CHENNAI: Pointing to a news report which said the funds allotted for the promotion of Sanskrit was manifold higher than Tamil and other classical languages, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday blamed the BJP-led union government for allotting all funds for Sanskrit while feigning love for Tamil.
Citing the report written based on information obtained under the RTI Act, Stalin, in a post on X, said, “Sanskrit gets the crores; Tamil and other South Indian languages get nothing but crocodile tears.”
According to the report, between 2014–15 and 2024–25, the union government spent Rs 2,532.59 crore on promoting Sanskrit, while only Rs 147.56 crore in total for the promotion of the other five classical languages combined, including Tamil. The allocation for Tamil alone was Rs 113.48 crore, the report said.
Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, who spoke to reporters on Tuesday, said, “They (centre) have continuously accorded more importance and more funds to the northern language (referring to Sanskrit).” He said that late CM M Karunanidhi secured classical language status for Tamil so that it would receive due importance. However, Tamil and other classical languages have not received the importance given to the “northern” language, he added.
“This clearly offers answers for why Tamil Nadu should rally under one umbrella,” he said, referring to ‘Oraniyil Tamil Nadu‘, the DMK’s membership campaign.
Responding to Stalin’s criticism on X, BJP’s former state president K Annamalai shared a video clip of his speech at the Murugan conference in Madurai, in which he argued that the increased allocation for Sanskrit was because, according to him, there were 18 universities across the country for Sanskrit. In contrast, he said there is only one university for Tamil, which was started during the tenure of AIADMK founder and late Chief Minister M G Ramachandran.
Meanwhile, DMK’s organising secretary R S Bharathi, who also spoke to reporters at the party headquarters, said that more than the DMK, the public are boiling with anger about the criticism of Dravidian leaders Periyar E V Ramasamy and C N Annadurai at the Murugan conference. ”Those who maligned Periyar and Anna have never found a place in Tamil Nadu’s politics,” he said.
As to why the state government did not take action on the allegations that the speeches made at the conference violated the directions of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, Bharathi replied, “We left it for the people to decide. The people rejected the conference. When the public themselves are opposed to it, what is the need for government action?”