Facing indignation and shocked disbelief over its election promise to curb the use of English language and computers, the Samajwadi Party on Sunday was at pains to clarify that the party was not blind to modern day needs but maintained they could not be promoted at the cost of jobs for the
masses.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh told mediapersons that the party was not against computers and English per se "but they cannot be promoted at the cost of jobs" for the masses.
He said the Samajwadi Party was not speaking of a ban on either the language or the use of computers.
Singh said the party was against the "compulsory usage of English" in public dealings and added that promoting regional languages did not mean discouraging English.
Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had, after releasing the manifesto Saturday, said that he was against making English "compulsory" but not studying it "for academic interest".
"English cannot replace regional languages in daily life and running of the government," he said, when reporters told him that his son Akhilesh Yadav had gone to a convent school.