Tamils - a Trans State Nation..

"To us all towns are one, all men our kin.
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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thirukural
Whatever may be said, who ever may say it - to
determine the truth of it, is wisdom - Thirukural

Reflections 2009 : Chinthanaigal



Reflection by Jayalakshmi Satyendra

August 2009

தனிவழிப் பயணம்தான்... தயங்கோம்
எது வந்து எதிர்த்தாலும்... மயங்கோம்
வாழ்வை நிமிர்த்தும்.. வழியில் செல்ல...
மறுக்கோம்...
Oru Paper, UK

"..One aspect of the deprivation of the Tamil nation is the paucity of intellectual investment made at a local level. Like capital on a global scale, the intellectual resources of the Tamil people too have been drawn towards metropolitan centres, within Sri Lanka and abroad, leaving the peripheral Tamil nation impoverished and void of knowledge. However, the dialectics of oppression is such that, even as impoverishment is imposed at every level, vigorous resistance and the emergence of self confident patriotic consciousness has been nurtured by the same process. In spite of this heroic response, the existence of an intellectual void within the nation has not only been obvious but its effects highly damaging...There are two models ... The first model emphasises theoretical excellence and originality; the second effectiveness in making a practical intervention. The first could dismiss the second as eclectic; the second could criticise the first for being elitist. However, each of the two approaches are indispensable, for effective action is impossible without guidance by sound ideas, and sound ideas alone are useless if not accessible for the process of social transformation." Mahalingam Maha Uthaman, 1988

May 2009

"Once upon a time when an elephant was sleeping, a mouse came up to him and saw him sleeping so soundly that he tied the elephant with a chain. Ever since the elephant has remained a slave of the mouse. One day a cat came by and wanted to eat the mouse. The mouse ran to the elephant and asked for help. He promised the elephant that if he helped the mouse would set him free. The innocent elephant helped the mouse against the cat and then asked him to release the chains. The mouse laughed at the elephant and replied, �You don�t deserve to be set free; you are not fit for it.� After a few days the same cat came again and attacked the mouse. The mouse once again went to the elephant for help. The elephant replied, �You are dishonest; a traitor and deceiver! I won�t help you. I�ll try to break my chains by myself. It is good for the cat to eat you.� And that is exactly what happened, the cat ate the mouse and the elephant applied a bit of strength to break his own chains and was free." From a Leaflet used  by Subhas Chandra Bose, 1944

April 2009

.".. The PR technique is simple enough: minimise the human rights abuses, talk about it as a 'complex' two sided story, play up efforts at reform... If possible, it is best to put these words in the mouth of some apparently 'neutral' group of 'concerned citizens', or a lofty institute with academic credentials...The key �project� is not to reform reality, but to manage our perceptions of it... "  Richard Swift, New Internationalist, in Mind Games, July 1999

  "The notion of a �liberal� national news media is one of the most enduring and influential political myths... Some concessions are made to the broader professional standards of journalism, such as the principles of objectivity and fairness. But media owners historically have enforced their political views and other preferences by installing senior editors whose careers depend on delivering a news product that fits with the owner�s prejudices. Mid-level editors and reporters who stray too far from the prescribed path can expect to be demoted or fired. Editorial employees intuitively understand the career risks of going beyond the boundaries..." Robert Parry in Price of the 'Liberal Media' Myth, 2003

"Tactical paradox is the ability to project to the opponent a contradictory view of one's position or plan... Thus when able, they appear unable.
When employed they appear useless.
When close, they appear distant.
When distant, they appear close.
They lure through advantages,
And take control through confusion.
When angry, they appear to submit.
When proud, they appear to be humble.
When comfortable, they appear to toil.
When attached they appear separated.
They attack when the opponent is unprepared.
And appear where least expected.
This is the Strategist's way of triumph.
It must not be discussed beforehand...
Skilful strategists put themselves beyond attack by becoming invisible, seamless, without error. At the sametime they gather intelligence and analyse it in light of their objectives. They move in the same direction as the larger trends in their world, so that they can harness the timeliness of that momentum. Then they wait for their opponent to move, for well positioned Strategists are led to triumph through the actions of their opponents..."  - Sun Tzu on the Art of War

."..At no time did we underestimate the might of the Prime Minister�s (Srimavo Bandaranaike's) government. We are quite aware that she has powers enough to turn her armed forces against us. �The Prime Minister has made a radio speech touching on satyagraha. That speech is more benefiting an imperial dictator speaking to her subjects than a speech made by a democratic leader to her people. In fact the manner and the contents of her speech correctly depict the true status of the Tamil-speaking people in Ceylon. The rule over them is indeed colonial imperialism. � In her radio speech just before her departure to Great Britain, she made an appeal to those whom she called reasonable Tamils , �To disown the actions of the mischief makers, namely the Federalists�. � The factual position is that there is no section of the Tamil-speaking people, certainly in the northern and eastern provinces, which does not fervently support the satyagraha movement....� S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, Leader of the Federal Party, in the Ceylon House of Representatives, on the 1961 Satygraha Campaign, 4 March 1961

" Decolonization is always a violent phenomenon... Decolonization, which sets out to change the order of the world, is, obviously, a programme of complete disorder... In the colonies it is the policeman and the soldier who are the official, instituted go-betweens...Non Violence is an attempt to settle the colonial problem around a green baize table..  Compromise is very important in the phenomenon of decolonization, for it is very far from being a simple one... In the capitalist countries a multitude of moral teachers, counselors and 'bewilderers' separate the exploited and those in power. In the colonial countries, on the contrary, the policeman and the soldier, by their immediate presence and their frequent and direct action, maintain contact with the native and advise him by means of rifle butts and napalm not to budge..." Frantz Fanon in Wrtetched of theEarth: Concerning Violence

 

March 2009

"...we have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population. This disparity is particularly great as between ourselves and the peoples of Asia. In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security. To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming; and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objectives. We need not deceive ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and world-benefaction... We should dispense with the aspiration to �be liked� or to be regarded as the repository of a high-minded international altruism...We should cease to talk about vague and - for the Far East - unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better..."  George Kennan, Director of Policy Planning of the U.S. Dept. of State, State Department Briefing, 1948

"..The public habit of judging the relations between states from what appears in the papers adds to the confusion. It must be remembered that in international affairs things are not often what they seem to be. ..A communique which speaks of complete agreement may only mean an agreement to differ. Behind a smokescreen of hostile propaganda diplomatic moves may be taking place indicating a better understanding of each other's position...." Sardar K.M.Pannikar, Indian Ambassador to China from 1948 to 1952, and later Vice Chancellor, Mysore University in Principles and Practice of Diplomacy, 1956

"... The nation is not only the condition of culture, its fruitfulness, its continuous renewal, and its deepening. It is also a necessity. It is the fight for national existence which sets culture moving and opens to it the doors of creation. .. If man is known by his acts, then we will say that the most urgent thing today for the intellectual is to build up his nation. If this building up is true, that is to say if it interprets the manifest will of the people ... then the building of a nation is of necessity accompanied by the discovery and encouragement of universalising values. Far from keeping aloof from other nations, therefore, it is national liberation which leads the nation to play its part on the stage of history. It is at the heart of national consciousness that international consciousness lives and grows.  And this two-fold emerging is ultimately the source of all culture..." Frantz Fanon at the Congress of Black African Writers, 1959

"..எரிகின்ற நெருப்பை
அணைத்திடும் நோக்கில்
எவரேனும் வருவரோ வருவரோவென்று
எதிர் பார்த்துப் பார்த்துக்
களைத்தது போதும்..
எழுக...எழுக..
உலகத் தமிழினமே எழுக..
உண்மைகள் ஒருபோதும்
உறங்குவதில்லை..
உறங்கவும் கூடா.." Raj Swarnan

 

February 2009

C.N.Annadurai Statue in Coimbatore"India is a sub continent; it should be divided into a number of countries. The continent of Europe has 32 independent countries. No one argues that it should be a single country ruled by a single government. Similarly there is no need for India to be under a single government... Aryan influence increases within a single country called India. Welfare of the other races is crushed under Aryan rule. Uniting different races (nations) under a single country leads to rebellions and troubles. In order to prevent such troubles and bloodshed in India, we should divide India according to racial (national) lines now... Even during the days of the emperors Ashoka, Kanishkar, Samudra Gupta and Akbar, India was not a single country.

If India is divided into many countries, each country could develop its economy according to its circumstances. It would also put an end to one region robbing the resources of another. All races (nations) can achieve equality only if each race (nation) has its own country and government. We fear the thought of one race (nation) living under the rule of another. This fear gives birth to violent rebellion. It is necessary to divide India racially (nationally) to prevent such violent revolutions. The reason one race (nation) has not choked another race (nation) to death in India so far is the British guns. When the British leave, India will become a killing field [unless it is divided into different countries on racial (national) basis]." C.N. Annadurai at the Dravidar Kazagam State Conference in Tiruchi in the 1940s (Translated from Tamil to English by Thanjai Nalankilli)

"...My dear working Tamils... Vannakam. At a time when you are busy getting to work, I am pained that I have to meet you in this way. But there is no other way. My name is Muttukumar. I am a journalist. At present I am working in a newspaper in Chennai.Like you, I too have daily read the news reports and the internet of the daily killings of our fellow Tamils in Eelam. Like you I am also one of the countless Tamils who have been unable to eat or sleep.Senth Thamizh Nadu has given life to those who have come to it, but our blood relations in Eelam are dying. When we raise our voices and call for an end to this killing, the Indian imperial government says neither yes nor no and grows silent. If the Indian government�s war is just, then it should engage in that war openly. Why does it do it in secret and with deceit?..Tamil Eelam is not the need of Tamil Eelam alone, it is the need of Tamil Nadu also... Dear Tamil people, in the struggle against injustice our brothers and children (in Tamil Nadu) have taken up the weapon of the intellect. I have used the weapon of life. You use the weapon of photocopying. Yes, make copies of this pamphlet and distribute it to your friends, relatives, and students and ensure that this support for this struggle becomes greater. Nan'ri." " Thyagi Muthukumar - Last Message before Immolating himself in Chennai

January 2009

Iqbal"I lead no party; I follow no leader.. I propose, not to guide you in your decision, but to attempt the humbler task of bringing clearly to your consciousness the main principle which, in my opinion, should determine the general character of these decisions. There are communalism and communities. A community which is inspired by a feeling of ill-will towards other communities is low and ignoble. I entertain the highest respect for the customs, laws, religious and social institutions of other communities....The unity of an Indian nation, therefore, must be sought, not in the negation, but in the mutual harmony and cooperation of the many...In view of India�s infinite variety in climates, races, languages, creeds and social systems, the creation of autonomous states based on the unity of language, race, history, religion and identity of economic interests, is the only possible way to secure a stable constitutional structure in India... ... If these demands are not agreed to, then a question of a very great and far-reaching importance will arise for the community. Then will arrive the moment for independent and concerted political action by the Muslims of India. If you are at all serious about your ideals and aspirations, you must be ready for such action... In the near future our community may be called upon to adopt an independent line of action to cope with the present crisis. And an independent line of political action, in such a crisis, is possible only to a determined people, possessing a will focalized by a single purpose. ... Rise above sectional interests and private ambitions....Pass from matter to spirit. Matter is diversity; spirit is light, life and unity....one lesson I have learnt from the history of Muslims.  " Allama Muhammad Iqbal, 1930 Presidential Address, 25th Session of All India Muslim League, December 29-30, 1930 at Allahabad - 17 Years before the Birth of Pakistan

"...I have neither the moral standing nor the slightest desire to disparage the courage of those who engage in non-violence.... But, non-violence, so often recommended.. has never 'worked' in any politically relevant sense of the word, and there is no reason to suppose it ever will. It has never, largely on its own strength, achieved the political objectives of those who employed it... There are supposedly three major examples of successful nonviolence: Gandhi's independence movement, the US civil rights movement, and the South African campaign against apartheid. None of them performed as advertised. The notion that a people can free itself literally by allowing their captors to walk all over them is historical fantasy..."  Nonviolence: Its Histories and Myths - Professor Michael Neumann, 2003

"...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

"...First Habit :..You can decide within yourself how circumstances will affect you. Between what happens to you, or the stimulus, and your response to it, is your freedom or power to choose that response... Borrowing strength builds weakness. It builds weakness in the borrower because it reinforces dependence on external factors to get things done. It builds weakness in the person forced to acquiesce, stunting the development of independent reasoning, growth and internal discipline. And finally it builds weakness in the relationship. Fear replaces cooperation, and both people involved become more arbitrary and defensive...  Fifth Habit: If I were to summarise in one sentence the single most important principle I have learned in inter personal relations, it would be this: 'Seek first to understand, then to be understood.'..." Stephen Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People  Comment by tamilnation.org That which Stephen Covey has said about highly effective people may have equal applicability to a highly effective nation of people.

Continued - Reflections 2008.....

 

 

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