Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 8 (ANI): Following the row over allegations of attempt to impose the Hindi language in Tamil Nadu, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar clarified that in the three-language formula, the emphasis was on the mother tongue.

Sukanta Majumdar said, 'In the three-language formula, first, you have to choose your mother tongue, and the central government is insisting on promoting education in the mother tongue. In the three-language formula, the first choice is the mother tongue, the second choice is English, and the third is any one language from the list of 22 languages.

'If Tamil people have some animosity or allergy to Hindi they have other languges. They can select Bengali, they can slect Telugu, they can select Malayalam. South Indina languages they can select from the list of the 22. Who have asked them to select nothing but Hindi. So this is nothing but a political war. We are pressurizing the states to start education in their mother tongue.'

He further said that the emphasis was on teaching one more Indian language other than the mother tongue.

Earlier Union Home Minister Amit Shah hit out at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and alleged that despite several appeals in the last two years the Chief Minister is yet to take steps towards introducing curriculum of medical and engineering courses in Tamil language in the state.

Shah said, 'Till now, there was no place for mother tongue in the CAPF recruitment. PM Narendra Modi decided that our youth will now be able to write their CAPF exam in all languages in the eight list, including Tamil. I want to urge the CM of Tamil Nadu to take steps towards introducing curriculum of medical and engineering courses in Tamil language as soon as possible.'

He said that through this, not only the mother tongue would be strengthened but also the youth taking exams in Tamil would get equal opportunity.

'I hope he will soon take some steps on this. I have been saying this for the last two years but till now no action has been taken,' he said.

Earlier CM Stalin lashed out at Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and stated that he faced the consequences of reviving a fight he would never win.

Stalin said, 'The tree may prefer calm, but the wind will not subside.' It was the Union Education Minister who provoked us to write this series of letters when we were simply doing our job. He forgot his place and dared to threaten an entire state to accept Hindi imposition, and now he faces the consequences of reviving a fight he can never win. Tamil Nadu will not be blackmailed into surrendering.'

'The biggest irony is that Tamil Nadu, which rejects NEP, has already achieved many of its goals, which the policy aims to reach only by 2030. This is like an LKG student lecturing a PhD holder. Dravidam does not take dictations from Delhi. Instead, it sets the course for the nation to follow,' Stalin added.

'History is clear. Those who tried to impose Hindi on Tamil Nadu have either been defeated or later changed their stance and aligned with DMK. Tamil Nadu will not tolerate Hindi colonialism replacing British colonialism. From the names of schemes to awards to Union government institutions, Hindi has been imposed to a nauseating extent, suffocating non-Hindi speakers, who are the majority in India. Men may come, men may go. But even long after the dominance of Hindi is shattered in India, history will remember that it was DMK that stood as the vanguard,' the Tamil Nadu CM added. (ANI)