Hi Basavaraj (and welcome to the list!):
Arguendo, that Sanskti is socially irrelevant, why should a Wikipedia in that language not exist by force of action given that one already exists and is active? Would that not be a morally egregious position - to state that it should *not* exist? In my humble view, there is a big difference between forcefully shutting something that is active down and in not encouraging activity on something that is dormant.
Also, Wikipedia in any language is not a body of work about that language but an encyclopedia in that language - the two aren't really analogous.
Thank you.
Best,
Gautam ________ http://social.prathambooks.org/
On 26 February 2011 16:31, Basavaraj Itnal basavarajitnal@yahoo.com wrote:
some reading on brahmanical tyranny, lack of social relevence of sanskrit and related topics
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Be3PCvzf-BYC&pg=PA286&lpg=PA286&a...
http://www.ambedkar.org/brahmanism/Brahmins_were_benefited_by_Muslim_Conques...
http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/sanskrit_exposure.htm
Basavaraj N Itnal
--- On Sat, 2/26/11, Arun Ramarathnam arunram25@gmail.com wrote:
From: Arun Ramarathnam arunram25@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Is it morally right for govts to support sanskrit wikipedia? To: "Wikimedia India Community list" wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Cc: "Basavaraj Itnal" basavarajitnal@yahoo.com Date: Saturday, February 26, 2011, 10:36 AM
Basavaraj, First of all, welcome to the mailing list and thanks for you interest in wikipedia. On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 3:01 PM, Basavaraj Itnal basavarajitnal@yahoo.com wrote:
- Till the Britsh Raj, Brahmins kept a large part of Indian society out of bounds from knowledge which was in Sanskrit. They had provisions to pour molten lead into the ears of non-brahmins (including all women) who even heard a word of sanskrit. knowledge contained in that language is now available in English and Sanskrit only symbolises tyranny. Do we need Wikipedia in Sanskrit with the support of govt funding?
On you question on government support for a specific language, it would be inappropriate for anyone to comment on behalf of government action. They (govt) are probably best positioned to respond to that query. As a far support for wikipedia or wikipedia is concerned, given there is a lot of volunteer work to be done, support from any quarters is welcome - individuals or organisations is welcome. The intention of this list is to connect wikipedians and those interested in wikipedia. Wikipedia seeks to collate the sum total off all knowledge and make it available for all to use freely. That includes as many languages as possible including Sanskrit and Pali. We should also bear in mind the following as well;
- The eight schedule of the Indian constitution lists Sanskrit as one of the 22 languages [1]
- Sanskrit is also the official language of one of the states of India - Uttarkhand. [2]
- Why cannt we have a wikepedia in Pali as well, the language which was used by Budha and which can give us an alternate view on life to that of vedic view?
This has been answered by others on the list. You are welcome to contribute to Pali or any other language of your choice / interest on wikipedia.Volunteer content contributions are most welcome. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_languages_of_India [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttarkhand best regards Arun
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