Tamil National
Forum
1.
தொல்காப்பியன்
writes from Switzerland
-தமிழ்த்
தேசியத்தை
விழுங்க
முயற்சிக்கும்
சிங்கள
தேசியம்
-
"இராணுவ
ரீதியாகத்
தமிழ்
மக்களின்
விடுதலைப்
போராட்டத்தை
அடக்கிய
சிங்கள
அரசு,
இப்போது
வரலாற்று
ரீதியாக
அவர்களை
அடிமைப்படுத்தி,
தமிழ்த்
தேசியத்தைச்
சிதைக்கும்
முயற்சியில்
இறங்கியுள்ளது...
தமிழ்
மக்களின்
தாயகக்
கோட்பாட்டைச்
சிதைத்து,
அவர்களின்
தனித்துவமான
தேசிய
அடையாளங்களை
அழிப்பதன்
மூலம்
தன்னாட்சி
உரிமைக்கான
எழுச்சியையும்
கோரிக்கையையும்
பலவீனப்படுத்துவது
தான்
சிங்களத்தின்
நாசகாரத்
திட்டம்...அடுத்த
கட்டமாக
'ஈழம்'
என்ற
வார்த்தையையே
இல்லாமல்
செய்வதற்கு
சிங்கள
அரசாங்கம்
குறிவைத்திருக்கிறது.
ஈழம்,
தமிழ்,
முஸ்லிம்
போன்ற
வார்த்தைகளை
கொண்ட
கட்சிகளின்
பெயர்களைத்
தடைசெய்ய
அரசாங்கம்
முயற்சிப்பதாகத்
தகவல்கள்
வெளியாகின்றன.
" more
|
|
2.
செல்லத்துரை
சத்தியநாதன்
- தலைவர்
வீரச்சாவு
விடயத்தில்
உண்மை
உறங்கக்கூடாது
'நமது
உணர்வுகளின்
தேவை
மட்டுமல்ல
அரசியல்
தேவையும்
கூட ...
தலைவர்
அவர்கள்
வீரச்சாவடைந்தமை
தெரிந்திருந்தும்
அதனை
மறுப்பதும்
மறைப்பதும்
ஒரு
அடிப்படை
நேர்மையீனம்.
இந்த
நேர்மையீனம்
சுயநலத்தின்
அடிப்படையிலிருந்து
எழுகிறது
என
வாதிட
நான்
முன்வரவில்லை.
மாறாக,
எந்தப்
பொதுநோக்கு
காரணமாவும்
நாம்
நேர்மையீனத்தை
நியாயப்படுத்திவிட
முடியாது."
more
|
Indictment
Against Sri Lanka
|
The Charge is
Ethnic Cleansing - Sri Lanka's 60 Year Record
- Nadesan Satyendra ...
"Ethnic cleansing is about
assimilating a people. It is about destroying
the identity of a people, as a people. And it
often occurs in stages. The preferred route
of a conqueror is to achieve his objective
without resort to violence - peacefully and
stealthily. But when that fails, the would be
conqueror turns to murderous violence and
genocide to progress his assimilative agenda.
Genocides do not just happen. In the island
of Sri Lanka, the record shows that during
the past sixty years and more, the intent and
goal of all Sinhala governments (without
exception) has been to secure the island as a
Sinhala Buddhist Deepa. The current Sri
Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa is simply
the latest in a long line of leaders of the
Sinhala Buddhist nation, a nation which dare
not speak its name. It is a nation which
seeks to masquerade as a multi ethnic 'civic' 'Sri
Lankan' nation - albeit with a Sinhala Lion flag , with an
unrepealed Sinhala Only
Act, with Buddhism
as the state religion, and with the
Sinhala name 'Sri Lanka' which it gave
itself unilaterally in 1972 ....."
more |
The Accused in the
Dock - Sinhala Sri Lanka Heads of Government
- 1948 todate... |
|
Tamils - a
Trans State Nation - Tamil Nadu
Reflections
"...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
"... There are those, and they are
often sincere people, who say to Negroes
and their allies in the white community,
that we should slow up and just be nice and
patient and continue to pray, and in a
hundred or two hundred years the problem
will work itself out because only time can
solve the problem... I think there is an
answer to that myth. And it is that time is
neutral. It can be used either
constructively or destructively. And I'm
absolutely convinced that the forces of
ill-will in our nation, the extreme
rightists in our nation, have often used
time much more effectively than the forces
of good will... Somewhere we must come to
see that social progress never rolls in on
the wheels of inevitability. It comes
through the tireless efforts and the
persistent work of dedicated Individuals.
And without this hard work, time itself
becomes an ally of the primitive forces of
social stagnation. And so we must help
time, and we must realise that the time is
always right to do right.."
Martin Luther King -
Speech at Stanford University in Palo Alto,
California, 1968
|
Tamils - a
Trans State Nation
Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam to
include
Tamil National
Forum
1.
Krishna Ambalavanar writes from Switzerland
இன்றைய
வரலாற்றுக்
கடமை
"தோல்வியில்
இருந்து
மீண்டெழுதல்,
இன்றைய
வரலாற்றுக்
கடமை
இது.
"இயற்கை
எனது
நண்பன்.
வாழ்க்கை
எனது
தத்துவாசிரியன்.
வரலாறு
எனது
வழிகாட்டி."
இது
தமிழீழத்
தேசியத்
தலைவர்
வே.பிரபாகரன்
கூறிய
மிகப்
பிரபல்யமான
கருத்து.......தமிழீழ
தேசிய
விடுதலைப்
போராட்டம்
பாரிய
பின்னடைவைச்
சந்தித்தற்கான
காரணங்கள்
ஆராயப்பட்டு,
அவை
கண்டறியப்பட
வேண்டும்.
அப்போது
தான்
எமது
வரலாற்றுத்
தோல்வியில்
இருந்து
எம்மால்
மீட்சிபெற
முடியும்.
தோல்வியில்
இருந்து
பாடம்
கற்கின்ற
மனிதனே
வரலாற்றைப்
படைப்பான்..."
more
2. Shan
Thavarajah writes from Switzerland -
உண்மைகள்
பிடிவாதமானவை
"ஏசுவார்கள்
எரிப்பார்கள்
உண்மையை
எழுது
உண்மையாகவே
எழுது"
யோகர்
சுவாமிகள்
இன்று
புலம்பெயர்
தமிழ்
மக்களிடையே
ஒரு
உண்மையை
மறைத்து
விடுவதற்குப்
பகிரங்க
முயற்சி
நடப்பதைக்
கண்கூடாகக்
காண்கின்றோம்...
உண்மைக்கு
முன்பு
நடுநிலைமை
என்று
ஏதும்
இல்லை
எனக்
கூறும்
ஊடகங்கள்
நடுநிலைமையுடன்
நடக்கவும்
இல்லை,
உண்மையை
வெளிப்படுத்தவும்
இல்லை.
சிறி
லங்கா
அரசுடனான
ஊடக
யுத்தத்தில்
உயிர்ப்பலியான
மாமனிதர்கள்,
நாட்டுப்பற்றாளர்கள்
போன்றோர்
பணியாற்றிய
ஊடகங்கள்
கூட
இதுவிடயத்தில்
சரியான
ஒரு
நிலைப்பாட்டை
எடுக்கவில்லை
என்பதே
கவலைக்குரியது..."
more
|
Comments
to include
முயன்றால்
முடியும்
- MakizhNan.P, Madison, USA
"தங்களுடைய
தமிழர்களுக்கான
இணையம்
அருமையாக
உள்ளது.
தற்செயலாக
சாதி
பற்றி
தேடிய
பொழுது
இவ்
இணையத்தை
படிக்க
நேர்ந்தாலும்,
அருமையான
விடயங்களை
தவறவிட்டு
விட்டோம்
என்ற
எண்ணம்
மேலோங்கியது.
ஈழத்தின்
திறவுகோல்
தமிழகத்தின்
கையில்
உள்ளது,
ஆனால்
தமிழகமோ
சாதிப்
பிடியில்
உள்ளது.
முயன்றால்
முடியும்.
அன்புடன்
"
|
International
Relations in the Age of Empire - India
1.
Today - India
Bans Communist Party of India -Maoist
(CPI-M)
"The Indian
government has banned the Maoist Communist
Party of India as a terrorist group, giving
security forces enhanced powers of arrest.
The move provides Indian police with the
power to detain members of the party even
if they have not been involved in insurgent
activity. Earlier, five states across east
and central India were put on a high alert
as the Maoists called a two-day strike. One
district in West Bengal briefly fell under
almost total Maoist control. The rebels
said the strike they declared was in
response to the "war" on people in Lalgarh,
West Bengal, where security forces launched
an offensive in recent days. Lalgarh had
been under the virtual control of the
rebels since November..." more
2. Two
Years Ago 'It's
outright war and both sides are choosing
their weapons' -
Arundhati Roy in conversation with Shoma
Chaudhury, Tehelka, March 2007
"... to equate a resistance movement
fighting against enormous injustice with
the government which enforces that
injustice is absurd. The government has
slammed the door in the face of every
attempt at non-violent resistance. When
people take to arms, there is going to be
all kinds of violence - revolutionary,
lumpen and outright criminal. The
government is responsible for the monstrous
situations it creates...does this mean that
people whose dignity is being assaulted
should give up the fight because they can't
find saints to lead them into battle?.
" more
3.
25 years
ago
India's Simmering
Revolution: The Naxalite Uprising - Sumanta Banerjee
"...The
term `Naxalite' (from Naxalbari) has
continued to symbolize any assault on the
assumptions and institutions that support
the established order in India. It has
become a part of the common speech all over
India, and along with 'Huk' of Philippines,
'Al Fatah' of Palestine and `Tupamaros' of
Uruguay, has today found a place in the
vocabulary of world revolution...
Obituarists of the
movement have always proved to be premature
in their pronouncements. If the
movement was contained and declared
"crushed" in one part of India it soon
erupted in another, sometimes a very
unexpected corner of the country. Naxalbari
was followed by Srikakulam: Srikakulam by
Debra-Gopiballavpur;
Debra-Gopiballavpur by Birbhum; Birbhum by
Bhojpur -where still today, peasant
guerrillas of the CPI (M-L) continue to
fight back against a repressive feudal
regime... The
ideologue of the movement - fiery-eyed,
frail Charu Mazumdar, who was a victim of
cardiac asthma and was driven to death by
police persecution - was fond of
saying: "No word
ever dies. Our words remain embedded among
the people...
One who
doesn't dream and can't make others dream,
can never become a revolutionary."
more
|
Tamil Diaspora:
a Trans State Nation - United Kingdom
to include
1. Tamils
march in London over Sri Lanka's
concentration camps "...The UK, the
USA, and other European countries which had
banned the LTTE, having played a major part
in its demise, found themselves unable to
protect the now defenceless Tamil civilians
from the onslaught by the Sri Lankan state.
The Sri Lankan government used its
sovereignty as a shield to keep away these
countries whilst it carried out its genocide
with impunity. It is continuing to use the
same argument to prevent the international
community from investigating its war crimes
against Tamils..."
British Tamil Forum Memorandum to UK Prime
Minister, Gordon Brown |
|
|
2. Geetha
Maheshwaran Reflects on Giving a Sympathetic
Ear and Going Marching "...
In April, a march was
organized in central London and, for the
first time in my life, I decided that I
needed to go and be part of this public
protest. We took our 13 year old son, who
felt passionately that he needed to go and
support his fellow Tamils in Sri Lanka, and I
was moved to tears to see the sheer number of
people, of all ages and from all walks of
life, walking and chanting together in unity
to make their voices heard. It felt so good
to be able to do something, however small..."
more |
Reflection
"Man
can affect his own development and that of
his surroundings only so far as he has a
clear view of what the possibilities of
action open to him are. To do this he has
to understand the historical situation in
which he finds himself: and once he does
this, then he can play an active part in
modifying that situation. The man of action
is the true philosopher: and the philosopher
must of necessity be a man of
action... Each
of us changes himself, modifies himself to
the extent that he changes and modifies the
complex relations of which he is the heart..
The error of the intellectual consists in
believing that it is possible to know without
understanding and especially without feeling
and passion... that the intellectual can be
an intellectual if he is distinct and
detached from the people-nation, without
feeling the elemental passions of the people,
understanding them and thus explaining them
in a particular historical situation,
connecting them dialectically to the laws of
history, to a superior conception of the
world... History and politics cannot be made
without passion, without this emotional bond
between intellectuals and the people-nation.
In the absence of such a bond the
relations between intellectuals and the
people-nation are reduced to contacts of a
purely bureaucratic, formal kind; the
intellectuals become a caste or a
priesthood...' Gramsci
quoted in Spirituality and the Tamil Nation -
Nadesan Satyendra 10 May 1998, Revised 24
January 2009 |
Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam to include
1.
Press
Release by
Selvarasa Pathmanathan,
Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam - Department of International
Relations, 16 June 2009
2.
Press statement by Mr
Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, Coordinator of
the Committee for the formation of a
Provisional Transnational Government of
Tamil Eelam, 16 June
2009
3.
LTTE Plans Government in Exile, Joe Leahy
in Mumbai, Financial Times, 16 June
2009
"The
declaration of the transnational
government may be intended to help it
keep the independence hopes of the
diaspora alive so that the LTTE can
maintain its financial networks,
analysts said." more
4.
Sri Lanka rebels try to rise again after
defeat - Ravi Nessman, The Associated
Press 17 June 2009
""Sri
Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels are trying
to rise from the ashes of their
devastating battlefield defeat,
swearing off violence and pledging to
transform their internationally shunned
terror group into a democratic movement
for Tamil statehood. Their rebranding
effort faces long odds. There are
also signs that the Tamil Diaspora is
divided over whom to support. The
TamilNet Web site, seen as a mouthpiece
for the rebels, has refused to carry
statements from Pathmanathan
..."
|
Tamil National
Forum
1. N.Sivarama
Krishnan on Coming
to Terms with the Death of
Prabhakaran "...It is high time that
we accept the reality that most of our
dearest leaders, including V.Prabhakaran,
were killed on that fateful day of 17 May at
Mullivaikkal. If we believe that He will come
back and stage Eelam war 5, we are deceiving
ourselves and afraid of accepting the
reality. We all know that whoever who is born
in this earth, has to die one day. Our fore
fathers thus said " Mudi sarnthu Nadanra
Mannarum Mudivil Oru Pidi Sambalavaar" - Even
the king who was crowned and ruled the
country, at the end will become handful of
ashes". So, our Prabhakaran is also no
exception. Physically, he is no more with us.
But he lives in his spirit, in our hearts as
a leader who took our nation glory to an
unprecedented height..."
more |
|
2. Dr.R.Lambotharam
writes from Canada - |
எங்கள்
வரலாற்றுக்
கடமை
"எமது
உணர்ச்சிகளை
உரமாக்கி,
ஒருங்கிணைந்து
தமிழர்
என்ற
உணர்வோடு
மட்டுமல்லாது
விவேகத்தோடும்
நமது
சமகால
நிகழ்வுகளையும்,
இழப்புகளையும்,
சவால்களையும்,
பொறுப்புகளையும்
அணுகவேண்டிய
காலம்
இது.." more
|
|
3. Sachi Sri
Kantha writes from Japan - |
A Gift to King Mahinda
"It seems
that these days, President Mahinda
Rajapakse seems to be enjoying his newly
anointed role as the King of Sri Lanka. The
first segment of his surname 'Raja'
literally means a king. He and his
courtiers are floating in the air. I
thought that it wouldn't be bad to present
him with a gift of a story..."
more and...
Mervyn de Silva on Prabhakaran - 19 Years
Ago
|
Sathyam
Commentary
Confronting the
Death of Velupillai Prabhakaran - Nadesan
Satyendra, 18 June 2009
"I have never met
Velupillai Prabhakaran. Neither have I
ever spoken to him. I did not know him
personally. Again, it is not that I have
agreed with everything that he said or
did. Yet, when he died on 17 May 2009, I
felt a deep sense of personal loss. I
grieved. In my grief I was moved to
revisit the words of Fidel
Castro Ruz at his trial in October
1953 -
'...The man who
abides by unjust laws and permits any
man to trample and mistreat the country
in which he was born is not an
honorable man. When there are many men
without honor, there are always others
who bear in themselves the honor of
many men. These are the men who rebel
with great force against those who
steal the people's freedom, that is to
say, against those who steal honor
itself. In those men thousands more are
contained, an entire people is
contained, human dignity is contained
... "
Velupillai
Prabhakaran rebelled with great force
against those who stole his people's
freedom. In him, something of the honour
and dignity of an entire people, an
entire nation was contained. It is not
surprising therefore that his death
evoked a deep sense of personal loss
amongst those who feel - and who feel
deeply - that they belong to that people
and to that nation. It would have been
surprising if it had not.
It is also
understandable that there are those
amongst the Tamil people, in Tamil Nadu
and elsewhere, who have found it
difficult to reconcile themselves to his
death and want to believe that he
continues to live. Understandable, but
they do a great disservice both to
Velupillai Prabhakaran and to the cause
for which he gave more than 37 years of
his life..." more
|
Indictment
against Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka's
Continued Ethnic Cleansing ... - after Tamil
Armed Resistance Ended on 17 May 2009 - the
Record Speaks...
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Tamils languishing in Sri Lankan Death Camps
- Richard Dixon, Daily Telegraph Blog, 14
June 2009 "
"Torture, Rape and Murder are used against
the Tamils all over the country. But these
incidents are now widely reported in these
notorious camps. Recent visits by some
international reporters confirm that many
mothers cry uncontrollably because their
daughters are being raped by the Sri Lankan
security forces when they are taken for
questioning. Most parents with teenagers
never sleep at night because they are worried
that their sons and daughters will be
abducted. The names of young people are often
called out and they have to go and meet the
security forces. Some of them come back,
others do not. UN has recently reported that
thirteen thousands Tamils are already missing
from these camps.Instead of using poison gas
to kill all the Tamils in seconds, Sri Lankan
government is withdrawing food, medicine and
clean water and making the people to live in
horrific conditions, so that the Genocide can
be carried out slowly inside closed doors."
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Reflection
"அலங்கார
மேடைப்
பேச்சுகளினாலே,
தமிழ்த்
தேசியத்தை
வனைந்தெடுக்க
முடியாது.
அடிப்படையில்,
அது
நிபந்தனையற்ற
தமிழர்
சுயாதீனத்தை
வலியுறுத்துவது.
தமிழ்மொழி
மூலம்
தமிழருடைய
வாழ்வையும்,
வளத்தையும்
அரண்
செய்வது;
அணி
செய்வது.
கலை-இலக்கிய
வாழ்க்கையிலே
தமிழ்ப்படைப்புகள்
மூலம்
சுகம்
பெறுவது.
தமிழின்
வளத்தையும்
ஞானத்தையும்
புதிய
உச்சங்களுக்குக்
கொண்டு
செல்ல
உதவும்
அந்த
மகத்தான
உந்துதலுக்கும்
உணர்ச்சிக்கும்
பெயர்தான்
தமிழ்த்தேசியம்.
அது
தமிழர்
சமூகத்தை
ஊழல்களிலிருந்து
மீட்கும்
மந்திர
சக்தி
பெற்றது"
- Badri
Seshadri, Tamil Nadu,
2004
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Tamil Eelam
Freedom Struggle
ஒரு
மடல் -
தயா
மோகன்,
விடுதலைப்புலிகள்
மட்டு,
அம்பாறை
அரசியற்
துறை.
"உலகின்
தலைவிதியை
நிர்ணயிக்கும்
சக்தியாக
இருக்கக்கூடிய
அமெரிக்கா
தலைமையிலான
அணி
இன்று
தமிழர்களின்
பக்கம்
ஓரளவு
இருக்கின்றது
என்பதனையிட்டு
நாம்
ஆறுதலடையவேண்டும்.
இன்றுள்ள
நிலையில்
இவைதான்
நமக்கு
சாதகமான
நிலை.
போரை
முடிவுக்கு
கொண்டு
வந்துவிட்டதாக
சிங்களம்
மார்தட்டி
வெற்றிக்கழிப்பில்
இருக்கின்ற
நிலையில்
சிங்கள
தேசத்தின்
அடுத்த
கட்ட
நகர்வையே
இன்று
சர்வதேசம்
எதிர்பார்த்துள்ளது.
சிங்களம்
எம்
மக்களுக்கு
கௌரவமான
ஒரு
தீர்வை
முன்வைக்காது
என்பது
நம்க்குத்தெரியாத
ஒன்றல்ல.
ஆனால்,
அது
சர்வதேசத்திற்கு
தெரியும்
காலம்
வரும்
வரையில்
நாம்
உறுதி
தளராத
மனவுறுதியுடன்
பணிகளை
முன்னெடுத்துச்
செல்லவேண்டும்.
இவைகள்
ஒருபுறமிருக்க
அதற்கு
முன்னதாக
நாம்
சிங்களத்தின்
சிறைக்குள்
அகப்பட்டுக்கிடக்கும்
எம்
மக்களைப்பற்றியும்
எம்
போராளிகள்
பற்றியும்
உடனடியாக
கரிசனை
செய்யவேண்டியவர்களாக
நாம்
இருக்கின்றோம்.
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Tamil National
Forum
கிருஸ்ணா
அம்பலவாணர்,
writes from Switzerland
"வரலாற்றுத்
தவறுசெய்த
தமிழினமே
உனக்கு
ஒருமடல்
-
மூன்று
தசாப்தமாக
தமிழ்
மக்களுக்குத்
தலைமை
தாங்கி
வழிநடத்திய
மாபெரும்
விடுதலை
அமைப்பான
தமிழீழ
விடுதலைப்
புலிகள்
இயக்கத்தின்
தலைவர்
மேதகு
வே.
பிரபாகரன்
அவர்களின்
மறைவினால்
ஏற்பட்டிருக்கின்ற
வெற்றிடத்தை
எவராலும்
நிரப்பவே
முடியாது...
அவரது
மரணம்
தொடர்பாக
இருக்கின்ற
முரண்பாடான
கருத்துகள்,
அடுத்த
கட்டம்
பற்றிய
எமது
சிந்தனைகளையும்
மாற்று
நடவடிக்கைகளையும்
முடக்கிப்
போட்டிருக்கிறது.
அந்த
மரணம்
ஈழத்
தமிழனத்தால்
மட்டுமன்றி
உலகத்
தமிழினத்தாலேயே
ஏற்றுக்
கொள்ள
முடியாத
ஒன்றாக
-
ஜீரணிக்க
முடியாத
ஒன்றாக
இருப்பினும்
யதார்த்த
நிலையில்
இருந்து
தான்
அதை
நாம்
நோக்க
வேண்டும்.
ஆனால்,
இந்த
விடயத்தில்
ஈழத்
தமிழினம்
பிளவுபட்டு
நிற்பது
வேதனைக்கு
உரியது.
வெட்கத்துக்கு
உரியது.
தனது
வாழ்வின்
37
வருடங்களை
முழுமையாகவே
ஈழத்
தமிழருக்காகவே
அர்ப்பணித்த
ஒரு
ஒப்பற்ற
தலைவனுக்கு
இறுதி
மரியாதை
கூடச்
செய்ய
முடியாதளவுக்கு
நாம்
முட்டாள்களாக
நிற்கிறோம்.."
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Struggle for
Tamil Eelam
Anita Pratap on 'Lessons to be learnt from
the rout of the LTTE'
"...
the lesson to be learnt at
the personal level is that inflexibility is
a fatal flaw. Compromise is not
opportunism, but the art of survival.
Prabhakaran had four reasonable chances for
a peaceful settlement-in 1987 with India,
in 1990 with R. Premadasa, in 1994 with
Chandrika Kumaratunga and in 2003 with
Ranil Wickramasinghe through the
Norway-brokered peace process. But
Prabhakaran was uncompromising about Eelam.
In the final analysis, he not only failed
in his mission, but brought untold
suffering to the Tamils, whose rights he
sought to champion. A whole generation of
Sri Lankans-both Tamils and Sinhalese-paid
a high price. History will probably neither
forget nor forgive Prabhakaran."
together with
Comment by tamilnation.org Et Tu
Anita Pratap! "Inflexibility is
a fatal flaw. Compromise is not
opportunism. It is an art form. It is the
art of survival. George Orwell could not
have put it better. It may be that
survival as an art form is something
which Anita Pratap is well qualified to
talk about. But she errs in extending
her life experience to those who, unlike
her, have been willing to put their lives
on line in a struggle to win freedom for
their people. She herself may hopefully
gain - at the personal level - by
learning some lessons from the lives of
those who were inflexible in their
commitment to freedom and who were not
concerned with 'surviving' without
freedom - persons such as Baghat Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose and
Velupillai Prabhakaran himself."...
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Revisited
The Relevance of
Sri Aurobindo: His Early Political Life
& Teachings - Nadesan
Satyendra -
first published 24 Years Ago in
1985 ".. Sri
Aurobindo's relatively short political
life and his brilliant political writings
exemplify a stage in the Indian freedom
struggle - a stage that is common to many
struggles of an oppressed people who seek
to break the oppressive structures of
their society. It is a stage which
reflects the reaction of a people who see
the failure of the path of petitioning
and pleading to achieve anything at all
except a perpetuation of the rule by the
established ruler... Sri Aurobindo's stay
in prison (in 1909) marked a turning
point in his personal evolution. It also
represented a turning point in the
development of the Indian freedom
struggle. The ink of the journalist
had not proved to be much more effective
than the pen of the petition drawer. The
bomb in the hand of the militant had not
proved much more effective than the
breath of the orator. The repressive
power of the state prevailed over both.
Almost all the leaders of the freedom
movement were either in jail or in self
imposed exile. Aurobindo expressed his
feelings in his famous Uttarpara
speech, soon after his release from
prison: "When I went to jail the whole
country was alive with the cry of Bande
Mataram... when I came out of jail I
listened for that cry, but there was
instead a silence. a hush had fallen on
the country and men seemed bewildered...
No man seemed to know which way to move,
and from all sides came the question,
'What shall we do next? What is there
that we can do?' I too did not know which
way to move, I too did not know what was
next to be done.." ... Great
expectations that are not fulfilled are
usually followed by an even greater
despondency and all that remained was a
sullen silence... (But 12 years
later) another young Bengalee, Subhas
Chandra Bose followed Aurobindo's
footsteps by spurning the Indian Civil
Service after having passed the
examination in 1920 from Fitzwilliam Hall
in Cambridge University. Subhas Chandra
Bose wrote to his brother on 23 February
1921:
"The principle of
serving an alien bureacracy is one to
which I cannot reconcile myself.
Besides the first step towards
equipping oneself for public service is
to sacrifice all worldly interests
- to burn one's boats as it were - and
devote oneself whole heartedly to the
national cause... The
illustrious example of Aurobindo Ghosh
looms large before my vision. I feel
that I am ready to make the sacrifice
which that example demands
me."
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