By Express News Service BENGALURU: In an interaction held with 58 students from Classes 9 and 10, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Suresh Kumar was bombarded with questions about Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s controversial ‘one nation, one language’ statement. The students asked if Hindi would be imposed on the entire nation. The students were from government, government-aided and private schools. Assuring the students that Kannada would not be compromised on, Kumar said, “Hindi Diwas mentioned by Amit Shah has been celebrated for years and is not new. Kannada will always remain our first preference as it is our mother-tongue. No language can be forced upon you. There are many in our city who cannot speak Kannada properly.” Tarun, a student from a government school in Prakash Nagar, wanted to know how students affected by floods in North Karnataka districts would be helped with books before their exams. To this, the minister assured that a second set of textbooks will be distributed. Some students said they had issues with students scoring less but still getting admissions through SC/ST quota, while those scoring higher do not make it through the general category. “Caste discrimination still goes on in our country where those of the lower caste are not even served inside a hotel. A Karnataka MP was recently not allowed inside his own constituency for being a dalit. The reservation is in place for people like them who have been denied opportunities,” Kumar said.

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