L2/07-065

From: "MAHESH MANGALAT" <maheshmangalat@gmail.com>
Date: 2007-02-06 00:11:29 -0800
Subject: Atomic Chillu Encoding Issue

Code points for Chillu characters in Malayalam is one pending issue which require to be resolved. In this context, let me remind you that the first request for code points for Chillu characters were from the report that was created by an "expert committee" in Kerala, in 2001, which was summarily rejected by UTC. It is proved within the document itself, that it was prepared by persons who do not know the Unicode standard and does not understand character encoding.

The present code points assigned to Malayalam, to my understanding, is right, and in case Chillu characters are encoded there will be problem of dual encoding. I have followed carefully the discussions in Indic list and in boologaclub, a blog in Malayalam, where a discussion on the issue is carried out and documents submitted by Chithrajakumar, Gangadharan and Rajeev Sebastian, who have dealt in detail in 2005 itself, the issues raised in 2007, in 3 or 4 documents, and proved that atomic Chillu encoding is not worthwhile.

It is worth noting that persons arguing for atomic chillus bring one argument, and leave it when it encounter logical arguments and they move to some other points. The last argument in this sequence is that related to IDN.

The argument in favour of Chillu encoding has been that the ZWJ is ignorable in IDN. Rajeev Sebastian's paper has shown that chillu encoding could not be a solution as such, and if Chillu are encoded that would lead to Spoofing of websites. After IDN issues have been shown as irrelevant, now they have fallen back on the stand that chillu encoding is an official policy, and that it is the wish of the Kerala Government.

UTC can well override Government policy, if it feels a proposal not valid or illogical, as done in the case of Tibetan and Tamil Unicode New Encoding (TUNE).

The request for Chillu encoding has no technical or linguistic rationale. For your understanding, I sincerely remind you that this is for saving the prestige of some 2 or 3 persons in the bureaucracy who prepared an absurd document on behalf of the government. UTC, as an esteemed organisation should not be a toy in the hands of 2 or 3 people behaving arbitrarily.

Dr.Mahesh Mangalat, Mangalat,S.K.B.S.Road,Mahe.673 310.

Dept. of Malayalam,M.G.Govt.Arts College,Mahe