DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Monday alleged that the exclusion of Tamil scholars from the list of Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman awardees had exposed the BJP-led Central government’s deep-rooted hatred for the language.
In a statement, he said that though BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu professed their love for Tamil, the decision to exclude Tamil scholars from the awards proved that they were merely paying lip service.
Recalling a letter sent by the Union Human Resources Ministry to various educational institutions, seeking nominations for the awards, Mr. Stalin noted that while scholars of Sanskrit, Arabic, Pali, Persian, Odia, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam figured in the list of awardees, Tamil scholars were not included.
State govt. clarifies
The State government, in a rejoinder issued on Monday, clarified that Tamil wasn’t being neglected by the Central government, and in fact, awards had been conferred on Tamil scholars.
A statement from the Tamil Development department noted that two prestigious awards — the Tholkappiyar Award and the Kural Peedam Award, equivalent to the Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman Award, were being given away by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil, which was set up by the Centre.
