Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S. Ramadoss on Saturday said people who trace their ancestry to Tamil Nadu should take initiatives to save their language from extinction.
Speaking at the launch of a poetry collection by Ko. Ethiroli Manian, Dr. Ramadoss said Tamil literary contributors had to be encouraged in order to preserve our mother tongue.
“We do not say that Tamils have to be prevented from learning other languages. We can learn other languages. But we are only concerned about the preservation of our own language in its purest form. Other languages should not corrupt the uniqueness of our classical language,” said Dr. Ramadoss.
Pure Tamil
Pointing to the borrowing of vocabulary from other languages by makers of Tamil feature films, Dr. Ramadoss said an initiative to make a film in Tamil in its purest form has not been successful.
“The film, Ilakkanam , was not successful commercially. It was made without any borrowings from other languages,” he said.
Dr. Ramadoss also announced the launch of his publication, “Who reduced Tamil to a State of decay,” which is based on his posts on social media.
Dinamalar publisher R.R. Gopaljee received the first copy of the poetry book, Mannum mazhaiyum, from Dr. Ramadoss.
Author Ko. Ethiroli Manian said he was encouraged by Dr. Ramadoss during his college days for writing poetry.
Thanking print media houses such as Dinamalar for publishing his poetry, Mr. Manian said support from media was crucial in conservation of Tamil in its purest form.