Vijayawada, Sep 25 (PTI) Dravida Desam president V Krishna Rao today sought the Andhra Pradesh governments support on behalf of Telugu peoples associations in Tamil Nadu to help safeguard their linguistic interests. Speaking to reporters, he alleged that the Tamil Nadu state government has forced non-Tamilian students to study in Tamil medium instead of their own mother tongue -- Telugu. Rao said he has also appealed to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to personally meet his Tamil Nadu counterpart Jayalalitha to help resolve issues facing the states Telugu speaking population. He alleged that the Tamil Nadu government had closed down many Telugu-medium schools by "falsely" showing that less number of students opted for Telugu medium. "Names of Telugu students were changed and they were misrepresented as Tamil speakers," he claimed. He also alleged that the Tamil Nadu government does not follow recommendations of the National Minorities Commission to protect interests of linguistic minorities residing in Tamil Nadu. PTI COR BA HU

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