TamilWeek_Oct_09

Tamil resurgence and Sinhala intra n s i gence:
The Grand Deception

By: Dr. Rajasingham Narendran

Sri Lankan politicians, whether Sinhala, Tamil or Muslim; civilian, militant or
monk, seem to be afflicted, as are most politicians the world over, with a
malady – inability to say what they mean and mean what they say- which
enters an acute phase with every pre-election season or national crisis. The
only difference between us and other nations of stature is that we do not have
even a few among the multitude of our politicians who are capable of leveling
with the people and being absolutely honest with them.

Pursuit for peace must be realistic

By Dr. S. Narapalasingam

Another phase in the peace effort in Sri Lanka has emerged with the current
campaign for the Presidential election on November 17, 2005. But the
confusion over the contrasting ways the two main contenders hope to secure
durable peace has cast doubts on the feasibility of realising the national
objective. Moreover, the wrangling over unitary and federal systems and the
doubts whether a federal system can ensure a united Sri Lanka dispelling the
fear of separation are also contributing to the uncertainty.

Emulating J. R. Jayewardene
is best option for LTTE

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

The temporary travel ban imposed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
by the European Union has resulted in two broadly predictable responses on
either side of the ethnic divide in Sri Lanka.

From the hardliners of the "Sinhala" side there is unconcealed glee that the
tigers have at last got what they deserved. The ban is perceived and
portrayed as the end of the road for the LTTE.

Wider implications of EU travel ban

By Jehan Perera

When the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE signed the Ceasefire
Agreement in February 2002 they both accepted an international facilitative
role in the resolution of the country's long festering ethnic conflict.

They also gave a public commitment that thy would neither utilise violence in
the pursuit of political objectives nor violate human rights during the period of
the ceasefire.

Sanctioning Violence [Editorial-Tamil Guardian]

With the Norwegian peace process struggling, observers of Sri Lanka’s
conflict have over the past several months become increasingly anxious about
the simmering shadow war in the island’s east. Amid this cycle of violence, the
assassination of Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August
came as a considerable shock. The Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donor
Conference held an extraordinary meeting a short while later and, expressing
their manifest displeasure over the prevailing situation, demanded that the
Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government meet promptly to discuss
ways to stabilize the slowly unraveling ceasefire agreement.

Advantage Wickremsinghe as race polarises [TamilGuardian]

A prediction by a hardline monks party that November’s Presidential election
would be a referendum on the Norwegian peace process seemed to be borne
out this week as Sri Lanka’s political parties began to polarise around the two
leading candidates.

Whilst hardline Sinhala nationalists long ago threw their considerable weight
behind Premier Mahinda Rajapakse, Sri Lanka’s minority parties have sat on
the fence – whilst sometimes bargaining hard behind the scenes.

Doyen of FP,
uncompromising on Tamil National question [TamilNet]

It is not the concern of the Tamils whether Mahinda Rajapakse or Ranil
Wickramasinghe will or should win the Presidential election on November 17.
All these are matters which concern only South Ceylon. Let the Sinhalese
people sort it out and decide for themselves.

It will be inappropriate for the Tamils to use the Presidential election of 2005
as an occasion to demonstrate what they really are.

They are a separate independant State centred in the Vanni with its own
Government, Police, a conventional Army and Defence Forces, a separate
economy, legal system, banking and administrative machinery. Let the Tamils
keep out of the election on November 17, and have nothing to do with events
in South Ceylon. Enough is enough. I have not reached my 96 years in this
world with my eyes shut. I have seen enough of the Senanayakes,
Bandaranaikes, Ratwattes, Kotalawelas, Jayawardenes, Wickramasinghes,
Premadasas, Pereras and Silvas. There is no denying that they are all
genuine, sincere patriots, every one of them - but Sinhalese, not Ceylonese.

Donors: Keep It Short

Sri Lanka's foreign donors are falling over themselves to channel aid to
similar projects, but a lots needs to be done to co-ordinate and channel
assistance to large projects, the island’s treasury secretary said Friday.

The Indian Ocean island gets over a billion dollars in aid each year from
multilateral, bilateral and international non-governmental organizations.
The tsunami-hit island also raised over US$ 3 billion in pledges from
international donors to rebuild key infrastructure along its damaged coastline.

Human Rights Expert Ian Martin to meet with LTTE
[LTTEPS]

Human Rights Expert Mr.Ian Martin, formerly of Amnesty International is
scheduled to meet with LTTE’s Political Head Mr.S.P.Tamilselvan on 13
October 2005. Mr.Martin has been visiting Kilinochchi many times last year in
the process of his engagement with the LTTE and the Tamil Eelam Police in
conducting workshops of Human Rights.

Under weight children: Paradox in Paradise

One out of three children under the age of five in Sri Lanka underweight
despite impressive social indicators.

“With nearly one out of three children aged five or under being underweight,
Sri Lanka has unusually high rates of child malnutrition, not only in absolute
terms but also in relation to its income,” says the World Bank in its report on
Sri Lanka attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
Local health authorities are sceptical, but the bank’s research team insisted
on Friday, at the launch of the report, that there is no mistake.

In fact, as much as 15 percent of children even from the richest households –
that should have access to enough food – are underweight and stunted.

Paradoxically, child mortality rates in Sri Lanka are so low - only 13 infant
deaths per 1,000 live births – they are only one fourth of what is expected of a
country with Sri Lanka’s per capita income.

Their language is hypocrisy, not Tamil [NewsToday]

By T R Jawahar

As elections draw closer our politicos get into a frantic race for cornering
issues. Inevitably all old wines too get repackaged in the melee. Vintage Tamil
is perhaps the oldest wine available and little wonder that the neo-champions
of the language, all the usual suspects minus the most prominent one, hit the
streets recently with all the might that they could muster. That scores of
Tamilians, among others, were also hit severely with their daily chores and
even bread and butter for some getting trampled by the hordes that took over
the State is of no concern. Indeed, the curses and epithets hurled by the
affected citizens could not have been in chaste Tamil for sure but then, they
were drowned in the din raised by the lingo terrorists.

Water Resources: Bottling Thamiraparani [FrontLine]

The agitation against the bottling unit of a multinational soft drink giant in
water-starved Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu is fast turning into a battle
against the privatisation of water resources.

Resistance to the Rs.30-crore beverage bottling plant coming up in the
southern Tamil Nadu district of Tirunelveli is intensifying. The protesters allege
that the unit, a water-intensive one will lead to the depletion and contamination
of groundwater and affect agriculture in the drought-prone district.

The plant is being set up to manufacture branded items of the multinational
soft drink giant, Coca-Cola. Construction work for the unit under the South
India Bottling Company (P) Limited (SIBCL), is under way in the Industrial
Growth Centre of the State Industrial Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu
(SIPCOT) at Gangaikondan, 15 km from Tirunelveli. The Left parties and
some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are spearheading the protest.

Co-packers' claim

Attributing the protest against the soft drink bottling unit under construction at
the SIPCOT Industrial Growth Centre at Gangaikondan to the "unfounded
fears of a section of the people over the reported depletion of groundwater
resources and other consequences of the Plachimada plant in Kerala", one of
the Directors of the Chennai-based South India Bottling Company (P) Limited
(SIBCL), S.V. Sunilkumar, said the agitation was politically motivated.
"Gangaikondan is different from Plachimada," he told Frontline.

Dr. Indira Samarasekera, a Vermbadi and Ladies College product, was
inaugurated as the president and vice chancellor of University of Alberta on
September 25. Dr. Samarasekera is the daughter of
Dr. and Mrs. A. C. Arulpragasaham. The inauguration ceremony was
impressive with cabinet ministers of Canada in attendance. Dr. Samarasekera
made an outstanding inaugural address. Dr. Samarasekera has been
awarded the Order of Canada and is a science advisor in the field of heat
sensations to the Government of Canada.

Text of Dr. Samarasekera's inaugural speech:

Installation Address
Indira V. Samarasekera, OC

University of Alberta, September 25, 2005

"I did not imagine, growing up in Jaffna, a city at the northern
tip of Sri Lanka, where water was scarce and the climate
scorching, that life’s journey would take me to Edmonton and
Northern Alberta. No two places could be more different, and
yet the people of these regions share common values rooted
in climate, tradition, and aspirations. Extreme weather, hot or
cold, can be a breeding ground for spirited entrepreneurship,
rugged determination, and uncommon daring.

Another common thread is the value placed on education. Jaffna was a city of
superb schools , a city that valued ceremony and celebration temples and
festivals, a city since robbed of joy by war.

Mysore silk - unique, regal and historical [FrontLine]

Mysore is known for its silk. For over seven decades, Mysore silk, with its
unique sheen and regal look, amazing drape, pure yarn and zari, has held its
own among all other silk fabrics from India and abroad. Today, it is the
Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation (KSIC) which holds aloft the State's
supremacy in silk and silk products, from classy dress material, stoles, and
furnishings to the most resplendent of saris.

Though the origins of the Mysore Silk Factory date back to 1912, organised
production of fabric started only in 1932, after a small quantity of raw silk was
tested in Switzerland for quality. Looms installed in the factory were also
imported from Switzerland, and most of them have survived to this day.

Tamil Nadu:
The Vulture Culture

They don't want women in pubs. They want non-Tamils to go
back. The moral police is out.

"When he had a little toddy, he would give it to us/ When he
had ample toddy he would give it to us and happily drink
what was left to him as we sang."

—Poet Auvaiyar, bereaving her patron Adhiyaman, in the
Sangam anthology Purananuru, circa 200 AD translated by
George Hart and Hank Heifetz.

If the self-appointed guardians of 'Tamil culture' had their way, they would
have the rest of the world believe that women should not wear jeans and T-
shirts, they should not sing and dance in discos, should not have sex before
marriage, should not drink, should not choose alternative sexual identities and
they should only be bearers of what certain Tamil men define as 'honour'.

An Unequal Music [OutlookIndia]

Why is it that only women have to bear this 'culture' cross?

By Kanimozhi

The media-triggered public debate on women and Tamil culture is depressing
and distressing. From clothes to sexuality to social norms, why is it that only
women are made to bear the burden of morality and what gets defined as
'Tamil culture'? The media abets the process by using women's 'honour' to
sell newspapers and magazines. The same Tamil press thrives on splashing
pictures of semi-nude women from all parts of the world to boost sales. They
sensationalise any reportage concerning women. All this will only lead to
increased violence against women. If tomorrow a woman walks out of a star
hotel or a cinema, we should not be surprised if she is attacked for being
'amoral'. A jean-clad woman standing at a bus-stop is liable to be sexually
assaulted, and such an attack would even be justified given that public
opinion is being mobilised against women. Recipients of such violence would
be seen as `deserving'.

As for Khushboo, in the 1990s she was worshipped as the very embodiment
of Tamil womanhood and temples were built for her. Today, they display
brooms and chappals against her and want her to leave the state. Suddenly it
has dawned on them that she is not Tamil. The Tamil media is highlighting the
protests against Khushboo led by Dalit Panthers of India (DPI).

Tamil Movie Review: Chatrapati [Rediff]

The plot goes like this: Banupriya brings up her two kids in Sri Lanka and
younger brother envies his step-brother since his mother dotes on him. Riots
break out and the elder brother Prabhas gets separated from his folks and
gets himself into a boat to carry him to safety. The younger brother Shafi,
meanwhile, lies to his mother that the elder one is dead. Prabhas grows up in
a refugee camp with his friends. Once he takes on the mafia don and seizes
his position. He wins the love of Shreya. He also comes to know that his
mother is alive. At this juncture, Shafi drives a wedge between them with his
lies. What happens next? See the film for an answer.

Indian cinema and the Hungarian connection

After his 'Symphonic Oratorio on Thiruvasakam', renowned music composer
IIlayaraja has added another feather to his cap by bringing the famous
Budapest Symphony Orchestra team from Hungary to Chennai to work for an
Indian movie.

For the first time in the history of Indian cinema, an orchestra from Hungary
would be performing for an Indian film.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, being made simultaneously in four languages
(Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and Telugu), is being produced by Varghese and
directed by Vayalar Madhav.

Featuring Tinu Anand in a prominent role, the movie is about a young boy
who wants to become an eunuch. The rest is about how his family helps him
overcome troubles with the help of a Swamiji. All of this narrated in a hilarious
way to entertain children, says Varghese.

`Kaadhal' at London fest

The Tamil hit, `Kaadhal,' produced by director Shankar's S Pictures, has
been selected to be screened in the World Cinema section at the 49th
London Film Festival, known as The Times — London Film Festival, which will
take place at London from October 19-November 3. The film, that has Bharat
and Sandhya as the lead pair will be screened on two days — October 21
(16.00) and October 24 (20.30) — at National Film Theatre 3. `Kaadhal'
catapulted Bharat (who had made a lukewarm debut in `Boys') and new-find
Sandhya to fame.

Singapore: Two bloggers jailed for making racist
remarks online

For the first time, two Singaporeans have been sentenced to jail for posting
racist remarks online. 28-year-old Benjamin Koh Seng Huat, a kennel keeper
at an animal shelter, has been sentenced to one month's jail. Separately, the
court sentenced 25-year-old former assistant marketing manager, Nicholas
Lim Yew, to serve one day in jail and a maximum fine of $5,000. Koh walked
into the court, accompanied by his lawyer and a friend Hisham Abu Bakar.
He pleaded guilty to making racist remarks on his web blog which sparked off
more than 200 comments. Lim, whose postings were regarded less serious
than Koh's by the court, was also charged under the Sedition Act.

'Ethnicity put me at heart risk' [BBC]

He didn't smoke, ate well and played sport, but Paratosh Sarkar was still one
and a half times more at risk from heart disease.

Why? Simply because he is South Asian.

"This came as a bit of a shock to me, as I had always been particularly active. I
always played tennis in the summer and in the winter I played badminton.

"I was always very fit," he said.
Among the South Asian community, those from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan
and Sri Lanka, this is an even greater problem with a much greater death rate
from coronary heart disease (CHD) than the national average.

"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]