The members of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) on Tuesday, November 8, staged a protest in front of Rajah Serfoji Government Arts College in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, against the Union Government's attempts to "impose" Hindi. The students raised slogans against the National Education Policy (NEP), alleging that it usurps the powers of the State Governments in formulating educational policy relevant to the states, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
They pointed out that the provisions in the NEP regarding languages and the report of the official language committee of parliament headed by Home Minister Amit Shah were attempts to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speakers in the country, as per TNIE. The protesters decried the recommendation to replace English with Hindi in compulsory papers for union public service commission examinations.
They also raised slogans against teaching in Hindi in institutions like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Central Universities. They wanted the President of India not to accept the Amit Shah committee report and wanted the declaration of all 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule as official languages of the country. Prem Kumar, Deputy District President of SFI, presided over the protest and Arjun, District President, addressed the students.
Recently, a parliamentary committee, constituted and led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, proposed that Hindi be the medium of education in schools across the country. The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) had also joined the chorus in Tamil Nadu against the alleged imposition of Hindi by the BJP-led Central Government. The members held a protest on October 13 demanding that the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams be conducted in regional languages, including Tamil.
