Coimbatore Taxi News

Pratibha Patil inaugurates World Classical Tamil Conference

The five day World Classical Tamil Conference was on Wednesday inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil with Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi attending the glittering function here.

Inaugurating the conference, the Presidentpraised Tamil language and said it reflected the heritage of the country, which was now following an inclusive growth paradigm to benefit all, particularly those in rural areas.

“As our nation progresses economically, we have sought to follow an inclusive growth paradigm so that growth brings benefits to all sections of society,” she said.

With special focus on rural areas, our developmental efforts are becoming increasingly participatory with more powers devolving on Panchayati Raj institutions,” Ms. Patil said.

This model of rural development can bring progress and prosperity in Indian villages, she added.

Nation’s pride

The President said, “The history of Tamils is our nation’s pride. Many concepts intrinsic to India’s society and basic to its polity are found in Tamil discourse over the millennium.

For example, respect for each other’s religion has long been part of Tamil cultural tradition.” Reciting a Tamil saying ‘Thiraikadal odiyum thraviyam thedu’ (earn wealth even if one has to go abroad), she said their hard work was depicted in the saying even during the Sanga period.

The state had been a source of both Shaivite and Vaishnavite philosophies while a ‘substantial body’ of work exists on Jain and Buddhist beliefs, as well as on Islam and Christianity, she said.

“A principal tenet of the Constitution of our country is to secure social, economic and political voice to every adult citizen of the country. Universal Adult Franchise and our democratic framework have given a political voice to every adult citizen of the country,” she said, pointing out that adult franchise was in practice even during Chola dynasty rule in the state.

She also praised Tamil Nadu for leading in social reform, fighting social biases and working to achieve a society where all would be treated with equality.

Special place for TN

Ms. Patil said she has a special place for Tamil Nadu and recalled that it was in Chennai that she began her campaign for the Presidential elections. She also said that her first tour out of Delhi (as President) was to the state to address youth at Rajiv Gandhi National Institute if Youth Development.

““Hence, I believe my presence at this conference is a part of my continuing association with the state,” Ms. Patil said.

Praising the Tamil ethos, the President said that they were based on pluralism, tolerance and huministic approach and contributed towards the country from the early days to the present day.

“Tamil language, with its vibrancy and richness, has made India a proud multilingual society,” she said, adding Tamils such as poet Subramanya Bharathy had contributed to the freedom movement. She said Mahatma Gandhi had wanted to learn Tamil, especially to study the Tamil treatise Tirukkural.

Award

Earlier, she gave away the first Kalaignar Karunanidhi Classical Tamil Award to Finnish scholar Asko Parpola.

The award contains a citation, a cheque for Rs 10 lakh and a statuette of saint Tamil poet, Tiruvalluvar.

Accepting the award, Parpola said the Government of India had rightly announced Tamil as a classical language due to its antiquity. Many critical scholars had agreed that even Rig Veda had spoken about half a dozen Dravidian languages, he said.

Mr. Karunanidhi in his address said Tamils should take note of the future growth of the language and plan its development in different spheres of human endeavour like literature, comparative studies, language studies, translation, history, philosophy, humanities and folklore.

“We have to plan and enthuse further meaningful research on these areas and encourage intense research on archaeological findings from the Indus valley through Adichnalur and Kumarikkandam, that was swallowed by the sea,” he said.

He said this conference was the first after Tamil got the classical language status and was different from the previous eight World Tamil Conferences.

Tamil was not only an international language, but like a mother for all world languages, he said.

Karunanidhi said he had always served the cause of the language, irrespective of whether he was in power or not.

T Sivathambi, Tamil scholar from Sri Lanka, said Tamil was the oldest Dravidian language of India. “It is an official language in six or seven countries and rightly deserves to be a classical language.”