Amid controversy over his remark on Tamil films being ‘dubbed’ in Hindi, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan clarified on Saturday that he has never opposed the Hindi language.
Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan took to X to condemn the misinterpretation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 for political gains. He denied changing his stance on the policy, calling such claims a result of “lack of mutual understanding.”
He stated that his party firmly supports linguistic freedom and its principles, as well as the right of every Indian to choose their education.
He wrote, ‘Both the tendencies of forcible imposition of a language or blindly opposing a language are not helpful in achieving the basic objective of national and cultural unity of our country India.’
Amid the clash between the central government and the Tamil Nadu administration over the alleged ‘Hindi imposition’ in NEP’s three-language policy, Kalyan pointed out that while these leaders oppose Hindi, they permit Tamil films to be dubbed in the language for financial benefits.
During his Jana Sena Party’s 12th foundation day celebrations in Pithampuram, Kakinada, Kalyan questioned why some criticize Sanskrit and why Tamil Nadu politicians oppose Hindi while allowing their films to be dubbed in Hindi for financial gain. He remarked, “They want money from Bollywood but refuse to accept Hindi—what kind of logic is that?”
His remarks sparked strong backlash from the DMK and several leaders, including actor-politician Prakash Raj.
The DMK accused him of hypocrisy, claiming he knows nothing about “state politics,” while Prakash Raj clarified that the issue is not about hating another language but about safeguarding “our mother tongue and cultural identity.”
In his clarification, Kalyan stated that he has never opposed the Hindi language, but only those who are “making it compulsory for everyone.”
“When the NEP-2020 itself does not make Hindi compulsory, then making false statements about its implementation is nothing but misleading the public,” he wrote in Hindi in his X post.
The actor-politician further explained that under the NEP, students can choose any two Indian languages (including their mother tongue) along with a foreign language. He emphasized that if students do not want to study Hindi, they can opt for languages like Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Sanskrit, and many others.
Kalyan explained that the goal of the multilingual (three-language) policy is to offer students a broader range of choices, fostering national unity while preserving India’s linguistic diversity. He added, “Misinterpreting this policy for political reasons and claiming that I’ve changed my stance only reflects a lack of mutual understanding,” said Andhra’s deputy CM.
