Education Policy (NEP).
Additionally, the students’ wing resolved to launch a series of awareness campaigns across Tamil Nadu to promote scientific temper among school and college students. These initiatives will include rationalist-themed plays, dramas, and mime performances aimed at countering superstitions and regressive beliefs propagated by right-wing forces, the party said.