A row broke out in the Lok Sabha on March 10 after Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan used the words “uncivilised and undemocratic” while speaking on the on-going standoff with the Tamil Nadu government regarding the National Education Policy (NEP). While some have claimed that Dharmendra was referring to Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) MPs and the state government specifically, many alleged that his words were an “insult” to the people of Tamil Nadu. DMK deputy general secretary and Thoothukudi MP K Kanimozhi slammed the education minister in Lok Sabha, after which Dharmendra apologised.
The Tamil Nadu and the Union government are engaged in a language war over the implementation of the NEP and the three-language formula, which the state considers as an attempt to indirectly impose Hindi. In February, Dharmendra had drawn widespread criticism for saying that funds for the Samagra Siksha education scheme would only be released to the states that implement NEP. Both the DMK and opposition parties in the state condemned his stance alleging blackmail.
The March 10 row in Lok Sabha began after Dharmendra claimed that Kanimozhi and Tamil Nadu’s Minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi had earlier agreed to implement the NEP in full, during a meeting with him, but had later done a “u-turn”. He then added, “In the same Tamil Nadu state, the government of India is allocating funds to the PM Poshan scheme. They are dishonest and not committed to the students of Tamil Nadu. They are ruining the future of Tamil Nadu’s students. They are doing injustice to the students of Tamil Nadu. They are ruining the future of Tamil Nadu students. They are undemocratic and uncivilised. They are ruining the right of Tamil Nadu’s students to have a pan-India education.”
As Dharmendra simply said “they” rather than explicitly naming the state government, many now say that he was referring to all of Tamil Nadu. Protests erupted in Coimbatore where effigies of Dharmendra were set on fire.
Responding to him in Lok Sabha, Kanimozhi said, “I am pained and hurt that the minister [Dharmendra] in his reply has called the MPs, the Tamil Nadu government and the people of Tamil Nadu ‘uncivilised’.” She added that during the meeting Dharmendra referred to, “We had clearly said that the three language policy is not acceptable to Tamil Nadu. The CM [MK Stalin] has also written to the minister and to the Prime Minister saying that NEP is not acceptable to Tamil Nadu in full and that the funds need to be released.”
Responding to Kanimozhi, Dharmendra said, “I used words I should not have used regarding MPs, the government of Tamil Nadu and the people of Tamil Nadu. I withdraw my words if they hurt anybody.” However, he insisted that Kanimozhi and Anbil Mahesh had agreed to implement the NEP in full.
In a statement responding to the row, Chief Minister Stalin asked, “Does Prime Minister Narendra Modi accept this insult to the people of Tamil Nadu?”
He also shared a letter from Dharmendra from August 2024, in which he had said that the Tamil Nadu government had given an undertaking in March 2024, indicating their willingness to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the PM SHRI scheme in the academic year 2024-25.
The letter says, “After receiving the undertaking, a draft MoU was sent by the Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL) to Tamil Nadu. However, I was surprised to see that the state responded with a modified MoU vide letter dated July 6, 2024, wherein the key paragraph referring to the implementation of NEP 2020 in entirety has been dropped.”
Dharmendra also says in the letter, “Just as the state is implementing the Samagra Shiksha scheme that is aligned with NEP 2020, It would be appropriate for the state to implement and showcase all the initiatives of NEP 2020 under PM SHRI scheme in order to develop government schools of the state as exemplar schools to facilitate best school education services.”
Referring to the letter, Stalin retorted in his statement, “Aren’t you the one who wrote me this letter? We function based solely on the sentiments of the people unlike you who answer to the instructions of Nagpur.” Stalin was referring to the Rashtriya Swamysevak Sangh (RSS)—the BJP’s ideological parent organisation that was founded in Nagpur.
Speaking to media persons later, Kanimozhi said, “The minister is trying to distract people with fake news. His hurtful and insulting words are condemnable.”
Tiruvallur MP Sasikanth Senthil released a video statement saying, “His words reveal a supremacist mindset. It has become obvious that it is with this same supremacism that the Union government rules over Tamil Nadu.”