New Delhi:
A day after DMK Chief Karunanidhi slammed the Centre for reportedly sending a circular to schools asking them to celebrate Teacher's Day as 'Guru Utsav', MDMK leader Vaiko has demanded a withdrawal of the circular by the Human Resource and Development Ministry.
"National integrity would be strengthened only if various languages and cultures are nurtured and protected," Mr Vaiko, who is an ally of the BJP in Tamil Nadu, said.
The circular in question, though, only talks about Guru Utsav as a topic for an essay competition.
In July, Mr Karunanidhi and Mr Vaiko had also opposed a circular by the Central Board of Secondary Education or CBSE asking schools to celebrate Sanskrit Week. The order was slammed as "offensive and insensitive" by all Tamil Nadu parties, including Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
Mr Vaiko accused the Centre was "trying to dominate over other languages" through Sanskrit. "Thrusting a single group's language is mischievous and dangerous. Tamil Nadu will never permit this," he had said, demanding that circular be withdrawn.
Just a month before that, there was a massive row over a central government order asking its officers to use Hindi in all official communication and posts on social media. The order was slammed as "offensive and insensitive" by all Tamil Nadu parties.
The outrage forced the government to clarify that its order was only for Hindi speaking states.
In the 60s, Tamil Nadu saw violent protests against a move to make Hindi the country's sole official language. The issue remains an emotive one in the state.