CHENNAI: Governor R N Ravi on Monday said that social justice and free education in mother tongue was being provided in India before the arrival of the British and the British deliberately destroyed our mother tongue based education.

Delivering a keynote address after launching the book "The First Native Voice of Madras: Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty", authored by B Jagannath, an advocate of Madras High Court here, Ravi said, "The profession of teaching, which was considered a virtue, was no longer a business. Brahmins were mostly teachers. It was these Brahmins who were economically backward and taught education. This system of education was systematically destroyed by the British."

Further, Ravi said since 1823, education has been taught in Madras province without caste, religion and gender discrimination.

"Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Sanskrit and other educational institutions have functioned separately and as per their convenience. In the 1820s, the education system of our society was free for students, " he noted.

However, Ravi said Shudras were more educated than Brahmins in mother tongue educational institutions before the British era.

Lauding Vallalar, Ravi said when the British destroyed the mother tongue education system, Vallalar started educational institutions and played an important role in the development of mother tongue education.

S Vaidyanathan, Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court, R Kirlosh Kumar, secretary to governor and others were present during the event.