http://www.nyu.edu/trauma.studies is accepting applications until July 15, for its 2004-2005 training program. This unique program, enriched by the participation of a diverse student body, offers a dynamic combination of academic studies, research, and practical experience working with trauma survivors in New York City, the U.S., and abroad. The coming year’s visiting faculty of international pioneers… Read more »
Monthly Archives: June 2004
Kurds Win Round on Constitution
By Dexter Filkins, The New York Times, June 10, 2004 BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 9 — Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said Wednesday that his government would adhere to the interim constitution agreed to in March until elections are held next year, in an effort to defuse, at least temporarily, a looming crisis with the Kurdish leadership…. Read more »
Sri Lanka Scene: Parliamentary Terrorism
by T. Sabaranam, June 9, 2004 Weekly Review Parliamentary Terrorism sounds somewhat funny and confusing. I did not coin it. I t was coined by a Buddhist monk legislator, the Venerable Ellawel Thera. He coined it to encapsulate Tuesday’s uproar and the recent events in the Sri Lankan parliament, where the ruling United People’s Freedom… Read more »
Reel Peace: Six Short Films from Sri Lanka
During the many years of hostilities in Sri Lanka there was a lot of misrepresentation of the conflict and the impact that this was having on the lives of ordinary civilians on both sides. REEL PEACE aims to produce honest and representative stories that can contribute to a wider understanding of the need for social… Read more »
World Refugee Day: June 20
2004 Theme: Rebuilding Lives in Safety and Dignity Each year June 20 is World Refugee Day. This year the theme of World Refugee Day is “A Place To Call Home: Rebuilding Lives in Safety and Dignity.” It looks at the challenges and hopes that accompany refugees in their search for a new home through voluntary repatriation,… Read more »
A Bridge to Sri Lanka
Dear Readers, Archeology has frequently been used by the Sinhalese nationalists to push their claims to the whole island of Sri Lanka. This article is primarily about the pre-Buddhist period. If any are encountered, could professional or amateur archeologists please alert us to any biases in this piece? We aim to be fair and objective…. Read more »
Defection of a RAW Agent from India
by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 8, 2004 As is repeated often, perfect timing is everything – whether in the battle field, sports, creative arts, science, politics and even in writing. Encouraged by my previous essay on the defection game, one of my young and alert readers from Canada sent me a mail requesting me to… Read more »
17th Annual FeTNA National Convention
by Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America Thamizhar Thiruvizhaa – July 2, 3, 4, and 5, 2004 Taking place at Morgan State University’s Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center. 2201 Argonne Drive, Baltimore, MD 21251. Presented by… Star Entertainment: “King of Comedy” Mr. Vivek; “Virumaandi” Fame Ms. Abhirami. Light Music Concert: Cine Playback Singer… Read more »
A Funny Old World
by Rajkumar Sivapatham, Harrow, UK. As the JVP and SLFP find out how difficult it is to be in government and to find a peaceful solution to the civil war, events are moving elsewhere. The promises and charges that UFPA has laid against the UNF government have returned to haunt the PA and the JVP… Read more »
Selected Writings by Gunasegaram
Mr. S.J. Gunasegaram was born in Chundikuli on the Jaffna Peninsula in 1901 and passed away in Kopay in 1964 after a life of writing prolifically on a wide variety of subjects, both in English and Tamil. Few scholars have had the skills, the urge, the courage, and the dedication that Gunasegaram had for research… Read more »
Don’t Know, Should Care
by Jeffrey D. Sachs, New York Times, June 5, 2004. Our ability to understand what exists before and after wars in low-income countries is nearly nonexistent. George Tenet’s resignation this week came after failures of American intelligence in the Iraq war as well as in the lead-up to the Sept. 11 attacks. But the government’s… Read more »
Ethnic Crisis: Wishful Thinking in the South
By: Amrit Muttukumaru, TamilCanadian.com, June 5, 2004 The southern polity has largely toyed with the Tamil National Question. The only possible exceptions could be the 1957 Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact and the August 1995 Devolution Proposals initiated by Prime Minister Bandaranaike and his daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga respectively, where there was a reasonable attempt to address the issue…. Read more »
The Children’s Homes of Tamil Eelam
by Rob Bloom, June 5, 2004 They were a focal point during my visit to Tamil Eelam, Sri Lanka and, as described in this article, I found the visits to be very fulfilling yet disconcerting at the same time.Prakash Rajasundram, our hosts, and I visited three Illams: they are named Kurukulam, Senth-Cholai, and Kantharuban Arevuchcholai.In… Read more »
Pirapaharan 2, Chapter 5: The Second Massacre
by T. Sabaratnam; published June 4, 2004 (Volume 2) 5. The Second Massacre The prison massacre on Monday, July 25, 1983 that killed 35 of their colleagues made the 28 prisoners in C3 feel insecure. They felt that they would be the next target. Three of them – Panagoda Maheswaran, Paranthan Rajan and Douglas Devananda –… Read more »
Hope in the Face of Adversity
published June 3, 2004 HOPE IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY: The role of education in rebuilding Sri Lanka Sunday, June 6th, 2004 at 12 noon Location : Bedford City Hall, Bedford, MA Contact : S. Yoganathan, (781)721-0935 Please join us for a presentation by global educators striving to make a difference… Speakers: Meera Pathmarajah A… Read more »
Karuna Facing Defector’s Dilemma
by Sachi Sri Kantha; published June 3, 2004 There are two books adjacently placed in my study, since their titles share an affinity. The first is ‘The Oldest Profession – A History of Prostitution’ (1993 print) of an English translation of a German language original by Lujo Bassermann. The second is, ‘The Second Oldest Profession – Spies… Read more »
Oh, What a Tangled Web
by Wakeley Paul; published June 2, 2004 Oh what a tangled web we weave When first we practice to deceive The President hopes to glide along by nurturing opposing factions with the incredible hope of making better strangers of them all. How easy it is for any of them to pull the plug on this hopeless… Read more »
Sri Lanka Scene: Killings Unite Tamils
by T. Sabaratnam; published June 2, 2004 Weekly Review Killings Unites Tamils; India’s Policy Changes The foul Murder Iyathurai Nadesan is dead. The cause he espoused, Tamil Nationalism, has received fresh vigour. The entire northeast ground to a halt in unity today (Wednesday); not merely to mourn the death of a 49 year-old Tamil journalist who… Read more »
Invitation from Thamiz Kulam Pathipalayam
published June 1, 2004 Anbudaiyeer Vanakkam Attached is an invitation to the release function of the book Thodarum Thavippu written by Poonguzhali. A note on the book: This book illustrates the real-life struggle of a mother to save her son from the death penalty. Perarivalan was arrested in the Rajiv Gandhi assasination case in 1991 at the… Read more »
Hypocrisy Today
by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; published June 1, 2004 [translated from the original Russian into English, by Stephan Solzhenitsyn; source: Daily Yomiuri, August 7, 1997.] Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha If sycophancy is an art of civilizations boasting 2,500 year-old heritage (India, China and Sri Lanka), its closest kin – hypocrisy – is the ornament of civilizations [British,… Read more »