by T. Sabaratnam; published March 3, 2004 32. The Return of Pirapaharan Filling the Vacuum Pirapaharan landed near Valvettithurai before dawn on 18 February 1983, one and a half years after he left for Tamil Nadu. When he left on midnight of 6 June 1981, six days after he witnessed the burning of the… Read more »
Election Cartoon
Published March 3, 2004
Leadership Training for Immigrant Women
published March 3, 2004 From: christopher.nugent /A_T/ hklaw /D_O_T/ com Leadership Training for Refugee and Immigrant Women Refugee Women’s Network, Inc. (RWN) has begun preparations for the eighth cycle of the Leadership Training for Refugee and Immigrant Women. You are invited to nominate a refugee or immigrant woman leader, or self-nominate if you are a… Read more »
Sri Lanka Scene: Peace Cry to Win Votes
by T. Sabaratnam; Colombo, March 1, 2004 Weekly Review Now, the battle is to win votes with a peace cry. President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are competing with each other to show to the electorate that their government would be in a better position to usher in permanent peace in Sri Lanka. In… Read more »
Tamil Language Summer Camp
by Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (FeTNA); published March 2, 2004 The second annual Tamil language summer camp sponsored by Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America is scheduled to take place early this summer. Any second-generation Tamil student with an interest in becoming proficient in basic Tamil is encouraged to apply. Tamil will… Read more »
Tamil Radio from Central New Jersey
published March 2, 2004 There is a 24 hour Tamil Radio broadcasting online from Central New Jersey. The site is http://www.merina.com Use it for all your announcements and to keep abreast of local news.
Dynasty Strikes
by The Action Group of Tamils; Kotte, Sri Lanka, February 22, 2004 The Sinhala President Chandrika Kumaratunga is locked in a personal power struggle with Sinhala Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe. We, The Action Group of Tamils (TAGOT), had anticipated Kumaratunga’s shenanigans almost two years ago. In our Press Release of 18 March 2002, we said she… Read more »
Letter to the International Community
by Dr. Victor Rajakulendran; published March 2, 2004 An open letter to the International CommunityPresidents Prime Ministers Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries of Democratic Nations Your Excellencies Re: Parliamentary Elections in Sri Lanka As you all may be aware, due to the political bickering between Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumarathunga (CBK) and Prime Minister Ranil… Read more »
76 Tamil Political Prisoners
by Tamil Centre for Human Rights; Paris, February 24, 2004 TAMIL CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS – TCHR/CTDH CENTRE TAMOUL POUR LES DROITS DE L’HOMME (Established in 1990) http://www.tchr.netPress release Ref : B07F/PR/2004 24 February 2004 There are still 76 Tamil political prisoners and detainees Arrest and detention are legal in any judicial system. But when there… Read more »
Political Bifurcation Inevitable
by Taraki; Daily Mirror, Colombo, February 27, 2004 Polarization of political forces inevitable The Parliamentary power equation after the April 2 general elections is set to sharply reflect an acute polarization of political forces in Sri Lanka. The seats in Parliament are going to be divided mainly between two fundamentally distinct political formations. On the one… Read more »
The Macartney Maneuver
by Sachi Sri Kantha; published February 27, 2004 The Macartney Maneuver: a No-nonsense Straight Lesson from a Cricket Great I’m a subscriber to the Lancet medical journal and the first page I check in a newly received issue is the one which features the humorous column ‘Jabs and Jibes.’ The Feb.21, 2004 issue of Lancet carried a feature… Read more »
The Lion & His Shadow
by Rajkumar Sivapathan; originally published February 27, 2004 School children from all over the world study great stories of how an arrogant lion demanded one animal per day from the inmates of the forest and eventually was tricked and killed by a small hare. It is no doubt that leaders of the world would have read… Read more »
You Are What You Speak
by Janadas Devan; Straits Times, Singapore, January 25, 2004 THE ancient Egyptians employed hundreds of signs in their hieroglyphic writing, as did the Sumerians in their cuneiform. Both were complex systems, which no more than a tiny portion of Egyptians and Sumerians could have mastered. Janadas Devan Imagine a system consisting of hundreds of pictograms, or… Read more »
Mind Your Own Business
by Wakeley Paul; originally published February 27, 2004 “WHY DON¹T YOU MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS” says Lakshman Kadirgamar to Deputy British Foreign Secretary What does this portend? The situation in SL sends the shivers up the affluent; the Tamils and the international community interested in continuing the peace process which was begun by the UNF and… Read more »
Will the Election Solve the Impasse?
by Dr. Victor Rajakulendran; originally published February 26, 2004 Will President Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumarathunga’s snap election solve the current political impasse in Sri Lanka? Background of the impasse Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumaratunga (CBK) and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesighe (RW) have been locked in a power struggle for months. The feud reached a climax last… Read more »
Kurds Demand Vote on Independence
By Barbara Plett, BBC, February 25, 2004 BBC correspondent in Baghdad Kurdish activists have collected 1.7 million signatures on a petition demanding a referendum on the future of northern Iraq’s Kurdish region. For the past decade, Kurds have ruled their own affairs, out of the reach of former strongman Saddam Hussein. Their status in the… Read more »
Pirapaharan, Chapter 31: The Death of the First Hero
by T. Sabaratnam; originally published February 25, 2004 31. The Death of the First Hero Shooting of Shankar Rajani, who was on the verandah of the main house, saw the army jeep entering their compound. She ran through the house to the back door and shouted, “Nirmala Akka, army jeep is coming.” She warned her… Read more »
Tamil Aspirations and Traitors
R Shanmugananthan, originally published February 24, 2004 The recent editorial in the Tamil Guardian on ‘Expressing Tamil Aspirations’ at the forthcoming elections is timely. Though greed of the Sinhala politicians – and in particular Chandrika Kumaratunge – is the reason for this election, the outcome will have far reaching consequences. Firstly the way Sinhalese people will vote… Read more »
Special General Meeting
originally published February 24, 2004 Ilankai Tamil Sangam’s Special General Meeting will be held on Saturday, March 20th 2004 (rain date March 27th, 2004) to finalize the new committee and office bearers. Further details, venue and directions will be sent out to members.
Sri Lanka Scene: Strengthening the Tamil Bargaining Position
by T. Sabaratnam; originally published February 24, 2004 Weekly Review Two significant developments have marked the parliamentary nominations that concluded at noon today (Tuesday). The first, in the order of importance, is the open entry of the LTTE into the democratic electoral process. The second was the intense debate generated by the entry of Buddhist priests… Read more »