CHENNAI: Are bemani, nashta, bandha, gettapu, gabbu and apeettu Tamil words? They are the colloquial words used by the people of Tamil Nadu. But they can never be treated as Tamil words. Likewise, the word Gethu, though used by the Tamil people, could by no stretch of imagination, be equated as a Tamil word, the State government has submitted in its counter-affidavit filed in Madras High Court on Monday.
When the writ petition from Red Giant Movies, challenging the non-grant of exemption of entertainment tax to its film Gethu came up before Justice K Kalyanasundaram, the government filed its counter and claimed that Gethu is not a Tamil word.
Words like Tea, coffee, mejai, almirah are words from other languages used by Tamil people for a long time. Therefore, they acquired the status of Tamil words. But at the same time, there are many other foreign words colloquially used in different dialects of Tamil for a long time, but still not recognised formally as Tamil words. Gethu is one among them, the counter said.
Rejecting the arguments of petitioner’s senior counsel P Wilson, the government counsel said Gethu is a Kannada word. In Tiruppugazh, the word kethu is used with a different meaning. The Thiruppugzh contained north Indian words like anupavam, krubai, sayialam, sampram and Urdu words like salaam.
Examination of 15 verses has shown that about 33 words from other languages have been used in Tiruppugazh. Hence, all the words used in Thiruppugzh should not be treated as Tamil. The meaning given for Gethu by private parties could not be entertained. This word did not find a place in any of the Sangam period literature, the counter affidavit said.
Assailing Red Giant Movies’s another contention that the government is politically biased, the government counsel pointed out that the government had rejected plea from many other films for tax exemption on various other grounds, even though they had Tamil titles. The tax exemption granted by the government is a concession, subject to conditions.
The screening committee judges, both officials and non-officials, make the recommendation. Their views are final and could not be influenced by the government in any manner. The entire mechanism of allowing exemption to the films has been designed in such a way that the government does not have influence on the recommendation, the counter said, seeking the dismissal of the petition.