Karnataka’s concerns on language Bill baseless, says CM

The concerns raised by the Karnataka government over the decision to make Malayalam the compulsory first language in schools in the State are baseless, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. 

In a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Chief Minister made it clear that there was no provision in the law that violated the constitutional rights of linguistic minorities.

Terming baseless the complaint that Malayalam was being imposed on Kannada medium schools, the Chief Minister said although the law stated that Malayalam would be made the first language, children whose mother tongue was not Malayalam were given the opportunity to learn Malayalam along with their language.

The Chief Minister also explained that according to the national curriculum, students could choose the language of their choice, and that Malayalam exams were not mandatory for those coming from other States or abroad in the 10th standard and higher secondary level.

Linguistic minorities were allowed to use Tamil and Kannada for correspondence with government offices. The law also stipulated that such letters must be replied to in their respective languages. Love for the mother tongue was not an obstruction to promoting other languages, the letter said.

The legislation was enacted upholding the cultural ties and cooperative federalism between Kerala and Karnataka. The Chief Minister also clarified in the letter that the Kerala government was fulfilling the legislative duty of protecting the constitutional rights of the people.