Tamil gets Classical language status

[Harold F. Schiffman]

I think the reference to the "Tamil marriage gathering" is that Mr.
Karunanidhi made this announcement at a Tamil marriage gathering of some
sort (not made specific), and I don't think it's a metaphor for anything!
But I can't be sure. The story came direct from the Hindu, the premier
English-language newspaper in Tamilnadu...

HS

On Sat, 29 May 2004, Joe Lo Bianco wrote:

> is that meant to be a "Tamil marriage gathering"?   Joe
>
>
>
>
>
> At 12:32 AM 29/05/2004, you wrote:
> > >From The Hindu (Madras), Thursday, May 27, 2004
> >
> >http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200405271608.htm?headline=
> >
> >"Tamil to get classical language status"
> >
> >Chennai, May 27. (UNI). The new Congress-led government at the Centre, of
> >which the DMK is a key constituent, has consented to accord the 'classical
> >language' status to Tamil, party supremo M Karunanidhi announced today.
> >
> >This would be officially announced as part of the new Common Minimum
> >Programme to be released this evening by Congress President Sonia Gandhi,
> >he said, addressing a gathering here.
> >
> >The demand of the DMK as well as its allies in the seven-party Democratic
> >Progressive Alliance in the state that 'Tamil' should be declared as
> >classical language, has been endorsed by the Centre, he said.
> >
> >"I should not be revealing an official secret in advance, but this being a
> >Tamil marriage gathering, I am happy to tell you that the Centre will
> >declare Tamil as a classical language," Mr Karunanidhi said.
> >
> >The DMK, as well as its other allies like the MDMK and the PMK had been
> >demanding even when they were part of the erstwhile BJP-led NDA government
> >at the Centre, that this status be accorded to Tamil.
> >
> >Apparently, this was one of the demands along with repeal of POTA on which
> >these parties had developed differences with the NDA government and
> >ultimately pulled out of it.
> >
> >[Editorial comment (hfs): Tamils have been asking for "classical language
> >status" since the 1930's, and this now means that Tamil is put on a par
> >with Sanskrit for this status.]
>
>
> Joseph Lo Bianco
>
> Professor of Language and Literacy Education
> LLAE, Faculty of Education
> The University of Melbourne
> 3010 VIC   Australia
>
> Tel:    03 8344 8346
> Fax:    03 8344 8612
> Mob: 0407 798 978
> Email: j.lobianco at unimelb.edu.au
>