Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday opposed the Centre's circular on compulsorily teaching Hindi in universities, saying it was against the law.
The decision which was taken during the UPA regime was not binding on Tamil Nadu, she said.Earlier the DMK and the BJP's own allies, the PMK and the MDMK, had opposed the circular saying the new government under Narendra Modi had "intensified measures to impose Hindi.
"A circular from the home ministry’s language department sent to universities had said Law and Commerce should be taught in Hindi also, and that by September 29, the universities should report on the steps taken to implement it.It further said the universities should have Hindi along with English as a main subject.The decision was reportedly first taken at a meeting of the Central Hindi committee chaired in 2011 by Manmohan Singh, but was taken forward by the new government.
This is the third major controversy over language since the new government came to power.
Earlier Tamil Nadu parties had opposed directives asking central government employees to use Hindi while posting tweets or messages on social media, and on the observance of Teachers’ Day as Guru Utsav.
(HT)