by M. Nadarajan, December 4, 2004 Those of us who live in the United States of America, arguably the greatest country in the world and certainly the richest country, take a lot of things for granted. America also claims to be the most democratic country in the world, and preaches to the world about how… Read more »
Posts Categorized: International
Interview with Graham Allen MP
for Nottingham North Confluence: You led an all party Parliamentary delegation to Sri Lanka recently. Can you give us a broad brush picture of the current state of play in the peace process in that country as you observed it? Graham Allen: We were pleased to see that most political parties are getting involved in the peace… Read more »
Sethusamuderam Project: Economic & Environmental Impact
Reasons for the Construction of the Canal and its Economic & Environmental Impact on Sri Lanka by Donald Jayantha Gnanakone, Los Angeles, December 2, 2004 The past three months has seen such a flurry of activity and controversy never seen before in Sri Lanka, since the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Pact by Rajiv Gandhi… 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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
A Victory, But Little Is Gained
by DARYL G. PRESS and BENJAMIN VALENTINO, The New York Times op-ed, November 17, 2004 Does any of this sound familiar to Sangam readers? sangam.org/articles/view2/644.html Hanover, N.H. — The textbook urban assault on Falluja reflected well on the dedication, training and equipment of the American military. Unfortunately, it has not brought the United States appreciably… Read more »
All Lankan Eggs in Indian Basket?
The Island, Colombo, November 10, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/643.html The joint Indo- Sri Lanka statement issued after the visit of President Chandrika Kumaratunga to New Delhi and the proposed Defence Co-operation Agreement together with complementary agreements such as on Pallaly Airport are being hailed in all quarters here, except by the LTTE. There is much satisfaction because… 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 »
No Peace Without Justice
by Arundhati Roy, November 4, 2004 Speech on accepting the 2004 Sydney Peace Prize sangam.org/articles/view2/648.html Sometimes there’s truth in old cliches. There can be no real peace without justice. And without resistance there will be no justice. Today, it is not merely justice itself, but the idea of justice that is under attack. The assault… Read more »
The Discipline of Honor
by P.J., October 31, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/629.html I became interested in the armed struggle of our people in the eighth grade. It all started with my friend telling me about a band called “Rage Against The Machine.” Rage Against The Machine fascinated me with the idea of revolution. I tried to learn about the issues they… Read more »
Power to the Minority
by Mafoot Simon, Straits Times, Singapore, October 29, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/627.html Dear Ehsan, It’s been many years since you migrated to the United States. Quite a long way from Jalan Ismail to Los Angeles, isn’t it? Your accountancy business doing OK? I’ve been following the presidential contest, and it strikes me that it truly is the… Read more »
A Kerry Win: Implications for Sri Lanka
by Dayan Jayatilleka, [source not recorded], October 17, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/622.html The Sangam makes no endorsement in the American election campaign. This is an interesting article speculating on the implications of one outcome of the election. Jayatilleka is a voice crying in the wilderness for a a non-sectarian, pluralistic, federal state on the island. If that… Read more »
Hindi-English Bhai-Bhai
The Hindu editorial, Chennai, October 14, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/603.html IT IS BY now accepted wisdom that the diversity of India is best represented by a government that is itself an alliance of divergent political, cultural, and linguistic currents. The advent of coalition governance has done much to bring together elements previously thought to be irreconcilably inimical…. Read more »
PICAR Sri Lanka Problem-Solving Project
by Donna Hicks and William Weisberg, US Institute for Peace, Washington, DC, date unclear sangam.org/articles/view2/598.html Has anything changed in the past 10 years or are we right back where we started? Note iPostn particular points boldfaced below — Editor Since 1994, Harvard University’s Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution (PICAR) has been working to… Read more »
Why We Needn’t Feel Insulted
By that insult Eelam Tamils should realise their potential and continue to work as a cohesive and united people to achieve their goals. No need to worry about our size! — Editor Janadas Devan, Straits Times, Singapore, October 10, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/597.html JEAN-JACQUES Rousseau in his Essay On The Origin Of Language cited this parable to illustrate the… Read more »
by a former child soldier – a Poem
by Peter P. sangam.org/articles/view2/583.html We are the people We are the leaders And they They say it’s their rights We say it’s their rights They say release We say releasing them They say don’t recruit We say stop recruiting them They say protect We say protecting them They say education We see ruined schools They… Read more »