DMK president M. Karunanidhi on Sunday castigated the Human Resource Development Ministry for renaming ‘Teachers Day’, celebrated every year on September 5 on the occasion of the former President, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s birthday, as ‘Guru Utsav’ day, saying it was part of the BJP-led NDA government’s designs to promote Sanskrit.
Presiding over the marriage of the former Assembly Secretary Selvaraj’s daughter on Sunday, he said the HRD Ministry’s circular was a “conspiracy” to defeat Tamils and those who fought for promoting Tamil in the State.
“Aryam has started its game to undermine the Tamil culture,” he said and called upon Tamils to keep vigil against such moves, lest “we become a slave in our own soil.”
Other political parties in Tamil Nadu have also condemned the circular. They said it was part of the ‘Sanskritisation process’ being rolled out by the NDA government.
‘Subtle ways’
CPI(M) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan said that ever since the BJP came to power, it was adopting subtle ways of promoting the Hindutva agenda, and renaming Teachers Day as ‘Guru Utsav’ bore a testimony to it.
“Earlier it announced the celebration of the Sanskrit week. It appointed Yellapragada Sudershan Rao as Chairperson of the Indian Council of Historic Research. Guru Utsav is yet another agenda,” he said.
CPI national council secretary D. Raja said that while Teachers Day would be observed irrespective of the party in power at the Centre, the BJP sought to give a Hindutva tinge to a secular event. “Whenever the BJP is in power, the HRD minister indulged in re-writing Indian history to suit its interests. Guru Utsav is part of the Sanskritisation process of the BJP government,” he alleged.