When Tarun Vijay fought for Tamil, had Thiruvalluvar statue installed at Haridwar
Tarun Vijay once called himself the adopted son of Tamil Thaai (mother) and campaigned to make Tamil the national language of India.
In Short
- Tarun Vijay has worked for spread of Tamil language and culture.
- Tarun Vijay campaigned for making Tamil the national language.
- Tarun Vijay stirred row by mentioning skin colour of south Indians.
The Al Jazeera TV debate on racism will pinch former BJP MP Tarun Vijay for rest of his life. To oppose racism, Tarun Vijay made a comment that defied his defence of India not being a race-conscious society.
Tarun Vijay said, "If we (Indians) were racist, why would we have the entire south (India)? Why do we live with them (south Indians)? We have blacks people around us."
This statement has undone the good work that Tarun Vijay has been championing for past few years - to put Tamil language and culture at the top of Indian national scene.
TARUN VIJAY'S CAMPAIGN FOR TAMIL
Tarun Vijay has been campaigning vigorously for making Tamil as one of the official languages in the Madras High Court.
Tarun Vijay has been demanding that Tamil be accorded the status of national language of India. Tarun Vijay raised this demand on the floor of the Rajya Sabha when he was a member of the House.
In an interview to the News Minute Tarun Vijay called himself "the adopted son of Tamil Thaai (mother)."
On one occasion when Parliament session was being washed out in the monsoons of 2015, Tarun Vijay was seen holding a placard outside the entrance gate urging the members to follow the path shown by the great Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar.
The placard read, "Let Thiruvalluvar bless us and guide our path in the Parliament."
FELICITATION FOR PRO-TAMIL WORK
In November 2014, Tarun Vijay was felicitated by noted Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu for his efforts to make Tamil go national and recognised by rest of the country. Tarun Vijay had then said that there was no India without Tamil and its poet Thirukkural.
Tarun Vijay was given Thirukkural Thuthar award - literally meaning the ambassador of Tamil epic Thirukkural composed by Thiruvalluvar.
Unraveling his love for Tamil, Tarun Vijay had then said, "I feel like I am working for Mother India when I work for Mother Tamil. Everyone should read Thirukkural, since it introduced India and Indians to the world."
In 2015, Tarun Vijay undertook a 'kural yatra' across Tamil Nadu and demanded the Thirukkural be introduced in north Indian schools.
Tarun Vijay played the pivotal role in getting a statue of Thiruvalluvar installed at Haridwar last year. Earlier, he had presented a portrait of Thiruvalluvar to the then Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
WHAT ELSE TARUN VIJAY SAID ABOUT TAMIL
The News Minute reported in 2015 that Tarun Vijay questioned the logic of being selective in teaching the children more about north India rulers and ignoring the Tamil rulers from the past.
Tarun Vijay was quoted as saying, "Why should we learn only about Vikramaditya and Ashoka? Raja Raja Chozha too was a great king. Do we give him the same importance as we give to other historical figures from north India?"
"India is not just about Tulsidas and Valmiki unless we include Thiruvalluvar, Subramanian Bharathi, and Andal," Tarun Vijay had earlier said.
Tarun Vijay has maintained that "Tamil is Indian civilisational heritage."
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