Coimbatore, June 26: Sitaram Yechury, CPM MP, and member of the Politburo, was one of the dignitaries invited for the symposium at the World Classical Tamil Conference on June 25 here that was conducted under the chairmanship of Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
The theme of the symposium was ‘Engum Thamizh Ethilum Thamizh’ (Tamil Everywhere). Though Yechury spoke a few words in his broken Tamil, he withdrew saying that style would not do at a Semmozhi conference. So, his English text was translated into Tamil and read out at the symposium.
Here are some excerpts:
- Though, eight conferences were held earlier, this ninth conference stands out in history because it is the first conference being held after Tamil was conferred the status of ‘classical language’. We feel especially proud because this status was conferred during the period of the first UPA government, when the Left parties were supporting it along with some other parties like the DMK.
- I am happy to be here on a personal note too. Though born in a Telugu family, I can claim a share of Tamil Nadu - I was born in the then Madras or today’s Chennai or what we used to be called as Chennapatnam. And, of course, we share many common traits in terms of language and culture. ‘Yathum Oore, Yavarum Kelir’ (Every place in the world is my home town; Everyone is my kin.)
- There is an interesting episode in the SSC series The Story of India, which talks about the earliest human migrations from Africa. Thanks to 'the development of science and technology and the Human Genome Project, it waS found that the gene M130 which was found in the remains of the earliest human migrants from Africa was found among the Kallar people in the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu. Professor A. Pitchappan of the Madurai University, who stumbled upon this discovery states that these people might have provided the “basis for the genetic inheritance” of the rest of us. In other words, the world was populated from here: If Adam came from Africa, Eve came from India. So it is truly Mother India, indeed. We should be rightfully proud of today/s Tamil Nadu, for being the place where this process started from.
- The very fact that Tamil language continues to develop and thrive, unlike other classical languages in the world like Latin, is because of the fact that it had maintained its liveliness by being constantly among the people and common to the entire people.
- We Communists look at language as a unifying force in the struggle and development of society. We look at it as one among the four necessary conditions, not the only condition, that defines a nationality. It is based on this understanding that from the days of the freedom struggle, the Communist Party fought for the f'ormation of linguistic states… Here it is apt to remember martyr Sankaralingam, who died observing fast unto death for 64 days to have the name Madras Presidency changed to Tamil Nadu. He expressed his desire that his body he handed over to the Communist Party. P Ramamurthy, a veteran freedom fighter and trade union leader from this part of the state, P Jeevanandam and N Sankaraiah declared that they would speak in Tamil in the state legislature and did speak in Tamil. A. Nallasivam, while he was an MP, fought for the usage of Tamil in telegrams. Indeed, they were pioneers in the struggle to get due recognition for Tamil. They believed that democracy does not have any meaning if, at least, the administration of the state is not carried out in the language of the common people.
- Before I conclude, I would like to place some suggestions before the conference for its consideration. Tamil has a rich tradition and produced literature that is highly relevant even today. Apart from it, there are huge treasures of oral history that need to be immediately documented and preserved for eternity. Music, drama, folk arts are all repositories of such invaluable treasures. I hope the conference initiates some measures in this regard. Tamil society is also enriched by the various movements like the national movement, the self-respect movement, the Dravidian movement, the Communist movement, the Dalit movement and the feminist movement. The rich treasures of literature each of these movements has left behind and the way they have influenced and helped in the evolution of Tamil and society too needs to be thoroughly studied with a scientific perspective. Organisations like the Progressive Writers' Association should not only be made part of this conference but should also be associated with such a project.
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