Whats New Archive
- August 2007 -| 28 August 2007 Tamils: a Trans State Nation - Malaysia அறிமுகம் மலேசியத் தமிழ் எழுத்துலக இணையத்தளம் "தமிழ் மொழியை சுவாசிக்கும் மலேசியப் படைப்பாளர்களே, பன்மொழியும் பல்லின மக்களும் வாழும் மலேசிய நாட்டில், தமிழ் மொழிக்காக தொண்டாற்றிய பேரருளார்களை இளைய தலைமுறையினர் மட்டுமல்லாது உலகமெங்கும் வாழும் தமிழ் மக்கள் அறிந்து கொள்ள இந்த அகப்பக்கம் நீண்ட யாத்திரை மேற்கொண்டுள்ளது." |
Week Ending: Sunday, 26 August 2007 Reflections 1. "...All oppressed nations want independence. Everything is subject to change.. In the past, Britain made war on us many times. Britain, the United States...were all very interested in this land of ours... Now, U.S. imperialism is quite powerful, but in reality it isn't. It is very weak politically because it is divorced from the masses of the people and is disliked by everybody and by the American people too.  In appearance it is very powerful but in reality it is nothing to be afraid of, it is a paper tiger... Strategically, we must utterly despise U.S. imperialism. Tactically, we must take it seriously...." US Imperialism is a Paper Tiger - Mao Tse Tung, 19562. " Imperialism is an institution under which one nation asserts the right to seize the land or at least to control the government or resources of another people."- John T. Flynn 3. "As the country that benefits most from global economic integration, we have the responsibility of making sure that this new system is sustainable.. The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist - McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell-Douglas, the designer of the F-15. And the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley's technologies is called the US Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps....The global system cannot hold together without an activist and generous American foreign and defense policy. Without America on duty, there will be no America Online... " Thomas Friedman, "A Manifesto for the Fast World", New York Times Magazine, March 28, 1999 |
Tamil National Forum  Sachi Sri Kantha writes from Japan - Edmund Samarakkody on the Events of July/ August 1977 " The outbreak in mid-August of the anti-Tamil pogrom (the third such outbreak in two decades) has brought out the reality that the Tamil minority problem in Sri Lanka has remained unresolved now for nearly half a century, leading to the emergence of a separatist movement among the Tamils. As on previous occasions, what took place recently was not Sinhalese – Tamil riots, but an anti-Tamil pogrom..." more |
Tamils: a Trans State Nation - Malaysia 
அறிமுகம் - " மலேசியாவில் நம்பிக்கைக்குரிய தமிழ் இளைஞர்களின் ஒருங்கிணைப்பில் "வல்லினம்" காலாண்டிதழ் வெளிவந்துள்ளது. இதழின் ஆசிரியராக திரு. ம. நவீன் செயலாற்றுகிறார். நவீன இலக்கியத்தை தமிழ் மக்களுக்கு அறிமுகம் செய்ய மலேசியத் தமிழ் இளைஞர்கள் முயன் றிருக்கிறார்கள். அதன் வெளிப்பாடுதான் வல்லினம்." |
International Relations in an Emerging Multi Lateral World Unfolding Consciousness: From Matter to Life to Mind... 1. Informing Ourselves To Death - Neil Postman "..As things stand now, the geniuses of computer technology.. will give us artificial intelligence, and tell us that this is the way to self-knowledge. .. But that is only the way of the technician, the fact-mongerer, the information junkie, and the technological idiot. .. All our inventions are but improved means to an unimproved end. .. There is no escaping from ourselves. The human dilemma is as it has always been, and we solve nothing fundamental by cloaking ourselves in technological glory..." more |
Conflict Resolution: Tamil Eelam - Sri Lanka | 1. Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse's All Party Representative Committee Farce - 2006/2007 including Comment by tamilnation.org "..Today, 22 years after the Thimpu Talks - July/August 1985, the Sri Lanka government and its apologists (including Tissa Vitharane, Chair of the APRC) continue to regard genuine 'federalism' as the unmentionable F word. And they (together with the 'international community') refuse to address the simple question: who is to federate with whom? After all 'to federate' (federare) is 'to associate' with one another. The stand of the current Sinhala political leadership (as well as the Sinhala opposition of Ranil Wickremasinghe and Mangala Samaraweera) is no different from that which was enunciated by Dr. H.W. Jayawardene, the leader of the Sri Lankan government delegation to Thimpu..." more 2. Revisited Self Determination & the 'Multi Ethnic Plural Society' - Nadesan Satyendra, 15 September 1993 "...In certain circles where a search is on for a solution to the armed conflict in the island, the oft repeated mantra is that Sri Lanka is a 'multi ethnic plural society'. It is a mantra which the Sri Lanka government has also found useful to chant from time to time. The mantra has a nice meditative ring to it. It conjures up the soothing vision of a society where all ethnic groups are equal and a plurality of view points is encouraged and secured. But mantras intended to resolve an armed political conflict, must fit the political reality on the ground..." more 3. Revisited The Parliamentary Select Committee Farce, November 1993 "The Sri Lanka Parliamentary Select Committee after labouring for more than two years, has not simply produced a mouse. It has also produced a structure to further Sinhala chauvinism's long held desire to divide the Tamil homeland..." more 4. Revisited Thirteenth Amendment to Sri Lanka Constitution: - Devolution or Comic Opera, March 1988 "..It is difficult to discuss the provisions of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lanka Constitution seriously - they are so impossibly burlesque and farcical. Yet, they have a serious aspect. They show that Sinhala chauvinism, like all chauvinisms in the same predicament, has made the time honoured, ineffectual effort to evade a settlement of the real question by throwing belated and unacceptable sops to Demogorgon..." more 5. Revisited Joint Response by Tamil Delegation At Thimphu Talks 17 August 1985 "..More than 50 years have passed since 1928 and we have moved from Provincial Councils to Regional Councils and from Regional Councils to District Councils and now from District Councils back to District/Provincial Councils. We have had the 'early consideration' of Mrs. Srimavo Bandaranaike and the 'earnest consideration' of the late Dudley Senanayake. There has been no shortage of Committees and Commissions, of reports and recommendations but that which was lacking was the political will to recognise the existence of the Tamil nation. And simultaneous with this process of broken pacts and dishonoured agreements, the Tamil people were subjected to an ever widening and deepening national oppression aimed at undermining the integrity of the Tamil nation..." more |
Child Soldiers and the Law to include | International Educational Development to the Security Council’s Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict "..More troubling is the fact that international monitors, including those operating under United Nations auspices, are using the age of eighteen (18) for the minimum age for recruitment or participation in hostilities when the international law age is clearly fifteen (15). This improper application of the law has been a key element in international demonizing of the Tamil forces (LTTE), which has spilled over to the Tamil people in Sri Lanka and the Tamil diaspora as a whole in a completely unacceptable manner.." more |
What is Terrorism? - Law & Practise | 1. Australia: Full Text of Judgment of Victorian Supreme Court in Vinayagamoorthy & Yathavan Bail Application "...Each of the charges faced by the accused requires proof by the Crown that the LTTE is a terrorist organisation within the meaning of the relevant division of the Code. The Crown concedes that it has not been declared to be such by any decision of the Australian Government, and perhaps more pertinently, although it was formerly regarded as a terrorist organisation in Sri Lanka it has not been so regarded since 2002 ... Of course, having regard to the terms of the relevant federal legislation under which these accused are charged, it is open to the Crown to prove that the LTTE is a terrorist organisation, notwithstanding its not having been so declared to be in this country or in Sri Lanka..." more 2.United Kingdom: Full Text of Judgment in R v F "..Countries other than the United Kingdom, even if which were governed by tyrants and dictators, were protected by the provisions of the UK Terrorism Act 2000 from terrorist activities organised and planned in the United Kingdom. There was no exemption from criminal liability for terrorist activities which were motivated or said to be morally justified by the alleged nobility of the terrorist cause." more |
Tamil National Forum to include | International Community's New Pastime "Almost two years after His Highness Mahinda Rajapakse –President of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), Czar of Vakarai, Emperor of Thoppigala, democratiser of the Tamils, etc., etc. – launched his "War for Peace", the International Community (IC) has a new pastime. A 'positive and frank' discussion with the GOSL they say. And this discussion is all about 'access to humanitarian work'. In the mean time the GOSL is carrying on with its murderous war augmented by policies of divide and rule..." more |
Week Ending: Sunday, 19 August 2007 Reflections Tamils: a Trans State Nation to include London Sri Murugan Temple “Ther” Festival Tamil National Forum Nations & Nationalism: The Strength of an Idea | 1. On the 60th Anniversary of India's Independence: Remembering Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose "...It is our duty to pay for our liberty with our own blood. The freedom that we shall win through our sacrifice and exertions, we shall be able to preserve with our own strength..." Netaji to the Indian National Army in Malaya | 
| | "...I developed a deep attachment to the Indian Freedom struggle and martyrs like Subhash Chandra Bose, Bagat Singh and Balagengadhara Tilak... Above all, Subhash Chandra Bose's life was a beacon to me, lighting up the path I should follow. His disciplined life and his total commitment and dedication to the cause of his country's freedom deeply impressed me and served as my guiding light..." Velupillai Pirabakaran, 'How I Became a Freedom Fighter', April 1994 |
| 2. Nonviolence: Its Histories and Myths - Professor Michael Neumann "...I have neither the moral standing nor the slightest desire to disparage the courage of those who engage in non-violence.... But, non-violence, so often recommended.. has never 'worked' in any politically relevant sense of the word, and there is no reason to suppose it ever will. It has never, largely on its own strength, achieved the political objectives of those who employed it... There are supposedly three major examples of successful nonviolence: Gandhi's independence movement, the US civil rights movement, and the South African campaign against apartheid. None of them performed as advertised...The notion that a people can free itself literally by allowing their captors to walk all over them is historical fantasy..." more |
Reflections | "..Apart from revisionist historians, it was none other than Lord Clement Atlee himself, the British Prime Minister responsible for conceding independence to India, who gave a shattering blow to the myth sought to be perpetuated by court historians, that Gandhi and his movement had led the country to freedom.(In reply to a question by) Chief Justice P.B. Chakrabarty of Calcutta High Court... 'what was the extent of Gandhi's influence upon the British decision to quit India ?'.... Atlee's lips became twisted in a sarcastic smile as he slowly chewed out the word, "m-i-n-i-m-a-l!" " Subhas Chandra Bose, the Indian National Army, and the War of India's Liberation - Ranjan Borra, Journal of Historical Review, no. 3, 4 (Winter 1982) |
Tamils: a Trans State Nation - Canada | Sri Lanka’s “Shame”: the Massacre of Sixty One Innocent School Girls - Usha S Sri Skanda Rajah, at Remembrance Day in Canada to mark 1st anniversary of Vallipunam Senchcholai Massacre "Ladies and gentleman let me draw your attention to the mural on the stage. A woman throwing up her arms in a sheer state of helplessness depicted in the mural typifies our feelings of pain and outrage. This outcry by women; led by women; using the intellect, the expertise and advocacy power of women, for women will continue until justice is done..." more |
Tamil National Forum | Sanmugam Sabesan writes from Australia - மேற்குலகத்தின் இலங்கைக்கான உல்லாசப் பயணங்கள் "..சிங்கள அரசு தொடர்ந்து நடாத்தி வருகின்ற தமிழின அழிப்பு நிலையை மேற்குலகம் (தான்) கண்டு கொள்ளாமல் இருக்கக் கூடியதற்கான வாய்ப்பினைத்தான் இன்று தேடி அலைகின்றது..." more | 
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Tamils: a Trans State Nation - Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations Meet Australian Greens Senator Kerry Nettle - Australian Tamils Seek a Principled Approach to the Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka On the First Anniversary of the Chencholai Massacre & On the Eve of India's Independence Day  Revisited: The Charge is Genocide - the Struggle is for Freedom... "..It is a vain dream to suppose that what other nations have won by struggle and battle, by suffering and tears of blood, we shall be allowed to accomplish easily, without terrible sacrifices, merely by spending the ink of the journalist and petition framer and the breath of the orator..." Sri Aurobindo in Bande Mataram, one hundred years go in 1907 more |
Sri Lanka's War on Eelam Tamils - in the Shadow of a Ceasefire Sri Lanka Air Force jet bombs Church and School in Alampi - TRO Situation Report on Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Vadamaradchchi East (Jaffna), Mannar & Vavuniya: Time period covered: 16 July 2007 – 31 July 2007 Tamil National Forum Week Ending: Sunday, 12 August 2007 Reflections International Relations in an Emerging Multi Lateral World: The Invasion of Iraq  Matt Howard, US Iraqi War Veteran Speaks Out: Troops out of Iraq! "The Iraqi people fighting us are fighting for their freedom - to be free from foreign military occupation....We go and clear an area and they just go somewhere else and when we leave they come back, and this will go on and on until we finally admit that we're not supposed to be there. We never should have been there in the first place. This war was based on lies. As I like to say, you can't win a crime, you can only stop it..." more |
Tamil Diaspora - a Trans State Nation: Germany Democracy Continues, Sri Lanka Style Reflections Human Rights & Humanitarian Law - 62 years ago on 6 August 1945  Hiroshima & Nagasaki - the Worst Terror Attack in Human History "...The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a war crime worse than any that Japanese generals were executed for in Tokyo and Manila. If Harry Truman was not a war criminal, then no one ever was.. Today, self-styled conservatives slander as "anti-American" anyone who is in the least troubled by Truman’s massacre of so many tens of thousands of Japanese innocents from the air..." " more |
Tamils: a Trans State Nation - United Kingdom - M.I.A.  Maya Arulpragasam M.I.A. New Album Release - Kala "..It is interesting to note that, with ‘Boyz’, 30-year-old M.I.A. arguably captures a modern day Britain more successfully than many of her younger peers. Social commentary is often more powerfully delivered implicitly and the imperfect, work-in-progress rattle of ‘Boyz’ somehow mirrors the tensions and excitement of its creator’s (temporary) homeland..." more |
Week Ending: Sunday, 5 August 2007 Reflections | 1. “I began a revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I would do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and a plan of action..” - Fidel Castro 2. "Life accepts only partners, not bosses, because self determination is its very root of being." - Margaret Wheatley |
International Frame of the Tamil Eelam Struggle for Freedom | 1.The Indian Ocean Region: Japan’s Indian Ocean Naval Deployment: Blue water militarization in a 'normal country' - Richard Tanter "By most standards, Japan is now the world’s number two naval power....the primary reason for dispatching the Kongo-class Aegis ships (to the Indian Ocean) ...was... undoubtedly...to do with the prodigious area-wide surveillance and tracking capacities of the Aegis air defense system operated by the Kongo-class ships . These would have enabled the MSDF ships to cooperate with both US and UK navy and air units operating not only in the Indian Ocean, but possibly over Afghanistan itself..." more | 
"The DD173 Kongo is equipped with prodigious area-wide surveillance and tracking capacities"
| | 2. Australia's Expansive Asian Security Footprint "The (Australian 2007) Defence Update is a deeply flawed policy document... Double standards on core issues abound...In East Asia, Australia supports "Japan's more active security posture within the US alliance and multinational coalitions". But Chinese military modernization "could create misunderstandings and instability in the region" .... (Then there) ...is the elephant in the room problem: the obvious and undoubted perceived interest -- a perceived benefit to Australia from western access to oil -- cannot be mentioned in polite company... even when the dirty secret is admitted, even if only in only in conclaves of trusted experts, it is soon clear that it is not at all certain that the security of the Australian people can be shown to be affected by who owns the oil fields of Iraq.." more | | 3. India's Interests at Stake in Relationship with China - Dr. Harsh V. Pant " China does not want India to move closer to the United States in order to contain China...It is time for India to realize that India's great power aspirations cannot be realized without a similar cold-blooded realistic assessment of its own strategic interests in an anarchic international system where there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests." more |
Democracy Continues, Sri Lanka Style Conflict Resolution: Tamil Eelam - Sri Lanka  The Limits of State Sovereignty: The Responsibility to Protect in the 21st Century - Gareth Evans, Neelan Tiruchelvam Memorial Lecture together with Comment by tamilnation.org "The one question that Mr.Gareth Evans signally failed to address was the content of the strategic interests of the so called 'international community' (including Australia) in the island of Sri Lanka and in the Indian Ocean region - a question made all the more relevant by his passing reference that 'various foreign states bear some of the responsibility for allowing the Tigers to build up their power over the years'. .." more |
Tamil National Forum | 1.Sachi Sri Kantha writes from Japan On the Tightrope Acts of Neelan Tiruchelvam: Eight Critiques "As one would have expected, the Sinhala-owned Colombo news media paid their 8th anniversary tributes to Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam...If Colombo’s media moguls think that this kind of soppy sophistry on Neelan’s tightrope acts would make him a paragon of virtue among Tamils, they are mistaken..." more 2. Sanmugam Sabesan writes from Australia  சுதுமலைப் பிரகடனம் - இருபது ஆண்டுகள் சுட்டும் நிதர்சனம் "1987ம் ஆண்டு, ஆகஸ்ட் மாதம, நான்காம் திகதியன்று, அதாவது, இருபது ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு, தமிழீழத் தேசியத் தலைவர் மேதகு வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன் அவர்கள் யாழ்ப்பாணத்தில் சுதுமலை என்ற ஊரில், முதன் முறையாகப் பகிரங்கக் கூட்டம் ஒன்றில் உரையாற்றினார்..." more
together with Comment by tamilnation.org Mr.Sanmugam Sabesan is right to point out a closeness/ dependence in the relations between India and the US. Said that, we may also need to recognise the reality of the uneasy balance of power in the Indian Ocean region...Some 15 years ago, Indian Foreign Secretary Dixit spoke of a calibrated interaction’ between India and the US. We ourselves believe that that remains the case even today. India will always try to march to the beat of its own drummer - but whether it will succeed, only time will tell..." more |
What is Terrorism? - Law & Practise Dr. Liaquat Ali Khan, Professor of Law,Washburn University School of Law, Kansas - On Terrorism & the Lawful Right to Armed Struggle “..Major new developments are muddling the right to armed struggle.The global war on terrorism openly denies that any such right exists. ...  (But) In 1974, the United Nations General Assembly passed historic Resolution 3314, adopting the Definition of Aggression that includes the right to armed struggle.. if there were no right to armed struggle, predatory states would be emboldened to subjugate weak nations...The occupying states wish to change the law and morality of armed struggle so that they can easily crush the will of the occupied..." more |
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"..The assault on Iraq is an assault on all of us: on our dignity, our intelligence, and our future..." 
