I, Dr. Siddharth Singh (Associate Professor, Department of Pali & Buddhist Studies,BHU), have created a Facebook Page entitled “Save Pali, ancient classical Indian language of Buddhism in India” and an Online petition site entitled “Save Pali, ancient classical Indian language of Buddhism in India” on most influential petition site of the world known as “Care 2 Petition”.
This is done to bring all those on a common platform who oppose the recent Indian government’s decision to remove the Pali language & literature as a subject from the main examination of the Civil Services examination of India conducted by UPSC (Union Public service Commission). Moreover, most surprisingly, Government of India doesn’t consider Pali as a classical language of India. You can see the whole argument and news on the below mentioned Facebook link.
I am not sure how far this battle will go and when we would get the result of it, but I can’t give this up unfought on my own part. You are a reputed scholar of Buddhism and have a large following. I request you all to bring so much momentum on this issue in your own country through media and discussion so that the issue could be raised in your own parliament. In India, Buddhists are not a vote bank and therefore, despite my utmost effort, political leaders are not paying attention on this issue. However, I would keep on trying my best by persuading the people through writing and conversation. Kindly do whatever you can do to mount a pressure on the Indian government to roll back its decision.
You may sign on the Petition Site by clicking on the following link. You can see that the people from the whole world are protesting this decision by signing on it.:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/979/079/931/save-pali-ancient-classical-i...
You may join us on Facebook by clicking on:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/586673281343224/
I have sent the whole news to the National and International Media also. You can see the complete news on the following links:
Times of India:
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-05/varanasi/39041874...
Buddhist Channel (Malaysia & Germany):
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=70,11414,0,0,1,0
LankaWeb (Sri Lankan Website):
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2013/04/17/save-pali-ancient-classica...
Vietnamese Website:
http://tuvientuongvan.com.vn/news_detail/1478/1/Phat-tu-Viet-Nam-dong-ta...
Matters India (Indian News Agency):
http://mattersindia.com/palis-removal-from-ias-exams-irks-scholars/
Buddha Channel (France):
http://www.buddhachannel.tv/portail/spip.php?article22445
Any Faith Church Website (Malaysia):
http://www.anyfaithchurch.com/2013/04/15/buddhist-news/save-pali-ancient...
Wild Mind Buddhist Meditation Website (USA):
http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/news/save-pali-ancient-classical-indian-la...
Amulet Forums Website (Thailand):
http://amuletforums.com/threads/save-pali-ancient-classical-indian-langu...