They get to decide

Sir ? It is good to know that the fate of the United States of America may lie in the hands of its women voters (?US women in a quandary?, Oct 1). As youngsters they will decide if the pro-life attitude of the present president will stymie their sexual choice, as mothers they will judge whether the state?s anti-terror policy is right in asking her to sacrifice her children, and as partners in a world ruled by terror they will evaluate whether their government?s arbitrary wars abroad will, in any way, reduce threats within. If women think over all of the above factors before exercising their franchise, they are bound to vote Dubya out of power. The first factor may not figure in very prominently, as it hasn?t over the past few elections. But the last two should. Especially, if they consider that for each and every Bush action outside, there are bound to be equal and more horrible reactions closer home.

Yours faithfully,
Jyoti Talukdar, Calcutta

Tongue-lashing

Sir ? Sujan Dutta?s report, ?Classic case of politics of language? (Sept 28), says that the government has ?declared? Tamil a ?classical language? despite objections from experts it had consulted and in spite of the refusal of the committee it had appointed to recommend it. But did the experts refute the status of Tamil as a classical language? No. They merely showed their reservations in being a party to the decision, for saving their own skin, maybe. They, however, could not shirk the responsibility of setting out the criteria for creating such a list. But the decision to make a formal list of classical languages in place of the hitherto ?informal? one is a government decision, which is very much within the rights of the government. The ?experts? cannot contest the government?s decision on this. The report also says that while presenting the views of the Sahitya Akademi, Gopichand Narang and K. Satchidanandan actually warned that the granting of ?classical status? to one language can open a ?Pandora?s box? with similar demands being made for other languages. But this is risible. Having set out the criteria, the committee cannot simply reject a deserving entry for political reasons.

Dutta notes that within hours of the ?declaration? of Tamil being declared a ?classical language?, fears of there being similar demands from elsewhere have come true. Dharam Singh has asked for Kannada to be granted the same status. But what is wrong with that? After analysing the merits of the demand on the basis of the criteria, the experts can decide on the status of Kannada as well. Dutta says that Sanskrit is not a declared ?classical? language because it is rarely spoken. But the criterion for a language to be declared classical is indeed its ?rich and hoary past?, not how frequently it is spoken. If other Indian languages have such a rich past, then they rightly deserve to be marked ?classical?. Our language experts are behaving like examiners who do not grant first class to an examinee because they feel sorry for those who will be left out.

Yours faithfully,
Kasi Arumugam, New York

Sir ? It is absurd on the part of the Sahitya Akademi to object to the recognition of Tamil as a classical language because it supposes that this will open a ?Pandora?s box? of similar such demands. The point is that Tamil satisfies all the criteria listed by the Akademi. As historical evidence of the richness of Tamil one may point to the experience of Europeans like Roberto de Nobili (1577-1656), Constantius Beschi (1680-1747), Reverend Robert Caldwell (1814-1891) and G.U. Pope (1820-1907), who celebrated the greatness of Tamil and took pains to study the language and its literary tradition despite their commitment to the endeavours of proselytization. It is bewildering that foreigners continue to find so much interest and pleasure in studying an alien language, yet our fellow countrymen refuse to see the language?s greatness. It is true that language evolves naturally but it is also important to note how much pain and hard work goes into the nurturing of a language. Unlike Greek, Latin or Sanskrit, which are virtually dead, Tamil has survived the ravages of time and adjusted to various structural changes. And if other languages have a similar richness, why should they not be granted a similar status as Tamil?

Yours faithfully,
D. Karthikeyan, Calcutta

Sir ? What is it that prompted the government to declare Tamil as a ?classical language?? Was it entirely due to the possibility of being able to woo the Tamil Nadu vote bank during the next round of elections? But was it worth going against the committee instituted by the government itself? Will there now be a sea change in the Centre-Tamil Nadu politics now that the Central government has backed an eminently Tamil cause?

Yours faithfully,
T.R. Anand, Calcutta

Memories of violence

Sir ? We must be grateful to Khushwant Singh for rekindling our memories of people like Qutubuddin Ansari who faced the ravages of the Gujarat riots (?How the myth crumbles?, Oct 2). This man was hounded out of the state by the Narendra Modi brigade. It was the progressive-secular left in West Bengal who gave him shelter and resettled him. But others like him, and even more unfortunate, have neither been photographed nor got help from other state governments and sympathetic parties. They remain victims of the whims of the saffron state government in Gujarat.

A. Roy Mukherjee, Calcutta

Sir ? The Hindu is basically a coward whose courage manifests itself only when he is murdering missionaries, butchering innocent Muslims, or lynching Dalits. But pit a Hindu against a motivated, Kalashnikov-wielding, Pakistan- sponsored terrorist and he will run for his life. That is why we, Indians, are unable to stand up to Pakistan?s and Bangladesh?s strike-at-will terrorism, even though India is a much bigger country.

J. Kumar Dutt, Calcutta