Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

“Anna was never against English”

— Photo: S. James

Talk: A. Ramasamy, Vice-Chairman, Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education, addressing a meeting at Madurai Kamaraj University on Monday.

MADURAI: Former Chief Minister and DMK founder C. N. Annadurai was never against English though he had staunchly opposed the imposition of Hindi, and his fight for the cause of Tamil Nadu had yielded significant results, R. T. Sabapathy Mohan, Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, said on Monday.

“Anna’s life was beyond politics. His struggle on issues such as the anti-Hindi agitation and his speeches as Member of Parliament showed his knowledge and commitment to the people,” he said.

He was delivering a special lecture at a function organised by Madurai Kamaraj University to commemorate the birth centenary of the late leader. “Tamil Nadu students are now making a mark across the world because Anna had not opposed English, even as he made sure that Hindi would not be introduced at the cost of Tamil.”

Delivering the Dr. Kalaignar endowment lecture, A. Ramasamy, Vice-Chairman, Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education, said the endowment was created in the university in 1998 with a cash of Rs. three lakh collected from the Madurai district unit of the DMK but the activities of this endowment suffered whenever there was a change of government.

“Seven decades of public life is an exemplary achievement and the latest contribution of Mr. Karunanidhi for students’ welfare was his fight for reservation for Other Backward Classes.”

Referring to the agitations led by Mr. Karunanidhi, he said the octogenarian leader had sacrificed his governments and positions for the cause of issues he had taken up “and his life was full of struggles.”

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