'We learn whatever we need': Financial planner cites AI, Mandarin as Tamil Nadu resists Hindi push

Amid the deepening Hindi-Tamil language row, a Chennai-based financial planner, D. Muthukrishnan, offered a pointed snapshot of Tamil Nadu's response. “Chennai college students are learning third language — Japanese, German, French and so on. Chess and AI are going to part of government school curriculum from this year,” he wrote on X. 

“We learn whatever we need.”

He added, “Already shared that local managerial staff in Taiwanese companies based out of Tamil Nadu are learning Mandarin. Tamil Nadu is never against learning a third language if it is required for one's life.”

Muthukrishnan’s remarks come as tensions escalate between the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre over the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which recommends a three-language formula. 

Tamil Nadu has consistently opposed the policy, citing it as an attempt to impose Hindi through educational mandates.

The conflict has historical roots. The state has followed a two-language policy—Tamil and English—since 1968, after decades of protests. In 1937, a move to make Hindi compulsory in schools triggered mass protests. In 1965, anti-Hindi agitations turned deadly, leaving more than 70 people dead. The Centre later assured Tamil Nadu that English would remain an official language alongside Hindi.

Under the NEP, the Union government has withheld ₹2,150 crore in education funding under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan scheme, pressuring the state to adopt the three-language formula. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said funds would only be released once Tamil Nadu accepts the policy “in letter and spirit.”

Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said the state would bear the funding gap. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has called the NEP a “Hindutva policy” designed to marginalize regional languages.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking in Parliament, countered by saying, “You (DMK) do not have the courage to translate medical and engineering courses in the Tamil language.” He added, “When we form the government, we will translate medical and engineering courses in the Tamil language.”

Shah also stated, “Hindi does not compete with any national language… Hindi is a companion to all Indian languages,” and announced that from December, official correspondence would be carried out in regional languages.

Rajya Sabha MP Vaiko hit back, saying, “Hindi has no grammar, no literature. It is a harsh language.” He accused Shah of arrogance and predicted that “BJP will never form the government in Tamil Nadu, it will be buried.”