Pro-Tamil DMK party MP confesses he cannot write in Tamil

For over many decades since Independence, it has been a political weapon for Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to speak passionately about Tamil language. A recent statement from one of its MPs, Dr S Senthil Kumar representing Dharmapuri constituency in the State is bound to go viral, as it has already led to intense media coverage in the Tamil press.

According to Dinamalar, there was a tweet war between Dr Kumar and K Annamalai, the firebrand top cop who joined the BJP recently on the issue of fluency in Tamil. The DMK MP however reasoned that he had his early education in Montfort School, Yercaud and Tamil was his optional language. Subsequently, he took up French and continued in the convent education environment where English was accorded more priority. 'I can speak Tamil fluently, but cannot write it without making mistakes' Dr Kumar confessed.

The critics have sharpened their knives exactly on this point. They highlight that DMK has often played with the emotions of the Tamil community on the language issue and seek only two-language formula despite the NEP 2020 wanting three-language format. ' One of its MPs not being totally comfortable in the language is inexcusable' they add.