Expressing surprise over southern states, especially Tamil Nadu, finding no place in the expert committee formed to study the origin and evolution of Indian culture, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to re-constitute the panel by including eminent scholars from the State.
In a Demi-Official letter to Mr Modi, copies of which were released to the media here, he said the Union Ministry of Culture has recently constituted an expert committee for conducting a holistic study of the origin and evolution of Indian culture during the past 12 millennia and its interface with other cultures of the world. While it was a welcome move to deepen the understanding of India's rich and varied cultural roots, the composition of the committee in itself was a matter of deep concern as it has no representative from any of the Southern States, especially from Tamil Nadu, which has a glorious past and was home to one of the oldest civilizations--the Dravidian civilization--a living and thriving culture in the South of India, he pointed out.
The recent archaeological excavations in Keezhadi and other parts of Tamil Nadu reveal that the world-reputed Sangam era could now be dated back to as early as 6th century BCE. ''This places Tamil culture and language as one of the oldest surviving heritages in the world'', Palaniswami said and recalled Modi's visit to Mahabalipuram around this time last year, where he had observed the awe-inspiring timeless monuments and glorious legacy of Tamil heritage in full splendour.
''You will, therefore, agree with me that any chronicle of Indian history and culture would be grossly incomplete without giving its rightful place to Tamil culture and language'', he said. Given this background, it was surprising that the Ministry of Culture has chosen to ignore experts from Tamil Nadu while setting up the committee, he said and urged Mr Modi, on behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu, to personally intervene and direct the Ministry of Culture to reconstitute the expert committee by inducting eminent scholars from Tamil Nadu.
