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absurd, but it’s the logic of love" - Mother Teresa
Muslims Require Pragmatic Approach
By. D.B.S. Jeyaraj
It is widely acknowledged now that the Muslim community received a
raw deal in the setting up of the Post - Tsunami Operational
Management Structure (P- TOMS).
In spite of being the single most affected community by the tsunami
disaster the community was not represented adequately in the most
important regional committee in the three - tiered P-TOMS.
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
For the first time in many years the tigers feel threatened and
beleaguered. The organization that revels in terrorising others
particularly those of the Sri Lankan Tamil community through violence
finds itself at the receiving end. In a remarkable reversal of roles a
motley group of various anti - tiger Tamil elements aided and abetted
by the security and intelligence networks of the state is providing the
LTTE with a taste of their own bitter medicine. Naturally the tigers are
not relishing it.
By Jayadeva Uyangoda
The Supreme Court determination on the P-TOMS agreement
delivered on July 15 is a significant judgment in a variety of ways. It is
also remarkable that the JVP which sought the judicial intervention to
invalidate the agreement, the government which was the respondent,
and the UNP which has been watching the controversy from outside
the ring are all quite happy with the judgment for reasons of their own.
Only the LTTE, the co-respondent who did not represent itself at the
hearing, have expressed dismay over the judgment and its possible
political consequences. If the officials at Colombo’s Peace Secretariat
can convince their counterparts in Killinochchi that all is not lost, the P-
TOMS process can hopefully move forward even with the interim stay
order in force.
military should act sincerely to salvage it” [LTTEPS]
-Tamilselvan tells SLMM
“The cease fire agreement (CFA) is at grave risk and the Sri Lankan
Government has the responsibility to salvage it from jeopardy by
sincere attempts to implement clause 1.8 that prohibits the activities of
armed groups in the Tamil homeland” said Mr.S.P.Tamilselvan, Head
of the Political Wing, responding to the concern expressed by the
Norwegian Deputy Ambassador and the Head of the SLMM in a
meeting today 20 July 2005 at the Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi.
By
D.B.S. Jeyaraj
Will Tigers go to war?
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
Is war imminent?
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam political commissar Suppiah Paramu
Thamilselvan is seemingly of the opinon that war is indeed imminent!
On July 17th the LTTE political wing head addressed the press at
Kilinochchi . Two relevant questions and answers are excerpted below.
" Q. Can we assume that peace efforts have reached an end?
A: We are rapidly moving to such an eventuality.
Q. Tamil people appear to sense that war is imminent. Your thoughts?
A: Their fear is not misplaced. I believe that the Tamil people have a
correct view of the current situation". [MinorMatters-MorningLeader]
July 17 - 23,
2005
foreign diplomats [LTTEPS]
TNA members of parliament met the ambassadors of Germany and
Switzerland, separately on Thursday in Colombo to explain to them
the apathetic approach of the Sinhala leaders to resolve the country’
s ethnic problem. In their continuing efforts along this line the TNA
MPs will meet theJapanese ambassador soon.
The TNA delegation was lead by its leader Mr Sampanthan and
included Mr Joseph Pararajasingam, Mr Gajendrakumar
Ponnambalam, Mr Selvam Adaikalanathan, Mr Suresh
Premachandran and Ms Pathmini Sithamparanathan. The
delegation highlighted the following points to the Ambassadors.
People from Vadamaradchi east in their letter to the Tamil national
leader have requested him to stop exercising patience and start the
war of freedom. The letter was presented at the protest organised
by the war uprising committee in Vadamaradchi east on Monday.
The marchers started from Maruthankerni junction at 10.00 am and
reached the Maruthankerni public playgrounds. Hundreds of people
including school students, fishermen, and members of civilian
based organizations took part in the march shouting slogans.
People were carrying banners and placards asking the leader to
declare war. When the marchers reached Maruthankerni
playground the end of the procession was still unable to move out
of the Maruthankerni junction.
Regional Economic Growth in Sri Lanka
[PeaceinSriLanka]
Sri Lanka is at a cross roads in respect of peace and development.
The peace process is characterized by a ‘hurting’ stalemate, which
must be resolved through peaceful methods if the country is to
prosper in the long run. Evidence from other parts of the world
suggests that the transition from a temporary to a permanent
cessation of hostilities depends critically on how fast the conflict-
affected areas can be economically transformed. Rapid economic
development (evenly distributed) leads to a rise in the standard of
living (widely shared), which in turn leads to a consolidation of the
peace process. Economic stagnation, on the other hand, is likely to
lead to mounting anger and frustration and to the eventual collapse
or demise of the peace process. Policy makers therefore have to
pay close attention to the economic dimensions of peace and to
take the necessary steps for promoting rapid and broad-based
economic development in the affected areas during the transition
period. The creation of an enabling environment for peace and
development is a critical factor in this regard.
London based Human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI)
issued a special appeal on three Sri Lankans facing executions in
Saudi Arabia.
The AI urged those concerned to call on the King to alter their death
sentences.
Sri Lankans DD Ranjith de Silva, EJ Victor Corea, and Sanath
Pushpakumara are facing execution after they were sentenced to
death by a Saudi court for robberies and threatening civilians.
“The three Sri Lankan men have reportedly had their death
sentences referred to the King, which is the final appeal stage of
Saudi Arabia’s secretive judicial system. The King may grant
clemency, but if he chooses to ratify their sentences, they could be
executed at any time,” stated the AI urgent appeal issued on Friday.
[BBC]
Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike, widow of Ceylon's assassinated prime
minister Solomon Bandaranaike, has been elected the world's first
woman prime minister.
Her Sri Lanka Freedom Party won a resounding victory in the
general election taking 75 out of 150 seats.
Mrs Bandaranaike only entered politics after her husband was shot
by an extremist Buddhist on 26 September 1959.
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
By Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran
As Clausewitz observed, war is politics by other means.
Negotiations are a form of politics, but without some real or
perceived symmetry of power they will be an exercise in one side
imposing its will on the other.
Transformation? [YaleGlobal]
The Bush administration's new South Asia policy
is no longer a zero-sum game
In boldly declaiming, in Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's
words, "that we're fully willing and ready to assist in th[e] growth of
India's global power … which we see as largely positive," the Bush
administration effectively gave notice that it would systemically
decouple India and Pakistan in its strategic calculations. In other
words, US relations with each state would be governed by an
objective assessment of the intrinsic value of each country to US
interests – rather than by fears about the effect on relations with the
other. Far from disadvantaging India, as a superficial reading of the
Bush administration's recent decision to sell F-16s to Pakistan could
suggest, the new US policy is, in fact, intended to assist India in its
ascent to great-power status.
United States Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice
By Amitabha Chakrabarti of Doordarshan Television
"We have made a lot of progress in U.S.-Indian relations over the
last few years. This is turning into a very important relationship for
both countries. The United States recognizes India's rise as a
modern democracy, multiethnic democracy, and we welcome India's
enhanced role in international affairs. So we will talk about the full
range of issues: economic cooperation; we have had recently
between our defense ministers discussions of defense cooperation;
we will talk about the energy needs of both sides because,
obviously, growing economies need energy that is clean and
protects the environment but also permits growth; and of course, we
will talk also about the common values that we share as large
democracies."
The high court in the India's southern city of Madras has dropped
terrorism charges against a high-profile regional journalist, RR
Gopal.
Mr Gopal, editor of the weekly Nakeeran magazine, was charged in
2003 with illegally possessing a weapon.
He spent eight months and prison but was later released on bail.
than what I earn daily to look after my family. I have
six children" says 47 years oldUthuma Naina
Moshin in the Poovarankulam welfare camp in
Puttalam. [HumanityAshore - Picture By Dushiyanthini
Kanagasabapathipillai]
Chithrasena, the great guru of performing arts is no more but as
the nation bids good bye to this man who devoted the best part of
life to explore traditional roots of the folk theatre in order to foster a
new brand of performing arts tributes have been flowing in from
many quarters.
Ravi Bandu Vidyapathi a pupil of Chithrasena speaking to
Sandeshaya says that his contribution mainly lies in two areas.
“Firstly he explored traditional Sinhala folk performance and used it
as the foundation of a new form of theatre that was modern in
character. Secondly he developed a tradition of Sri lankan ballet.”
Prominent film maker Tissa Abeysekara is in agreement with
Vidyapathi.
Abeysekara explains that although Chithrasena pursued traditional
dancing all his creations were immensely nurtured with modernity.
Asian Sculpture [AsiaSociety]
Through stunning Hindu and Buddhist sculptures from South and
Southeast Asia, explore the creative force inspired by the divine.
The more than fifty works selected from the Asia Society’s renowned
Rockefeller collection of Asian art highlight the ties within these two
regions which date back at least as far as the 1st to 3rd centuries B.
C.E. when Indian traders and missionaries from India and Sri Lanka
introduced Hinduism and Buddhism to Indonesia, Thailand, Burma
and Cambodia. These religious beliefs and their associated imagery
are embodied in unique ways in the carved stone and cast metal
sculptures of these geographically diverse areas.
Sculptures [NY Times]
The one figure who seems to have broken the barrier is the
elephant-headed god Ganesha. And he's in top form in an
11th-century Chola piece here, swaying on pudgy legs, as if about
to dance, brandishing a different object in each of his four hands: a
broken tusk, a plump sweet, a ritual club and a noose.
His image embodies a basic paradox of much Indian religious art: it
is at once highly naturalistic and utterly fantastic. Multiple limbs may
look freakish, but they are entirely logical. How better to depict the
multi-tasking potency of a divine being, one who can eat,
meet-and-greet, wield a lasso and do a little jig at the same time?
Ganesha is a doll and a charmer. Actually, there's much more to
him, but that's already a lot. To love him, you don't need to know
that with his lasso he rounds up devotees like stray lambs and sets
their hearts free. Nor do you need to know that he sits at the
threshold of time and space, a cosmic guardian, just as he sits at
the doors of temples, shops and homes, overseeing and easing all
beginnings: birth, marriage, the start of a journey, the first played
notes of a raga and the moment of death - when a spirit either
enters another cycle of existence or achieves a state of fear-free
rest.
That state of rest is a goal of Buddhism, a religion that shares many
elements with Hinduism but is focused on the life of a single man, a
young Indian aristocrat named Gautama, born in the fifth century
B.C. He married, had a child, lived well. But in his late 20's he
underwent a spiritual trauma, a complete revolution of vision. He
suddenly saw with shattering clarity a reality that most people
suppress: the fact that mortal life is not a growth process, but a
death process.
The Tamil manuscript section of the Sarasvati Mahal Library,
Thanjavur, comprises more than 3,000 manuscripts. Several of
these deal with medical practices based on observations of the
hospital Raja Serfoji established. Many others are those with rare
commentaries of ancient Tamil works on religion and philosophy.
The biggest thing to come out of Sri Lanka since Muttiah
Muralitharan is probably singer-song writer Maya Arulpragasam, 27,
a London-born Tamil who has just been short-listed for the Mercury
Prize.
In some ways, she is the most high profile Asian name in world
music since Norah Jones.
to be dubbed in French [NowRunning]
Anniyan" becomes the first Indian cinema to be dubbed in French
language. Paramount Pictures, the largest Hollywood filmmakers
have decided to make the French version of "Anniyan". According to
industry sources, the movie's realistic theme, taut storyline and
classic presentation were the major factors considered for
Paramount Pictures for taking this movie to the French audience.
Mammootty dwells upon his long innings as a star who has been
able to feel the pulse of the audience.
The challenge is in bringing the character alive and then carefully
packaging it, keeping my image in mind.
Mammootty has been dubbed "the definition of what it is to be a
real movie star" by an international critic. With four National Awards
for Best Actor and his last six films having grossed over Rs. 50
crores in Kerala, Mammootty has retained his position as a
superstar in Malayalam. From Kavitha in Ernakulam, his
`Thommanum Makkalum' alone grossed an amazing Rs. 87 lakhs.
The actor has a lot to be happy about in a career that spans 25
years and over 300 films.
Mammookka, as he is fondly called, says with his famous smile: "My
audience is very crucial for the success of my films. I have been
able to win over the younger generation audience (15-30) who
ensure that I get a fantastic opening for my films."
Mammootty attributes his hold over the box-office to his ability to
cater to the whims and fancies of the mass audience.
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