[lg policy] Re: D.Litt

Tue Mar 11 05:57:00 UTC 2014

Respected Prof. Tariq Rahman,

Congratulations on having this long over due recognition of your work. Many
people have learnt much from your work. This news make us all happy.

Sincerely,
Ayaz Ahmad

> > Dear colleagues,
> > The University of Sheffield examined my published work for the award of a
> > higher doctorate and I was told last night that the examiners have
> > recommended me for the award of an D.Litt.
> > I would like to thank many of you whose work I read in order to write my
> > own. My work may be of interest to those who are interested in language
> > politics and history of language learning etc in South Asia.
> >
> > Tariq Rahman Ph.D
> > HEC Distinguished National Professor
> > & Professor Emeritus,
> > Dean School of Education
> > Beaconhouse National University
> > 3-C, Zafar Ali Road, Lahore 54400,
> > Pakistan.
> >
> >
> > My other e-mail address is:-
> > drtariqr8 at gmail.com
> > tariq.rahman at bnu.edu.pk
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
>
>
> --
> =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
>
>  Harold F. Schiffman
>
> Professor Emeritus of
>  Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
> Dept. of South Asia Studies
> University of Pennsylvania
> Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
>
> Phone:  (215) 898-7475
> Fax:  (215) 573-2138
>
> Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
> http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2014 10:01:26 -0500
> From: Harold Schiffman <hfsclpp at gmail.com>
> Subject: [lg policy] Japan Provides Rs. 100 million to promote
>         Trilingual Language Policy in Sri Lanka
> To: lp <lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu>
> Message-ID:
>         <
> CAB7VSRC8q3VqAYE9+mQdAbP0R1REJmNGTNKD9VPEyK-5BE3n4A at mail.gmail.com>
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>
>  Japan Provides Rs. 100 million to promote Trilingual Language Policy in
> Sri Lanka
> <
> http://www.news.lk/news/sri-lanka/8643-japan-provides-rs-100-million-to-promote-trilingual-language-policy-in-sri-lanka
> >
>   Details Published on Saturday, 08 March 2014 05:12
>
>   The Government of Japan has granted Rs. 100 million under its Non-Project
> Counterpart Fund for implementing two projects identified by the Government
> of Sri Lanka, aimed at facilitating the implementation of the Trilingual
> Language Policy of Sri Lanka.
>
> Under this programme japan provides Rs. 80.24 million  for teacher
> development and capacity building by improving the quality of learning and
> teaching of Sinhala, Tamil, and English to promote trilingual Sri Lanka.
> The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Education and would
> support the development of teacher training material and conducting of
> training programs at provincial, zonal and divisional levels, establishment
> of quality circles of language teachers etc.
>
>
>
> Rs. 20 million will be provided for this project for printing of study
> packs based on syllables prepared for second language proficiency in all
> four levels of public officers and the printing of related course modules.
> This project will be implemented by the Ministry of National Languages and
> Social Integration.
>
>
>
> The two projects are expected to benefit around 54,150 of language teachers
> (Sinhala, Tamil, and English), nearly 4 million primary to secondary level
> students and 1.3 million public officers and the general public as a whole.
> Japan considers these two projects of great importance in terms of
> facilitating national reconciliation through promoting a Trilingual Sri
> Lanka enabling all communities to communicate with each other with ease and
> understanding. Japan hopes that these projects will enhance the
> government's efforts towards reconciliation.
>
>
> http://www.news.lk/news/sri-lanka/8643-japan-provides-rs-100-million-to-promote-trilingual-language-policy-in-sri-lanka
>
>
>
>
> --
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2014 11:59:12 -0500
> From: Harold Schiffman <haroldfs at gmail.com>
> Subject: [lg policy] Myanmar's Tamils seek to protect their identity
> To: lp <lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu>
> Message-ID:
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>
> Myanmar's Tamils seek to protect their identity By Swaminathan Natarajan
> BBC
> Tamil, Myanmar
> [image: Students in a Tamil class room] Motivating young Tamil students to
> attend classes in Myanmar is a formidable challenge
>  Continue reading the main
> story<http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-25438275#story_continues_1>
> Related
> Stories
>
>    - Mystery over India freedom
> hero<http://www.bbc.com/2/hi/south_asia/4989868.stm>
>    - British 'attempted to kill
> Bose'<http://www.bbc.com/2/hi/south_asia/4152320.stm>
>    - Hitler's secret Indian army<
> http://www.bbc.com/2/hi/europe/3684288.stm>
>
>  People of Indian origin make up of roughly 2% of Myanmar's 55-million
> population, but the experiences of Tamil people - who comprise the largest
> group - have veered from one extreme to the other in the past 200 years.
>
> After independence in 1948, the introduction of land reforms, the
> imposition of the Burmese language and the decision to give preferential
> treatment to the majority Burmese community pushed Tamils down in the
> social hierarchy.
>
> They are now trying to revive their language and culture by opening new
> schools.
>
> Tamils from south India began migrating to Myanmar - also now known as
> Burma - during the early 19th Century.
> Political upheavals
>
> But unlike indentured labourers who went from India to counties such as Sri
> Lanka and South Africa , Tamils in Burma were not taken on by the colonial
> administration.
>
> Instead they worked as agricultural labourers for members of the
> traditional merchant caste known as Nagarathars.
>  Continue reading the main
> story<http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-25438275#story_continues_2>
> "Start Quote [image: Sumathi]
>
> Even my Tamil friends prefer to speak in Burmese. I can understand a bit of
> Tamil but can't speak it"
>
> Sumathi Fifth generation Tamil in Myanmar
>
> "We have a temple which was built in 1836. Some say the first Tamil
> settlers arrived in 1824," says Dhanapal, a trader living in the port city
> of Mawlamyine.
>
> At the turn of the 20th Century, Tamils established themselves in
> agriculture and trade in what was then Burma.
>
> But their fortunes took a huge downturn during the World War Two and
> subsequent political upheavals.
>
> After the Japanese invasion of Burma, many thousands of Tamils who worked
> in urban areas for the British colonial administration returned to India.
>
> Once independence was secured, the Burmese government introduced land
> reforms and took over vast tracts of irrigated land and businesses as part
> of a nationalisation drive.
> 'Permanent damage'
>
> The imposition of the Burmese language as the medium of instruction -
> combined with the forced closure of Tamil schools in the 1960s - triggered
> another wave of reverse migration.
>  [image: A statue of Buddha in a Hindu temple in Rangoon] There is a
> visible bond between Buddhism and Hinduism in many Hindu temples
>
> But many Tamils have deep roots in the country. They kept a low profile and
> slowly improved their fortunes by mending their relationship with the
> majority community and staying away from politics.
>
> Septuagenarian Nainar Mohamed says that the closing down of Tamil schools
> by the government some 50 years ago caused permanent damage.
>
> "While travelling in a train I saw a group of girls clothed in traditional
> saris," he said.
>
> "They had long hair and wore flowers. But when I tried to speak to them in
> Tamil, they were not able to understand a word. Large numbers of Tamils
> here cannot read, write or even speak Tamil."
>
> Sumathi, 20, is a fifth generation Tamil. She lives in an area inhabited by
> many Tamil families in Mawlamyine.
>
> She likes to wear traditional Burmese dresses and applies thangka - a
> yellowish paste - on her cheeks.
>
> "I work in a local shop. I speak in Burmese at my home. Even my Tamil
> friends prefer to speak in Burmese. I can understand a bit of Tamil but
> can't speak it," she says in broken Tamil. She has no intention to attend
> Tamil classes.
>
> In her neighbourhood - which outwardly has symbols of Tamil culture - there
> are many others who struggle to speak the language.
>  [image: Tamil students in Burma] Many younger Tamils do not speak the
> language and adopt Burmese customs
>
> The younger generation of Tamils eats Burmese food, speaks the Burmese
> language in their homes and in many cases prefers to wear traditional
> Burmese costumes.
>
> Unlike the previous generation they have very little emotional connection
> with the land of their ancestors. This trend is giving way to fears of
> total assimilation.
>
> "Our boys and girls don't know Tamil or Sanskrit. They don't know the
> history and cultural traditions of our community. Some have even embraced
> other religions," says Devaraj, a trustee of a Rangoon temple.
>
> To arrest this trend he has started organising religion classes for Hindu
> children. Barring a small number of Muslims and Christians, Burmese Tamils
> are predominantly Hindu.
>
> There is a visible bond between Hinduism and Buddhism. There are more than
> 1,000 Hindu temples in present-day Myanmar. In some of the more famous
> temples ethnic Burmese visitors outnumber Tamils.
>
> All Hindu temples have a statue or image of Buddha. Even though some Hindu
> traditions accept Buddha as a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, not many
> temples in India have Buddha statues.
>
> Members of the Burmese Tamil community say that this mutual understanding
> means that they have largely escaped religious violence which sometimes has
> plagued Burma.
>
> But while Myanmar's military rulers did not interfere with temple
> administrations, the closure of Tamil schools meant that the Tamil language
> was only taught in temples - and then only for the purposes of fostering
> religious education and music and dance.
>
> The restrictions meant that Burma's Tamil population has remained isolated
> for many years.
>  [image: Statue of Thiruvalluvar] Evidence of Tamil culture is not hard to
> find - such as this statue of renowned poet Thiruvalluvar
>
> It maintained very little contact with Tamil Nadu or with other
> well-established Tamil communities living in Singapore and Malaysia. Many
> Tamil teenagers - and their parents - have not even seen India.
>
> But with change sweeping Myanmar, many new schools - which are keen to go
> beyond religious education only - have emerged.
>
> "We have prepared a syllabus and brought out books which are given free. We
> train the teachers and are doing everything to motivate the students," says
> P Shanmuganathan, a teacher overseeing dozens of Tamil schools in Burma.
>
> Tamils in Burma are thinly spread, except in a few villages. In many places
> it is difficult to muster enough students to justify the salaries of
> teachers - usually paid by the voluntary contributions from Tamil
> businessmen.
>
> Motivating young students to attend classes is a formidable challenge.
>
> "Some ask me why we should learn the language which is not going to provide
> job opportunities and has no practical utility. I tell them this is about
> our own history and identity. We will not be able to call ourselves Tamil
> if we lose our language," Mr Shanmuganathan says.
>
> Tamil teachers say that if present efforts are sustained, the community
> will be able to keep the Tamil culture and language alive for years to
> come.
>
> http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-25438275
>
>
>
>
> --
> =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
>
>  Harold F. Schiffman
>
> Professor Emeritus of
>  Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
> Dept. of South Asia Studies
> University of Pennsylvania
> Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
>
> Phone:  (215) 898-7475
> Fax:  (215) 573-2138
>
> Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
> http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/
>
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>

-- 
Ayaz Ahmad
Lecturer in English,
Department of English,
Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan.
Ph.D. Research Scholar,
Area Study Centre (Russia, China & Central Asia),
University of Peshawar.
Cell Phone: +92-334-8432207+92-334-8432207
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