A package on The Hindu exclusives: Tamil Nadu’s two-language policy, its opposition to Hindi imposition

Black paint being smeared on the Hindi letters on the board of India Post at the main post office in Krishnagiri on February 25, 2025
| Photo Credit: N. Bashkaran

The Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan, while speaking to journalists at the inauguration of the Kashi Tamil Sangamam in Varanasi on February 15, 2025, categorically said that funds under the Samagra Shiksha scheme would not be released for Tamil Nadu unless the State accepts National Education Policy (NEP) in its entirety. He further said Tamil Nadu must adhere to constitutional norms and that the State cannot think it is above the Constitution. These comments of Mr. Pradhan opened a can of worms.

Reacting sharply, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and the School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, in various instances, affirmed that the State will stick to two-language policy and would vehemently oppose imposition of Hindi through the three-language policy mooted by NEP. The Leader of Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami also came in support of the DMK government’s stance.

Here are the exclusive stories by The Hindu on the issue:

1. Why is the three-language policy being opposed in Tamil Nadu? — D. Suresh Kumar

2. How the two-language policy officially came into force in the State of Madras — D. Suresh Kumar

3. Why is the three-language policy controversial? | Explained — D. Suresh Kumar

4. Should a third language be compulsory? | Explained — R. Rangarajan

5. A controversy raged in Tamil Nadu in mid-1980s over three-language formula — T. Ramakrishnan

6. Rajaji — from terming Hindi ‘chutney on the leaf’ to becoming strong opponent of its imposition — D. Suresh Kumar

7. Amit Shah’s call to offer engineering, medical education in Tamil and the ground reality | Explained — D. Suresh Kumar

8. When Madras disbanded NCC opposing the use of Hindi commands to the cadets — D. Suresh Kumar

9. Over 90% in Hindi-belt States speak only one language, rest of India is more bilingual: Data — Sambavi Parthasarathy, Vignesh Radhakrishnan

10. PM SHRI, NEP 2020 and Tamil Nadu: Politics looms over an education dispute — M. Kalyanaraman