NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, APR 13
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took part in the Tamil New Year celebrations at the residence of Minister of State L. Murugan in New Delhi. Puducherry Lt Governor and Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan was also present at the event.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister expressed happiness to be present among his Tamil brother and sister to celebrate Puthandu. “Puthandu is a festival of modernity in ancient tradition. Such ancient Tamil culture and yet, every year moving forward with new energy. This indeed is remarkable”, the Prime Minister said.
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Stressing the uniqueness of Tamil people and culture the Prime Minister professed his attraction and emotional attachment towards the Tamil culture. Recalling strong presence and great love of Tamil population in his erstwhile assembly constituency in Gujarat, the Prime Minister expressed his gratitude for the love of Tamil people for him.
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Recalling one of the Panch Pran that the Prime Minister spoke about from the ramparts of Red Fort – Pride in one’s heritage, Modi said that older the culture, the more such people and culture are time-tested. “Tamil culture and people are eternal as well as global. From Chennai to California, from Madurai to Melbourne, from Coimbatore to Cape Town, from Salem to Singapore; you will find Tamil people have carried with them their culture and traditions,” he said.
Glimpses from a special programme to mark the Tamil New Year. pic.twitter.com/0f8ZQYudlQ
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 13, 2023
The Prime Minister continued that “be it Pongal or Puthandu, they are marked all over the world. Tamil is the world’s oldest language. Every Indian is proud of this. Tamil literature is also widely respected. The Tamil Film Industry has given some of the most iconic works to us.”
Recalling the sterling contribution of the Tamil people in the freedom struggle, the Prime Minister also underlined the contribution of Tamil people in the growth of the country after independence. He remembered the titans like C. Rajagopalachari, K Kamaraj and Dr Kalam and said that in the fields of medicine, law and academics, the contribution of Tamilians is beyond comparison.
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The Prime Minister reiterated that India is the oldest democracy of the world and said that there are incontrovertible proofs for that including some important ones from Tamil Nadu. He talked about an 11-12 hundred year old rock edict at Uthiramerur that describes the democratic ethos and procedures from ancient times.
Delighted to be a part of the Tamil New Year celebration in the august presence of Hon’ble Vice President @VPIndia Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar ji, Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji at the residence of my ministerial colleague Shri @Murugan_MoS ji.
Puthandu Vazthukal 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/xJ0TxTx6BO
— Anurag Thakur (मोदी का परिवार) (@ianuragthakur) April 13, 2023
The Prime Minister recalled with pride the opportunity to serve the rich Tamil Culture. He remembered quoting in Tamil at the United Nations and attending the Grih Pravesh Ceremony at Jaffna. Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Jaffna and many welfare projects were undertaken for Tamils there during and after his visit. “This feeling of continuously serving the Tamil people fills me with new energy”, the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister expressed deep satisfaction of the success of the recent Kashi Tamil Sangamam. “In this program, we have celebrated antiquity, innovation and diversity simultaneously”, said the Prime Minister.
Modi also mentioned the new Chair in the name of Poet Subramania Bharati and place for a Tamil person in the temple trust of Kashi Vishwanath.
The Prime Minister underlined the strength of Tamil Literature as it is a source of future knowledge along with the past wisdom. Referring to the mention of Shree Anna- millets in ancient Sangam Literature, the Prime Minister said “today, on the initiative of India, the whole world is connecting with our thousand years old tradition of millets.” He asked the gathering to take a resolution to give place to millets in the food plate once again and inspire others too.