Chennai: Vellore Institute of Technology Chancellor G Viswanathan will be launching Tamil Iyakkam – a platform to promote the Tamil language – on 15 October at Raja Annamalai Mandram.
A series of events will be held on the day from 10 am to 8 pm.
Mauritius President Paramasivum Pillay Vyapoory and Guyana Prime Minister Moses Veerasammy Nagamootoo will be the chief guests on the occasion.
Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, Union Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan, Rajya Sabha member L Ganesan, BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan and Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Education V Radhakrishnan will be the guests of honour.
Addressing mediapersons here Wednesday, Viswanathan said, “Nowadays, English, Sanskrit and other languages are being mixed along with Tamil and are pronounced in a different way. As a result, Tamil is losing its speciality and cultural aspect. Love for the language has already started diminishing. To bring a solution for all these problems, we are starting Tamil Iyakkam.”
He added that this project has been initiated to protect Tamil language and spread cultural importance of Tamil. He also said apart from political parties, Tamil Iyakkam will serve to unite all the Tamil organisations. “We hope to instil interest in Tamil among the students,” he said.
Tamil Iyakkam also plans to provide legal aid for those who wish to change the names of their business organisations and products to Tamil.
The Tamil Iyakkam will be headed by Viswanathan. Prof Abdul Khader will be the general secretary, M Sukumar – State secretary, V Padhumanar – treasurer and Sarada Nambi Arooran – assistant secretary.