Chennai: Vice – President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday urged the people that we must support our mother tongue but must not oppose any language. There should be no imposition and no opposition to any language. Learn as many languages as possible including foreign languages.

He unveiled former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu late M Karunanidhi’s 16-foot-high bronze statue at Omandurar Government Estate in Chennai. Speaking on the occasion Venkaiah Naidu said that Karunanidhi rose to iconic stature by his efforts and never failed to promote Tamil language and culture, Naidu said, and urged people to learn their mother tongue but not develop an aversion to other languages.

Showering encomiums on Kalaignar Karunanidhi, he said. In Kalaignar, I could see a person with a clear ideology and commitment, dedication, devotion, dynamism, and discipline to work for the welfare of the people. He had the good fortune of interacting with Kalaignar quite closely over several decades during the course of his long journey in public life.

Vice-President advised politicians to agree to disagree and respect each other in public life as there are no enemies, only rivals in politics. He hailed the Dravidian stalwart as one of India’s most dynamic CMs who has left a legacy of development and social welfare.

Stating that he could see many of his friends from Parliament and different political parties at the function, he said.

Parties may have different ideologies but they all work for people’s welfare. We must differ. At the same time, we must respect leaders and then move on according to our ideologies. Unity in Diversity is the specialty of this country. We need not compromise on our convictions but we can also work together. This is my advice to all youngsters. Kalaignar Karunanidhi was a leader who stood firmly by his political beliefs and convictions, he said.

CM Stalin in his address said that the statue of Kalaignar is located in between the statues of Periyar and Arignar Anna on Anna Salai. Kalaignar used to say he belongs to the Periyar school of thought and nurtured his ideals in Aringar Anna’s association.  So, his statue is now aptly located in between the statues of Periyar and Anna, he said.