Greeting Tamilians on the occasion of Puthandu, the Tamil New Year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alluded to ancient Tamil culture and its various references to democratic politics, stating that a more than 1,100-year-old inscription from Tamil Nadu contains provisions for disqualifying a member.
He spoke at a commemorative event held at the residence of Union Minister L Murugan, where Telangana governor Tamilsai Soundarrajan was also in attendance.
PM Modi addressed a Tamil New Year celebration.
“India is the earliest democracy in the world; it is the cradle of democracy. Numerous historical references exist for this. “Tamil Nadu is a significant reference point,” he said. He added that in Uthirameur, Tamil Nadu, an inscription dating back between 1100 and 1200 years provides insight into the country’s democratic values.
“The inscription discovered there is comparable to the gram sabha’s local constitution. In this, it is described how the Assembly should be managed and how the members should be elected. In addition, they had determined how a member would be disqualified during that era, he said.
The government and opposition have recently been at odds over the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha, following his conviction and two-year sentence for criminal defamation by a Surat court. “As a nation, it is our duty to preserve this culture and tradition, but we are all aware of what occurred in the past. Now I am charged with this responsibility.
Prime Minister Modi spoke at length about his visit to Jaffna, Sri Lanka, and how he was the first Indian Prime Minister to do so, while expressing his profound reverence for Tamil Nadu and its people.
At a Tamil New Year Day event, PM Modi spoke.
“Sri Lankans were in need of assistance, and our government did much to provide it. When I traveled to Jaffna to hand over houses constructed for Tamilians by the Indian government, I participated in the traditional housewarming ritual of heating milk before entering the home. When that video was shown in Tamil Nadu, I received a great deal of affection from the Tamil people,’ he said.
He also discussed the successful organization of the “Kashi-Tamil Sangamam” in his Varanasi parliamentary constituency. “Kashi and Tamil Nadu have ancient and time-tested ties; if you communicate with any boatman in the city, he will undoubtedly know a few sentences of Tamil. At the Kashi Tamil Sangamam, it was a delight to witness the purchase of thousands of rupees’ worth of Tamil literature, and you will be pleased to learn that the Subramaniam Bharathi chair has been established at Benaras Hindu University (BHU),” he said.
“The Sangam literature contains a great deal of wisdom for the future as well; there we find descriptions of numerous millets or Shri Anna, which our government also promotes. Poetess Avvaiyyar also mentions dishes made with millets, and if asked what Lord Murgan’s favorite Naivedyam is, he would reply, “Thenum Thinai Maavum (millet honey balls)”
