tha lifestyle
T
he lives of Sri Lankan
Tamils in their home
country and expatriate
countries are seen by many
with particular interest in the
light of the liberation struggle
and the war desolation our kith
an kin face back home. In the
view of the world, the attention
gatherings, readings and
writings representing the Sri
University of London (SOAS),
British Library and the
Indian Section of Cambridge
University, are limited in their
utility because of the general
absence of Tamil speaking
personnel working in these
institutions.
Young researchers of the
universities of the world, who
wish to engage in studies
| Launguage & culture
would have been published, had
a favourable situation existed.
Should we ask ourselves as to
why Tamil libraries, archives
and book shops have not been
established and developed as
much as temples and shops
have proliferated in expatriate
countries, the answer would
be only one. It is because that
libraries, archives and book
shops do not bring in
as much money as
temples and other
commercial ventures
would. Though this
sounds bitter, it is the
truth!
An archive for
Sri Lankan Tamils
in Expatriate countries
Lankan Tamils are being looked
upon with an interest primarily
focused on the art of war.
Many important matters have
been overlooked due to the
above attitude. It is obvious that
this would eventually create a
negative impact on Sri Lankan
Tamils. It is a fact that we, the
expatriate Tamils, do not have
any institutionalized resources
to fulfil the needs of Tamils
or others coming forward to
engage in researches and
studies on subjects related
to Sri Lankan Tamils’ life,
politics, literature and other
matters. We who consider us
intellectuals are obliged to ask
ourselves whether we have
done anything constructive
towards this issue.
The collections and works
related to Sri Lankan
Tamils found in the
libraries of educational
institutions like The School
of Oriental and African
Studies,
of the
N.Selvarajah
Co-ordinator-ETDRC
Tel : 00 44 (0) 158 270 3786
Fax : 00 44 (0) 208 908 0452
E.mail : [email protected]
Website: www.vethathiri.edu.in
related to Sri Lankan Tamils,
invariably turn their attention to
other subjects related to Tamils
in Tamil Nadu. This is because
of the lack of accessible data
and information and due to the
risks of travelling to Sri Lanka
because
of the war. This has
robbed
Sri Lankan Tamils
of
valuable works
of
research and
studies which
Wishing to usher in a
change in this situation
at least at this juncture
we have recently
created the ‘European
Tamil Documentation
and Research Centre’ –
ETDRC in London.
Though this is a small
step we are certain
that this institution
will create meaningful
development in the intellectual
lives of the expatriate Tamils in
the future.
We have taken necessary steps
to register this institution as
a Tamil Research Centre with
the Charity Commission in the
United Kingdom. (Registered
Charity No. 1127365)
As the next stage in this project
we have begun to identify
individuals who show keen
interest in the sphere
of Sri Lankan Tamils
and to invite them
into our institution;
we are also collecting
books, documents
and other written
works on this subject.
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