Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vijay has called the Union government “fascist” and condemned its stance that education funds will only be released to states that implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The actor-politician also criticised the blocking of the Tamil media organisation Vikatan after state leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) objected to a cartoon mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with US president Donald Trump.
In a statement on February 17, Vijay said, “What is the forceful implementation of the three-language policy, but the snatching away of states’ rights? Challenging the state’s language policy, publicly announcing that funds will not be allocated to Tamil Nadu, and blocking the Vikatan website are anti-democratic and condemnable fascist approaches.”
Tamil Nadu has consistently opposed the NEP and the three-language policy on the grounds that it is an indirect attempt to impose Hindi on the state.
Earlier, on February 9, Chief Minister MK Stalin had said that the Union government had transferred Rs 2,152 crores meant for Tamil Nadu’s students to other states. “In response to rejecting the imposition of the NEP and the three-language policy, they resorted to open blackmail. This is nothing short of coercion, punishing our students for standing up for their rights.”
On February 15, Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan accused the Tamil Nadu government of politicising NEP and the three-language policy. He added that the funds would only be released once the state fully adopts the NEP.
His statement drew widespread backlash across party lines. Several DMK leaders, including the state’s School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and MPs P Wilson and Kanimozhi condemned the Union government’s stance.
Dharmendra Pradhan’s statement also drew criticism from AIADMK general secretary and Leader of Opposition in Assembly Edappadi K Palanisamy and Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) president Seeman.
Addressing the blocking of the Vikatan website, Vijay said, “The fourth pillar of democracy, the freedom of the press, must be protected. The prevailing opinion is that the Union government is responsible for blocking Vikatan’s website. If the opinions published by the press and media are incorrect or incriminating, then a solution should be sought through the courts. Acting in a way that blocks freedom of expression is nothing but the denial of constitutional rights.”
On February 18, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) held public demonstrations in Chennai, in solidarity with Vikatan.