11th World Tamil Conference to be held in Singapore between June 16 and 18

CHENNAI: The 11th International Conference-Seminar on Tamil Studies aka World Tamil Conference (WTC) will be organised by the International Association of Tamil Research (IATR) between June 16 and 18 in Singapore.  

Dr M Ponnavaikko, president of IATR, announced this addressing presspersons here on Saturday. He said many of these previous conferences were co-sponsored by political or government entities but this conference is sponsored by the IATR and The Millennial Tamils of Singapore.  

Ponnavaikko said he and other office-bearers of the IATR have sought an appointment with Chief Minister MK Stalin to invite him to the WTC in Singapore.  

"The new historicist study to rewrite the history of the Tamils, Tamil language, literature, culture and civilisation based on Tamil classics and reevaluations of early and recent excavations and other scientific evidence" is the theme of the 11th WTC. Dr Ponnavaikko said this theme has been set consistent with the objective of the principal objective of the IATR to promote multidisciplinary research.

Asked about the reports that IATR decided to conduct the 11th WTC at Sharjah in July next year, Ponnavaikko said he was unanimously elected as the president of IATR after the 10th WTC. "Someone else claiming to be the president and announcing decisions are illegal and such claims should be ignored. Also, the IATR executive committee has not approved the conference at Sharjah."