January 1st is the only globally accepted New Year, all those other new years are symbolic they don't matter in day to day life. You do not record an event based on your local cultural date, do you? These so called pro-Tamils do not follow Tamil calendar to record an event, when that is the case the issue of a Tamil New Year is highly symbolic. A muslim brother would have his own religious calendar, but on Chithirai 1st, he would greet with his fellow Tamilian "Puthandu Vazthukkal" though it is really a New Year based on Hindu Panchangam. The reason is, it is symbolic doesn't have any real life significance.
Any reasonable person would not care to know, debate on those naradha's non-sense stories and 60 children crap and a scientific explanation why Jan 14 should be celebrated. If that is so scientific why don't you abandon the Jan 1? No one gives a damn about it. Why don't they use Tamil Metric system, Tamil Numbers, stop using any thing non-Tamil. It is not possible, because it is not practical, we are living in an interdependent society.
Creating a New Year for all Tamil irrespective of their religious affiliation is good and secular. But who said April 14 was not being celebrated by non-hindus. Today we as Indians are severely suffering from regionalistic politics, this move only make it more worse.
Now even if J. Jayalalitha would change it back to the original April 14th, I doubt how many non-hindus would accept. It would only be seen as a move by an angry hindu to preserve hindu values not Tamil tradition. The rift is made.
To me the original Tamil New Year (April 14) is just a symbol of Tamil tradition. Again it is highly symbolic, like the yellow towel on M. Karunanidhi's shoulder. I do not see that necessarily as a Hindu New Year when it is being celebrated by people of every religion. When it is like that it is good to keep it untouched, because you would be creating a new issue out of it. Now it is explained by the so called "Tamil Scholars" that it is not a Tamil New Year, so people of other religion and a part of Hindus would celeberate Jan 14 as Tamil New Year and a part of Hindus would celebrate Apr 14. I would be celebrating Apr 14 all alone, this time labeled as a Hindu. Thanks for the disintegration Mr. Karunanidhi.
My point of this issue, when no one remembers a day other than April 14 as Tamil New Year for centuries, why create an issue out of it. This whole issue even if they have facts to back up, it is irrelevant and unnecessary to the current society (when real problems are left unattended).
This only creates a rift in the society and further damages the weak secular fabric. I personally feel this just created or satisfied the fake sense of pride to anybody who wants to boast their Tamil ethnicity.
