Study Tamil in other states as well: TN CM

Stoking a potential row, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday appeared to endorse the controversial three-language policy by asking the Centre to include Tamil as an “optional language” for study in other states.

As his comments drew condemnation from all quarters, Palaniswami quietly deleted the tweet, which was on his official Twitter page, @EPSTamilNadu, for about four hours.

Palaniswami’s terse statement in a tweet set off another intense debate on the three-language policy that was proposed by the Dr Kasturirangan Committee on education when everyone thought the controversy has died down.

“Request Hon’ble PM @narendramodi ji to include Tamil as an optional language for study in other states. This will be a great service to one of the most ancient languages of the world,” Palaniswami had said in the tweet.

Efforts to reach the chief minister’s aides to know why the tweet was deleted proved futile.

The chief minister’s statement was interpreted as his indirect endorsement of the proposed three-language policy and thereby paving the way for learning Hindi in Tamil Nadu, which has vehemently opposed “imposition” of the language since the 1960s.

Palaniswami’s statement was also seen as a departure from the publicly stated policy of the Tamil Nadu government that it has no plans to revamp or change the two-language policy in place in the state since the 1960s. His statement comes two days after the Centre beat a hasty retreat by making it clear that it would not impose any language on states.

The DMK, which was at the forefront of the anti-Hindi agitation in the 1960s, quickly latched on to a statement by Palaniswami and asked him to clarify whether he was in support of “imposing Hindi” on Tamil Nadu.

“By asking the prime minister to make Tamil a part of the three-language policy in other states, we think the chief minister has accepted Hindi in our state. He should clarify whether he wants Hindi in Tamil Nadu. We want him to come clean on this,” DMK Rajya Sabha MP R S Bharathi said.

VCK chief and Chidambaram constituency MP Thol Thirumavalavan said the chief minister’s statement was to open the gates for Hindi in Tamil Nadu.