Is Tamil a Classical Language: The Politics of Caste and Identity

In a few days time the World Classical Tamil Conference will begin in Coimbatore and everyone particularly the people of Tamil Nadu seem to be very exited about the whole tamasha. So far no one has even dared to ask the question: Does Tail, the medai tamizh popularised by the two Dravidian parties has actually impoverished the Tamil language and has made the native speakers of Tamil adhere to a very a narrowly defined ethnic and linguistic identity. The politicised linguistic identity popularised by the Dravidian movement has led to a situation that even so-called pulavars of Tamil cannot read a book printed in the Tamil language before the advent of the pure-Tamil movement launched by Professor Sunadaram Pillai and others. If you pick up any book printed in the nineteenth century you will encounter a completely language and none of the scholars of Tamil who willfully valorise only the so-callled Samgam Tamil are even in a position to read it. How can one be called a scholar in Tamil language and literature if he/she is unable to read Nalaira Divya Prabandam and other works which include the Bhakti hymns and the compositions of the Alvars. My point is that politicians cannot define the language and use a politicised linguistic consciousness to propel themselves and their families to power. The present fixation with Sanga Kala Ilakkiyam is akin to the Englishmen saying that the only English they will speak is the English of Chaucer and that all French words will be excised from the language. It does not take too much imagination to sat that English as we know will just fade away. Tamil is now in the danger of becoming a language whose utility as a vehicle of communication is now under severe stress.
A classical language is essentially a historical construct. After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fourth century AD there was what Sheldon Pollock in his Language of the Gods in the World of Men has called the vernacularisation of Europe. Around the same time In India too the regional languages, grammars and literature came to be developed. As the vernaculars looked back from the stand point of the humanist Renaissance of the 14ht or 15th century they saw in Latin the roots of their own language, particularly the written form which the vernaculars took in the 8th or 9yth century precisely the time from when regional cultures developed in India. It make sense to speak of classical in the context of Europe as Latin was indeed the basis of the scripts and grammars of all the vernaculars particularly, French and German. Did such a situation exist in India. The answer is NO.
The antiquity of a language cannot determine its so called classical status. If the antiquity of a language should be allowed to determine the classical status then all the tribal languages of India and the world must be declared as classical languages. Even the criteria of written script is being politicised. The introduction of writing began with Ashoka when he inscribed his edicts all over India in order to propagator Buddhism. Literacy may have been introduced in pockets of NW India after the conquest of Alexander. In fact all the Tamil Brahmi inscriptions are dated after Ashoka and even Iravatham Mahadevan who of late has started singing a different tune has admitted as such in several of his earlier works. The Harappan script has not been deciphered and therefore any reading of the symbols as representing Tamil is sheer fraud. It is not [possible to Trace the antiquity of Tamil as a script before Asoka. The shadow boxing that high caste Tamil scholars who were fanatical saiva siddantists had with Sanskrit with its alleges Brahmani-cal bias is responsible for the constant refrain about the antiquity of Tamil. And even then Sanskrit words as George Hart himself has shown in his Poems of Ancient Tamil occupy more than 40% of the Tamil Texts collected in the sangam anthologies. I must say that the close similarity between the Bhakti poems belonging to the Palalva Age and the hymns of the alvars and nayanmars suggest close proximity in age, a point brought out by Herman Tieken. It appears that Tamil scholarship has degenerated into medai Tamil (Platform Tamil).
The construction of a Tamil identity based on language is part of the process of mobilisation of the backward non brahmin castes such as the mudaliars and the saiva pillais to achieve political power. I do not see why they continue to indulge in such gimmicks even now that they a re in power.

In a recent newspaper article Shri Iravatan Mahadevan published 4 pieces of evidence to show the antiquity of the Tamil language atleast in its written form. The signet ring bearing the name of a sangam chief is obviously suspect as it has not been found in an excavated context. Furtehr, the Amaravathi River basin near Karur has generated a small scale industry for the manafacture of "sangam" age coins which are duly authenticated by a set of "epigraphists" and "historians" whose ideological motive is to push back the antiquity of writing and literacy. There is also the impulse to give credence to the Sangam poetry whose date cannot be determined.

Israel and the tragedy in Gaza: Why humanitarian aid must be allowed

Israel enjoys a high degree of goodwill in many parts of the world and even professional critics of Israel have found much to admire in the manner in which the State of Israel conducts its no nonsense foreign policy. The world opinion be damned. As long of USA is not overly critical Israel does not seem to care. The latest outrage committed on the high sea seems to have taken even the Obama Administration by surprise and Hilary Clinton has joined the rest of the world in condemning Islaer's action in using military might against a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. The world has come to recognise that the economic blockade imposed by Israel is causing untold misery to the people of the Palestenian territory. If by following this policy Israel hopes to undermine the support base of the HAMAS, the policy is clearly not succeeding. In fact the blockade has only increased the level of public acceptability of HAMAS. The economic blokade has failed in its expressly stated purpose but has succeeded in imposing collective punishment on the people of Gaza for electing the Hamas.
Israel has used unacceptable level of force in dealing with the flotilla carrying, after all humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The boat did not carry any military equipment or even machinery. It only carried tents, blankets, medicines, school text books, toys, food and relief material. Israel could have allowed the passage of the aid flotilla instead of brutally attacking and causing the death of 10 aid workers. Video footage shows the Israeli paratroopers rappelling on to the deck of the vessels and opening fire. Israel's claim that they were attracted first carries no conviction as the aid flotilla was on international waters when the incident happened. I do agree that Israel has a very difficult security environment and also recluctantly have to concede that the security wall, often called apartheid wall has given security to the civilians as there have been far fewer suicide bombings now than before. By saying this we should not be encouraging Israel with its hard statecraft, though it is enviably successful.
The War launched against the residents of Gaza in 2008-2009 resulted, for the first time in the 65 year history of Israel in a with drawl without achieving any major strategic objective. The rockets attacks have stopped but for how long remains open to question. The degradation of the Hamas and its military capability has clearly not been achieved. Under these circumstances Israel could have been more circumspect.
There is yet another issue causing international disquiet. This is to do with Israel's nuclear programme. The Barack Obama administration is obsessed over Iran's nuclear material even though Iran has complied will all its obligations under the NPT to which Iran is a signatory. The nuclear material exchange agreement signed with Turkey and other countries effectively puts Iran's spent fuel under international scrutiny. Israel on the other hand in not a signatory to the NPT and has been carrying out a covert nuclear arms program for the past 3 to 4 decades in a facility in the NEGEV desert.The revelations of Mordechai Vanunu the Israeli expert has proved to the whole world the existence of the nuclear program. US experts believe that Israel possesses around 100 warheads just a screw driver away from deployment. Under these circumstances peace in the Middle East will look a dismal prospect.
Israel must respond to the consistent US call for a return to the Road Map and the process agreed with the quartet.

The Indian State, The Naxalites and Political Violence

The most recent outrage against the Indian Railways by the Naxalites in Midnapore District of West Bengal once again drives home the fact that the Indian political establishment lacks the material and the intellectual capacity to counter the Naxalites. In fact the spate of recent attack on civilian targets suggests that the Maoists now consider civilians as fair game due to the absolute erosion of the very authority of the state. The Indian political establishment is capable of unheard of levels of brutality against unarmed civilians but is utterly incompetent to deal with armed groups motivated by ideological or religious considerations. It trumpets its dubious success against a hand full of stray "hindu" extremists who seem to be to be absurd elements in a theatre of death. In order to re enforce its dubious secular credentials some hot heads like Mutalik are paraded by the establishment as "proof" of the even handedness of the India sate. The fact is that the present political Establishment has lost all claims to the loyalty of its citizens and the mere fact that some MPs like Lalu Prasad Yadava and his criminal ilk "win" elections is no reason for such men to be regarded as part of the political process or leadership. Even P Chidambaram, the Home Minister has dubious credentials. His premature announcement of Telangana once again ignite ed a firestorm in Andhra and the Centre has just bought time by constituting the Sri Krishna Committee.
The main reason why the Naxalites menace has risen to such levels is because the UPA has within its fold powerful parties that have a vested interest in Maoist violence. Lalu Prasad Yadava needs the support of the Naxalites in Vidisha district from where he can hope to win by using Yadava and naxalite muscle power to rig the elections in the cow belt. The unholy nexus between the Mamta Party and the Naxalites are there for all to see. This is not to say that the CPM are a bunch of innocent bystanders. In fact the CPM routinely used the sate machinery and muscle power to crush opposition and I remember that when that old thug called Jyoti Basu was the Chief Minister, he had the skull of Mata broken when she led a demonstration against the CPM Government before the Writers' Building. Having supped with the devil of violence, the CPM now cannot cry foul.
My appeal to the Naxalites is as follows: Target the political establishment and no one will complain. But do not kill civilians. The Indian political class is a criminal gang and deserves to be punished in the name of patriotic forces.

Naxalite Outrage Again: Why Chidambaram's war against the tribals will fail

The war launched by UPA II against the tribal in the heartland of India, labelled Operation Green Hunt is showing all the signs of early senility, exactly like the mental and intellectual processes of our "secular" congress brand politicians. Even dothi clad Harvard educated politicos are not free from that malaise. It is necessary to remember that across the social spectrum the Indian political establishment has lost legitimacy. Winning elections with money power and muscle power the politicians lord over the nation like the palaiyakaras of olden times. Even Chidambaram should know that his right to occupy his office in North Block is not without a huge question mark. Did he or did he not win his Lok Sabha seat. There are different versions about his vote share.
The is caught between the Indian security establishment and the Naxalite and with a cranky man like G K Pillai as Home Secretary it is unlikely that the Government will seee any success. I have often remarked in my extensive blogs that sending troops by carriers like trucks and buses is just stupid as the naxalites have mastered the art of using IEDs. The Government should strike at the supply side of the chain and clamp down on the sale of dual use chemicals. Further corruption within the Establishment has resulted in a steady flow of both information and arms and ammunition to the "liberated Zones". I think that Dothi clad nincompoop called Chidambaram should read classics like Mao's works, Sun Szu's Art of War, Machiavelli's the Prince and Clausewitz's On War and he will realise that he just cannot win this war as he does not understand the dynamics of what is going on. I have said earlier that Arundatti Roys's piece in the Outlook should be carefully perused as it contains valuable insight on the tactics of the Naxalite. Instead of blaming the so called intellectuals, the Government of the day should realise that the Indian political establishment does not have the loyalty even of tits own members. I think the BJP keep out of this war by just not commenting one or the other. Every naxalite strike is a coffin to inter the existing political calculus.
In the latest strike the naxalite have exposed the fact that the Government is using civilians as human shields in its war against the tribal

Nitin Gadkar, Lalu Yadava and the World of Dogs

Nitin Gadkari, the President of the BJP has called the Yadava chieftains from the Cow Belt "DOGS". Now I respect animals and I am sure that this comaprison is very very offensive and I condemn Nitin Gadkari for making such an outrageous statement. I own a few street dogs and tto the best of my knowledge have never threatened to crush anyone under a roadroller. This being the case how can Lalu Prasad Yadave be compared to a "dog". The dogs of this planet can feel outraged at the very thought that a gentleman who has the "fodder scam" facing him should feel offended. I also like to point out that ane Mishra who was seeing one of the girls of that Yadava was found dead in a canal. Now dogs do not do such outrageous things and they must be treated with dignity.
The politicians of this country call India are corrupt and criminal and they think that they have the licence to kill, abuse, pillage, rape, murder and if they have the right "secular" credentials like the Yadava duo or that DP Yadava they escape all accountability for their crimes. Today these to Yadavas are caying foul. Has anyone forgotten what Mulayam Yadava tried to do to Mayawati a few years back or the horrible words uttered by Mrs Bahuguna against Mayawati a few month back. Indian politicians are a disgrace to India and everything decent in the world and therefore deserve no mercy.
The gang of corrupt criminals called politicians will thrive as long as people dop not relise that by voting such people they are in fact commiting a crime against themselves.
I am not saying that NITIN Gadkari has done the right thing but there is a limit to the patience of everyone. When George Fernades was Defence Minister the CongressParty used to hurl abuses in Parliament on the coffin matter. Hon'ble Narendar Modi is being humiliated day in and day out by the likes of pretty face Bhraka Dutt and her tribe. As for me I say that given a choice between dogs and cats and Indian politicians I prefer dogs, cats, monkey, snakes and sundry animals as they are any day more civilised than that khaini stined fodder thief.

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with AmIt appears that educated people in India do not want to make the obvious link between political corruption and dynastic fascism which is rampant in India. The linguistic division of state has spawned a whole array of regional and sub regional dynasties vying for space in the over crowded menagerie of Indian politics. The Congress Party started the slide by promoting a political dynasty and all regional parties along with their national affiliates followed suit. Only the two communist parties and the BJP seem to be bucking the trend. It is easier and safer for corrupt politicians to park their ill-gotten wealth in Party coffers and since they want their families to access that wealth the logic demands that families will inherit the parties. When Annadurai the founder of the DMK died no one in the DMK would have thought of giving the reins of leadership to his son. Though the 2 Dravidian parties swear by the name of Annadurai both of then have betrayed the legacy of that leader. None more so than Karunanidhi mistakenly called "kal;ignar" a term that means artist, but I have still to discover what he is so good at that he deserves that title. Tamils have become so backward that they have started the biruda game like the kings of old.It is only a matter of time before A Raja the Telecom scamster is shown the door. The 75,000 crore scandal he presided over is directly linked to the DMK party funds.In almost all the recent by-elections the party has spent crores of money and it is quite obvious that some of the money has come from the Telecom scam. A Raja in fact violated the written directive from the Prime Minister's Office which instructed him to keep the "empowered group of ministers" in the loop. It shows that in this Age of coalition politics, the dictates of the PM can be ignored with impunity. It is also possible that the PM's directive was issued to provide a line of defence to the PM, just in case the scandal became too much of a stench. The Congress has perfected the art of political corruption and has trained its 'secular" allies very well in this art. Corruption and Dynastic Fascism are both the great gifts of the Congress to the country.The only way to rid the nation of corruption is to appoint an audit committee to look into the funding and accounts of all registered political bodies. This is well within the purview of the Election Commission. After all political parties are only unincorporated association in law and it is within the competence of the Election Commission to order an audit into the accounts of all parties. If Hawala money poisons the IPL chalice, why not the political parties. And parties that refuse to comply must be forbidden to compete in the ELECTIONS.This is a reform well worth attempting.
Posted by Bahu Virupaksha azon Associates

Telecom Scandal, Dynastic Fascism, and Political Corruption

It appears that educated people in India do not want to make the obvious link between political corruption and dynastic fascism which is rampant in India. The linguistic division of state has spawned a whole array of regional and sub regional dynasties vying for space in the over crowded menagerie of Indian politics. The Congress Party started the slide by promoting a political dynasty and all regional parties along with their national affiliates followed suit. Only the two communist parties and the BJP seem to be bucking the trend. It is easier and safer for corrupt politicians to park their ill-gotten wealth in Party coffers and since they want their families to access that wealth the logic demands that families will inherit the parties. When Annadurai the founder of the DMK died no one in the DMK would have thought of giving the reins of leadership to his son. Though the 2 Dravidian parties swear by the name of Annadurai both of then have betrayed the legacy of that leader. None more so than Karunanidhi mistakenly called "kal;ignar" a term that means artist, but I have still to discover what he is so good at that he deserves that title. Tamils have become so backward that they have started the biruda game like the kings of old.
It is only a matter of time before A Raja the Telecom scamster is shown the door. The 75,000 crore scandal he presided over is directly linked to the DMK party funds.In almost all the recent by-elections the party has spent crores of money and it is quite obvious that some of the money has come from the Telecom scam. A Raja in fact violated the written directive from the Prime Minister's Office which instructed him to keep the "empowered group of ministers" in the loop. It shows that in this Age of coalition politics, the dictates of the PM can be ignored with impunity. It is also possible that the PM's directive was issued to provide a line of defence to the PM, just in case the scandal became too much of a stench. The Congress has perfected the art of political corruption and has trained its 'secular" allies very well in this art. Corruption and Dynastic Fascism are both the great gifts of the Congress to the country.
The only way to rid the nation of corruption is to appoint an audit committee to look into the funding and accounts of all registered political bodies. This is well within the purview of the Election Commission. After all political parties are only unincorporated association in law and it is within the competence of the Election Commission to order an audit into the accounts of all parties. If Hawala money poisons the IPL chalice, why not the political parties. And parties that refuse to comply must be forbidden to compete in the ELECTIONS.
This is a reform well worth attempting.