2. Sanmugam Sabesan writes from Australia -அன்று மகிந்தவின் முன்னோடிகளின் காலம்! இன்று மகிந்தவின் காலம்!! "...மகிந்த தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் போராட்டத்திற்கு தருவதற்கு ஒன்றே ஒன்றுதான் பாக்கியுள்ளது. அதைத்தான் மகிந்த ராஜபக்ச சர்வதேசத்திடமிருந்து பெற்றுத்தரப் போகின்றார். அது தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் போராட்டத்திற்கான சர்வதேசத்தின் அங்கீகாரம்!.." more

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell

1.இந்திய நலனை புறக்கணித்து இலங்கைத் தமிழர் பிரச்சினையில் தமிழகம் தலையிடாது - தமிழ் நாடு முதலமைச்சர் மு.கருணாநிதி

 2. Chennai Based Hindu Concerned about 'Tamil Nadu & LTTE Menace'

2. Editorial, Oru Paper  on Wordsmiths and Reality "Politicians, like writers, preachers, and poets, are wordsmiths. They deal mainly in words, not in actions... The best strategy is to disregard words and watch what actions people take... Whether the solution to liberating Tamils in the East is scorching the earth with multi barrel rockets or making them starve so they leave their lands, depends entirely on which Southern politician is describing the action..." more

3. Sanmugam Sabesan writes from Australia - ஒசாமாவிலிருந்து ஒபாமா வரை……….!!

Tamil Studies Conference: Imagining Collectives: Continuities, Changes and Contestations - இனத்துவப் புனைவுகள்: மாற்றம், தொடர்ச்சி, முரண் hosted by The Centre for South Asian Studies of the University of Toronto and the University of Windsor  May 31-June 2, 2007. Over 40 scholars from universities including Columbia University, University of California (Berkeley), Massey University (New Zealand), French Institute of Pondicherry, McGill University, University of Toronto, University of Batticaloa and the University of Peradeniya will participate more

"சுதந்திரம் என்பது பேரம்பேசிப் பெற்றுக்கொள்ளும் ஒரு வியாபாரப்பண்டமல்ல. ...நான் பேச்சுக்குத் தருவது குறைந்தளவு முக்கியத்துவமே: செயலால் வளர்ந்த பின்புதான் நாம் பேசத் தொடங்கவேண்டும்..." தமிழீழத் தேசியத் தலைவரின் சிந்தனையிலிருந்து

2.Vladimir Putin, President of Russian Federation -  On the Unipolar World  "The unipolar world that had been proposed after the Cold War did not take place either. The history of humanity certainly has gone through unipolar periods and seen aspirations to world supremacy. And what hasn’t happened in world history? However, what is a unipolar world? However one might embellish this term, at the end of the day it refers to one type of situation, namely one centre of authority, one centre of force, one centre of decision-making. It is world in which there is one master, one sovereign. And at the end of the day this is pernicious not only for all those within this system, but also for the sovereign itself because it destroys itself from within... Incidentally, Russia – we – are constantly being taught about democracy. But for some reason those who teach us do not want to learn themselves. I consider that the unipolar model is not only unacceptable but also impossible in today’s world. " more

Norwegian peace initiative was fated to fail - Professor Johan Galtung "In Sri Lanka, both parties have soldiers in uniform pitted against each other in war. The Government of Sri Lanka has, in addition, state terrorism, bombing, killing civilians and the LTTE has terrorism. The LTTE also has a guerilla capacity. It looks to me as if both have the capacity to deny the other victory. But imagine it happens: Killinochchi is flattened, Mr P is dead, LTTE dissolved. Will the Tamil dream of a Tamil Eelam die? Of course not. It will be revived, and new cycles of violence will occur. And probably new CFAs. And possibly the same mistake, confusing ceasefire with peace, using it as a sleeping pillow to do nothing.." together with comment by tamilnation.org  "One matter to which Professor Galtung does not allude is the strategic interest of the 'facilitators' of the peace process. Was Norway simply a 'good samaritan' or was it intent on securing the interests of the so called international community (i.e. the trilaterals - US, EU and Japan)? Was Norway playing the 'good cop role' as against the US 'bad cop role'  and the EU  'not so bad cop' role? In truth are there not two conflicts being 'played out' in the island of Sri Lanka -one the conflict between the Tamil Eelam freedom struggle and Sinhala Sri Lanka - and the  other  the conflict resulting from the uneasy balance of power between the International Community, India and China in the Indian Ocean Region?.."  more

The object is a kavadi with the God Murugan riding a peacock which was collected in South India, the Kunrakudi Temple during the 1920s..." more

Sanmuga Suntharam writes from the United States on Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US & US Foreign Service Institute "Negotiations with the Sinhala government of Sri Lanka is like the familiar caricature of the man riding a donkey holding a rod attached to which is a string at the end which hangs a carrot just inches from the donkey’s snout. As the donkey moves to reach for it the carrot also moves. "Structurally" therefore it is impossible for the donkey to get the carrot unless it throws the rider off his back and grabs the carrot... .... designating the LTTE as "terrorists" was a political FATWA and cannot be justified. According to the political manual of the Bush administration, it is not the actions of an organization that qualifies it to be called "terrorist" but the epithet is given first in order to condemn its actions later as terrorist behavior to suit the politics of US and its client states. Decisions to impose sanctions are made first and excuses are sought later to designate groups terrorists." more

2. Sachi Sri Kantha writes from Japan On S.P.Amarasingam and My 1977 Valentine to Eelam "Those who study love letters and those who had fallen in love to write love letters know something special about these epistles. The essential ingredients of love letters are dreams and hopes. Love letters are neither codified laws nor step-by-step protocols in the problem shooting page of gadget manuals. By tradition and practice, love letters are permitted to have gush and mush embellishments. So, I don’t feel ashamed in reminiscing about my 30 Year-Old Valentine to Eelam." more

3.V.Sivasubramaniam writes from Malaysia on The Ultimate in Spirituality - Moksha - the experience of some of our saints and sages  "The realized Saint’s prescription for curing  insanity is indeed profound: …what is central is neither rationality nor its opposite, but something else, call it wisdom, which includes but supersedes rationality. Mind is born from that which is beyond the mind...”  more

2.International Federation of Tamils - Observations on the Report of Under  Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Sri Lanka”, 6 February 2007 and

3 Report by Allan Rock Special Adviser to the Special Representative  of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, 10 February 2007 together with comments by tamilnation.org:

2.Rajan Sriskandarajah - Eulogy to Sivaram at Memorial Meeting in 2005 "I first met Sivaram in July 1997, at a hotel-bar in Lucerne, Switzerland. It was after dinner, around 9.00 p.m. We were among the invitees to a conference on ‘Negotiating Peace in Sri Lanka’. It was sponsored by the International Alert and the Swiss government. When I first saw him that day, Sivaram was perched on a bar-stool, facing away from the bar, and at the tables nearby. I was seated way in the back, at one of those tables. I remember nudging someone seated next to me, to ask “who is he?” I was told “Taraki”. An impressive array of VIPs from India and Sri Lanka attended the conference – General Kalkut (Indian Army), Ambassador J.N. Dixit, M.K. Narayanan (ex NIB Chief & current National Security Advisor of India), Bradman Weerakoon (ex-Presidential advisor), Harry Goonetileke (ex-air Marshall of SLAF) , Kumar Rupesinghe, Stanley Kalpage (ex-Sri Lankan ambassador), N. Ram (editor Frontline)… Many of them were at that bar that night..."  more

Revd.B J Alexander On Human Shields  " '...The guerrilla force is independent of the civilian population, in action as well as in military organisation; consequently it need not assume the direct defence of the peasant population...' The above quote inspite of its moral bankruptcy fails to answer the question of the human shield. ..Let's walk in the moccasins of Vaharai Tamils before we philosophise in our own safety nets...". together with response by tamilnation.org  "Several matters arise in the comments made by Rev.B.J.Alexander. And we propose to address each of them in turn..." more

2.International Community's flawed approach assists Colombo- Thamilchelvan "We would never, under any circumstance, engage militarily and simultaneously enter talks,...The process towards a negotiated settlement can only take place in an environment conducive to talks. The LTTE has explicitly stated the conditions necessary to create such environment...The most basic of these conditions were agreed upon and laid down in the Cease Fire Agreement of February 2002."

" ...The irony is that to do things faster, you often have to go slower. You have to be more reflective. You have to develop real trust. You have to develop the abilities of people to think together. Why? Because it requires you to go through basic redesigns. You need to build a shared understanding of how the present system works.... People must trust one another through difficult systemic changes... ...First off, we often don't take any responsibility for what we have created, which is obviously patently absurd at some level. Organizations work the way they work because human beings create them that way!... To me, the essence of what systems thinking is all about is people beginning to consciously discover and conceptually explain and account for how their own patterns of thought and interaction, often very habitual and unaware patterns, patterns that we haven't ever reflected on, manifest on a large scale, and create the very forces which the organization then 'is doing it to me.' ...Given the way we operate, no wonder we can't win! And what is always significant to me, in those moments, is the we. Not "you," not "them," but we...." Peter Senge author of the Fifth Discipline more

2. Ho Chi Minh to Lydon Johnson - Exchange of Letters , February 1967 "..The U.S. government has committed war crimes, crimes against peace and against mankind. In South Vietnam, half a million U.S. and satellite troops have resorted to the most inhuman weapons and most barbarous methods of warfare, such as napalm, toxic chemicals and gases, to massacre our compatriots, destroy crops, and raze villages to the ground. In North Vietnam, thousands of U.S. aircraft have dropped hundreds of thousands of tons of bombs, destroying towns, villages, factories, schools. In your message, you apparently deplore the sufferings and destruction in Vietnam. May I ask you: Who has perpetrated these monstrous crimes? It is the United States and satellite troops. .. In your message you suggested direct talks between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the United States. If the U.S. government really wants these talks, it must first of all stop .definitely and unconditionally its bombing raids and all other acts of war against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, withdraw from South Vietnam all U.S. and satellite troops, recognize the South Vietnam National Front for Liberation, and let the Vietnamese people settle themselves their own affairs...This is the only way to restoration of peace. ..The Vietnamese people will never submit to force, they will never accept talks under threat of bombs. Our cause is absolutely just. It is to be hoped that the U.S. government will act in accordance with reason. " more

2.Dayan Jayatilleke in Sri Lanka Defence Ministry Website on Victory in Vakarai

"God gives us opportunities to be of service to humanity, to our country, to ourselves. You must be ready and equipped to make use of those opportunities ...More than 2500 years ago a great Tamil poet wrote "Every country is my country, every human being is my kinsman". The brotherhood of man and universal love are themes central to practically all religions of the world. From this followed human rights such as the right to life, right to freedom of thought and speech and right to equality between man and man........ According to the Upanishads life is work and work is worship. So in the evening of my life I have fought many a battle as a member of the Civil Rights Movement...  I have won a few and lost many. I console myself with the thought that what matters is the fight for the cause and not the results. What is important is the fight and struggle for justice and not the victory nor the defeat.The saying in Bhagavad Gita 'To action you have a right but not to the fruits thereof' has been a source of great comfort to me in my life as it has enabled me to cultivate a sense of detachment which is necessary for happiness and peace of mind." - from Somasunderam Nadesan at the Peter Pillai Award Presentation, 1984