In a bid to bring together the Tamil diaspora settled across the globe, the Institute of Asian Studies, Chennai and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Mauritius will be conducting an International Tamil Conference. The conference will be held from November 16 to 18 in Mauritius and is expected to host over 100 delegates.
Speaking about the conference, the Chairman of the National Organising Committee of Mauritius, Armoogum Parsuramen said, “The delegates will include people from all parts of the globe. Several researchers and scholars, who are engaged in the study of Tamil culture, will also participate in the conference.”
He said that such a large scale conference would greatly aid in understanding how the diasporic groups have diversified and yet retained the core of Tamil culture. He said, “There will be people from opposite parts of the world and the only connect between them is the Tamil language and culture. There is an imminent need for preservation of this connecting entity.” Although many had been proselytised to the prevalent religions of the diasporic countries, their culture remains largely the same, he added.
The conference has been organised with the aim of understanding Tamil culture and providing an opportunity for such communities to reinvent their cultural identities. “The last time we had conducted a conference similar to this was in 1986 when I was the Education Minister of Mauritius and it was a great success. We hope that this too will produce the desired effect in the international Tamil community,” said Armoogum.