AIADMK says Hindi imposition unacceptable, A R Rahman's tweet triggers debate
Chennai, Apr 9: The main opposition in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK on Saturday said people may learn Hindi on their own volition but imposition of the language is unacceptable.
An image posted by Oscar winning music composer A R Rahman on Tamil language has meanwhile led to an animated debate in the social media on languages.
Quoting Dravidian icon, the late C N Annadurai, AIADMK top leader O Panneerselvam said if needed, people willing to learn Hindi may do so voluntarily. However, foisting Hindi on people is never acceptable, the AIADMK coordinator tweeted.
The former Chief Minister said his party stood firm in the two language policy of Tamil and English in keeping with the ideology of Annadurai. "#StopHindiImposition," Panneerselvam said.
Meanwhile, several twitter users linked Rahman's post apparently to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remark on Hindi and subsequent reactions from several quarters.
Reacting to Amit Shah's statement on April 7 that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English and not to local languages, Chief Minister M K Stalin had said that it would wreck the nation's integrity.
The Rahman posted image's caption 'Tamizhanangu' is obviously a pointer to invocation song to mother Tamil.
A line, appearing as a footnote to the image, is from a popular poem of celebrated Tamil nationalist poet Barathidasan and it denotes that Tamil language serves as the root to the rights of the Tamil people.
An artistic depiction of a white saree clad woman in the centre, against a background of red is seen as a subtle reference to mother Tamil and opposition to imposition of Hindi.
While a section of social media users lauded Rahman saying he has posted this image with a red background to denote opposition to Hindi and full support to Tamil, there were others who questioned him on the intent behind posting the image.
A user, replying to the top notch musician alleged that Rahman built his career, earned money and fame and everything by doing Hindi movies and now started targeting Hindi.
On Thursday, Presiding over the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee in Delhi, Shah had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided that the medium of running the government is in the official language and this would definitely increase the importance of Hindi.
— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) April 8, 2022
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Bill to set up single higher education regulator likely to be tabled in Parliament next week
New Delhi (PTI): A Bill which seeks to set up a single regulator for institutions of higher education is required to facilitate universities and other higher educational institutes become independent and self-governing, officials said.
The Bill is likely to be introduced in Parliament next week after it got the Union Cabinet's nod on Friday.
The proposed legislation, which was earlier christened the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, has now been named Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill.
A single higher education regulator, which was proposed in the new National Education Policy (NEP), looks to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
"The Bill proposes to set up a Higher Education Commission of India to facilitate universities and other higher educational institutes become independent and self-governing institutions and to promote excellence through a robust and transparent system of accreditation and autonomy. It is likely to be introduced (in Parliament) in the coming week," an official said.
While the UGC presently oversees non-technical higher education in the country, the AICTE oversees technical education, while the NCTE is the regulatory body for teachers' education.
The Commission is proposed to be set up as a single higher education regulator, but medical and law colleges will not be brought under its ambit.
It is proposed to have three major roles -- regulation, accreditation and setting professional standards, officials said.
Funding, which is seen as the fourth vertical, is not proposed to be under the regulator so far. The autonomy for funding is proposed to be with the administrative ministry, they said.
