Historic Speech of Dr. Thirumavalavan in the Lok Sabha on Secularism, Languages of India And Demand to Set Up a Central Pali University.

Dr. Thirumavalavan on Pali and Classical Language in Lok Sabha

Today, Hon'ble Dr. Thol.Thirumavalavan (VCK, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu) delivered the historic speech in the Lok Sabha. Thank you very much for your demand to set up a Central Pali University. Here, the translation from Tamil with sub headings.

Secularism, Language and Race:

Secularism is one of the fundamentals of the government. A government should not run on the basis of religion as well as language and race. That is the beauty of good government. Through the meaning of the word secularism, we also need to expand and understand language and race. So, Secularism refers not only on the basis of religion but also language. 

Languages of India:

We are recognized 22 languages as the official languages of India under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India. However, over a thousand languages ​​are spoken in India. There are a lot of languages which have no script. Such a language is Sanskrit. It does not have a script. It is a historical fact. It has antiquity but you have to admit that there is no script. With the help of Devanagari, It has been using the script.

Classical Languages:

In such a case, the central government seeks to set up three universities for a language in a single day. Here I would like to ask, why universities have not established for already recognized Classical languages such as Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada? All Indian languages ​​should be treated equally. The Government of India should cooperate for the development of all languages. Only after Tamil, Sanskrit had recognized as Classical language. The question is not about whether Sanskrit is superior or Tamil is superior. The question is whether the government respects all languages or not. The Central government should establish the Central Universities for all Classical languages.

Demand to set up a Central Pali University:

I want to demand another thing. The contemporary of Sanskrit i.e the ancient Prakrit languages such as Pali had been spoken widely. Buddha spoke in Pali language. Buddhism spread world wide through the Pali language. Like how Sanskrit spread the Hindutuva, Pali spread the Buddhism. As of today, approximately there are about 1 crore Buddhists in India. For the growth and development of Pali language as well as the long standing request of the Buddhists, I would request the central government to set up a Central Pali University. Thank you.

~ Ambeth  ~

Jai bheem..!

Annai Meenambal Sivaraj and 'All India Depressed Classes Women's Conference'.

Annai Meenambal Sivaraj and Sulochanabai Dongre / SCF 1942

The All India Depressed Classes Women's conference held at Mohan Park, Nagpur, on July 20, 1942 in the presence of over 75,000 audience from the then provinces Madras, UP, CP, Bengal, Bombay and Punjab, and princely states like Mysore and Hyderabad. Women delegates and visitors numbered about 25,000. Revolutionary Ambedkar, Thanthai N. Sivaraj and other leaders from all corners of India were seated on the dais. Annai Meenambal was initially chosen to preside over this conference. Due to certain unavoidable reasons, she could not come to Nagpur. So that Sulochanabai Dongre of Amravati was chosen to preside over this conference.

Dr. Ambedkar and Annai Meenambal Shivaraj.

Note:
* Thanthai N. Sivaraj (Annai Meenambal's husband) presided over the 'All India Depressed Classes' conference held at Mohan Park, Nagpur, on July 17-20, 1942 and he was elected as the President of AISCF.
* Annai Meenambal presided over both the first and second AISCF Women’s conference held in Madras (1944) and Bombay (1945) respectively. These conferences were attended by both Thanthai Sivaraj and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Compiled:
Ambeth.

Reference:
* Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Tamil Vol- 37 / English Vol- 17, Part-III.

Also Read:

* Annai Meenambal Shivaraj -- National Level Woman Leader From The Scheduled Classes of India.

* Thanthai N. Sivaraj -- National Level Leader Who Worked for the Scheduled Classes of India.

Annai Meenambal Sivaraj, Thanthai Sivaraj and Dr. Ambedkar in Bombay.