The high court emphasised the need to preserve the Mahal language in its observations. It also stated that a decision regarding the inclusion of Arabic would be taken after consultations with relevant stakeholders.
Published Jun 05, 2025 | 3:32 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 06, 2025 | 12:15 PM
Kerala High Court. (iStock)
Synopsis: The Kerala High Court deferred the Lakshadweep administration’s order to implement the three-language policy mandated in the NEP 2020 in schools across the archipelago mandating Hindi. In its observations, the high court emphasised the need to preserve the Mahal language.
The Kerala High Court on Thursday, 5 June, deferred the Lakshadweep administration’s order to remove Mahal and implement the three-language policy mandated in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in schools across the archipelago.
The high court emphasised the need to preserve the Mahal language. It also stated that a decision regarding the inclusion of Arabic would be taken after consultations with relevant stakeholders.
The policy, according to the official directive, introduces Malayalam, English, and Hindi as the compulsory language sequence in all schools. In Malayalam-medium schools (Kerala pattern), R1 – Malayalam, R2 – English, R3 – Hindi and In English-medium schools (CBSE pattern), R1 – English, R2 – Malayalam, R3 – Hindi.
It avoids Mahal, the mother tongue of Minicoy Island, and Arabic, which the students have been learning for a long time.
The local language, Mahal, also known as the Maliku dialect, is a variant of Dhivehi, the official language of the Maldives. The primary spoken language in most islands of Lakshadweep is Jeseri (or Dweep Bhasha), a dialect of Malayalam influenced by Arabic and Tamil, according to official documents.
As a solution, Lakshadweep people proposed adopting a flexible model for Kerala-pattern schools, R1 – Malayalam/Mahal, R2 – English, and R3 – Hindi/Arabic and for CBSE schools, R1 – English, R2 – Malayalam/Mahal, and R3 – Hindi/Arabic.
Arabic holds strong cultural and religious relevance in Lakshadweep due to Islam’s historical spread via Arab traders and the Mappila community of Malabar.
Meanwhile, Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty said the recent decision by the Lakshadweep administration to remove Arabic and Mahal language from the school curriculum was deeply disturbing and deserves the strongest condemnation.
“This move, taken under the guise of implementing the National Education Policy (NEP), blatantly contradicts the central government’s professed commitment to promoting mother tongues and regional diversity in education,” the minister said in a statement.
Sivankutty said that by denying Lakshadweep’s children the opportunity to learn their own language, the Union government was violating the constitutional rights of linguistic minorities and undermining the pluralism and inclusiveness that define our nation.
“Language is not merely a medium of communication — it is a carrier of identity, history, and culture. The systematic erasure of native languages through education policy is nothing less than an assault on the cultural fabric of our society,” he said.
“The Government of Kerala had earlier raised strong concerns about the underlying intent and direction of the PM SHRI project and the broader NEP framework. Our decision to oppose its implementation in the state was based on precisely such apprehensions — that centralised policies would override regional, linguistic, and cultural realities in the name of standardisation,” he added.
He added that education is a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and therefore, both the Union and the state governments have a role in its governance.
“Moreover, educational institutions also enjoy rights under the Constitution. Any attempt by the Union Government to unilaterally impose educational directives that marginalise local languages and cultures is a clear case of overreach and must be resisted. Kerala expresses its strong solidarity with the people of Lakshadweep on this issue,” he said.
Sivankutty urged all democratic forces, educators, and civil society organisations to raise their voices against this linguistic injustice and to demand an immediate reversal of the decision.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from Sreelakshmi Soman.)
Editor’s note: A previous version of this report had erroneously used the term ‘stay’ instead of ‘deferred’. The error is regretted.
