Attachment to the Mother Tongue in the Western Countries:

In the Christian religion, which has spread widely across the world, there was a time when all forms of rituals were conducted only in the Latin language. The foundational and living scripture of the religion, the Bible, was in Latin. Priests, who worked as religious leaders, and those who wished to understand the religion or perform its rituals and ceremonies to gain spiritual and material benefits, were required to learn the Latin language.

Latin was considered the "language of divine rule," "language of worship," "language of penance," "language of divinity," "language of the gods," and so on. It was believed that no language other than Latin could convey God's grace or divine power. Anyone who thought differently or opposed this, or who tried to consider any other language, would be seen as heretics, atheists, deniers of God, great sinners who deserve divine punishment. This was a very clear and authoritative belief within Christianity till 11th century CE.

Thus, those who lived in the European continent, who valued their mother tongue, yearned and struggled to read the Bible in their native language, perform worship, and conduct religious ceremonies in their mother tongue. Their desire was seen by the religious authorities, religious scholars, and Latin language enthusiasts as wrong, extremely dangerous, akin to a dreadful disease, and an unforgivable sin. As a result, Christian religious leaders and scholars viewed attachment to the mother tongue as a sentiment against religion, an act of treason, and an unforgivable sin.

Furthermore, the attachment to the mother tongue was considered unnecessary, useless, empty, and something that could lead to religious poverty, and it was against religious unity and oneness. Therefore, no one with religious faith should cultivate attachment to the mother tongue. Those who lived with such attachment would weaken the strength of religion. The language enthusiasts were seen as causing the decline and loss of the prosperity of religion, diminishing its glory, and impacting its influence and power. As a result, the idea was spread that everyone should reject the madness, hatred, and dangerous disease of attachment to the mother tongue, and that over time, it should be completely eradicated.

To promote this idea, the attempt was made to transform the Latin language, which was the divine language of rule, into a language of worldly governance. As a result, those who held attachment to their mother tongue were forced to develop bitterness towards religious institutions and governance. That bitterness exploded like an erupting volcano. As a result, in the 12th century, a wealthy man named Peter Waldo became the first to translate the Bible into French. That translation spread like wildfire.

The Christian religious leaders feared this. They feared that the French language was threatening the Latin language, which had been the language of religious governance, and that this threat would soon reach the religion. Consequently, religious scholars, leaders, and zealots declared, “For the unity and oneness of the religion, there must be only one language as the governing language in the religious world”—meaning “only if one language remains the governing language in the religion will unity, attachment, love, equality, and brotherhood thrive!”. They all shouted in unison.

As a result, direct struggles and wars broke out between those who valued the mother tongue and those who supported the religion. The religious zealots, in complete agreement, acted upon the belief that “those who value the mother tongue will become traitors, enemies, great traitors, and criminals deserving of severe punishment." The religious zealots began to see those who valued their mother tongue as their enemies, despising and excluding them.

Thus, the fear that attachment to the mother tongue would destroy the growth of the religion, the powerful governance, the unity, and the solid oneness began to erupt like an inferno. Countless innocent people, in their ignorance and foolishness, began to despise and reject their mother tongue. They themselves became traitors and enemies to their mother tongue. Because of this, they became slaves to the Latin language. They raised the flag of war to spread the Latin language. They issued declarations stating, “Those who reject the Latin language do not belong in the realm of religion.” Thus, the mother tongue traitors and enemies began to emerge in the European continent, claiming that the Latin language was essential for religious unity and oneness.

Not only that, all those obsessed with religion became slaves of the Latin language, turning into subjects, mindless followers, and guardians. They proclaimed that

• "studying Latin is the true religious life,"
• "serving the Latin language is true religious service,"
• "loving the Latin language brings divine love," and
• "the Latin language is the soul of the religion."

However, other ideas arose:

• "Only through the mother tongue do national and cultural consciousnesses sprout and flourish,"
• "A person without a mother tongue is like a person without sight,"
• "A person who betrays the mother tongue is capable of any disgraceful act,"
• "One who forgets and abandons their mother tongue is worse than a beast,"
• "A person who sells their mother and father is worse than a prostitute,"
• "A person who doesn't fight for their mother tongue is a cowardly chicken,"
• "A person who doesn't live through their mother tongue is a miserable orphan,"
• "One who lives for the mother tongue will attain salvation and elevation,"
• "The knowledge of the mother tongue gives purity, truth, and divinity,"
• "One without knowledge of the mother tongue is like a diseased fool."

These ideas were used as weapons in the battle for the mother tongue. In this intellectual and spiritual war, the mother tongue supporters in Europe emerged victorious! They won!

As a result, the sayings

• "One who knows how to respect their mother tongue will also know how to respect their own mother"
• "Only one who has a sense of attachment to their mother tongue will possess true human values,"
• "One who lacks love for their mother tongue will not know love,"
• "One who doesn't live for their mother tongue lives a ghostly life,"
• "One who abandons their mother tongue is worse than a beast,"
• "One who does not fight for their mother tongue leads a worthless life,"
• "One who doesn't preserve and honor their mother tongue is worse than a villain." began to spread.

As a result of these events, in the 14th century, John Wycliffe, who was a professor at Oxford University, became the first to translate the Christian holy scripture, the Bible, from its long-established Latin language into English. He spread it across England, Germany, and Bohemia.

Religious leaders, clergy, and religious fanatics kept issuing proclamations stating that the general public should not read this translation. However, the true connection to the mother tongue was not easily suppressed in front of these ignorant religious zealots. People gathered in large crowds in the streets and demanded to hear and read Wycliffe’s English translation of the Bible.

At that time, under pressure from the religious zealots, the government sent its guards to disperse the crowds in the streets and forcefully break them up with whips. Yet, the people, deeply attached to their native language, stood in the streets enduring beatings, reading aloud, and joyfully demanding to hear the English Bible. In this way, the people staged a peaceful revolution in favor of their mother tongue. The story of their courage, enduring punishment while standing in the streets, has earned a permanent place in world history.

That is, those who were ready to shed blood for their mother tongue were the true ones—those with purity, truth, patriotism, and genuine human qualities. This truth was written in the blood shed by the beaten people! This very truth sparked a worldwide movement, with people everywhere rising up, demanding that all events and governments should happen through their native language.

-- Taken from the writings of His Holiness Siddhar Kaakkaiyar Mr M.Palanisamy Pillai; 2nd Hereditary President of Indhu Renaissance Movement.

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/ Translation of a few pages from the book titled ‘தமிழினத் தாழ்ச்சி நிலை தொடர்ச்சி நிலையாவது ஏன்?' Published by His Holiness Siddhar Karuwooraar, the 12th Pathinensiddhar Peedam. The full book in Tamil can be read here./

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