In a blatant endorsement of Christians missionaries who are known for derogating Hindu faith and indulging in forceful conversion of people to Christianity, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan hailed them as torchbearers of social justice who had contributed to the development of the region.
“Be it in India or Tamil Nadu or even Madurai, the contribution of American missionaries is not always talked about much. The link between Madurai and American missionaries goes back to 1881 or even beyond. They contributed to the overall development of the region by providing educational and medical facilities, though they were not the colonising power here,” Palanivel Thiagarajan was quoted saying in The Hindu.
The DMK Minister made these remarks during during a book release event at The American College, Madurai.
The book titled ‘Protestant textuality and the Tamil modern’ has been written by one late Bernard Bate, an American linguistic anthropologist and supposedly a historian who allegedly specialized in Tamil.
The book focuses on the development of political oratory and its influence on Tamil society in the last three centuries.
Palanivel Thiagarajan also said that the work of American Christian missionaries across the world championed the cause of people’s welfare, be it the civil rights movement in the USA or the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu.
Other who participated in the event include Pramila Paul, SCILET Director; Stalin Rajangam, Assistant Professor, Tamil Department; R. Nedumaran, retired professor of English Department, and J. Balasubramanian, Assistant Professor, Department of Jourlanism and Science Communication, Madurai Kamaraj University.
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.