TamilWeek_Apr_02

Trinco Tamil Forum leader Vigneswaran
assassinated

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Vanniyasingham Vigneswaran a Tamil political activist about to be
appointed as a Tamil National Alliance national list Member of Parliament
was assassinated in Trincomalee today friday April 7th.

Local Polls –
The Political
Trends

By Prof Jayadeva
Uyangoda

Results of the local
government
election held on
March 30 do not
indicate a major
change in the
politics in the
country.

Trinco Police Supdt masterminded Tamil Youth
Killing says UTHR (J)

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

The latest report by the University Teachers for Human Rights
(Jaffna) has charged that the cold - blooded killing of five Tamil
youths at the Dutch bay beach in Trincomalee on January 2nd was
masterminded by the Police Supdt. of the area Kapila Jayasekera.

UTHR (J) says LTTE staged TRO abduction drama

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

”An example of the resulting anarchy is the alleged abduction of 10
TROworkers in the Batticaloa District about the end of January (first two
and then reportedly another released). The facts around these abductions
remained murky and appeared on the surface a complex plot involving
several actors, with the connivance of the state security apparatus at local
level.”

Tigers may fly in own plane to Male from
Iranaimadhu

by D.B.S Jeyaraj

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam delegates attending peace talks in
Geneva on April 19th are prepared to fly directly out from Sri Lanka in their
own aircraft [Contd]

New Norwegian Peace Envoy Hanssen - Bauer takes
over

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

In recent times the most talked about Norwegian in Sri Lanka was Erik
Solheim. It appears that very soon another of Solheim’s countrymen may
compete keenly for that place. His name is Jon Hanssen Bauer, the man
appointed as Norwegian special envoy to the Sri Lankan peace process.

What ails the Jaffna University?

by S.R.

The latest happenings at the Jaffna University (JU) spells disaster and if the
unruly undergraduates and politicians are going to decide who the VC should
be then one might as well write off the future of University education in the
North and East.

Unitary and Federal States II

by Dr. Devanesan Nesiah

I understood from Douglas Jayasekera's lauding of the role of Malaysia in
problem solving in relation to the Philippines, followed by his urging that we
turn to our giant neighbour than to the West to find a solution to our
problem, that he was pointing to Malaysia and India as constitutional models.
I stand corrected.

Evidence based policy making

By Prof. S.T. Hettige
[Dept. of Sociology, University of Colombo]

Many of the problems we are confronted within Sri Lanka today, can be
attributed to the fact that many of our policy makers over the years, have
gone against a widely accepted principle.

The Lorenzo Natali Prize and Sri Lanka's Little Soldiers

By Namini Wijedasa

Two weeks ago, I won the European Commission's Lorenzo Natali Prize for
Journalism, awarded to print and online writers for outstanding reporting on
human rights and democracy.

That warning to Radhika?

by Bandu de Silva
Former Ambassador

Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission
leaves today for New York to take up her new and prestigious appointment
as UN Sectretary General’s Special Representative on Children and Armed
Conflict.

On President’s visit and our relations with Pakistan

By K. Godage

President Rajapaksa is on a visit to Pakistan. Anton Balasingham, it has
been reported, has gone into convulsions on hearing the news. It is of some
interest to reflect on the possible reason for his having gone berserk. One of
the strategies of the LTTE has been to isolate this country, they did succeed
at one time because of our own foolishness.

What takes Mahinda to Pak?

by PK Balachandran

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to Pakistan beginning on
Friday, has an important message for India, political observers here say.
Informed sources told Hindustan Times that one of the main aims of
Rajapaksa's visit was to send a message to India saying that if it did not help
Sri Lanka militarily, the latter might approach Pakistan for help.

"The last thing Sri Lanka needs is an Islamic Jihad."
Interview with Dr. Anton Balasingham

The last thing Sri Lanka needs is an Islamic Jihad. With a death toll of over
60,000 in a decades-long civil war, allegations of an Islamic Jihad
paramilitary group operating against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or
LTTE, is causing further fractures in an already tenuous peace.

Army plans new Muslim unit amid militancy furore
[TamilNet]

Amid a furore over the Liberation Tigers’ demands that Sri Lankan
government disarms a Muslim entity called ‘Jihad’ which is amongst five anti-
LTTE paramilitary groups being sponsored by military intelligence, the Sri
Lanka Army is reportedly planning to raise an exclusive Muslim unit in the
island’s volatile eastern province. The issue of Muslim militancy has been
gaining focus amid renewed suggestions by the LTTE that Jihad has links to
Pakistani intelligence – a charge leveled by Indian military analysts as early
as in 2004.

Thanthai Chelva's 108th birthday celebrations held in
Vavuniya [TamilNet]

"The Tamils, rallying under a single banner as dreamed by our Late Tamil
Statesman S. J. V. Chelvanyagm, are strenghtening the hands of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE,) in the struggle for the liberation of
Tamils," added Mavai Senathirajah.
Senior members of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) participated in
the event and garlanded the statue of "Thanthai" Chelva installed in the
central region of Vavuniya township, sources said.

“Liberation Tigers amidst the currents of a favorable
breeze” - Balakumaran

" From 1918 through the agreements reached in Geneva, the timespan
is filled with broken promises and barren pledges."

Our long struggle enduring economic hardships has now awakened the
international community but Sinhala seem to have not realized it. Today if the
Sinhala government is showing a willingness to do something it’s only due to
a necessity that has arisen,” says Senior LTTE member K.V. Balakumaran in
an interview to Thiankkural, a leading Tamil daily published from Colombo.

Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission will cease to
function from April

“Sri Lanka will find it increasingly difficult to defend itself before international
treaty bodies if the country does not speedily reactivate the Commission
once its members leave on April 3.”

Jaffna Bar Associations meet after two decades

Senior legal practitioners from the Bar Associations of Jaffna, Kayts, Point
Pedro, Chavahachheri and Mallakam met in Colombo marking the first such
meeting in over two decades for the legal practitioners from the northern
province. Some 28 lawyers attended the legal education workshop held at
the Hotel Renuka recently and the focus was on promoting public interest
litigation. The workshop was co-organised by the Jaffna Bar Association
under the active leadership of Ms. Shantha Abhimanasingham and the Asia
Foundation, and was supported by British High Commission’s Global Conflict
Prevention Pool.

Sri Lanka coalition sweeps polls

Sri Lanka's ruling coalition has won an overwhelming victory in the country's
local government elections.
Official results give President Mahinda Rajapakse's United People's
Freedom Alliance (UPFA) 225 of 266 seats.

Local government elections in Sri Lanka heighten
political instability [WSWS]

Elections for local government bodies are to take place in Sri Lanka today.
While normally a rather mundane affair, these “mini polls” have been bitterly
fought, as all of the major parties vie for position in the increasingly unstable
political situation surrounding the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA)
government.

D.S.
Senanayake
College -
unity in
diversity

The school
playground is not
only where you got
your first knee
scratch, it’s also
where you first
learnt to interact
with other children.
Your school
informed your
adult life, your
career and your
character.

[Read More]

Rice Greeted by Protests During Visit to England [NPR]

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is greeted by protests during a visit to
Blackburn, Lancashire, the hometown of British Foreign Secretary Jack
Straw. Muslims and anti-war activists protested outside a high school where
Rice was speaking. Twenty percent of the Blackburn population is Muslim

What About Legal Immigrants?

Lost in the heated debate about the future of millions of illegal laborers in the
U.S. is that our system for admitting foreign-born professionals is also in
tatters.

Under Mr. Specter's proposal, the annual cap on H-1B guest worker visas for
immigrants in specialty fields like science and engineering would rise to
115,000 from 65,000. Moreover, the new cap would not be fixed but would
fluctuate automatically in response to demand for these visas. We don't think
any cap is necessary. But if a Republican Congress feels it must impose one,
the least it can do is let market forces have some say in the matter.

I always chose roles that interested me: Simran

"Right now, I am not looking at any script. My baby is too young and
needs good care for at least a year. When I feel fit and fine I will
certainly think about acting again" [Hindu]

I'm not in political fray: Kushboo [NewsToday]

A section of the media has speculated that actress Kushboo would contest
the forthcoming Assembly elections for a prominent political party. However
when the party released its candidates list yesterday, the actress name was
missing.

Winner at Cyprus

Jeeva has won the Best Actor honour for `Raam' at CIFF 2006.

The loving, obstinate and slightly autistic Raam, who warmed the hearts of
filmgoers, has now taken Tamil cinema to far away Cyprus. And hero Jeeva is
deliriously happy. The young man has won the Best Actor recognition at the
just concluded Cyprus International Film Festival (CIFF) 2006. `Raam' has
been raining accolades for Jeeva and now it has catapulted him to the higher
rungs of fame.

The Gods play again [Hindu]

Years ago in a `clean-up operation', the 16th and 17th Century murals in
Madurai's Meenakshi Temple were painted over. Today, Vinod T. and his
team are restoring them panel by panel.

A TINY brush in hand, a man is perched on a scaffold, perfecting a strand of
hair on Goddess Meenakshi. He seems oblivious of the swarm of devotees
below him. Focus he must, since this is no ordinary restoration job. The task:
to recreate the lost 17th Century murals of the famed Madurai Meenakshi
temple.

Center for Women’s Development and
Rehabilitation (CWDR)

CWDR is non-governmental organization whose mission is to ensure that the
right to life and human dignity of women and children is not violated. The
organization was formed in February 1991 by 11 socially conscious women
as a result of the urgent need for an organized welfare system for women in
the war ravaged provinces of North and East of Sri Lanka. They strive to aid
victims of war and most recently victims of Tsunami, focusing on women and
children, by providing them with the much needed love, care and basic
necessities to sustain life. Attached for your easy reference is a report on the
activities of CWDR, which is also available online at
www.cwdronline.org.

Tamil Children's Endowment Fund

A nation’s most precious natural resource is its children. The conflict in Sri
Lanka, coupled with a state-enforced economic embargo has literally and
figuratively crippled this resource. Presently, a ceasefire and the lifting of the
embargo has brought about a climate of positive change. The conflict-
affected areas are abuzz with the theme of redevelopment and
reconstruction.

It is paramount that measures also be taken to ensure the well being,
protection, and development of the region’s most treasured resource- the
children. With a sustained commitment to this task, we can build a brighter
future for the children and a stronger foundation for society.

"There are two things born from mountains, shining so brilliantly that the great bow down, driving
darkness from earth circled by roaring waters. One is the flaming sun, single wheel bright as
lightning, the other is Tamil that has no like." — from the taNTiyalankârum [Berkeley Tamil]