Governor felicitates scholars on Mahakavi Bharathiyar’s birth anniversary

Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi honors scholars for promoting Tamil literature, emphasizes importance of mother tongue in education.

Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi felicitated 55 eminent scholars for their contribution in translating the Tamil literary works into other Indian languages and other outstanding literary works into Tamil language here on Wednesday.

At a function organised to commemorate of 143rd birth anniversary of Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiar and also to celebrate Bharatiya Bhasha Diwas, the Governor said Bharathi believed that the most powerful and best medium of education could be achieved in one’s mother tongue.

When the British were trying to kill Indian languages and were blatantly propagating that English was the only language capable of refined expression, Bharathi challenged that notion and campaigned for the mother tongue, he said.

The word ‘vernacular’, which is used widely in academia and by scholars and writers to refer to Indian languages, means ‘language of the slaves’.

“It derives from Latin expression ‘Vern’ which means ‘born slaves’. The notion was that since slaves didn’t have a refined language, they just blabbered. It was a part of the English agenda,” he said. But Mahakavi, in a letter to the The Hindu, argued that Tamil was far more superior and powerful in expressing the sentiments as well as the scientific expression than English. He also took exception to the word ‘vernacular’, Mr. Ravi added.

“There are forces which are trying to weaken us and create anarchy. There are forces within and outside – a coalition of forces trying to create turmoil and doubts about institutions and spread anarchy. In this coalition, there are hostile countries, foreign missionaries, and their cohorts – business establishments pumping billions of dollars and jihadi forces...creating problems by spreading well-orchestrated lies,” he said.