Ruling AIADMK on Tuesday lashed out at IIT Madras for the Tamil anthem not being sung at an official event,saying it was 'completely wrong' and that the government would not accept any such traditions being given a miss. Senior AIADMK leader and fisheries minister D Jayakumar said that irrespective of whether it was a central or state government institution, it was a "tradition" to play the Tamil Thaai Vazhthu, as well as the national anthem.

"The Amma (late Jayalalithaa) government will never accept anything that is tantamount to throwing away such traditions," he told reporters here. It was "completely wrong," he said, and recalled Prime Minster Narendra Modi's recent remarks pointing out that Tamil was older than Sanskrit language. The incident was "condemnable" and the explanation of the IIT-M Management on the issue was "not acceptable," he added. Rendering of a Sanskrit invocation song at an event at IIT-M, attended by union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Pon Radhakrishnan on Monday had triggered a controversy with some opposition parties, including DMK and MDMK, questioning why the Tamil anthem was not sung. 'Maha Ganapathim Manasa Smarami', penned by late composer Muthuswami Dikshithar, was sung at the start of the foundation stone laying ceremony of National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts, to be set up along with the city-based technical institution. IIT,M Director Bhaskar Ramamoorthy, who was present at the event, had clarified that the institution does not issue any directions to students for a particular song to be sung. "We do not issue any directions to the students. It is they who choose the invocation song and render it on such occasions," he had said.