CHENNAI: Opening a brand new entrance within the battle of languages, the Stalin govt in Tamil Nadu unveiled Thursday a emblem for the state funds to be introduced Friday, utilizing the Tamil letter “roo” — which signifies “roobai”, Tamil for rupee — to interchange the rupee image (₹).
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and TN BJP chief Okay Annamalai criticised the CM, saying the ‘₹’ image, designed by D Udhayakumar, son of former DMK MLA N Dharmalingam, was endorsed by M Karunanidhi, and Stalin was being “silly”.
State planning fee vice-chairman J Jeyaranjan mentioned the rupee image was in Devanagari script and it was determined to drop it and use the Tamil letter “roo”. Sharing an previous image of former CM M Karunanidhi appreciating Udhayakumar for the design, Annamalai mentioned on X, “What father endorsed, son rejects.”
‘Promotes Secessionism’
Sitharaman posted on X: “If the DMK has an issue with ‘’, why didn’t it protest again in 2010 when it was formally adopted underneath the Congress-led UPA govt, at a time when DMK was a part of the ruling alliance on the Centre?” DMK MLA and state planning fee member N Ezhilan countered: “BJP is enjoying a double sport. For a very long time they claimed to be giving significance to the mom tongue, and now, when our CM has used ‘roo’ in Tamil for rupee, they’re opposing it.”
Tamil phrase ‘rupaai’ has deep roots in Sanskrit phrase ‘rupya’: Sitharaman
Calling it an “instance of language and regional chauvinism”, Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned, “That is greater than mere symbolism. It indicators a harmful mindset that weakens Indian unity and promotes secessionist sentiments underneath the pretence of regional satisfaction.”
Udhayakumar, a professor at IIT Guwahati’s design division who designed the official rupee image, such a debate was pointless. “I used the Devanagari script as the bottom to design the rupee image. It was a contest again then, and I needed to keep on with the principles of the competitors. Devanagari is a script that’s used not simply by the Hindi language but in addition by Sanskrit and a few minor languages. So, proscribing the controversy to Tamil vs Hindi on this situation is pointless, I feel,” Udhayakumar mentioned.
Former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan joined the refrain. “Let Stalin change his identify to a Tamil identify. To cover all of the failures of his govt, this drama continues… DMK at all times talks of separatism and with an anti-national mindset, they’re towards nationwide integrity,” she mentioned. Sitharaman mentioned the Tamil phrase “rupaai” has hyperlinks to Sanskrit.
“The Tamil phrase rupaai itself has deep roots within the Sanskrit phrase ‘rupya’, which means ‘wrought silver’ or ‘a labored silver coin’. This time period has resonated throughout centuries in Tamil commerce and literature, and even at the moment ‘rupaai’ stays the foreign money identify in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.”
Saying the rupee image is internationally well-recognised and serves as a visual identification of India in world monetary transactions, Sitharaman requested, “At a time when India is pushing for cross-border funds utilizing UPI, ought to we actually be undermining our personal nationwide foreign money image?” Sitharaman added that eradicating “a nationwide image just like the rupee from the state funds doc goes towards that very oath that each one elected representatives and authorities take underneath the Structure — to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of our nation”.
Guarded Cong stays mum on Tamil Nadu rupee row
Congress steered away from the controversy triggered by Tamil Nadu’s determination to interchange the image of rupee which is in Hindi with Tamil letter for “Ru” within the official emblem for the state’s funds. Congress saved mum on the problem that performed continuous on tv channels on Thursday.
Although allies, Congress has chosen to strike a stability between its political partnership and prudence, as DMK has taken a lead in triggering debates round its core points. Congress has not spoken but on the three language controversy that DMK has espoused in latest weeks with a robust assault on the Modi govt and BJP.
DKS to attend meet referred to as by Stalin
Karnataka deputy CM D Okay Shivakumar was nominated on Thursday to signify the state in a March 22 assembly convened by Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin in Chennai to agency up a joint technique towards the Union govt’s proposal for population-based delimitation.
Shivakumar was picked regardless of him advocating a nuanced strategy to Stalin’s invitation, suggesting he differed with CM Siddaramaiah, who backed the marketing campaign instantly after assembly a TN delegation in Bengaluru. Sources mentioned though Stalin needed Siddaramaiah to attend the assembly, the latter selected to depute Shivakumar due to a knee damage and a few prior commitments.
Will go for Chennai meet: Revanth
Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy on Thursday termed the proposed population-based delimitation of constituencies an imposed “limitation for southern states” that the area would counter by means of concerted motion, beginning with TN counterpart MK Stalin’s March 22 technique assembly in Chennai.
Revanth, who together with Stalin has been among the many extra vocal opponents of the Union govt’s plan, confirmed he would attend the Chennai conclave. “BJP doesn’t have a lot illustration from the southern states and therefore desires to take revenge on these states after its (electoral) defeats in south India,” he mentioned.
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