Reforms and changes are necessary for a language to grow said K. Veeramani, Chancellor of Periyar Maniammai University here on Tuesday.
Delivering the K.V.K. Asan endowment lecture at the university on Periyar's thoughts on languages, Veeramani said that every language should be modernised and equipped to survive the technological era and towards this endeavour Periyar insisted on changes in Tamil alphabets. Periyar felt that cultural invasion affected Tamil language and hence tried to retrieve it from the onslaught of other languages such as Sanskrit. To him, Tamil language was a weapon and no divinity or religiosity could be attributed to it.
Periyar's contribution for the uplift of women was legendary, Mr.Veeramani said and added that it was he who brought women out of the clutches of slavery, suppression by men, and Manudharma. "In this international day for women, you should imbibe the spirit of Periyar and come up as reformist women," he appealed to the young girls of the University.
Saradampal, wife of K.V.K. Asan, said that her husband wrote about three kinds of oppressions. Economic, political and social oppression. Though it is relatively easy to come out of economic and political oppressions it is very difficult to come out of social oppression, she said.
N. Ramachandran, Vice-Chancellor of Periyar Maniammai University, said that Tamil was a secular language.
Pazhani Arangasamy, Director, Periyar Sinthanai Maiyyam, and P. Ramalingam, former Professor of Tamil University, spoke.
