The actor-politician's verbal torrent in support of the three-language policy was in contradiction to his earlier stance.
Published Mar 15, 2025 | 12:07 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 15, 2025 | 2:19 PM
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.
Synopsis: Deviating from his previous stand, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan favoured the three-language policy, saying the country needs all languages, including Tamil. His latest comments are contrary to his previous remarks on the North’s discrimination against South India.
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan took a turnabout while joining the language row bandwagon on Friday, 14 March. He supported the Centre’s three-language policy as envisaged in the National Education Policy (NEP).
Slamming Tamil Nadu — a state that he had lauded for fiercely protecting its mother tongue, culture, and traditions — Kalyan questioned the opposition to Hindi.
“Why should anyone oppose Hindi? What is wrong with learning it? For that matter, what is wrong with learning as many languages as possible? We should have linguistic diversity,” the Jana Sena chief said while addressing a mammoth rally in Pithapuram, organised as part of his party’s 12th foundation day.
Jana Sena is part of the TDP-led NDA government in Andhra Pradesh.
“There are people who are criticising Sanskrit. Don’t hate languages. All are Indian languages,” Kalyan said at the constituency he has been representing in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
Tamil Nadu has been vehemently opposing the imposition of Hindi “in the guise of implementing the NEP”.
“The policy was not created to develop India… but to develop Hindi. We are opposing this policy as it will destroy the Tamil Nadu education system,” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin recently said.
Opposing Tamil Nadu, Kalyan said Tamil films were being dubbed into Hindi to market them and make money in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh. “Is it fair?” he asked.
The Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister asserted that there was no need to hate any language as the country needed all languages, including Tamil.
“I am surprised people are talking a lot about the north-south divide, caste census, delimitation, and the three-language formula. I do not think anyone has the temerity to divide a country that extends from the Himalayas, where Lord Shiva lives, to the abode of Murugan in the South,” he said.
“Let the country not be divided because of parochial political perceptions,” he added.
He also disapproved of the Tamil Nadu government changing the official rupee symbol. “What will happen if each state comes up with its own rupee symbol? Sanity should prevail. It is easy to destroy something, but it is very difficult to build,” he asserted.
“I was discriminated against when I was a student in Chennai. My colleagues used to call me ‘Golti, ‘” he said.
‘Golti’ is a Tamil slang term that refers to the Telugu-speaking people. It is a reversal of the syllables of “Telugu.”
The actor-politician’s verbal torrent in support of the three-language policy was in contradiction to his earlier stance.
In 2016, while addressing a public meeting in Kakinada, he made a frenzied appeal to the people to oppose the dominance of the North over the South.
“What did the North do to South India? It gave three rotten laddus to Andhra Pradesh in the guise of a special package instead of special category status. Why should there be discrimination against South India?” he asked.
“My fight is against the arrogance of the North. Are you the only Indians? Aren’t we also Indians? Why should there be this discrimination? Don’t the people of South India own India? Is it only a few people in the North who own India?” he questioned.
In 2017, too,” Kalyan had launched a broadside against North Indian leaders.
“North Indian political leadership should understand and respect the cultural diversity of our country,” he tweeted.
In an apparent rabble-rousing attempt, Kalyan targeted Hindi in another tweet after his party’s debacle in the 2019 Assembly elections.
“We should learn how to safeguard and promote one’s own mother tongue by looking at Kannadigas, Marathis, Tamils, and Hindi-speaking Indians,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kalyan’s next movie, Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 Sword vs Spirit, is set for a theatrical release on 9 May, along with its dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
