Actor Rajinikanth has come out in support of Suriya after the latter drew flak from AIADMK and BJP over his views on the draft National Educational Policy, 2019.At the audio launch of Suriya’ latest film Kaappaan, the megastar spoke in favour of Suriya’s stance.

Last week, in a press meet organised by Agaram Foundation( founded by Suriya), the actor brought into light, a number of issues he claimed that the draft NEP has not addressed. Broadly speaking on three particular aspects including the closing down of anganwadi schools with less than 10 students, quality of education with regard to entrance exams and the three language policy, Suriya criticised the move.

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He had stated, last week, that NEET had caused a social imbalance in the state and that schools had turned into “coaching centres” where nothing was being taught to students, but the preparation for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test. He further criticised the suggestion made by the Kasturi Rangan Committee that anganwadi schools with teacher student ratio less than 1:10 will be closed. He had asked what would happen to tribal students or those who lived in remote areas.

At the meet, Suirya also urged teachers, students and parents to contemplate, debate and weigh in on the latest policy draft published by the government.

His speech was both appreciated and criticised.

MNM chief Kamal Haasan had also come out in support of the Pithamagan actor.

Haasan took to his official Twitter handle and published a public statement that read: ” I agree with many of the points Suriya raises and he has my support. I condemn the autocratic attitude of the Centre and the State. Suriya has every right to talk about education as he and his family have done a lot for the educational development of the poor.”

Now, Rajinikanth has spoken about the actor’s initiative. He said at Kaapaan’s audio launch in Chennai, “Another face of Surya was revealed a few day ago. The speech he gave on education and the questions he asked, I agree with several of them. It became a huge discussion and created awareness. It did not become big because Surya the star or actor spoke about it. It is because he spoke about the difficulties of the students associated to his Agaram Foundation. He has seen it with his eyes and has not simply made a statement. People said that if Rajini had said this, Modi would have heard it. But Modi would have already heard what Suriya has said,” quoted The News Minute.

He further advised Suriya to first finish his education in cinema before moving on to make other contributions. “Children will have lot of ambitions but parents will say you first finish your degree. Suriya must finish his degree in cinema, he must act in lot of movie and give several hits. He still has age on his side and we don’t know what time has in store. He must live for long with good health. Not just movie fans, but people too need your contribution.”

Suriya who started his philanthropic foundation, Agaram, in 2008 commented on the draft NEP based on his personal observations made in the last ten years of running the foundation.

On the other hand, AIADMK has said it cannot respond to ‘half-baked’ statements made by the actor, while BJP state chief Tamilisai Soundararajan said people who have no idea on NEP are talking about it.

அன்புத் தம்பி @Suriya_offl அவர்களுக்கு எனது ஆதரவு கண்டிப்பாக உண்டு. pic.twitter.com/8chbBdQ3hM

— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) July 16, 2019