NEW DELHI: DMK MP Kanimozhi on Wednesday accused Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan of “twisting facts” after Tamil Nadu government‘s letter of consent was for establishment of PM-SHRI schools was furnished amid the ongoing three-language controversy.
Replying to Pradhan on a social media post on X, the DMK MP said that the letter provided by the education minister does not mention accepting the three-language policy or NEP in its entirety
“This letter clearly states that Tamil Nadu will accept PM SHRI schools only based on our State Government led-committee’s recommendations and not on your Union Government’s recommendation. Nowhere have we mentioned accepting the three-language policy or NEP in its entirety,” Kanimozhi said.
“Whatever is acceptable for Tamil Nadu, we will accept—nothing more, nothing less. Stop twisting facts,” she added.
This came a day after Pradhan slammed DMK govt on social media and claimed that three-language controversy had been staged by TN govt to earn “brownie points and to revive DMK’s political fortunes”.
The letter dated March 15, 2024 said, “… the state of Tamil Nadu is very keen to sign the MoU for establishing PM-SHRI schools in the state. In this regard, a state-level committee headed by the school education secretary has been constituted. Based on the recommendations of the committee, the MoU for establishing PM-SHRI schools will be signed by the state before the beginning of the next academic year, 2024-25.”
“It is requested to kindly release the 3rd and the 4th instalments for the financial year 2023-24,” it added.
Earlier, TN CM Stalin had accused Pradhan of misleading Parliament regarding the state’s consent for establishment of PM-SHRI schools.
Stalin also shared on social media a letter dated Aug 30, 2025, from Pradhan, highlighting a paragraph where the Union minister wrote: “… after receiving the undertaking, a draft MoU was sent … I was surprised to see that the state responded with a modified MoU… wherein the key paragraph referring to the implementation of NE in entirety had been dropped.”
‘I do not want to name him …’: Nirmala Sithraman weighs into language row
Meanwhile, Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman stroked controversy after she weighed into the language controversy and said, “I do not want to name him, but the moment I read the passages, anyone with a small, faint familiarity with Tamil will know who I’m speaking about. So, when this person speaks about Tamil, much horribly, there’s no objection. On the contrary, they would keep his photo. They will also say he is our Dravidian icon.”
She said while quoting the “elderly person” from various Tamil magazines in what was seen as a reference to Periyar, the leader of the Dravidian movement.
Sitharaman said Pradhan was made to withdraw his remarks just for saying that the protest by DMK members was uncivil.
“But a man who repeatedly says Tamil is a barbaric language, they keep his photograph in every room, they garland him and worship him and say he is the icon of Dravidian movement. Look at their hypocrisy,” she said.