Shan Ranjit - Circumcision & the Tamil Diaspora

தமிழ்த் தேசியம்

"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

Circumcision & the Eelam Tamil Diaspora

Scarborough, Toronto: Jayalingam had his face firmly pressed against the glass panel windows of the new born nursery in the County (local government) hospital, anxiously looking for his new born son. It was not difficult for him to locate his son - the only one with pitch black hair in the nursery that was full of babies with blonde hair.

As he looked at his son's face, Rajalingam was overcome with intense emotion. Rajalingam and his wife- Vinitha- already had four daughters. They had arrived in Canada only a year ago after an arduous journey, crossing many international borders. They had longed for a son for many years. After intense prayers and austerities to their favorite lord - Chella Senathian - the son was born. They decided to name him as - Velone.

Suddenly, Rajalingam felt a firm tap on his shoulder. Looking back, he saw the head nurse, thrusting a piece of paper for his signature. He had dreaded for this moment since his son was born 24 hours ago. The consent form asked Rajalingam to agree for the hospital to proceed with the circumcision for his day old son. Rajalingam- who was uncircumcised - had pondered over this for months.

He had inquired from his Canadian friends at his work place about circumcision. He was shocked and frightened when his friends told him that his son would be subjected to ridicule and laughter if he was not circumcised - especially in the restroom and Gym where the boys are usually naked . They also told him about the sexual prowess that the circumcised men possess. After much deliberation and many sleepless nights, both Rajalingam and Vinitha took the most painful decision in their lives- to go ahead with the son's circumcision.

Within minutes after he signed on the dotted line, his son was wheeled in to an adjoining room, Rajalingam heard a scream followed by constant crying. Rajalingam felt as if though the circumcision was done on him , and he could feel the blade cutting away, with no local anesthesia . He felt violated and humiliated. He could not do anything about it. With tears rolling down his cheeks and emotion overwhelming him, he slowly slumped to the floor.

What happened to the Rajalingam family could happen to any one of Eelam Tamils living all over the world. With Eelam Tamils migrating from their home land in thousands, and settling down from Alaska to Australia, they are being exposed and influenced by such western practices and influences. Should Eelam Tamils living outside Eelam, practice circumcision for their sons? Is there any rationale behind this practice?

In the following I have traced the historical aspects and the arguments in favor and against the circumcision.

Circumcision has been in practice for centuries. It was done for religious, social and cultural reasons in the Semitic - Jews and Arabs- races. The Jews believed that circumcision was a covenant demanded by God of Abraham in genesis Chapter 17. The famous 12th century Jewish Rabbi and philosopher, Moses Maimondes wrote

It is usually done by a non medical person - Mohel - on the eighth day of life in Jewish boys. Among the Muslims it is done for cleanliness. It is reported that prophet Muhammad mentioned about the five acts of fitra- implies an inner sense of cleanliness in man which is proof of his moral convictions and mental health. Circumcision is one of the five acts of fitra, the others being, shaving the pubes, cutting the nails, plucking the air under the arm pits and clipping the nails. Muslims circumcise their boys on the 7th day, but it can be carried out until the age of 7 years.

Though the circumcision was mainly confined to the Middle East, it was popularized in the U.S. and the west by a small number of zealous Jewish immigrant doctors in the late 1800. These men were powerful in the Medical community, and could impose their opinions on others, through medical literature.

Among the most important Jews were Dr. Abraham Jacobi - founder of the American pediatric Association – and Dr. M.J.Moses. Both wrote extensively in the Medical journals, claiming that Jewish boys were immune to masturbation and other childhood diseases like paralysis, malnutrition, infections and hysteria because they were circumcised. Jacobi wrote

Studies were produced that showed that Jews were immune to all physical diseases and moral failings solely because the males were circumcised.

In the Victorian America of the late 1800s, the fundamentalist Christians wielded enormous power. Masturbation was considered a disease, and the masturbators were incarcerated and castrated. Fundamentalist Christians who were desperate to cure the ' masturbation insanity ', found a peculiar ally in their religious endeavor - the Jews. Though both were poles apart in religious beliefs, they found a common ground in circumcision. Both the groups had different agendas, but one goal - circumcision.

Dr. Jacobs proposed that circumcision be done as a preventive measure to stop masturbation. Christians were primarily interested in scientifically validating the law of Dr. Moses and Dr. Jacobi as a way of validating Christianity. I am not saying here that if not for these few zealous Jewish doctors and the Fundamentalist Christians, circumcision would have faded away by now. But it would not be this rampant. The issue here should not be viewed as an anti - Semitism or anti - Christianity.

The early twentieth century saw many article in the medical journals supporting the views of Dr. Moses. These articles, generally created fear and anxiety among the population about un circumcised infant boys. In the 1930s, Abraham Wolbarst, created panic among parents when he wrote

He also invented a theory that circumcision prevented penile cancer, cancer of the prostate and venereal diseases. In the early 1980s some doctors have proposed a ludicrous myth that circumcision would prevent AIDS and HIV infection. The US has a vast number of AIDS cases. Most of the men afflicted with AIDS in the United States are circumcised. What does that say about the effectiveness of circumcision as a preventive measure for AIDS? . To be fair , we cannot blame the entire Jewish community for the perpetuation of the circumcisions. There were many Jewish doctors who have fought against the circumcision .But the opinions and publications of a few Jewish doctors were instrumental in selling circumcision to the United States.

The penis is the most important sexual organ in man. It has a long shaft, with it's distal (tip) part called the glans. The glans is covered with a loose fore skin, called prepuce. This fore skin is loosely attached to the glans on its inferior part by a tissue like structure called the frenulum. The fore skin is easily retractable over the glans. It is this foreskin along with frenulum that is sliced and thrown away during the circumcision. The fore skin has many important sexual functions. It is richly supplied with very sensitive nerves. They provide pleasure as well as fine sensory perception. It contributes in its own way to the man's total experience of love making.

It must be emphasized that emotional excitement is an extremely important component of sexual enjoyment. It is also believed that frenulum has the most sensitive receptors (nerves) in the body. Stimulation of these nerves results in an intense pleasurable feeling during the arousal. Both the fore skin and frenulum help the man to enjoy sex longer without ejaculating prematurely.

Other functions of the fore skin include 1) protect the glans from feces in infants 2) protect the glans from friction and abrasion 3) keep the glans moist with emollient oils 4) to contact and stimulate the G-spots ( nerve endings) of the female partner. Stimulations of the G- spots are important in coitus.

Following circumcision, the fore skin of the penis has been cut away. The surface of the glans develops a thick, dry layer of skin, which makes it less sensitive to stimulation.

In USA, 60% of the males are circumcised. 1.2 million circumcisions are done every year. That is 3,300 circumcision per day or one in every 26 seconds. The charges for the circumcision in US vary anywhere from 137 to 400 Dollars. The circumcision rate in Australia is 15%, Canada 20% and U.K. 5%. England banned routine circumcision way back in 1949.

Several Medical associations throughout out the world have called for banning of the circumcision. They include the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American Pediatric Urological Association, Canadian Medical Association, and British Medical Council. They have clearly stated that there is no medical necessity for the circumcision. Nevertheless, the genital of the infant boys are mutilated every second through out the world.

One only has to watch the circumcision to understand the pain and suffering the infants under go during the procedure. Most of the circumcisions are done without local anesthesia. It is also a common practice that this procedure is usually done by the first year residents - those doctors who have just passed out and started their training. If any one says that there is no pain during the procedure, they are liars. One in 50 circumcisions leads to complications.

Mental Trauma and Pain: At a Medical conference in New York in 1993, researcher after researcher presented papers on the brutality and cruelty to children during circumcision, which can have a clear mark on the chemistry of the brain. And these changes in the brain chemistry be the routes by which a brutalized child becomes violent. It has been clearly proven that circumcision affects the mother- infant bonding. The newly circumcised infants feed poorly. Their heart and respiratory rate rise after the procedure, indicating pain and stress. It has been noted that the blood levels of Cortisol and Adrenaline – chemical compounds released in the body during stress - are high after the procedure.

Bleeding : (1 to 35%): The bleeding can be from minor to fatal. It also includes the risk of blood transfusion if the infants bleed heavily.

Sepsis (10%); Sepsis is infection, and can range from minor to fatal infections. Such fatal infections are commonly found where circumcision is done under poor hygienic conditions.

Painful coitus: Males who are circumcised take a longer time to achieve orgasm. In many, the coitus is a painful experience. Some circumcised penises are so crooked that they can never procreate. Other common complications of circumcision are fistulas (opening of the urinary passage from the top of the penis), Gangrene of the penis, skin tags (irregular bits of skin left on the glans), keloid formation ( excessive scar formation on the glans), impotence and meatel stenosis ( narrowing of the urinary passage)

Cancer of the penis: People advocating circumcision have argued that circumcision would prevent cancer of the penis. The have been no medical research to support this. This form of cancer occurs because of poor hygienic condition of the penis. The incidence of cancer of the penis in U.S. is 2.1 / 100,000 cases, while in those countries where circumcision is not done is much less ( Japan 0.3 / 100,000 cases, Denmark 1.1 / 1000,000 cases). It should be also noted that the number of deaths from complications of circumcision is much higher than the number of death due cancer of the penis.

Urinary tract infections: The infection rate among the male new born 1.4 / 1000 cases. It had been clearly proved that the infection is not because of the presence of fore skin, but rather due to congenital anomalies of the urinary tract

Cancer of the Vagina and cervix: Studies after studies have stated that these types of cancer are due to sex at an early age and multiple partners and not due to a un circumcised penis.

Hygiene: cleaning a baby's penis requires nothing but the washing the foreskin outside. It does not have to be retracted. It will become naturally retractable during childhood.

A child's sexuality is an integral part of its life. Any crippling interference in its normal bodily function is an act of physical abuse. In a study conducted in U.S among the circumcised men, 50% felt a sense of parental violation, 51% felt that circumcision was nothing but rape, 54% expressed anger, 60% resented the procedure, 62% expressed feeling of mutilation, and 84% reported sexual harm, that included excessive stimulation needed to reach coitus, painful erection and impotence.

The foreskin of the penis (prepuce) is present to feel and enjoy the sex to the maximum. There is nothing wrong with having an enjoyable sex. This is a gift from the creator. To brutalize this important part of the body on the voiceless infants is a national crime. Parents have no rights to thrust their religious or cultural beliefs on their infants. And the doctors who still perform circumcision are violating the first rule of good Medicine- do no harm.

If this practice continues, there would be a time, when the doctors could be sued for having violated the child's birth right (like the tobacco law suits in U.S. ). No religion or race should force their views and belief on other religions or races. It is not the intention of this article to play one religion against other or one race against the other. Neither the issue here is anti Semitism nor anti Islam. Every religion or race has some ignorant, stone age practices and habits. Such practices could have been rational at the time it was started. These practices should be reviewed periodically and if found to have no validity then the practice should be stopped.

Circumcision is one of them. No one - including the parents - has the moral right to mutilate the genitals of the infants to satisfy the religious hunger of a Rabbi or a Mullah. If the female circumcision - slicing the clitoris, an organ that is embryonically similar to penis - is banned in U.S., there is no reason to continue male circumcision.

I hope this article will illustrate that that there is no scientific evidence that circumcision benefits the men. Eelam Tamils have to be extra careful when they are called upon to perform this practice. Most of the Eelam Tamils who migrate abroad are naive and timid to oppose this practice. They simply comply and agree to the procedure because of lack of understanding and overwhelming fear along with intimidation the medical system can impose on these poor and newly arrived immigrants.

Eelam Tamils have never practiced circumcision in their native land. And there is no reason why they should adopt this practice in their newly adopted countries.