Ilankai Tamil Sangam
Association of Tamils of Sri Lanka in the USA
Published by Sangam.org

Maheswaran

The Forgotten Hero

by Arvalan, January 9, 2008

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Martin Luther King Jr.

2008 dawned with the news that another Tamil Member of Parliament (MP) has been assassinated at a Hindu temple in broad day light, ostensibly by the Sri Lankan government sponsored paramilitary group. 

That was Late Hon T. Maheswaran.

T Maheswaran Jan 19 2003 Thondamanaru Sellasannithi Murugan Temple Jaffna
Thondamanaru Sellasannithi Murugan Temple , Jaffna, January 19, 2003. picture courtesy TamilNet

 

To my astonishment the expatriate Tamil community, failed to publicly mourn and remember the life of Maheswaran in the same way they mourned and remembered Hon. Joseph Pararajasingham and Hon. Raviraj.

There was

• No memorial meetings held,
• No eulogies written,
• No special programs in radio or TV
• No petitions prepared
• No appeals made to the international community
• No Tamil MP’s rioting inside the parliament

Is that because

Hon T. Maheswaran is a true Tamil nationalist as he is a

• Supreme human, who stood up for the oppressed and sacrificed his comfortable life to serve the Tamil community
• Brave patriot who risked his life to give voice for the people of his occupied nation

Maheswaran’s life is a testimony that

May your soul rest in peace

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