Centre insults Tamil Nadu, Periyar; people will give befitting reply, says Dy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 13 (ANI): Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Thursday said that the people of the State will give a befitting reply to those who criticised them and called them "uncivilized".
Udhayanidhi said, "The Union government insults Tamil Nadu and Periyar. Are we uncivilized? Those who call us uncivilized are, in fact, behaving in an uncivilized manner and making remarks against us. Tamil people will give a befitting reply very soon."
The Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister's statement follow the remarks made by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament recently.
Alleging that the Union government has insulted Tamil Nadu, Udhayanidhi Stalin stated that those called them "uncivilised" are actually behaving in an "uncivilized manner."
"The Union government insults Tamil Nadu and Periyar. Are we uncivilized? Those who call us uncivilized are, in fact, behaving in an uncivilized manner and making remarks against us. Tamil people will give a befitting reply very soon," Stalin told reporters.
Sitharaman, in her speech on Tuesday, had accused the Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK of worshipping a man who once dismissed Tamil as a "barbaric" language. She, however, did not mention the name of EV Ramasamy or Thanthai Periyar, the architect of the Dravidian movement.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vijay in a post in Tamil on X on Wednesday, asked "Is the Union Finance Minister really upset that Periyar called Tamil a barbarian language? If so, why not impose the trilingual policy on Tamil Nadu?"
Amid the political row between the Centre and Tamil Nadu over the three-language policy, State Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan said that implementing the Centre's new education policy is impossible as there is no funding or infrastructure to support it.
Slamming the New Education Policy, Thiagarajan said that the New Education Policy 2020 is like teaching an "LKG student" and a "higher education student" in the same way.
He further claimed that in the education policies introduced after 1968, there was a recommendation to learn South Indian languages. However, due to the lack of qualified teachers, this policy failed in Hindi-speaking states within 20 years.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan said, "In the education policies introduced after 1968, there was a recommendation to learn South Indian languages. However, due to the lack of qualified teachers, this policy failed in Hindi-speaking states within 20 years. Even in Uttar Pradesh, they could not fully implement the three-language policy. Yet, they have stopped PM-SHRI funding and continue to speak aggressively, like rowdies. NEP 2020 is like teaching an LKG student and a higher education student in the same way. Implementing the new education policy is impossible today as there is no funding or infrastructure to support it."
BJP Tamil Nadu President K Annamalai slammed Minister Thiagarajan for his statement on the three language policy. Claiming that Thiagarajan's own sons studied English and a foreign language, Annamalai asked him that why they are doing "drama" to stop the implementation of the policy.
Defending the three language policy, Annamalai stated that this national policy will provide the government school students with the opportunity to learn a third Indian language, along with Tamil and English, or a foreign language at the higher levels.
Earlier on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin launched a scathing attack on the central government, labeling the National Education Policy (NEP) as a "saffronized policy" aimed at promoting Hindi rather than developing India, alleging that the policy threatens to destroy Tamil Nadu's education system.
The central government, however, maintains that the NEP aims to promote multilingualism and flexibility in language education. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has denied allegations of Hindi imposition, stating that the policy allows states to choose their own languages.
On Tuesday, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan challenged the ruling DMK government in Tamil Nadu on the three-language policy and the NEP. In a post on X, the minister alleged that raking the language issue was a diversionary tactic from MK Stalin.
"I stand by my statement made in the Parliament and am sharing the consent letter from the Tamil Nadu School Education Department dated 15th March 2024. DMK MPs and Hon'ble CM can stack lies as high as they want, but the truth does not bother knocking when it comes crashing down. The DMK dispensation led by Hon'ble CM Stalin has a lot to answer to the people of Tamil Nadu. Raking the language issue as a diversionary tactic and denying facts as per their convenience will not shield their governance and welfare deficit," he posted on X. (ANI)