Hindi imposition row: Will Karnataka be the first state to implement NEP

The Hindi imposition debate has been an extremely delicate debate in the past few weeks since NEP was announced. Now, Dr Ashwathnarayan Deputy CM of Karnataka, has announced that Karnataka will be the first state to implement it.

Deputy CM Dr Ashwathnarayan — Dr Ashwathnarayan's address at the KCET press conference (Photo: @drashwathcn/Twitter)@drashwathcn/Twitter

The debate over Hindi imposition is still quite delicate in Karnataka. Many instances in the last few weeks have called for a reflection on the debate by the state government. On Monday, Deputy CM Dr Ashwathnarayan announced that Karnataka will be the first to implement the NEP.

This announcement is sure to create some unrest, as political leaders have been commenting on the Hindi imposition row in Tamil Nadu. NEP's 3-language policy has caused a fresh assertion of language identity in India.

NEP amid Hindi imposition debate

When Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways had shared the video for the new halt station at the Bengaluru airport, he was trolled. Many people from Karnataka asked why the video was rendered in Hindi and not in Kannada when the video was about Karnataka and Bengaluru. This is just one example.

More recently over the weekend a comment by the AYUSH Secretary Rajesh Kotecha during a training webinar where he reportedly told Tamilian delegates to leave if they can't follow Hindi sparked a huge row online. Following this, on Sunday, HD Kumaraswamy took to Twitter to discuss it, "How many people of all languages, including Kannadigas, should be sacrificed in this country for not having Hindi?"

HD Kumaraswamy tweet — @hd_kumaraswamy/Twitter

The question over Hindi versus the rest in India has become a prominent one. This debate has been fuelled by NEP's new 3-language policy which Tamil Nadu has vehemently opposed, fearing a new wave of Hindia imposition.

Meanwhile, speaking at the inaugural session of a 5-day workshop at the Bangalore University, Deputy CM and Minister for Higher Education Dr Ashwathnarayan said on Monday, "The state government is making all preparations to bring in administrative reforms and amendments to the laws which are essential to implement the national education policy. The state would become the first state in the country to implement the policy."

What will be interesting to see is the reaction to the implementation of the policy on the ground once all of it is in place. Will the 3-language model work in Karnataka?