Tamil Nadu BJP president Annamalai has criticized DMK Deputy General Secretary and Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi, accusing her of having “selective amnesia.” He stated that she conveniently forgets the events that took place between 2006 and 2014 when the DMK was part of the Congress-led coalition government. During that period, the central government allocated ₹675 crore for the promotion of Sanskrit while only ₹75 crore was allotted for Tamil, a major lapse under the DMK’s governance. However, Kanimozhi has failed to respond to his questions on this issue.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai during the BJP’s statewide signature campaign in support of the three-language policy, Annamalai noted that the initiative had received a strong response. Within 24 hours, one lakh people had signed in favor of the new education policy, believing it would ensure a better future for children. He also strongly condemned the manner in which former Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan was treated by the Chennai police, stating that it is the duty of political parties to interact with people on the streets. He criticized the DMK government, alleging that its actions reflect fear and cowardice, as they first arrested Tamilisai and later released her, knowing their order was unjust.
Further, Annamalai accused VCK leader Thirumavalavan of hypocrisy, stating that while he runs a CBSE school that follows the three-language policy, he lacks the courage to openly support it. He claimed that the BJP is exposing fake politicians daily and declared that every day marks a new victory for the party.
Referring to DMK MP Kanimozhi once again, Annamalai reiterated that when the DMK was in power at the center, they did little for Tamil development. He also criticized former Union Minister P. Chidambaram, who, during his tenure, made 170 recommendations in Parliament for Hindi promotion but now speaks against Hindi at public events in Tamil Nadu. Annamalai remarked that the people of the state are now forced to witness such political contradictions.
Annamalai stated, “For sister Kanimozhi, there is a nice word in English called ‘selective amnesia.’ Selective amnesia means forgetting things often. Suriya has acted in a movie, tend to forget things frequently. As far as sister Kanimozhi is concerned, she seems to have forgotten everything between 2006 and 2014. Those eight years have become a case of selective amnesia in sister Kanimozhi’s brain. Today, I am asking the same sister Kanimozhi—’You allocated ₹675 crore for Sanskrit but only ₹75 crore for Tamil. Why?’ But she never responds to this. It was a blunder that happened under your regime.”
He further criticized, “Sister Kanimozhi’s son is a citizen of Singapore. He is studying in a world-class country. Will you insist the son of sister Kanimozhi, studying in Singapore, should learn only Tamil? While sister Kanimozhi’s son, as a Singaporean citizen, has the opportunity to study multiple languages, but she takes the mic and tells the children of Tamil Nadu that they should learn only two languages. If she believes that, why didn’t she enroll her son in a government school in Tamil Nadu and make him study under the two-language policy? Today, she speaks a lot about language, right? She calls herself the granddaughter of Periyar and the daughter of Kalaignar Karunanidhi. So why there is a different justice with her children as a Singapore citizen while the children of poor parents in Tamil Nadu’s government schools have another kind of justice? We will certainly question that!”
He questioned why the Tamil Nadu government is creating societal divisions and engaging in unnecessary debates about constituency reorganization. He asserted that the government has no real answers to these concerns and accused the ruling party of blocking language policies for political gain rather than genuine public interest.
Mocking the DMK’s usual tactics, he sarcastically suggested that they might attempt to divert attention by making a party member’s child release a video about the benefits of bilingualism. Concluding his statement, Annamalai called this an act of shame.
In a 2021 interview with India Today, she stated, “My husband is a Singapore citizen, and my son is also a Singapore citizen. I have no intention of changing his citizenship.”
The fact that DMK leaders and their family members have comfortably settled in foreign countries while denying even the underprivileged citizens of Tamil Nadu the chance to learn another language for better opportunities has sparked debate across the state.
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