"To us all towns are one, all men our kin.
Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's pains and pains' relief are from within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."
- Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C 

கற்பழிப்பு - Rape
by K.Rajah

Sri Lanka State Terror - the Record Speaks....
Rape & Murder of Eelam Tamil Women

The Blood-soaked Jasmine - Chandi Sinnathurai

She was barely sixteen
When she disappeared suddenly one night,
Mallikai,* our little thankachi.**

We searched under the dark sky everywhere.
After a long night, the village head-man asked:
Could it be that our little flower has been snatched by hungry animals?

Mallikai! I screamed into the dawning sky.
Only the wolves and the stray dogs howled back.
Amma held her womb and wailed: thankachi.

The morning skies turned bright red and mauve.
An old man who had been to the bushes came rushing.
He stammered in anger: I saw Mallikai in a pool of blood.

Where? Where? I screamed in anger.
We sprinted like angry leopards.
Mallikai, our little thankachi.
There she slept like a withered garland.

The hyenas have devoured every petal…

The Parai Melam,*** wailing horns and mourners
The fire is lit; and the flame has engulfed Mallikai.

Amma returned home – to an empty space,
Knowing that her son will not return.

The flame that engulfed Mallikai
Has enflamed her sisters and brothers…
They will now each wear a garland in memory of Thankachi!

* Jasmine
** Little sister
***Funeral drum