The Vice-Chancellor of the University and the Head of the Legal Centre for the History of South India welcomed the gathering. Professor stated that India has a 5000 years old culture, starting from the prehistoric times to the post-Independence period. The people before us have left a number of traces like the tools, weapons, sites, etc. since the prehistoric times, and it is for us to learn from these historic traces. They teach us about the past. Professor also remarked that if there was not any work by Robert Bruce Foote on Tamil Nadu, we would not know that there existed a rich history from before the migration of the Aryan speaking people to the sub-continent. Professor expressed her concerns on heritage sites being destroyed, like the Neolithic site in Bengaluru being destroyed to build a highway to the international airport there, the very unique Neolithic site in Kashmir named Burzahom being destroyed for playing cricket and the late medieval mosque Babri Masjid which was demolished in 1992. The problem is that even the law enforcement people are not aware of their duty to implement the laws preserving the historic monuments. She concluded by appealing that if the archaeological sites are not protected, then there is a chance that traces of the very diverse history of India being erased and a homogenous history invented by those in power.
Followed by this Mr. Varun Arora, Curator Legal History Museum, introduced the seminar and the Key Note Speaker of the day. He opined that Heritage is not only about the past but also it reflects the present and the future and hence it is important to cherish it. Then he introduced the key note speaker Dr. Pankaj Sharma who is the Director of Museum in Gujarat since 2018 and has attracted over 1 million people via online to the museum in the past two years.
Dr Pankaj highlighted the need to protect our culture and heritage and the issues which are faced by the professionals and the duty of citizens in helping to protect them. The Seminar was organized into 3 sessions. The First session was on the National Laws which govern the protection of the heritage and monuments. The session was chaired by Dr Kumar, Assistant Professor of History, TNNLU and had professionals shedding light on different Acts in place.
The second session was chaired by Dr Hemalatha Bhat, Assistant Professor of Sociology, TNNLU. The session had speakers sharing their knowledge on the early International Conventions and need for them.
The Third Session was chaired by Dr Amirthalingam, Associate Professor of Law, TNNLU. This session was on the recent international Conventions and their relevance in protecting the Heritage Monuments and other cultural objects. This session also addressed the others laws related to heritage and challenges in implementing these laws.
The One-Day Seminar concluded with the valedictory session. Student Volunteers shared a brief report of the day’s proceedings and the Vote of Thanks was given by Mr. Varun Arora.
