There is an undeclared “official” ban on Hindi and Sanskrit in Tamil Nadu by the State Government. In a shocking affidavit filed in the Madras High Court’s Madurai Bench on Wednesday, the Government of Tamil Nadu made it known that Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, a concept of residential public schools launched by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was not welcome in the State.
The JNV, a scheme under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, envisages making quality education imparted in the elite public schools in the country to poor sections of society in rural areas.
Though there are 600 Navodaya Vidyalayas functioning in the country, Tamil Nadu is the only State where there are no such schools. The Government Pleader, in an affidavit filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday in reply to a petition by Kumari Maha Sabha which sought a court directive to the State Government to establish Navodaya Vidyalayas in Tamil Nadu, stated that setting up of Navodaya Vidyalayas would lead to the imposition of Sanskrit on Tamil students.
The petitioner pleaded with the court to direct the State Government to provide land and other infrastructure in all districts in the State so that children from rural areas in Tamil Nadu would get opportunity to study in residential public schools with ambience of cosmopolitan atmosphere. M Govindan, the Government Pleader, told the court that Tamil Nadu is following two-language system of education whereas the Central Government syllabus is that of three-language system in which Hindi is compulsory along with English and a regional language.
Even members of the judiciary were taken aback by the hatred and antipathy the Dravidian political parties have for Hindi and Sanskrit. “This is blatant violation of fundamental rights. No Government has the power to deny the students the right to learn a language,” said a High Court judge on condition of anonymity.
“The Dravidian parties, both the DMK and the AIADMK, are of the view that Hindi and Sanskrit represent Hindutwa,” said Anand Shankar, a senior RSS leader in Chennai. He said the Government schools have done away with the services of Sanskrit teachers.
“The Dravidian party leaders fear that if students learn Hindi and Sanskrit, their raison deter itself would be questioned as the knowledge of Sanskrit would make the students familiar with Vedas Upanishads etc about which there are lot of misconceptions,” said Shankar.
The Navodaya Vidyalayas have reserved 75 per cent of the seats to children from rural areas and education is free till the tenth standard. A nominal fee of Rs200 is charged from students of Class X, XI and XI.
There is tough competition among the children in other States to get admission in these fully residential schools. There are centres all over India for coaching the students for the entrance test to JNVs.
Vanati Srinivaan, a senior Tamil Nadu BJP leader, said the party has been demanding for the setting up of such schools in the State for quite some time.
“This so-called aversion for Hindi and Sanskrit propagated by the Dravidian parties is nothing but a ploy to keep alive the anti-Hindi spirit witnessed by the State in the 1960s. There is a wide demand among parents in the State to admit their wards to Kendriya Vidyalayas where Hindi is compulsory. The denial of Navodaya Vidyalaya education to children in Tamil Nadu is a cruel act,” said Sreenivasan.
A recent survey by Thanthi TV, a 24X7 news channel found that 80 per cent of the people interviewed were in support of learning Hindi.
“The ultimate dream of all Tamil film actors is to get a foothold in Hindi films. If the Hindi actors too show this kind of resentment towards Tamil, what would happen to our country,” asked Shankar.
