Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister and actor Pawan Kalyan on March 14 criticised Tamil Nadu politicians, calling them “hypocritical” over their stance on the alleged imposition of Hindi in the state. He said that while these leaders were against the usage of Hindi, they authorised Tamil films to be dubbed in the Hindi language for financial gains.
Kalyan was addressing his party’s 12th Foundation Day at Pithampuram in Kakinada. His comments came in response to Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin’s claims of ‘Hindi imposition’ by the Union government and his decision to reject the National Education Policy’s (NEP) three-language formula as a form of protest. Stalin on March 13 criticised the NEP as a “saffronised policy” intended to push Hindi over national progress and warned that it could undermine Tamil Nadu’s education system. Pawan Kalyan also pointed towards India’s linguistic diversity and said that the country needed multiple languages, including Tamil, rather than just two dominant ones.