The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : “No move to take over Vivekanandar Illam”

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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

“No move to take over Vivekanandar Illam”

Special Correspondent

It will not be used to set up classical Tamil chair

M. Karunanidhi

CHENNAI: The State Government has not issued any eviction notice or written to the Ramakrishna Math to vacate Vivekanandar Illam, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said on Thursday. There was no move to use the place for establishing the chair for classical Tamil, he added.

When this was the fact, what was the need for people to get agitated or the head of the Math to say that the organisation would face the crisis legally, he asked and added that the government was not averse to facing any such challenge.

Replying to a calling attention motion in the Assembly on the reported plans of the government to take over the landmark from the Math, Mr.Karunanidhi said that he was surprised about the tabling of such a motion because the government had contemplated nothing of the sort. But he wanted leaders of various political parties to recall the contributions of Swami Vivekananda, and that was the reason for his not intervening on the subject earlier.

Recalling the handing over the Illam to the Math on lease, Mr.Karunanidhi said that it was his government that handed over the property after issuing a government order in 1997, taking into consideration the fact that Vivekananda stayed there for 9 days in 1897.

The lease was for a period of three years and a rent of Rs.1000 per annum was fixed. Later, following requests from the Math for an extended lease at a function organised there, he placed it before the Cabinet for a decision.

On January 28, 2000, the lease was extended for a decade after fixing a nominal rent.

Mr.Karunanidhi said that there seemed to be attempts to create a rift between the DMK and Vivekananda. The DMK could not have differences with Vivekananda who was a rationalist and echoed the teachings of Periyar.

It was a fact that the government was searching for a place to locate temporarily the classical Tamil institute. The site to locate a permanent building has been identified at Sholinganallur, he said and added that an allocation of Rs.76 crore has been made for the institute.

The search for a temporary place was sought to be diverted as a clash between the DMK and swamis.

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