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TAMIL LANGUAGE IS THE OLDEST LANGUAGE OF THE WORLD

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 3/2/2021 12:27:21 PM

T K NANDANAN According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil language is beautiful and it is the world’s oldest language. Modi made this remark during his monthly ‘Mann kiBaat’ address in Hindi in response to a query from a lady in Hyderabad. Praising the Tamil language, Mr.Modi said, “It is such a beautiful language, which is popular all over the world. Many people have told me a lot about the quality of Tamil literature and depth of the poems written in it. India is a land of many languages, which symbolizes our culture and pride.” Historically speaking, Tamil language is recognized as the oldest language in the world and it is the oldest language of the Dravidian family. This language had a presence even around 5,000 years ago. At present, this language is spoken in India, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia; and it is spoken by more than 8crores of people. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now confessed that he could not learn this language earlier and he considers it his shortcoming on his part for not learning it. Such a statement has indeed pleased the Tamil world especially when it is the time of election there. So, a statement pleasing the Tamilians from the Prime Minister at this time is to be taken with a pinch of salt. However, it is true that Tamil language is one of the oldest languages in the world and some of the historians even say that Tamil is older than Sanskrit and some say Sanskrit is the oldest language. Anyway, all European languages seem inspired by Sanskrit and universities and educational institutions spread across the world consider Sanskrit as the most ancient language. It is believed that all the languages of the world have originated from Sanskrit at different points of times. At present, Sanskrit has become a language of worship and ritual instead of the language of speech.Tamil language is the official language of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It is also official language in Sri Lanka and Singapore and has significant number of speakers in Mauritius, Fiji and South Africa. In 2004, Tamil was declared a classical language of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi knows the real mantra of politics and the statement that he loves Tamil is also viewed as part of his political tactics because Tamil Nadu is a region where Dravidian feelings are run and any attempt by the non-Dravidian political parties to usurp power will have to bite the dust. So, Modi’s statement is nothing but a ploy to win the hearts of Tamil people. How far this appeasing tactic will fetch good results for BJP remains to be seen.