The struggle for freedom has never been easy; where ever in the world it is fought for, there have been many selfless sacrifices. Self-immolation has been used as an act of resistance. In other struggles to attract attention to a cause, and emphasize the importance of freedom to regular citizens, citizens have engaged in self-immolation.

Tamil Journalist and Assistant Director, K. Muthukumaran, conducted such an act of self-immolation on January 29, 2009 as a way to garner attention and as an act of protest against the genocide of the Tamils. Through his act, he hoped to gain attention for the deteriorating situation for Tamils in Sri-Lanka, and highlight the need for a much needed immediate solution.

I think I need to make one point clear before I continue, I respect his selfless act, and cannot fathom the passion and love he had for his people, and the importance of freedom to him; however, I do not encourage it (Muthukumaran Anna himself urged that his model not be followed, and urged other methods of protest). Of which I will quote here: “Dear Tamil people, in the struggle against injustice our brothers and children have taken up the weapon of the intellect. I have used the weapon of life. You use the weapon of photocopying. Yes, make copies of this pamphlet and distribute it to your friends, relatives, and students and ensure that this support for this struggle becomes greater. Nan’ri.”

I think when looking at his act of protest, it begs the question why. Why? Why would such a highly articulate, intelligent young man be motivated to self-immolate himself? He has a lot going on for himself, he was successful in his career, and his family was making plans for a marriage for him the upcoming year. So, why? It is a question a doctor actually asked Muthukumaran Anna, of which to he responded that, several thousands similarly and more intelligent Tamils were being persecuted and killed in Sri-Lanka, and he hoped to gain attention to that through this act of protest. Tamils have been persecuted in Sri-Lanka through a genocidal program for many years, through social exclusion, unfavorable and discriminatory law, and cultural destruction and physical violence. I believe Muthukumaran Anna’s compassion for the Tamils suffering, and dire need to help raise awareness motivated his act of resistance.

Prior to his act, he submitted a letter, for those interested, a translation and scanned copy can be accessed here. When reading this statement, there are some parts which have stood out to me, and I wanted to just highlight some of those points.

“They say the British killed people in Jallianwallahbagh, but what are they doing in Mullaiththeevu and Vanni? Look at the children being killed there. Aren’t you reminded of your children? Look at the women being raped? Don’t you have a sister in that age?”

“What is the guarantee that these people–who indulge in politics through their money and muscle power–will not target us tomorrow? If they turn against tomorrow, who will be on our side?”

“ Is this not genocide? If India, Pakistan and China are supplying arms, Japan is giving economic aid, and moreover India is bullying Sri Lanka and thus killing Tamils, why don’t you realize that you are also committing the same murder by your silence and your blindness? Nobody becomes a terrorist simply by taking up arms. Our Thiruvalluvar has said: Arathirke anbucar penpa ariyaar/ marathirkum akthe thunai (The ignorant say that affection is appropriate only to righteousness, but it will also inspire heroism to be restrained).”

“ China’s tanks, India’s spy planes, Pakistan’s artillery… not only these kill our people, but the silence of the International Community also kills them. When will you realize this–after a people who greatly desire justice are totally wiped away from the face of the earth? If you are interested in adding us to the list of Aborigines, Maya and Inca peoples, each day one of us will come in front of you and kill ourselves, as it comes in one of our myths…. Please leave our sisters and our children alone. We are unable to bear this. We are fighting with the sole hope that one day we will watch them laugh whole-heartedly.”

When reading these words, we must take a renewed vow and interest in our brothers and sisters back home, and take some action. We are the lucky ones who survived, but that also makes us responsible for them, and we need to become a voice for the voiceless now. Like Muthukumaran Anna suggested, we must use our intellect, and our skills to help bring justice to our fellow kin. Because, again, quoting his letter, “if they turn against tomorrow, who will be on our side?” We must always stand up for injustice, because one day, we may be the ones in the position, and how would we want others act? Those suffering are our brothers and sisters, our community members, our kin. What are you going to do?

As much as we may think, we do not live in a bubble where our actions don’t affect anyone else, but rather, we live in a society where we are affected by and affect those around us. Our lives are intrinsically connected to our peers, neighbors, family, friends and community.

There’s a concept in sociology, “the sociological imagination” that somewhat translates into meaning this: that our personal lives affect the public domain, and the public domain affects our personal life.  For example, our laws, government and regulations all have a direct impact on our personal lives, and our personal lives have a direct impact on the laws that are created – it’s like an interdependent relationship. If you think of things in this way, then you realize that you affect society, and society in turn affects you, so as you work towards making the society better for others, you in turn make it better for yourself.

What I’m arguing is, that we do have a moral obligation to use our knowledge and skills to make society better. Academics and researchers in this regard, can hold a powerful and important position. In fact, I strongly believe that being an academic and scholar invites a particular responsibility. Public scholarship is the idea that faculty and students should apply their teachings, research and learning to the service of the “civic, cultural, artistic, social, economic and educational needs of the community” (Jarsocz, 2004). This idea is a powerful one that can facilitate tremendous growth and improvement in society.

If all academics and scholars took a pledge to conduct research and target their teachings in areas that can significantly improve their own communities, then we can make significant leaps in terms of improving social justice. Community based ventures are often underfunded, and lack resources, however, if academics and scholars get involved, they can bring forth a valuable contribution that can help understand societal problems, and thus will allow us to make effective recommendations. Furthermore, with eliminations in research and statistics collections (i.e. Census Canada Long Form) concrete research conducted through faculty, and students can help gain access to funding.

While public scholarship benefits the community, it also greatly enriches the academic who is exposed to hands on engagement with communities, and ontological and epistemological research. It allows academics to maneuver the situation from a bottom-up approach that can provide significant unique insights, an understanding that may not be achieved through direct reading research. These types of research projects, while may be more attractive to some fields (geographers, sociologists, psychologists, political economists, social workers, teachers) can be conducted by any scholar who can find a connection between their particular area of study and the community in which they hope to research in.

We’ve all come to this country, and have significantly worked hard to develop ourselves as a community, we’ve come along way, but we still have many leaps and hurdles to pass. I’m proud to see many Tamil students studying and excelling in their fields. We have knowledge, skills and resources now that can really benefit our community to reach even greater heights, but we haven’t put them to use. And personally, I believe we youth have an obligation to do so.

As Jarsocz (2004) suggests, public scholarship breeds a unique classroom, one in which the classroom becomes “a site of political engagement, as well as a place of learning and teaching.” Public scholarship provides a mutual benefit, to the community and the scholar, and facilitating this type of innovative research can help expand our learning dimensions, and political advocacy. As academics, we have a obligation and responsibility to use our talents and skills for the betterment of society, and through public scholarship oriented projects, we can achieve our research objects while enhancing the quality of life for the communities we live in.

So my fellow Tamil academics and scholars, I invite you, to accept your invitation of a new kind of public service. Lets use our skills to build up our community to its full potential. It’s our responsibility.

Works Cited:

Jarosz, Lucy. 2004. Political ecology as ethical practice. Political Geography, 23, 917- 927.

“This event was a great way to educate parents about the education system in Ontario. Events like Katka Kasadara are crucial in our community to help parents get involved with their child’s education” said Tharmiya Balendran, one of CTYA`s Education and Career Development Council’s board of directors. Katka Kasadara was an important event and we need to host this event in our community on an annual basis. In many instances children and parents are not on the same page when it comes to schools and education. By hosting this event with various seminars and workshops it not only teaches parents and children about our society`s education system but also gives parents a chance to interact with their children.

Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance’s Education and Career Development Council would like to whole heartedly thank all of our volunteers, partners and community organizations who made this event possible.

Photo Credits: Ninaivukal

The Athletics Council will also have information on University and College athletics, so be sure to check it out if you’re interested.

Katka Kasadara Education Expo Details:

When: January 28^th, 2012 from 10a.m 4p.m

Where: Lester B. Person C.I.

Register online at www.ctya.org/educationexpo

By signing up for the competition, you and your team will be trained to build and program robots and later compete for a grand prize. You will learn the basic principles behind robotics, and also learn to apply them to solve every day engineering problems. Apart from the technical skills, teams will learn skills such as higher-order thinking, problem solving, project planning, decision making and leadership skills. This is an opportunity to work with friends and other students to develop your critical thinking skills in a fast paced productive environment. Most of all this is an opportunity to have fun while you learn!

More information will be available at Katka Kasadara – Education Expo at Lester B. Pearson C.I. on January 28, 2012 from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

Register online at www.ctya.org/educationexpo

Hope to see you there!

THE NEW GRAD CAREER EXPO
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Constitution Hall (North Building)
255 Front Street West
Toronto, ON M5V 2W6
Show hours: 10:00am to 7:00pm

For more information, visit: http://newgradexpo.ca/

A list of exhibitors can be found here: http://newgradexpo.ca/exhibitors/

“The Access MBA One-to-One Tour returns to Toronto for the third consecutive year with top ranking MBA programmes. Access MBA offers the unique chance to learn more about international MBA programmes by meeting Admissions Directors on an individual basis. After registering online, prospective MBA students are matched with the participating business schools that meet their criteria and expectations. The 20-minute meetings with school representatives are scheduled both before and at the event.

The One-to-One tour is a selective and personalised series of events designed to help business professionals find the right MBA programme. Our consulting team and GMAT partners provide advice and detailed information about how to be admitted to the best international business schools. With Access MBA, each candidate receives personalised attention and individual guidance.”

For more information or to register, visit:

http://www.accessmba.com/mba-events/access-mba-events/mba-event-toronto-february-8/index.html

More information will be available at Katka Kasadara- Education Expo.

When: January 28^th, 2012 from 10a.m 4p.m

Where: Lester B. Person C.I.

Register online at www.ctya.org/educationexpo

Come sign up for a university tour, spaces are limited!

Written by: Sarmatha Sivarajah

Tolkappiyam (Tamil: தொல்காப்பியம்)  is one of the earliest master pieces of Tamil literature and consists the foundation of Tamil grammar in the Tamil Language. Tolkappiyam is derived from the combination of two words Tonmai and kāppiyam. Tonmai means ancientness and Kappiam means literature. It consists of three books which are called the Ezhuttadikaram, the Solladikaram and the Poruladikaram in Tamil. Each of these books are called atikarams in Tamil and each are divided into nine chapters. The translation of Ezhuttadikaram is formation of words and combination of words likewise Solladikaram is syntax and Poruladikaram is conveying thoughts. Tolkappiyam composes of things such as  orthography, phonology, morphology, semantics, and prosody consisting of the Tamil Language and the subject matter of its literature.

Even though the exact date of this masterpiece is not certain, it’s believed to have been dated somewhere between 8000 BCE and 10th CE proving how ancient it really is. Also the author of Tolkappiyam remains a mystery. Some believe considering the amount of time it took for the final publication of the book to become available that it may have multiple authors assigned to it or it may have been the work of a systematized school of grammar. Though most authors attribute this masterpiece to an individual named Tolkappiyanaar whom some suggest came from the heterodox Jaina order. Some like Alexander Dubyanskiy, a veteran Tamil scholar from Moscow State University says “Tolkappiyam is not dependent on Sanskrit sources and a work that demanded not only vast knowledge but also a lot of thinking from its author”.

Also the most important part of this masterpiece is the introduction and the distinction of akam and puram.  The inner core of truth of human life is akam or love and puram means poetry of the phenomenon. The distinction between akam poetries from puram poetries is that in akam poetries, the rule is that no names are to be mentioned. Contrasting that puram poetries consist of the varying experiences of individuals in this world, experiences which can be dated far back as belonging to historical persons. Thus, Tolkappiyam can be considered as one of the ancient Tamil masterpieces. And as scholar Alexander Dubyanskiy suggests, Tolkappiyam is a literary and cultural monument of great importance.

Tamil Heritage Month began in 2010 and seeks to celebrate Tamil heritage, culture, and history. Throughout this month, we will be providing you with educational material and poetry such as this that seeks to help us celebrate and understand our culture, roots and heritage.

Bibliography:

Madhavan, K. (2010). Tolkappiyam is not dependent on Sanskrit sources: Tamil scholar. The Hindu. Retrieved from http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article489121.ece

Meenakshisundaram, T. (1966). Tolkapiyar’s Literary Theory. Tamination.org (truth is a pathless land). Retrieved from http://tamilnation.co/literature/grammar/tolkappiyam.htm