The draft of National Education Policy 2019 has been prepared by a committee chaired by Dr Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, former head of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
The draft, submitted to the government on May 31st 2019, recommends learning three languages in early childhood.
The draft says the "three language formula" followed in certain schools since 1968, should be continued.
"Children will now be immersed in three languages early on, starting from the Foundational Stage onwards," the draft reads.
This proposal has been interpreted by many in the southern part of the India as an imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.
It sparked a debate on social media with hashtags like #HindiIsNotTheNationalLanguage, which was joined by many political and social leaders.
Chief Minister of Karnataka Mr HD Kumaraswamy wrote on Twitter in Kannada, "One language should not be imposed on others for any reason in the name of the three-language policy."
Social Uproar
Popular actor and writer RJ Balaji said Tamil Nadu is not against Hindi, it is against forcing Hindi.
"Knowing many languages is a strength. However, that should be by choice and not by imposition," said Mr Balaji.
Congress MP from Kerala Shashi Tharoor raised the question of why North Indians do not learn south Indian languages.
"Most of us in the South learn Hindi as a second language, but nobody in the North is learning Malayalam or Tamil," Mr Tharoor was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
After the uproar, the government of India clarified; Hindi will not be imposed upon.
"The National Education Policy as submitted to the Minister HRD is only a draft report. Feedback shall be obtained from the general public. State Governments will be consulted. Only after this, the draft report will be finalised. GoI respects all languages. No language will be imposed," tweeted Dr S Jaishanakr, the newly appointed Minister of External Affairs who hails from Tamil Nadu.
History of anti-Hindi sentiments
Hindi, spoken primarily in the northern part of India is popularly considered as the national language of the country.
However, the constitution of India designates 22 official languages with Hindi and English included as the official languages of the Union.
Hindi has historically faced opposition in the southern states, years before India gained independence.
A wave of anti-Hindi agitation took place in 1937 after the Indian National Congress-led government in Madras Presidency introduced compulsory Hindi education in schools.
The move was repealed in 1940 after three-year-long unrest.
The move to make a sole official language of India after independence, in 1950 and again in 1965, too received strong opposition from the south and resulted in English as the official language of the country along with Hindi.
