'Deliberate Misinformation': Tamilisai Soundararajan slams TN Minister over book criticising NEP

Chennai, May 18 (IANS) Senior BJP leader and former Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, accusing him of misrepresenting the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, in his recently released book 'Madha Yaanai'.

In a strongly worded statement, Soundararajan alleged that Minister Poyyamozhi's book aims to vilify the NEP and mislead the public by portraying the policy as regressive.

"A well-intentioned policy has been poisoned. The book seeks to instil fear and obstruct the dissemination of equitable knowledge among Tamil Nadu’s children," she said.

Criticising what she described as the DMK's "elitist and authoritarian mindset", Soundararajan questioned the disparity in access to language education.

"While the minister's own child is free to learn French, similar opportunities are denied to other students in the state. This reflects an education system designed to benefit a select few," she charged.

Soundararajan also dismissed the oft-repeated claim that the NEP was part of a "saffron agenda", asserting instead that the policy, formulated by the Kasturirangan Committee, was a visionary framework meant to elevate Indian students to global standards.

She accused the book of employing emotional arguments to resist reform.

"It is disheartening that sentimental rhetoric is being used to suppress genuine educational progress," she said.

Drawing attention to systemic gaps in Tamil Nadu's schooling system, the BJP leader pointed to the low pass percentage in Tamil and the acute shortage of Tamil teachers in government schools as evidence of administrative failure.

"This publication is not just a critique. It is a politically motivated attempt to sabotage the educational aspirations of underprivileged children," she concluded.

The minister's book 'Madha Yaanai', which takes a critical view of the NEP and its potential impact on Tamil Nadu's school curriculum, has drawn both praise and criticism.

While the DMK defends its stance as protecting regional and linguistic identity, BJP leaders see it as part of a broader campaign against reform.

--IANS

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