CLASSICAL STATUS TO MALAYALAM

CLASSICAL STATUS TO MALAYALAM

Minister for Culture K.C. Joseph has said that the process for according the classical language status to Malayalam is apparently in the final stages. Inaugurating the State Institute of Languages' third showroom in the State here on Friday, the Minister said the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition along with litterateurs had held discussions with the Prime Minister in this regard. A report was also awaited on the proposed Malayalam Language University. The time was ideal as Malayalam had been made the administrative language and the first language in educational institutions in the State, he observed. He said there was a need for more authoritative language texts and the Institute, which worked with no commercial interests, could do a lot for that. The new shop would help in spreading the Institute's works in the Malabar region which was devoid of any major cultural institutions except a few like the Kerala Folklore Akademi.

Later, while releasing the third volume of the book ‘Kesariyude Charithra Gaveshanangal' at the District Police Co-operative Society hall here at a function organised by the Institute, Mr. Joseph said Malayalam language learning centres had been established for promoting the language outside the State. While the centres had started functioning in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Ahmadabad, steps were on to start them in other States, he added.Writer T. Padmanabhan, A.P. Abdullakkutty, MLA, M.R. Thampan, Director, State Institute of Languages; and M.C. Sreeja, chairperson, Kannur municipality, were present. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the Assembly on Thursday that the State would approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to obtain classical language status to Malayalam. Intervening during reply to a submission by Palode Ravi (Congress) over the denial of classical language status to Malayalam by a committee, the Chief Minister said the government could not endorse the decision of the committee.Mr. Chandy said he would meet Dr. Singh next week and take up the issue. The State was not asking for a gratis, he said adding that the government would fight it out.Earlier, Minister for Culture and Rural Development, K.C. Joseph told the House that doubts prevailed over the recommendations of the committee as Tamil was accorded the status taking into account the fact that it was 1,500 years old.“We have not got the report of the committee. But, justice has to be given to Malayalam and it is the right of Malayalam,” he said.Speaker G. Karthikeyan said the government would understand the sentiments of the House and take up the issue with the Centre. At the same time, “the children in the State should also be encouraged to study Malayalam,” he added. Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan  Expressing displeasure over moves to deny classical status to Malayalam language, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Thursday informed the assembly that Kerala would fight for it as it is the state's right."Granting classical status to Malayalam language is not charity given by anybody and government will continue to take up the issue with the Centre," he said while replying to a submission on the matter.

Minister for Culture and Rural Development KC Joseph said there was no justification for denying the classical tag to Malayalam. Mr Joseph said that the Malayalam language is also 1500 years old and was as old as the other languages given classical status in South India.
Meanwhile, academic and literary circles have resented the stand of the language panel of Kendra Sahitya Akademi against according classical status to Malayalam on the ground that it is a 'younger' language compared to Tamil and other southern tongues.Kerala has been pressing for classical tag for quite some time as it is the only South Indian language which does not have that status. The previous LDF government had stepped up efforts to get Malayalam elevated to the higher rank. A panel of scholars had drawn up a comprehensive report, citing the antiquity and tradition of the language spoken by Keralites.
 
A recent meeting of the Akademi's sub-panel headed by an eminent linguist at Hyderabad had rejected the claim, arguing that the tag was conferred only on those languages which are at least 1500-2000 years old. Academic and literary circles in Kerala have resented the Kendra Sahitya Akademi language panel's reported stand against according classical status to Malayalam on the ground that it is a 'younger' language compared to Tamil and other southern languages.Taking exception to the panel's conclusion, litterateur and linguist Dr Pudussery Ramachandran alleged that the decision was influenced more by the political agenda of some committee members rather historical and linguistic criteria.Kerala has been pressing for classical tag for Malayalam for quite some time as it is the only south Indian language which does not have the status.

The previous Left Democratic Front government had stepped up efforts for getting Malayalam elevated to the higher rank and a scholarly panel drew up a comprehensive report citing the antiquity and tradition of the language spoken by Keralites.Mr Ramachandran, who headed the committee, told PTI that the move to deny classical status was the result of a "conspiracy" of the so-called experts from other states.He said the present United Democratic Front government appeared to be lacking in determination to expose and resist the vested interests who had worked to deny the honour to Malayalam.

"The report which we submitted to the Union government claiming the status, had all scientific details proving the antiquity of Malayalam," Mr Ramachandran said."The governments in other states had shown determination to ensure that their languages had been granted classical status, which our government is lacking in," he said.

According to reports, a meeting of the Akademi's sub-panel headed by an eminent linguist was held in Hyderabad recently and rejected granting Malayalam the classical status claim arguing that the tag was conferred only to those language which are at least 1,500-2,000 years old.Countering this argument, Mr Ramachandran said that even the Malayalam alphabet is 1,500 years old and the language had obviously existed before the evolution of the script."Even the fourth-century AD Tamil work 'Tolkapiyam' has references about Malayalam. Then, how can people simply say it is not that old," he said.Noted scholar and linguist Prof VR Prabodhachandran Nair said decisions like granting classical status were often done under political pressure and it was not a good practice.He, however, did not agree with some other scholars that Malayalam is as old as Tamil.
 
"Languages should have some prescribed features to be rated under classical tag. Languages like Latin, Greek, Arabic and Sanskrit are fit to be called classic. Going by this, Malayalam cannot strictly claim to be placed on par with these languages," Mr Nair said.The Kerala government had furnished a four-volume dossier prepared by eminent Malayalam writers and experts and carrying a foreword by poet .N.V. Kurup, the 2007 Jnanpith winner.“We had amply illustrated the antiquity of Malayalam through various quotations. The language definitely deserves the classical status: it is far older than Telugu and Kannada,” Kurup said.The committee decision was based on a report from the octogenarian professor, Bh. Krishnamurti. “It is wrong to say that Tamil and Malayalam developed as sister languages from Proto South Dravidian. The relation between Tamil and Malayalm is like that of a parent and an offshoot,” says the report.The committee agreed that Malayalam had a rich literary heritage and that its many genres of story-telling, dating back to the ninth century CE, was unique Classical status would have brought central funds for those researching or promoting Malayalam. “But it’s not just a matter of funds; getting the status would have been important for the prestige of Malayalam considering that all the other Dravidian languages have got it,” Malayalam writer M. Mukundan said.

Prof. John Kurakar