NEW DELHI: DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran’s remark questioning the relevance of Sanskrit sparked a furore in Lok Sabha on Monday with treasury members demanding that he apologise, while the Chair directed that the objectionable comment be removed from the records.
During a debate on the Union Budget, Maran said crores of rupees were being spent on Sanskrit and asked as to what has the government done for the classical language Tamil.
Maran also made a controversial remark about Sanskrit which was strongly objected to by Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, who said that one can criticise the budget or the finance minister, but it was not right to speak in an indecent manner about Sanskrit.
Rama Devi (BJP), who was in the Chair, directed that Maran’s objectionable remarks be expunged from the records.
“We respect all languages. The remarks made against Sanskrit were condemnable and indecent,” Thakur said.
During the discussion, Maran said that “savings were part of our blood” but the government was discouraging it “by reducing the interest rates on savings”.
He also alleged that the “mistakes made by you (government) have come to haunt us”, and asked “why can’t you (government) come up with a single tax system?”
Opposing government’s plan to privatise Air India, he said that it was an Air India aircraft which went to China — in the grip of a coronavirus outbreak– to evacuate Indian students from there.
He also made reference to the CAA, NRC and NPR and stated that Tamil Nadu was the first to raise voice against the issues and accused the central government of dividing the country.
Referring to Aadhar, he said that “when you have dynamic data with you, why do you want to go for NPR”. (agencies)
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