CHENNAI/AHMEDABAD, SEPT 24
Coming to the rescue of Tamil migrants in Ahmedabad, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday wrote a DO letter to his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani to take pro-active steps to facilitate the continuance of the Ahmedabad Tamil Higher Secondary School, situated in Maninagar Assembly constituency, from where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected as MLA when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
https://twitter.com/TNGOVDIPR/status/1309042003041230849
In his letter, the Chief Minister appealed to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani that “I am distressed to know that the school, which had been imparting education in Tamil-medium to many migrant labourers, at Ahmedabad in Gujarat has been closed suddenly, citing low attendance. These Tamil children are now left without any choice to continue their education’’
The TN Chief Minister pointed out that the future of the Tamil linguistic minority in Gujarat needs to be protected and said Tamil is an ancient language with a rich history and culture. Tamils have contributed a lot and are contributing to the development of Gujarat.
Edappadi K Palaniswami appealed the Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani to intervene in this matter and pass suitable orders for the continuance of the Tamil- medium school. He also stated that the Tamil Nadu Government is willing to bear the entire expenditure for running this school at Ahmedabad.
“I hope the Government of Gujarat will protect the right to education of Tamil linguistic minorities. I would appreciate early action in this regard,’’ Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said.
The school is situated in Maninagar in the erstwhile MLA constituency of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
The Tamil school is situated in Maninagar constituency, from where our PM Shri @narendramodi was elected & became the Chief Minister of Gujarat. I request our @PMOIndia, known for his affection towards our Tamil, to intervene and arrange for the immediate reopening of the school!
— Dr S RAMADOSS (@drramadoss) September 23, 2020
Earlier on Wednesday, Pattali Makkal Katchi founder, Dr. S Ramadoss appealed to the Gujarat Government to stop the closure of the only Tamil Higher Secondary School in Ahmedabad city.
In his appeal to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said that “The Tamil School is situated in Maninagar constituency from where our PM Shri @narenramodi was elected & became the Chief Minister of Gujarat. I request our @PMOIndia, known for his affection towards our Tamil, to intervene and arrange for the immediate reopening of the school’’
He also appealed to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami that “It is sad to know that a Tamil Higher Secondary School at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, has been permanently closed due to declining admissions. I request the Government of Tamilnadu to contact the Government of Gujarat and arrange for the immediate reopening of the said Tamil school!’’ in another tweet.
Following the Tamil Nadu government’s intervention on Thursday, the affected parents and students have withdrawn their month-long agitation and celebrated the announcement.
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The Manithaneya Makkal Katchi founder-president Prof Jawahirullah too appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to safeguard the interest of linguistic minorities and stop the closure of Ahmedabad Tamil Higher Secondary School.
When contacted by Navjeevan Express Executive Editor R Arivanantham over the phone the last week Telangana Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, who was the former TNBJP Chief, had assured to take up the issue with the Gujarat Government. All details regarding the school were mailed to her for necessary follow-up action.
Dr Shanmuganandham, Managing Trustee, Ahmedabad Tamil Welfare Education Trust which runs the school, has expressed the Trust’s gratitude to Tamil Nadu CM, the PMK founder, Telangana Governor, The Hindu (Tamil) Delhi Special Correspondent Shaffimunna, MNMK president Prof Jawahirullah, Tamil IAS officials in Gandhinagar, and all those toiled hard for this great achievement.
Despite many efforts, none of the BJP leaders has responded to the phone calls, including the State BJP Chief L. Murugan for their comments.
In a late night tweet, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam appealed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a proactive action to reopen the Ahmedabad Tamil Higher Secondary School. He also said that the government following the legacy of Amma will never backtrack in safeguarding the Classical Tamil and Tamils.
அன்னைத் தமிழ் மொழியையோ, தமிழர்களையோ மாண்புமிகு அம்மாவின் அரசு ஒருபோதும் கைவிடாது.
— O Panneerselvam (@OfficeOfOPS) September 24, 2020
Former Union Minister for Shipping and President of Tamil Maanila Congress (M) also write a letter to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani to reopen the school at the earliest, so that there is no disruption of education of those children from Tamil Nadu.
