''WE FORGIVE AND FORGET EVERYTHING EASILY'' - SIMBU'S EMOTIONAL SPEECH

Actor Simbu had arranged for a sudden press meet at his residence today, 11th January. Here we bring you his complete speech.

“You have all gathered here based on the request of an actor named Simbu. But today, I am going to talk as a Tamilian and not as an actor. My mother tongue gave me an identity to me. Tamil is one of the oldest languages in the world and it very special. Peacock is the National Bird of India as it considered as a special bird. I am told that once Anna (C. N. Annadurai) had raised his voice on why is Tamil not selected as India’s National languages as it is very special too. He was replied back saying since Hindi is the most spoken language throughout India, it has been selected as our National language. For which Anna had said, Crow is one bird that you could find throughout India and why is that Peacock has been chosen as India’s National Bird? Tamil is such an exceptional language, and I am very proud and happy to say it’s my mother tongue. I knew about Tamil’s importance and its culture since I came from a family that is so patriotic about Tamil. I have scored 99 and 100 in Tamil till my 5th grade. That is how much passionate I was about Tamil. I am first a human, then a Tamilian then only an Indian. Everything that belongs to me today is because of my mother tongue Tamil. Coming to the point, I am not a politician; I am an actor, someone who dances and sings in cinema. We all know how many problems that Tamilan’s face. Not as an actor, just a commoner born in Tamil, I was thinking how could I voice or help Tamil people who are suffering. Even I have my means to express my anger since I am an actor but what about a commoner who wants to express his feelings? Yeah, there are few means like protesting and hunger strike. We have seen many protests over the years but have we ever got any solution out of them? I came to know about how a bull is brought up when I made a film called Silambattam. That is when I got to know the importance of Jallikattu. I have not addressed any issues before; maybe I was not so matured before. But I felt that if I don’t talk today, then when will I? First I need to say something about this Jallikattu issue. The biggest plus and minus of all Tamilians is that we forgive and forget everything very easily. We have let go of all kind of things thus far. But how could someone come and erode our culture and tradition that is so old? Should we keep quite even for this? When a soldier dies in Jammu and Kashmir, he is addressed as Indian soldier but whereas when a fisherman is killed in Sri Lanka, he is addressed as a Tamil fisherman by the press. Why is that discrimination?"