Even as the Union government dropped the contentious clause of mandatory Hindi teaching in non-Hindi speaking states, actor Siddharth stated that people from Tamil Nadu will learn Hindi when the need arises.
The actor, a vocal critic of the BJP-led government at the Centre, took to Twitter to express his stand on draft education policy, which had initially made teaching Hindi mandatory in non-Hindi speaking states.
“There is a big difference between a native #Tamil speaker learning #Hindi vs being forced to study it and write exams in it. I speak 5 languages and understand 10. I wasn't forced to learn them and that's how it should be. #India is a mixture of great languages. Leave them be,” he said in a tweet.
In another tweet, he said, “Nobody from #TamilNadu needs to learn #Hindi forcefully. They will learn it if and when the need arises, as is the case for any language other than the mother tongue. Any #Indian who wants to communicate abroad would choose to learn #English ahead of #Hindi. End of discussion.”
Earlier, the actor had said nobody is against Hindi language, but the opposition is against the imposition of the language. "Nobody is against #Hindi. The problem lies in #HindiImposition. There is no effort from #Hindi speakers to learn beautiful regional languages. Why is there this silly expectation that we should prefer #Hindi over a neutral, efficient second language like #English," he had said.
Meanwhile, after stridently opposing the the three-language formula, DMK chief M.K. Stalin on Wednesday demanded that Tamil be made an official language in all Central government offices. He claimed the Centre was trying to impose Hindi under the three-language formula and it withdrew its decision following opposition from Tamils.
(With PTI inputs)