Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing any official celebration of 'Sanskrit week' in schools in the state.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing any official celebration of 'Sanskrit week' in schools in the state. Calling it highly inappropriate, Ms Jayalalithaa opposed the CBSE circular and said that it would have been much more appropriate to have organized a classical language week in each state based on the linguistic heritage of that state.
Begin forwarded message:
Following is the text of the full letter:"I understand that the Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, has written to the Chief Secretaries of all States asking them to celebrate Sanskrit week from 7th to 13th August, 2014.
From the letter it appears that, while the celebrations would be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in all States, the State Governments have also been requested to organise such events at the State, District and other levels.
As you are aware, Tamil Nadu has a rich cultural heritage based on the ancient Tamil language. There has also been a strong social justice and language movement in the State. Hence, any official celebration of 'Sanskrit week' in Tamil Nadu is highly inappropriate.
It would have been much more appropriate to have organized a Classical Language Week in each State based on the linguistic heritage of that State. I request you to advise the officials in the Government of India to suitably modify the letter to enable each State, including the CBSE schools in that State, to organise celebrations in tune with the language and culture of the State. This would be in keeping with the cultural and linguistic sensitivities in a diverse country like ours."