"LTTE is deservedly dying, but long live the Tamil cause" - B.Raman "...If the angry Tamils once again look up to India, there is no reason why we should not reciprocate provided a new leadership emerges in the Tamil community.." together with

"...US and India may find common cause in weakening the LTTE - but they seek to weaken it in such a way that thereafter ("post conflict") each of them may successfully secure their own strategic interests. And herein lies the conflict - and the difficulty. New Delhi will not support a resolution of the conflict which secures US hegemony in the island. And so it will seek to create Tamil dissidents and build support among them as a way of keeping its foothold in the island. It sought to do so with TELO, it sought to do so with EPRLF and Varadarajah Perumal, it sought to do so with EROS, it sought to do so with Amirthalingam, and now it seeks to so so with Karuna and Anandasangaree." more

2. "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

"...Suharto's overthrow of the Sukarno government in 1965-66 turned Indonesia from Cold War "neutralism" to fervent anti-Communism, and wiped out the Indonesian Communist Party--exterminating a sizable part of its mass base in the process, in widespread massacres that claimed at least 500,000 and perhaps more than a million victims. The U.S. establishment's enthusiasm for the coup-cum-mass murder was ecstatic .. The U.S. support and investment did not slacken when Suharto's army invaded and occupied East Timor in 1975, which resulted in an estimated 200,000 deaths in a population of only 700,000. Combined with the 500,000-1,000,000+ slaughtered within Indonesia in 1965-66, the double genocide would seem to put Suharto in at least the same class of mass murderer as Pol Pot... But Suharto's killings of 1965-66 were.. called "constructive terror," with results viewed as favorable to Western interests. His mass killings in East Timor were "benign terror," carried out by a valued client and therefore tolerable. Pol Pot's were "nefarious terror," done by an enemy, therefore appalling and to be severely condemned. Pol Pot's victims were "worthy," Suharto's "unworthy." " more

"..Last Thursday (I am writing on Tuesday, April 21, 2009), the Obama Justice Department expressed its determination to protect CIA torturers from prosecution after it released memorandums on the Bush administration's extreme torture practices. Those memorandums only saw the light of day because of a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. By announcing in advance that it will not go after the direct torturers, the Obama administration has destroyed its ability to use the threat of prosecution as a way of getting CIA personnel to testify against the top officials who formulated the Bush torture policy... Revealingly enough, when he went to Langley last week to reassure CIA staffers of his safety to their interests, Obama said that his decision to release the torture memos was the "most agonizing" call of his presidency so far. I heard that line on the evening news and turned off my television. Wow. That was his "most agonizing" decision so far - reluctantly agreeing under legal compulsion to release documents showing a previous administration's human right crimes?... Do I sound surprised? I'm not. With the possible exception of Glen Ford and Bruce Dixon over at Black Agenda Report, no human being on Earth has done more than I have to warn U.S. and world citizens about the deceptive, fake-progressive, and deeply conservative nature of Brand Obama, who I have dubbed "Empire's New Clothes."" more

Three Years Ago... Tomorrow is Maaveerar Naal, Nadesan Satyendra, 27 November 2006 - "They (the International Community) would deny reason, not because they do not recognise reason. They deny reason so that they may advance their own perceived self interests in the Indian Ocean region by supporting their 'good friends' - even if that be at the price of the pain, and suffering of the people of Tamil Eelam. And where they cannot any longer ignore, with any credibility, the terrorism of the Sri Lanka government, they adopt the PR technique of minimising the abuses, and talk about the conflict as a 'complex' two sided story, and play up efforts at reform. Some even have the temerity (in Tamil we say திமிர்) to assert that -

"We... hold the Tamil Tigers responsible for much of what has gone wrong in the country. We are not neutral in this respect. " US Under Secretary of State, Nicholas Burns at Press Conference on Tokyo Donors Conference, 21 November 2006

They believe that by their support for Sri Lanka's strategy of terror, the Tamil people will be 'encouraged' to submit to alien Sinhala rule within the existing state boundaries of Sri Lanka, that Tamil national consciousness will be 'tamed' and Velupillai Pirabaharan will disappear as a �bad dream�... ..their support for Sri Lanka's strategy of terror is coupled with a concerted effort to undermine the ideological strength of a struggle for freedom by labelling it 'terrorism' and then demonising its leaders.They deliberately obfuscate by conflating the words 'terrorism' and 'violence' and they avoid addressing the question whether there are any circumstances under which a people ruled by an alien people can, in law, resort to arms to secure freedom. And, if there are such circumstances what are such circumstances? Recognising the ideological strength of a struggle for freedom they call upon the people of Tamil Eelam to forget any aspiration that they may have to be free from alien Sinhala rule - and seek to lead them down the slippery slope of devolution to village panchayats. One British Conservative Party M.P. frankly remarked on a visit to Sri Lanka that �somebody should sit alongside Pirabaharan and tell him that a separate state is just not on.� .." more

1."..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

2. " 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

The hunting started along time ago

Just because they were different

Their language different

Their way of life different

They were strong in their will

They were born free.

They liked their heritage...

No one wants to know how it started but

they wanted to kill them

Hunt them down, wanted to wipe them out

DS, Banda, Dudley, Srima, Chanthirga

JR, Premadasa and now Mahintha

They have brought their friends too to the party

Blake, Eric, Agasy, Bandari, Rajiv, Sonia,

India, Pakistan, China, USA, Israel, EU...

The hunted are now puzzled and

they now know what these hunts men set to do,

but they will not be deterred; kids and kin - 80 million of them.

They will still be fighting for their survival, territory,

Their way of life, and integrity � more

"அரசியல்வாதிகளுக்குச் சிம்ம சொன்பனமாக மாறியுள்ள ஒரு ஆயுதம் இப்போது உலகளாவிய அளவில் புகழ்பெற்று வருகிறது. அது என்ன ஆயுதம் என்றுதானே கேட்கிறீர்கள்? சப்பாத்துத்தான் அந்த ஆயுதம்." more

PC Vinoj Kumar in Tehelka Magazine - Prabakaran may already have an able successor in his son, Charles Anthony "One day in July 1987, in a plush room of a New Delhi hotel, an Indian diplomat was beginning to lose his temper at an intransigent young man. JN Dixit, then Indian High Commissioner in Colombo, wanted Velupillai Prabakaran, the dapper chief of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), to accept a proposed accord between the governments of India and Sri Lanka that aimed to bring an elusive peace to the strife-torn island nation. �If you defy us,� said Dixit puffing angrily at his pipe, �We can finish you before I put out this smoke.� Four months later, the Indian army was locked in a disastrous conflict with the LTTE that was expected to finish in under a week but went on to last nearly three years, claiming the lives of 1,155 Indian soldiers. Twenty-two years later, the Sri Lankan army claims that it is on the verge of wiping out the LTTE and capturing Prabakaran, dead or alive...This is not the first time in the last two decades that the Sri Lankan army has claimed it has cornered Prabakaran...The army now claims it is keeping a close watch on Antony, who is believed to have led from the front in recent battles. The Sri Lankan army claims Antony had �produced two powerful bombs�, but gives no more details on its website. The Sri Lankans also link Antony to a number of LTTE air attacks since 2007. The technosavvy Antony is widely tipped to succeed Prabakaran�s mantle..." more

"சின்னப்பயலே சின்னப்பயலே
சேதி கேளடா
நான் சொல்லப்போற வார்த்தையை நல்லா
எண்ணிப் பாரடா-நீ
எண்ணிப் பாரடா

ஆளும் வளரணும் அறிவும் வளரணும்
அதுதாண்டா வளர்ச்சி
ஆசையோடு ஈன்றவளுக்கு அதுவே-நீ
தரும் மகிழ்ச்சி

நாளும் ஒவ்வொரு பாடம் கூறும்
காலம் தரும் பயிற்சி-உன்
நரம்போடுதான் பின்னி வளரணும்
தன்மான உணர்ச்சி-உன் (நரம்) சின்னப்

மனிதனாக வாழ்ந்திட வேணும்
மனதில் வையடா-தம்பி
மனதில் வையடா .."

Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram - மக்கள் கவிஞர் பட்டுக்கோட்டை கல்யாணசுந்தரம்

"...Tamils who today live in many lands and across distant seas know only too well that sovereignty after all, is not virginity. If Germany and France were able to put in place 'associate' structures despite the suspicions and confrontations of two world wars, it should not be beyond the capacity of an independent Tamil Eelam and an independent Sri Lanka to work out structures, within which each independent state may remain free and prosper, but at the same time pool sovereignty in certain agreed areas. And to say that is not to live in the fantasy world of the fanatic but to reject the fanaticism of those who insist on preserving the artificial territorial boundaries imposed (and later bequeathed) by the erstwhile British ruler. It is to reject the colonial legacy and to reject the continuing attempt to replace British colonial rule with Sinhala colonial rule. The words of Velupillai Pirabaharan, uttered some sixteen years ago, bear repetition, yet again:

"...It is the Sri Lanka government which has failed to learn the lessons from the emergence of the struggles for self determination in several parts of the globe and the innovative structural changes that have taken place... We are not chauvinists. Neither are we lovers of violence enchanted with war. We recognise the Sinhala nation. We accord a place of dignity for the culture and heritage of the Sinhala people. We have no desire to interfere in any way with the national life of the Sinhala people or with their freedom and independence. We, the Tamil people, desire to live in our own historic homeland as an independent nation, in peace, in freedom and with dignity.."

And so today millions of Tamils living in many lands will remember and honour the memory of their brothers and sisters who were killed, raped and tortured in their thousands, for no crime other than that they were Tamils and because, as a people, they had refused to submit to alien Sinhala rule. The charge is genocide, the struggle is for freedom..." - Ten Years Ago - Nadesan Satyendra in The Charge is Genocide - the Struggle is for Freedom, Sathyam Commentary, 18 July 1998, Revised 2 September 2006, Revised 14 August 2007

"This is not an appeal or a request for help. It is to draw the attention of Canadians to what is going on in their country and how some of their citizens and invited guests are treated. Canada is a great country, probably one of the finest. This fine country does not need to get into bed (or into the gutter) with a brutal fascist politico-military 3rd world dictatorship that has the temerity to call itself the �Government� of Sri Lanka, or inappropriately, the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic, being neither �Democratic� nor �Socialist�. I am setting out what I was recently subjected to at the Toronto airport. The damage done to the good name of Canada was far greater than that done to me. What followed in Malaysia, and, God help us, in Australia (where I have been a citizen for 32 years), will be dealt with in a separate article since this is of no concern to Canada." more

Envisioning the 'post-conflict' period in Sri Lanka: An Open Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - Nadesan Satyendra "Genocides do not just happen....Mao Tse-tung's famous dictum that the guerrilla moves amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea has brought with it the counter guerrilla strategy of draining the sea.... You will recall that it was a strategy which was spelt out with candour by US supported Guatemala Gen. Efrain Rios Montt in the 1980s - "The guerrilla is the fish. The people are the sea. If you cannot catch the fish, you have to drain the sea." .... It is unfortunate that the US policy that you have adumbrated in your letter labels the 'sea' in which the guerrilla swims as a 'human shield' and appears directed to help draining the sea by evacuating the Tamil civilian population from their homeland in the Vanni to camps - albeit supervised/overseen by the international community so that the US and the 'international community' (presumably not including China and/or Iran and/or even India) may secure their own physical presence in the island, through international NGOs and/or the United States Pacific Command... I have tried to understand the reasons for your denial of the justice of the struggle of the people of Tamil Eelam for an independent state - an independent state which may associate on equal terms and in freedom with an independent Sinhala Sri Lankan state. I am driven to the conclusion that it is the dynamics of the balance of power in the Indian Ocean region that leads you to give your support to the continued existence of an undivided Sri Lanka. It appears that you are concerned that support for an independent Tamil Eelam may lead to an increased Chinese/Iranian presence in Sinhala Sri Lanka and in the Indian Ocean region... Said that, you will recognise that a 'post genocide' Sri Lanka will prove to be no different to Saddam Hussien's Iraq which the US supported in Iraq's war against Iran..." more

'China, a benign and sincere friend of Sri Lanka' -
Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, 9 April 2005

T.Ratnakumar writes from Singapore தானம் வாங்கிடக் கூசிடுவான் "சிறப்பு மிகுந்த, ஒவ்வொரு தமிழனும் கேட்டு உணரவேண்டிய, திருக்குறளை அடிப்படையாகக் கொண்ட, 1950 களில் வெளிவந்த ஒரு தமிழ்ப் பாட்டு. 'தமிழன் என்றொரு இனமுண்டு' .... ஊதானம், கன்னிகா தானம், சொர்ண தானம், அன்ன தானம், கோ தானம் மற்றும் எல்லாத் தானங்களிலும் சிறந்த தானம் நிதானம் தான் " more

"....Tamil nationalism in South India and Sri Lanka can be described in terms of two sets of ideas and beliefs. The one, the purity and uniqueness of Tamil language and culture; the other, Tamil traditions which exalt military virtues and ideals. These ideals and beliefs have dominated the vocabulary of anti-Hindi and secessionist agitations and propaganda of the Dravidian movement in South India in the [19]50�s and [19]60�s.The nationalism of the movement for Tamil language rights and regional autonomy in Sri Lanka was articulated in the same vocabulary after 1956..." more

வீரர்கள் வாழும் திராவிட நாட்டை வென்றவர் கிடையாது, வேலும் வாளும் தாங்கிய மறவர் வீழ்ந்ததும் கிடையாது...

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Indian Expansion:An Outline - Dev Nathan "In analysing Indian expansionism we must turn to three levels at which the denial of the rights of nationalities and nations operates. The first is the centralisation of powers in Delhi and the economic, political and linguistic - cultural suppression of non-Hindi nationalities, manifested in the blocking of the paths of development of the existing or aspiring national (regional) formations. The second is the denial of the right of secession of the border nationalities that either wish to secede (Nagas and Mizos) or do not accept their integration in India (Kashmiris). The third is the whittling down of the sovereignty of the neighbouring small powers of South Asia. ....The Indian state has formally ended the independent existence of one neighbour (Sikkim) and restricted the independence of many of the others (Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka) ... In its attempt to establish a regional hegemony, the Indian State has enunciated a modified Monroe Doctrine. While demanding that India must have the predominant role in South Asian matters, it has also insisted that none of the neighbours should have relations with external powers. India alone in the region will maintain the external links." more

அழிவும் ஆக்கமும் - தோல்வி நிலையென நினைத்தால் வாழ்வின் கனவை மறக்கலாமா "...அன்னிய சிங்கள அடக்கு முறையில் இருந்து விடுபடுவதற்கான தமிழ் மக்களின் உரிமைப்போர் இன்று அழிவுகளின் மத்தியில் குரூரமான கொடிய காடசிகளை எம்கண்முன் காட்டி நிற்கின்றது. சொந்தச் சகோதரர்கள் அங்கு கொத்துக் கொத்தாக மடிவதைத் தினமும் பார்த்து செய்வதறியாது துடிக்கும் புலத்தமிழர்கள் மனம் சோர்ந்து துன்பத்தில் சுழல்வதை காண்கின்றோம். இதே கொடுமைகள் ஆபிரிக்க மக்களுக்கோ, பாலஸ்தீனியர்களுக்கோ நிகழும்போதும் நாம் உருகியிருப்போம். செஞசிலுவைச் சங்கம் போன்ற அமைப்புக்களுக்கு துயர் துடைக்கும் பணத்தை அனுப்பி ஒருவகை மனச்சாந்தியும் பெற்றிருப்போம். ஆனால் எங்கள் உடன்பிறப்புக்கள் கொத்துக் கொத்தாக கொல்லப்படுவதானால் எம்மால் உறங்க முடியவில்லை, சிரிக்கமுடியவில்லை, சாதாரண வாழ்வின் இன்பதுன்பங்களை அனுபவிக்க முடியவில்லை. இது இயற்கை. தானாடாவிட்டாலும் சதையாடும் இரத்த பாசம்."... more

"...Pirabakaran is a patient man. I have never seen him waste his time. His brain is at all times actively and ceaselessly engaged with the issues that concern the struggle..." Anita Pratap Interview with Puthinam, 15 July 2008

"... 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

From Mike Johnson [ [email protected] ] Hi, It is pity that you guys are still dreaming about a Tamil Nation. Please look at this article and tell me why you send these innocent kids to a war for the sake of your "F***ing" day dream? These kids do not deserve to die. Why not you idiots leave the countries you are living and go to the battle field? You people are living in luxury and day dreaming about a Tamil Nation and let these kids die. Damn you!

Response by tamilnation.org It appears that even with the genocidal blood letting in the Vanni, Sinhala chauvinism has a continuing need to resort to vulgar abuse. But for those Tamils who have lived through 1956, 1958, 1961, 1977 and 1983; for those Tamils who have witnessed Sinhala mobs with raised sarongs setting fire to Tamil dwellings and to Tamils in vans on the roads of Colombo; and for those Tamils who have survived to live as refugees, asylum seekers and wandering nomads in foreign lands, such Sinhala abuse will not come as a surprise. more

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The Politics of Humanitarian Intervention

US taps Delhi on US-led invasion of Sri Lanka on 'evacuation mission', Telegraph, Calcutta, 8 March 2009 "..The Obama administration will sound out foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Monday, 9 March 2009 on India�s support for a US-led invasion of Sri Lanka to evacuate nearly 200,000 Tamil civilians trapped inside territory controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with precariously declining stocks of food or medicine.. spinmasters of the Obama administration have quietly begun work here to describe any such military mission as a �coalition humanitarian task force�. However, if the humanitarian task force lands in Sri Lanka before the LTTE lays down arms as demanded by Colombo or without agreement from the Tamil Tigers, who may fire on the task force, its mission will be tantamount to an invasion leading to possible US casualties." See also The Politics of Humanitarian Intervention - Nadesan Satyendra, two weeks ago on 24 February 2009 "... Now that Tamil resistance has been weakened, international actors who have armed and trained Sinhala Sri Lanka's genocidal armed forces believe that the time has come to respond to the 'humanitarian disaster' which they helped to create. If the LTTE is totally annihilated, they fear that they may lose an important lever to ensure that Sri Lanka 'plays ball' in the Indian Ocean region. Again, they are concerned that more genocide will create thousands more martyrs. And they are right.... Genocide is not the path to secure stability in the Indian Ocean region - as the self immolation of Muthukumar, Ravichandran, Thamil Venthan, Sivaprakasam and Murukuthasan show. But it is not simply stability that the international actors are concerned with...Each of the international actors are... concerned to use the humanitarian disaster facing the people of Tamil Eelam to embed their own influence more securely in the island of Sri Lanka (both in the Sinhala south and in the Tamil north) - and so they jockey amongst themselves as to how best to intervene. Each is also concerned that if one does not, the other may. And it is not everybody who will welcome an intervention spearheaded by the United States Pacific Command (US PACOM). Hence the efforts to assemble a 'coalition of the willing'. The US message to New Delhi was loud and clear: 'We lead, you follow'..." more