“One man does not assert the truth which he knows, because he feels himself bound to the people with whom he is engaged; another, because the truth might deprive him of the profitable position by which he maintains his family; a third, because he desires to attain reputation and authority, and then use them in the service of mankind;  a fourth, because he does not wish to destroy old sacred traditions;  a fifth, because he has no desire to offend people; a sixth, because the expression of the truth would arouse persecution, and disturb the excellent social activity to which he has devoted himself...” Leo Tolstoy  on Truth

[comment by tamilnation.org - If  countries do not have permanent friends but only permanent interests, and if diplomats are 'honest' men and women who lie on behalf of their country, then it seems that diplomacy is about lying and at the same time being credible.  In the felicitous language of  Zbigniew Brzezinski, it is a matter of  a judicious use of 'form' and 'substance'.  It is a matter of being 'clever' - not being truthful. But then truth, after all, is a pathless land - and is related to the frame through which you view the world. It is simply that some of us may have a different frame through which we view the world.] more

2.The Project for the New American Century "...American land power is the essential link in the chain that translates U.S. military supremacy into American geopolitical pre eminence......In Southeast Asia, American forces are too sparse to address rising security requirements adequately...   No U.S. strategy can constrain a Chinese challenge to American regional leadership if our security guarantees to Southeast Asia are intermittent and U.S. military presence a periodic affair. For this reason, an increased naval presence in Southeast Asia, while necessary, will not be sufficient... For operational as well as political reasons, stationing rapidly mobile U.S. ground and air forces in the region will be required ...Since today’s peace is the unique product of American pre eminence, a failure to preserve that pre eminence allows others an opportunity to shape the world in ways antithetical to American interests and principles...." more

1. International Federation of Tamils calls upon the International Community to condemn and censure Sri Lanka's war crime & gross breach of  the CFA "The 'retaliatory action' directed on civilian targets in Trincomalee-Batticaloa areas on 25-26 April are the actions of a terrorist state intent on terrorising the Tamil people into submission..." more

2. Sri Lankan Air force bombs Tamil populated Muthur "..Many areas in the region are virtually a sea of rubble after the intensive attack. Apart from bombs dropped in six different (Sri Lanka) air force sorties, there were at least 80 shells by the (Sri Lanka)Navy and over 160 shells by the (Sri Lanka) Army. ..The casualty toll may go up when all the debris and rubble are cleared. ... Some of the victims had died because of bleeding caused by the wounds.. 43,158 people from 10,718 families are currently displaced in Trincomalee district.. A human tragedy may occur if their needs are not met on time..." more

3. Humanitarian Laws of Armed Conflict? What Laws? Tamil Civilian Population Centres In Trincomalee Under Non-Stop Attack by Sri Lanka Armed Forces -  "Dr. Kohona, the Director-General of the Sri Lanka government Peace Secretariat said the navy shelling and air strikes should not be counted as violation of CFA. He called it a fair reply to the suicide bomb blast earlier in the day in Colombo (on a military target). Condoning the attack on Sampur and adjoining villages in Trincomalee... the Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat boss called the attack by state armed forces on its unarmed civilians, justifiable...  The International community, neighbouring India and the so-called Co-Chairs and the Diplomatic community in Colombo have not thundered "Halt!" nor denounced the violation of the humanitarian laws of armed conflict by the Sri Lanka State." more

4. Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) Appeal for Internally Displaced (to ICRC, UNHCR, Bilateral and Multilateral donors) for humanitarian assistance to the War IDPs. ""..Thousands of persons from Ralkuli, Kadakaraichchenai, Senaiyoor, Sampoor, Ilakkanthai, Sudaikuda, Paddalipuram and Upparu in the Trincomalee district have been displaced due to the ongoing air, sea, and ground attacks by the Security Forces of Government of Sri Lanka. The IDPs affected by the previous week’s communal violence are also streaming into LTTE controlled areas from the government controlled areas. The number of IDPs has passed the 30,000 mark and continues to rise. Due to extensive and continuous shelling and bombing the relief and rescue efforts are being severely hampered and travel to the affected areas to carry out humanitarian work has been nearly impossible..."

However, the struggle for Tamil Eelam is not about a search for historical first causes - a search that will end in the stone age and in a discussion about original sin. Nor is the struggle for Tamil Eelam an invitation to engage in the politics of the last atrocity - a pursuit which leads to brave speeches, retaliation and more atrocities.

The struggle for Tamil Eelam is about the democratic right of the people of Tamil Eelam to govern themselves in their homeland - nothing less and nothing more. It is about freedom from alien Sinhala rule. It  is not about securing benevolent Sinhala rule. It is about securing  a legal framework where two free peoples may associate with one another in equality, in freedom and in peace.  The demand for Tamil Eelam is not negotiable. But an independent Tamil Eelam will and indeed, must, negotiate. And here, there will be everything to negotiate about. There is a need to telescope two processes - the emergence of an independent Tamil Eelam and the emergence of a free, inter dependent association of Tamil Eelam and Sri Lanka. The European Union, structured albeit after two world wars, stands as an example of what the Tamil people and Sinhala people  in the island of Sri Lanka may be able to achieve - but we will need to dig deep to find common ground..." more

Families of 7 “disappeared” TRO workers plead for their release

"60 year old Somasuntharam Maheswary was knifed to death by Sinhala thugs in  Trincomalee on 15 April 2006. She was attending religious duties at Nadesar Temple when a group of Sinhala thugs  dragged her from the temple premises and cut her. Her body was later found on the road and handed over to the mortuary of the Trincomalee general hospital." - Sri Lanka State orchestrated violence raises spectre of 1983 pogrom says Tamil National Alliance

2. Father Chandiravarman Sinnathurai  to include Half-empty or Half-full glass: it boils down to how you view things"...In the end, the penny begins to drop. Everything boils down to ...finance, trade and economy... Plato once said war exists and will always exist because it comes from human passions. He further added that it belongs to...  our need to assert and exert dominance or supremacy... The acceptable ‘sophisticated trend’ however, is to act locally on readiness for war but to think globally of peace. One’s talk is not expected to match one’s walk. Weird that! It is said that diplomatic ‘sophistication’ makes one to enter into peace agreements that often lack clarity, suffer from ambiguity, and permit contradictory interpretations. In all of these “Idiyappa Cikkal” [problematic as spaghetti, like string hoppers] the word PEACE has become the most politicised and pilloried. It seems one has to run with the trend of multi-layered talks and peace negotiations if one’s aim is to win the desired goal. In this round-about game of raja-tantrum however, one’s intentions can be diametrically opposite to what you might be willing to say openly...."  more

2. C. Shanmuganayagam  on 155th  Birth Anniversary of  Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan  "...The writer, who is now 86 years old, had the good fortune, as a schoolboy of 11 years, to listen to one of the last talks of Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan at the Saiva Maha Sabha hall at Kandy in 1930. One still vividly remembers the stately turbaned figure of the speaker beginning his English speech with a rendering of Saint Manickavasagar’s famous Tamil hymn: ‘Muthineri Ariyatha Moorkarodu Muyalvenai’..." more

2. Ivan Pedropillai - Editor, Tamil Writer Guild, UK writes  about the Spider and the Fly – a Cautionary Tale  "...After all these years of frustrated effort as a result of immutable forces within the Sinhala polity, the co-chairs of the Sri Lanka and LTTE peace talks will have to make an objective assessment of the political situation in the country as well as the fundamental and historic factors that continue to bedevil the current and crumbling peace agreement. It is axiomatic that the Sri Lankan government will never allow even the agreed federalism to the Tamils, because they will continue to be intimidated by the reactionary Sinhala Buddhist forces prevailing in the country. Further talks with the Sinhala government will only entrap the Tamils, just like how the spider dragged the fly up his winding stair. .." more

2.Sachi Sri Kanatha writes from Japan - Concerning Three Mules and Sister Rajani - A Rejoinder  "I can make two inferences. First, the links of UTHR (Jaffna) to JVP and its splinter radical group has thus been established, from two independent Sinhalese sources, who are also no LTTE sympathizers. In last January, even Susantha Goonetilleka (a virulent anti-Tamil polemicist), whose wife was the then chief organizer of UTHR activity, had corroborated this link. Secondly, by failing to confess on this deceitful UTHR-JVP link for the past 16 years, Rajan Hoole and his coterie have repeatedly attempted to hoodwink the Eelam Tamil public..."more

 "The expression "elephant in the room" refers to a situation where something major is going on, it's on everyone's mind and impossible to ignore - like an elephant in the room. But nobody talks about the "elephant" because nobody knows what to do about it. It's along the same lines as "the emperor's new clothes." The emperor's naked but nobody wants to be the first to say so… " more

2. Sanmugam Sabesan from Australia about முட்டாள்கள் தினம் - April Fools Day "தாய்மார்கள் தினம், தந்தையர் தினம், காதலர் தினம், மகளிர் தினம, உழைப்பாளிகள் தினம் - என்று இந்த உலகின் மனிதர்களுக்குப் பலவிதமான தினங்கள் இருப்பது போலவே முட்டாள்களுக்கும் என்று ஒரு தினம் ஒதுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதில் பிரச்சனை என்னவென்றால் மற்றைய ‘விசேட’ தினங்களில் தமக்குப் பங்கிருப்பதாகக் காட்டிக் கொள்கின்ற மனிதர்களில் எத்தனை பேர் இந்த ‘முட்டாள்கள் தினத்தில்’ தமக்கும் பங்கிருப்பதாக சொல்லிக் கொள்ள முன்வருவார்கள் என்பதுதான்!"..more

3. Sachi Sri Kantha from Japan - Front Note to Images of Hindu Gods in Buddhist Temples by P.B.J.Hevawasam  "..The Sinhalese family name with the prefix ‘Pandara’ or ‘Bandara’ derives from the medieval Hindu migrants from the Tamil Nadu belonging to the Pandaram clan (non-Brahmanical priests), who opted to perform religious duties at the Hindu temples. The religious and political influence of this Pandaram clan in shaping the Sinhala Buddhist society during the past five centuries and how this originally Tamil-speaking clan merged themselves into the Sinhalese society as influence peddlers deserve a separate commentary..." more