"Whatever may be
said, whosoever may say it - to determine the truth of
it, is wisdom"-Thirukural
Whats New Archive -
July2008 -
"...அரிய
சாதனைகள்
செய்யப்படுவது
வலிமையினால்
அல்ல -
விடா
முயற்சியினால்தான்..."
Week Ending:
Saturday 2 August 2008
Reflection
"..It seems to me
that it is only when we are truly prepared
to give of
ourselves for that which we believe,
that we contribute. Otherwise we make
noise. We need to look no further than
Velupillai Pirabakaran for proof of that.
In a conversation with an Australian
expatriate in the Vanni in 2004,
Pirabakaran said -
"உயிரைக்
கொடுக்கத்
தயாராய்
இருக்கிறவர்களைத்
தான்
அவர்கள்
வேட்டையாடுகரார்கள்"
"It is those who are
prepared to give their lives that they are
engaged in hunting."It is this thyagam,
it is this willingness to suffer to bring
about change, which has made Velupillai
Pirabakaran the undying symbol of the
resistance of the people of Tamil Eelam to
alien Sinhala rule.."Nadesan Satyendra in Some Reflections on
'Sri Lanka: Reign of Anomy'
Sinhala Buddhist
EthnoNationalism
- Masquerading as Sri Lankan 'Civic
Nationalism' :The Mask Slips
Pictures that speak a
thousand words...
Mr.Niranjan
de Silva Deva-Aditya, MEP frequently
wonders about converting Tamils to
Buddhism"...Frequently now I wonder whether
Sri Lanka would have been a much more
peaceful and much more homogeneous place if
say 40% or so of the Tamil speaking
population had been Buddhists and not
exclusively Hindu or Christian. Is taking
the Buddhist religion to Tamil people such
a difficult task?.. " together with
Comment
bytamilnation.org:"..It is right that the
Member of the European Parliament, Mr.
Niranjan de Silva Deva-Aditya, who is a
Sinhalese, should wonder. And that too,
frequently. If he wonders frequently enough
he may even ask himself why it is that for
the past two thousand years and more that
which he appears to consider a not
'difficult task' was not accomplished..."
more
Sathyam
Commentary
Some
Reflections on 'Sri Lanka: Reign of
Anomy'-
Nadesan Satyendra "Charles Ponnuthurai Sarvan's essay
on 'Sri Lanka: Reign of Anomy' which is
published in tamilnation.org at his request,
affords an opportunity to reflect on some
matters of general relevance to the Tamil
Eelam struggle for freedom. Anomy or
anomie, 'in contemporary English, means a
condition or malaise in individuals,
characterized by an absence or diminution
of standards or values. The word comes
from the Greek - the prefix a:
'without', and nomos: 'law'.' Charles
Sarvan describes his Essay as a 'personal
statement on the ethnic conflict' in Sri
Lanka. Therein lies its strength - and
perhaps, some of its weakness. Said
that, though one may disagree with
Sarvan, one will find it difficult to
question the authenticity of that which
he was moved by 'an inner compulsion' to
write..."more
Harsh
Raghuvir[
[email protected]]
" Hello, I would like to enquire as to
whether your organization advocates an
independent Tamil Nadu? Thanks." together
withResponse
bytamilnation.org "The short answer is
No. For a longer answer please see
Tamil Nation & the
Unity of India, written seven years
ago on 3 February 2001 wherein we said,
inter alia"...The break up of India, if it comes
will not come from the efforts of
tamilnation.org. It will come
despite our
efforts. It will come from a failure of
political leaders in India to openly
recognise that India is a multi national
state - and recognise the enduring wisdom
of the words of Pramatha Chaudhuri in
1920..."more
Tamil Digital
Renaissance
Revisited
Video
Images: the Strategic Dimension,
D.Sivaram "...It is now generally
accepted that the conduct of modern warfare
is not only about troops, weapons, generals
and battlefields - it is also about
perceptions. The manner in which a war is
perceived by states and
their populations today can have a
strategic impact on its conduct..."
more
"இலங்கைத்
தீவில்
இன்று
இரண்டு
போராட்டங்கள்
இடம்
பெறுகின்றது.
ஒன்று
சிங்கள
மக்களுக்கும்
தமிழ்
மக்களுக்கும்
இடையேயான
போராட்டம்.
மற்றது
இப்
பிராந்தியத்தில்
தமது
நலன்களைப்
பேண
தமிழர்களின்
போராட்டத்தை
கருவியாக்கும்
வல்லரசுகளுக்கிடையேயான
போராட்டம்."
more
"...Where national
memories are concerned, griefs are of more
value than triumphs, for they impose
duties, and require a common effort. A
nation is therefore a large-scale
solidarity, constituted by the feeling of
the sacrifices that one has made in the
past and of those that one is prepared to
make in the future..." What is a nation? -
Ernest Renan, 1882more
Sachi Sri Kantha on July 1983 Pogrom -
Victims and Rascals"American
humorist Russell Baker (born 1925) once
wrote in his column,
�History is constantly
being revised these days.
It�s because there is a
glut of historians. Revising history is the
only way to keep them
busy� It is unfortunate
that the anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983
also has been a victim of distortions in
the hands of licensed Sinhalese historians.
.. That the virulent seeds for the
anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983 were sown nearly
nine months earlier in the first executive
presidential election held in October 20,
1982 was noted by a few international
journalists ... The Wall Street
Journal of Oct.29, 1982, editorially
commented on President
Jayewardene�s victory with
an irreverent caption,
�Sri Lanka Keeps Its
Rascals In�..." more
Lest We Forget - Charles
Somasundrum"I give these few examples from
personal knowledge, to show that Black July
was not just a passing incident. Readers
will themselves, be aware of many more such
incidents where they were involved or where
friends or kin were involved. These
incidents must never be forgotten. They
should be passed on to children and
grandchildren. I see a time in a free Tamil
Eelam when the 23rd of July will be
observed by all Eelamites, who will
remember the many acts of Tamil heroism in
the face of a bloodthirsty Sinhala mob,
which was aware that they had the state
behind them." more
Democracy,
Sri Lanka Style
Sri Lanka Army Commander
Lt. General Sarath Fonseka On Democracy and
the Beginning of the End"... I
don�t think the people in
the North and East are subjected to any
injustice...In any democratic
country the majority should rule the
country. This country will be ruled by the
Sinhalese community which is the majority
representing 74 percent of the
population...We are almost at the beginning
of the end. We have finished almost two
thirds of the LTTE that�s
about 9,000 of them which is a large
number. The tail enders of a cricket team
do not perform the same way, like the
middle order batsmen and the opening
batsmen do."
together with Commentbytamilnation.org: "Almost at the beginning
of whose end?
The answer,
my friend, is blowin' in the wind..."
more
Revisited:Second World Tamil Eelam
Convention, Nanuet,
New York 1984
Letter dated 19 May 1984
from LTTE leader Velupillai Pirabakaran to
the Convention Organiser, Dr.Winston
Panchacharam".. You have sent us an invitation to
participate in this Convention. On this
matter it is necessary that I make clear
the position of our Organisation, the
current situation of the Tamil people and
the present needs of our struggle for
freedom... It appears that one of the
objectives of the Convention is to unite
the Liberation Organisations and establish
a single political-military leadership for
the struggle for Tamil Eelam. I welcome
efforts to bring about unity. However, it
is my wish that such efforts should be
undertaken in Tamil Eelam... It is in Tamil
Eelam that the struggle is taking place and
it is in Tamil Eelam that we are prepared
to discuss unity. We are not prepared to
discuss the strategies of our struggle
seated in a foreign land - and that too in
the capital of US imperialism and inside
the spider web(சிலந்தி
வலை) of the spy services of the
C.I.A...." more
Reflections
"...As their
contest for the White House draws closer,
watch how, regardless of the inevitable
personal smears, Obama and McCain draw
nearer to each other. They already
concur on America's divine right to
control all before it. "We lead the world
in battling immediate evils and promoting
the ultimate good," said Obama. "We must
lead by building a 21st-century military
. . . to advance the security of all
people." McCain agrees. ..Despite
claiming that his campaign wealth comes
from small individual donors, Obama is
backed by the biggest Wall Street firms:
Goldman Sachs, UBS AG, Lehman Brothers, J
P Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley
and Credit Suisse, as well as the huge
hedge fund Citadel Investment Group...
What is Obama's attraction to big
business? Precisely the same as
Robert Kennedy's. By offering a "new",
young and apparently progressive face of
the Democratic Party - with the bonus of
being a member of the black elite - he
can blunt and divert real opposition."
From Kennedy To Obama:
Liberalism's Last Fling, John Pilger, 29
May 2008
European Court of Human Rights
stops UK from returning Tamil to Sri
Lanka"...The Court found that the
information before it pointed to the
systematic torture and ill-treatment by
the Sri Lankan authorities of Tamils
who would be of interest to them in their
efforts to combat the Tamil Tigers... the
Court found that there were substantial
grounds for finding that the applicant
would be of interest to the Sri Lankan
authorities in their efforts to combat the
Tigers. In those circumstances, the
Court found that at the present time there
would be a violation of Article 3 (European
Convention on Human Rights relating to
prohibition of torture) if the applicant
were to be returned..." more
பரமசிவன்
கழுத்திலிருந்து
பாம்பு
கேட்டது
கருடா
சௌக்யமா
யாரும்
இருக்குமிடத்தில்
இருந்து
கொண்டால்
எல்லாம்
சௌக்யமே
கருடன்
சொன்னது
அதில்
அர்த்தம்
உள்ளது!...more
International Relations in an Asymmetric
Multilateral World
1.Shift Happens "Look
back over the past, with its changing
empires that rose and fell, and you can
foresee the future, too." - Marcus Aurelius
A.D.169
2The Military
Industrial Complex - Farewell Speech,
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 17
January1961"...In the councils of government, we
must guard against the acquisition of
unwarranted influence, whether sought or
unsought, by the military industrial
complex. The potential for the disastrous
rise of misplaced power exists and will
persist. We must never let the weight of
this combination endanger our liberties or
democratic processes. We should take
nothing for granted. ... Only an alert and
knowledgeable citizenry can compel the
proper meshing of the huge industrial and
military machinery of defense with our
peaceful methods and goals, so that
security and liberty may prosper
together... You and I - my fellow citizens
- need to be strong in our faith that
all nations, under God, will
reach the goal of peace with
justice." more
One Hundred
Tamils of the 20th Century
Remembering Karma Veerar
Kumaraswamy Kamaraj - 105th Birth
Anniversary - 15 July 2008"Mr Kamaraj was not rich
and has not grown rich.. He has been a
whole-time politician and has laboured to
acquire personal knowledge of men and
things all over the Tamil country and he
knows all the leaders of his party from
every part of India. He has also acquired
facility in English and very considerable
knowledge of world affairs. He is immensely
popular for all these reasons and
especially because he has no vices and
leads a simple life. Above all he is the
'representative' Tamil as most Tamils
imagine that figure. His ways of
speaking, walking, eating and dress commend
themselves to the many millions to whom
these are familiar ways with nothing
outlandish about them..." more
Reflections
1."...As you have
just been told I originally come from
Belfast. Like some of the people here
today my family was forced at gunpoint to
leave its home by a sectarian militia.
Like many of you and your families I know
what it is like to be spread-eagled
against a wall at rifle point by the
troops of a hostile occupying army. So
when I say that I give my solidarity on
behalf of Respect and Socialist
Resistance to the Tamil people in
their just struggle for
self-determination it is more than
rhetoric. It comes from the heart and, if
I have anything different to say here
today from what the other speakers will
say to you, it will be to present some of
that recent Irish experience, to point
out some of the traps that enemies and
false friends will lay for you in your
struggle.... A lie has been told so
often that it almost seems like the
truth. Peace, justice and freedom have
not been
established in Ireland. The country
remains partitioned. One part is still
occupied by the imperialist army. ..The
absence of violence is not peace. What
you see when you look at Ireland today is
the complete victory of imperialism ...And
it is the same wherever imperialism
dabbles...Who in their right mind could
believe that the Americans and Israelis
would ever give real peace, justice and
freedom to the Palestinian people? Only a
fool!... Don�t
accept what you are told about
imperialist attempts to broker peace
deals. They do not bring peace with
justice or self-determination..."
moreLiam MacUaid, editor of
Socialist Resistance and a member of
Respectat
London Pongu Thamil Rally, 12 July
2008
2.
"..Imperialism has been the most powerful
force in world history over the last four
or five centuries, carving up whole
continents while oppressing indigenous
peoples and obliterating entire
civilizations. Yet, it is seldom accorded
any serious attention by our academics,
media commentators, and political
leaders. When not ignored outright, the
subject of imperialism has been
sanitized, so that empires become
�commonwealths,�
and colonies become
�territories�
or
�dominions�
(or, as in the case of Puerto Rico,
�commonwealths�
too). Imperialist military interventions
become matters of
�national
defense,�
�national
security,� and
maintaining
�stability�
in one or another region. In this book I
want to look at imperialism for what it
really is. By "imperialism" I mean the
process whereby the dominant
politico-economic interests of one nation
expropriate for their own enrichment the
land, labor, raw materials, and markets
of another people..." Michael Parenti in
Against Empire
"... 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 minority, and
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
Tamil
National Forum
1.
Revisited: Subramaniam Sivanayagamon
The Role of Tamil
Expatriates"...A
child of the new millennium asks:
"Grandpa, where were you when the Tamil
people were fighting for freedom in Sri
Lanka?". "Well, I was minding my own
business, darling, and making pots of
money, here in England". "What was
grandma doing then grandpa? "Why, she was
doing the same thing, minding her own
business, honey, and helping me to spend
that money". That was an imagined
futuristic dialogue. How about the
present?.." more
...Mandela Removed at Long Last from
US 'terrorism watch
list'!"The news got splashed on July
2nd that the names of Nelson
Mandela and his colleagues of African
National Congress (ANC) have been removed
from the notorious
�terrorism watch
list� maintained by the
U.S. State Department. Mandela was released
from the South African prison on February
11, 1990, after 27 years. Then, he was
inaugurated as President of South Africa on
May 10, 1994. Five years later on June 14,
1999, he retired from active politics. Now,
9 years later, the Primates of the U.S.
State Department got into action, to
felicitate Mandela�s
forthcoming 90th birthday by
removing his name from its
�terrorism watch
list�. " more
Tamil
Diaspora - a Trans State Nation: United
Kingdomto
include
அனுபவம்..
"...
ஈழத்தில்
எம்
உறவுகள்
மீது
இலங்கை
அரசாங்கம்
நடத்திவரும்
இன்னல்களை
உலகிற்கு
தெரிவிக்கும்
விதமாகவும்,
கண்டிக்கும்
விதமாகவும்
உலகெங்கும்
நடந்து
கொண்டிருக்கும்
"பொங்கு
தமிழ்"
சிட்னியிலும்
உணர்ச்சிபூர்வமாக
நடைபெற்றது...
புகழ்
பெற்ற
சிட்னி
ஒலிம்பிக
விளையாட்டு
கூடல்
அருகே
இருக்கும்
பச்சை
பசேலென்ற
மேசன்
மைதானத்தில்
அனைவரும்
காலை 11
மணிக்கு
கூடுவதாக
அறிவிக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது.
கனடாவில்
நடந்தது
போலவே,
சிட்னியிலும்
முன்னர்
அறிவிக்கப்பட்ட
இடம்
மாற்றப்பட்டு,
பின்னர்
அவசரமவசரமாக
இந்த
இடம்
அறிவிக்கப்பட்டது.
சுதந்திர
ஒஸ்திரேலியாவிலேயே
எமக்கு
இந்த
நிலை
என்பது
வருத்தப்பட
வேண்டிய
விடயம்.
எம்மில்
ஒருவர்
போராட
எழுந்தால்,
இலங்கை
அரசு
தரப்பிலிருந்து
இருவர்
தடுக்க
எழுகின்றனரே!.."
இளைமையான
சிட்னி
பொங்கு
தமிழ்
நிகழ்வில்
என்
அனுபவம்:
தூயா, 7 July
2008
Watching you, watching
me... "'...Obviously, these
(Al-Qaida) Web sites (are) a matter of
ongoing interest to U.S. intelligence,'
said an official with the federal
government's National
Counterterrorism Center, who spoke
on condition of anonymity. 'They have
proliferated...Al-Qaida sees the
propaganda value in terms of developing
these sites.' That leaves the U.S.
government with two obvious choices:
attempt to sabotage the Web sites that
appear to have the closest ties to
al-Qaida's leaders, or monitor them
closely to unearth who might be behind
their operation. Most analysts
interviewed by CNET News.com believe
the federal government has chosen the
watch-and-learn
approach. 'It is very useful to
monitor the content of these
sites,'Givner-Forbes
said. "If you shut down these
sites...The community would kind of
find a way to continue and it would
just make it harder for us to access
and to eavesdrop on the sites...'Jonathan
Zittrain, co-founder of the
Berkman Center for
Internet and Society at Harvard
Law School, said .. "If the government
chose to conduct an operation overseas
to bring down Web sites bearing
messages from al-Qaida I don't think
the government would think anything
stood in its way from doing it."...
"Declan McCullagh in Al-Qaida
proving elusive on the
Net
Tamil Nation
Library: Tamils & the Digital
Revolution
"... 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
Watching you, watching
me... "'...Obviously, these
(Al-Qaida) Web sites (are) a matter of
ongoing interest to U.S. intelligence,'
said an official with the federal
government's National
Counterterrorism Center, who spoke
on condition of anonymity. 'They have
proliferated...Al-Qaida sees the
propaganda value in terms of developing
these sites.' That leaves the U.S.
government with two obvious choices:
attempt to sabotage the Web sites that
appear to have the closest ties to
al-Qaida's leaders, or monitor them
closely to unearth who might be behind
their operation. Most analysts
interviewed by CNET News.com believe
the federal government has chosen the
watch-and-learn
approach. 'It is very useful to
monitor the content of these
sites,' Givner-Forbes
said. "If you shut down these
sites...The community would kind of
find a way to continue and it would
just make it harder for us to access
and to eavesdrop on the sites...'
Jonathan
Zittrain, co-founder of the
Berkman Center for
Internet and Society at Harvard
Law School, said .. "If the government
chose to conduct an operation overseas
to bring down Web sites bearing
messages from al-Qaida I don't think
the government would think anything
stood in its way from doing it."...
" Declan McCullagh in Al-Qaida
proving elusive on the
Net
