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 International
Symposium on Tamil as a Classical Language was inaugurated by Prof,
Ka. Anbazhagan, Minister for Finance, Government of Tamil Nadu, in
Chennai on Thursday, January 17. The 3-day symposium is organised by
the Institute of Asian Studies, Chennai and the Centre of Excellence
for Classical Tamil, Mysore.
In his inaugural address, the Minister said that that it is the
responsibility of the Tamilians to preserve the language. Tamil was
made classical language amidst opposition, he said. Quoting various
poets including Bharatiyar and Bharatidasan, he said that Tamil was
one of the oldest languages, with a literary tradition of over two
thousand years. "Even though Tamil is a classical language, it was
sad that Tamilians feel ashamed of speaking Tamil, their mother
tongue", said Anbazhagan.
The highlight of the function was the
participation of Tamil scholars from foreign countries including
Scotland, Russia, USA, South Korea and Srilanka, who spoke in Tamil.
Prof R.E. Asher from Scotland, Prof. David C.
Buck from USA and Prof. Sanmugadas from Sri Lanka, said that they
were proud to be part of the symposium. Prof Alexander Dubiansky
from Russia said that Tamil can present even complex issues in a
comprehensive manner. Prof. Jung Nam Kim from South Korea
demonstrated similarity in pronunciation and meaning of a few words
in Tamil and in Korean.
 Dr.
G. John Samuel, Director, Institute of Asian Studies; Dr. C.N.A.
Parimalam, Chairman, Board of Governors, Institute of Asian studies
and son of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. N. Annadurai and Dr.
Udhayanarayana Singh, Director, Central Institute of Indian
Languages, Mysore, were present at the inaugural function.
U Bakialakshmi
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