About Ramalingam Shanmugalingam 1934 – 2004 [see also 1. US Tamil Activist Dies ; 2. ciRpi cetukkAta cintany Unsculptured Thought by R.Shanmugalingam ; 3. Selected Writings – R.Shanmugalingam] Ramalingam Kichi Yazhan Shanmugalingam was born on September 29th 1934 to Ramalingam Karthiravel and Pakiam, in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He was lovingly known as’ Kichi’ by his family and friends. Kichi was… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Diaspora
Letter from a Youth to the LTTE
Dear Mr V. Prabakaran, Mr S.P Thamilchelvan and the other Officials of the East and North of the LTTE, This is a statement of a student, age 18 (Social Juridical Worker / Low Lawyer) of the Royal Kingdom of The Netherlands. At the first place I want to congratulate all of you with achieving and… Read more »
Hope Dawns in the Vanni
by Dr. Sam Muthuveloe, Sri Lanka, October 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/669.html “Thank you for coming to our remote village, to meet us and give us comfort through your medicines and the gift of spectacles,” said an old lady named Letchumi. It was dusk and as the sun was rapidly disappearing over the horizon and the gentle warm… Read more »
We Have to Live a Language to Use it
by Janadas Devan, The Straits Times, Singapore, November 29, 2004 ‘THO’ I call them Mine, I know that they are not Mine.’ The English critic F.R. Leavis liked to cite that remark of William Blake about his works to point to the essential impersonality of literature: Blake ‘meant that when the artist is creatively successful,… Read more »
Response to Reuters Article on Prabakaran Turning 50
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
The Sri Lankan Peace Talks and the ISGA Proposals
by M. Nadarajan, November 17, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/639.html Newspapermen and many governments continue to give their views on the peace process, spouting out nonsense without, in most instances, any knowledge of what they are speaking about or the background to the problem. In order to make any meaningful comments, one should look at the past, the… Read more »
Think Madam President, Think
And Be Aware by Wakeley Paul, Esq., November 14, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/635.html The war in Iraq will be Bush’s undoing. The present relentless attack on Fallujah is no different to what the Americans did in Vietnam time and time again, or what the SL army faced in the NorthEast. In fighting insurgents, armies have no front… Read more »
Sangam’s Nov 6 Annual General Meeting Program
sangam.org/articles/view2/630.html The Sangam’s AGM is coming up in one week, on Saturday, November 6 in Edison, New Jersey. There will be interesting programs, lots of socializing with old and new friends, dinner, a business meeting, dancing and more! All are welcome. There will be an all-day and evening program, with a separate youth event in… Read more »