‘A blow to logic and linguistic freedom’: Kerala Edu minister slams NCERT’s Hindi renaming of English textbooks

In a sharp rebuke to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty on April 14 denounced the agency’s decision to rename English-medium textbooks with Hindi titles, calling it "irrational" and a “violation of common logic.”

Sivankutty, a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), demanded a rollback of the decision and urged other states to unite against what he described as a cultural imposition undermining India’s linguistic plurality.

“The NCERT decision is not just illogical — it’s an affront to the federal principles and Constitutional values that bind this country together,” Sivankutty said in a strongly worded statement. “It sabotages our rich linguistic diversity by foisting one cultural narrative on a multilingual nation.”

The controversy surfaces amid ongoing resistance by Tamil Nadu’s DMK-led government to the three-language formula proposed in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which critics in the southern states view as a covert push for Hindi imposition.

Under the NCERT’s new naming scheme, textbooks for English-medium students are being retitled with Hindi names. The well-known Class 6 English textbook ‘Honeysuckle’ is being renamed Poorvi, a Hindi word that means ‘Eastern’ and also refers to a raga in Hindustani classical music. Similarly, the Class 1 textbook will now be called Mridang, and the Class 3 textbook Santoor — both names of Indian musical instruments.

“Replacing decades-old English titles that foster linguistic sensitivity with Hindi names is absolutely wrong,” Sivankutty asserted. “These titles are not mere labels — they shape young minds and cultural imagination. English-medium students deserve English titles. Education should empower, not impose.”

The Minister emphasized that Kerala, like many non-Hindi-speaking states, remains committed to preserving linguistic diversity and respecting regional cultural autonomy. “We must resist any attempt to turn education into a tool for cultural dominance. This is not just about textbooks — it’s about the soul of our nation’s federal character,” he said.