The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Resolve disputes through talks, says Kerala Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 27, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Resolve disputes through talks, says Kerala Minister

Special Correspondent

Kanimozhi requests M.A. Baby to save Tamil language departments in Kerala colleges

Baby wants Malayalam department in a Chennai college saved from closure
World Malayali Council thanks Government for declaring Onam a restricted holiday

— Photo: R. Ragu

Festive spirit: An actor dressed as Mahabali escorts Kerala Education Minister M.A. Baby and Member of Parliament Kanimozhi to the Onam celebrations organised by Mathrubhumi and the World Malayali Council in Chennai on Sunday.

CHENNAI: On the occasion of Onam, Kerala Education Minister M.A. Baby called for all disputes between Kerala and Tamil Nadu to be brought to the table and discussed with the confidence that solutions would be found.

“Let there be no disputes about rail divisions which will cause divisions between two great states,” he said, referring to the ongoing agitation over the proposed Salem railway division. Whatever disputes remain, big or small, can be brought to the discussion table. There was no problem that cannot be sorted out, he said. Speaking at the Onam celebrations organised by the Malayalam newspaper Mathrubhumi and the World Malayali Council here, Mr. Baby urged the people of b oth States to show brotherhood and unity in the spirit of the festival.

Poet and Member of Parliament Kanimozhi called upon the people to break barriers of language, religion, region and caste and unite in the name of humanity. Even in the middle of the joyous Onam celebrations, she urged that the tragedy of the Hyderabad bomb blasts and the victims of communal tensions should not be forgotten. “At this moment, there is a need to bring us all together, the nation, the world, to stand as one, as humanity.” While Mr. Baby agreed to take action on Ms. Kanimozhi’s request that the Tamil language departments in Kerala colleges, especially in the Government Victoria College, Palakkad, should not be shut down for any reason, he countered with a similar request to save the Malayalam department under threat of closure in a Chennai college.

Ms. Kanimozhi assured him that the issue would be looked into.

Mr. Baby and the members of the World Malayali Council all joined to thank the Tamil Nadu Government, especially the Chief Minister, for declaring Onam a restricted holiday in Chennai.

For years, Malayalis in the city were under tension as they celebrated Onam because they had to attend offices and schools on the festival day, said WMC Chennai province general secretary V.C. Praveen.

He related how a delegation met the Chief Minister with their request. “He was smiling as he told us that he had already given a holiday. When we said that was only for Coimbatore and the Nilgiris, he said, ‘They asked me, so I gave. You have never asked.’ …We were amazed that the government order came in just three days,” said Mr. Praveen.

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