Long March of Tamils N.Nandhivarman 1 Author : N.Nandhivarman General Secretary Dravida Peravai President : Aringnar Anna Foundation 53-B, Calve Subburayar Street Puducherry 605001 India Email : [email protected] Web: www.dravidaperavai.org.in Publisher : Aringnar Anna Foundation 53-B, Calve Subburayar Street Puducherry 605001, India Telephone : 91-413-2221025 ISBN : 13-978-81-910573-0-0 Year of Publication : 2010 Permission will be given to quote or use this material if sought but mentioning the source it must be printed 2 The Long March…… Tamils had scaled greater heights in ancient times, and their mathematical skills wherein one out of eight lakh fractions was the least small quantity up to which they could calculate without a calculator or computer. The theorem of Pythagoras could be spelt out in poetic form in Tamil much before his times. Erambam, Kanakathigaram by Kakkai Padiniyar, Kilaralabham, Athisaram, Kalambaham,Tiribuvana Thilagam, Kanitha rathinam,Sirukanakku were the books which I refered says Kaari Nayanar who wrote Kanakathigaram , But all these books Tamils have lost when their homeland became sunken. “ Underworld : The Mysterious origins of Civilizations” presents the facts relating to the Kumari Kandam, lost in Indian Ocean. Mr.Graham Hancock, the author of this book relying heavily on the inundation maps by Dr.Gelen Milne of Durham University had said 5 percent of the Earth’s surface or 25 million square kilometers were submerged. Three super floods in between 15000 to 14000 thousand years, 12000 to 11000 thousand years, and 8000 to 7000 thousand years have swallowed earth’s surface, more particularly the Kumari Kandam. Researches into the lost civilizations so far had been on earth surface and land-centric and in the vast oceans marine archaeology had barely begun to investigate. 3 So until scientific researches in marine archeology are undertaken it would be difficult to supplement literary evidences about hoary past. All earth’s continents and land mass had been once upon a time one, and called Pangaea, which in Latin means All Earth. Similarly all languages emanated from one language and a school for Nostratic languages subscribes to this theory. There is book on all writing systems. All these lead to the conclusion that mankind is one, and we had our origins in Africa and spread every where. But our link is lost in the seas. It will take long time to reconstruct Tamil’s past but with available evidences, we will have to start. Ancient Tamils were highly knowledgeable and had high living standards in ancient times but at same Tamils proved that from mathematics to medicine everything could be condensed within Tamil poetry and grammatical rules. But today though Tamils earn more they remain intellectual slaves to the multi nationals and they had forgotten Tamil. Hence need not only to resurrect the ancient which were golden times but also to remind Tamils of the struggles undertaken by leaders, scholars and political parties to earn due recognition for Tamils under the Sun had to be told and retold. This book partially attempts that. Tamils had slept in midway thereby lost chances to win the race and prove they are the top in human civilization. This loss aggravates further when Tamil rulers with all there power in Center could not secure Tamil its due place. UNESCO from 1999 onwards is celebrating World Mother Tongues Day every year on February 21. It is in remembrance of the Basha Andolan Dibosh, which means Language Struggle of 1950-52 in East Pakistan currently known as Bangladesh. Then Pakistan 4 Government imposed Urdu as sole official language of Pakistan. East Pakistan had Bengali speakers. So in protest against this order Dhaka University Students and Medical College students staged a protest demonstration. In Police firing 5 people lost their lives on 21 st Feb 1952. The struggle won Bengali equal status with Urdu. To honour the memory of those martyrs UNESCO had chosen Feb 21 as World Mother Languages Day. We all know the Anti-Hindi Agitation and the numerous lives we lost including self immolation. All that history was not placed before UNESCO with documentary evidences to prove that Tamil struggle is of greater magnitude. This failure of those who ruled Tamilnadu and Tamil Ministers in Union Cabinet had deprived a chance where world history could have spoken about our struggle by celebrating as World Mother Languages Day. In this connection I wrote to Madam Irina Bokava, the Director General UNESCO 7, Place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP France and the letter is produced in verbatim. Respected Secretary General You are the custodian of the culture of humanity, and a neutral judge to uphold the common heritage of humanity. Though by depicting all worlds’s languages as tree, scholars have said all languages have emanated from common source, the quest to find that common source is yet to deliver result. Scientists have found FOX P2, a common gene that triggered human speech, but each and every language speaker has pride and reverence for his or her mother tongue. Scientists have proven that race is a myth and all men have common gene. Yet mankind lives in various countries speaking numerous mother tongues. UNESCO 5 is for preserving all mother tongues and protects endangered languages. Such an institution should update history, is our request. Alexander Graham Bell is not first to invent telephone, but an Italian Antonio Mussie , the American Senate debated to update history when new truth emerged. Dravida Peravai, a tiny political party of Tamils in India, urges UNESCO to update the history regarding the celebrations of world mother languages day. It is needless to state that the police firing and death of 5 persons in the struggle of students of then East Pakistan when Urdu was imposed as sole official language of Pakistan in 1950-52, is taken into consideration to fix February 21st as World Mother Languages day. We also salute those martyrs, and the love of their mother tongue culminated in the birth of a liberated new nation, Bangladesh. Tamils consider their mother tongue as Primary Classical Language of the World, as Devaneya Paavanar, had written in his treatise. When Hindi alone was imposed sole official language of India in 1965, the students and people of Tamilnadu fought a long drawn battle where men committed self immolation to stall that move. Nowhere on Earth, for their mother tongue, people had burnt themselves, and comparing to killing in police firing, which too took lives in Tamilnadu too, the supreme sacrifice of those martyrs must be honored by humanity. We are enclosing news paper clippings of the Tamil Language Struggle of 1965, and producing Xerox copies of few pages from the book Struggle for Freedom of Languages in India written by Former Vice Chancellor of Alagappa University in Tamilnadu Dr.A.Ramasamy, to bring to the notice of UNESCO that far greater sacrifices were made by Tamils, and if any other linguistic group had done more sacrifice in the struggle to save their mother tongue, Tamils will accept 6 truth and withdraw their claim to be the topmost in sacrifice for mother tongue. In view of the fresh facts brought to the notice of UNESCO, we Tamils, Indian Tamils appeal to UNESCO to shift the date of World Mother Languages Day to January 25 th, the date of Tamil struggle. I hope our Bengali brethren who till day had that honor will take it sportive and be happy that they were holding the championship shield from 1999 to 2010. All countries and representatives of UNESCO must impartially accept the historical update provided by us after cross checking on their own or seeking further references from us or Government of Tamilnadu, a State under Indian Union. We pray that due place of honor is given to Tamil martyrs who self immolated themselves, the photographs of six such people in a cut out put by our party in 2008 in remembrance of their sacrifices is enclosed. Also the photograph of painting of three Tamil martyrs Chinnasamy, Sivalingam and Aranganathan prepared by lady painter Sathya and presented to me is enclosed. Let me quote from TIME dated 19th February 1965 “In Tamil speaking Madras State where five people have burnt themselves to death in protest; a mob captured two policemen and burned them alive. In Malayalam speaking Kerala State mobs attacked post offices and trains, and students signed pledges of resistance to the imposition of Hindi using their own blood as ink….. the death toll in the riots rose to 60.” Also a chapter Fire Spreads in the book mentioned earlier and released by Kalaignar M.Karunanithi DMK President, current Chief Minister of Tamilnadu few months before he became 5th time Chief Minister of Tamilnadu is enclosed to show that even in Bengal, 7 where Bengali is spoken, and the protest against Hindi triggered opposition. Dravida Peravai appeals to UNESCO, that while there is wide spread heart bleeding over the failure of UN to save Eelam Tamils from genocide, at least by the symbolic gesture of declaring the Tamil Struggle day of Indian Tamils, as the day of World Mother Languages day, a healing process can begin, by correcting a historical mistake of ignoring Tamil sacrifices. With Regards Yours Fraternally N.Nandhivarman General Secretary Dravida Peravai on my 64 th birthday 18.08.2010 This is just a sample of the failure of humanity to give Tamils its due place. After Indian independence Tamils fought for decades even to name their state as Tamilnadu and continue to fight to trace their true history and to promote their culture. This book begins with that episode, and places on record few burning issues that cause heart burn to Indian Tamils where their due is denied under the Indian Government.