Tamils - a Trans State Nation..

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Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's pains and pains' relief are from within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."
-
Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C 

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Home > Tamils - a Nation without a State> Tsunami Disaster &  Tamil Eelam > R.Cholan Writes to President Kumaratunga 

Tsunami Disaster & Tamil Eelam

R.Cholan Writes to President Kumaratunga
12 January 2004

Hon. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga,
The President,
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,
Colombo,
Sri Lanka.


Dear President Kumaratunga:

I got all choked up when I heard of your announcement to adopt a �Tamil� child orphaned by the tsunami. What a wonderful gesture it is, for the �ethnic� Sinhalese president of the country to adopt an �ethnic� Tamil child, at a time when the country is torn apart precisely by this �ethnic� difference. Your secretary�s statement that it is a �personal decision� and not a �political� one, adds to the nobility of your decision.

In an era where your neighboring country, India, has experienced difficulties with adoptions across ethnic and religious lines (Brahmin v. non-Brahmin, Hindu v. Muslim), your intention is indeed a courageous one and I commend you for it.

I would like to, however, ask that you to follow Mahatma Gandhi�s advice in a similar situation.

Gandhi was fasting to protest the Hindu-Muslim riots, where the Hindus and Muslims were killing each other. A remorseful Hindu, who had killed an innocent Muslim to avenge the killing of his son by a Muslim mob, approached Gandhi to beg for clemency. The Mahatma said to him: �Go adopt a child� Be sure it�s a Muslim child� Only, raise him as a Muslim��

Please adopt a Tamil child, Ms. Kumaratunga, but be sure to raise that child as a Tamil.

Be a good mother and talk to that child in Tamil. Teach him/her the Tamil language (you have to learn it first, of course). Sit with that child, all day if you can, and teach him/her the wonders of his/her heritage� the arts, the music, the drama, the literature, the customs and the magnificent history. Raise that child to be a proud Tamil � A Tamil child has every reason to be proud of the Tamil ancestry.

Sri Lanka, painfully divided along ethnic lines, needs a magnanimous gesture like the one you have just announced.

Only, please do it right.

Sincerely and with warmest regards

R. Cholan

USA
 


 

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