TAP TO UNMUTE Protests at IIT Madras

Chennai: Massive protests took place at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras on Tuesday over rendering of a Sanskrit invocation song at an event. Students holding protests said a Tamil song should have been sung at the event, which was attended by two union ministers. Traditionally, in Tamil Nadu, a Tamil song is sung at state government functions.

As per a report in PTI, IIT Madras students sung 'Maha Ganapathim Manasa Smarami', penned by late poet Muthuswami Dikshithar, as the invocation song soon after the arrival of dignitaries for the foundation stone laying ceremony of National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts, to be set up along with IIT Madras.

At government functions in the state, only "Tamil Thaai Vazhthu" (invocation song of mother Tamil), penned by Manomaniam Sundaram Pillai, is played in the beginning and the national anthem towards the end of the events.

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Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources Nitin Gadkari and Union Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan were present at the function.

Students who held protests today said it was a deliberate attempt to Sanskritise Dravidian culture. Tamil Nadu politician Vaiko also raised objections, and asked why was a Sanskrit song sung when the normal practice was to sing the Tamil anthem.

Meanwhile, IIT authorities said the choice to sing a Sanskrit invocation song was made by the students themselves and nothing was imposed on them.

Director of IIT Madras, Bhaskar Ramamoorthy, who was also present at the event, said the institution does not issue any directions to students for a particular song to be sung. "We do not issue any directions to the students. It is they who choose the invocation song and render it on such occasions," he said.

"Both Nitin Gadkari and Pon Radhakrishnan, who were at the function, should publicly tender an apology for the incident, as singing of the Tamil invocation song is the usual practice in any government function," MDMK chief Vaiko he told reporters at Coimbatore. Alleging that the Centre was trying to impose Sanskrit and Hindi by various means, Vaiko demanded that stringent action be taken against those responsible for the incident.

(With PTI inputs)