by Simon Gardner, Boston Globe, August 27, 2005 JAFFNA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) – Displaced four times by Sri Lanka’s two-decade civil war with the Tamil Tigers, 22-year-old Nirmalashanthi Vijayakanth is ecstatic to finally settle into the first home she can call her own. The ramshackle shelter in the artillery-ravaged northern town of Jaffna has no running… Read more »
A Man of Straw
by V Gunaratnam, September 6, 2005 “All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field.” – Albert Einstein on Peace 1879-1955 Death comes to most of us without warning, but… Read more »
FeTNA “Katrina Relief Fund”
by Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, September 2005 Anpudaiyeer, VaNakkam. Because of the disaster by “KATRINA” in the past week, FeTNA has made the decision to raise relief funds to help the downtrodden in New Orleans and other Katrina-affected locations. If you wish to send your donations through FeTNA, you are welcome to… Read more »
The Construction of Kadirgamar
Lakshman Kadirgamar: How the South Constructed Him, the Tamils Saw Him by J. S. Tissainayagam, Northeastern Monthly, September 1, 2005 “The LTTE has wreaked havoc so many times and now killed the best foreign minister this country ever had. It was he who changed the international opinion of this Island, which was hitherto referred to… Read more »
TRO USA Katrina Appeal
TRO is saddened by the tremendous suffering inflicted on the residents of the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina. The affected people need our prayers, sympathy and financial assistance to move on with their lives. TRO has seen people of Sri Lanka subjected to repeated tragedies, the latest of which was Tsunami. TRO is one of… Read more »
Pride and Prejudice
by Chandi Sinnathurai, September 3, 2005 THE LATE Mr. Kadirgamar prided himself solely as a Sri Lankan while distancing himself as a Tamil. The harsh reality of it all is that the Tamils around the world have refused to mourn the death of this prodigal son who with style and finesse betrayed his own roots. Many… Read more »
The Spin and Swing of the RAW Orchestra
By Sachi Sri Kantha, September 3, 2005 It does not take even ten seconds, for Tamil music fans, to identify the characteristic voices of star performers like M.S. Subbulakshmi, Madurai Mani Iyer, Chidambaram Jayaraman and Sirkali Govindarajan. The tonal markers of sweetness, swing and lilt of each such musician’s voice are too distinct, unless one… Read more »
An Anniversary, a Proverb and a Hypocrite
by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 3, 2005 The other day I received an e-mail from one appreciative Tamil reader of my essays and commentaries. Here is a relevant excerpt: “…Almost every international writer or human rights worker (such as a doctor) supporting the Tamils of Sri Lanka is placed on a travel restriction list by… Read more »
Sangam: US Must Stand by the Peace Process in Sri Lanka
Sangam Press Release The US must stand by the peace process in Sri Lanka On August 31, 2005 the Ilankai Tamil Sangam sent out a press release concerning the peace process in Sri Lanka and responding to a recent press release from the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington, DC. The press release can be read… Read more »
NESOHR: Sethusamedram Project
NESOHR on the Sethusamedram Project The University of Jaffna, the Green Movement Sri Lanka, the Tamil Economic Consulting House (TECH) and the Environment Foundation together organized a public discussion at the Library Auditorium in University of Jaffna on August 30th 2005 on the “Socio-economical and environmental impacts of the Sethu Samudhram Canal Project (SSCP).” NESOHR… Read more »
NESoHR: Withdraw ER & PTA
Withdraw the Emergency Regulation and the Prevention of Terrorism Act NORTH EAST SECRETARIAT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS NESOHR A9 Road Karadippokku, Kilinochchi nesohr /A_T/ hotmail /D_O_T/ com Tel: 94 (0) 21 228 5986 NESOHR Press Release 22 August 2005 Withdraw the Emergency Regulation (ER) and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) Reintroduction of the… Read more »
NYT: Divided They Stand
By David Brooks, The New York Times, August 25, 2005 This constitution gives each group what it wants. It will create a very loose federation in which only things like fiscal and foreign policy are controlled in the center (even tax policy is decentralized). Oil revenues are supposed to be distributed on a per capita basis,… Read more »
Negotiating with ‘Illiberal’ Forces
by A.R.M. Imtiyaz, Ph.D., August 26, 2005 The assassination of Foreign Minister Mr. Kadirgamar not only deeply shocked many Sinhalese, but also vigorously spurred Southern nationalists who oppose power-sharing arrangements with the LTTE. Literally, an absence of social peace with justice in ethnically divided societies will engender social disharmony between the different ethnic groups. It… Read more »
Sri Lanka in Crisis Again
by M. Thiru, August 26, 2005 Mr. Venkatesh, Re: ‘Sri Lanka in crisis again’ in the Asian Tribune As an observer, I wonder why the Sri Lankan Police declined the help offered by the UK and US police authorities in solving the murder of Laxman Kadirgamar? This international help the Sri Lankan police do not want. … Read more »
U.S. Can Learn from Unrest in Sri Lanka
by Lloyd Chapman, Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon, USA, August 24, 2005 Sri Lanka is again in the throes of unrest. The foreign minister and two popular radio announcers were assassinated recently, ending a week that saw half a dozen people killed on the nation’s east coast. This island nation near India has been here before. Who… Read more »
Comment on Kadirgamar
by Brian Senewiratne, Brisbane, Australia, August 25, 2005 I note that the Editor of Sangam adds what amounts to an apology for publishing the poem by Rajendra and the well-researched article by Satchi Sri Kantha on Sri Lanka’s worst ever Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar. I think the apology is misplaced. I am aware of the… Read more »
Burgher Emigration – a Clarification
by J. B. Muller, Daily News, Colombo, August 24, 2005 The person who referred to the Burghers as “so-called Burghers’ is still with us and he has a theory why the Burghers emigrated from as far back as 1942. Adverting to the reason for the mass emigration of the Burghers to other parts of the world… Read more »
US State Dept. Description of Sri Lanka’s ‘Communal Crisis’
Communal Crisis “Historical divisions continue to have an impact on Sri Lankan society and politics. From independence, the Tamil minority has been uneasy with the country’s unitary form of government and apprehensive that the Sinhalese majority would abuse Tamil rights. Those fears were reinforced when S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike triumphed in the 1956 elections after appealing to… Read more »
Reply to an Offensive Tribute
by Roy Ratnavel, August 25, 2005 Mr. Gunaratne, No doubt, to lose a friend in this manner is a tragic event. I never met Mr. Kadirgamar. However, reading all the tributes tells me, despite my opposing views about him, that he was an intellect, splendid orator and would have been an interesting person to sit-down… Read more »
LA Times: A Disaster’s Peace Dividend
by Los Angeles Times editorial, August 22, 2005 Editorial comment — Much of the information in this editorial is correct, so it is surprising the conclusion the editor ends with. One tip-off that the writer does not really know what he is talking about is his assertion that there has been a cease-fire in Sri Lanka for… Read more »