Madras HC refuses to change the birthday of Thiruvalluvar

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court refused to direct the State to change the celebration of Thiruvalluvar day from the second day of Tamil month Thai to Vaikasi Anusham as there is no evidence to prove the exact birth date of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar.

Justice M Dhandapani wrote that despite some Tamil scholars, celebrated Anusham star in the Tamil month of Vaikasi as the birth day of Thiruvalluvar, however, in the absence of any proof with regard to the birth day of Thiruvalluvar, the Court cannot issue any direction in favour of the petitioner.

As a welfare state, to promote linguistic harmony, it is open for the government to celebrate a particular day as a mark of respect and adoration to Thiruvalluvar, held the Court.

The petition was moved by a Tamil professor Samy Thiyagarajan seeking to declare the policy of the State to celebrate Thiruvalluvar day on the second day of Thai as null and void.

The petitioner submitted that a practice, more than 600 years, in celebrating the birth day of Thiruvalluvar on Anusham star in the Tamil month of Vaikasi, has been changed arbitrarily through a policy by the government to the second day of Thai, which is wholly impermissible.

The petitioner contended that during the first Thirukural conference in 1966, the government has passed a resolution to celebrate the Thiruvalluvar day on Anusham star, later it was changed to Thai.

The birth day of an individual cannot be changed as a policy of the government and when a tradition is followed time immemorial, forcing the followers to adapt to the policy is wholly unconstitutional and illegal and deserves to be interfered with, said the petitioner.The government, at its whims and fancies cannot arbitrarily change the date, added the petitioner.

However the petitioner failed to place the concrete evidence to hold that Anusham star of Vaikasi is the birth day of Thiruvalluvar, the Court dismissed the petition.