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Month Ending July 2009
Tamils - a Trans State
Nation: Tamil Eelam Freedom Struggle & Tamil Nadu
 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi on the
Art of the Possible - and Living in Hope " ‘Tamil
Eelam’ was no more a realistic possibility says Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister... Karunanidhi
recalled that DMK founder C N Annadurai had shelved the
party’s core demand — creating a separate Dravidian state
(Dravida Nadu) — in 1962 to avoid proscription. " together
with Comment by tamilnation.org
"It should
not come too much as a surprise that Chief Minister Karunanidhi who was vociferous in his support for an
independent Tamil Eelam during the Indira Gandhi regime now tells his
'udan pirapukal' that they should follow in the foosteps of the DMK which
had shelved the demand for Dravida Nadu in 1962 to avoid proscription. We are
reminded of the old story about the fox.. வால் வெட்டின நரிக் கதை..."
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Tamil Digital Renaissance
Tamils: a Trans State Nation -
Singapore
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Revisited:
Tongue-Tied in Singapore:
A Language Policy for Tamil? - Harold F. Schiffman "Egalitarianism
and Equality - "Much is made in Singapore of how policies are egalitarian,
especially the ethnicity policy. But an example from the literature
on North America, French in Canada, may be apt. In French Canada
(and in adjacent parts of New England) the French language is spoken
by a minority of about 5 million, surrounded by a sea of 270 million
English speakers. In that situation, the Québécois express the
feeling (LaPonce, 1987) that legal egalitarianism is simply not
enough, and have attempted to legally restrict and diminish the
domains of English within the French-speaking territory. Though this
enrages many English Canadians, who feel that egalitarianism is what
the law requires, and is inherently fair, the francophones, however,
contend that egalitarianism is not equal, because it does not lead
to equal outcomes, but in the case of Canada, to English dominance.
In this situation, the only way to guarantee equal outcomes, that
is, that French speakers will be French-dominant bilinguals, is to
create a “safe haven,” a reserved space for French, so that the
overwhelming dominance of English can be kept at bay. Similarly in
Singapore, the egalitarianism seems to exist only on paper; the
outcome of the policy has not led to the strengthening of Tamil, and
the housing policy has guaranteed that no territory for Tamil will
exist. In the final analysis, egalitarianism is not equality if one
group is ten times the size of the other, whether in North America
or in Singapore. "
more |
Month Ending June 2009
Tamil National Forum
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1.
தொல்காப்பியன்
writes from Switzerland -தமிழ்த் தேசியத்தை விழுங்க முயற்சிக்கும் சிங்கள தேசியம்
- "இராணுவ ரீதியாகத் தமிழ் மக்களின் விடுதலைப் போராட்டத்தை
அடக்கிய சிங்கள அரசு, இப்போது வரலாற்று ரீதியாக அவர்களை
அடிமைப்படுத்தி, தமிழ்த் தேசியத்தைச் சிதைக்கும் முயற்சியில்
இறங்கியுள்ளது... தமிழ் மக்களின் தாயகக் கோட்பாட்டைச்
சிதைத்து, அவர்களின் தனித்துவமான தேசிய அடையாளங்களை அழிப்பதன்
மூலம் தன்னாட்சி உரிமைக்கான எழுச்சியையும் கோரிக்கையையும்
பலவீனப்படுத்துவது தான் சிங்களத்தின் நாசகாரத் திட்டம்...அடுத்த
கட்டமாக ‘ஈழம்’ என்ற வார்த்தையையே இல்லாமல் செய்வதற்கு சிங்கள
அரசாங்கம் குறிவைத்திருக்கிறது. ஈழம், தமிழ், முஸ்லிம் போன்ற
வார்த்தைகளை கொண்ட கட்சிகளின் பெயர்களைத் தடைசெய்ய அரசாங்கம்
முயற்சிப்பதாகத் தகவல்கள் வெளியாகின்றன. "
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2.
செல்லத்துரை சத்தியநாதன் -
தலைவர் வீரச்சாவு விடயத்தில் உண்மை உறங்கக்கூடாது
'நமது உணர்வுகளின் தேவை மட்டுமல்ல
அரசியல் தேவையும் கூட
... தலைவர் அவர்கள் வீரச்சாவடைந்தமை
தெரிந்திருந்தும் அதனை மறுப்பதும் மறைப்பதும்
ஒரு அடிப்படை நேர்மையீனம். இந்த நேர்மையீனம் சுயநலத்தின்
அடிப்படையிலிருந்து எழுகிறது என வாதிட நான்
முன்வரவில்லை. மாறாக, எந்தப் பொதுநோக்கு
காரணமாவும் நாம் நேர்மையீனத்தை
நியாயப்படுத்திவிட முடியாது."
more |
Indictment Against Sri Lanka
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| The
Charge is Ethnic Cleansing - Sri Lanka's 60 Year Record - Nadesan Satyendra ...
"Ethnic
cleansing is about assimilating a people. It is about destroying the
identity of a people, as a people. And it often occurs in stages.
The preferred route of a conqueror is to achieve his objective
without resort to violence - peacefully and stealthily. But when
that fails,
the would be conqueror turns to murderous violence and genocide
to progress his assimilative agenda. Genocides do not just happen.
In the island of Sri Lanka, the
record shows that during the past sixty years and more, the intent and goal of all Sinhala governments
(without exception) has been to secure the island
as a Sinhala
Buddhist Deepa. The current Sri Lanka President Mahinda
Rajapaksa is simply the latest in a long line of leaders of
the Sinhala Buddhist nation, a nation which dare not speak
its name. It is a nation which seeks to
masquerade as
a multi
ethnic 'civic' 'Sri Lankan' nation - albeit with a
Sinhala Lion flag , with an unrepealed
Sinhala
Only Act, with
Buddhism as the state religion, and with the Sinhala name
'Sri Lanka' which it
gave itself
unilaterally in 1972 ....."
more |
| The Accused in the Dock - Sinhala
Sri Lanka
Heads of Government - 1948 todate... |
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Tamils - a Trans State Nation -
Tamil Nadu
Reflections
"...We
who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked
through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of
bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient
proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the
last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given
set of circumstances, to choose one's own way... Since
Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since
Hiroshima we
know what is at stake..."
Viktor Frankl in Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning
 “... There are those, and they are often sincere people,
who say to Negroes and their allies in the white
community, that we should slow up and just be nice and
patient and continue to pray, and in a hundred or two
hundred years the problem will work itself out because
only time can solve the problem... I think there is an
answer to that myth. And it is that time is neutral. It
can be used either constructively or destructively. And
I'm absolutely convinced that the forces of ill-will in
our nation, the extreme rightists in our nation, have
often used time much more effectively than the forces of
good will... Somewhere we must come to see that social
progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability.
It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent
work of dedicated Individuals. And without this hard
work, time itself becomes an ally of the primitive
forces of social stagnation. And so we must help
time, and we must realise that the time is always right
to do right.." Martin Luther King
- Speech at
Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, 1968
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Tamils - a Trans State Nation
Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam to include
Tamil National
Forum
|
1. Krishna
Ambalavanar writes from Switzerland
இன்றைய
வரலாற்றுக் கடமை "தோல்வியில் இருந்து மீண்டெழுதல், இன்றைய வரலாற்றுக் கடமை இது. “இயற்கை எனது நண்பன். வாழ்க்கை எனது தத்துவாசிரியன்.
வரலாறு எனது வழிகாட்டி.”
இது தமிழீழத் தேசியத் தலைவர் வே.பிரபாகரன் கூறிய மிகப் பிரபல்யமான கருத்து.......தமிழீழ தேசிய விடுதலைப் போராட்டம் பாரிய பின்னடைவைச் சந்தித்தற்கான
காரணங்கள் ஆராயப்பட்டு, அவை கண்டறியப்பட வேண்டும். அப்போது தான் எமது வரலாற்றுத்
தோல்வியில் இருந்து எம்மால் மீட்சிபெற முடியும்.
தோல்வியில் இருந்து பாடம் கற்கின்ற
மனிதனே வரலாற்றைப் படைப்பான்..."
more
2. Shan
Thavarajah writes from Switzerland -
உண்மைகள்
பிடிவாதமானவை
"ஏசுவார்கள்
எரிப்பார்கள்
உண்மையை எழுது
உண்மையாகவே எழுது"
யோகர் சுவாமிகள்
இன்று புலம்பெயர்
தமிழ் மக்களிடையே ஒரு உண்மையை மறைத்து விடுவதற்குப் பகிரங்க
முயற்சி நடப்பதைக் கண்கூடாகக் காண்கின்றோம்... உண்மைக்கு
முன்பு நடுநிலைமை என்று ஏதும் இல்லை எனக் கூறும் ஊடகங்கள்
நடுநிலைமையுடன் நடக்கவும் இல்லை, உண்மையை வெளிப்படுத்தவும்
இல்லை. சிறி லங்கா அரசுடனான ஊடக யுத்தத்தில் உயிர்ப்பலியான
மாமனிதர்கள், நாட்டுப்பற்றாளர்கள் போன்றோர் பணியாற்றிய
ஊடகங்கள் கூட இதுவிடயத்தில் சரியான ஒரு நிலைப்பாட்டை
எடுக்கவில்லை என்பதே கவலைக்குரியது..."
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Comments
to include
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முயன்றால் முடியும்
-
MakizhNan.P, Madison, USA
"தங்களுடைய
தமிழர்களுக்கான இணையம் அருமையாக உள்ளது. தற்செயலாக சாதி பற்றி தேடிய பொழுது
இவ் இணையத்தை படிக்க
நேர்ந்தாலும்,
அருமையான விடயங்களை தவறவிட்டு விட்டோம்
என்ற எண்ணம் மேலோங்கியது.
ஈழத்தின் திறவுகோல் தமிழகத்தின் கையில் உள்ளது,
ஆனால் தமிழகமோ
சாதிப் பிடியில் உள்ளது.
முயன்றால் முடியும்.
அன்புடன்
" |
International
Relations in the Age of Empire - India
|
1. Today
- India
Bans Communist Party of India -Maoist (CPI-M)
"The Indian government has banned the Maoist
Communist Party of India as a terrorist group, giving security forces
enhanced powers of arrest. The move provides Indian police with the power to
detain members of the party even if they have not been involved in insurgent
activity. Earlier, five states across east and central India were put on a
high alert as the Maoists called a two-day strike. One district in West
Bengal briefly fell under almost total Maoist control. The rebels said the
strike they declared was in response to the "war" on people in Lalgarh, West
Bengal, where security forces launched an offensive in recent days. Lalgarh
had been under the virtual control of the rebels since November..."
more
 2.
Two Years Ago 'It’s outright war and both sides are choosing their weapons'
-
Arundhati Roy
in conversation with Shoma Chaudhury, Tehelka, March 2007
"...
to equate a resistance movement fighting against enormous
injustice with the government which enforces that injustice is
absurd. The government has slammed the door in the face of every
attempt at non-violent resistance. When people take to arms,
there is going to be all kinds of violence — revolutionary, lumpen and
outright criminal. The government is responsible for the monstrous
situations it creates...does this mean that people
whose dignity is being assaulted should give up the fight because
they can’t find saints to lead them into battle?. "
more
 3.
25
years ago
India's Simmering Revolution: The Naxalite
Uprising
- Sumanta Banerjee
"...The term `Naxalite' (from Naxalbari) has continued to
symbolize any assault on the assumptions and institutions that support the
established order in India. It has become a part of the common speech all
over India, and along with 'Huk' of Philippines, 'Al Fatah' of Palestine and
`Tupamaros' of Uruguay, has today found a place in the vocabulary of world
revolution...
Obituarists of the movement have always proved to be
premature in their pronouncements. If the movement was contained and
declared "crushed" in one part of India it soon erupted in another,
sometimes a very unexpected corner of the country. Naxalbari was followed by
Srikakulam: Srikakulam by Debra-Gopiballavpur;
Debra-Gopiballavpur by Birbhum; Birbhum by Bhojpur —where still today,
peasant guerrillas of the CPI (M-L) continue to fight back against a
repressive feudal regime...
The ideologue of the movement — fiery-eyed, frail Charu Mazumdar, who was a
victim of cardiac asthma and was driven to death by police persecution — was
fond of saying:
"No word ever dies. Our words remain embedded among the
people...
One who doesn't dream and can't make
others dream, can never become a revolutionary."
more |
Tamil Diaspora: a
Trans State Nation - United Kingdom to
include
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1. Tamils
march in London over Sri Lanka’s concentration camps
"...The UK, the USA, and other European countries which had
banned the LTTE, having played a major part in its demise,
found themselves unable to protect the now defenceless Tamil
civilians from the onslaught by the Sri Lankan state. The
Sri Lankan government used its sovereignty as a shield to
keep away these countries whilst it carried out its genocide
with impunity. It is continuing to use the same argument to
prevent the international community from investigating its
war crimes against Tamils..."
British Tamil Forum Memorandum to UK Prime Minister, Gordon
Brown |
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2.
Geetha Maheshwaran
Reflects on Giving a Sympathetic Ear and Going
Marching "... In April,
a march was organized in central London and, for the first
time in my life, I decided that I needed to go and be part
of this public protest. We took our 13 year old son, who
felt passionately that he needed to go and support his
fellow Tamils in Sri Lanka, and I was moved to tears to see
the sheer number of people, of all ages and from all walks
of life, walking and chanting together in unity to make
their voices heard. It felt so good to be able to do
something, however small..."
more |
Reflection
| "Man can affect his own development and that of his
surroundings only so far as he has a clear view of what the possibilities of action open
to him are. To do this he has to understand the historical situation in which he finds
himself: and once he does this, then he can play an active part in modifying that
situation. The man of action is the true philosopher: and the philosopher must of
necessity be a man of action... Each of us changes himself,
modifies himself to the extent that he changes and modifies the complex relations of which
he is the heart.. The error of the intellectual consists in believing that it is
possible to know without understanding and especially without feeling and passion... that
the intellectual can be an intellectual if he is distinct and detached from the
people-nation, without feeling the elemental passions of the people, understanding them
and thus explaining them in a particular historical situation, connecting them
dialectically to the laws of history, to a superior conception of the world...
History and politics cannot be made without passion, without
this emotional bond between intellectuals and the
people-nation. In the absence of such a bond the
relations between intellectuals and the people-nation are
reduced to contacts of a purely bureaucratic, formal kind;
the intellectuals become a caste or a priesthood...'
Gramsci quoted in
Spirituality and the Tamil Nation - Nadesan Satyendra
10 May 1998, Revised 24 January 2009 |
Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam to include
|
 1. Press Release by
Selvarasa Pathmanathan, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
- Department of International Relations,
16 June
2009
2.
Press statement by Mr Visuvanathan
Rudrakumaran, Coordinator of the Committee for the formation of a Provisional
Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, 16 June 2009
3. LTTE Plans Government in Exile, Joe Leahy in Mumbai,
Financial Times, 16 June 2009
"The declaration of the transnational government may be
intended to help it keep the independence hopes of the diaspora alive so
that the LTTE can maintain its financial networks, analysts said."
more
4.
Sri Lanka rebels try to rise again after defeat
-
Ravi Nessman, The Associated Press
17 June 2009
""Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels are trying to
rise from the ashes of their devastating battlefield defeat, swearing off
violence and pledging to transform their internationally shunned terror
group into a democratic movement for Tamil statehood. Their rebranding
effort faces long odds.
There are also signs that the Tamil Diaspora is divided over whom to support.
The TamilNet Web site, seen as a mouthpiece for the rebels, has refused to carry
statements from Pathmanathan ..."
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Tamil National
Forum
| 1. N.Sivarama Krishnan on
Coming to
Terms with the Death of Prabhakaran "...It
is high time that we accept the reality that most of our
dearest leaders, including V.Prabhakaran, were killed on
that fateful day of 17 May at Mullivaikkal. If we believe
that He will come back and stage Eelam war 5, we are
deceiving ourselves and afraid of accepting the reality. We
all know that whoever who is born in this earth, has to die
one day. Our fore fathers thus said “ Mudi sarnthu Nadanra
Mannarum Mudivil Oru Pidi Sambalavaar” – Even the king who
was crowned and ruled the country, at the end will become
handful of ashes”. So, our Prabhakaran is also no exception.
Physically, he is no more with us. But he lives in his
spirit, in our hearts as a leader who took our nation glory
to an unprecedented height..."
more |
| |
| 2. Dr.R.Lambotharam writes from Canada
- |
|
எங்கள்
வரலாற்றுக் கடமை "எமது உணர்ச்சிகளை உரமாக்கி, ஒருங்கிணைந்து தமிழர் என்ற உணர்வோடு மட்டுமல்லாது
விவேகத்தோடும் நமது சமகால நிகழ்வுகளையும், இழப்புகளையும், சவால்களையும்,
பொறுப்புகளையும் அணுகவேண்டிய காலம் இது.."
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3. Sachi Sri Kantha writes from Japan -
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A Gift to King Mahinda
"It seems that these days, President Mahinda Rajapakse seems to be enjoying his
newly anointed role as the King of Sri Lanka. The first segment of his surname
‘Raja’ literally means a king. He and his courtiers are floating in the air. I
thought that it wouldn’t be bad to present him with a gift of a story..."
more and...
Mervyn de Silva on
Prabhakaran - 19 Years Ago
|
Sathyam Commentary
Confronting the Death of Velupillai Prabhakaran - Nadesan Satyendra,
18 June 2009
"I have never met Velupillai Prabhakaran. Neither have I ever
spoken to him. I did not know him personally. Again, it is not that I have agreed with everything that he
said or did. Yet, when he died on
17 May 2009, I felt a deep sense of personal loss. I grieved. In my
grief I was moved to revisit the words of
Fidel Castro Ruz at his trial in October 1953 -
'...The man who abides by unjust laws and permits any man to
trample and mistreat the country in which he was born is not an
honorable man. When there are many men without honor, there are
always others who bear in themselves the honor of many men.
These are the men who rebel with great force against those who
steal the people's freedom, that is to say, against those who
steal honor itself. In those men thousands more are contained,
an entire people is contained, human dignity is contained ... "
Velupillai Prabhakaran rebelled with
great force against those who stole his people's freedom. In him, something
of the
honour and dignity of an entire people, an entire nation was contained. It is not
surprising therefore that his death evoked a deep sense of personal
loss amongst those who feel - and who feel deeply - that they belong to that people and to
that nation. It would have been surprising if it had not.
It is also understandable that there are those amongst the
Tamil people, in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere, who have found it difficult to
reconcile themselves to his death and want to believe that he continues to live.
Understandable, but they do a great disservice both to Velupillai Prabhakaran
and to the cause for which he gave more than 37 years of his life..."
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