Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Tuesday wondered why the Union government had reservations in accepting the ancient civilisation of the Tamils, even though scientific tests had proved that it was 5,350 years old and that they possessed technical skills.

“Though we are in the same country, why does the government have reservations? Is it because of its unquenchable desire to treat Tamils as second-class citizens?” he asked on his social media page.