Tamil Nadu’s opposition to the directive to all States (July 20) to celebrate ‘Sanskrit Week’ from August 7 to 13 shows that the Modi government needs to think of such subjects only after getting a grip on governance. That Sanskrit has a central place in evolving a character and a culture for Hindustan cannot be disputed. Its influence on many other languages in India (it may be minimal for Tamil) in their growth has to be recognised. There are several schools across India that accommodate a student’s desire to learn Sanskrit. Kerala boasts of having a Sanskrit University. One fails to understand the objections of Tamil Nadu.
K. Rajendran,Chennai
The opposition to ‘Sanskrit Week’ expressed by certain political parties appears to represent a kind of political opportunism. If ‘linguistic sensitivity’ is accepted, a time may come when some linguistic fanatics may clamour for local versions of ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and ‘Vande Mataram.’
A. Balagangadharan,Pollachi
Before claiming linguistic superiority over Sanskrit, Tamil leaders opposed to Sanskrit should first change their names derived from classical Sanskrit literature. Are these leaders not aware that some of the names have their origin in Sanskrit language and literature and are not of Tamil origin, culturally or linguistically? If language is the real problem, then Tamil Nadu should also stop the use of English in schools and colleges. In comparison to English, classical Sanskrit (the mother of Indian languages) holds no threat to Tamil. Though many cannot speak Sanskrit, it deeply touches the life of millions of Indians. The West has understood the potential of Sanskrit in science. This reminds me of an interesting article published in Artificial Intelligence magazine (1985) written by NASA researcher Rick Briggs highlighting the possible use of Sanskrit in Artificial Intelligence in the future.
This is what Jawaharlal Nehru said about Sanskrit: “If I was asked what is the greatest treasure which India possesses and what is her greatest heritage, I would answer unhesitatingly that it is the Sanskrit language and literature and all that it contains. This is a magnificent inheritance, and so long as this endures and influences the life of our people, so long will the basic genius of India continue ... India built up a magnificent language, Sanskrit, and through this language, and its art and architecture, it sent its vibrant message to far away countries.”
Raghu Pradeep Nair,Thrissur
