# Kharge 'purification' row, English Vinglish in Punjab, and Messi retires

An episode of [3 Things](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1406730235), 1 Sep 2026, 27 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74775381/3_things_2026_september_1_v1.mp3

First, we speak with The Indian Express' Asad Rehman who talks about a political controversy following a shuddhikaran hawan that happened at Haldwani's Ramlila Maidan two days after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a rally at the same venue. He discusses how Rahul Gandhi has called it an act of untouchability and the made a demand for registering an FIR. Next, we speak with The Indian Express' Divya Goyal about the condition of English language education in Punjab's government schools caused by a shortage of qualified English teachers and the repercussions this shortage is having. Lastly, we talk about football legend Lionel Messi announcing his retirement from international football with the Argentina National Team. Hosted by Niharika Nanda Produced by Shashank Bhargava, Ichha Sharma, and Niharika Nanda Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: In this episode, we talk about a social media post
[0:03] Speaker 1: by the Education Minister of Punjab and how it highlighted
[0:06] Speaker 1: the shortage of qualified English teachers in the state. We
[0:10] Speaker 1: also talk about football legend Lionel Messi announcing his retirement
[0:14] Speaker 1: from international football with the Argentina national team. But we
[0:18] Speaker 1: begin with Uttarakhand where a political controversy has broken out
[0:22] Speaker 1: over what Rahul Gandhi has called.
[0:23] Speaker 2: An act of untouchability.
[0:29] Speaker 1: Hi, I am Niharika Nanda and you are listening to
[0:31] Speaker 1: 3 Things, the Indian Express News Show. Earlier this month,
[0:39] Speaker 1: Congress President Malikarjun Kharge addressed a rally at Haldwani's Ramleela Maidan.
[0:45] Speaker 2: And two days later, on 10th August.
[0:47] Speaker 1: An organization called Shriram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas conducted what
[0:51] Speaker 1: it called a Shuddhi Karan Havan at the same venue.
[0:55] Speaker 3: Shuddhi Karan is like you basically try to purify the
[0:59] Speaker 3: place if you put it in very factual terms.
[1:02] Speaker 2: That's the Indian expresses Asad Rahman.
[1:05] Speaker 3: So you try to purify the place because it has
[1:07] Speaker 3: become impure. So this purification or Shuddhi Karan ritual which
[1:12] Speaker 3: was done also had a havan there and the next
[1:16] Speaker 3: day Congress President Rajya Sabha leader of opposition, Mr. Malika
[1:20] Speaker 3: Arjun Khadge raised this in the Rajya Sabha, saying that
[1:23] Speaker 3: he was deeply hurt by what had happened in Haldwani
[1:27] Speaker 3: and that it was a form of untouchability. Now, at
[1:30] Speaker 3: that moment, Union Minister and who also happens to be
[1:33] Speaker 3: the leader of the house in the Rajya Sabha, Mr.
[1:36] Speaker 3: JP Nadda, he got up and spoke and he said
[1:39] Speaker 3: that the BJP does not support this and that it
[1:43] Speaker 3: was unfortunate that it had happened the way Khadge described
[1:47] Speaker 3: it in the Rajya Sabha. So that was the first two,
[1:49] Speaker 3: three days of this whole issue starting. And since then,
[1:54] Speaker 3: we've seen a lot of statements, a lot of political
[1:58] Speaker 3: narrative around this issue in the last two and a half,
[2:01] Speaker 3: three weeks. I don't want.
[2:04] Speaker 4: To make it a political issue. And I have been
[2:08] Speaker 4: here for years in this community and I have been here.
[2:12] Speaker 4: But I have never.
[2:15] Speaker 4: Leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi,
[2:19] Speaker 4: has now demanded that PM Narendra Modi ensure an FIR
[2:23] Speaker 4: is filed against those responsible.
[2:45] Speaker 5: We are not asking for anything impossible. According to the constitution,
[2:48] Speaker 5: crime has been committed. Untouchability is a crime. This is untouchability.
[2:52] Speaker 5: We are demanding justice for the Congress President. We are
[2:56] Speaker 5: not saying anything more. We are saying give the Congress
[2:58] Speaker 5: President justice in Uttarakhand. And it is the duty of
[3:02] Speaker 5: the state government, of the national government to ensure that
[3:05] Speaker 5: Khargeji gets justice in Uttarakhand.
[3:08] Speaker 1: So what exactly happened at Haldwani's Ram Leela Maidan and
[3:12] Speaker 1: how is the BJP responding to these allegations? To understand this,
[3:15] Speaker 1: my colleague Ichha Sharma speaks with Asad in this segment.
[3:20] Speaker 6: Asad, could you start by explaining how significant is it
[3:23] Speaker 6: that the Congress is reading this incident, especially through the
[3:26] Speaker 6: lens of untouchability?
[3:29] Speaker 3: Now, see, initially, when Mr. Khargay also spoke in the
[3:32] Speaker 3: Rajya Sabha, he said that this was a form of
[3:35] Speaker 3: the practice of untouchability, which has been banned in India
[3:38] Speaker 3: and which is a crime in India. Anyone who practices
[3:40] Speaker 3: any kind of untouchability has to be dealt with under
[3:43] Speaker 3: the SCST Act as per our legal criminal system. So,
[3:48] Speaker 3: if you look at the Congress's approach, initial first few days, Mr.
[3:52] Speaker 3: Khargay spoke about it. Several Congress leaders raised this issue.
[3:56] Speaker 3: It was also brought up in the Congress Working Committee
[3:58] Speaker 3: meeting that happened soon after the Parliament session concluded. And
[4:03] Speaker 3: after that, if you see, this issue has only become
[4:06] Speaker 3: bigger and bigger. The Indian Express also reported that Mr. Khargay,
[4:11] Speaker 3: during the CWC meeting, had expressed... some unhappiness over a
[4:16] Speaker 3: section of Congress leaders not speaking up about this issue.
[4:19] Speaker 3: And he had said that it was hurtful to him.
[4:22] Speaker 3: And this was a closed-door meeting, but we had some
[4:25] Speaker 3: information from different sources that Mr. Khargay also spoke somewhat
[4:30] Speaker 3: in a disappointing tone about some of his party colleagues. Now,
[4:33] Speaker 3: since then, if you look at the politics and the
[4:36] Speaker 3: significance of the word Shuddhi Karan and you put it
[4:40] Speaker 3: in context of Dalits in the country, then it is
[4:44] Speaker 3: a very significant issue and it is a very significant
[4:47] Speaker 3: political issue. Because one, Mr. Khargay is one of the
[4:51] Speaker 3: tallest leaders in the country right now. He's probably the
[4:54] Speaker 3: oldest active politician in India. Maybe a few others might
[4:59] Speaker 3: be close to him or maybe older than him, Mr.
[5:01] Speaker 3: Sharad Pawar and a few others. But he is among
[5:04] Speaker 3: the oldest and the most senior people who's had a
[5:07] Speaker 3: very long journey, a 50-year-old political journey. He's been multiple-time MLA,
[5:12] Speaker 3: multiple-time MP, minister, Rajya Sabha leader of opposition for multiple
[5:16] Speaker 3: terms now. So if you look at Mr. Kharge and
[5:19] Speaker 3: how he's viewed by the Dalit community, he is one
[5:22] Speaker 3: of their topmost leaders in the absence of Mayawati and
[5:26] Speaker 3: other Dalit leaders in the country.
[5:29] Speaker 7: And so how has the BJP responded to these allegations?
[5:32] Speaker 6: And as you mentioned earlier, why is it so keen
[5:35] Speaker 6: to separate itself from the organization that concluded the ceremony?
[5:39] Speaker 3: Now, since this incident has happened, the BJP has been
[5:43] Speaker 3: somewhat trying to say that we were not involved in this.
[5:46] Speaker 3: It was not our workers or our leaders who did
[5:49] Speaker 3: this Shuddhi Karan. And that some organization or the organization
[5:53] Speaker 3: that manages that Ramleela Maidan, had done the Shuddhi Karan
[5:57] Speaker 3: because the place was littered and it was dirty and
[6:00] Speaker 3: some inappropriate slogans were raised at the rally on August 8. Now,
[6:05] Speaker 3: what does the BJP have here to lose? I mean,
[6:08] Speaker 3: if you look at elections coming up, I think this
[6:10] Speaker 3: could become a sensitive issue and it could be a
[6:13] Speaker 3: flashpoint in the coming elections next year in states like Punjab, Uttarakhand,
[6:17] Speaker 3: Uttar Pradesh, very importantly, and other states. So, Dalits comprise
[6:22] Speaker 3: around 20% of UP's population, same for Uttarakhand. And they're
[6:27] Speaker 3: a very important vote block for the opposition and for
[6:30] Speaker 3: the BJP. Now, because the person in question is Mr.
[6:34] Speaker 3: Khargay and considering his seniority, Mr. Nadda also, when he
[6:37] Speaker 3: spoke in the Rajya Sabha, he said that it was
[6:40] Speaker 3: unfortunate that whatever had happened at the Haldwani Ramleela Maidan.
[6:45] Speaker 7: Right.
[6:45] Speaker 6: And we understand that Rahul Gandhi broadened this beyond Khargay.
[6:49] Speaker 6: Talk about why is he trying to move the conversation
[6:52] Speaker 6: from this event?
[6:55] Speaker 3: So, he spoke about tea shops having different cups for
[7:00] Speaker 3: Dalits and other castes. He spoke about students and young
[7:05] Speaker 3: children in schools facing discrimination because of their Dalit identity,
[7:10] Speaker 3: their caste. So he gave a very spirited, very strong
[7:16] Speaker 3: statements during this press conference. And his main point was
[7:20] Speaker 3: that we, meaning the Congress party, wants an FIR to
[7:24] Speaker 3: be lodged against those who conducted this Shuddhi Karan purification
[7:28] Speaker 3: ritual at the Haldwani ground. Simple as that. And he said, like, typically, Mr.
[7:48] Speaker 3: Rahul Gandhi of late has been aggressively going after the
[7:51] Speaker 3: BJP and the central government. And he said that this
[7:54] Speaker 3: reflects the thinking of the Manusmriti. And he described the
[7:59] Speaker 3: fight in Indian politics to be of two ideologies, one
[8:03] Speaker 3: of the BJP RSS and one of the Congress Party.
[8:06] Speaker 3: And one, he says, follows Manusmriti and the other follows
[8:11] Speaker 3: the Constitution of India. He described this act as a
[8:14] Speaker 3: criminal act. He said this act deserved an FIR under
[8:19] Speaker 3: the SCSD Act. And he said, I'm quoting him, we
[8:21] Speaker 3: will make sure that an FIR is lodged. And until
[8:24] Speaker 3: that happens, we will not rest. We will continue our
[8:28] Speaker 3: efforts to ensure an FIR is lodged. And he also
[8:30] Speaker 3: very confidently said that the FIR will be lodged and
[8:34] Speaker 3: there's no doubt about that.
[8:35] Speaker 7: Right.
[8:36] Speaker 6: And Asad, he is also framing this as a battle
[8:39] Speaker 6: over the constitution. rather than simply a dispute between Congress
[8:43] Speaker 6: and the BJP. So why is constitutional language so central
[8:47] Speaker 6: to his politics on caste right now?
[8:49] Speaker 3: So, if you look at this incident, not in isolation,
[8:54] Speaker 3: but if you look around and if you look at Mr.
[8:57] Speaker 3: Rahul Gandhi's campaign of late or in the last few years,
[9:00] Speaker 3: it has been about the BJP RSS and what he
[9:04] Speaker 3: calls their ideology that follows Manusmriti and the fight for
[9:08] Speaker 3: the constitution of India. And when he speaks about this,
[9:11] Speaker 3: he's talking, he's mostly addressing Dalit's and those who are
[9:16] Speaker 3: marginalized in the country. So, now if you put this
[9:20] Speaker 3: in political context, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the
[9:23] Speaker 3: Congress believes and the Samajwadi Party also believes that the
[9:27] Speaker 3: Congress and SP combined did very well in Uttar Pradesh
[9:30] Speaker 3: in the general elections because Dalits supported them. Now, what
[9:34] Speaker 3: was the reason for this? The reason was this narrative
[9:37] Speaker 3: that some BJP leaders in UP and on the center said,
[9:41] Speaker 3: spread that they will change the constitution. Now that resonated
[9:45] Speaker 3: with the Dalits at that point. And that is one
[9:48] Speaker 3: reason that the Congress and the Samajwadi party did quite
[9:51] Speaker 3: well in Uttar Pradesh. And one of the reasons why
[9:55] Speaker 3: BJP could not get the magic number of 270 plus
[10:00] Speaker 3: in the Lok Sabha was because they fell short of
[10:02] Speaker 3: the 20-30 seats that they usually got in Uttar Pradesh
[10:06] Speaker 3: during general elections in 2014 and 2019. So this issue
[10:10] Speaker 3: is being taken up very, very seriously by the Congress.
[10:14] Speaker 7: And so, where does the matter stand now?
[10:16] Speaker 6: Has the party managed to get an FIR registered?
[10:20] Speaker 3: So, the latest that has happened in this issue is
[10:23] Speaker 3: that an FIR has been lodged against Mr. Rahul Gandhi
[10:25] Speaker 3: himself in Haldwani, that he has heard the sentiments of
[10:29] Speaker 3: Dalits there. The police has taken a complaint based on
[10:33] Speaker 3: that they've lodged an FIR under sections of the Bharatiya
[10:36] Speaker 3: Nyaya Sanhita and the SCSD Act. We saw some Congress
[10:41] Speaker 3: leaders say in the morning on Monday that There will
[10:45] Speaker 3: be protests across India on Monday evening and that this
[10:49] Speaker 3: issue will not be allowed to settle. And they also
[10:52] Speaker 3: said that Mr. Rahul Gandhi doesn't care about another FIR.
[10:56] Speaker 3: He has multiple FIRs launched across the country and that
[10:59] Speaker 3: one more is a badge of honor for him. Some
[11:01] Speaker 3: of the Congress leaders I spoke to said this. So,
[11:04] Speaker 3: we'll have to wait and watch. But one thing is very,
[11:06] Speaker 3: very clear that the Congress is not going to let
[11:09] Speaker 3: this issue settle down. They're going to continuously push the government,
[11:14] Speaker 3: try to push the government into a corner, get that
[11:16] Speaker 3: FIR lodged and then try to take credit. And if
[11:19] Speaker 3: that doesn't happen, then they'll continue to raise this issue
[11:22] Speaker 3: talking about how Dalits in this country are not equal.
[11:25] Speaker 3: And the BJP, RSS, as per the Congress, practices everything.
[11:30] Speaker 3: The untouchability. So I don't think we are going to
[11:33] Speaker 3: see an end to this issue anytime soon.
[11:35] Speaker 7: Right.
[11:35] Speaker 6: And interestingly, there has also been discussion about Mayawati not
[11:39] Speaker 6: speaking on this issue. So why is her response or
[11:43] Speaker 6: lack of one politically significant in a controversy centered on
[11:47] Speaker 6: Dalit identity?
[11:49] Speaker 3: See, BSP President Mayawati has taken a very measured approach
[11:53] Speaker 3: if you look at the last five years. And I
[11:56] Speaker 3: also used to cover the BSP when I covered Uttar
[12:00] Speaker 3: Pradesh in the past. And if you look at the BSP,
[12:03] Speaker 3: then their grouse with the Congress, it seems, is bigger
[12:07] Speaker 3: than its grouse with the BJP. Now, Mayawati is a
[12:11] Speaker 3: leader who generally has a very formal approach to what
[12:14] Speaker 3: she speaks and what she doesn't speak. And her leaders,
[12:17] Speaker 3: her party, Kader and leadership also follows a very specific
[12:21] Speaker 3: and very strict protocol. Then they cannot speak outside of
[12:24] Speaker 3: what Mayawati says. Her silence on this issue, whether Congress
[12:28] Speaker 3: is going to raise this during the Uttar Pradesh elections,
[12:31] Speaker 3: trying to get the votes that the PSP generally gets
[12:34] Speaker 3: among Jatavs who are also Dalits in UP and other
[12:37] Speaker 3: Dalit castes in UP is yet to be seen. But
[12:40] Speaker 3: I think when Rahul Gandhi was asked about this, that
[12:43] Speaker 3: Mayawati has not said anything and the Prime Minister has
[12:45] Speaker 3: not said anything about this, he said he doesn't care
[12:48] Speaker 3: about what who says he just wants an FIR to
[12:50] Speaker 3: be lodged and those who perpetrated this crime as for
[12:55] Speaker 3: him should face criminal action and that justice has to
[12:58] Speaker 3: be done and he is going to ensure justice. Now,
[13:00] Speaker 3: back to what Mayawati's stand on this is, there has
[13:04] Speaker 3: been no statement so far. She's maintained a very measured
[13:07] Speaker 3: silence and that might probably be because she doesn't want
[13:11] Speaker 3: to come across as someone who is supporting the Congress
[13:14] Speaker 3: and this is merely speculation. And she might just be
[13:19] Speaker 3: trying to measure the situation. But yes, it is significant
[13:22] Speaker 3: that she is not spoken up on an issue which
[13:24] Speaker 3: concerns the Dalit community. And with the elections so close,
[13:28] Speaker 3: I think it's going to have implications when Uttar Pradesh
[13:31] Speaker 3: elects a new government next year.
[13:37] Speaker 1: And next, we take a look at a problem that
[13:39] Speaker 1: Punjab's education system has been grappling with for decades. The
[13:44] Speaker 1: issue came into focus once again when last week, Punjab
[13:47] Speaker 1: Education Minister Harjot Singh Mance shared a photograph of a
[13:51] Speaker 1: government school classroom on X where he was trying to
[13:54] Speaker 1: highlight how the Aam Aadmi Party government has brought about
[13:58] Speaker 1: an education revolution in Punjab.
[14:00] Speaker 2: The photograph showed the kind of posters you typically.
[14:03] Speaker 1: Find in a classroom for young children, one depicting different
[14:06] Speaker 1: kinds of vegetables and another one showing animals such as tigers,
[14:11] Speaker 1: elephants and deer.
[14:12] Speaker 2: Except there was a problem.
[14:15] Speaker 8: The animal deer, D-E-A-R, it was spelt as D-E-A-R, deer.
[14:21] Speaker 8: And vegetables was wrongly spelt as V-E-G-I-T-A-B-L-E-S.
[14:28] Speaker 2: That's the Indian Express's Divya Goel.
[14:31] Speaker 8: So these are the basic spellings that primary school kids,
[14:35] Speaker 8: they learn every day in their classrooms. So when the
[14:38] Speaker 8: basic spellings were wrong, while the minister was stressing on
[14:42] Speaker 8: how the Aam Aadmi Party has brought a Sikhiya Kranti
[14:46] Speaker 8: education revolution in Punjab, the opposition questioned. that if this
[14:51] Speaker 8: was the kind of revolution where children are even learning
[14:54] Speaker 8: the basic spellings wrong.
[14:56] Speaker 7: So the teaching.
[14:57] Speaker 8: Errors made by the school, by the teachers, it shocked
[15:02] Speaker 8: the opposition and also the other users on the social
[15:06] Speaker 8: media platform. And they questioned the quality of education that
[15:10] Speaker 8: was being delivered to the kids in Punjab.
[15:14] Speaker 1: Now, an important thing to note is that this problem
[15:16] Speaker 1: is not new. For years, Punjab has had to rely
[15:19] Speaker 1: on teachers trained in other subjects to teach English. In fact,
[15:24] Speaker 1: until 2007, the state did not have a separate cadre
[15:27] Speaker 1: for recruiting specialized English teachers. And as a result, teachers
[15:32] Speaker 1: of subjects such as social studies or even Punjabi were
[15:35] Speaker 1: sometimes asked to teach English to students from classes 6
[15:38] Speaker 1: to 12, despite not having specialized training in the language.
[15:43] Speaker 2: So why has Punjab continued to struggle.
[15:45] Speaker 1: With this problem for decades and what impact has the
[15:48] Speaker 1: shortage of qualified English teachers had on students and the
[15:52] Speaker 1: teaching of English in the state? To understand this, we
[15:55] Speaker 1: speak with Divya Goyal in this segment. Divya, you write
[15:58] Speaker 1: that this is a very old problem in Punjab and
[16:01] Speaker 1: actually the same issue was also highlighted back in 2015
[16:05] Speaker 1: when the Shirmani Akali Dal was in power.
[16:08] Speaker 2: So what was the situation like back then?
[16:11] Speaker 7: Exactly.
[16:12] Speaker 8: So when it comes to English teaching in Punjab, you
[16:16] Speaker 8: cannot specifically pinpoint the current government or the Aam Aadmi
[16:21] Speaker 8: Party for the mess. The mess is actually quite old
[16:25] Speaker 8: and the problem is also a very old one. You know,
[16:29] Speaker 8: English has always been a subject that has seen the
[16:33] Speaker 8: highest failures in Punjab in class 10th and 12th boards.
[16:37] Speaker 8: That's because right from the beginning, English was never the
[16:41] Speaker 8: focus for the governments, not just the ARP, but also
[16:46] Speaker 8: the previous sad BJP government or the Congress government.
[16:49] Speaker 7: So nearly a.
[16:49] Speaker 8: Decade ago in 2015, when Akali Dal and BJP alliance
[16:55] Speaker 8: was in power, a similar shocker had come when then
[16:59] Speaker 8: Education Minister Dr. Daljeet Singh Chima, he had called a
[17:03] Speaker 8: gathering of English teachers to check that what actually was
[17:07] Speaker 8: going wrong. He had taken this step after over 80,000
[17:10] Speaker 8: 2000 students in class 10th, they had failed the English exam,
[17:15] Speaker 8: the board exam. So in Mohali, he had called English
[17:19] Speaker 8: teachers from across the state to interact with them.
[17:23] Speaker 7: But then what happened was a complete shocker.
[17:27] Speaker 8: The English teachers, they were given a piece of paper
[17:30] Speaker 8: and Chima had told them to write some basic spellings.
[17:34] Speaker 8: And also a paragraph on why they had such poor results.
[17:38] Speaker 8: So they even spelled basic spellings like vacant, should, lake
[17:45] Speaker 8: and ate.
[17:45] Speaker 7: They all were spelled wrong.
[17:48] Speaker 8: They failed to construct basic sentences or writing a para
[17:52] Speaker 8: to explain their poor results.
[17:54] Speaker 7: None of them were.
[17:55] Speaker 8: Able to speak to the minister in English. So that
[17:58] Speaker 8: was really an eye opener. And also, you know, Except one,
[18:02] Speaker 8: none among the 200 teachers, they were able to talk
[18:05] Speaker 8: to the minister in that it was quite an eye-opener
[18:10] Speaker 8: and other governments, they realized that English needs to be
[18:14] Speaker 8: focused on in government schools. And also regularly, time and again,
[18:20] Speaker 8: the Punjab School Education Board, which conducts the board exam,
[18:24] Speaker 8: they have been giving grace marks to make the students
[18:27] Speaker 8: pass in English. This was in 2016 when they gave
[18:30] Speaker 8: at least 25 to 30 grace marks to English students
[18:35] Speaker 8: so that the number of failures they come down.
[18:39] Speaker 1: And Divya, you write that till 2007, there was no
[18:42] Speaker 1: specialized cadre of teachers for English language.
[18:46] Speaker 2: So how was the language taught?
[18:48] Speaker 8: So when I say that English has never been the
[18:51] Speaker 8: focus in Punjab government schools, so this is where the
[18:55] Speaker 8: actual problem lies.
[18:56] Speaker 7: So till 2007, that is not very old.
[18:59] Speaker 8: That is like quite recent if we can say, not
[19:03] Speaker 8: even till two decades ago, there was no separate cadre
[19:07] Speaker 8: to recruit English teachers. Like, you know, a cadre means
[19:11] Speaker 8: that every subject has a cadre. You have maths cadre,
[19:14] Speaker 8: you have science cadre, you have Punjabi cadre, you have
[19:18] Speaker 8: Hindi cadre. For every separate subject, there is a cadre
[19:23] Speaker 8: under which the separate specialized teachers are recruited. So for English,
[19:28] Speaker 8: Punjab never had a separate cadre till 2007. So the
[19:32] Speaker 8: teachers of other subjects such as social studies and Punjabi
[19:38] Speaker 8: and even science and even maths, they were teaching English
[19:42] Speaker 8: to the children and they had no.
[19:44] Speaker 7: Expertise in the language.
[19:46] Speaker 8: It was only in 2007 that for the first time,
[19:49] Speaker 8: 1000 MasterCard posts for English were advertised and a separate
[19:55] Speaker 8: card was created.
[19:57] Speaker 1: And this issue was also raised by a history teacher
[20:00] Speaker 1: in the Punjab and Haryana High Court when he was
[20:03] Speaker 1: asked to teach English, right?
[20:06] Speaker 8: Yes, in 2016, a history teacher, as I said that
[20:10] Speaker 8: most of the social studies.
[20:11] Speaker 7: Teachers, they were forced to teach English.
[20:14] Speaker 8: So but in 2016, a history teacher resisted when he was.
[20:19] Speaker 7: Forced to teach English and he moved the high court.
[20:22] Speaker 8: And he told the court that how can I teach
[20:25] Speaker 8: English when my course subject is history? Future of students
[20:28] Speaker 8: cannot be put at stake, he had said.
[20:31] Speaker 7: So it's not just the app government that came to
[20:34] Speaker 7: power in 2022.
[20:35] Speaker 8: But also the Congress government, which came to power in 2017, that,
[20:40] Speaker 8: you know, efforts had started to give some priority to English, to.
[20:45] Speaker 7: Focus on English.
[20:46] Speaker 8: So the ARP-led government, after coming to power, it started
[20:50] Speaker 8: hiring some English teachers to fill the gap. Then they
[20:54] Speaker 8: also collaborated with British Council and the regional English language
[21:00] Speaker 8: wing of the US embassy to train the teachers in English.
[21:03] Speaker 7: And also, they started some specialized.
[21:06] Speaker 8: Courses in schools itself to focus on the speaking, writing
[21:11] Speaker 8: and listening skills of children in English. But then, while
[21:15] Speaker 8: these were some good measures that have been taken, the
[21:18] Speaker 8: gap is too big to fill. I mean, still in schools,
[21:21] Speaker 8: we have teachers who never had any expertise in English,
[21:25] Speaker 8: but still they are teaching the kids.
[21:28] Speaker 7: Right.
[21:28] Speaker 1: And besides this, you also write that the government's promotion
[21:31] Speaker 1: policy has also been flawed, which has further added to
[21:35] Speaker 1: the challenge.
[21:36] Speaker 2: Can you talk about that?
[21:38] Speaker 7: Yes.
[21:39] Speaker 8: So in 2024, the Punjab Education Department, they promoted 301
[21:43] Speaker 8: teachers as English lecturers to teach class 11 and 12.
[21:48] Speaker 8: But shockingly, a 298 of them had no expertise in
[21:52] Speaker 8: English and they came from other subjects. So they just
[21:56] Speaker 8: pursued masters in English through distance learning.
[21:59] Speaker 7: And they never studied elective English.
[22:02] Speaker 8: And even then they were promoted as English lecturers to
[22:05] Speaker 8: teach the highest 11th and 12th standards. So the floor
[22:10] Speaker 8: promotion policy came under heavy criticism.
[22:13] Speaker 7: And also this has sparked a debate.
[22:15] Speaker 8: That the teachers who have actually cleared elective English, they
[22:20] Speaker 8: should be first promoted or those who have done masters
[22:23] Speaker 8: in other subjects, they should be promoted. So the state
[22:26] Speaker 8: has yet not rectified its flawed promotion policy.
[22:29] Speaker 7: And of course, whenever you will have such.
[22:32] Speaker 8: Neglect for decades, the results will take time to rectify.
[22:37] Speaker 1: And Divya, can you tell us about the Association of
[22:39] Speaker 1: English Teaching Aspirants and what do they have to say
[22:42] Speaker 1: about the situation?
[22:44] Speaker 8: Yeah, so there is an association of English teaching aspirants
[22:47] Speaker 8: in Punjab who have been fighting for decades now that
[22:51] Speaker 8: English teachers who have expertise in the language, who have
[22:55] Speaker 8: done English elective, who are masters in English, they should
[22:58] Speaker 8: be given priority instead of the teachers from other subjects.
[23:03] Speaker 7: So Harpinder Singh Dhillon, who.
[23:05] Speaker 8: Is one of the office bearers of the union, said
[23:07] Speaker 8: that the decades of neglect that English has faced in
[23:10] Speaker 8: Punjab cannot be rectified in a few years. How is
[23:14] Speaker 8: it even imaginable that the language never had a separate carder?
[23:18] Speaker 8: Even after the state started hiring English teachers in 2007,
[23:22] Speaker 8: there were no service rules. It was only after they
[23:26] Speaker 8: approached the high court in 2016 that service rules were
[23:29] Speaker 8: made for English teachers. And at primary level, that means
[23:32] Speaker 8: class 1 to 5.
[23:34] Speaker 7: The situation is even worse. The ETT teachers, they.
[23:37] Speaker 8: Have poor foundation in English because it's a chain. Their
[23:41] Speaker 8: own teachers never had an English teacher in those times.
[23:44] Speaker 7: And now those only.
[23:45] Speaker 8: Teachers, they are teaching the primary children. So it's a
[23:48] Speaker 8: chain which will take time to break.
[23:55] Speaker 1: And in the end, we talk about football legend Lionel Messi,
[23:58] Speaker 1: who has decided that he will not be playing for
[24:01] Speaker 1: Argentina anymore, thus bringing the curtains down on one of
[24:04] Speaker 1: the greatest international careers of all time. The 39-year-old eight-time
[24:09] Speaker 1: Ballon d'Or winner made the announcement yesterday in a lengthy
[24:13] Speaker 1: statement saying, which he said he had prepared two days
[24:16] Speaker 1: after the 2026 World Cup final, which Argentina lost to Spain.
[24:21] Speaker 1: He further said that he has now made it public
[24:23] Speaker 1: in the wake of his father's death earlier this month.
[24:26] Speaker 1: He said that over the years he has given his
[24:29] Speaker 1: all to the jersey and that this decision hurts him too.
[24:32] Speaker 1: This is the second time that Messi has announced his
[24:35] Speaker 1: international retirement. The first was minutes after Argentina's loss to
[24:39] Speaker 1: Chile in the 2016 Copa America Centenario final. However, Messi
[24:43] Speaker 1: reversed that decision and went on.
[24:45] Speaker 2: To have his most successful period with Argentina.
[24:48] Speaker 1: He won his first major international trophy when La Albi
[24:51] Speaker 1: Celeste won the 2021 Copa America. The next year, he
[24:56] Speaker 1: played a pivotal role in Argentina's run to victory in
[24:59] Speaker 1: the 2022 World Cup. It ended a nearly four-decade wait
[25:03] Speaker 1: for Argentina to win the trophy and Messi became the
[25:06] Speaker 1: third Argentinian captain to have led them to victory in
[25:09] Speaker 1: the World Cup.
[25:10] Speaker 2: Messi had hinted.
[25:11] Speaker 1: Over the course of the campaign that he might end
[25:13] Speaker 1: his international career after the tournament. However, he continued playing
[25:17] Speaker 1: and went on to win the 2024 Copa America as well.
[25:21] Speaker 1: He briefly held the record all-time World Cup goalscorer at
[25:24] Speaker 1: this year's tournament.
[25:26] Speaker 2: He also set a new record for most.
[25:28] Speaker 1: Assists in World Cup history since the records began in 1966.
[25:31] Speaker 1: Messi led Argentina to the final once again but this
[25:35] Speaker 1: time they lost by 1-0 to Spain in extra time.
[25:39] Speaker 1: Messi was eligible to play for both Argentina and Spain,
[25:43] Speaker 1: having moved to the latter country at the age of 13.
[25:46] Speaker 1: He has stated in the years since that he never
[25:49] Speaker 1: had any doubts about choosing to play for Argentina. Considered
[25:52] Speaker 1: by many as the greatest football player of all time,
[25:56] Speaker 1: Messi retires as Argentina's record highest goalscorer and the player
[26:01] Speaker 1: with the most appearances for the national team, both by
[26:04] Speaker 1: some distance scoring 125 goals in 207 appearances.
[26:12] Speaker 2: You were listening to Three Things by the Indian Express.
[26:15] Speaker 1: Today's episode was edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar and
[26:19] Speaker 1: produced by Ichha Sharma and.
[26:21] Speaker 2: Me, Niharika Nanda.
[26:23] Speaker 1: If you like the show, then do subscribe to us
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[26:34] Speaker 1: You can also tweet us at Express Podcast and write
[26:38] Speaker 1: to us at podcasts at indianexpress.com.

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