Monday, Jan 05: PUDUKOTTAI: The support extended to the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam reflected its responsibility for protecting Tamil in the long run, Union Minister of State for Home V. Radhika Selvi said.

Ms. Selvi said that the elimination of a language would be an achievable matter through the massacre of the people speaking that tongue. Ethnic violence being meted out on the Sri Lankan Tamils would result in the disappearance of Tamil language in the long run. "We have been raising our voice only to check elimination of Tamil from that region," she said delivering the convocation address at the J.J. College of Arts and Science here on Sunday.

Ms. Selvi said that she did not want to convert the convocation address into a political speech. However, she wanted to create an awareness among the students of the importance of conservation of a language.

She appealed to the students, particularly women, not to remain complacent with their degree certificates but to pursue higher education and take up research programmes.

The Union Minister regretted that there were not many takers for subjects such as Economics, History and Tamil. Students should give up their inhibitions about the career prospects in these subjects.

In fact, these subjects developed leadership qualities as in the case of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an economist, and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, a Tamil scholar of high order, she observed.

College Principal J. Parasuraman, in his annual report, said that it had imparted special training in computer education to police personnel last year. Later, Ms. Selvi conferred degrees on 652 students and gave away medals to the University rank-holders.