Karnataka CM’s stand on Malayalam language bill ‘wrong

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Law Minister P Rajeev on Saturday termed as “wrong” the stand taken by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah regarding the Malayalam language bill proposed by the state government.

Rajeev, speaking to reporters, said the Karnataka CM’s views were probably based on the earlier Malayalam Language Bill that had not received Presidential approval. The Law Minister said the new bill proposed by the state permits Tamil and Kannada language minorities to study in their respective mother tongues and the official communications in such areas are also in their languages.

He said that under the new bill it was optional for students in such areas to study Malayalam.”These provisions were not there in the earlier bill and we had received objections regarding it back then. So, we took that also into consideration while drafting the new bill,” Rajeev said.

“So, the Karnataka CM’s views appear to be based on the provisions of the earlier bill. He has taken a wrong stand, probably on the instructions of the Congress leadership,” he added.

The minister further said that when the new bill was tabled in the House, the opposition Congress was sitting outside in protest over the Sabarimala gold issue and therefore, they probably did not know about its contents.