Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: With 18 days to polling, Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin has sharpened a familiar electoral plank, accusing the Centre of pushing Hindi through CBSE‘s NEP-aligned three-language rollout. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan hit back, calling the charge a political cover and pitching NEP as a mother-tongue-first, flexible multilingual model. The clash has turned a curriculum change into a high-stakes political faultline, forcing parties to pick sides on identity, federalism and access.Stalin’s broadside targets CBSE’s phased rollout from Class VI in the 2026-27 academic session. He argues the “so-called” three-language formula effectively becomes “compulsory Hindi” for non-Hindi states, while Hindi-speaking regions face no comparable mandate to teach Tamil or other southern languages, raising questions of parity and fairness.DMK has also sought to draw AIADMK and its NDA allies into the debate, asking them to clarify their stand.Pradhan dismissed the charge as a “tired attempt” to mask governance failures, asserting that multilingualism strengthens, rather than dilutes, regional languages. He maintained that portraying flexibility as imposition risks narrowing opportunities for students in an increasingly interconnected economy.CBSE’s proposed structure makes a third language mandatory from Class VI, with two Indian languages in the mix. NEP retains the three-language formula but promises “greater flexibility” and states “no language will be imposed on any state,” leaving choices to states, regions, and learners.
