TamilWeek_Jan_08

Operation Strangers Night
and the Estrangement of Tamils

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Mahinda Rajapakse the new President of Sri Lanka met representatives of
the co - chair quartet of the Sri Lankan peace process on January 9th. One
of the issues raised at this meeting was about the cordon, search and arrest
operations going on in Colombo and other areas. The President's response
according to an official communique was as follows.

Tamil civilians suffer as security situation
deteriorates in Jaffna

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

"Even when the Elephants make love the grasshopper gets crushed
underneath " is an old, African saying. If that is the fate for a grasshopper
when jumbos make love then it does not need much imagination to gauge
their position when the pachyderms wage war. Like the grasshoppers
innocent civilians suffer more than the protagonists in times of war.

Benign Parliamentarian from Batticaloa II
[Continued from last week]

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

I wrote last wek that Joseph Pararajasingham quit government service in
the late sixties. That was incorrect. Joseph gave up government service in the
early seventies. This again was due to an interesting reason. As stated
earlier former Batticaloa MP Rajan Selvanayagam was a first cousin of
Joseph's wife Sugunam. Her mother was the sister of Rajan's father SA
Selvanayagam a very rich Batticaloa businessman.

Protest in Colombo over indiscriminate arrests of Tamils

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated Friday afternoon 3 p.m.at the
Grandpass junction in Colombo city against indiscriminate arrests and
harassment of Tamil people in Colombo under the Emergency Regulations.

Looking beyond provocation and restraint

by Dr. Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu

Restraint, so far, on the part of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL)
following the sinking of the Dvora with the loss of 13 navy personnel last week
is to be commended. Likewise the President’s repeated statements that he
and his government are committed to the peace process and cease fire and
that his patience should not be seen as weakness.

Rajapakse’s operation to woo India

By Professor Karthigesu Sivathamby

After assuming the high office as Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapakse
began his official tours overseas with a visit to New Delhi, India. That is quite
understandable. His remarks on the objectives of the visit, made on the eve
of his departure, reveal Sri Lanka’s intentions to persuade India to play a
more decisive role in resolving the Sri Lankan crisis.

President Rajapakse’s visit to India reveals reality

By Jehan Perera

One of the more important features of President Mahinda Rajapakse’s
recent visit to India was that it revealed the parameters within which India is
prepared to help Sri Lanka resolve its ethnic conflict. India urged the
President to work out a political solution that was acceptable to all
communities.

The Federalism debate

by A. Kandappah

Dr. C. Wijewickrama (CW) holed up in faraway Texas lists 11 questions for
me in response to my contribution which The Island (9/12/05) titled
"Federalism and Reality." In that promiscuous society South of the border
one must forgive CW for using sex-centric language - "bedrooms" "single and
double beds" "marriage" "divorce" - all in a mundane subject. Or has he got a
large dose of George Bush chintanaya from the Lone Star State where
blossom in abundance those Yellow Roses of Texas in that wide Prairie
where the buffalo and bison roam? What I hoped was to stimulate a debate in
an attempt to create space to accommodate diverse views in our national
question. I am glad CW comes out enthusiastically. I will respond to some of
his queries, which I think relevant to our debate.

Intimidation of Jaffna journalist by Sri Lankan
Armed Forces

Vincent Jeyan, Associated Press and Thinakaran Correspondent, Jaffna,
has come to Colombo to submit the following letter to relevant persons .
Photographs were taken at the Jaffna hospital after he was admitted for
treatment.

The suffering he has undergone during the assault by the military is severe.

Norway to follow UN terror listing

Norway has decided that in future it will follow the UN terrorism list, rather
than that of the European Union, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr
Stoere has announced.

These lists contain names of persons and organizations considered to have
connections with acts of terrorism.
- Taking all aspects into consideration, we have decided to follow one such
list, namely UN's terror list, Stoere said to the newspaper Klassekampen.

Sri Lanka's growing war fears [BBC]

By Ethirajan Anbarasan

With still no sign of peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and
the Tamil Tiger rebels, many people in the country fear the delay could lead
to increased violence and possibly even full-scale war.

Rising Civilian Toll Is Ominous Consequence Of
Worsening Conflict

The targeting of civilians for acts of violence and in counter-insurgency
operations is becoming part of the escalating cycle of violence in the north
east. Even places of worship such as the Grand Mosque in Akkaraipattu
and the Cathedral in Batticaloa have not been spared the desecration of
murder.

Christmas Day Murder in the Cathedral

By Dr. Devanesan Nesiah

We claim to be a deeply religious people, with four great world religions
co-existing. It is true that Viharas, Temples, Mosques and Churches are
often sited close to each other and worship goes on without friction. Unlike
in many other countries in South and South East Asia and elsewhere,
inter-religious riots are infrequent, of modest scale and localised, and
quickly brought under control.

Mail Link

The Program:

“Mail Link” is a letter writing program to foster friendship between the Tamil
children of North America and the Tamil children affected by the war and
Tsunami in the North and East of Sri Lanka.

The program commenced in April 2005 with 15 kids from Canada writing
letters to the children residing at Senthalir Illam (Tender Sprout Home), a
home for orphaned children and/or children with one parent and/or children
living in extreme poverty.

"Butcher of Beirut": For Arab public, Sharon's past
overshadows recent efforts [IHT]

To the Arab world at large, the image of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel
is fixed permanently as the "Butcher of Beirut," and the most widespread
sentiment to the prospect of his dying seems to be regret that he might pass
away peacefully in bed.

Officials and many political analysts take a more nuanced view, though,
noting that Sharon's status as a war hero in Israel gave him the credibility
needed to take significant steps toward peace, including the withdrawal last
year from the Gaza Strip and the dismantling of a number of West Bank
settlements.

Locating the Self by Shanaathanan

There is interdependency between the location and the ways in which one
identifies and feels his/her own self. Self is a construction of its location; the
location is an expanded reflection or projection of self. Therefore making the
self is associated with how one positions his/her self in the locations of
geography, history, and memory. This may be the reason that the Sangam
period (before 3rd C AD) of Tamil literature speaks of human experience and
_expression in relation with location and categorize them with five kinds of
landscapes such as Mullai, Marutham, Neithal, Kurunchi and Paalai.

As I Like It
Latent talents in display

by K.S. Sivakumaran

One of the few well known journals of Creative Writing in English in this
country is "Channels". The latest issue to arrive is Volume 12, Number 02. The
issue is edited by Maleeha Rajon a Malay by birth. But she is a graduate with
English and a trained Thamil Trained Teacher. She has taught in High Schools
in the country. I happened to meet her first as an English teacher at Althea
International School in Dehiwela and was amazed to find her knowledge of
English and Thamil literature deep-rooted. She speaks Thamil just like a
Thamil woman would speak. Some of her short stories in English, as found in
one of her collections, are realistic, well crafted and portrayed social issues
fairly well.

Point made clear [Hindu]

Director Kumarappa has taken up a relevant issue in his short film, `Kanavu
Thozhirchaalai.'

Director Kumarappa's, `Kanavu Thozhirchaalai,' produced by Rey Talkies, is a
short film that makes its point loud and clear. In case you think video piracy
stops with turning producers into paupers, you are wrong. The anathema
permeates to the lowest rung, right down to the poor man who sells snacks
outside the cinema hall, says this 23-minute short.

With eats prepared from borrowed money a daily wage earner waits for the
crowd to come out during intermission. But when most of them have watched
pirated versions within days of a new film's release, those frequenting cinemas
are naturally just about a handful.

Thai Pongal [NTYO]

Thai Pongal can be
thought of as the Thamil’s
national festival. The sun
has made one complete
round before beginning its
journey north again on
the day of Thai Pongal.
The Thai Pongal
celebration can also be
thought of as a harvest
festival. It’s at this time of
year that the farmer,
having reaped the
rewards of his hard work,
can celebrate this major
agricultural festival.

When Ceylon ruled the airwaves

Once the pride of the region, Radio Ceylon is today a fading
memory. Can the Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation regain its lost
glory?
When Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (as Radio Ceylon is now called)
celebrated its 80th birthday on December 16, it was, sadly, a pale shadow of
its past. Once the pride of the region's airwaves, it is today relegated to
fading memories and confined to chapters of an era of broadcasting élan.

ThiruvembAvai: 4th January to 13th, 2006
Tamil Text & English Translation

thiruchchiRRambalam

1.
Adhiyum an^dhamum illA arumperuny
chOdhiyai yAmpAdak kEttEyum vALthadaN^kaN
mAdhE vaLarudhiyO vancheviyO n^inchevithAn
mAdhEvan vArkazalkaL vAzththiya vAzththolipOy
vIdhivAyk kEttalumE vimmivimmi meymmaRan^dhu
pOdhAr amaLiyinmEl n^inRum puraNdiN^N^an
EdhEnum AgAL kidan^dhAL en nEennE
IdhE en^thOzi parichElOr empAvAy

Meaning:
We are singing the beginning and endless rare great Flame. In spite of
listening to it, Oh the girl with sword like sharp beautiful eye, you still have not
opened your eyes(sleeping). Is your ear senseless ? On hearing the praise
of the perfect feet of the Greatest dEva, which sound of praise arises at the
start of the street, one has forgotten herself weeping and weeping ! You as if
nothing happened are turning here and there enjoying the soft flowers
spread bed coolly, what a pity what a pity !! Is this your behavior my dear
friend ?!

"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]