UP CM Yogi Adityanath ensured a peaceful Holi during Ramzan, with measures like covering mosques and reviving old temples. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu CM Stalin stirs controversy by replacing the Indian Rupee symbol Rs with Tamil ‘Roo’ in the state budget.
The vibrant colourful festival of Holi was celebrated with gusto across India, with special focus on Mathura, Vrindavan and Barsana in UP, the land of Lord Krishna. In Gorakhpur, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath led the traditional Narsingh Shobhayatra and said,”no country in the world has such a diverse and rich tradition as Sanatan Dharma, which is the soul of Bharat”. For the first time, Holi was celebrated on Thursday by students of Aligarh Muslim University, even as Muslims performed their Ramzaan fast. In ten districts of UP, prominent mosques were covered with tarpaulin to prevent miscreants from throwing colours. In Sambhal, UP, Holi was played in Kartikeya Mahadev temple inside a Muslim-dominated locality after a lapse of 46 years. In 1978, more than 200 people were killed during communal riots that took place in Sambhal after the murder of an Islamic cleric. Hindus had fled the locality and after four decades, this temple, which was lying unused, was reopened. On Friday, Holi was played till 2 pm and at around 2:30 pm Muslims performed their Ramzan prayers. Holi is not only a festival of colours. The festival promotes friendship. Anybody having enmity can bury differences at the time of Holi festival, by applying colours and hugging each other. UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s appeal to Hindus to observe Holi with restraint and respect the feelings of others has worked. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tried to add political colour by alleging that BJP wants to divide society on communal lines. At a time when the dates of Holi and Ramzan Friday prayers have clashed, leaders should refrain from making political capital out of it.
Stalin stumped on Rupee issue : Designer Tamilian, Award Presenter Tamilian
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by Chief Minister M K Stalin has launched a new battle against the Centre by refusing the use the Indian rupee symbol ₹ in its Budget this year. Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu presented the Annual Budget today in the assembly. In the Budget documents, in place of the rupee symbol ( ₹ ), the Tamil alphabet Roo ரூ , which signifies Roobai, in Tamil for Rupee, has been used. In a series of tweets on X, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman termed this move as a “completely avoidable example of language and regional chauvinism”. Sitharaman pointed out, the Indian Rupee symbol was designed by IIT Professor D. Uday Kumar, son of former DMK MLA N. Dharmalingam. She questioned why DMK, which was a part of UPA government, did not protest when the Indian Rupee symbol was adopted in 2010. She wrote, “DMK is not only rejecting a national symbol but also utterly disregarding the creative contribution of a Tamil youth”. What Stalin’s government has done appears to be its next step on the issue of language policy, on which it is now at loggerheads with the Centre. Stalin is trying to link the Rupee symbol based on Devnagari script with Tamil language. He is trying to create a new issue of Tamil pride. But by doing so, he forgot to fact check. The Rupee symbol was designed by none other than a Tamilian, and he is the son of a former DMK MLA. Secondly, when the Rupee symbol was adopted in 2010, Congress-led UPA government was in power at the Centre and DMK was in power in Tamil Nadu. At that time, Stalin did not object. Let me point out a third point of embarassment for Stalin. When the award for designing Rupee symbol was handed over to D. Udaykumar, the presenter was also a Tamilian. He was P. Chidambaram. Surprisingly, Congress is silent on this issue.
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