Ram showing 'The Hindu' pages to Karunanidhi at his residence

The Hindu's Editor-in-Chief N.Ram proudly showing Kalaignar Karunanidhi's op-ed article on the World Tamil Conference to Karunanidhi himself. Article published on MK's 87th birthday, 3rd June 2010.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/article480212.ece

World Classical Tamil Conference – a perspective -  The Hindu dated June 3, 2010

Although Tamil and a few other languages such as Greek, Latin and Sanskrit enjoy the status of classical language in the academic world thanks to their antiquity and rich literary heritage, Tamil is the first living language to be given the official status of a classical language.

Our sagacious leader, Arignar Anna [C.N. Annadurai], conducted the Second World Tamil Conference in Chennai in 1968, during his tenure as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, on a very grand scale with the participation of lakhs of Tamils from all over the country and abroad. The First World Tamil Conference, held in Kuala Lumpur in 1966, the Third in Paris (1970), the Fourth in Jaffna (1974), the Fifth at Madurai (1981), the Sixth again in Kuala Lumpur (1987), the Seventh in Mauritius (1989), and the Eighth in Thanjavur (1995) were, relatively speaking, on a moderate scale.

Following our success in getting the rightful status of Classical Language for Tamil declared and notified by the United Progressive Alliance government – a landmark achievement in the development of Tamil and in the restoration of its prestige and glory – succeeding in our efforts to establish the Central Institute of Classical Tamil in Chennai, and facilitating the award of the President's ‘Kuralpeeda Award' and ‘Tholkappiar Award' on nationally and internationally renowned Tamil scholars, we thought it fit to conduct the first World Classical Tamil Conference. We decided to hold it for five days from the 23rd to the 27th of June 2010 at Coimbatore in a grand manner.

Demand for classical status

For more than 150 years, Tamil scholars and those conscious of their Tamil heritage have been demanding that the classical character of Tamil be recognised. They claimed that Tamil has rich and hoary literary and grammatical traditions, its own script system, and an unbroken lengthy history. In addition, the language has continuously been a spoken language at least for more than 2,000 years in Tamil Nadu. It has essentially kept its age-old character intact, even though it is an effective modern language.

The demand for classical status arose in the context of the British Indian administration treating Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic as classical languages and making special provisions and support mechanisms for the learning and development of these languages. The demand arose also in the context of the strong Tamil tradition and tendency, even now easily discernible, to maintain its own distinct character through various linguistic, literary, religious, anthropological, sociological, cultural, and architectural means and contributions.

In recent years, George Hart, Professor of Tamil Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, reiterated with sound arguments the demand that Tamil should be declared or recognised as a classical language. He wrote in 2000: “First, Tamil is of considerable antiquity. Second, Tamil constitutes the only literary tradition indigenous to India that is not derived from Sanskrit. Third, the quality of classical Tamil literature is such that it is fit to stand beside the great literatures of Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Chinese, Persian and Arabic.”

Dr. Robert Caldwell (1814-1891) established beyond the pale of controversy the reality of the Dravidian family of languages and the high antiquity of Tamil. According to him, it is the most highly cultivated of all Dravidian idioms; it can dispense with its Sanskrit altogether, if need be, and not only stand alone but also flourish without its aid.

Caldwell's study provided the base for the formation of the Pure Tamil Movement, founded by the great Tamil savant, Parithimaal Kalaignar (V.G. Suryanarayana Sastri), a Professor of Tamil at the Madras Christian College. He first gave the clarion call to recognise Tamil as a classical language. His view was further nurtured by the renowned scholars, Maraimalai Adigal (1876-1950) and Devaneya Paavanar, who opined that Tamil was the primary classical language of the world.

In 1918, the Saiva Siddhanta Samajam passed a resolution demanding that the University of Madras grant classical language status to Tamil. This was done at the initiative of Maraimalai Adigal, Professor of Tamil at the Madras Christian College, and a proponent of the Pure Tamil Movement, whose original name was Vedachalam. Two years later, the Thanjavur-based Karanthai Tamil Sangam petitioned the university to raise the status issue with the provincial government. After that, not much was heard of the demand for a long time.

The 1970s again saw a champion of the cause in Manavai Mustafa, then Editor of UNESCO Courier (Tamil). But he did not have much organisational backing. Since 1975 he has been writing consistently in newspapers and magazines pressing the demand. Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran asked him to send a petition detailing how Tamil qualified to claim the status.

Mustafa said it took him two years to collect the necessary data, which included the features a language should have to qualify for classical status. He presented a petition to the Chief Minister in 1982, but no action was taken. Years later, he said, he learnt that the petition was rejected by a top government official on the ground that if Tamil was given the status on a par with Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit, which are no more spoken languages, Tamil would also be considered a `dead' language.

Movement gains momentum

The movement to classify Tamil as a classical language gained momentum about ten years ago when major political parties took up the issue. A few months before the 1996 general elections, the DMK adopted a resolution at its Tiruchi conference demanding that Tamil be made one of the official languages of the Union government. The demand was also included in the DMK's manifesto for the Assembly elections held along with the general elections.

In 1998, when the BJP captured power at the Centre, many academics felt that the BJP-led government, which declared 1999 as Sanskrit Year and caused a flow of funds to universities and Sanskrit organisations, was not keen on giving classical status to Tamil. The DMK, as a constituent in the government, pressed Tamil's case. It organised hunger strikes and demonstrations and thousands of people courted arrest.

The DMK conference at Villupuram also adopted a resolution to that effect. Its election manifesto for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections stated: “The DMK will continue to insist on the declaration of Tamil as a Classical Language as it would enable the allocation of funds for Tamil research by the Central government and would also facilitate Tamil research in various universities in India and abroad.”

The DMK-led alliance swept the polls and the DMK became an important constituent of the UPA government formed at the Centre. We could get this demand included in the National Common Minimum Programme. In the very first joint session of Parliament in June 2004, the declaration of Tamil as a Classical Language by President APJ Abdul Kalam, a Tamil scholar himself, was not just symbolic. It was a victory for Indian democracy and the federal polity as well.

On September 17, 2004, Information and Broadcasting Minister S. Jaipal Reddy announced that the government's decision to accord classical language status was taken on the recommendation of an Expert Committee of the Sahitya Akademi that a category of “classical languages” be created. Since Tamil fulfilled the set of criteria the Committee had evolved, it won the honour of being the first to get into this prestigious category. Although Tamil and a few other languages such as Greek, Latin and Sanskrit enjoy the status of classical language in the academic world thanks to their antiquity and rich literary heritage, Tamil is the first living language to be given the official status of a classical language.

On October 12, 2004, the UPA government issued a notification declaring Tamil as a classical language. Thus Tamil won the distinction of being the first classical language declared by the independent Government of India.

I expressed my overwhelming feeling of joy at the DMK conference in Tiruchi on March 5, 2006, in the presence of Congress president Thirumathi Sonia Gandhi. I said the letter she wrote to me about the decision was not just a letter but an ageless copperplate. She had stated in her letter of November 8, 2005: “Dear Thiru Karunanidhiji, I have received your letter of 28th October. I am glad that all the formalities for declaring Tamil as a Classical Language have now been completed. This is an achievement for all the constituents of the UPA Government, but particular credit goes to you and your Party. With Regards, Yours sincerely, Sonia Gandhi.”

The century-old dream of Tamils turned true and the first part of the history of classical language came to an end. I wrote a series of epistles to my party brethren under the heading ‘Some pages in the history of Classical Language' in our party organ Murasoli, explaining the historical development of the demand for classical status for Tamil and the stalwarts and scholars who contributed to it.

Significance of conference logo

The image of Thiruvalluvar's statue in Kanyakumari, being lashed by waves caused by the tsunami and encircled by seven icons from the Indus Valley Civilisation, forms part of the logo of the World Classical Tamil Conference. The logo emphasises the ideal of humankind, that it should always be free of narrow walls of race, creed, and caste. The message is found in a palm leaf manuscript at the bottom of the statue. This concept (“pirapokkum ella uyirkkum” = All living humans are one in circumstances of birth) has been declared to be the motto of the meet. The Indus Valley Civilisation icons, found in the logo, symbolise the Dravidian civilisation, which is regarded as the most ancient civilisation of the world. The number of icons stresses the importance of ‘seven' in the lives of Tamils.

Theme song

I wrote the theme song for the Conference, which has been set to tune by Oscar and Grammy Award winner A.R. Rahman. The DVD was made by leading film director Gautham Menon.

The World Classical Tamil Conference will be inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil in the forenoon of June 23, 2010. The Governor of Tamil Nadu, Thiru Surjit Singh Barnala, and scholars like Professor George Hart, Dr. V.C. Kulandaisamy, and Dr.K. Sivathamby will participate in the inaugural function, which I will preside over.

The “Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi Classical Tamil Award” will be presented to the world renowned Indologist, Dr. Asko Parpola of Finland, for his magnum opus, Deciphering the Indus Script (1994), proposing Dravidian as the language of the Indus Script, close to old Tamil. This Award has been instituted by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil making use of the endowment created by me from my personal contribution of Rs.1 crore.

Academic sessions

The Conference will feature comprehensive academic sessions in which research papers in Tamil language, literature, culture, and so on will be presented by scholars and researchers. As many as 1,020 delegates from 49 countries have registered for participation at the conference. They will present their papers on various subjects under 55 titles.

General sessions for the public

The general sessions will have various literary programmes to benefit and attract the public. The public will get an opportunity to listen to presentations on classical Tamil in the form of various programmes like literary speeches, poetry sessions, and scholarly debates by renowned personalities. We expect thousands of people to attend these sessions. Further, dance operas, music performances, and so on will be organised in the evenings to showcase Tamil culture to the delegates and the general public.

Exhibition on Classical Tamil

A grand exhibition is being organised for the World Classical Tamil Conference. There will be exhibits depicting Tamil arts, culture, language, literature, and the history of Tamil. The exhibition will present objects of pottery, figurines, bricks, and seals, bathtubs etc., which were excavated from the Indus Valley apart from Chola bronzes, stone inscriptions, and statues from various ages.

Pageantry procession

A massive pageantry procession will be organised on June 23, the day of inauguration. It will cover 9 km. from VOC grounds in the heart of the city of Coimbatore to CODISSIA grounds, the venue of the Conference. The procession will have 40 floats displaying paintings and models of sculptures depicting the glory of Tamil culture. The floats will portray rare and resplendent scenes from the ancient Sangam classics and reflect the richness of the Tamil people and their culture. What is more, 40 cultural troupes consisting of 2,000 artistes will participate in the procession.

Tamil Internet Conference

Another unique aspect will be the Tamil Internet Conference 2010, which the Government of Tamil Nadu decided to hold alongside the first World Classical Tamil Conference. The objectives of the former are to showcase the development of Tamil Internet up to the present time and to identify the steps needed to increase the use of the Tamil language on the Internet; to establish a wide network between Tamil literary scholars and Tamil Internet developers; and to motivate the younger generation to use Tamil on the Internet.

We expect about 350 special invitees, speakers, delegates, and experts from 15 countries to participate in the Tamil Internet Conference. A “Tamil Computing Internet Exhibition” is being organised as an interactive module to expose and explain the latest developments and technology in Tamil Internet to common folk.

Much thought and consultation has gone into formulating the programmes of this specialised Conference. I am confident it will take Tamil to the 21st Century, based on its requirements and having in mind the rapid developments in science and technology, information technology, linguistics, anthropology, epigraphy, and other fields of knowledge.

N.Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, turns family photographer for Kalaignar Karunanidhi

N.Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, turns family photographer for Kalaignar Karunanidhi.

CLB interim order of 20th May 2011 of Kasturi & Sons Ltd

http://www.scribd.com/doc/55891836

2G Scam Coverage: Letter from N.Ravi, N.Murali & Malini Parthasarathy

Shameful cover up of the 2G scam
 
Dear colleagues,
​We had occasion to raise The Hindu’s shameful collaboration in the publicity campaign of A. Raja in the 2G scam at the meeting of the Board in January and in the subsequent Board meetings.  However, our remarks were totally blacked out from the minutes by N. Ram who abused his position as the chairman of the meeting to shut out any criticism of his role in the cover up of the scam. We wish to place before you an account of the coverage of the 2G scam in The Hindu which is nothing less than a scam in itself.
​The coverage of the scam from the beginning was desultory and designed to protect A. Raja from blame and from charges of corruption.  Until he resigned, there was no attempt to get information from the investigation agencies that were looking into the scam.  On the other hand, The Hindu functioned as an apologist for Raja, with Ram meeting him often to discuss the scam coverage. Even on the day of his resignation, on November 4, 2010, The Hindu carried an interview with him on the front page, with the transcript published inside. In this interview as well as the one on May 22, 2010, there were no hard questions but only the obvious ones designed to elicit ready, scripted answers. For instance, while the real issue was that new telecom companies that had nothing but the licence and the spectrum sold stakes at valuations that were many times the price set by the Ministry, proving that there had been a gross undervaluation by the Ministry, Raja was allowed to sidetrack the issue from valuation to whether the investments had been approved by the ministries concerned. The entire coverage up to the point of his resignation was tailored to make him look good. The interviews were similar to the ones carried by Tamil magazines such as Nakkeeran and represented the standard Raja line.
​Even more telling was the choice of the correspondent for both the interviews of May 22, 2010 and November 14, 2010.  Instead of the correspondent in New Delhi who covers the Telecommunications Ministry, R. K. Radhakrishnan who was not following the telecommunications issues on a day to day basis was specially flown to Delhi for the interviews.  Radhakrishnan’s main qualification was that he was close to the DMK leaders and his choice was a special dispensation shown to Raja. Unusually, the last interview was published on November 14 which was a Sunday because Raja wanted it to be published immediately.
​While Raja was in office, even as evidence was mounting and there were widespread calls for his resignation, The Hindu did not demand his resignation. This unexplained softness towards Raja contrasted sharply with the coverage and editorial stand on other scams including those relating to the Commonwealth Games, Adarsh Society and land allotment in Karnataka.  In those instances, The Hindu was quick to demand the resignations of Suresh Kalmadi, Ashok Chavan and Yeddyurappa even at a stage when the evidence was far less compelling than the material that was in the public domain on the 2G scam before Raja resigned. All the editorial outrage was reserved for the period after Raja’s resignation.
​When the telecom controversy broke out around May, 2010, Raja was keen to get his version published in The Hindu.  He moved to obtain quick and special clearance for a full page colour advertisement for The Hindu that was also given to some other newspapers.  This advertisement was published on the same day as his interview on May 22, 2010.  Records in the Central Government, particularly in the Ministry of Telecommunications relating to the clearance of this particular advertisement and of some others would go to establish by whom and how this advertisement was cleared.  Of all the newspapers that are said to have carried the advertisement, only The Hindu published a friendly interview and not the others. People in the media are aware that promotional advertisements of this type unrelated to any occasion or to any specific announcements are issued as much as rewards to the media as for publicity for the Minister. The Minister’s intention to handsomely reward The Hindu that had been so friendly to him in its coverage was obvious. Publication in other newspapers was just a cover, it would have been untenable for any Ministry to have issued an advertisement to just one newspaper.
​While Ram published the report on his press conference in New Delhi where he defended The Hindu’s coverage, he refused to publish Ravi’s account, abusing his editorial position and grossly violating the standards of fair journalism.
​Most of the directors on the editorial side, and certainly the two of us, were kept off totally from anything relating to the 2G coverage and all the decisions on the editorial stand and on coverage were taken solely by N. Ram.  We were not even aware of the decision to depute Radhakrishnan twice to interview Raja and saw the interviews only in print on the day of publication.
​In our view, the coverage of the 2G scam and of A. Raja represents the lowest point for The Hindu in the recent period and raises serious ethical issues that need to be addressed without delay. We would be seeking a thorough enquiry and the fixing of accountability for this shameful episode.
Yours sincerely,
N. Murali
N. Ravi
Malini Parthasarathy

The Hindu family war goes to Company Law Board

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/the-hindu-family-war-goes-to-clb/435138/

The battle for power within Kasturi and Sons, which runs the The Hindu daily, has once again moved to the courts. A group of 11 members from the family which comprises the shareholders has moved the Company Law Board (CLB) against the majority decision of the board of directors to remove N Ravi, editor, and Malini Parthasarathy from the editorial board.

According to sources, a petition was filed with CLB, not listed till this evening, on five grounds. One was that instead of formulating a succession plan, which had been directed by CLB in its order on December 22 last year, the board made a removal plan. On April 18, N Ram, editor-in-chief and publisher, with six other directors in the 12-member board, voted to appoint Siddharth Varadarajan (who heads the news bureau in Delhi) in place of Ravi. It was also decided, in accordance with the changed succession norms, that Ram would step down from his responsibilities, along with four others on the Board.

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The measure meant the removal of Ravi, Nirmala Lakshman, K Venugopal and Malini Parthasarathy, all cousins, from their editorial roles.
In March 2010, Ram and eight others allegedly tried to curtail the powers of N Murali, the brother of Ram and the then managing director of The Hindu. CLB set aside the decision by the board to remove Murali’s powers.

Sources further said, the petitioners have asked CLB to declare the Board resolutions passed in April as improper, oppressive, motivated, unlawful, null and void and, consequently, set these aside. They have also asked the Board, according to the sources, to appoint a permanent independent chairman in place of Ram to conduct future Board meetings and the general body meeting.

The petitioners are N Ravi, Malini Parthasarathy, N Murali, Tara Murali (wife of Murali), M Krishna (son of Murali), Kanta Murali (daughter of Murali), Sudha Ravi, Aparna Ravi and Serendipity Investments Pvt Ltd, in which Ravi is a director.

The petition was filed against Kasturi & Sons, Ram, K Balaji (who was appointed managing director in March last year), K Venugopal (editor of The Hindu Business Line and a director on the Board), Lakshmi Srinath, Vijaya Arun, Akila Vijya Iyengar, Nirmala Lakshman, Nalini Krishnan and Siddharth Varadarajan.

BACKGROUND
In March last year, a dispute had surfaced among the Kasturi Ranga Iyengar family, which controls the group, around the appointment of K Balaji as managing director of Kasturi & Sons. Some of the family members opposed the redesignation of Murali as senior managing director. Though assigned an apparently higher position, he had been asked to limit his responsibilities to circulation and work on accounts and industrial relations with Balaji. In his earlier position, Murali had wide-ranging supervisory powers, cutting across departments. The decision was later reversed by the CLB judgment mentioned earlier, in December 2010.

Kasturi & Sons has 12 board members. Each of the four cousins, who together control the entire equity, has three members on the board. There are just under 50 shareholders, all members of the Kasturi Ranga Iyengar family. The cousins are G Narasimhan (father of N Ram, N Ravi and N Murali), S Parthasarathy (father of Malini Parthasarathy, Nirmala Lakshman and Nalini Krishnan), S Rangarajan (father of Ramesh Rangarajan, Vijaya Arun and Akila Iyengar), and G Kasturi (father of K Balaji, K Venugopal and Lakshmi Srinath). Members of the families of the four cousins — sons of Kasturi Srinivasan and Kasturi Gopalan (the second-generation owners) — own 25 per cent equity each.

Malini Parthasarathy's response to an article on TheHoot.org

http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=5267&mod=1&pg=1§ionId=4&valid=true

While I appreciate the painstaking effort that has gone into this analysis of the current stand-off at Kasturi & Sons, the company that publishes The Hindu and some of the issues explored, I do think that there is a background and context to this debate that readers of this blog should be aware of. 
Of course acknowledging my personal stakes in this issue being one of those “family journalists” involved in the current controversy, I think there are weightier concerns that need to be factored in while judging the merits of this proposed transition. To boil down the entire dispute to a simple one of a struggle between family journalists and “professionals” is to actually suggest that it is a contest between “feudal relics on the wrong side of history” and “modern dynamic journalists” who are better situated to strengthen the Hindu’s best journalistic traditions of credibility and integrity while “contemporising it.” Adding to this perception is the suggestion that the Code of Editorial Values adopted by the majority on the Board of Directors on April 18 would offer adequate protection for the Editor, from among other things “shareholder interference.”
 All this sounds eminently reasonable and progressive in spirit. The trouble is with the context in which these proposals have emerged. First, the Board of Directors of Kasturi & Sons remains today comprised entirely of members of the four major shareholding families, to be precise, three representatives of the original four families descending from Kasturi Srinivasan and Kasturi Gopalan. The Board does not have any independent director and has not been “professionalised” as yet. Therefore the first point to factor in when considering the prospect of independent editorial functioning is that the structure would draw authority from a Board of Directors that remains family-driven and ultimately “majority family members-driven”. 
In the context of a Board of Directors solely made up of family members, the suggestion that having “owner editors” especially in this context when every director on the editorial side has strong professional qualifications and experience would stand in the way of “professionalism in editorial functioning” appears without basis. If anything, as long as the Board of Directors does not induct non-family, non-shareholders as independent Directors, owner-editors are often better placed to resist pressures from corporate or personal interests. 
The second more important point which has to be urgently recognised in assessing the value of this current proposal for a “professional” editor is the context in which this proposal has emerged. The background from which this proposal arises is not yet in the public domain. There is an ongoing debate in the company with some directors advocating a total separation of ownership and day to day management. An interesting proposal that manifests this new doctrine and which was placed formally on the table at a meeting of the Board of Directors is an envisaged separation of two Boards, one a Corporate Board comprising all family Directors and the other, “ a non-family, non-shareholder” Executive Board. According to the note delineating this proposal, the Corporate Board is to decide “major policies, business and editorial”. The non-family, non-shareholding Editor is to sit along with the heads of the company’s various business operations in this Executive Board.  
What are the implications of this proposed change? More significant than whether the Editor is a family member or a “non-family non-shareholding” professional is the prospect of the editorial structure being formally linked to the corporate structure by the presence of the Editor on the proposed Executive Board. In other words, by institutionalising the presence of the Editor on such a Board dominated by business functionaries, the Editor is implicitly committed to ensuring that the editorial operations are in tune with the corporate and business priorities so delineated. Second, the Editor is to be responsible to the entire Corporate Board and not to any single director. In other words, the editorial agenda comes under the direct purview of such a Corporate Board, never mind the express provision in the Code of Values to insulate the Editor from “shareholder interference”!  
As is the case with other newspapers, The Hindu is not immune to the sharpening of pressure from various lobbies and interests in the corporate sector for dissemination of their viewpoints as “news items” and articles. As can be easily verified, several items have indeed appeared in its news columns that masquerade as “marketing initiatives” but are often the reflection of personal social agendas of directors on the Board. If this kind of institutionalised cooperation between the editorial and the corporate operations as envisaged by the Corporate Board/Executive Board concepts becomes a reality, it will be very difficult for any editor, “family” or “non-family” to protect the integrity and credibility of the news process. 
It is one thing to argue that there should be constructive and continuing cooperation between the editorial and marketing sides of the newspaper for the obvious reason that both need each other for the newspaper to gain as a whole. But it is another to suggest that the editorial department be treated as another branch of the corporate banyan tree.  
These are the points I want to share with your readers so that they can make a proper judgment of the issues rather than to assume that it is only a debate about allowing non-family members to become editors at The Hindu.