Chennai: What is the use of conducting the World Tamil Conference spending crores and crores without serving the cause of the language and what is the use of calling Tamil as a Classical Language unless it is passed on to the next generation?
These are the queries raised by the Madras high court while dealing with a petition which aimed to promote Tamil language. “Tamil is an ancient classical language, which has got a rich heritage and literature. The well-known Sangam literature dates back to 300 BC to AD 300. Tamil is the official language of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is also one of the national and official languages of Sri Lanka along with Sinhalese. It is the 15th widely spoken language in the world and approximately one per cent of the world population speaks Tamil. Tamil diaspora is spread all over the world. Sri Lankan Tamils, who got settled in various countries, are evincing keen interest to teach Tamil to their children. Whereas, in the state of Tamil Nadu, Tamil is not passed on to the next generation”, observed a Division Bench comprising Justices V. Ramasubramanian (since transferred) and N. Kirubakaran.
Passing orders on a petition from R. Lakshminarayanan, the Bench directed the State government to positively act upon the proposal sent by Thanjavur Tamil University and sanction funds to start a correspondence course, at a nominal cost, to teach Tamil not only to Non-Tamils, but also to Tamils, who are living abroad and who do not have access to learning the language, within 12 weeks.
The court said, “Here is a person who has come before this court to make his contribution for the development of Tamil in a small way.”
He had been making representations from March 2013 requesting the government to take steps to teach Tamil to non-Tamils by starting correspondence course.
In spite of Tamil University, Thanjavur, sending a detailed proposal on May 19, 2013 quoting '37.36 lakh being the estimated cost, for starting correspondence course and in spite of getting approval from the Directorate of Tamil Development in February 2015, the government has not done anything in this regard. Therefore, this court, by moulding the prayer, has to necessarily give the direction, the bench said.
