Chennai: Terming the decision by Union Ministry of Human Resource Development to celebrate Sanskrit week from 7-13 August in all states as 'highly inappropriate', Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday said that it would be more appropriate to organise a 'Classical Language Week' in each state in tune with the language and culture of the state.
According to a communique sent by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of India to the chief secretaries of all states, the centre had asked all the states to celebrate Sanskrit week in the second week of August. While the celebrations would be conducted by the CBSE, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in all states, the state governments were also requested to organise such events at the state, district and other levels.
In a letter sent to Prime Minister Modi, Jaya urged the PM to suitably modify the letter sent to the state to enable each state, including CBSE schools in the state, to celebrate the language of the state. “This would be in keeping with the culture and linguistic sensitivities in a diverse country like ours,” she said.
Jayalalithaa stated that any official celebration of 'Sanskrit Week' in Tamil Nadu would be inappropriate considering the rich cultural heritage of the state and the ancient Tamil language. “There has also been a strong social justice and language movement in the state. It would be much more appropriate to celebrate the linguistic heritage of that state,” she said.
Earlier during the week, several political parties in the state including BJP allies PMK and MDMK raised objection to celebration of 'Sanskrit Week' in TN pointing out that Tamil is also among the ancient classical languages of the country.
