MANORAMA HORTUS

NEET is like the Sanskrit of the 1920s, used to deny medical education to poor students: Udhayanidhi

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the nationwide entrance exam for medical colleges pushed by the Union government, is just like how Sanskrit was used in the 1920s to prevent students from studying medicines, said Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin.

A century ago, if someone wanted to become a doctor, they had to pass the entrance exam in Sanskrit. "Is there any connection between medical exams and Sanskrit? The answer is a big huge no," he said.
Just like NEET today prevents students from rural, backward and marginalised communities, Sanskrit was once used as a barrier to prevent many students from studying medicine, Udhayanidhi said.

Speaking at Manorama Hortus, Malayala Manorama's three-day art and literary festival in Kozhikode, on Saturday, the young leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) walked the jam-packed audience through the struggles and efforts taken by the Dravida Movement to place Tamil at the core of the state's identity and turn its people progressive.

Tamil Nadu and Kerala have successfully kept fascist and communal forces at bay, he said to loud applause from the packed audience. "Why do the people of the two states stand so strongly against fascism? That is because of the progressive politics firmly established here," Udhayanidhi said.

In the 1920s, those who spoke Sanskrit were held in high regard. "A Sanskrit professor in Madras University had a monthly salary of Rs 200 while a Tamil Professor got only Rs 70. You will know which community would have benefited from Sanskrit," he said.

The self-respect movement, the forerunner of the Dravidian movement, placed Tamil as the core of its identity. "It was not just a means to communicate but as a voice of a community seeking recognition, dignity and independence from the Hindi imposition," he said.
The Dravidian movement emphasised on the 'Pure Tamil Movement' which aimed to eliminate Sanskrit influences from Tamil by consciously developing a vocabulary that avoided Sanskrit tropes, he said.

Before the 1950s, Tamil cinema was heavily Sanskritised and released with anti-scientific themes, he said. "The downtrodden people hardly understood anything."

The Dravidian Movement changed the situation. After the 1950s, cinema emerged as a dominant medium for political messaging, with socially conscious narratives and dialogues resonating with the masses, he said. "Dialogue writing became an art form through which political ideas were seamlessly woven into the narratives, achieving unprecedented reach in both urban and rural audiences," he said.

CN Annadurai's Velaikari (Servant Maid) of 1949 and M Karunanidhi's Parasakthi challenged the caste hierarchies. "The dialogues made Dravidian ideology relatable, impactful, paving the way for political aspirations through the emotional power of cinema."

The Dravidian movement worked on rationalising Tamil Language, too. "Our leader Periyar questioned gender bias in the Tamil language such as 'vitavai' which means a widow, and 'vipaccari' which means a prostitute. Periyar asked what equivalent words we have to refer to a man who loses his wife and a man who visits a prostitute." Periyar raised these issues when feminism did not even catch the imagination of the Western world, said Udhayanidhi.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu's stance on linguistic insubordination was seen as divisive by the nationalists of the era, he said. "However, after many decades, history has proved otherwise," he said.
Today, the Tamil film industry is doing business in billions. Similarly, we have a thriving industry in Kerala. Telugu and Kannada film industries are also performing very well, he said.

"But think for a moment, has any other language in north India spawned a vibrant industry like in south India? The answer is a big no. Almost all languages spoken in North Indian states have given away to Hindi. As a result, they have Hindi films," said Udhayanidhi.

The Deputy Chief Minister said the language struggle that erupted in the 1930s and the 1960s is still on as the Union government continued with attempts at Hindi imposition. "Even last month, Doordarshan's Tamil Nadu division organised a Hindi month celebration. Our Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi also participated in it. DMK's student wing staged a protest in front of the DD office in Chennai. Chief Minister MK Stalin came down heavily on the Governor because he has a history of evading Dravidian ideologies," Udhayanidhi said.

Earlier, Malayala Manorama Executive Editor Jayant Mammen Mathew welcomed the Deputy Chief Minister to Manorama Hortus and asked about the status of the proposed AIIMS in Tamil Nadu.

While campaigning for the DMK in the 2021 Assembly election, Udhayanidhi brandished a single brick and went around the state to highlight the Union government's unfulfilled promise of constructing an All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in Madurai. It is yet to come up. "Probably, he will have to tell us where the single brick is," Jayant Mammen Mathew said.

Udhayanidhi responded by saying that the brick was still with him. "Whenever the Union government allocates funds (for AIIMS), I am ready to give it to the government," he said.