Whats New Archive
-
March 2008 -
Week Ending:
Saturday 29 March 2008
Tamil Nation Library to
include
International
Relations in an Asymmetric Multi Lateral World:
US Presidential Elections 2008 to
include
 1.
"We the people, in
order to form a more perfect union."
Barack Obama, 18 March 2008
"And this helps explain, perhaps, my
relationship with Reverend Wright. As
imperfect as he may be, he has been like
family to me. He strengthened my faith,
officiated my wedding, and baptized my
children...I can no more disown him than
I can disown the black community. I can
no more disown him than I can my white
grandmother - a woman who helped raise
me...a woman who loves me as much as she
loves anything in this world, but a woman
who.. on more than one occasion has
uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that
made me cringe..." more
2. Five Reasons for Blacks
Not so support Obama by a Black,
Noah's
RemARKs, 10 January 2008 "Obama
has not been asked many tough questions,
especially questions with racial
overtones. Such questions and his
response to those questions will have a
seesaw effect. His response will
increase his support among blacks, but
lower it among whites or increase it
among whites but lower it among blacks.
The only answer that will have a neutral
effect is to avoid answering the question
and simply use a slogan such as "Change"
or "Working together" or "Getting along".
That way each side can interpret it as
getting the other side to see things
their way. In reality, however, in a
representative republic such as ours, the
interest or side that will be favored is
the majority rule, which is the side of
whites..." more
|
 3. The Military Industrial Complex
- Farewell Speech, US President
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961 "... we
have been compelled to create a permanent
armaments industry of vast proportions.
Added to this, three and a half million men
and women are directly engaged in the
defense establishment. We annually spend on
military security more than the net income
of all United States corporations... The
total influence - economic, political, even
spiritual - is felt in every city, every
State house, every office of the Federal
government.... In the councils of
government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence,
whether sought or unsought, by the military
industrial complex..." more |
4. U.S. Military Footprint -
Foreign Policy in Focus, 2 March
2008 "The United States maintains more than
700 bases around the world and is pushing
to set up even more..." |
|
|
Sinhala Buddhist Ethno
Nationalism - Masquerading as
Sri Lanka Multi-Ethnic 'Civic
Nationalism' to
include
அறிமுகம்
Tamil National Alliance
Official Website
Tamil
National Forum
| 1. Sengodan Mayuram
on India's
role on the Eelam Issue
"I write this
in connection with Sabesan's article on
India's role on the Eelam issue. I feel it
is most timely ...We can sense a paradigm
shift in the thinking of some progressive
sections in India as reflected in the
speech of Mr. D.Raja the National Secretary
of the CPI in the Rajya Sabha. So we have
to press on and drum harder the
Truth....Unfortunately a handful of old
codgers like Narayanan are trying to
mislead India because of their personal
prejudices..." together with
(Revised 26 March 2008)
Comment
by tamilnation.org
"... we do
not believe that the Indian state or the
sophisticated Research Analysis Wing are
arming Sri Lanka because 'a handful of old
codgers like Narayanan are trying to
mislead India'. The Indian state is not
foolish. It will be foolish on our part to
believe that it is... The Achilles heel of
India's foreign policy is in fact India's
compelling need for Laxman's Rekha..."
more |
|
 
|
| 2.Sachi
Sri Kantha writes from Japan on
Anura Bandaranaike - A
Candid Contra View |
Reflection
|
 
22 years
ago... "... A liberation fighter has
to transcend the confines of his ego and
his self to immerse himself
whole-heartedly in the struggle. We are
only symbols of the aspirations of the
Tamil people... We don't want to pass the
burden of a liberation struggle to the
next generation: they must enjoy the
fruits of our toil...Fight we must, till
our goal is achieved. India's sympathy is
a morale-booster, but should India
withdraw support it would not mean the
end of our liberation struggle. After all
we did not start our liberation movement
with India's support or with the help of
some other external forces. We will fight
till we die. When I die someone else will
take over. As Subhas Chandra Bose said,
'No liberation fighter can delude himself
that he alone can deliver freedom.' If my
generation dies without attaining freedom
the next generation will carry on the
struggle..." Velupillai Pirabaharan,
Interview with Anita Pratap, Sunday
Magazine, 29 September -5 October
1985
|
| "..Freedom is not
given, it is taken.. One individual may die
for an idea; but that idea will,
after his death, incarnate itself in a
thousand lives. That is how the wheel of
evolution moves on and the ideas and dreams
of one nation are bequeathed to the
next..." Netaji Subhas Chandra
Bose |
Conflict
Resolution: Tamil Eelam - Sri Lanka
Reports on
Armed Conflict in Tamil Eelam
|
Fighting on the Beaches
and Battles Under the Sea - Chandi
Sinnathurai "In the
early hours of Saturday,
March 22, off Nayaru on the
Mullaitivu
coast the Sri Lankan State reported there
was a "Mystery Blast". It was later
revealed that the Tamil Tigers have sunk
a "Sri Lankan Naval fast attack craft."
The next day, the Defence Ministry of Sri
Lanka came up with an educated view.
They said: "The guerrillas have
appeared to have developed a new underwater
capabilities."" more
|
Reflections
 "...It is a pity that I never had the
chance to ask Ernest Gellner to draw a
pictogram of nationalism. It is remarkable
how much a thirty-second drawing can reveal
of one's understanding. I do now ask my
students to draw such a pictogram in the
beginning of the discussion. They
invariably draw flags and/or people with
guns. When I ask them for a pictogram of
nationalism at the end of the discussion,
the emblem changes completely: they draw a globe and little unarmed
people, who sometime say things like: "oh,
my identity!" For flags and guns do
not even begin to express what is central
and most significant about nationalism..."
Professor Liah Greenfeld in Nationalism and the Mind
- Tenth Annual Gellner Lecture at
London School of Economics, 22 April
2004 |
Tamil
National Forum
|
1.
Sanmugam Sabesan writes from
Australia கனவு
மெய்ப்பட்ட
கொசொவோ
together with Comment by
tamilnation.org
 "...Velupillai Pirabakaran was right
to say many years ago in 1993 that 'our
success depends on our own strength.' And
that which is fundamental to our strength
is the principled nature of
our struggle for freedom. That is the
font from which all else (yes,
all else) flows
- and it is that which we must safeguard
and secure at all times. Rule by an
'anti-democratic and unaccountable
international mission' in Kosova is
neither freedom nor self determination.
We deny reason when we say that it is. We
persuade nobody when we say that it is.
If we sacrifice principle in the altar of
expediency we will end up in an
international cul de sac of our own
creation - and quickly fall prey to those
who would deny us our freedom. The
painful example of the Oslo Declaration of 25
November 2002 serves as a continuing
warning... We need to pay more than lip
service to that which Velupillai
Pirabakaran said... He was right to say
that 'our success depends on our own efforts'. We need
to make the effort to broaden and deepen
our understanding of the changing nature
of international relations in a multi
lateral but asymmetric world and respond
to happenings in that asymmetric
multilateral world on the basis of
that
understanding. Otherwise we will
be like the blind man in the dark room,
clinging on to each object that he may
come into contact as a friend and saviour
or hitting out against each such object
as an enemy... " more
|
 2.
Chandi Sinnathurai on
Sri Lanka State: A
Psychological Assault?
"...For the
Sinhala Army,
entering the heart of the Tiger land is
proving to be a psychological nightmare.
The Tamil Tigers have not lost the will to
win. Entry into the Tiger land by the Sri
Lankan forces via Mannar is facing enormous
set backs including heavy casualties.
What Sri Lanka desperately needs is a
psychological boost. And that can only
come by when the Sinhala state comes of age
of realisation that the State cannot go on
suppressing the rights of the Tamils.
There will be a turning point in history,
and the only feasible solution will be
found by division. Not by multiplication of
violence, violations and terror.
Let the
Tamils live on their territory peacefully
and the Sinhalas on their side of
the land. It is that psychological
paradigm shift one must aim to attain."
more |
Week Ending:
Saturday 22 March 2008
Tamil
National Forum
1.Sanmugam Sabesan
writes from Australia இந்தியா
-
தமிழீழம்
-
சிறிலங்கா
 "...ஈழத்
தமிழ்
மக்கள்
பிரச்சனையில்,
அன்று
இந்திரா
காந்தியின்
ஆட்சிக்
காலத்தில்,
இந்தியா
கொண்டிருந்த
வெளிவிவகாரக்
கொள்கைக்கும்,
பின்னாளில்
இந்தியா
கொண்டிருக்கின்ற
வெளிவிவகாரக்
கொள்கைக்கும்
வித்தியாசம்
உள்ளதே
என்ற
கேள்வி
எழுவது
இயல்பானதாகும்.
ஆனால்,
கூர்ந்து
சிந்தித்துப்
பார்த்தால்,
இந்தியாவின்
வெளிவிவகாரக்
கொள்கையின்
அடிப்படை
நோக்கத்தில்
மாற்றம்
எதுவும்
ஏற்படவில்லை
என்ற
உண்மை
புலனாகும்!..
more together
with Comment by
tamilnation.org
"Mr.Sabesan
is right to point out that India's Foreign
policy from Indira Gandhi's times to the
present has been consistent.
Mr.Sabesan is also right
to point out that the LTTE during the past
several decades has consistently declared
its support for India's strategic interests
in the Indian Ocean Region. Said that, the
question remains: why has India not
supported the demand for Tamil Eelam? Is it
because India does not see that which the
LTTE has been saying for the past several
years? Or is it because that India does not
believe the LTTE? Or is it because that
even if India believes the LTTE, it is
concerned that it may not have the power to
prevent that which happened to its friend
Mujib Rahman after it had supported the
creation of Bangladesh? Or again is it
that India fears that if it supports an
independent Tamil Eelam, such support will
lead to Sri Lanka turning to US and/or
China and this may result in a permanent US
and/or China presence being embedded in Sri
Lanka - and that such an embedded US and/or
China presence would pose a strategic
threat to India." more
|
| 2. Sachi Sri Kantha
writes from Japan The Indo-LTTE War
(1987-90) - An Anthology. Part 7: Acrobatic
Leap and Fall of
Athulathmudali together with
Comment
by tamilnation.org |
|
|
Tamils - a
Trans State Nation - a Growing
Togetherness...
Reflections
One Hundred
Tamils of 20th Century
Sri Lanka
Accused at United Nations
| Statement by Visuvalingam
Kirupaharan, Interfaith International, Ecosoc
accredited NGO, Geneva, Switzerland under
agenda item on 'Human rights situations
that require the Council's attention', 14
March 2008 |
India &
the Tamil Eelam Struggle for Freedom
|
1.
(Revised)
Laxman Rekha & Need
for Increased Alertness against LTTE
B.Raman, Director, Institute For
Topical Studies, Chennai together
with Comment by
tamilnation.org
"... Mr.Raman advises
that New Delhi should take care not to
cross the 'Laxman Rekha'. In the
Ramayana, Rama leaving the beautiful
Sita, with his brother Laxman, drew a
line on the ground and asked her not to
cross the line - because if she did, Sita
would be in danger. This was the Laxman
Rekha - the dividing line - taken 'in
modern days to represent limits of decent
behavior and moral conduct'. In the
Ramayana, (Aryan) Sita succumbed to
temptation, crossed the line and the
Dravidian Ravana took Sita to Lanka What
then does Mr.Raman see as the 'Laxman
Rekha' (the dividing line representing
limits of decent behavior and moral
conduct) in relation to the military
support that the Indian state has
extended and continues to extend to
Sinhala Sri Lanka?.." more
2.
Stop Indian military
aid to Sri Lanka: Tamil Nadu
leaders
|
|
|
Week Ending:
Saturday 15 March 2008
International
Frame of Struggle for Tamil Eelam
| 1. Former US Deputy
Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage on
Smart Power:
Melding Soft Power with Hard "Joe
Nye is regarded as Mr. Soft Power and I
spent eight years at the Pentagon so maybe
I'm a little harder power.. But we both
felt the need for a smarter power-melding
soft and hard power for a more effective
instrument of foreign policy." more |
 2. Arnold Krammer on The
Forgotten Friendship: Israel and the Soviet
Bloc, 1947-53
"...'As far as
the Soviet Union is concerned', Russia's
foreign minister, Andrei Gromyko, once
said, 'there is only one kind of logic in
foreign affairs: the logic of what is best
for the Soviet Union.' What was 'best for
the Soviet Union' with regard to its
support of the Jewish Agency's claims in
Palestine (in 1947) was a single limited
objective: to immediately end British
control in Palestine, and create an
independent state whose
future allegiance, either as the result of
gratitude or diplomatic pressure, might be
directed toward the Eastern bloc.
The eventual conversion of that state into
a pro-Soviet entity, as prophesied by a
variety of left-wing Palestinians, involved
a number of other tactics and
objectives..." more |
|
|
| Israel between East and West,
1950 - From left, American
Ambassador James McDonald,
President Chaim Weizmann, and
Soviet Ambassador Pavel
Yershov |
|
|
3.How Independent States
Come into Being
"...The first arms deal
with Czechoslovakia was signed in January
1948 - less than two months after the UN
resolution creating Israel and four
months before the state was actually
established. Immediately after the
Partition Plan was passed, Ben-Gurion
began searching for sources to supply
arms to the Israeli defense forces, but
found that the legal sources in the
United States and most European countries
were closed off to the institutions of
the Jewish state in formation. The only
alternative seemed to be illegal arms
acquisitions and an appeal to the Soviet
bloc... Israel would
have been killed at birth in the war of
1948 if it had not been armed by Stalin's
Soviet Union against a British and
American arms embargo..." more
|
Reflections
"Reporter: Are
you an agent for the LTTE?
Prof. C.J.Eliezer: Certainly
not.
Reporter: How would you describe,
then, your relationship with the
LTTE?
Prof.C.J.Eliezer: As an admirer,
as an emotional admirer of the LTTE.
Reporter: A sympathizer?
Prof.C.J.Eliezer: Sympathiser,
yes.
Reporter: Somebody who gives the
LTTE advice?
Prof.C.J.Eliezer: I have not given
them any advice.
Reporter: Somebody who provides
the LTTE with support when asked?
Prof.C.J.Eliezer: Well, they
haven't asked me for anything, but
irrespective of that, they'll find my
pronouncements at meetings and things,
they'll find them useful.
Reporter: Useful in terms of
furthering their cause?
Prof.C.J.Eliezer: Yes, because
they're all committed to the idea of
liberation, and as they are, I am, and
we do it in different
ways." Remembering
Mamanithar Professor Christie Jeyaratnam
Eliezer whose 7th Death Anniversary
was on 10 March 2008
"ஒரு
போரின்
வெற்றியைத்
தீர்மானிப்பது
ஆட்பலமோ,
ஆயுதபலமோ
அல்ல;
அசைக்கமுடியாத
மனவுறுதியும்,
வீரமும்,
விடுதலைப்
பற்றுமே
வெற்றியைத்
தீர்மானிக்கும்
குணாம்சங்கள்"
- Velupillai
Pirabakaran
|
|
|
|
Tamil
National Forum
 Sachi Sri
Kantha writes from Japan
-Christie Jayaratnam
Eliezer - A Leader with Class
"March 10th
marked the 7th anniversary of Professor
Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer bidding
permanent adieu to us. Coming June 12th of
this year also marks the 90th birth
anniversary of him. Thus, I contribute this
note to a community leader with
class...What constitutes 'class'? "
more |
Tamils - a
Trans State Nation: to
include
Reflections
|
 எமது
வெற்றியை
நாளை
சரித்திரம்
சொல்லும்,
நீதிக்கு
இது
ஒரு
போராட்டம்,
இதை
நிச்சயம்
உலகம்
பாராட்டும்..
|
| "...The struggle of
life goes on everywhere. Loss too occurs
everywhere. That day the cow's calf was
taken by a crocodile. Mongoose kills a
peacock. Peacock rips a snake. The alkaddi,
that warns everyone, also loses its eggs to
something in the fields. Mother rabbit is
swallowed by python and baby rabbits search
for their mother. This is the struggle for
food among all living things. Human are
different. Of course he has to show that he
is above all the other living things. Human
kill their own kind, not for food, but to
dominate. To wipe out those who kill to
dominate is a far greater deed than to kill
a crocodile or a python. The one who kills
those who kill to dominate, and thus gives
protection to the innocent, is an
enlightened soul... " Maveeran Captain Malaravan in
War Journey |
Week Ending:
Saturday 8 March 2008
Tamil
Nation Library: Eelam
to
include
 E-Book -
War Journey by Maveeran
Captain Malaravan English
translation by N Malathy, 2007 "This book
is a translation in English from the Tamil
original of a firsthand account written in
1990 by one Tamil fighter, Captain
Malaravan (Leo), who was a member of the
LTTE. He wrote this short book in the form
of a diary about the journey of his team to
the location of a particular battle, the
battle of Mankulam in 1990, and the battle
itself with the occupying Sri Lankan
military. The manuscript for this book was
found on his body after he was killed in a
subsequent battle in which he was taking
part. Malaravan was twenty years old when
he died and he was just nineteen years old
when he wrote this book." more |
Tamil
National Forum
 Sachi Sri Kantha writes from
Japan on 'Sirithiran' Sunthar: The
Ace Cartoonist of Eelam Tamils
March
3rd marked the 12th
death anniversary of Sittampalam
Sivagnanasuntharam (1923-1996), a uniquely
creative personality who lived amongst us
in the 20th century...As the ace
cartoonist, and the creator of 'Savaari
Thambar' cartoon character,
Sivagnanasuntharam possessed that elusive
creative talent to make Eelam Tamils,
irrespective of age barriers, chuckle at
their follies and vanities..." more |
Tamil
Diaspora - a Trans State Nation: United
Kingdom
| Sri Lanka President's
Dance with Some UK Tamils |
|
|
|
together
with Comment
by tamilnation.org It should not be a
matter for surprise that President
Rajapakse will always have some Tamils to
dance with... "Like all people, they (the African
American people) have differing
personalities, diverse financial
interests, and varied aspirations. There
are Negroes who will never fight for
freedom. There are Negroes who will seek
profit for themselves alone from the
struggle. There even are some Negroes who
will co-operate with the oppressors.
These facts should distress no one.
Every... people has its share of
opportunists, profiteers, freeloaders and
escapists .... No one can pretend that
because a people may be oppressed, every
individual member is virtuous and worthy.
The real issue is whether in the great
mass the dominant characteristics are
decency, honour and
courage"...Martin Luther King
quoted by Subramaniam
Sivanayagam in
The
Role of Tamil Expatriates 'Grandpa,
where were you when the Tamil people
were fighting for freedom in Sri
Lanka?'
|
Reflections
| "...In 1987, a Jewish
academic met a fellow Tamil academic at
Cambridge University. It was soon after the
signing of the Indo Sri Lanka
Accord. The Jewish academic asked his
colleague whether the Accord will resolve
the conflict. When the reply was in the
negative, the Jewish academic laughed and
said: "Well, if the Indo Sri Lanka Accord
works, it means that the Tamil people
did not in fact have a problem before!".
His response tempted his Tamil colleague to
ask: "Tell me. How did you all succeed? How
were you able to create the Jewish state?"
He replied: "Do you want a short answer or
a long answer?". It was the Tamil's turn to
laugh. He said, give me a short answer. The
Jewish academic responded: "The short
answer is that we never gave up the idea."
Nadesan Satyendra in The US
Stand on Sri Lanka's Conflict &
Ambassador E. Ashley Willis, 14 August
2004 |
International Frame & the Tamil Eelam
Struggle for Freedom to
include
|
|
"..வணக்கம்...
தேசத்தின்
கோலத்தைக்காட்டி
பரிதாபத்தை
வேண்டி
தாம்
குளிர்காயும்
பட்டியலில்
இருந்து
எம்மை
வேறுபடுத்த
எத்தனிக்கின்றோம்.
எமது
இரக்கம்
அவர்களின்
குறையினையும்
தேவைகளையும்
தீர்க்கவேண்டுமே
யொழிய
கனிமொழி
வார்த்தை
இல்லை
என்பதனை
உணர்கின்றோம்..."
