CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami lashed out at the opposition parties saying they had no concern whatsoever for the well-being of the Tamils living in other States in the country, even as he justified his tweet requesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make Tamil an optional language of study in other States.
"What is wrong in my request? I had voiced the concerns of Tamil people living in other States who wanted their children to learn Tamil," the Chief Minister sought to know.
The Chief Minister claimed the opposition parties were creating ruckus over the language issue only for political gains and that they had no intention to do good to the Tamils living in other parts of the country.
"When did I endorse trilingual system of education? You (media) and the opposition parties have jumped the gun. You and the opposition parties have needlessly politicised my tweet," he told reporters in Coimbatore on Thursday and said his Amma (former CM J. Jayalalithaa) government followed the two-language policy (of Tamil and English) in Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Palaniswami further said he had tweeted the request (on Wednesday) after media persons made a representation to him during his recent visit to the national capital. Hence, the request to Mr. Modi to include Tamil as an optional language for study in other States, he said and added, “I had also said that this will be a great service to one of the most ancient languages of the world.”
Also, he pointed out that the Tamils living in Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and even in Karnataka could not study their mother tongue. After the opposition parties and media twisted his tweet out of proportion, he had to withdraw it.
Meanwhile, in Chennai, AIADMK senior and Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar, told reporters that the Chief Minister tweeted urging the PM to introduce Tamil as an optional language in Hindi speaking States, as the Tamils in several States could not study the language due to non-availability of teachers. “It has become a fad to politicise everything in Tamil Nadu. His tweet was twisted out of proportion by certain political parties and a section of the media, hence the CM withdrew the tweet,” he explained.
He reiterated that Tamil Nadu government will not go back on its two-language policy.
