ஜூலை 23ஆம் தேதி முதல் ஜூலை 27ஆம் தேதி வரை மொரிஷியஸில் புலம்பெயர்ந்த தமிழர்கள் குறித்த மாநாடு July 21, 2014 News புலம்பெயர்ந்த தமிழர்கள் குறித்த முதல் அனைத்துலக மாநாடு, மொரிஷியஸ் நாட்டின் மோகாவிலுள்ள மகாத்மா காந்தி கல்வி நிறுவனத்தில் ஜூலை 23ஆம் தேதி முதல் ஜூலை 27ஆம் தேதி வரை நடைபெறவுள்ளது. இதில், மதுரை ஆதீனம் பங்கேற்கிறார். மொரிஷியஸ் நாட்டின் கலை மற்றும் கலாசார அமைச்சகம், புலம் பெயர்ந்த தமிழர்களின் சர்வதேச சங்கம், சென்னை ஆசிய கல்வி நிறுவனம், மொரிஷியஸ் தமிழ் கோயில் அறக்கட்டளை ஆகியன இணைந்து, இம்மாநாட்டுக்கு ஏற்பாடு செய்துள்ளன. இம்மாநாட்டில், மதுரை ஆதீனம் பங்கேற்கிறார். இதற்காக, அவர் ஜூலை 22ஆம் தேதி சென்னையிலிருந்து விமானம் மூலம் அந்நாட்டுக்குப் புறப்பட்டுச் செல்கிறார். ஒரு வார காலம் தங்கியிருக்கும் அவர், அங்குள்ள அருள்மிகு அபிராமி அம்மன் திருக்கோயில், ஹவாய் ஆதீனம் ஆன்மிகப் பூங்கா, மனேஷ் சிவன் கோயில், ஆதிபராசக்தி கோயில், சொக்கலிங்கம் மீனாட்சி அம்மன் திருக்கோயில் உள்பட பல்வேறு ஆன்மிகத் தலங்களுக்குச் சென்று வழிபாடு நடத்துகிறார். மொரிஷியஸ் அதிபர், பிரதமர் உள்ளிட்ட தலைவர்கள், உலகம் முழுவதும் இருந்து 40 நாடுகளிலிருந்து வரும் புலம்பெயர்ந்த தமிழர்களின் பிரதிநிதிகள், தமிழ் அறிஞர்களையும் அவர் சந்தித்துப் பேசுகிறார். அவர், மாநாட்டில் ஜூலை 25ஆம் தேதி சிறப்புரையாற்றுகிறார். மாநாடு குறித்து மதுரை ஆதீனம் கூறியது: தமிழர்கள் புலம்பெயர்ந்து உலகம் முழுவதும் 40-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட நாடுகளில் வாழ்ந்து வருகின்றனர். இவர்களில் பலர் தமிழ்மொழியை மறந்து, தமிழர்களின் பண்பாடு, கலாசாரத்தையும் மறந்து வருகின்றனர். தமிழர்களின் கலாசாரத்தை காக்கவும், புலம்பெயர்ந்த தமிழர்கள் எந்தெந்த நாடுகளில் வாழ்ந்து வருகின்றனர் என்பதை கண்டறிந்து ஒருங்கிணைக்கவும், இம்மாநாடு நடத்தப்படுகிறது. மாநாட்டில் பங்கேற்க உலகம் முழுவதும் இருந்து 40 நாடுகளில் வாழும் தமிழர்களும், தமிழ் அமைப்புகளும் பதிவு செய்துள்ளன. மாநாட்டில் கல்வி அமர்வு, அறிவியல் அமர்வு, ஆன்மிக அமர்வு என பல்வேறு அமர்வுகள் இடம்பெறுகின்றன. மாநாட்டில் தமிழர்கள் வாழும் நாடுகளில் தமிழ் கலாசார்தைக் காக்கவும், தமிழர்களின் நிலையை மேம்படுத்துவதற்கான தீர்மானங்களும் நிறைவேற்றப்பட உள்ளன. international conference in Mauritius Mauritius will host an international conference on the Tamil Diaspora next week, 23 to 25 July 2014, at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Moka, to be attended by more than 200 foreign delegates. One of the main guests of this conference is Dr John Samuel, Founder-Director of the Institute of Asian Studies, in Chennai. A leading Tamilologist of international repute from India, Dr. John Samuel is the author of 35 books in English and Tamil and the editor of more than 160 books including very rare reference works such as Encyclopaedia of Tamil literature, Telugu Literature, and the Encyclopaedia of the Folk Culture of Karnataka. Started as a scholar of Dravidian languages, the scope and perspectives of the academic research of Dr. John Samuel expanded in due course and it embraced various aspects of academic pursuits connected with Dravidology. His first book on Dravidian languages, published at the age of 26, saw ten editions till date. He has organised six international conferences in India, Mauritius, Malaysia and the USA (New York) in addition to a number of seminars and workshops at the national and regional levels. He is one of the pioneers in creating awareness about the preservation of the rich heritage of Tamil palm-leaf manuscripts. News on Sunday asks Dr Samuel a few questions on the Tamil Diaspora and the need to keep up with Tamil culture and traditions in modern times. Give us a brief account of the setting up of the Tamil Diaspora and the journey it has covered up to now. It is a part of our search for the external history of the Tamils. Tamils are basically a sea-faring race. In the north-Indian tradition, crossing the sea was a sin. In the Tamil tradition, it is a blessing. Early migration started with trade – with Romans and Arabs 2000 years back. The second major phase of migration was in the 11th Century. This was supported by the great king Rajaraja and his son Rajendra. They conquered part of Sri Lanka and Malaysia. The third phase of settlement patterns of the Tamils can be traced to the sugar cane plantations of Mauritius and Reunion in the Indian Ocean; Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean; Guyana and Suriname in South America; plantations in South Africa; rubber estates and railways in the Federated Malay States (Malaysia); coffee and tea estates in Ceylon (Sri Lanka); and to coal mines of New Caledonia of Australia in the Pacific Ocean. Do you have statistics pertaining to the Diaspora? The following statistics about the demographic spread of the Tamil Diaspora is not exact. Some figures are long outdated, but are still included here for illustration of the extent of the Tamil people’s world presence: Britain with 350,000 or more Tamil people, the USA with well over 140,000, Canada with over 300,000 and Australia with over 30,000, are only some of the developed countries where the Tamil Diaspora is well settled, having migrated voluntarily from their homelands Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. It is estimated that there are more than 300,000 Tamils from Sri Lanka which comprises voluntary migrants, as well as asylum seekers. It is also estimated that as base habitation, India has almost 72,138,000 and Sri Lanka 5,000,000 Tamils. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, south of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean have over 40,000 Tamils, the second largest ethnic group. In these islands there are over 6,000 Tamil children attending 33 Tamil schools. In the early colonial era, Indonesia had 50,000 Tamils. Tamils were taken there by the Dutch colonial masters in the 1830s to build up Dutch plantations. The Tamil people were used for hard labour and, as the conditions were not favourable, many returned to their homeland in the 1940s. A concentration of somewhere between 2,000 and 10,000 Tamils remained in the region of Northern Sumatra. Most of these were Hindus, but there were Christians and Muslims as well. Singapore has about 200,000 Tamils, who constitute the third main cultural group in that country. Malaysia has an estimated Tamil population 1,800,000 strong. Myanmar (Burma) had an estimated Tamil population of 200,000 at one time, but since the end of the Second World War, the number has been reduced. Vietnam has a small minority of about 3,000 Tamils, mostly in Ho Chi Minh City. Cambodia has 1,000 Tamils, China 5,000 and Thailand 10,000. Mauritius has a Tamil population of 115,000, the larger bulk from the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Tamil inhabitants came to Reunion Island as far back as 1848 as indentured labourers, mainly from Pondicherry and Karaikkal, the French territories in Southern India. There are currently about 120,000 Tamils. Along with this community exists a large number of Hindu temples run by voluntary organizations at which Hindu and Tamil cultural links are well preserved. Seychelles has a Tamil history of about 230 years. There are now about 4000 Tamils working in trading, as well as in professions. In South Africa, Tamil migration started from 1860. Now there are more than 250,000 Tamils spread over many cities, the concentration being in Natal and Durban. Denmark has around 7,000 Tamils; Fiji has around 110,000, France around 100,000, Germany around 50,000, Switzerland approximately 40,000, Italy around 25,000, Netherlands around 20,000, and Norway around 10,000. Has the Institute of Asian Studies, in Chennai, done research on the Diaspora? We have many research projects regarding the external history of the Tamils. Among them, the study of Tamil Diaspora is one. We made a very tentative survey and found out that there may be around 25 millions living in more than fifty countries. There is a recent survey which tells us that Tamils are living in about 198 countries and their population outside India may be around 30 million. In the 12th Five year plan, the Planning Commission has approved our project of preparing 25 volumes on Tamil Diaspora – one volume per one country. In a way this conference, held in Mauritius, is a prelude to that project. Two centuries ago they were indentured labourers who moved out of India to work in fields in foreign lands. The reasons were known to all- poverty and search for a better life. Why is it that Tamils are still moving out of Tamil Nadu when the country is emerging as an IT Silicon Valley and is becoming richer and richer day by day because of its people endowed now with higher education? It is true that India is growing day be day. In the earlier days, poverty compelled people to migrate as indentured labours to other parts of the world. Now, no Tamilian is going to a foreign country on account of poverty. Those days are long gone. People migrate to foreign countries mainly as professionals seeking better prospects. Nowadays, there is a tendency to return to the mother land from the country of migration. The present migration is totally different from the migration as indentured a labourer -which was a miserable experience in the annals of Tamil history. While on an official visit to Mauritius, former Indian Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, said he was impressed to see that cultural traditions that have disappeared since long in South India are still present here. Do you think it is a matter of pride for Mauritians that they kept with ancestral traditions or should they feel that they are still backward and did not follow modernism? What the former Indian Prime Minister said was correct. As far as the cultural traditions are concerned, Mauritius people are retaining them. They simply follow what their forefathers taught. Their cultural traditions are not challenged. It is their inner side – to use the traditional Tamil term ‘Akam’ which means purely personal (whether collective or individual) and their progress in the outer world – ‘Pukam’. l Mauritian Tamils are mostly Tamils in name, the majority not knowing their language and still less at talking in the Tamil language. What must be done that Tamil becomes a speaking language rather than a hidden private possession? Tamil is a functional language in Tamil Nadu, in Mauritius it is a culture language. They can live without Tamil language. When you create an environment where you have no other alternative but to speak in Tamil, Tamil will blossom as a functional language. They should try to speak in Tamil at least in their house and temples. Saurce: defimedia.info