Media Bias is hurting the peace process between Sri Lanka and Tamils by R Shanmugananthan, Australia, November 28, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/666.html Nowadays, when you read news supplied by international news wires, one automatically looks for the other side of the story. Such is the one-sided nature of news reports. The old adage that there are two sides… Read more »
Annual Heroes’ Day Speech by Pirapaharan
from LTTE Peace Secretariat, November 27, 2004 “TAMIL TIGERS WILL LAUNCH FREEDOM STRUGGLE IF PEACE TALKS ARE FURTHER DELAYED” – LTTE LEADER The leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mr Velupillai Pirapaharan, in his annual statement marking Heroes’ Day, cautioned the Sri Lanka government that his organisation would be compelled to launch the… Read more »
Jeyendra Saraswathi: Brahmin Reformer or Murderer?
by Shan Ranjit, November 28, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/667.html July 1994, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu: Maha Periaval (Sri Chandrasekar Saraswathi , the predecessor of the present Mutt head, Sri Jayendrar Saraswathi , who is accused in a murder case) had attained Maha samadhi ( permanent liberation) only a few months before. He was cremated inside the mutt itself in Kanchipuram. … Read more »
Maveerar Naal in the US
November 27th Saturday – New York December 4th Saturday – New Jersey December 4th Saturday – Los Angeles December 4th Saturday – Chicago December 4th Saturday – Florida December 4th Saturday – San Francisco December 4th Saturday – Seattle December 5th Sunday – Ohio For more information and directions please call: 718 657 9463 or… Read more »
Velupillai Pirapaharan Turns Fifty Today
Ethnic Politics By Taraki (aka D. Sivaram), Daily Mirror, Colombo, November 26, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/663.html It is not my intention here to interrupt the unceasing labours of those who love to hate him. There is little I can add to the invectives that Sinhala nationalist politicians, academics, opinion makers and editorialists relentlessly heap on the LTTE… Read more »
For Pirabhakaran, the Future Begins at Fifty
A birthday greeting by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 26, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/662.html Having reached fifty, what is in store for LTTE leader Pirabhakaran? While his admirers would wish him a ‘long life’, his adversaries (both local and non-local varieties) would dream of something different from his admirers. Thus, it is opportune to review how five of… Read more »
Letter from Singapore
by Pranay Gupte, November 19, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/661.html Why am I sceptical that there isn’t exactly going to be an exodus from India to Singapore? Precisely because of what that Indian cabinet minister told me. Singapore can attract all the cheap coolie labour it might want, but the word has gotten around in the Indian professional… Read more »
Boston Tamil Association Christmas Party Dec. 4
Dear Members and Well-Wishers, This is your friendly reminder to mark your calendar and join us for the BTA (Boston Thamil Association of Ilankai/Sri Lanka Tamils) Annual Christmas Party. Date: Saturday, 4th of December 2004 at 6:30PM Location: Sons of Italy Hall, 117 Swanton Street Winchester, Massachusetts Members: $12.00 Kids : Free Non-Members: $20.00 Kids: $5.00 Christmas… Read more »
‘In the Name of the Buddha’ in New York Dec. 5
The controversial film is at another film festival in New York City – the South Asian International Film Festival and is sponsored by India Abroad and Salaam Theater. It will be showing at Chelsea Clearview Cinema at 12:00 noon on Sunday, December 5. For more information check http://www.saiff.org/program/program_day5.asp [The Sangam is most gratified that India Abroad, a New York… Read more »
Pirapaharan 2, Chapter 26: Foundation for Tamil Eelam
by T. Sabaratnam, November 25, 2004 (Volume 2) sangam.org/articles/view2/658.html Three Factors 1984 is a milestone in the life of Pirapaharan and in the history of Tamil freedom struggle. In that year, as I indicated in Chapter 21, Pirapaharan switched over from hit-and-run guerrilla combat to sustained guerrilla warfare, and commenced the process of transforming the… Read more »
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is an American harvest holiday devoted to family gatherings and remembering our blessings on the last Thursday of November.
Sri Lankan Writes for Canada’s Memory Project
Pullikattil Simon Research Microbiologist Country Of Origin: India/Sri Lanka Home Town: Vancouver Home Province: British Columbia sangam.org/articles/view2/656.html In 1956 when the race riots took place in Sri Lanka, I was right in the middle of it and escaped death many times. What caused the race riots? Several factors. First, the government of Sri Lanka introduced… Read more »
Asylum Seekers Allowed to Sue Private Firms
for Human Rights Abuses by M. Chooki, News-India Times, New York, November 26, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/655.html A [US] federal judge ruled that asylum-seekers, who suffered beatings, unsanitary conditions and humiliation at the Elizabeth detention center in New Jersey in the mid-1990s may go ahead with a lawsuit alleging human rights violations against the private company that… Read more »
The Stories of Guru Paramarta
Seventh Story of Falling off the Horse by Fr.Costanzo Beschi [aka, Veera MaMuni] sangam.org/articles/view2/654.html Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha The seventh story in the Guru Paramarta series describes the obstinacy of his five dummy disciples, who were short on common sense and would do only what was instructed specifically. In this story, the Guru… Read more »
Plantation Tamils – The Oppressed People of Sri Lanka
By S. Makenthiran, B.A., FCCA, November 21, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/653.html Immigration in the nineteenth century In Sri Lanka live one of the most oppressed communities in the world. They are the plantation Tamils living in the central hill country. This unfortunate community has been treated like sub-humans by the successive Sinhalese governments that have been in… Read more »
Maveerar Naal in the US
November 27th Saturday – New York December 4th Saturday – New Jersey December 4th Saturday – Los Angeles December 4th Saturday – Chicago December 4th Saturday – Florida December 4th Saturday – San Francisco December 4th Saturday – Seattle December 5th Sunday – Ohio For more information and directions please call: 718 657 9463 or… Read more »
Maya Arulpragasam’s World
Bingo in Swansea by SASHA FRERE-JONES, The New Yorker Issue of 2004-11-22, Posted 2004-11-15 sangam.org/articles/view2/651.html “World music” is a category that does nobody any favors. Entirely disparate performers, like the dapper Brazilian singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso and the African blues guitarist Ali Farka Toure, get lumped together in American record stores simply because they don’t sing… Read more »
Open Letter to the International Community
by Wakely Paul, November 20, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/650.html Re: SRI LANKA The article in the Colombo, Sri Lanka newspaper The Island entitled “ALL LANKAN EGGS IN INDIAN BASKET” on November 10, 2004 reveals India’s renewed effort to extend its military influence into Sri Lanka as it did in the 80’s and early 90’s. At that time the Indians… Read more »
A Set of Killings in the East
To The Editor, Sangam.org — The TamilNet news website of 18th November reported two killings in the East within a space of 14 hours. The first was the killing of a political worker of the LTTE at 9.45 PM on Wednesday by gunmen suspected to be paramilitary operatives working with the Sri Lanka military intelligence… Read more »
Conflict over ‘Rights’ Stalls Sri Lankan Peace Process
by P K Balachandran, Hindustan Times, November 15, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/647.html One of the basic reasons for the conflict between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the rest of the world is the difference of opinion on whether ‘group rights’ should take precedence over ‘individual rights.’ This conflict is a major factor stalling the… Read more »