...but then some stun you into silence.
Time to reflect.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
Is Tamil and Tamil Culture in danger?
This is the question that is on the minds of the PMK (Pattali Makkal Katchi) et al who are worried about the future of oldest spoken language in the world, as well as its culture.
For those, new to Tamil Nadu politics, PMK is one of the major political parties in Tamil Nadu with strong presence in both the State Assembly as well as the Lok Sabha.
It is one thing that the beautiful language of Tamil (which is also my mother tongue) has an unbroken history of oral and written literature. Countless invasions and mixing with other races has not affected the central nerve of this language. Nevertheless, I agree with the PMK that Tamil indeed faces the danger of redundancy in a world where English is fast becoming the most dominant language. But the approach of the PMK and many others towards such a threat is far from constructive. Many feel that the only way to counter such threats is to reject their proponents. I have a contrary approach though, that the correct way to tackle the issue would be to encourage the Tamil language and instill a sense of pride for Tamil.
At first glance, it looked like PMK along with a few others was under the same impression as mine, when it launched of the Tamil Ina Maanam Meetpu Iyakkam (Tamil Ethnic Pride Retrieval Movement) . It is one thing that the PMK would not consider me to be a Tamil enough (I am a TamBrahm) to be worthy of an opinon but I support the rejunvenation of Tamil all the same. That was until I came across this article about the launch of the movement.
Dr. Ramadoss, the chief of the PMK seems to have a narrow notion of what constitutes Tamil culture. Here is a feeler...
It is one thing that the beautiful language of Tamil (which is also my mother tongue) has an unbroken history of oral and written literature. Countless invasions and mixing with other races has not affected the central nerve of this language. Nevertheless, I agree with the PMK that Tamil indeed faces the danger of redundancy in a world where English is fast becoming the most dominant language. But the approach of the PMK and many others towards such a threat is far from constructive. Many feel that the only way to counter such threats is to reject their proponents. I have a contrary approach though, that the correct way to tackle the issue would be to encourage the Tamil language and instill a sense of pride for Tamil.
At first glance, it looked like PMK along with a few others was under the same impression as mine, when it launched of the Tamil Ina Maanam Meetpu Iyakkam (Tamil Ethnic Pride Retrieval Movement) . It is one thing that the PMK would not consider me to be a Tamil enough (I am a TamBrahm) to be worthy of an opinon but I support the rejunvenation of Tamil all the same. That was until I came across this article about the launch of the movement.
Dr. Ramadoss, the chief of the PMK seems to have a narrow notion of what constitutes Tamil culture. Here is a feeler...
Party founder S. Ramadoss declared that youngsters should not be seen on
the streets after 8 p.m. "Students and youth seen roaming without a valid reason
should be taken into police custody. If they do it repeatedly, they should be
punished by the judiciary," he said
This may sound as innocuous ranting to some, but there were two other features in the article that really caught my eye. This is the first one...
Call me an alarmist, call me anti-Tamil or what you will, still I can't but compare this to these Black Shirts, despite it sounding far-fetched.
The above may be attributed to my sense of paranoia, but this following quote is what really made me write a post about this issue...
Such a blanket statement really does sound ominous. It gives the party a free hand for misuse and a moral right (as questioning a Tamil Pride movement would be blasphemy) to launch a tirade of action against those it considers as opponents to it, under the false garb of Tamil Nationalism.
I might be just overreacting here (and I truly hope so too), but something does not seem right about this. I sincerely hope that people see that preserving Tamil culture is not about expelling whom they consider "undesirables" but is about making sure that all the good values of Tamil Culture are passed on for generations to come and by actively encouraging the Tamil language and arts so that the uniqueness and richness of this land is savored not just by Tamils but by the entire globe.
The movement's (Tamil Ethnic Pride Retrieval) 300 trained volunteers, called the
Army of Black Shirts, will fan out to different districts and address the
'social problems' concerning youth and women.
Call me an alarmist, call me anti-Tamil or what you will, still I can't but compare this to these Black Shirts, despite it sounding far-fetched.
The above may be attributed to my sense of paranoia, but this following quote is what really made me write a post about this issue...
The next job is to ensure that people from other states do not exploit Tamils.
"We do not mind people coming to Tamil Nadu to earn their living but we will not
allow them to exploit Tamils,"said Selvan (PMK Youth Wing Secretary).
Such a blanket statement really does sound ominous. It gives the party a free hand for misuse and a moral right (as questioning a Tamil Pride movement would be blasphemy) to launch a tirade of action against those it considers as opponents to it, under the false garb of Tamil Nationalism.
I might be just overreacting here (and I truly hope so too), but something does not seem right about this. I sincerely hope that people see that preserving Tamil culture is not about expelling whom they consider "undesirables" but is about making sure that all the good values of Tamil Culture are passed on for generations to come and by actively encouraging the Tamil language and arts so that the uniqueness and richness of this land is savored not just by Tamils but by the entire globe.
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