Tamils mobilize against Indian consulate in Durban (full news from South African website)

TAMILS IN SOUTH AFRICA EMBARK ON MASSIVE PROTEST CAMPAIGN AGAINST INDIAN CONSUL RULING IN DURBAN

By Subry Govender

South Africans of Tamil-origin have embarked on a massive campaign to expose the discriminatiory practice of the Indian Consul office in the city of Durban to force those wanting to learn Tamil at the Consul office to pay for their tuition while not imposing a similar ruling  for those learning Hindi.

They are also collecting signatures of protest to hand petitions  to the Indian High Commission in Pretoria.

The latest moves follow the failure of their talks with the Consul General, Mr Rajagopalan Raghunathan, at the Consul office on Monday, March 24.

The president of the South African Tamil Federation, Mr Karthi Moothsamy; the President of the International Movement for Tamil Culture in South Africa/Africa, Mr Micky Chetty; Mr Richard Govender, president of the KwaZulu-Natal region of the Tamil Federation; and Ms Mala Lutchman, a Tamil teacher and scholar; Mrs Mallie Pillay, a Tamil scholar, held talks with the Consul General following the controversy over the Consul decision.

Ms Pillay said they were disappointed at the manner in which they were treated.
"The Consul General spoke to us in the reception area and did not have the decency to host us in his board room," she said.

"He told us that he was merely implementing a decision taken in New Delhi and, therefore, could not help us."

"We were all disgusted at the manner in which we were treated. What we cannot understand is that while we in South Africa are recovering from racial discrimination, the action of the Indian Consul office amounts to promoting ethnic divisions within the Indian-origin people here.

"What is surprising is that we were using the Consul office for three years free of charge. It was only in June last year that they asked to pay R50 a month. Some of us paid the money but when we were asked to pay the fee again this year, we felt that this was not fair. One of my friends who was learning Hindi said she could not understand why we should pay," she said.

Ms Pillay said all the organisations would send the petititions to the Indian High Commission.

Mr Moothsamy, president of the Tamil Federation, said the "the matter is being handled".

A veteran struggle stalwart, 86-year-old Mr Swaminathan Gounden, whose father and mother were from Tamil Nadu, said it was shameful that such a ruling should have been introduced by the Consul.

"We struggled all our lives to overcome racial discrimination but now we are being discriminated along language lines by those representing  India here," he said.
Mr Gounden, who was banned and house-arrested for more than 10 years during the dark days of apartheid, is now a Board member of Southside FM Radio, a radio station to be launched for those whose mother tongues are Tamil and Telegu.

"I sincerely hope that reason would prevail and that no barriers are put in place for those who want to learn Tamil at the Indian Consulate.
"India has played a great role in our liberation and now must not be found to be discriminating against South Africans whose mother tongues are Tamil. We want to promote our languages, cultures, traditions and music so that our future generations will not lose their roots and heritage."

The president of the KwaZulu-Natal region of the South African Tamil Federation, Mr Richard Govender, said the Indian Government should not practise discrimination of any kind.

"We want to  make it clear that there should be no discrimination whatsoever in the promotion of our languages by the Indian Government.  We make up the majority of the people of Indian-origin in South Africa and we believe that both Tamil and Hindi should be taught by the Consul without any financial constraints," he said.
The Indian Consul, Mr Rajagopalan Raghunathan, was not available for comment.