2. "You have accused me of "Bengali patriotism". I feel bound to reply. If it is a crime for a Bengali to harbour and encourage Bengali patriotism in his mind, then I am guilty. But I ask you: what other patriotism do you expect from a Bengali writer? The fact that I do not write in English should indicate that non Bengali patriotism does not sway my mind. If I had to make patriotic speeches in a language of no part of India, then I would have to justify that patriotism by saying that it does not relate to any special part of India but that it means love for India as a whole. To love a country means to love its people because human beings love other human beings. If there is someone who loves, not humans but the soil, then we can conclude that he is no human but a slab of inanimate matter...In a language learnt by rote you can only express ideas learnt by heart. The proof of that is constantly visible in our conferences and congresses. In those meetings, our 'by heart' people are the leaders as well as the performers..." For Province, Read Nation - Pramatha Chauduri, 1920

2. Arundhati Roy in conversation with Shoma Chaudhury "You don't have to be a genius to read the signs. We have a growing middle class, reared on a diet of radical consumerism and aggressive greed. Unlike industrialising Western countries, which had colonies from which to plunder resources and generate slave labour to feed this process, we have to colonise ourselves, our own nether parts. We've begun to eat our own limbs. The greed that is being generated (and marketed as a value interchangeable with nationalism) can only be sated by grabbing land, water and resources from the vulnerable. What we're witnessing is the most successful secessionist struggle ever waged in independent India - the secession of the middle and upper classes from the rest of the country. It's a vertical secession, not a lateral one. They're fighting for the right to merge with the world's elite somewhere up there in the stratosphere..." more

தமிழீழத் தேசிய விடுதலைப் போராட்டம் உருவாக்கிய புத்திஜீவிகளில் ஒருவரான கிட்டு என்னும் சதாசிவம் கிருஸ்ணுகுமார் - ஒரு பார்வை. "ஆங்கிலக் கல்வியின் விளைவுகளால் புத்தகப் படிப்பை புலமையாக ஏற்றுக்கொண்ட தமிழ்ச் சமுதாயம் ஒன்றில், யார் புத்திஜீவி என்பது பற்றிய மயக்கம் இன்னமும் பலரிடையே உள்ளது. அவர்கள் தம் மனச் சிறையில் இருந்து வெளியேறும்வரை உண்மையான புத்திஜீவிகளை இனம் காணமாட்டார்கள். மனித வரலாற்றில் பெரும் மாற்றங்கள், பாய்ச்சல்கள் ஏற்பட்டபோதெல்லாம் அவற்றின் பின்னால் உள்ள ஆளுமைமிக்க , ஆற்றல்மிக்க மனிதர்களைச் சந்திக்கின்றோம். தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் போராட்டம், சோர்வும், பயமும், துன்பநினைவுகளும் , ஆற்றாமையும், விதிவசம் என்னும் மனப்பான்மையும் கொண்டிருந்த மக்களை அவர்களின் மனச்சிறையில் இருந்து விடுவித்து எம்மால் முடியும் என்ற போர்க்குணத்தை ஏற்படுத்தியது. அண்மைய நிகழ்ச்சிகளால் மனம் ஒடிந்து வாழும் தமிழ்ச் சமுதாயம் இவை பற்றி சிந்தித்து, பேசி, செயல்படும் காலமிது..." more

"Do I know what it means
To stand in the queue as a mere 13 year old,
Collecting charity for my younger brother
and widowed and aching mother,
a wound in my stomach which hurts and oozes.
With no one to care for the pain
To live on, not knowing why
or the reason or meaning of hope..."

These are the opening lines of a poem by Sumathy R, who worked as a volunteer for a few days in a Tamil refugee camp in Sri Lanka. She describes the travails of the destitute and the orphans living in army-controlled camps According to reports, about three lakh Tamils displaced from erstwhile LTTE-controlled areas by war are treated like prisoners in these camps in North Sri Lanka. more

2. "(In early 1942) Japan proposed a tripartite (Germany, Japan, Italy) declaration on India. Encouraged by this, Bose met Mussolini in Rome on 5 May 1942, and persuaded him to obtain such a declaration in favor of Indian independence. Mussolini telegraphed the Germans, proposing proceeding at once with the declaration. To back his new proposal Mussolini told the Germans that he had urged Bose to set up a "counter-government" and to appear more conspicuously. The German reaction, which still remained guarded, is recorded by Dr. Goebbels in his diary on 11 May 1942:

'We don't like this idea very much, since we do not think the time has yet come for such a political manoeuvre. It does appear though that the Japanese are very eager for some such step. However, emigre governments must not live too long in a vacuum. Unless they have some actuality to support them, they only exist in the realm of theory.'

... During an interview at the F�hrer's field headquarters on 29 May, he (Hitler) told Netaii that a well-equipped army of a few thousand could control millions of unarmed revolutionaries, and there could be no political change in India until an external power knocked at her door. Germany could not yet do this... The world would consider (a declaration) premature, even coming from him, at this stage. Hitler was perhaps being realistic, but nevertheless it must have come as some sort of disappointment for Netaji..." Subhas Chandra Bose, the Indian National Army, and the War of India's Liberation - Ranjan Borra, Journal of Historical Review, no. 3, 4 (Winter 1982)

2. Selvarasa Pathmanathan (KP) Blog, 22 July 2009 on Why do we need a political and diplomatic path? "About 300,000 people have been torn away from their traditional dwellings in Vanni and are being isolated in Sinhala military internments away from international observation. Yet another 300,000 continue to live as displaced people in other parts of our Tamil homeland. In total, over 600,000 people are languishing as displaced under extreme circumstances. In addition, more than 10,000 freedom fighters are being held in isolation and are subjected to torture by the Sri Lankan Government against international conventions." more

Time is Running Out - Nadesan Satyendra in the Sri Lanka Tribune on 13 October 1979 - and that was 30 years ago - "It is said, sometimes with the appearance of uttering a profundity, that we live in an age of transition. This is a truism. All ages are transitory and in a changing world, man moulds and shapes institutional frames in order that such frames may, hopefully, provide a suitable base for his further advancement and development... Constitutional frames cannot, however be created in vacuo. There is a need to, understand and accept some of the basic facts which relate to the ethnic question as it exists today. It is sometimes the case that when confronted with the need to ascertain facts in this area, many are driven by an almost irresistible impulse to engage in an historical study and depending upon the inclination of the particular individual, such a study may extend backwards to the colonial era of the British or to the time of the Portuguese invasion, or to the period covered by the Mahavamsa or for that matter to Prince Vijaya. Perhaps a keen student of history may even extend such a study into the stone age and if he was philosophically or religiously inclined, he may go on to examine the question of first causes or original sin.

One may be left with the impression that the whole ethnic question in this country can be resolved simply by a determination of the question as to which of the two communities was the first to arrive in Sri Lanka. What does it matter who arrived first? Or is it the position that those who arrived later should be dumped into the sea? Or for that matter are the late arrivals to be discriminated against on the ground that they are late arrivals? Does it matter that some are regarded as invaders, and some others as settlers? Are we to visit the sins of the so called invaders on their descendants born centuries later and on generations yet unborn? Or is it that the descendants of these invaders have inherited a certain propensity towards invasive habits and should therefore be kept in a state of semi-subservience? Is that the path to a united Sri Lanka?

There are others who speak of geopolitical realities and assert knowledgeably that the ethnic question in Sri Lanka must be considered in the context of the existence of the State of Tamil Nadu in Southern India. Admittedly, politics is often a function of geography and if Sri Lanka had been situated, say, in the South Pole, it's ethnic question may have been viewed in another dimension. But does this mean that we are to await changes in the contours of continents, before learning to live together in this land of ours?

Again there are those who when called upon to look at the facts start from the most recent demand for political reform. They point out to the unreasonableness of the demand for a separate State and hearing them one may well be lead to the belief that if the demand was dropped, everything would be alright and there would be no ethnic question in this country..." more

2. Thevanambiya Theesan writes from Sri Lanka on Sinhala-Buddhist Pseudo-History

2. LTTE overseas hardliners see KP as a failure alleges Sinhala 'Academic/Intelligence Expert' Rohana Gunaratne in Sinhala Sri Lanka State Controlled Daily News together with Comment by tamilnation.org "Unsavoury regimes these days hire the best talent available to spruce up their international image... The PR technique is simple enough: minimise the human rights abuses, talk about it as a 'complex' two sided story, play up efforts at reform, speak of all the positive 'modernization' that is going on and - most of all - the crucial economic stake 'we' all have...If possible, it is best to put these words in the mouth of some apparently 'neutral' group of 'concerned citizens', or a lofty institute with academic credentials." Richard Swift, New Internationalist, in Mind Games, July 1999

2. Caste in Tamil Culture: The Religious Foundations of Sudra Domination in Tamil Sri Lanka, Bryan Pfaffenberger "...The caste system of South India, epitomized (as are most things South Indian) by the social formation of the Tamil-speaking lands is if anything even more rigid and redolent of the hierarchical ethos than that of North India. And yet - here, of course, is the uniquitous paradox with which South Indian presents us - the Tamil caste system comprises features which are not only unknown in North India but are also without any clear foundation in the Sastric lore. So divergent is the southern system that one is tempted to say, with Raghavan , that the Sastras have "little application" to the Tamil caste system, which should be analyzed in purely Dravidian terms...(But) to argue that the Sastric ranking ideology has "little application" to the Tamil caste system is to ignore the challenge that South India presents to ethnology. Yet it is also true that, in the middle ranges of the Tamil caste hierarchy, the ranking categories and overall form of the Gangetic caste tradition are very poorly reproduced. The most striking aspect of this anomaly - the one with which this monograph is chiefly concerned - is the enigmatic status of certain non-Brahman cultivating castes, which are traditionally of the Sudra (or Servant) rank in Sastric terms and which are epitomized by the cultivating Vellalars of the Tamil hinterland. Throughout South India, in those areas in which Brahmans are not the chief landowners, Sudra cultivating castes often possess what Srinivas has termed "decisive dominance"" more

காலமென்றே ஒரு நினைவும் காட்சி என்றே பல நினைவும்.....

"...சமாதான காலத்தில் எனது முதலாவது வன்னிப் பயணம் அதன் நினைவுகள் என்னோடு வாழும். வாழ்க்கையின் பயணம் அது தொடங்கிய இடத்தில் வந்து சேர்வதும் அப்போது அந்த இடத்தை முதன் முதலாக அறிவது போன்ற உணர்வும் ஏற்படின் நாம் பயணித்தோம் என்பதைக் காட்டும் என்றார் ரீ.ஸ் .எலியட் (T.S.Eliot) வன்னிமண்ணில் கால் வைத்தபோது ஏற்பட்ட உணர்வு இதுவே... முல்லையும் மருதமும் மயங்கிய இந்தப் பெருநிலப்பரப்பில் புலிகள் ஆட்சியில்

உடலுறுதி, மனவுறுதி, சித்த விலாசம், ஆத்ம சுதந்திரம், விரிவான கலைப்பயிற்சி, பயனுள்ள தொழில் முயற்சி, தாராளமான நட்பு, ஈகை, ஒருவரையொருவர் கொள்ளையடிக்காத அன்யோன்யம், சாதிமதப் பிடிவாதங்களற்ற சுதந்திரமான நிமிர்ந்த நடை, செல்வச் செருக்கற்ற சரளமான உறவு

என ஜனநாயகத்தின் பண்புகளைப் பட்டியலிட்ட விட்மனின் எழுத்துக்களை அங்கு காண முடிந்தது." more

Comment by tamilnation.org M.Thanapalasingham's Essay காலமென்றே ஒரு நினைவும் காட்சி என்றே பல நினைவும் is an outstanding contribution which clearly comes from both heart and mind - and unsurprisingly reaches to our own hearts and minds as well. The title says it all - and appropriately enough it is in Tamil. We are privileged to publish it at tamilnation.org.

Nadesan Satyendra - Tamil New Year Day: First of Thai, 12 April 2008 "... It should not surprise that those who would destroy the Tamils as a nation of people are intent on keeping the Tamils divided by caste, race and 'religion' - and sometimes by an appeal to a pseudo 'modernism'. One World for the Tamils - and 'our nation' for all the member states of the United Nations....to paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, yes, by all means let us open our windows to the world but let us not be blown off our feet. The unity of the Tamil people will not be built by a shallow modernism which ignores our language, our heritage and our cultural roots... And though I write this in English, the unity of the Tamil people will not be built by English speaking Tamils speaking to each other in English. It will be built by Tamil speaking Tamils speaking to each other in Tamil. And it is that unity that will continue to grow in the years to come... The Tamil national identity is a secular identity - and the Tamil New Year on the First of Thai reflects that secular identity. The Tamil nation includes not only Hindus (both Saivaites and Vaishnavites) but also Tamils belonging to many different faiths. Christian Tamils are also Tamils. Brahmin Tamils are also Tamils. Dalit Tamils some of who may be Buddhists are also part of the Tamil nation. The Tamil nation also includes those who regard themselves as atheists and agnostics... A nation is a deep and horizontal togetherness which cuts across vertical divisions -

"A nation is ... imagined as a community, because regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep horizontal comradeship. Ultimately, it is this fraternity that makes it possible, over the past two centuries, for so many millions of people, not so much to kill, as willingly to die for such limited imaginings." *Benedict Anderson: Imagined Communities - Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, 1991

And the Tamil nation is a growing horizontal togetherness -

... of more than 80 million Tamil people, living in many lands and across distant seas - a growing togetherness rooted in a shared heritage, a rich language and literature, and a vibrant culture - a growing togetherness consolidated by the heroic struggle of the people of Tamil Eelam for freedom from alien Sinhala rule and given fresh impetus by the digital revolution - a growing togetherness given purpose and direction by a determined will to live in equality, in freedom and in peace with their fellow beings and meaningfully contribute to an emerging one world, unfolding from matter to life to mind ..." more

Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa's Theory of Reconciliation: Intermarriage ".. my theory is: there are no minorities in Sri Lanka, there are only those who love the country and those who don't... No way for federalism in this country. For reconciliation to happen, there must be a mix [of ethnicities]. Here, the Sinhalese, the Tamils, and Muslims inter-marry. In my own family, there have been mixed marriages: Sinhalese with Tamils, Sinhalese with Muslims. This is Sri Lankan society..." together with Comment by tamilnation.org Given President Rajapaksa's genocidal record, his theory of reconciliation may be simply stated: kill off as many Tamils as you can and then marry those that remain alive. It is this Sinhala society which President Rajapaksa seeks to pass off as a Sri Lankan society - 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 the Sinhala majority gave the island unilaterally in 1972 ... more

This is not cricket

Charu Mazumdar, Naxalite Leader, quoted by Sumanta Bannerjee in India's Simmering Revolution: The Naxalite Uprising

2. "..In 1987, a Jewish academic on Sabbatical at Cambridge University met with me in my home at Cambridge. It was soon after the signing of the Indo Sri Lanka Accord. He asked me whether I felt that the 13th Amendment will resolve the conflict. I said no. He 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 me to ask him: "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 my turn to laugh. I said, give me a short answer. He responded: "The short answer is that we never gave up the idea."" - Nadesan Satyendra in Ten Minute Read, 20 February 2009

"Currently, opinion is divided on the issue of whether the LTTE succeeded in its objectives. Those influenced by the IBMs (India's Brahmin Mafia) tend to favor the hypothesis that LTTE miserably failed in its objectives. Forget about what Sinhalese or Indian Brahmins or Americans think about the LTTE, or about globalization. Think about what Eelam Tamils view is about LTTE.. I cite below a passage from Bertrand Russell's thoughts in his work in his work Power: A New Social Analysis (1938). Though more than 70 years have passed since it appeared first, the British polymath's clarity is what we need at the moment. -

"A creed never has force at its command to begin with, and the first steps in the production of a wide-spread opinion must be taken by means of persuasion alone. We have thus a kind of see-saw: first, pure persuasion leading to the conversion of a minority; then force exerted to secure that the rest of the community shall be exposed to the right propaganda; and finally a genuine belief on the part of the great majority, which makes the use of force again unnecessary. Some bodies of opinion never get beyond the first stage, some reach the second and then fail, others are successful in all three."

... after 25 year of struggle, LTTE had brought the Tamil consciousness for a separate state to the second stage, and even to the entry range of the third stage. How the third stage will play out depends on now unpredictable factors such as (1) how the dumb Sinhalese political leadership accommodates Tamil aspirations, (2) how the young Tamils growing in the diaspora would integrate the notion of Tamil statehood into their hearts and minds, (3) whether a 'Prabhakaran' born in the 21^st century may arrive, unannounced? The last one may appear like wishful thinking. But nobody predicted or foresaw in 1950s and 1960s, the arrival of the military-savvy Prabhakaran, among the book-wormish Jaffna cowards who cringed at the hollering of racial epithet 'panam-kottai' (literally, palmyra-seed)! more

"கணிவழி காண்போம் தமிழ்"

பனை ஓலையில் இருந்து, கணிப்பொறித் திரை வரை... நான்காவது தமிழ் உதயமாகிறது...

"..The print revolution brought Tamil from the ola leaves to paper, from the select few literati to the many. The digital revolution is bringing Tamil from paper to the computer and the internet. Swaminathatha Iyer and Thamotherampillai heralded the Tamil renaissance in the 19th century. Today, a Tamil digital renaissance is taking place - and is helping to bring Tamil people together not simply culturally but also in political and economic terms..."