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 »
Posts Categorized: Politics
LTTE Rationale for Talks Based on the ISGA Alone
by Taraki (aka D.Sivaram), Daily Mirror, Colombo, Wednesday, October 23, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/625.html Why are the Tigers refusing to restart peace talks with the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) on any basis other than their Interim Self Governing Authority proposal? With each passing day, the opposition to the ISGA is gathering such irreversible momentum in the… Read more »
Will the New Karuna-led Alliance Pose a Serious Threat
to the LTTE? by A.R.M. Imtiyaz, Ph.D. [1], October 27, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/624.html The straightforward answer is ‘No.’ Why? Scholars of ethnic political conflict from Gurr to Howard clearly maintain some basic understanding of the dynamics of these struggles to answer the question. Accordingly, no ethno-political military group or alliance would enjoy the loyalty and political… Read more »
An Endless War with No Corners
by Wakeley Paul, October 21, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/615.html Is an endless war what President Kumaratunge has in store for the Sinhalese and for us Tamils? It would certainly appear so, unless someone from somewhere intervenes. The leader of the opposition has recently emphasized to the Indian authorities the urgent need to continue with the peace talks. … Read more »
Re: ‘An Indictment of the Sri Lankan Government’
by Saravan, October 20, 2004 The article ‘An Indictment of the Sri Lankan Government‘ is the first time, to my mind, where I have come across a comprehensive list of discrete actions on the part of the Sri Lankan state at causing genocide of Tamils. Unfortunately, these events have been reported from time to time,… Read more »
Let the Tamils Go 2
sangam.org/articles/view2/609.html Along with an article ( http://www.sangam.org/articles/view2/?uid=594 ) a few days ago by Mr. V. Navaratnam, the editor asked for a picture of Mr. Navaratnam. As usual, Sachi Sri Kantha comes through: Yesterday was Mr. Navaratnam’s 94th birthday. He was born on October 18, 1910. Regards, Sachi
The ISGA: an Exile’s View
by Neville Chinivasagam, October 18, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/607.html Every right-thinking Sri Lankan, domiciled or exiled, and regardless of whether Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Moslem or Atheist, laments seeing the Peace Process faltering on the brink of wreckage led by Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunge. Her non-commitment to the Peace Process is a political sop to nations like… Read more »
The Game of Sound Bites
by B.J. Alexander, October 18, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/606.html The launching of a new liberation-oriented political party in Colombo by the hide-and-seek former Colonel is not at all a surprising stunt. This was expected of him. It has happened however, with astonishing speed. Without the aid of the governing elite such a recognition could not have occurred…. 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 »
An Indictment of the Sri Lankan Government
by S. Makenthiran, B.A., FCCA sangam.org/articles/view2/599.html The Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government stands indicted of genocide and other crimes against humanity against the minority Tamils who are some of the original inhabitants of the island. The following facts from the date of independence, prove beyond doubt the ethnic cleansing and efforts to eliminate the Tamil presence… 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 »
THE ISGA PROPOSALS: THE COURSE TO TAKE
In the face of government intransigence by S. Muthu Cumaraswamy sangam.org/articles/view2/596.html The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have advanced the proposals regarding the creation of an Interim Self Governing Authority for the NorthEast of the island of Sri Lanka so that an effective administration could be set up in that area. The aim is… Read more »
Fear of the Demand for One Country, Two States
And equal individual opportunity By Professor Alvappillai Veluppillai, The Journal of Buddhist Ethics, Volume 10 2003 ISSN 1076-9005 sangam.org/articles/view2/595.html Introduction In my view a common thread running through the history of the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict in the post-independence period is the Buddhist fear of the Tamil demand for sharing as one nation, two states,… Read more »
Let the Tamils Go
Make Up Your Mind Forthwith to Let the Tamils Go by V. Navaratnam, Daily Mirror, Colombo, October 7 and 8, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/594.html People used to cite the trio: Professor G. L. Peiris, President Bill Clinton, and Premier Bob Rae, all contemporary Rhodes Scholars at Oxford, as examples for high level of intellectual calibre among national… Read more »
What is the Relationship of Rama and Sita?
The Question the Sinhala Nation Asks at Dawn by Taraki (aka D. Sivaram), Virakesari, Colombo, October 10, 2004 translated by M. Thiru sangam.org/articles/view2/591.html In response to my article last week Chandranathan has written his view. “The Sinhalese people are kept in an illusion by their leaders and opinionmakers. Therefore, we should make a continuous effort… Read more »
Attempts to Explain Our Problems to the Sinhalese Useless
Attempt to Explain the Tamils’ Problems to the Sinhala Nation is a Useless Effort by Taraki (aka D. Sivaram), Virakesari, Colombo, October 3, 2004 Translation by M. Thiru sangam.org/articles/view2/590.html I went to a book release event in Colombo last Monday. The Sinhala extremist SL Gunasekara has written a book highly critical of the ISGA and a… Read more »
Only Inflicting Pain Pays
Tamils should recall old lessons: only inflicting pain pays by J. S. Tissainayagam – Comment, Northeastern Monthly, October 8, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/586.html Tamils have forgotten a golden rule that has come down during the 20-year armed struggle, between the Tamil guerrilla groups and the Sri Lankan state. In the 1980s, before signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord… 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 »
President Chandrika’s Address to the Asia Society
in New York by Nadodi, October 6, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/581.html http://www.asiasociety.org/speeches/kumaratunga04.html The caption given to the news item about President’s speech at the Asia Society on September 20 in the Yahoo India news was “LTTE must give up Tamil Eelam demand: Kumaratunga.” This statement of the President is totally out of place and indicates how Kumaratunge… Read more »