Tamil’s greatness will be accepted if we speak in unison, says P Chidambaram

Former Union finance minister P Chidambaram, who is lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with the INX Media case, said the greatness of Tamil language and culture will be attested to if Tamilians came together.

The former Union finance minister, who is in jail since September 5 in connection with the INX Media case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, said this in a tweet.

“If the Tamil people are united and speak in one voice, everyone will acknowledge the greatness of Tamil language and culture,” Chidambaram said in a tweet posted by his family.

His remarks come days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the ‘Howdy, Modi!’ event in Houston, had said the country’s various languages are an important identity of its liberal and democratic society.

Also read: On Hindi Diwas, Amit Shah says Hindi can unite nation, south leaders call it ‘forced imposition’

Modi had highlighted the importance of linguistic diversity after his second-in-command Union home minister Amit Shah sparked a row with his comment pitching one language for one nation.

Shah had come under heavy fire from critics who said that statement by the Union home minister was an attempt to impose Hindi on all.

However, Shah had later clarified that he never asked for imposition of Hindi over native languages in the country but advocated its use as the second language.

Modi in his speech in the United Nations General Assembly on Friday had also invoked famous Tamil philosopher Kaniyan Pungundranar.

First Published: Sep 29, 2019 14:53 IST