Chennai: People from various walks of life have welcomed three recent directions by the Madras High Court.
Hailing Tamil as the ‘Language of Gods,’ the court said temple consecrations across the country should be done reciting Tamil hymns composed by saints like Azhwars and Nayanmars, besides others like Arunagirinathar.
A bench of Justice N Kirubakaran, since retired, and Justice B Pugalendhi, in a recent order also said that in our country ‘it is made to believe that Sanskrit alone is Gods’ language.’
In various countries and religions, different types of beliefs were in existence and the places of worship also change according to the culture and religion.
‘In those places, only the local language was stated to be used for doing heavenly service. However, in our country, it is made to believe that Sanskrit alone is Gods language and not any other language is equivalent. No doubt, Sanskrit is an ancient language with enormous ancient literature. The belief is spread in such a way that only if the Sanskrit Vedas are recited, the Gods will listen to the prayers of the devotees,’ said the bench, which was hearing a petition seeking consecration of Arulmigu Pasupatheshwara Swamy Thirukovil by chanting Thirumuraikal, Tamil Saiva Manthiram (hymns) and also songs of Saint Amaravathi Aatrangarai Karurar.
In another order, ruling that the Union government cannot use Hindi for official correspondence with Tamilnadu, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has observed that the Centre was bound to use English for the purpose of communication with the southern State.
The court passed the order in August, which was made public recently, on a petition filed by Madurai Lok Sabha MP and Sahitya Akademi award-winning writer Su Venkatesan seeking a direction to the Union government to use English in all official communication with Tamilnadu.
Admittedly, the State of Tamil Nadu has not adopted Hindi as its official language, whereas it has adopted two languages formally viz., Tamil and English. As per Proviso to Section 1(a) of the (Official Languages) Act, the Central Government is bound to use English for the purpose of communication with the State of Tamilnadu, the court said.
On Monday, the Madras High Court directed the Civil Aviation Ministry to pass orders ensuring announcement of In-Flight Safety Instructions in the local languages of the originating city and destination cities apart from English and Hindi for safety of air passengers.
Disposing off a Public Interest Litigation filed by an advocate B Ramkumar Athityan of Thoothukudi, the First Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu said the Civil Aviation Ministry should consider and pass a reasoned order in this regard.
In his petition, the advocate said the safety of air passengers could not be ensured if they were not able to understand the safety instructions.
He also submitted that the flight safety instructions cards must be printed in all the languages listed in the eighth schedule of the Constitution.
After hearing his counsel, the Judges granted liberty to the petitioner to make a fresh representation to the Ministry within four weeks and directed the Ministry to dispose of such a representation by passing a reasoned order within eight weeks thereafter.