Sri Lanka's
Human Rights Emergency • How and why
it is being hidden
• And what we can do about it
Monday 31
August 2009, 6.30 - 8.30 pm
Footbridge Lecture Theatre, University of
Sydney
Entry by gold coin donation
Bruce Haigh, Political
commentator and author; former Australian
diplomat and Deputy High Commissioner to Sri
Lanka.
Dr John Whitehall,
Paediatrician and Associate Professor in Public
Health at James Cook University; volunteer
medical worker in Sri Lanka; finalist, Senior
Australian of the Year
Dr Sam Pari, Tamil
Human Rights Advocate; volunteer worker, post-war
and post-tsunami regions of Sri Lanka.
We will also hear eyewitness
accounts from government-run internment camps where
300,000 people are being held, away from the
scrutiny of international humanitarian agencies and
media. Moderated by: Associate Professor Jake
Lynch, Director, Centre for Peace and Conflict
Studies, University of Sydney.
A Joint Initiative of CPACS and
the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism,
UTS, supported by Amnesty International.
For further information
contact: Keryn Scott or Lyn Dickens, CPACS, 9351
7686 [email protected]
Reflections
1."...They call you 'Little Man', 'Common
Man'; they say a new era has begun, the 'Era of the
Common Man'....I have never heard you complain: 'You
promote me to be the future master of myself and the
world, but you don't tell me how one is to be the
master of oneself, and you don't tell me the
mistakes in my thinking and my actions...Don't
run. Have the courage to look at yourself! ..You are
different from the really great man in only one
thing: The great man, at one time, also was a very
little man, but he developed one important ability:
he learned to see where he was small in his thinking,
and actions... The Little Man does not know that he
is little, and he is afraid of knowing it. He covers
up his smallness and narrowness with illusions of
strength and greatness, of others' strength and
greatness...'" Wilhelm Reich - Listen
Little Man
2."...When
it becomes necessary to develop a new perception of
things, a new internal model of reality, the problem
is never to get new ideas in, the problem is to
get the old ideas out. Every mind is filled
with old furniture. It is familiar. It is
comfortable. We hate to throw it out. The old
maxim so often applied to the physical world, "Nature
abhors a Vacuum" is much more applicable to the
mental world. Clear any room in your mind of old
perspectives, and new perspectives will rush in. Yet,
there is nothing we fear more.....Leader presumes
follower. Follower presumes choice...A vital question
is how to insure that those who lead are
constructive, ethical, open, and honest. The answer
is to follow those who behave in that manner. It
comes down to both individual and collective sense of
where and how people choose to be led. In a very
real sense, followers lead by choosing where to be
led. Where an organizational community will be led is
inseparable from the shared values and beliefs of its
members..." Dee Hock -
The Art of Chaordic Leadership
Tamil Language &
Literatureto
include
1. The Revival of the Hebrew
Language- ProfessorChaim Rabin-40 years ago in the Journal of
Tamil Studies edited by Father Xavier Thaninayagam,
April 1969"..Hebrew is the language of
one nation, the Jews...As
a result of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.,
and the expulsion of Jews from Central Palestine
(Judaea) after the unsuccessful revolt in 132 A.D.,
the habit of speaking Hebrew gradually died out,
until shortly after 200 A.D., it ceased
altogether... The idea of
Jewish nationalism, however, and its connection with
the national language, Hebrew, was clearly
formulatedas early as
spring 1879 by Eliezer Ben Yehuda, a young man from
N.W. Russia then studying medicine at Paris, in a
Hebrew article printed in a quarterly published by
Russian Jews at Vienna. Coining a new Hebrew term
for ' nationalism ', he advocated the return to
Palestine and stated that in the regenerated Jewish
homeland also Hebrew literature, would
flourish..." more
2. தமிழின்
வியத்தகு
மாண்புகளும்,
அதன்
வளர்ச்சித்
திசைவழியும்
-
முனைவர்.வே.
பாண்டியன்
"அன்று
சமற்கிருதத்தால்
ஏற்பட்ட
பாதிப்பைவிட
இன்று
ஆங்கிலத்தால்
மிகுதியான
பாதிப்பு
ஏற்பட்டுக்
கொண்டிருக்கிறது.
மேலை
நாடுகளின்
பொருளாதார
மேன்மையும்,
தமிழினிடத்தில்
பார்ப்பனீயத்தால்
ஏற்படுத்தப்பட்ட
தம்மைப்பற்றிய
தாழ்வு
மனப்பாண்மையும்
தான்
இந்த
ஆங்கிலக்
கவர்ச்சிக்குக்
காரணிகள்.
அதோடு
தமிழின்
மேன்மை,
தொன்மை,
பண்பாடு
பற்றிய
விழிப்புணர்வு
பெருவாரியான
தமிழிரிடத்தில்
ஏற்படுத்தப்
படாமையும்
இந்த
இழிவு
நிலையின்
மற்றொறு
காரணி." more
Introduction -
அறிமுகம்
Keetru"மறந்து
கொண்டே
இருப்பது
மக்களின்
இயல்பு
நினைவு
படுத்தித்
தூண்டிக்
கொண்டே
இருப்பது
எம்
கடமை"
Reflection
"..
Thamizh to me is not just a medium of
communication... I admire Thamizh culture because it
has always had a great respect for the Truth. We have
had saints like 'Nakkirar' who did not fear even
getting burnt by the third eye of Lord Shiva and
continued to adhere to the truth. In Thamizhnadu an
ordinary woman like Kannagi
could make a powerful king shiver in his shoes by
proclaiming the truth. The Thamizh language to me
mediates the knowledge and wisdom of the Thamizh
people who have lived for nearly 2000
years......Tamils have long
understood that God is beyond religions.... In
the verses of Manickavasagar if I replace Lord Shiva
with Jesus, Allah or Jehovah it will not take away an
ounce of its spirituality.
These are but names. As you well know the English
translations of Thiruvasakam and the Thirukural was
done by two missionaries, G.U. Pope and Father
Beckett, over a hundred years ago... Of course to
respect another religion one must have strong roots
in one's own faith... For me there are no big or
small things. I have learnt so much from
things that seem small to people... I hope I can
bring the great
Tamil literature and culture to the world
stage. If I do not read Thiruvasakam
it is my loss and not the
loss of Manickavasagar. I hope I can give more people
the opportunity to be touched by these
masterpieces... "
In Conversation With Rev. Jegath Gaspar
Raj
Nationalism
and the Mind - Liah Greenfeld, Professor of
Political Science and Sociology, The Hebrew
University of Jerusalem "...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..." more
International
Conferences on Tamil Studiesto include
1. "Those who do not remember the
past are condemned to repeat it." - George
Santayana
2. "The Bourbon kings
remembered everything, but learnt nothing." -
Charles Maurice De
Talleyrand-P�rigord
3."The ideal leadership does
not seize power. It does not even seek power -
power accrues to it " M.K.Gandhi quoted in
Mihrabehn
- Gleanings Gathered at Bapu's Feet, Navajivan
Publishing House, Ahmedabad 1949
Revisited
"A
nation is a partnership between those who are
living, those who are dead and those who are to be
born" -Edmund
Burke
"வந்தாரை
வாழ
வைக்கும்
செந்தமிழ்
நாட்டில்
சேட்டு
என்றும்,
சேட்டனென்றும்
வந்தவனெல்லாம்
வாழ,
சொந்த
இரத்தம்
ஈழத்தில்
சாகிறது.
அதைத்
தடுத்து
நிறுத்துங்கள்
என்று
குரல்
கொடுத்தால்,
ஆம்
என்றோ
இல்லை
என்றோ
எந்த
பதிலும்
சொல்லாமல்
கள்ள
மௌனம்
சாதிக்கிறது
இந்திய
ஏகாதிபத்தியம்.
இந்தியாவின்
போர்
ஞாயமானதென்றால்
அதை
வெளிப்படையாகச்
செய்ய
வேண்டியதுதானே..
ஏன்
திருட்டுத்தனமாக
செய்ய
வேண்டும்?"
more
Reflections
"There are two secrets about an
effective plan of action. The first secret is not
to reveal the second." Anon
" Tactical paradox is
the ability to project to the opponent a
contradictory view of one's position or plan. Sun
Tzu believed that this was fundamental to a clever
strategy.
"Thus when
able, they appear unable.
When employed they appear useless.
When close, they appear distant.
When distant, they appear close.
They lure through advantages,
And take control through confusion.
When angry, they appear to submit.
When proud, they appear to be humble.
When comfortable, they appear to toil.
When attached they appear separated.
They attack when the opponent is unprepared.
And appear where least expected.
This is the Strategist's way of triumph.
It must not be discussed beforehand." Sun Tzu on the Art
of War - Translated from the Chinese By Lionel
Giles, M.A. (1910)
"300,000 people displaced
by the fighting in Sri Lanka are held by the
government in de facto detention camps. They
cannot leave the camps, where conditions are
"appalling" according to UN Secretary General
Ban Ki Moon... Call on the Sri Lankan
government to immediately allow the displaced
civilians freedom of movement: those who wish
to leave the camps should be free to do so.
Urge them to place the camps under civilian,
not military, management and to allow aid
agencies, journalists and human rights
observers full, unhindered access to the camps
to carry out their functions and prevent
possible abuses."
TO: President Mahinda Rajapaksa,
Presidential Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri
Lanka
Early in 2009, over 280,000
civilians fled the war zone in northeast Sri
Lanka as the Sri Lankan military reconquered
all the territory held by the opposition
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and
killed their senior leaders, thus ending the
26-year-old conflict. Since the conclusion of
hostilities in mid-May, the displaced civilians
have been held in overcrowded, military-run
internment camps. The Sri Lankan government
will not allow the civilians to leave the camps
until a screening process to detect suspected
LTTE fighters among the civilians has been
carried out. Aid agencies, journalists and
human rights observers have not been given full
access to the camps. Without independent
monitors in the camps, the civilians are at
risk of human rights abuses from the security
forces.
We call on the Sri Lankan
government to immediately allow the displaced
civilians freedom of movement: those who wish
to leave the camps should be free to do so. The
camps should be placed under civilian, not
military, management. Aid agencies, journalists
and human rights observers should be promptly
provided with full, unhindered access to the
camps to carry out their functions and prevent
possible abuses.
Reflection -On Indian Independence Day, 15 August
2009
" On r�siste
� l'invasion des
arm�es; on ne
r�siste pas �
l'invasion des id�es. - There is one
thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and
that is an idea whose time has come.." Victor
Hugo
செந்தமிழ்
நாடெனும்
போதினிலே
- இன்பத்
தேன்
வந்து
பாயுது
காதினிலே
- எங்கள்
தந்தையர்
நாடென்ற
பேச்சினிலே
- ஒரு
சக்தி
பிறக்குது
மூச்சினிலே..
கல்வி
சிறந்த
தமிழ்நாடு
-
புகழ்க் கம்பன்
பிறந்த
தமிழ்நாடு
- நல்ல
பல்விதமாயின
சாத்திரத்தின்
- மணம்
பாரெங்கும்
வீசுந்
தமிழ்நாடு
(செந்தமிழ்)
வள்ளுவன்
தன்னை
உலகினுக்கே
- தந்து
வான்புகழ்
கொண்ட
தமிழ்நாடு
- நெஞ்சை
அள்ளும்
சிலப்பதி
காரமென்றோர்
- மணி
யாரம்
படைத்த
தமிழ்நாடு
(செந்தமிழ்)
சிங்களம்
புட்பகம்
சாவக -
மாதிய
தீவு
பலவினுஞ்
சென்றேறி
- அங்கு
தங்கள்
புலிக்கொடி
மீன்கொடியும்
- நின்று
சால்புறக்
கண்டவர்
தாய்நாடு
(செந்தமிழ்)
- Subramanya
Bharathy
Tamil National
Forum
1. Sachi Sri Kantha writes
from Japan on Foggy
Bottom
"..According to word maven William Safire, in
the American political lexicon foggy bottom refers to
US State Department as its "offices were built on
land that had originally been called Foggy Bottom,
and the name was reapplied because it recalled a
fogginess of official language" more
"
துணிவானதொரு
போராட்ட
இயக்கமும்
நம்பகமான
தலைமையும்
களத்தில்
இல்லாதவரை
'எல்லை
கடந்த
தமிழீழ
அரசு'
என்ற
யோசனையெல்லாம்
கடைசியில்
தலாய்லாமா
அவர்களைப்
போல்
பயணங்கள்
செய்து
சொற்பொழிவுகளும்
கருத்
தரங்க
உரைகளும்
ஆற்றிக்
கொண்டிருப்பதாகத்தான்
முடியும்..."
more
1. "Fifty years after the
formation of the Tibetan Government in Exile, Tibet
is no closer to securing its freedom from Chinese
rule than it was in 1959 - though ofcourse the
Tibetan Government in Exile has been a useful 'human
rights' weapon for the US to beat China with from
time to time. Meanwhile, Tibet itself has been
settled (colonised) with Chinese and its demography
radically changed. And the Tibetan Government in
Exile with a Tibetan Parliament in Exile (elected by
a 'grass roots' Tibetan diaspora) is left with
websites which promote the justice of the Tibetan
cause. Unsurprisingly there is no shortage of Tibetan
websites: Government
of Tibet in Exile, Central Tibetan
Administration, Tibetan Parliament
in Exile, London Office of the
Government of Tibet in Exile, Office of Tibet in
New York, Office of Tibet in
Pretoria, South Africa and so on. The
short point is that Tibet will not get freedom until
the Chinese empire (like the Soviet empire and the
British empire before it) disintegrates."Nadesan Satyendra in
Concerning KP
தனிவழிப்
பயணம்தான்...
தயங்கோம்
எது
வந்து
எதிர்த்தாலும்...
மயங்கோம்
வாழ்வை
நிமிர்த்தும்..
வழியில்
செல்ல...
மறுக்கோம்...Oru Paper,
UK
2. "..One
aspect of the deprivation of the Tamil nation is the
paucity of intellectual investment made at a local
level. Like capital on a global scale, the
intellectual resources of the Tamil people too have
been drawn towards metropolitan centres, within Sri
Lanka and abroad, leaving the peripheral Tamil nation
impoverished and void of knowledge. However, the
dialectics of oppression is such that, even as
impoverishment is imposed at every level, vigorous
resistance and the emergence of self confident
patriotic consciousness has been nurtured by the same
process. In spite of this heroic response, the
existence of an intellectual void within the nation
has not only been obvious but its effects highly
damaging...There are two models ... The first model
emphasises theoretical excellence and originality;
the second effectiveness in making a practical
intervention. The first could dismiss the second as
eclectic; the second could
criticise the first for being elitist. However, each of the two
approaches are indispensable, for effective action is
impossible without guidance by sound ideas, and sound
ideas alone are useless if not accessible for the
process of social transformation." Mahalingam Maha Uthaman,
1988
Sathyam
Commentary
Concerning KP -
Nadesan Satyendra Revised 11 August 2009
"I myself do not take the
view that KP is moved by motives of personal
advancement. If that was so, I do not believe that
KP would have committed more than 25 years of his
life to do the things that he did to further the
Tamil Eelam struggle for freedom. Nor for that matter
would KP have received the blessings and support of
Velupillai Pirabakaran... Be that as it may, it is
not that I do not have my own concerns. But those
concerns arise for a different reason... The
undeniable fact is that international actors and
agencies who conspired to defeat the Tamil armed
resistance movement, continue to devote their
energies to influence the way that the Tamil diaspora
responds in the future. ... KP will therefore have to
secure his own integrity (and the integrity of the struggle)
against the pressures that he will be undoubtedly
face... I fear that given his personal situation
(evidenced for instance by the restrictions placed on
his travel) KP will be particularly vulnerable to
such pressures - and presumably he recognises that
the rug can be pulled from under his feet should he
stray too far outside the 'permitted' line." more
Reflection
"...It is sometimes
urged by our British friends that the British
public have an open mind on the Indian question and
that we would gain much if we could win their
sympathy by means of our propaganda. I do not,
however, think that the British public have an open
mind on the Indian question. .. In
India, administration and exploitation go hand in
hand, and it is not exploitation by a group of
British capitalists and financiers, but the
exploitation of India by Great Britain as a
whole... That is why India has not been made a
party question by the great political parties in
Great Britain. That is why the policy of brutal
repression and persecution was continued in India
even when there was a Labour Government in power in
London. I know that there are individual members
in the Labour Party who rise above selfish
consideration and who are sincere in their desire
to do justice to India. But however much we may
admire them and however cordial our personal
relations with them may be, the fact remains that
they are not in a position to influence party
decisions. And, judging from our past experience,
we may say that we cannot expect any improvement in
the Indian situation through a change of Government
in Downing Street..."Subhas Chandra
Bose in London, 10 June
1933
"...Subhash Chandra Bose's life
was a beacon to me, lighting up the path I should
follow. His disciplined life and his total
commitment and dedication to the cause of his
country's freedom deeply impressed me and served as
my guiding light..."Velupillai Pirabakaran, 'How I
Became a Freedom Fighter', April
1994
Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam - International Relations
Department
2.
செல்வராஜா
பத்மநாதன்
கோலாலம்பூரில்
கடத்தல்:
கிடைக்கப்பெற்ற
தகவல்களின்படி
-
செல்வராஜா
பத்மநாதன்
மலேசிய
புலனாய்வுத்துறை
அல்லது
மலேசிய
பாதுகாப்பு
வட்டாரங்களின்
ஒத்துழைப்புடன்
சிறிலங்கா
புலனாய்வுத்துறையினரால்
கடத்தப்பட்டதாகவே
குறிப்பு
உணர்த்துகின்றன.
அதே
வேளையில்
வேறு ஒரு
பெரிய
வெளிநாட்டு
உளவுத்துறையின்
ஆசீர்வாதமும்
அனுசரணையும்
கூட
இந்தக்
கடத்தலுக்கு
இருந்திருக்கலாம்
என்ற
சந்தேகமும்
தமிழர்
வட்டாரங்களில்
நிலவுகின்றது.
more
"...I have neither
the moral standing nor the slightest desire to
disparage the courage of those who engage in
non-violence.... But, non-violence, so often
recommended.. has never 'worked' in any politically
relevant sense of the word, and there is no reason
to suppose it ever will. It has never, largely on
its own strength, achieved the political objectives
of those who employed it... There are supposedly
three major examples of successful nonviolence:
Gandhi's independence movement, the US civil rights
movement, and the South African campaign against
apartheid. None of them performed
as advertised. The notion that a people can
free itself literally by allowing their captors to
walk all over them is historical fantasy..."
Nonviolence: Its Histories
and Myths - Professor Michael Neumann,
2003
The Strength of an
Idea -
இலட்சியத்தின்
பலம்
Presidential
Speechby
Subhas Chandra Bose at
the Third Indian Political Conferenceat Friar's Hall, London, on
Saturday, June 10,
1933
- 76 years ago"Apparently the British Government
think that they are strong enough to resist
successfully the demand of the Indian people. And
if they are strong enough to resist us, it clearly
shows that the most strenuous efforts of the Indian
people since 1920 have failed to bring us
appreciably nearer to our goal of "Swaraj". India
therefore must resolve to launch another fight on a
bigger and more intensive scale.The intellectual and practical
preparation for this must be scientific and must
rest on objective foundations. The intellectual
preparation for this task will entail the following
measures :
(i) A scientific
examination of the strong and weak points of
British Rule in India in relation to the Indian
people.
(ii) A scientific
examination of the strong and weak points of the
Indian people in relation to British Rule in
India.
(iii) A scientific
examination of the rise and fall of empires in
other parts of the world.
(iv) A scientific
examination of the history of freedom movements
in other lands and a study of the gradual
evolution of freedom in all its aspects in this
world.
When this
study is completed-and not till then-shall we be
able to form a conception of the magnitude of the
task that awaits us.Our next requirement will be a party of
determined men and women who will take upon
themselves the task of delivering India-no matter
what the suffering and sacrifice involved may be.
Whether India will be able to free herself and
to live once again as a free nation will depend on
whether she can produce the requisite leadership.
Her ability to produce the requisite leadership
will be the test of her vitality and of her fitness
for "Swaraj".more
'...what
gives nationalism its power are the myths,
memories, traditions, and symbols of ethnic
heritages and the ways in which a popular living
past has been, and can be, rediscovered and
reinterpreted by modern nationalist
intelligentsias. It is from these elements of
myth, memory, symbol and tradition that modern
national identities are reconstituted in each
generation, as the nation becomes more inclusive
and as its members cope with new
challenges...'more
Revisited
Where to Begin? - V.I.Lenin
May 1901 "In recent years the question of
"what is to be done" has confronted Russian
Social-Democrats with particular insistence. It is
not a question of what path we must choose (as was
the case in the late eighties and early nineties),
but of what practical steps we must take upon the
known path and how they shall be taken. It is a
question of a system and plan of practical work.
And it must be admitted that we have not yet solved
this question of the character and the methods of
struggle, fundamental for a party of practical
activity, that it still gives rise to serious
differences of opinion which reveal a deplorable
ideological instability and vacillation. .." more
Reflection
1. "...Where a significant
minority movement is already making collective
political demands on a state dominated by another
ethnic or religious group, these demands will
neither wither away nor be repressed, once aired
and organized. The nation-state ideal is too
strongly entrenched in the modern world for them to
be simply repressed or ignored...... I predict
that Indonesia will be unable to assimilate or
repress
Aceh or West Papuan autonomy movements;
India will be unable to assimilate
or repress Muslim
Kashmiris or several of its small
border peoples; Sri Lanka will be unable to
assimilate or repress Tamils.....Though I am not
attempting here to morally blur good and evil, in
the real world they (good and evil) are connected.
Evil does not arrive from outside of our
civilization, from a separate realm we are tempted
to call "primitive." Evil is generated by
civilization itself. Consider the words of three
prominent historical figures. We tend to think of
President Thomas Jefferson as embodying Enlightened reason.
Indeed, it was in the name of the advance of
civilization that he declared that the
"barbarities" of the native American Indians
"justified extermination." A century later,
President Theodore Roosevelt,
a decent modern man, agreed, saying of the Indians,
"extermination was as ultimately beneficial as it
was inevitable." Forty years on, a third leader
said, "It is the curse of greatness that it must
step over dead bodies to create new life." This was
SS Chief Heinrich Himmler,
who is rightly considered as the personification of
evil. Yet he and his colleague Adolf Hitler said they
were only following in the Americans' footsteps.
As I will argue here, murderous ethnic cleansing
has been a central problem of our civilization, our
modernity, our conceptions of progress, and our
attempts to introduce democracy. It is our dark
side. As we will see, perpetrators of ethnic
cleansing do not descend among us as a separate
species of evildoers. .. We can denounce them,
but it is just as important to understand why they
did it. ..The proposition underlying this book
is that murderous
ethnic cleansing comes from our civilization
and from people, most of whom have been not unlike
ourselves..." " Michael
Mann in "The Dark Side of Democracy - Explaining
Ethnic Cleansing, 2005
2."...Some men seemed to have a
mania for sniffing behind everything and were, so
to say, always in a permanent state of pregnancy
with magnificent plans and ideas and projects and
methods. Naturally their noble aim and ideal
were always the formation of a committee which
could pretend to be an organ of control in order to
be able to sniff as experts into the regular work
done by others. ...The best means of making
committees innocuous, which either did nothing or
cooked up impracticable decisions, was to give them
some real work to do. It was then amusing to see
how the members would silently fade away and were
soon nowhere to be found..." Adolf Hitler in Mein
Kampf
