TamilWeek_Nov_20

Did LTTE have secret deal with Mahinda to enforce
boycott?

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Speculation is rife in Colombo political and diplomatic circles about a possible
secret deal, prior to the Presidential poll of Nov 18th , between Mahinda
Rajapakse and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to have the new
President elected through an enforced boycott in the Tamil majority regions of
the North - East!

According to preliminary reports there is much speculation that an
arrangement was ensured after a series of meetings held between LTTE
political commissar Suppia Paramu Thamilselvan and a special representative
of Mahinda Rajapakse.

Farewell to a President

by Dr. Rajasingham Narendran

Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumaratunge will cease to be the executive
president of the unitary state of Sri Lanka within the next couple of weeks. It
is opportune to review her performance with relation to the ethnic politics in Sri
Lanka over the past eleven years and the legacy she leaves behind, while
wishing her Bon Adieu.

Tigers deprive North-Eastern Tamils
of Franchise

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

The Tamils have for long lamented the disenfranchisement of Up Country
Tamils by a Sinhala dominated Government in 1949. It is portrayed quite
correctly as a grave violation of a fundamental right. Today the self -
apponited sole representatives of the Tamil people have deprived a segment
of the North - Eastern Tamils of their franchise rights. The tigers are likely to
learn , in more ways than one, that this disenfranchisement was a colossal
blunder.

An open letter to Mahinda Rajapaksa

by Buddhika Kurukularatne

Your father, Morris (G.L.M.) recalls asked him to have an eye on you. Morris
would have had to keep not one but both eyes on you to keep you away from
trouble. The boarders were chatting about this and that when Ranjith had
inadvertently said something which offended you. you ran to the kitchen,
grabbed a manna knife and chased after Ranjith. Morris tells me that
Ranjith who was his best man at his wedding asked him
whether it was not the same fellow who ran after me with a
knife, to kill me who is now the P.M.

The Tamil state within a state [BBC]

by Nick Bryant

In a bombed-out former post office, pockmarked with bullet holes and
shrapnel, a group of uniformed Tamils plotted their ambush.Most of them were
hidden behind a thicket of bushes on the main road through rebel-controlled
territory, just 10 minutes outside Kilinochchi, the Tamil's unofficial capital.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Wins Presidential Poll
[VOANews]

Mr. Rajapakse had campaigned on taking a tough approach
with Tamil rebels in the country, throwing the stalled peace
process into doubt.

During the campaign, Mr. Rajapakse said he would meet with senior members
of the Tamil Tigers, called the LTTE, to restart peace negotiations. But he
also said he would scrap the 2002 peace plan entirely.

Jehan Perera, of the peace advocacy group the National Peace Council of Sri
Lanka, calls the idea potentially dangerous.
"A federal solution has been agreed in principle by Mr. Wickremesinghe's
party, by Mr. Rajapakse's own party, and also by the LTTE," he explained. "So
I think it is something on which there is a great deal of consensus. What has
happened is Mr. Rajapakse has changed his party's policy and gone
backward to a time before the peace process developed."

Hardliner is elected Sri Lankan president [IHT]

Of great importance will be Prabhakaran's reaction to the election's outcome.
He is expected to make his annual address at the end of the month. It remains
a mystery whether Rajapakse's victory will embolden the Tamil Tigers. The
feared guerrilla group in effect runs its own territory in the northern jungles of
this country as a ministate, backed by a fleet of ground, sea - and most
recently - air forces.

The Tamil Tigers did not formally issue a boycott call for the election
Thursday. But no polling stations could be set up in their territory, and
monitors blamed the group's supporters for violence and intimidation against
would-be voters in the Tamil-majority areas of the north and east.

Turnout in Jaffna, officially in government hands but under heavy influence
from the Tamil Tigers, was 1.2 percent of the more than 700,000 voters.

By contrast, in eastern Batticaloa, also a largely Tamil town but where the
Tigers are challenged by a breakaway armed faction, voter turnout was 48.5
percent, according to official elections department figures. In both areas,
Wickremesinghe scored 70 percent or more of the vote.

What now for Sri Lanka? [BBC]

By Sanjoy Majumder

There are some accounts of Tamils there being prevented from coming out to
vote in polling stations located in government-held areas.

The key factor in the election was the virtually non-existent Tamil vote in
rebel-held regions of the north and east and areas like Jaffna town where the
Tamil Tiger influence is strong.

The push for a boycott apparently came from the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Although some areas of Colombo saw a lower Tamil vote, in many other parts
of the country, Tamils did vote in large numbers and Mr Wickramasinghe
benefited. He also received wide backing from the Muslim community.

Why is the LTTE
dissappointed
with Ranil
Wickremasinghe?

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Why is the LTTE pissed
off about
Wickremasinghe? The
opinion of the TNA does
not matter. Described
often as tiger nominated
agents by Douglas
Devananda the TNA is
simply a mouthpiece for
the voice of the
master!But why are tigers
hostile to Ranil?

Challenges within for Mahinda [BBC]

Probably the main challenge now for the new president elect Mahinda
Rajapakse would be to bring harmony within his coalition.

The coalition was put together just before the election campaign. There are
communists and the liberal left who believe in devolving power to solve the
ethnic war in one side, and the Nationalist JVP and the Buddhist monk party
who are against any concessions towards the Tamils on the other.

Stock market
crash! [BBC]

Stock exchange
Rajapakse's win was
poorly received by
investors
Shares on the Colombo
Stock exchange
plummeted on Friday, as
the results of the country's
presidential election
became apparent.

The narrow victory of
prime minister Mahinda
Rajapakse over the
oppostition leader Ranil
Wickramasinghe was
poorly received by
investors, prompting a
dramatic sellof which
caused the main share
index to drop by seven
percent.

Sri Lankan voters reveal deep disaffection [WSWS]

LTTE blocks voters

In the north and east, the LTTE used force to stop Tamil people voting. It
issued a statement this week calling on people to observe November 17 as a
day of mourning. Its mouthpiece, the TNA, did the same and other front
organisations also issued boycott calls.

Sri Lanka's new President seeks stronger ties with
India [DecanHerald]

Movie star-turned Premier and now Sri Lanka's victorious Presidential
candidate, Mahinda Rajapakse has always advocated stronger ties with India
and sought a bigger role for New Delhi in the island nation's stalled peace
process.
Movie star-turned Premier and now Sri Lanka's victorious Presidential
candidate, Mahinda Rajapakse has always advocated stronger ties with India
and sought a bigger role for New Delhi in the island nation's stalled peace
process.

Solheim
Congratulates
Rajapakse [Norway FA]

Noting that Mr.
Rajapakse had received
a mandate from voters to
work towards a
negotiated political
settlement of the conflict,
Solheim extended
assurances of strong
international support as
the new president grasps
the key challenges of
preserving the ceasefire
with the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam and taking
forward the peace
process.

SLDF Condemns the Brutal and Cowardly Attack on
Loganathan Master in Germany

On 12 November 2005, Vaithiyanathan Loganathan, aged fifty-five and
resident in Neuss, Germany, was brutally attacked by three to four men. Mr.
Loganathan, known in the Tamil community as Loganathan Master, was a
teacher at Central College in Jaffna in the early 1980s and has since been
resident in Germany for the last two decades. He was a founding member of
the 'illakiya chandippu' (Tamil literary gatherings) and editor of the Tamil
magazine 'Aruwai' in the late 1980s. On 5 November 2005, Mr. Loganathan
organized a memorial meeting in Neuss that condemned the assassinations of
two Jaffna principals, Nadarajah Sivakadatcham and Kanakapathy Rajadurai,
in mid-October. (See SLDF statement of 4 November 2005 on educational
freedom) During the days leading up to the memorial meeting, Loganathan
and his family received numerous threats from supporters of the LTTE. The
police were informed of these threats and the meeting was held with police
protection.

Nursing the Tsunami’s Displaced in Sri Lanka

by Mala Kadar, RN, MPH

In the aftermath of the devastating tsunami that slammed African and Asian
countries last December, the International Medical Health Organization
(imhousa.org) flew teams of physicians and nurses to northeastern Sri Lanka
to set up medical clinics in refugee camps in the districts of Batticaloa and
Mullaitivu. The teams included Tamil-speaking physicians and nurses, along
with health care professionals of other nationalities like myself. The areas that
were populated by the Tamil-speaking minority had experienced the brunt of
the tsunami’s fury, causing the displacement of a large percentage of the
population who lived by the sea.

Kokuvil Hindu College Diamond Jubilee

by K.S.Sivakumaran

It’s undeniable that Yaalpaanam is a citadel of learning and education that
had produced some outstanding intellectuals in this country. Apart from those
in Colombo, Mahanuwara, Galle and Kurunegala, the centres of education in
the north and to a lesser extent in the east among the Thamil speaking areas
even to this day call for attention, judging by the results of students scoring
very high marks in public examinations.

A trip to places called Ceylon in USA [Lakdiva]

By Dr Kavan Ratnatunga

In 1997 November when my son searched an encyclopedia on CDrom with
the keyword Ceylon, it brought up the entry that said, former US vice
president Walter Mondale was born in Ceylon. We discovered there was
another Ceylon in Minnesota. In America there are many places with
international place names. Towns have often been named after the cities from
which immigrants came to populate a new land. but this surely was not the
case here.

2-Leaf Booty [OutlookIndia]

The most expensive tea in the world comes from a unique
organic garden

The royals at Buckingham Palace can't do without it on any morning, nor can
the Sultan of Brunei and billionaires in Japan. Their morning cuppa is made of
premium tea which comes from Makaibari, a garden nestled in the mist-kissed
hills of Kurseong in North Bengal. But Makaibari's claim to fame is not just that
its produce fetches the highest prices in the world—the oldest tea garden in
the subcontinent, it was also the first to go organic, a pioneering experiment
that attracts researchers from all over the world.

Though Makaibari Tea Estate is spread over 1,670 acres, tea is grown only
on 550 acres, while the rest is covered with sub-tropical forest that is not only
vital to the garden's bio-dynamic sustenance, but is also home to over 450
species of birds and animals.

Romance on the ECR [Hindu]

With an action-oriented storyline and two heroines to boot,
Arjun is getting ready with ``Aanai."

Info had it that the shooting spot for Vasan Visual Ventures' ``Aanai" was on
East Coast Road leading to Mahabalipuram. But where on that busy stretch
would it be possible to shoot, one wondered cruising along ECR.

And then one caught sight of it, after Mayajal where the road turns towards
the sea. Two generator vans and a couple of cars parked on the inner ring
road indicated that the crew was close at hand. They were inside a mansion,
complete with a swimming pool and a huge lawn. It is here that one finds Arjun
and Namita in deep conversation, filmy of course. The shot over, he walks
towards this writer to catch up with the latest.

A matter of opinion

`Maja' is reportedly doing good business and Vikram is
happy that healthy comedy has won.

"The producer has been laughing his way to the bank and the distributors
are happy. What more does one need, to show that the film is doing well,"
queries an exasperated insider from the `Maja' unit. True, the rain did play
havoc in the first few days of the film's release. But it was not as though `Maja'
alone was singled out. All the Deepavali releases did suffer an initial setback.

"Naturally ... would anyone allow their kids to visit cinema halls during a
cyclone?" laughs Vikram, as he greets you with a cheerful `Hi' from
Coimbatore. "I'm relaxing here. This is my way of unwinding," he explains. "The
first week is monopolised by fans. It is from the following week that families
begin to visit theatres. So that crowd is intact and is increasing with every
passing day ... I'm very happy."

Many manifestations of self

There is nothing that doesn't interest actor Nandita Das.
Even while she sees a continuum in everything, Nandita
wants to be cautious of her moves in future.

Thinking actor, activist, and now, celebrity blogger — she wears all these
hats, and more, with ease. Nandita Das, was in Bangalore to soak in the
theatre atmosphere at the Rangashankara Theatre festival. In a freewheeling
chat, she speaks about blogging, Leapfrog, the organisation she started with
her husband to harness the power of communications media for the social
sector, and more.

Apart from being an actress you're now also a blogger?

Yeah, (laughs) you heard about that?

'Light on Life': B.K.S. Iyengar's Yoga Insights [NPR Audio]

B.K.S Iyengar is considered the world's greatest living yoga master. He
refined and perfected the technique of doing yoga poses that is most widely
taught in the United States.

Iyengar began life as a frail and sickly child -- but now, at the ripe age of 87,
the yoga master can still stand on his head and hold a conversation at the
same time.

In his latest book, Light on Life, he recounts how physical weaknesses led him
to the ancient practice of yoga:

"My poor health was matched, as it often is when one is sick, by my poor
mood," he writes. "A deep melancholy often overtook me, and at times I asked
myself whether life was worth the trouble of living.

"Seeing that the general state of my health was so poor, my brother-in-law
recommended a stiff regime of yoga practice to knock me into shape and
strengthen me up to face life's trials and challenges as I approached
adulthood."

It's all in the food

Western medicine explains diabetes as a disease that occurs when the body
experiences an overload of sugar and cannot produce or properly use insulin.
Insulin is a hormone needed to convert sugar, starch and other foods into
energy needed for daily life. While the cause of diabetes remains a mystery,
factors such as genetics, obesity and lack of exercise are understood to play
a role. Treatment through western medicine stresses right nutrition, exercise
and medication, but the number of diabetics continue to grow. Anju Venkat,
nutritionist at Mumbai's Health Awareness Centre, says that the body has a
different perception of the problem, which also needs understanding. The
Centre has acquired a considerable following in the city. Among them are
diabetes patients who say this approach has helped them get back on the
path of health.

HOW does the body perceive diabetes?

The cells in the human body regulate the body's functions, enabling it to
adapt and cope. They depend on energy drawn from nutrients in our daily
diet. When they are deprived of these nutrients, body building, repair and
maintenance are retarded.

The cells depend on the body's ability to metabolise or extract glucose from
our daily food for energy. This happens at the cellular level, and is assisted by
the respiratory, digestive and endocrine system. Detrimental lifestyle changes
that are imposed too fast undermine the body's capacity to adapt.

The way the classics go

Now, a project to reduce them to — text messages

"Romeo, Romeo — wher4 Rt thou Romeo?" It could be the future of
Shakespeare.

Dot mobile, a British mobile-phone service aimed at students, says it plans to
condense classic works of literature into SMS text messages. The company
claims the service will be a valuable resource for studying for examinations.

Techie Immigrants Make 'Curry Rock' [NPRAudio]

Hundreds of thousands of high-tech workers have made the trip from India to
the United States over the past decade. Many have come on an H-1B visa, a
guest worker program for highly skilled foreigners.

That's how Indian software programmer Srikanth Devarajan made his way to
America a decade ago. He says that back home, many people consider H-1B
visa holders like him to be pampered and privileged. But the reality of being a
stranger in a strange land can often be lonely, nerve-wracking and confusing.

Devarajan chronicles the immigrant experience in the United States in a new
album, H1Bees. Sung in English, Tamil and Hindi, its seven tracks reflect a mix
of Indian and Western musical styles. The result is what he calls "curry rock,"
a name he's trademarked.

Toronto: "New York, run by the Swiss"

...from high-rise apartments overlooking the harbor to town houses and lofts
being built near the recently redeveloped Historic Distillery District, that
demonstrate the city's real vitality, and evidence that Toronto - once described
by the actor Peter Ustinov as "New York, run by the Swiss" - has been truly
reborn

2007 Diversity Visa Program (DV-2007)

State Department Web site for the 2007 Diversity Visa Program (DV-2007) is
now open. The application submission period for DV-2007 is from 12:00PM
EST (GMT -5) on October 5, 2005 to 12:00PM EST (GMT -5) on December 4,
2005. The application form will only be available for submission during this
period and this period only. Applications will not be accepted through the U.S.
Postal Service.
The 2007 Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery where 50,000 individuals worldwide
will be selected has been formally declared open in Washington, the US
embassy in Colombo said.

"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]