Don’t mock the Thirukkural, says Saravanan

Datuk M Saravanan (BN-Tapah) warned federal lawmakers against mocking the Thirukkural.

“Everytime this prime minister tables the budget we hear the Thirukkural. This shows the prime minister realises the importance of the Thirukkural for the Indian community,” said Saravanan who is the sole federal lawmaker from the MIC.

“He believes that this is a method to win over the Indian community.

“What saddens the Indian community, however, is when the prime minister quoted the Thirukkural, some parliamentarians in the Dewan laughed.

“This did not happen when he quoted Confucious.

“The moment he mentioned Thirukkural, some laughed. Don’t make Thirukkural the cause for jokes.

“Don’t mock Thirukkural.

“PM’s efforts (in quoting the Thirukkural) should have been a political dividend for the government but those around him don’t realise it is a sensitive matter for the Indians,” Saravanan said while debating Budget 2025.

During the tabling of Budget 2025, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim quoted a couplet from Thirukkural in Tamil.

It elicited laughter from members of the cabinet as well as the federal lawmakers.

The Thirukkural is made up of 1330 couplets authored by Thiruvalluvar contains universal values on various aspects of life.

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