NEW CONTROVERSY
Row after seer sits during Tamil anthem
Kanchi Mutt Acharya’s Action Condemned By Parties, Activists
Sivakumar.B@timesgroup.com
Chennai: A new controversy is brewing even as the row over reference to ‘Andal’ as ‘dasi’ by film lyricist Vairamuthu seems to be dying out. Kancheepuram mutt junior seer Vijayendra Saraswathi’s refusal to stand up for the ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’ (invocation to ‘Tamil’ mother) has drawn condemnation from activists, Tamil groups and political parties.
They have criticised the junior acharya for not standing up during the ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’ at a function in Chennai on Tuesday. It is customary to play the song in Tamil at the beginning of all government functions.
On Tuesday evening, at a function to release the Tamil-Sanskrit dictionary, everyone on the stage, including governor Banwarilal Purohit, stood up when the song was played.
Vijayendra Saraswathi was
seen seated and in a state of meditation. He, however, stood up for the national anthem. DMK, PMK and Tamil activists have accused the acharya of dishonouring “Tamil mother”.
State ministers reacted strongly, criticising the acharya for “disrespecting Tamil thai”. “It is disrespectful for anyone not to stand up when the Tamil thai song is played,” state information minister Kadambur Raju told reporters.
Tamil culture minister K Pandiarajan said, “It is a convention for everyone, from a student to a senior citizen, to stand up during the ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’. I personally feel the acharya should have stood up. At the same time, there is no need to blow the issue out of proportion.”
The DMK and PMK too joined in, raising the pro-Tamil banner. DMK working president M K Stalin told reporters at his party headquarters Anna Arivalayam, “It is highly condemnable that Vijayendra acharya did not stand up for the ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’. It was a function organised by BJP leader H Raja to release a book of his father and during the anthem everyone stood up except the seer.” The incident, he pointed out, took place in front of the governor.
PMK leader S Ramadoss criticised the acharya, saying, “Everyone, including the governor and senior citizen Solomon Pappaya, stood up. It is not acceptable that the acharya was meditating when the song was being played.”
Though the Constitution does not mandate that everyone should stand up for the song, since 1970, it has become a convention to play it at the start of public functions. All those present, either on the stage or off it, stand up, just like when the national anthem is played.
Activists say that each person may have different views on the issue. But, in a public place, out of deference to the gathering, it was accepted convention to stand up for the song.
Row after seer sits during Tamil anthem
Kanchi Mutt Acharya’s Action Condemned By Parties, Activists
Sivakumar.B@timesgroup.com
Chennai: A new controversy is brewing even as the row over reference to ‘Andal’ as ‘dasi’ by film lyricist Vairamuthu seems to be dying out. Kancheepuram mutt junior seer Vijayendra Saraswathi’s refusal to stand up for the ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’ (invocation to ‘Tamil’ mother) has drawn condemnation from activists, Tamil groups and political parties.
They have criticised the junior acharya for not standing up during the ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’ at a function in Chennai on Tuesday. It is customary to play the song in Tamil at the beginning of all government functions.
On Tuesday evening, at a function to release the Tamil-Sanskrit dictionary, everyone on the stage, including governor Banwarilal Purohit, stood up when the song was played.
Vijayendra Saraswathi was
seen seated and in a state of meditation. He, however, stood up for the national anthem. DMK, PMK and Tamil activists have accused the acharya of dishonouring “Tamil mother”.
State ministers reacted strongly, criticising the acharya for “disrespecting Tamil thai”. “It is disrespectful for anyone not to stand up when the Tamil thai song is played,” state information minister Kadambur Raju told reporters.
Tamil culture minister K Pandiarajan said, “It is a convention for everyone, from a student to a senior citizen, to stand up during the ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’. I personally feel the acharya should have stood up. At the same time, there is no need to blow the issue out of proportion.”
The DMK and PMK too joined in, raising the pro-Tamil banner. DMK working president M K Stalin told reporters at his party headquarters Anna Arivalayam, “It is highly condemnable that Vijayendra acharya did not stand up for the ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’. It was a function organised by BJP leader H Raja to release a book of his father and during the anthem everyone stood up except the seer.” The incident, he pointed out, took place in front of the governor.
PMK leader S Ramadoss criticised the acharya, saying, “Everyone, including the governor and senior citizen Solomon Pappaya, stood up. It is not acceptable that the acharya was meditating when the song was being played.”
Though the Constitution does not mandate that everyone should stand up for the song, since 1970, it has become a convention to play it at the start of public functions. All those present, either on the stage or off it, stand up, just like when the national anthem is played.
Activists say that each person may have different views on the issue. But, in a public place, out of deference to the gathering, it was accepted convention to stand up for the song.
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