TamilWeek: Apr_30

“Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky
I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry,
"Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup
"Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry." - (The Rubaiyat)
By Omar Khayyam (AD 1048-1131), Translated by Edward
Fitzgerald (1809-1883)

Col. Balraj leads Tiger SF attack on three TEMVP -
ENDLF camps

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

At least fifteen cadres belonging to the TEMVP led by Vinayagamoorthy
Muraleetharan alias Karuna Ammaan and the ENDLF led by by
Gnapragasam Gnanasegeram alias Paranthan Rajan were killed in the
raid.

Suicide bomber was pregnant woman say investigators

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Police Investigators probing the assassination attempt on Army chief
Sarath Fonseka have in a bizarre twist alleged that the woman suicide
bomber was actually oregnant and not pretending to be pregnant as
believed earlier.

Fools

By Dr. Rajasingham Narendran

To ‘Fool’ is to deceive. A ‘Fool’ is a person lacking in judgment or
good sense.
If some one fools any one the first time and gets away with it, he is
cleverer than the one fooled.

Military air strikes fuel fear and hate

The BBC's Soutik Biswas is one of the first journalists to reach the
Tamil Tiger-held territory of Muthur - bombarded by Sri Lankan
forces after Tuesday's assassination attempt on the nation's army
chief - where he met both Tigers and residents.

Fear stalks Tamil port of peace

By Soutik Biswas
BBC News, Trincomalee

"Peace is happiness," reads a poster visible from the road as our car
rolls into this picturesque port city on the north-east coast of Sri Lanka.

In more peaceful times, Trincomalee's long beaches are popular with
surfers, scuba divers and whale watchers. Locals talk proudly about its
natural deep water harbour.

We don't give money to the Tigers, Tamil
community leaders say [Montreal Gazette]

Denying they fund terrorism in their homeland, Montreal Tamil community
leaders said yesterday the haven't a clue why the RCMP raided their
headquarters two weeks ago.

"We don't know why," said Lankaratnam Thambiah, the local
spokesperson for the World Tamil Movement. "We're trying to find out
through our lawyers."

He and a dozen other community representatives called a news
conference in LaSalle yesterday to set the record straight: They don't
fund the Tamil Tigers, the armed rebel group in Sri Lanka that Canada
considers a terrorist organization.

President
Rajapaksa:

"The image of our
country is being
destroyed. They
show the world that
the one act that we
took to ensure our
security, when faced
with a major attack,
was much bigger
than the thousands of
times the LTTE had
grossly and
provocatively
violated the ceasefire
agreement"

Norway in Sri Lanka talks appeal [BBC]

Norway's chief mediator to Sri Lanka has urged the Tamil Tiger rebels
and the government to resume peace talks.
Erik Solheim was speaking after emergency talks with Sri Lanka's
international aid donors on how to shore up a four-year truce.

Mr Solheim said Sri Lanka was still a long way from "all out war" even
though about 100 people have been killed in the past two weeks.

There have been air strikes in the east after a suicide attack in Colombo.

Police won't
staff Tamil
event after
raid [Toronto Star]

When the
Mounties swooped
down on the World
Tamil Movement's
Toronto
headquarters last
week, it had
repercussions well
beyond the group
that has been
accused of links to
the controversial
Tamil Tigers.

Professor Philip Alston: “Every killing represents a
major setback to the peace process”

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions, Professor Philip Alston, today called on the
Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) to take urgent measures to end political killings and to strengthen
protection for human rights as conflict looked set to spiral out of control.

Sri Lanka faces a problem far greater than the
escalation of violence

Violence is escalating in Sri Lanka, with an attack by a suicide bomber in
Colombo on the army headquarters that has seriously injured the army
commander and killed many others. In retaliation, the Government of Sri
Lanka has ordered air and naval attacks on LTTE strongholds. The
international media is announcing a “return to war” in response to this
escalation of violence. The lower level of violence that prevailed during
the cease fire is now being pushed higher. However, the problem Sri
Lanka faces is much worse than a mere escalation of violence. A
country that is already facing a collapse of its basic institutions and living
at the lowest ebb of the rule of law is now plunging deeper into an
abysmal crisis in all areas of life. The Asian Human Rights Commission
(AHRC) has warned of this situation for a long time.

Sivaram killing: 'credibility at stake' [BBC]

International and Sri Lankan media watchdogs have voiced anger that
no progress in investigations into the murder of Tamilnet Editor,
Dharmeratnam Sivaram.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ) and the Sri Lanka Free Media Movement (FMM) have
urged President Mahinda Rajapaksa not to let the murderers go
unpunished.

Sivaram was abducted on April 28 last year and his dead body was
found in Colombo’s High Security Zone the next morning.

Mourning Sivaram

by Qadri Ismail

I remember it well and I remember it poorly - the conversation at the Arts
Centre Club. It was quite remarkable, actually, in that bar where more
than half the regulars were my friends, in that bar where I am sure I had
my first drink - either a rum and coke or a gin and lime, certainly, but
again I don’t know for sure, although I swear I remember who paid for it -
that we appear to have had an uninterrupted conversation. How do I
know that? Because parts of it were published a few days (maybe weeks)
later in the pages of The Sunday Times. (On the 27th of September,
1987, for those bibliographically inclined.)

Open warfare erupts in Sri Lanka [WSWS]

By K. Ratnayake

After weeks of escalating violence in a murky, undeclared war in the
North and East of Sri Lanka, the Colombo government and the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have resorted to open hostilities. While the
immediate trigger was a carefully-planned suicide bombing at army
headquarters in central Colombo on Tuesday, the responsibility for the
conflict rests squarely with successive Sri Lankan governments which for
more than three years have refused to enter into meaningful
negotiations.

Amnesty International calls for respect for human
rights in escalation of violence

Amnesty International is calling for full respect for international
humanitarian and human rights law in Sri Lanka following a rapid
escalation of violence in the country during the past two weeks.

Several army personnel and civilians were killed and Army Commander
Lt Gen Fonseka was severely injured in a suicide bomb attack at Army
Headquarters in Colombo on 25 April. This bombing has been attributed
to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The suicide bombing and retaliatory action in the form of aerial
bombardments and shelling by the Sri Lanka joint armed forces in
Trincomalee district against LTTE positions may signal a return to
full-scale war which would be likely to have devastating consequences
for the human rights of civilians in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka raises GDP forecast
despite violence [IHT]

Sri Lanka's central bank on Thursday raised its 2006 growth forecast
even as escalating violence threatens a truce in the island's civil war and
amid higher oil costs.

This year's growth forecast was increased to 6.9 percent from an earlier
estimate of 6 percent, the central bank said in its annual report released
in Colombo. The island's economy expanded a revised 6 percent last
year.

"More recent developments haven't been factored into the forecasts,"
said Hasitha Premaratne, head of research at HNB Stockbrokers. "Global
oil prices and escalating violence could turn the positives into negatives
instantly."

Sri Lanka's credit outlook was lowered to negative from stable by
Standard & Poor's on Thursday because of escalating violence that
threatens a resumption of civil war. Violence has escalated since the
government and rebels held their first meeting in three years in February
and agreed to enforce their 2002 cease-fire. Talks scheduled for this
month in Geneva have been postponed twice.

EU divided, may not ban LTTE [IANS]

The European Union is sharply divided over outlawing Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tiger guerrillas, and indications are a ban is not immediately in the offing
despite this week's suicide bomb attack blamed on the insurgents.

The 25-nation grouping is debating whether or not it should declare the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) a terrorist group, a public
request for which was made only on April 23 by the Sri Lankan
government.

Britain is the only European Union member that has outlawed the LTTE.
Colombo feels that a ban across the continent, where the group
maintains a string of offices and which is home to thousands of Sri
Lankan Tamils, is bound to hurt the Tigers.

According to diplomatic sources here, the Nordic member countries of
the European Union are particularly not in favour of banning the LTTE
because they feel their own role in the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission
(SLMM) would be affected as a result.

Come on, let us go for war with the LTTE !

By M.S.Shah Jahan

War is like a fire- if you do not put it out , it will burn itself out “ – The Art
of War.

While Mr. Geneva II is slipped into the Bay of Geneva from the boat ‘S.L.
Northeast’, here the much talked about or criticized Hon. CFA, the
Minister in charge of enforcing peace in the country, is admitted into the
intensive care unit of ill- equipped Kilinochchi Hospital. Not surgery, but
God only could save him. We pray.

The Present and Future of the JVP

By E.M.G. Edirisinghe

It is not the sweeping victory of the UPFA that the people in general are
talking about, but what happened to the JVP which boasted of taking
over 25 councils finally ending up with one, and that too the only one
they already had under them. The sound beating the Jathika Hela
Urumaya (JHU) got was a foregone conclusion and the current prediction
is that the maximum they could get at a future election is just one seat.
The outright failure of the Monk MPs was proved beyond doubt and that
leaves them to display their might and influence at temple level, towards
which they have contributed nothing.

Canadian Dollar hits highest level since June
1978 against U.S. dollar [CBC]

Four years after it hit an all-time low, the Canadian dollar in 2006 was
riding a steady escalator up. Since January 2002, the once-lowly loonie
has gained more than 40 per cent against the currency it's most
concerned with – the American dollar.

By late April 2006, the dollar was trading well above the 89-cent US level –
its highest rate since June 1978. Despite rising all the way from its all-time
low of 62 cents US in early 2002, many economists are saying there's still
room for the loonie to keep rising.

Bush criticises Spanish US anthem [BBC]

George Bush has entered a row about the US national anthem, criticising a
Spanish version featuring Wyclef Jean and Gloria Trevi.
"I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English," he said when
asked at a news conference.

But Adam Kidron, the British-born producer behind Nuestro Himno, said:
"There's no intent to usurp anything."

Akshaya Tritiya:
“Luck and prosperity throughout the year”

by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai

The most auspicious day in the Hindu Calendar, Akshaya Tritiya is
considered the day, one invests in gold. And this investment is believed to
increase many fold throughout the year. Akshaya means imperishable or
eternal. Akshaya Tritiya falls on 30 th April 2006.

Events in Thamil cultural scene

by K. S. Sivakumaran

In the recent past a number of Lankans who had contributed to the Thamil
radio and writing passed away in quick succession. Chief among them were
V. A. Gafoor and S. Punniyamoorthy, pioneer Thamil radio announcers and
newscasters. I shall come to them in a moment.

Rare film on Gandhi [News Today]

Gandhi: Twentieth Century Prophet, a film on the |life and struggle of the
Mahatma, written by Tamil writer and journalist, A K Chettiar and believed to
have been lost for more than 40 years, was screened Wednesday at the
Gandhi Study Centre, T Nagar. In association with the Gandhi Museum in
Madurai, the documentary film showcase A K Chettiar's stupendous effort of
travelling thousands of kilometres across the globe to collect 50,000-feet of
film shot on Gandhi. He edited them into a 12,000-feet documentary and
released it for public to see in 1940. He re-edited the film in Hollywood, with
an English commentary and screened it in the U.S. in 1953. The film include
footages of the Mahatma's venture in South Africa and Europe.

Khushboo goes candid [Rediff]

She may have been in the news for her strong views, but there is no doubt
that Khushboo has earned headlines as an actor.
Hailing from Mumbai, it is commendable that she learnt Tamil and even
conducts a show in it on TV. Now settled in Chennai, the actress juggles
films, television and home with her husband and their two daughters.

The rise of the anti-hero [Hindu]

Bad guys have never had it so good in Tamil cinema.

For many, the short cut to success is through the dark alleys of crime. The
story of the bad guy is almost certainly a winning proposition at the
box-office. For the actors, it is a chance to make good their careers as they
rarely get opportunities to showcase the range of their skills.

Conservative Leader praises Ontario Tamil Community
at Awards event

by Dhakshi Ariyakumar

It is very remarkable to note that the Canadian Tamil community in many
ways has enhanced the prosperity of the Greater Toronto Area with their
diverse contributions towards the society.

“I want to thank the Tamil Community for their hard work and contribution
made to the prosperity of Ontario in so many different ways, such as
economically, socially and culturally. I think the province is stronger and
prouder and is better off in many ways, for the contributions made by the
Tamil community, particularly by the entrepreneurs of this community,”
Conservative Leader of the Province of Ontario John Tory stated recently at
a community event.

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.

"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]