Now, Karunanidhi's works in textbooks

His literary career spans several decades and has been acclaimed by many. Chief minister M Karunanidhi's works have now found place in school textbooks some as additional reading material and supplementary reading in the new Class 10 Samacheer Kalvi textbooks.

Among them is the poem Semmozhi Vaazhthu', written for the 9th World Classical Tamil Conference in Coimbatore held in June last year. The poem, which became popular after it was projected as the official anthem of the conference, appears after the Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu on page 4 of the textbook.

In the lesson Uyar Thani Semmozhi' on the classical status of Tamil, there is a mention of Karunanidhi's efforts to get the classical status for the language on Page 17. One of his works in pure Tamil has been given as additional reading material to explain Kannaganar Paadal' on Page 89. Another work, a conversation between a mother and son to motivate him before he enters the battlefield, is given as additional reading material in Page 100.

Some academics said the inclusion of Karunanidhi's works is seen more as a tribute to his literary prowess rather than a political move. They said the presence of Semmozhi Vaazhthu, which refers to various past Tamil works, is in praise of Tamil and so not appropriate to find a place there. "We have to give modern writers their due. He is a contemporary personality who has made several contributions to Tamil literature. He is also updated and has a penetrating view of issues unlike many others whose works are mainly appreciative in nature. He has a good reach, even among youngsters. As an academic I don't see any harm in children studying his works," said P Mahalingam, head of department of Tamil, Presidency College.

Others disagree. Popular writer Gnani said, "This is a blatant misuse of power. If literary merit is the criteria, there are several others who are miles ahead of him and still haven't found a place in the textbooks. If he's not in power the same committee of academics would not have included his works in the book."

The book also contains a lesson on the life of former chief minister and AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran, with colour pictures of him.

The books have not been distributed to schools yet, but have been put up online for the reference of students and teachers, because many private schools try to complete the portions during the summer vacation so the rest of the year could be spent revising them. The Samacheer Kalvi system, introduced in classes 1 and 6 in the last academic year, will be extended to class 2 to 5 and 7 to 10 from the next academic year.