Tamils and superficial Heritage Month Bill Proposed in Canadian Parliament
Posted on February 15th, 2013

Kanthar P Balanathan Retired Director & Specialist Power Systems Engineer, Melbourne, Australia

The month of January trains to an auspicious occasion for Tamils by customary practice followed for centuries: The Tamil New Year falls on the first of January (Tamil), the day was used by Tamils to have rice pongal which, is thanks giving day to the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-sun godƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Para-beliefs associated with the month of January are only superficial. E.g. marriages are conducted in January, and do not exclude other months anyway. There are other months which Hindus celebrate and are noted as holy months. Hindus fast on these months. Holy events such as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-NavarathriƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-KanthashashtiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, thiruvampa etc. do cycle on other months and Hindus observe with strict decorum.

What we have in SriLanka is an ethnic group that lives in the N&E. In order to sustain their economic status, some quarter of the Tamils who identified as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-VellalarƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, kept them as higher caste and owned significant areas of land. These lands were not earned by these pranksters, but allocated by the monarchs on grounds of caste.

In SriLanka and India rice harvesting is carried out in the month of January, after which the thanks giving to the sun god is performed by Hindus. Since rice production is associated with ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-VellalarƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ group in the ancient era, they have taken ownership of the thanks giving day. In the 19th, 20th century, majority of Tamils who do not belong to the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-VellalarƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ caste are rice farmers.

The conspiracy of making January as the heritage month is to affirm that New Year begins with Vellalar caste beliefs and others should follow them. This amounts to the choleric, & caste conscious Tamils to always live in isolation and polarised. All this cow droppings ideas are generated because of the strong focus on caste. At whatever cost they want January ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Thaipongal dayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to be Tamils New Year day so that the half ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-VellalarƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ can be on top of everyone.

A Tamil MP has placed a private member bill in the Canadian parliament to proclaim January as the heritage month. This action is indicative of Tamils not willing to integrate with the Canadians but live in isolation, identified as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-TamilsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

Refugees who went to Canada should make it a progression to integrate and assimilate if necessary with the Canadians, but not display superiority above the Canadians.

Multiculturalism in any country is the first step towards destruction of peace and harmony over a 50-100 years horizon. Evidence in the third world, developing countries, and some developed countries. Within the multicultural complex, most Tamils are inundated and mindset with fundamentalism. TodayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s theme around the world is ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-CHANGE IS A CONSTANTƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. However, are Tamils prepared to change?

Reference: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Peter Spearritt BA (Hons) Syd, PhD (ANU) is a Professor of History at the University of Queensland and Chair of the University of Queensland Press Board. I refer to his essay on Heritage: Heritage is a relatively new, catch-all term that in recent times has encompassed both the built and the natural world. The word has gained wide international acceptance and usage since 1972, when UNESCO created the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Convention, which Australia signed in 1974. For some decades now more and more countries have vied with each other to get their built and natural heritage sites on the World Heritage List.

But in another sense, there is nothing new about heritage, not least because almost everything designated to have heritage value is older than the present, from rock art and stone churches to the Great Barrier Reef. And while the European occupation of Australia might be just a tad over 220 years old, archaeologists and anthropologists date indigenous settlement back over forty thousand yearsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-City of Subiaco explains that Heritage consists of the places and objects that we have inherited from the past and want to pass on to future generationsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

Could this private memberƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s bill depict examples, proof and valid reasons that Tamils have inherited anything in Canada? The question is: Have Tamils inherited anything in Canada historically? If at all, we did inherit is in India, in the Tamil Nadu state, SriLanka, and may be some other region in India.

Tamils have no historic links with Canada. It is pure egotism, fundamentalism, and racial conception that has inflicted in the minds of Tamils for centuries which is driving to these panic-stricken beliefs.

If the Canadian government is true to its citizens, they should dump this private memberƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s bill. Canada should recognise and respect all citizens in Canada. Tamils are not above any other citizens in Canada. Tamils are only creating tensions wherever they go, because we live in a fish bowl.

One Response to “Tamils and superficial Heritage Month Bill Proposed in Canadian Parliament”

  1. Christie Says:

    Vellars were the first people to come to the sland nation on the back of British as sepoys and Administrators. Most of them vame from the Malabar coast during the British administration 1792-1796 after the British acquisition of Dutch possessions in the island.The British adminstered the possessions from Madras. The Sinhala people rebelled against these administrators and Sepoys. British reverted to the former Dutch administration and set up administration in Colombo. Maost of the Vellars setteled in the Jaffana Penisula and setteled on the land and the locals were reduced to Sakkiliyas.

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