Allies of the BJP in Tamil Nadu-- MDMK and PMK today opposed the Central Board of Secondary Education's Sanskrit Week celebrations in schools under its ambit next month and demanded withdrawal of the circular.
In a circular to schools affiliated to it, CBSE had directed them to celebrate "Sanskrit Week" between August 7 and 13 on an experimental basis to popularise and stimulate interest in the language and develop apps on it.
In a statement here, MDMK General Secretary Vaiko said the CBSE circular was an 'assault' on Indian pluralism. "It is grievous that the Centre is trying to impose Sanskrit through the CBSE," he alleged.
The CBSE directive had hailed Sanskrit as the "mother" of all languages and this was a conspiracy to "plant poisonous seeds" in the hearts of students who belong to diverse backgrounds, including language and culture, he alleged.
"It is a dangerous and atrocious measure to attempt to impose the culture of a particular section of people on others," he said adding only Tamil, an ancient classical language, had the pride and distinction of being the primary language among others.
"Tamil Nadu will never allow imposition of the language and culture of a particular section of people which had struggled and won in resurrecting Tamil from the influence of Sanskrit, he said.
PMK founder leader S Ramadoss said the initiative "can only be seen as a kind of imposition of language and culture which cannot be accepted."
Stating that Sanskrit was seen only as a cultural symbol and language of a "section of people," he said "in case the Centre and CBSE are interested in developing languages it should be common to all languages."
Showing "discrimination" among languages was not correct, Ramadoss said and urged the Centre to withdraw the circular.
"The Centre should direct the CBSE to hold Tamil Week celebrations in Tamil Nadu and in other States their respective languages should be celebrated."
Recently, the state had witnessed protests over the Centre's move to promote use of Hindi on social media. However the government had clarified that the initiative would not apply to non-Hindi speaking states.
