PM brings south India closer to north in Kashi
LUCKNOW: In the face of a noisy debate over Hindi versus southern languages, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sought to strengthen the north-south bonds within the country, saying the Kashi-Tamil Sangamam was as sacred as the Ganga- Yamuna confluence.
The PM’s remarks came after he inaugurated the month-long Kashi-Tamil Sangamam in Varanasi. Modi said the Tamil language was the oldest in the world. He called upon people to shed linguistic differences and strive for the emotional and spiritual unity of the country. The PM greeted the audience in Tamil, and his speech was translated into Tamil as many people in the audience were from Tamil Nadu.
“The country is a proud home to two of the oldest languages of the world -- Sanskrit and Tamil. Yet, despite having the world’s oldest living language Tamil, the nation lacked in according it due honour,” said the PM. “We need to be proud of this heritage.” The PM said preserving and enriching Tamil is the responsibility of 140 crore Indians.
“If we ignore Tamil, we do a great disservice to the nation, and if we keep Tamil confined, we will do great harm to it. We have to remove linguistic differences and establish emotional unity in the country.” Addressing a gathering of around 2,500 delegates from Tamil Nadu on the lawns of the BHU amphitheatre, Modi extolled Kashi and Tamil Nadu as timeless centres of culture and civilization. He exhorted people of different regions to organise more such events to celebrate the cultural, spiritual and ideological oneness of India. the country.
“The objective of the Kashi- Tamil Sangamam is to celebrate, reaffirm and rediscover age-old links between Kashi and Tamil Nadu, both the land of Lord Shiva and the country’s most important and ancient seats of learning,” said Modi. The PM also delved at length into the importance of Sangams in the country, be it the confluence of rivers, ideology, science or knowledge.