Mamata Banerjee flays government move to include Gujarati in JEE

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has criticised the Centre's move to include Gujarati in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main and said that the decision is "not praiseworthy" and it shows that "maligning all regional languages is the intention of the government." 

Through the JEE examination, students are selected for the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). JEE is expected to be conducted in Hindi, English and Gujarati across India, which has created quite a stir. 

Mamata took to Twitter to condemn the move in a series of tweets and said, "Our country is India, which is home to so many religions, cultures, languages, creeds and communities.  However, maligning all regions and regional languages is the intention of the government at the Centre."

"Joint Entrance Exams so long were conducted in English and Hindi languages. Surprisingly, now only Gujarati language has been added. Such a step is not at all praiseworthy," she added.

Joint Entrance Exams so long were conducted in English and Hindi languages. Surprisingly, now only Gujarati language has been added.
Such a step is not at all praiseworthy. (2/4) — Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 6, 2019

Mamata further stated that "if Gujarati is being included, other languages, including Bengali, should also be there otherwise there will be protests as people are deeply hurt with the injustice meted out to them."

"I love Gujarati language. But, why have other regional languages been ignored? Why injustice is being meted out to them? If Gujarati has to be there, then all regional languages including Bengali must be there," read one of her next tweets while she concluded by saying, "Unless this issue is decided gracefully, there will be strong protests all around as sentiments of people who speak other regional languages would be deeply hurt due to this injustice."

Unless this issue is decided gracefully, there will be strong protests all around as sentiments of people who speak other regional languages would be deeply hurt due to this injustice. (4/4) — Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 6, 2019

Joint Entrance Exams are now conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The medium of question paper is in English, Hindi and Gujarati. 

Earlier, veteran CPI(M) leader also slammed the central government for the move and said that the "policy of regional discrimination must be scrapped."