‘Tamilai Thedi’, PMK chief’s 8-day journey to Madurai, kicks off

Those who believe Tamil will survive the test of time will travel with me, PMK founder says; ‘people must use only Tamil words in conversations’

Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S. Ramadoss on Tuesday kick-started his eight-day journey, titled ‘Tamilai Thedi’, from Chennai to Madurai to raise awareness on the importance of Tamil in Tamil Nadu.

At an event to mark the start of the journey at Valluvar Kottam, he said those who believed Tamil would survive the test of time and “will travel along with me” to Madurai. “Today is International Mother Language Day. But where is Tamil today? Nobody can say that Tamil is present today. Those who say they can find Tamil today are lying,” he said.

Recalling that he organised a conference on ‘official language’ in New Delhi, Dr. Ramadoss said he was not against any language. “At the time, there were 18 official languages, and we printed the invitation in all those languages. Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee laughed loudly and asked us how we managed to print the invitations in all those languages. Through Tamil Osai (a Tamil daily, now defunct), we introduced new words such as Paliyal Vankodumai instead of Karpazhippu. We have contributed a lot to popularising the Tamil language,” he said.

He urged people to use only Tamil words in their daily conversations, without those from other languages like English. “English takes words from every language, and it has also entered every other language. Can’t we say Vanakkam, Nandri and Seri instead of ‘Hello’, ‘Thank You’ and ‘Okay’ while speaking on the phone? There is also a movement urging people to use ‘pure English words’. Tamil is the oldest language — are we losing it or have we already lost it? This is not a movement against people who speak other languages in Tamil Nadu. Those who speak ‘Sundara Telungu’ or Malayalam or other languages..., please continue to speak in Telugu without mixing [it with] Tamil or English,” he said.

Former PMK president G.K. Mani said Tamil was passing through a trying time, and Dr. Ramadoss had taken up the task of cause of raising awareness on the language on International Mother Language Day. “Dr. Ramadoss had made a similar effort even 22 years ago, urging the Tamils to use “pure Tamil words” for English words that had become common, such as ‘bus’, ‘bus stand’, ‘air-plane’ and ‘helicopter’, by publishing books and putting up posters at public places. His aim was similar when Makkal Television was launched. He also started Tamil Padhukkappu Iyakkam, which was patronised by Tamil people everywhere. Today, young children are being forced to call their Amma and Appa as mummy and daddy,” Mr. Mani said.

Former Union Minister of State A.K. Murthy, party spokesperson K. Balu and other leaders underscored that the campaign was apolitical. However, PMK president and Dr. Ramadoss’s son Anbumani Ramadoss was absent.