Claiming that India is the world’s oldest democracy with numerous historical references to democratic principles, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said a more than 1,100 year old inscription from Tamil Nadu talks about the rules for the local body, including a provision to disqualify a member.
During the Tamil New Year celebrations at Union Minister L Murugan’s residence, Modi said that Tamil is the oldest language in the world and every Indian is proud of it.
Dressed in traditional Tamil attire, Modi said Tamil literature is also widely respected and the Tamil film industry has produced some of the most famous works.
“India is the oldest democracy in the world, it is the mother of democracy. There are a number of historical references to this. Tamil Nadu is an important link,” Modi said.
He said that in Tamil Nadu’s Uthiramerur there is an inscription of 1100-1200 years old where one gets an insight into the democratic values of the country.
“The inscription found there is like a local constitution for the gram sabha. In this it was said how the assembly should be conducted, what should be the qualification of members, what should be the process of electing members. Not only that, at that time they were deciding how the member would be disqualified,” the Prime Minister said.
1100 years old Tamil inscription talks about democratic processes in India
There was major political unrest between the BJP and opposition parties after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha following his conviction and sentence in a defamation case in 2019.
In his remarks, Modi said, “As a country, it is our responsibility to take this culture and tradition forward, but we all know what happened before. Now I have been given this responsibility.” He also talked about speaking in Tamil at the United Nations and other efforts to promote Tamil culture, including in Sri Lanka.
He also asked people to make a New Year’s resolution to include millet in their diet.
The event also saw performances by Tamil artistes and was attended by many people from Tamil Nadu. In his remarks, Modi said there are so many things in Tamil culture that have shaped India as a nation.
“Tamil culture and people are both eternal and global. From Chennai to California, from Madurai to Melbourne, from Coimbatore to Cape Town, from Salem to Singapore, you will find Tamil people who have carried their culture and traditions with them,” Modi said.
The ancient Tamil culture and tradition of getting new energy from ‘Puthandu (New Year)’ is truly wonderful, he said.
“That makes Tamil Nadu and the Tamil people very special. That is why this tradition has always fascinated me and I also had an emotional connection with it,” he said.
Read Now:New approach to optical imaging provides 4D view of cell secretions
