Page 1
(USAS) @州@岛
WOL || || NO. 5
40 PENCE
MARCH 1983
BUDGET-A RECORD
RS.29 BILLION DEF/C/T MASS/VEPR/CE HIKES
After having presented five budgets previously, the Sri Lankan Finance Minister, Mr.Ronie de Mel, revealed to the county and the whole world the financial mess in which the country finds itself when he presented his 'idget for 1983 which showed an unprecedented record Ficit of Rs.29 billion - Revenue : Rs.2.1 billion; Expenture : Rs.50 billion. Never before in the history of the country had a Finance Minister come before Parliament
with such a record deficit,
How did the gover Tent propose to bridge this mas siwe gap? As not unexpected, SLIbstantially in two Ways large Scale foreign borrowing and Tassive Pori CE hikes of hundreds of ESSEtia Consu TeriterTS.
The picture that emerged was the boleak est and the gloomiest ever, After five years of so-called "oper economy", the Country is virtually bankrupt. A President who had absolute faith in the free enterprise scheme rthings, and who consiited that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for RecoStructionald Development (BRD) a 5 botto Tile:S5 chiaritable financial Wells fron which he could draw unliit a facilities, as eCome so des parate that he
publicly gawe went to his feelings when he said, "that the recent spate of price increases and the revision of the гшpee rate agaiпst the dollar in Sri Lanka Were a result of the requests by the IMF...the increased price of essential commodities, including rice and bread as well as transport fares Were necessary to obtain an extended fund facility from the IMF to tide over a precarious balance of payments situation".
The president should and ought to have known that unless he and his government gernu flect before the highpriests of the IMF and the IBRD and follow the stringent conditions they lay down, he would not get the loals for his extravagant grandiose schemes which
 
 

GOVT8 JUDICARY IN CONFRONTATION?
Political and legal circles are predicting a constitutional confrontation between the Sri Lankan Government and the judiciary following a notice issued on the Editor of the DALY NEWS, the country's leading English daily, and its publisher, the Lake House Press. They have been noticed to appear on 29th March following a petition charging the Newspaper of scandalising the Judges of the Supreme
COUrt.
he state-owned Lake House 'ress is the largest Newspaper and Publishing Group In the country and is Tarnged by a Board appointed by President, J. R. Jaya Warlee.
The article complained of appeared in the Daily News and related to the appointTert of a Parliamentary Select CorTTittee O prOb9 mto a complaint Thade to the President against Certain Judges of the Supreme Court by Mr. K.C. C. De Alwis, hirnself a judge, See repOrt On page 4) alleging prejudice
hawe no rele wamce to the day to da y life of the ordinary people of the country. So, as preconditions for further loans, the government had to submit to the dictates of the IMF and BRD and impose Severe burders Liprì the people by introducing additional du ties on every conceivable consumer item, Further it had to adjust the parity rate of the rupee against the dollar which C5i LLB O 3162 CET dewa luation of the rupEE. According to Central Bank Sources, Sri Lanka's gross foreign debt, which was Rs. 33.2 billion in Nowe Iber 1982, is now äro Lund Rs. 40 billion, Exchange fluctuations alone pushed the foreign debt up by Rs.743 million in the three months Sir C8 |ą5t Nowe Tyber, Export earnings froT tea, rubber and gems also had declined sharply, Over 28 per cent of export earnings would hawe to be set aside for debt servicing in 1983. Even the anticipated rewer Ue from the massive price inCreases Willbring in Orly Rs.3 billion which represent only one-tenth of the total deficit. The UNP came to power in July 1977 wowing to abolish queues which were a fami
апd impropriety. TE Minister Of Justice, Mr. Nissanka Wijeratne, is to head the Select Committee, The Bar Association of Sri Lanka has already passed a resolutio Llanir Thously COTIdemning the appointment of the Select Committee as it Constituted a gross interference in the independence of the Judiciary. The government's move, un precedented in the country's history, has been described as one which is
designed to Creating a ser wi|e and SubSefwi Et Judiciary,
|iar sight in the days of the SLFF. Elwg before the bu (d- get, within the last three months, thre hawe b0BB1 que Les formed for obtaining sugar, textiles and LP gas. The budget measures will Take the for Tlation of queues again familiar spectäCla as irl the mu:l maligned old days of the SLFP. The UNP also wowed to abolish pricë hikes by night gazette notifications". But the February 19th midlight notification increasing the Busing SS Turrower Täx on imnumerable iter Tis, ircIIding the imposition of BTT om items which hawe been hither to exempt, constitutes a record as to the rl Lur Timber of iters it covered and the extent Of the in Creases, The oil glut and the consequent substantial reduction in oil prices in the world Tarket hawe had no benefit to the Lankar CDSuther, On the contrary, the price of petrol, kerosene, diesel and Other petroleur T1 products has been increased. In gallon terms, petrol price has gone up by Rs.9,08 to Rs. 54.58; kerosene by Rs.6 to Rs. 23.64; super diesel by Rs. 5.91 to Rs.35.91; auto diesel by Rs.3.69 to Rs.30.69 and heavy diesel by Rs.3.52
CNT) ON P. 1 5

Page 2
2 TAMILTIMES
TAMILTIMES
POLITICAL VOLENCE AND PATCH-WORKSOCIAL REFORM
Many would say that they disapproved and abhorre violence. But what they actually mean is that they believ that it should be the monopoly of the state. Many are quic to condemn violence even without considering th surrounding circumstances in which such violence occurs But human history has demonstrated over the centuriestha the use of violence to free people from slavery or oppression is a justifiable and legitimate weapon. If all the peoples ofth world had eschewed violence on the principle that it bring suffering and causes bloodshed in its train, the majority o today's societies would have remained under absolut bondage. Slavery would not have been abolished; Americ would not have been freed of British imperialism; the Sovie people would have been still under the rotten Czars; Hitle would have ruled the world; or for that matter the presen day fascist dictatorships of Latin America will continue fo ever without any prospect of freedom for the people.
it is the oppressor, when confronted with resistance denigrates the justifiable use of political violence a terrorism. When the oppression of a people by the state i. buttressed by the numerical strength of a majority on chauvinistic basis, the classical forms of organised struggli by the numerical minority becomes enormously difficult and more often than not, virtually impossible. In such context, the use of political violence against certair identified targets which represent the organs of oppression becomes a legitimate weapon. in determining such targets absolute care should be taken, to ensure firstly, that the Ittack on such targets is designed to further the liberation struggle, and secondly, such attacks do not have the resulto alienating the mass of the people in whose name and or whose behalf the struggle is purported to be conducted Judged from these Criteria, one doubts the political sanity o those who recently carried out the shooting of the TULFMF for Kopay, Mr. M. Alalasunderam. The action does neithel help those who carried out the shooting to further the struggle of the Tamil speaking people, nor does it in any way help the mass of the people to unite behind the struggle.
It is reported that the shooting of the MP concerned was carried out by a group of youth as a consequence of the MP's failure to prevent corruption in the Jaffna Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society of which the MP is the Chairman. It is a good thing to have an incorruptible Chairman or a Committee of members to head a Co-op., or for that mattel any public institution. But to what extent does it furthel the political struggle of the Tamil speaking people to free themselves of oppression? Already, the shooting of the MF has attracted the sternest condemnation from the TULF Reports indicate that there is substantial disquiet, ever hostility, among the Tamil people in general that the "boys' have gone too far. On the other hand, the government's propaganda machinery has lost no time, with the assistance of a serville and obliging media, to make use of the incidentir its campaign to label all acts of political violence in the north as terrorism.
When, how, against whom and for what purpose political violence is used would have crucial consequences ir a liberation struggle. Widest possible unity in struggle is o' absolute importance in such a struggle. Engaging in patch work 'social reform" among the oppressed will not only divert attention from the main objective to fight the oppressor, but also have the damaging effect of dividing the oppresser Neople on peripheral issues which are of relative unimpo 'ce to the main struggle.
 

'A SOVEREIGN STATE - ONLY : OPT/OW'
Say Australian Tamils The Ceylon Tamil Association (Australasia) of P.O. Box 189, Eastwood, NSW. 2122, Australia has now changed its name into “EELAM TAMILS ASSOCATION (AUSTRALASA)'. The change of name was adopted by a unanimously passed resolution at a general meeting held on Sunday, February 13th. The Eelam Tamils Association (Australasia) Consists almost exclusively of highly qualified professionals—Specialist Doctors, Engineers, Accountants and Lawyers-as a result of the selective emigration laws of Australia. The ASSociation, according to its President, Dr. V. Sundrasingham, came into existence in the wake of the anti-Tamil race riots of August 1977 in Sri Lanka. Dr. Sundrasingham says that though the Association has been a major organization in Australia giving publicity to the ongoing racial oppression of the Tamils of Sri F. Lanka, it has been, because of the very nature of its ri membership, careful up to now in not pledging open support to the Eelam cause. "The change of name of the Association', he says, 'is to be interpreted by the Tamils of Eelam and by the various expatriate Eelam Tamil Groups in the rest of the world, and by Sri Lanka too , for that matter, as follows - that even a conservative association of Ceylon (Eelam) Tamil Professionals living in Australia has at long
í
MARCH 1983
last and after considerable deliberation decided that the only option left open for the Tamils is the achievement of a SOVEREIGN INDEPENDENT STATE OF TAMIL EELAM".
The following resolution passed unanimously at the meeting on the 13th February have been forwarded to President Jayawardene of
Sri Lanka:- Your Excellency,
At a general meeting of our Association held on Sunday the 13th February 1983 the following resolutions were passed unanimously and it has been decided to forward them to you: "This House protests against the indiscriminate arrests and detentions in jails in Sri Lanka (-Ceylon-Eelam), the Catholic priests Fiu v. Father Singarayer and Rev. Father Sinnarasa, Uniting Church Minister Rev. Jeyathilakarajah, Dr. Jeyakularajah, University Lecturer Mr. Nithiananthan and Mrs. Nithiananthan and others under the draconian provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act of the Sri Lanka Parliament, and against the inhuman treatment meted out to them. "This House further appeals that this draconian law-known as the Prevention of Terriorism Act-which violates basic human rights be repealed forthwith. "This House further resolv that copies of these resolutions be forwarded to The Right Hon. Prime Minister of Australia, to the Hon. Leader of the Opposition of the House of Representatives of the Australian Parliament and to the representatives of Amnesty International and other International bodies.'
MAHADEVA MEMORIAL
MEETING
A meeting in memory of our dear friend, the late Mr. Rajasingham Mahadeva, Secretary of SCOT, : will take place on
t SATURDAY APRIL 9, 1983 at 5.30 p.m.
at TYLERSHALL, Kingsbury High School Annexe, Bacon Lane (Off Princess Avenue), NW9.
Car Park entrance is off Stag Lane.
i C. Kathiresan
(President, SCOT)
- ܟܝܪ ܫ -- -- -ܥ“. ܝܒܫܫ- • ܀ -

Page 3
MARCH 1983
UPAL - A VICTIM OF CONSPIRACY
The 'conspiracy theory' is being fuelled by various reports in the Sri Lankan press about the disappearance of
Upali VVijevardene. One theory is that he was the victim of the Malaysian business mafia. The other is that the local political mafia had acted in collusion with some foreign agency. Some even put forward the farfetched theory that Upali had staged his own disappearance, to reappear again having raised popular sympathy. Direct and indirect referen 2 es are being made as to ir, would have been behind the disappearance of Upali. Even names of persons in high places have been mentioned. "Kavi koles" and leaflets are being distributed. In a country where a Prime Minister (the late Mr. SWRD. Bandaranaike) was gunned down at his own residence by a Buddhist monk in pursuance to a conspiracy hatched by the late PM's own party men and a Cabinet colleague, one should not blame the people if they tend to disbelieve official versions of "accident', and think in terms of sabotage and Conspiracy in the сабе оf Upali's mysterious a unexplained disappearance with his plane. Following the government's victory at the referendum, Prime Minister, R. Premadasa" launched an unrestrained verbal attack in Parliament against Upali on December 24, 1982. In the context of this speech, it is no surprise that the PM's name is also bandied about in the Upali mystery. That the PM's speech would have been purely coincidental is not something that his political adversaries would want to highlight. According to a parliamentary report in the "SUN', the Prime Minister is reported to have said: "The ordinary people will get their rightful place. The rich people like Upali Wijevardene will get their desserts.
Tell him that he will not be able to repeat the same. shameful things through his newspapers. "I was quiet all this time. But you tell Upali Wijevardene that he will not be able to mislead the people any more. Whenever have cursed a person he has never raised his head again. Let this be a lesson to the people like Upali Wijevardene and the rich class he represents...Mr. Wijewardene pretends that he is supporting the UNP by flying in helicopters and attending meetings, but he covertly supports his aunty. We can't allow anyone to be a pawn of Mr. Wijewardene because he has money.
NEELAN THRUCHEVAM - A UNP-TULF LINK?
Although the recent visit of Prof. A.J. Wilson to Sri Lanka gave rise to strong speculation that the "dialogue" between the UNP government and the Tamil United Liberation Front was going to be revived in earnest, nothing sems to have happened concretely. This may have been due to several factors. The recentarrest and detention of some members of the Christian clergy in Jaffna under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Consequent widespread political agitation that followed among the Tamil speaking people made it perhaps uncomfortable for the TUlf leadership tó parley with the government. On the other hand, events in South Sri Lanka like the referendum campaign, the inauguration of the President for a second term, the Independence day celebrations, the resignation of 18 UNP MPs with the prospect of a mini-general election and lately the mysterious disappearance of Upali, the President's nephew, - all have contributed to a period of intense, albeit unproductive activity. ' . The nomination of Dr. Neelan Thiruchelvam (son of
 
 
 
 
 

the la te M. Thiruchelvam, OC, Cabinet Minister in Dudley Senanayake's 1965 administration) to the vacant
Vaddukoddai seat by the TULF is said to be not without political significance.
Having never had to go through the hurly-burly of election-politics, and therefore not being ever compelled to take a definite position publicly, and being essentially an academic-politician behind the scenes, he is said to be eminently suited to revive the UNP-TULF 'dialogue". He is said to enjoy cordial relations with many cabinet ministers including the President himself. lt will be recalled that Dr. Neelan was a member of the Committee that produced the report on the District Development Councils. Dr. Neelan's nomination as MP is seen by political observers as an attempt to strengthen the hand of those sections of the TULF leadership which believe in the line of 'negotiations' with the government, and the eventual acceptance of the District Councils as an instrument of decentralised administration of the Northern and Eastern provinces. And with a little more power granted to District Councils, will the TULF accept District Ministerships is the question that is being currently raised in political circles. Critics of the TULF suggest that the nomination of Kuttima ni as MP for Vaddukod
dai in the first instance under
pressure from the "miki. tantsʼ", and the pbresent nomiination of Dr. Neelan in his place concretely demonstrates the TULF's lack of a coherent political strategy and the dilema it faces in its attemptto reconcile the contradictory pressures within itself.
HOUSEMAD FLIGHTS
All of us have heard of PANAM flights, KLM flights, BA flights etc. Have you ever heard of HOUSEMAID FLIGHTS? The flights that arrive
from Colombo to
TAMLTIMES3
Middle East Countries are known in those Countries as housemaid flights, a recent visitor from Kuwait told the writer. This new name has been earned as a result of the regular exodus of Lankan women - young and middleaged, married and unmarried – to the countries of the
Middle-East Most of these women, lured
by the promise and prospect of earning a fortune in a short time, abandon their jobs, loved one and reach these countries only to be subjected to severe exploitation, cruelty and degrading treatment by their Arab masters. Once they fall into the trap of their masters, there is no way out - their passports Confiscated and held as virtual prisoners and called upon to do all the menial work in the homes at all hours of the day. Although the 'agencies', which recruit them in Colombo receive a very high fee, very often from Rs. 10,000 to Rs.20,000, promise these women high salaries and Comfortable living conditions, the majority of them do not even receive even half of the promised salaries. n addition to working in the household, they are even compelled to submit to the amorous advances of their Arab masters, which the latter take for granted as part of the duty of the women. Several cases of Suicides and disappearances of these women have been reported.
in view of the low wages they
are, paid, it is not unusual for.
many of , these Lankan housemaids to engage in prostitution as an additional source of income. A large number of these Women are locked up in jail for pro
longed periods. Of the Indian, Pakista ni and Sri Lankan women in police
custody in Kuwait, the majority are from Sri Lanka. Even India has for some time now imposed severe restrictions on women going to the Middle-East. One condition is that the host country's . government must guarantee a minimum wage and the
CONTD ON P.9

Page 4
4 TAMILTIMES
SRI LANKA NEWS I
SP VIOLATES FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND GETS PROMOTION
The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka recently held that Superintendant of Police Mr. P. Udugampola had violated fundamental rights of a Buddhist monk by seizure of his leaflets and disrupting a meeting organised against the referendum, and ordered the SP on February 8th to pay to the Buddhist monk Rs. 10,000 as compensation. Now the same SP has been promoted to Class from Class Il by a Cabinet directive. The Rs.10,000 ordered to be paid by the SF is to be now paid by the government together with costs of case amounting to Rs.2,100.
NEELAN TRUCHELVAM MP
Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam, Son of the former Minister of Local Government in the Dudley Senanayake administration of 1965, the late Mr. M. Tiruchelvam, OC, has
been nominated by the Tamil United Liberation Front as MP for the vacant Vaddukoddai constituency. Dr. Tiruchelvam was the TULF representative in the Commission which recommended the setting up of the District Development Councils. He is a Har vard University Scholar and a Director of Marga institute, Colombo.
NAVY MEN ACCUSED OF LOOTING INDIAN FISHERMEN
Sri Lankan Naval Guards have been systematically looting Indian fishermen of their precious prawn catches at gun point, arrorrling to a PTI story published in the Indian Express. The Indian Express report States: "Sri Lankan naval guards ostensibly engaged in patrolling their sea lanes, penetrate deep into lndian waters and 'loot' Indian fishermen of their precious prawn
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Catches at gunpoint "not less than three days in a week', according to Rameswaram Vercottu Fisherman's ASSociation. The association's Secretary, Mr. P. Artilanandam, told a PT correspondent, who visited Rameswaram recently, that these guards would carry away 300 to 400 kgs of prawn catches a day valued at more than Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 40,000.
POLICE INSPECTOR AND DRIVERSHOT DEAD
Headquarters Inspector K.R. Wijewardene of Point Pedro Police and his jeep driver, both in civils, were shot dead opposite an eating shop in Point Pedro around 8.40 last night, Friday February 18, by unknown gunmen. The assailants are reported to have driven off in the same Police Jeер. Police and Army patrols have been intensified in the Point Pedro and Valvettiturai areas and Coastal areas are bet ing watched. Mr. Wijewardene figured in the news recently when he took down the statement of the former Pt. Pedro D.J. Mr. Thilakan in open court when Mr. Thillakan made allegations against an Army officer who had insulted him on the highway.
HOTEL-CULTURAL COMPLEX
Construction of a five-star hotel and cultral complex will commence shortly in Jayawardhanapura, formerly Kotte. This Rs. 550 million project known as "SWISSOTEL" will be a joint venture of the Swissair-Nestle Hotels Ltd. and the Electro Holiday Resorts Ltd. Phase of the project which is targetted for opening in 1985-86 will have 252 rooms, public areas, coffee shop, European grille, lobby, bar, discotheque, grand ball room for 800 persons, swimming pools, tennis and Squash Courts, banquet halls and riverside restaurants. Phase II will bring the room strength to 402.
An unusual feature of this
MARCH 1983
project is the inclusion of a Cultural Centre which is to be
modelled on the 'Rose Garden' of Bangkok.
LIFE SENTENCE FOR
NEERVELISIX
All six accused in the alleged Neerveli Bank robbery and murder case were recently found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Colombo High Court. The six accused in this case are Nadarajah Thangavelu alias Thangathurai, Selvarah Yogachandran alias Kuttimani, Selvadurai Sivasubramaniam alias Devan, Navaratnarah Sivapathan alias Sivapalan Master, Sri Sabaratnam and Vythilingam Nadesathasan. The leading Defence C~{ sel in this case was N. yendra, Attorney-at-Law. Details of the case including the speech made by Thangathurai will be published in the next issue of the Tamil Times.
FUND FOR FILM ARTISTS
The cabinet has approved a scheme for setting up a benevolent fund to assist film artists and technicians. It will benefit those who have been in the film industry for more than ten years and also help their family members. lt will provide housing facilities and other forms of loans. A trust is to be cre. to be administered by tive trustees chaired by the Chairman of the film corporation for the time being. The film corporation will Contribute Rs. 1 million initially, nd thereafter Rs. 200,000 annually to the fund.
SELECT COMMITTEE TO PROBE JUDGE'S
COMPLAINT
The Sri Lankan Cabinet has decided to appoint a parliamentary Select Committee to inquire into the charges made by former Appeal Court Judge, Mr. K.C.E. de Alwis, that certain of his brother judges were prejudiced against him and had made certain observations which resulted in injury to his
CONTD ON P.5

Page 5
MARCH 1983
CONTD FROM P.4
reputation.
Mr. de Alwis is a member of the Special Presidential Commission. His contin
uance in the Commission was successfully challenged by Mr. Felix Dias Bandaranaike on the ground that he had a property transaction with Colombo's former Mayor, Mr. A. H.M. Fowzy.
While the Chief Justice held that Mr. de Alwis had not acted corruptly, he declared that Mr. de Alwis should not sit on the Fowzy case. The other two judges allowed Mr. Bandaranaike's application. It has been alleged that the papers filed by Mr. Bandaranaike were prepared in the Chambers of Mr. Colin Ti ne, one of the judges the application.
SUSPECTS IN PULENDRAN'S MURDER RELEASED All five suspects, three
Tamils and two Sinhalese, held in custody in connection with the murder of the Vavuniya UNP organiser, Mr. Pulendran have been released following a report by the CID that they had no evidence to proceed with the
CԹS6,
FORGED NOTES IN MILLIONS
S; anka is encountering the best ever Currency forgery. According to the Governor of the Central Bank, there are Rs.3 to Rs.8 million worth of forged hundred rupee notes in circulation. The figure may be very much
Ore. The police have recovered Rs. 1.8 million so far and made a few arrests. According to the Governor, the forgeries, although with many defects are of high quality and very difficult for the naked eye to detect the forgery.
BLNDNESS DIDNT
BOTHER HIM Anthony Lal Abeysekera, who has been blind since his birth was awarded a degree by the Kelaniya University recently.
Anthony who was schooled at Royal College, Colombo, has obtained a Second Class (Upper Division) Honours Degree in Special Arts. His speciality was in Mass communication. Anthony who is 27, hopes to get a break in the Sri Lankan TV network. He has already done a dissertation on his research in children's television.
BUSNESSMAN NABBED WITH FORGED NOTES
A Colombo businessman has been arrested by the CID for being in possession of Rs. 2.5 million forged currency notes. All the notes were in Rs. 100 denomination. It is reported that the CID decoys had tendred Rs. 1.25 million in genuine currency notes in exchange for which the Suspected businessman is alleged to have returned twice this sum in forged hundred rupee notes.
JAFFNACOLLEGE
The Technical Institute of the Jaffna College has made much headway. An impressive Administration Block was opened recently and a suite of buildings to house students and staff was now ready for use. A spacious playground too has been provided and the Assembly Hall and Library will be ready in the course of this year. Courses in computer Science, refrigeration technology and classes for the C.E.I. exams Part have also been introduced. Special courses in English have been started. Competent and qualified instructors have been appointed. Agriculture Institute: A 50 acre farm settlement has been initiated in Suthanthirapuram in the Paranthan - Mullaitvu area and the sinking of tube wells is being explored. A member of the staff, Mr. T. Vickneswaran, is undergoing intense training in Japan under the auspices of the Christian Conference of Asia and will be back this year to handle the new proj

TAMILTIMES 5
ect which is now being supervised by the Principal of the Institute. New buildings are also being planned to house the school at Maruthanamadam and land has been acquired for the purpose.
'MINORITY TAMILS'DEMAND RESERVED PLACES
"The Minority Tamils' representing, as the group claims 27 per cent of the Tam is in the North, have made representations to the Government that they should be given a 30 per cent allocation in selection to universities under the 55 per cent district quota System. The admissions revealed, they claim, that of the 101 Tamil students selected for the Medical Faculty in 1982 (on the results of the 1981 examination) not one was a member of the 'minority group'. DONATION FOR
PUBLIC LIBRARY The Peradeniya University has donated to the Jaffna Public Library a sum of Rs.3597 in the name of the Association at the University for the promotion of national harmony in Sri Lanka. The gift was handed over in person to the Mayor of Jaffna, Mr. Rajah Visuvanathan, by representatives of the Association.
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS
A total of 50 Municipalities and Urban Councils will go to the polls on 1 June 1983 on the proportional representation basis. The first and Second names on the list of the party getting the most votes will be the Mayor and Deputy Mayor or Chairman and Vice-Chairman, as the case may be.
Some 1.2 million voters will be eligible to vote (over an eighth of the total number of persons in the electoral register). Those who were eligible to vote at the Presidential Election or the Referendum will not be able to exercise their vote at the Local Government Elections
as all registers have been compiled on the 1981 Parliamentary Register. in the Northern part of the country the following Municipal Councils and Urban Councils will go to the polls: The Jaffna M.C. (66,921 voters), Chavakehcheri U.C. (12,059), Pt. Pedro U.C. (10,928), Valvetithurai U.C. (8,972) and Vavuniya U.C. (9,265). The highest number of voters in the Island will be in the Colombo Municipal Council which has a voting strength of 321,244.
CANCER INSTITUTE
The Government Cancer Institute at the Government Hospital at Tellippalai will begin to function in April this year. This hospital has been built with a generous donation of a sum of money by the family of the late Mr. G.G. Ponna mbalam. Speaking at a Training Course for Midwives held at the Office of the MOH at Kankesanthurai, Dr. R. Deivendran, the MOH said that Galle and Kankesanthurai are two centres where extensive research is being conducted in the control of
CanCer. Leprosy, said Dr. Deivendran, was Once unknown in the North. But now there is evidence of the disease in Pungudutivu, Vaddukoddai and Chankannai.
5100 PASSPORTS N5 MONTHS FROMJAFFNA
The Passport Issuing Section of the Jaffna Kachcheri has issued 5100 passports within the five months it was setup, according to a press release. The press release says the Passport Section, though handicapped by a shortage of staff, has made steady progress since its establishment in September 1982. Till February this year, it had received 7678 applications. So far it has issued 5100 passports. The District Secretary and Goverment Agent, Jaffna, Mr. Devanesan Nesiah also appeals to applicants to furnish required details and documents in time.

Page 6
6 TAMILTIMES
'NATIONAL GOVERNME
CAW THE TAM/LS
A/WO7HER 7
The editorial in the January iSSue of the TAMIL TMES gives rise to a few questions which are of great moment at the present time when Tamil Ceylon is at the cross roads and its future a big duestion mark. The present generation, especially the thinking sections of the educated, should ponder deeply and try to answer them. Chief among them is the question: Whither Tamil Ceylon? In other words, what does Tamil Ceylon want that would enable it to preserve its identity and ensure its survival as a Tamil nation'? What does it hope to achieve from an all-party Parliamentary Committee or a national government?
The idea of an all-party committee for national unity is nothing new. It is merely a re-hash of the old round table Conference idea. For twenty-five years the late Mr. G.G. Ponnambalam had
tried to sell this round table conference without success. There were times when even Mrs. Bandaranaike toyed with the idea. For twenty-five years the now destroyed Federal Party resisted it for the reason that it was not a pragmatic approach to a sol
By V. NAVARATNAM
(FORMER M.P. FOR KAYTS, SRI LANKA)
ution of the Tamil-Sinhala problem. Essentially it is not a problem that is solvable that way.
GENESIS OF THE PROBLEM.
On the one side we have a people who are greater in numbers, into whose hands the British had transferred power, and who by using that power have built up a dominant position for themselves. The laws which they passed and their well planned administrative acts, particularly in the fields of
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MARCH 1983
NTʼʼ
AAFAFOARD RYP
state-aided colonization and government jobs, have resulted in a situation that today they are able to rule the country as though the whole of Ceylon is theirs and theirs alone. That is now presented as a fait accompli, and any talk of discussing other peoples' grievances must be without prejudice to this accomplished fact. On the other, we have a people smaller in numbers and who, since the British left, have been game enough to be arbitrarily deprived of all rights and now to be told in effect that they are in Ceylon on sufference - a people who only one hundred and fifty years ago were a distinct 'nation' with a territory, language, Culture, economic existence, and civilization of their own until, in the year 1833 to be precise, Lord Godrich (I believe that is the name of the then Secretary of State for the Colonies) amalgamated their homeland territory of the northern and eastern provinces with the rest of the Island under a scheme of the so-called political unification of Ceylon recommended by the Colebrook Commission - wherein lies the genesis of the majority / minority terminology for the two peoples. The Round Table Conference idea therefore could not sell. it has now reared its head once again, this time from very strange quarters, from the very authors of the Master Plan for the accomplished fact mentioned earlier, the very men to whom the concept of democracy means governance OF the whole country (that is, the Sinhalese and the Tamil peoples) BY the Sinhalese FOR the Sinhalese. The TAMIL TIMES gives a report of the proceedings of the Government Parliamentary Group meeting in Colombo, and I believe it is a correct report. It makes no surprise reading to those who know
the ways of governments in Ceylon. Whenever you are in trouble, when you are worried about the country's image abroad because it hurts, when you want unmolested freedom to govern as you please, you appoint commissions or committees to explore solutions. That is a well known device in the art of government to tide over current nuisances. So you will see them calling for an all-party committee to ensure what to them is "communal or racial harmony' and 'national unity', but to the Tamils is unmitigated vassalage. This brings me to the next question I wish to pose. Can you name a single partyłę is now in existence or - alize one in the foreseeable future on the Sinhalese side that will be willing or capable to carry out the following? O Repeal the Sinhala Only Official Language law in whatever document found, and enact afresh with the consent of the Tamils. O Repeal the Citizenship Laws, and enact afresh with the consent of the Tamils whatever the origin of the latter may be. O Repeal the Sections of the Finance Act of 1963 under the provisions of which a Tamil purchaser of house Or land (outside ܘܟܐܐ Northern and Eastern vinces) cannot have his deed of purchase registered at the appropriate Land Registry unless (a) if he was born in Ceylon he produces along with his deed his own birth Certificate and that his father, and (b) if he was born outside Ceylon he produces with his deed the birth certificates of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, or in the alternative unless he pays to the Government a Sum of money equal to the purchase price. O Hand over to the Tamilsa|| lands in the Northern and Eastern Provinces colonized by the state with colonists from the rest of
the country in contraCONT) ON P.7

Page 7
MARCH 1983
COND FROMP 6
vention of the Land Settlement and Land Development laws left behind by the British. O Do away with the present system of admissions to universities and other institutions of specialized or higher education on racial basis, and re-introduce the criterion of merit as the only basis, for admission. O Do away with the racial basis of recruitment, appointment and promotion to the Ceylon Administrative Service, Ceylon Overseas Service, Legal Services, subordinate and other public services including state corporations and local government odies, Defence and folice Services, etc., and re-introduce merit as the sole criterion. O Finally, repeal the Constitution, and enact afresh through a new Contituent Assembly where Tamiis will have a right to veto. if there is any party which can do these things, then certainly it would usher in
real and meaningful national unity and communal or racial harmony. I don't think there will be anybody who is so naive as to imagine that this is within the realm of practical politics in present day Ceylon. After the climate that has been created since 1948 no Sinhalese party can do it and still survive. And without these measures the Tamils cannot preserve their identity and survive as a people. A unitary form of government which works on the principle of rule by majority vote cannot ensure that. remember when some of us were discussing terms with the late Prime Minister S.W. R.D. Bandaranalike and pointed out that he was the first to suggest a federal system of government for Ceylon, he promptly replied, 'Yes, but I have no mandate from my people to do that."
President Jayawardene can
not be expected to have anything different to say
ՈOW.
What, then, do we hope to
get out of an all-party parliamentary committee? Some
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TAMITMES 7
concessions? Or perhaps add one more Pact' to the long list of ill-fated pacts made in the course of three quarters of a century? in 1968 or 1969 had occasion to enumerate the number of the torn up Pacts and broken promises which had accumulated behind the Tamil distrust. I was speaking in Parliament on the White Paper relating to District Councils which contained the betrayal of the last of these pacts, and I had then hoped it would be the last. It now seems was mistaken. Tamil Ceylon will do well to remember that nothing has changed to justify another try, and our people cannot bear another betrayal.
Nor is the reported "national government' anything new to us. During the thirty six years since the so-called independence we have had a number of national governments of one sort or another into which ambitious Tamils were drafted as ministers, not to share power but to lend the 'national' character to governments. We should not forget that on every occasion the Tamil people have had to pay an enormous price for the "honour' conferred on these gentlemen. It was Suntheralingam's consent in the cabinet that enabled D.S. Senanayake to negotiate with Whitehall to get the Independence Act passed in the Westminster Parliament - a consent for which Suntheralingam later shed tears in public. It was with G.G. Ponnampalam in the cabinet (he called it responsive co-operation) that the Eastern Province was Colonized with tens of thousands of colonists from South Ceylon. it was the Kumarasuriyar in the cabinet that Sinhala was made the language of the courts. And most ironically, it was with Federal Party's Tiruchelvam in the cabinet that Tamil public servants were dismissed from service for non-proficiency in Sinhala, men who had refused to study Sinhala in obedience to the Federal Party's call. And finally, it is the present Tamil Parlia
mentary leadership, from which presumably the future Tamil ministers will be drawn for the proposed "national government, that conceded - nay, to be more accurate, that requested - the carving out of the new Sinhalese Parliamentary Constituency of Seruwia in the Eastern Province which encircles Trincomalee. With all this record glaring at us in the face, participaton in a sham all-party committee or the fraud of a 'national government' can be no less than a gross betrayal of the hopes of the people hungering for something to be done to save the future generations of the race.
BANE OF TAMIL LEADERSHIP History books become useless if we do not want to learn the lessons enshrined in them. Should we persist in repeating the same blunders which our predecessors Committed? The bane of Tamil leadership is that every generation of leaders insists on experimenting and living through the same experience which the preceding generation did with disastrous results. in 1930 or thereabout, after his defeat in the old Legislative Council over the acceptance of the Donoughmore Commission Report and his disenchantment with the British, Sir Ponnampalam Ramanathan returned to Jaffna a broken and disillusioned man. He summoned some of the leading citizens of Jaffna to his residence at Ramanathan College, Chunnakam, and told them that the Tamil people in Ceylon were in grave peril, and warned that the Sinhalese should never be trusted nor any reliance he placed on Whitehall's favourite protestations of the White Man's Trust. He had pinned faith in both and failed. He was convinced that the Sinhalese were planning to establish dominion over the Tamils through the new franchise.
Sixteen years later, however, after Ramanathan's death,
CONTO ON P. 1 8

Page 8
8 TAMILTIMES
JOB CUTS FOR DOCTORS IN U.K. & M.E.
The employment opportunities for Sri Lankan doctors in the Middle East countries as well as in Britain are likely to diminish drastically in the coming years and it could result in the estimated 900 vacancies here being filled up, according to a top authority on hospital administration, Prof. Abel-Smith. Prof. Abel-Smith of the London School of Economics who is also a WHO Consultant was commissioned by the Government to report on the financing of Health Services in Sri Lanka. In the past, the United Kingdom has been the main destination of emigrant doctors from Sri Lanka. From this year, the output of British Medical Schools will have reached its planned maximum (over 4000) - nearly double the output of the 1960's. This output has been planned with the aim of steadily replacing immigrant doctors as they retire with British-born doctors.
"The opportunities for British doctors to emigrate to North America and Australia are becoming heavily restricted. Already at this year's Annual Representative meeting of the British Medical Association there were complaints that over 100 British-trained doctors were unemployed. There are thus likely to be increasing pressures over this decade to apply the same restrictions on immigrant doctors as are currently applied to virtually every other category of immigrants.
Given this international scenario, the availability of doctors for recruitment into the Sri Lanka services might well change radically over the next eight years. It has already changed, for example, in Mauritius. Sri Lanka may not only be able to replace by 1990 the 168 immigrant doctors who are due to leave at the end of 1983, but fill the 933 posts estimated to be required in 1981 plus the extra needed to staff new hospitals.'
However, Professor Abel-Smith has struck a warning
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note that it would be dangerous to make furture plans on this assumption.
AUSTRALIA CURTAL. JOB PROSPECTS
The Australian Government has decided to cut the intake of skilled migrants from last month by slashing the job categories from 53 to just eight.
Definitely out, we learn, are the prestigious fields - Doctors (including Specialists), Engineers, Lawyers, University Lecturers and Accountants. Also in the "noentry' category are people
who went in droves to Australia during the last ten years - Nurses, nursing aides, electricians, lab technicians, metal workers, etC.
There seems to be still, however, a dire need for Secretaries and Stenos. Also "welcome' according to a 300 page 'Occupational Demand Schedule' are pastry cooks, trained waiters and waitresses, precision instrument makers, Computer programmers and "prosthetic and orthodontic technicians'. These shortages, however, vary from state to state.
PROTEST BY WEST GERMAW UW/VERS/TY STUDE/VTS
Dipl. ing. Agr. Heinrich Terwitte, the President of the Catholic Students Community of Christian - Albrechts - U Univeristy, Kiel, West Germany has sent the following letter to President Jayawardene:
your Excellency. We, the undersigned represent the 'Catholic Students Community' of the C.A. Univeristy in Kiel, West Germany, at which seventeen thousand students are enrolled. We enjoy the normal freedoms associated with a western democracy and rejoice in the democracy that has existed in Sri Lanka over the past fifty years. "Unfortunately it had come to our attention that the
MARCH 1983
minority group of peoplethe TAMILS-who have been discriminated against over the past twenty-five years, are being particularly suppressed under the present Government regime. With the aid of media coverage as well as through reports coming to us from such independent organisations as Amnesty International, Movement for Inter-Racial Justice and Equality (MIRJE), international Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Civil Rights Movement of
Sri Lanka, we have learnt the
continual sufferings of the TAMILS and are appalled.
"We also deplore the introduction by your Government Of the 'Prevention of Terrorism Act" which has bes condemned by internation.
organisations such 3S Amnesty International as contrary to fundamental
human rights, under which five priests were arrested last year, three of whom are still being held under custody. We earnestly call for their immediate release or that they be produced before a Magistrate under the normal law of Sri Lanka. "We accept the right of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka to share in the lives and sufferings of the TAMILS as well as to participate in their education and development, as they have done in the past as is the case in POLANDars NCARAGUA."
AUSTRALIAN CATHOLCS PROTEST
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace of Sydney, Australia has protested to
President J.R. Jayawardene.
against human rights violations against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. The Commission also has protested against the arrest of members of the clergy including Fr. Singarayer and Fr. Sinnarasa and called upon the President to intervene to ensure that their human rights are respected, and if charged, they be fairly tried in accordance with internationally accepted standards of justice.

Page 9
MARCH 1983
TULF MPSHOT AWD/WJURED
Mr. M. Alalasundaram, TULF MP for Kopay was shot at on February 22 in the afternoon around 3.30 p.m. reportedly after a heated altercation with three or four youths who had come to his house, while the fourth waited outside. The argument that ensued between the MP and the youths in question reportedly concerned the lack of response from Mr. Alalasundaram to allegations of fraud made in a leaflet issued by the 'Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam" in respect of the Jaffna Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society, of which the MP is the Chairman. Mystery surrounds the young woman caller who was present at the MP's house at the time of the shooting. She had evidently gone to obtain a testimonial from the MP, and was seated in the house while the testimonial was being typed. She had disappeared from the scene once the altercation started.
Mr. Alalasundaram who was taken to the Jaffna General Hospital for surgical attention is now believed to be out of danger. It is reported that the youths had told the MP that he was being shot not to be killed, but as a warning. Mr. A. Amirthalingam and Mr. M. Sivasithamparam, leaders of the TULF, have condemned the shooting.
ARMYRAIDAT ASHRAM
The placid atmosphere of the CHRISTA SEVA ASHRAM, Chunnakam, Sri Lanka-a few yards from the Inuvil Railway Station-was rudely distrubed in the early hours of Monday February 28 morning when within a span of ninety minutes four different contingents of soldiers carried out a rigorous search of the premises. The Christa Seva Ashram is a Service oriented, prestigious Christian organisation in Jaffna founded in 1939.
It is reported that the soldiers had camped at the Inuvil Railway Station the previous night in what was Caled 'OPERATION AM
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AMLTIMES9
BUSH' and the next dawn had surrounded the walls around the Ashram, armed to the skin. The first batch of uniformec soldiers accompanied by a few policemen met Sevak SAMALFRED. the head of the ashram at 6.30 a.m. They had conducted a quick search and had gone off; but within 30 minutes a bigger contingent appeared and to search the compound. The Sevak told them that a Search had already been carried out, but they insisted on going over the premises. The Sevak's room, books and belongings were given a close scrutiny.
After they went off without finding anything suspicious, an even bigger contingent appeared at 7.30 a.m. and insisted on searching the compound. The fourth contingent that came at 8 a.m., was the biggest of them all and searched the compound
for an hour.
The Army Offier who
spoke to the Sevak said that the Search was made in Connection with the shootings at a C.T.B. (Northern Region) jeep at Urump rai, on the night of February 4th. Ten underprivileged youths from villages in Batticaloa and Jaffna are educated and supported by the Ashram; their rooms and books were searched too. The Library owned by the Ashram, which Contains radical Christian literature was also searched.
The tedious and fruitless Search went on for an hour when suddenly the metal detector that the soldiers were using registered something suspicious in a remote corner of the premises. The excited Soldiers then ordered the youths in the Ashram to digth ground. After minutes of tensed waiting, the damning piece of evidence was founda small rusty piece of iron
Meanwhile the villagers of the area who were taking vegetables to the market in carts and bicycles were all stopped, and ordered to unpack all their belongings for inspection.
The Sevak who was bemused by the strange behaviour of these four bat
ches of tense soldiers, could only guess that this massive 'OPERATION' could have been inspired by a false tipoff.
It is significant that the Ashram, a Christian Institution begun in 1939 by PERIANNA SELVARATNAM, has been deeply involved in serving the Spiritual and material needs of the villagers of the area. In the five acres of land that the Ashram owns, potatoes and grapes are cultivated and employment given to the people of that area.
Cont. from Page 3
person's security until the expiration of the contractual period. The Indian Embassies in these countries are required to keep a close watch.
But in the case of Sri Lanka, there is absolutely no control and the agencies that operate in Colombo seem to enjoy an open licence to export women to the Middle-East. So much so, it is reliably learnt that when a young man recently approached an agency for a 'job' in the Middle-East, he was asked a fee of Rs. 15,000 or in the alternatitive he should 'supply' three women who would be willing to go to Kuwait as housemaids
Not that Lankan government is unaware about the various horror-stories that emanate from the Mid-East Countries, nor are they unaware of the shady and dubious practices of the agencies that operate in Colombo. The price these Lankan women pay in the countries of the Mid-East would appear to be justifiable in terms of the lofty principles of JR's Dharmista government, for it has a bigger proolem in its handbridging an unprecedented Rs.29 billion budget deficit. Exchange the Lankan vomen for a few perto-dollars which will go a long way to help the government. The guiding slogan seems to be: ''Women of Sri Lanka Do not ask your government what it can offer you. Give unto the Arab masters what they ask of you'.

Page 10
10TAMILTIMES
THE TAMIL PROBLEM IN SRI LANKA
HOW DO YOU PLAY TI
(CONTINUED FROM LAST ISSUE)
revere Mr. Chelvanayakam and his memory. When he died travelled a long distance to attend the funeral and though an adult man past 40, wept as the high flames startedlicking his frail body. Mr. Chelvanayakam did achieve three things for the Tamils. First of all, he demonstrated that Tamils do not live by portfolios alone and that they are 'prepared to pay any price, make any Sacrifice' for the sake of their language and culture. If Ponnambalam made us hang down our head in shame, Chelvanayakam made us hold our head high. Secondly, he raised our cultural consciousness. If we knew nothing about a 'keerthanai' in 1950, our children afe singing keerthanais in 1980. Thirdly, he brought all the Tamils under one umbrella organisation, the TULF. (Within 5 years of his death, this aspect of his work is being blithely undone, over a minor duestion of tactics, but more of this later.) But for all these achievements, his main quest, to see a united federal Sri Lanka, with all communities living in dignity
and harmony, ended in failure. UNANSWERABLE CASE
On the intellectual plane, the case for a federal Sri Lanka is unanswerable. Such men as SWRD Bandaranaike, Dudley Senanayake and J.R. Jayewardene have acknowledged this by accepting diluted versions of the federal idea, under different names. But if a federal Sri Lanka was to be established, then the consent of the two peoples was necessary. Between 1950 and 1956, Chelvanayakam and his lieutenants persuaded the Tamil people that federalism was desirable. But the attempt to persuade the Sinhala people was never made. It would have been a daunting task. At the start, they would have been met with hailstorms of
stones. But if the idea was not to be still born, then the attempt had to be made. But it was never made. To draw a homely metaphor, the bride's party thought the marriage was a very suitable one and they sat around talking among themselves what a good match it would be. But no one took the proposal to the bridegroom's party! What chance
by T. Som
was there of the marriage taking place? To sum up, up to this point, Ponnambalam disgraced and thus destroyed "participation' and the proposal for federalism was never made. So in 1975, impelled by inexorable logic, the Tamils came to Eelam.
THREEWAYS TO EELAM To me it appears that Eelam can be achieved only in one of three ways (a) by non-- violent methods (b) by violent methods without help from an outside power and (c) by violent methods assisted by an outside power. Let us examine these alternatives as dispassionately as possible. lf federalism by non-violent methods was a non-starter, how can Eelam by non-- violent methods come about? Far from any Sinhala leader, is there one solitary Sinhala man or woman who concedes the idea of Eelam? Let no mistake be made about it. The Sinhalese who form a majority of over 70% of the population, will resist the establishment of Eelam with all the power at their command. And they, not tied to Gandhi's teachings, will not hesitate to use violence, to put down any mass nonviolent struggle for Eelam. lt is an utter waste of time to even consider this as a viable alternative. Remember how the Satyagraha campaigns of 1956 in Galle Face Green and in 1961 opposite the Kachcheris ended. Mahatma Gandhi saw 400 million Indians subjugated by a few thousand British troops and

MARCH 1983
A PERSONAL VIEW
HIS HAND, PARTNER2
Civil servants controlled by a civilized House of Commons back home and he dipped deep into the Indian psyche and fashioned the weapon of non-violent Satyagraha and it worked. It was a weapon ideally suited to the time and place and the people involved and their relative numbers. It was a very economical weapon, cheap in human suffering and loss
asekaram
of life, cheap in the antagonism it caused, so much so that the last Viceroy of India became the first Governor General. That was the genius of Gandhi. (Fortunately for the Mahatma and his many fasts unto death, Mrs. Thatcher was not in power then. But perhapsifhe had met her, he would have refrained from using that particular weapon in his non-violent armoury) But can non-violent Satyagraha be used with success, by say the Palestinians against the might of the Israeli Army and the tender mercies of Ariel Sharon? Can a 20% minority use it against a 70% majority which does not believe in non-violence, in Sri Lanka? One has only to frame the question to realise the answer. But we are an old and patient people. It is said that Tamil civilization is at least 4000 years or 133 generations old. One generation we spent on the idea of a united federal Sri Lanka. We can well afford to spend another generation on Eelam bγ non-violent means, even if we know in advance it will not work. VOLENT MEANS What about violence? 'eople of my generation were brought up to abhor violence. We brake hard on a wet road to avoid hitting a stray dog. Human life is precious and priceless. When I was young, the Jaffna District had the lowest crime rate and even in 1958, the least number of incidents took
place in Jaffna. But today,
Tamil youth have come to the stage where they are prepared to kill and be killed for the Tamil cause. Whether one agrees with them or not, they have succeeded in bringing the Tamil problem to the forefront of the national consciousness. They have demonstrated that they can kill policemen by the dozen. They may go on to demonstrate that they can kill Army and Navy personnel also by the dozen. But they will also die by the dozen, Crying "Aiyo, ammah, ammah' in the silence of the night before dying. But even if the death tol on both sides mounts to thousands, will is lead to Eelam? If so, when? In 1984? 1990? 2000? in the foreseeable future can anyone envisage an Eelam established by violence, existing within secure borders, side by side with Sri Lanka on the south? Or will the violence only produce a running Irish sore, similar to what we have in Northern Ireland today? To me, this looks like the most likely outcome from the present situation, with both communities paying a heavy price and the armed Services gobbling up more and more of the scarce resources, and the nation slipping further back in the economic sphere. (In 35 years, we have slipped from the position of a country with one of the highest standards of living in Asia to one of the poorest 33 Countries in the world, according to the United Nations.) EELAM WITH OUTSIDE SUPPORT Now we come to the third possible alternative, of Eelam aided by an outside power. At the last count there were 167 countries in the United Nations. Let us consider three, USA, USSR and India as possible Saviours of the Tamils. Here comes the first reality. Sri Lanka is an island state. In geopolitics, it still does make a difference whether a CONTD ON P.11,

Page 11
MARCH 1983
CONTD FROM P. 1 O
country is surrounded by sea
or has land boundaries. In 1940, the invincible German Wehrmacht, which destroyed the glorious French Army within one month, was stopped by the 26 miles of the English Channel. For an outside power to intervene in the affairs of Sri Lanka, it has to Commit a clear and Overt act of agression. No great power will do so from purely altruistic motives. There must be self-interest in it for them. Let us first Consider the USA and USSR. Forgetting Exocet, suppose the Tamils promise Trincomalee harbour after Eelam is established. Can they be teppted by this offer? C, ot this offer be countered by the Sinhalese with the offer of 'Trincomalee now' to the rival power or to the same power? How many years of effort it took to persuade the Massachchusets State Legislature to pass a resolution about the Tamil problem? How many years have gone by since then without any other State following suit? My guess is that if one asks Reagan, 'Where is Sri Lanka', he is likely to grin and counter with, "Is it On the Moon or Mars?' So much for great power intervention. India did intervene and act as the midwife in the bih of Bangladesh. But it
yQinot from altruistic motives. India had fought two wars with Pakistan, a sizeable foe, and at any time, there was this risk of war on two fronts, east and West. Came the Bangladesh crisis, and India saw the Opportunity to dismember Pakistan into two independent states, and thus become the supreme power in the Indian Sub-Continent and remove the threat of war on two fronts. That was the achievement of Mrs. Gandhi. But is it india's self interest to see Sri Lanka dismembered? What india wants is a secure southern flank. That interest is served by a strong united Sri Lanka. The breakup of Sri Lanka into two nations, with dhe possibility of great power ntervention, is not in India's
interest. In fact, it runs Counter to her interest, because the breakup of Sri Lanka will increase the fissiparious tendenties in India. Note with what despatch Mr. Vaikunthavasan was deported from India. To sum up, in point form:-
1. Participation - disgraced and destroyed by Ponnambalam.
2. United, federal Sri Lanka - attempt to persuade the Sinhala people was never made.
3. Eelam by non-violence -
a OnStarter.
4. Eelam by un-aided violence - likely to result in an "Irish sore".
5. Eelam by violence aided by an outside power - a
On-starter.
LIBERATION COUNCILABSENTEE RADICALISM
This brings us to Amirthalingam and Sivasithamparam. But before that, a few words about the Tamil Eelam Liberation Council. In every Tamil play and Tamil film, there is always a comic side show, even if the main play is a stark tragedy. When one enters public life, one must expect a few brickbats, so I hope the gentlemen of the TELC will not mind unduly what I am going to say about them. ln Management Science, they will be defined as being in the 'Self Actualisation' stage of their careers. That is, they have achieved their secondary needs of a good home, the usual luxuries, a good car, etc. But still they feel unfulfilled. They want to do something noble. What better cause for an expatriate Tamil than the cause of the downtrodden Tamils? So they form the Tamil Eelam Liberation Council, and in due course they will make a Unilateral Declaration of independence, for a Government in Exile, hoist the Eelam flag in London or New York, make stirring patriotic speeches, perhaps have a

TAMITMES 11
Freedom Dinner, and go to bed. Perhaps some of them may dream of a Tamil crown in the night. The following morning they will get up, get dressed in a full suit of black or white gown as the case may be, and go about their professional duties. Meanwhile, back in Sri Lanka the price for their patriotism will be paid by others. Periasamy of Hatton Estate will only have his head bashed in and his life separated from his body, a young Tamil woman in some corner of the Country will suffer a fate worse than death, Tamils living in Colombo and elsewhere will flee in fear and since Yogeswaran has not yet rebuilt his house, the house of another TULF MP will be burnt, and several dozen youth will be taken in and terrible things done to them, so that they cry, "Aiyo, ammah, ammah' in the silence of the night. Very neat, gentlemen, very neat, your absentee radicalism.
AMIR AND SIVA
So let us get back to Amirthalingam and Sivasithamparam. When Jinnah was asked what he thought of the Holy Ouoran, he replied, "I understand and agree with 95% of what is said in the Ouo, an. About the balance, 5%, probably the Ouoran is right and I am wrong'. Such faith we do not have in our elected, acknowledged leaders. They have been in politics for 30 years. Now they are in the prime of their lives.
that they are intelligent
Assuming reasonably people, CaՈոOt Օրe assume that this long apprenticeship has taught them a thing or two about politics and the national question? Participation a la the Muslims is not possible for the Tamils now. Too much bitterness has been created. Governments have tried to Create artificial 'leaders' and graft them on to the Tamils, with dismal results, e.g. Vaithianathan in Mannar and Kumarasuriar in Kilinochchi. The only
practical avenue open is some modus vivendi with the Government. Let Amirthalingam and Sivaithamparam get the best they can. Let us not ask them for term reports. For the first time after 1956, an agreement between the Government and the Tamil leaders has been honoured, however anaemic and unsatisfying the agreement is. If we think the leaders have grown stale and are not delivering the goods, let us quietly change them, instead of breaking up the umbrella organisation which Chelvanayakam built up over 20 years.
ETHNICOUOTAS
This essay is about the disastrous way we Tamils have played the minority hand that fate dealt us. Sad to say, even after gaining so much experience, ve continue to play badly. Let me cite two examples. In the Tamil Times of Nov. 1982, there is condemnation of ethnic quotas for employment and education. Il can only state that whoever wrote it is living in the past. Firstly, it is exactly ethnic quotas we will get under federalism Or Eelam. Secondly, at present, in employment, the minorities DO NOT HAVE their due share. If the Government promises to recruit according to ethnic quotas and bring up the strength of the minorities in each service in their due share, then we should jump at it. To illustrate; in the Armed Services of 15,000or So men, are 3,750 or 25% from the minorities? Are 2,500 policemen out of 10,000 Tamils and Muslims? In the State Corporations, what percentage of minorties arethere-e.g. Salu Sala, Land Reform Commission, etc. In the Sri Lanka Administrative Service, every year there has been an intake of 50 graduates. Less than 5 have been from the minorities. And this is a vital service, as they control day to day administration and decision making, recruit
CONTD ON P.14

Page 12
12 TAMILTIMES
ABOUTPEOPLE
R. MAHADEVA
This is the text of a speech made by Mr. C. Kathi resan, President of SCOT at the funeral of Mr. R. Mahadeva On 13th March 1983. "We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of a very dear friend, Mr. Mahadeva (Maha as he was affectionately known). What I have undertaken to do this morning is a painful and difficult tasks. Painful, because I would have, like I am sure most of you, preferred to seek refuge in my thoughts, rather than give expression to it in words. Difficult, because this is an occasion where private grief only heightens a sense of loss to the community at large. Rajasingham Mahadeva was born in December 1929. After completing his education at Jaffna Hindu College he joined the Telecommunication Department in 1947. He came to this country in 1963 and qualified as an
Electrical Engineer in 1967. After a brief spell with London Transport, he spent seven months working in Libya. On his return to the UK in 1968 he joined Eastern Gas where he worked right up to the time of his death. Life was hard for those who arrived in this country in the 1960s, particularly for those who brought their young families to the bed-sit lands, of Bayswater and Paddington. Many of you who lived with him at Richmond Court and later Parsons House will bear ample testimony to Maha's unselfishness and his natural instinct to extend a helping hand to those he
Carne acroSS. One facet of his life, which we will all remember, was his humility. He was neither charismatic nor flamboyant, but he was a quiet tower of strength. In a world of takers he was a giver. Compared to many of you here today, I have known him only since 1972. But Maha was a person you didn't have to know long, to realise that he was a special person. He extended himself
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MARCH 1983
far beyond his immediate family and close friends. His social Commitment was deep, constructive and sincere. In November 1979, SCOT was desperate in its search for a Secretary. approached Maha, and his response was Symbolic of the man. He said to me that he had always wanted to be of some service to the community, and now that he had got over the worst of his health problems after his coronary by-pass operation, he would gladly accept the responsibility. How fortunate this decision was for those of us in SCOT. He has been our Secretary from that day right up to the time of his death. During these three years he committed his time open-endedly to SCOT. His home was not merely the address on our letter-head - it was in fact the focal point of the whole organisation. He took his task very seriously and brought to ita rare Combination of vision, knowledge and zeal. His vision Was not revealed in speeches but through his work. He was extremely knowledgable and versatile in his interests. Above all, he brought to his job as Secretary his great appetite for hard work - which we will find extremely difficult to replace. Even during his brief illness which preceded his unti mely death, his dedication was unswerving and undiminished. On one of my visits to see him at the hospital, he produced an article from the Guardian which described how the work of smaller charities like ours could work in collaboration with some of the internationally recognised charities in the UK. About this time last Sunday, we had a meeting in my house. Maha was present and his usual self - making his point without generating too much heat. None of us around that table imagined that we would gather here today, as we have, to mourn his loss.
The only consolation we can offer Mrs. Mahadeva, who has lost a loving and caring
husband, Bobby, Kumudini, Jayanthi and Nalini, their beloved Poppa, and all his close relatives to whdhe was a source of strength, is that here was a man who did not waste his life. His memory will be a shining beacon of the best of human qualities. We have all lost a dear friend. The world around us has suddenly shrunk, to the extent that his death has removed from it one of its rare and noble men.
MISS KIRUBA MATHIAPARANAM The death of Miss Kirubai Mathiaparanam, Principal Emeritus of the Pandaterrupu Girls' School, Jaffna, occurred on 2.2.82. Her father, two sisters ang Nother were all distingus ed educationalists. She was a grand-daughter of the late Dr. William Paul, founder of the present Jaffna Civil Hospital which he eventually handed over to the Govern
ment. She pioneered modern methods of teaching in the Kindergarten section of the UduVi Girls' School, and laid the foundation for an excellent Kindrgarten department which exists to this day. While she was at Uduvil she also assisted the late Miss L.K. Clark (of the American Mission) as lecturer at the training school in the premises. ܫܚ ln 1939 when the Bilir, sual School was moved to Pandaterrupu, she was appointed its first Principal. She was a Woman of classic culture, poise, integrity and sound judgement. She launched into new management techniques and systems in the school which included casestudies, discussion and roleplaying to illustrate the practical application and relevance of theoretical conCepts. Thus, the school grew into a large cmprehensive School on an equal footing with older schools like Uduvil, Vembadi andChundikuli. Even during her retirement she made it her responsibility to be of service to
CONTD ON P.17

Page 13
MARCH 1983
JAFFNA Y.M.C.A. APPEALS
The Jaffna Y.M.C.A. was founded in 1890 with Sir William Twynam as its first President. It established its Headquarters in Chundikuli in 1962 and has added to its buildings by the construction of a Chapel, Library and Gymnasium in 1981. The Y.M.C.A. complex now provides a Hostel, Restaurant, Auditorium, Chapel, Library, Gymnasium and Administration Block. We have on our membership at present 125 Youth members and 240 Adult members. Per qrammes are conducted terve the needs of our members by having Day Camps, Leadership and Character-building programmes for youth, tournaments and sport festivals in Indoor and Outdoor games, Talent Contests, speare Drama Oratorical Contests, Bible Ouiz, assistance to poor children through Nordic
Contests,
Shake
Children's Fund Programme, etC.
In order to extend our services to the community and to undertake additional programmes of work, it has become necessary to increase the income of the Y.M.C.A. especially at a time when due to inflation and increase in wages, it has not been possible to employ adequate staff. The Y.M.C.A. has, therefore, decided to participate in the Capital Projects Fund Campaign which has been launched by the National Council of Y.M.C.A.S. in Sri Lanka, in order to equip the Library and Gymnasium, to clear our present debt on the last building project undertaken in 1981, and also to establish on our present premises a Shopping Complex which would cater to the membership and also to the general community and bring the Y.M.C.A. an income estimated at Rs.5,000/- per month. This would also be of service to the community by maintaining fair prices which would benefit those who shop at this complex. The
cost of this additional build
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TAMILTIMES13 SSSLLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS -RAJAS/VGHAM MAHADEVA
We regretto announce the untimely death of Rajasingham Mahadeva, Secretary of the Standing Committee of Tamil Speaking People (SCOT) and an enthusiastic supporter of Tamil Times.
Mrs. Kanagalakshmi Mahadeva, Bobby, Kumudhini, Jayanthi and Nalini sincerely thank all friends and relatives who attended the funeral, sent messages of sympathy and floral tribute and those who helped the
family in connection with the funeral arrangements.
ng and the equipment reuired for the Gymnasium and Library is estimated at Rs.225,000/-. The National Council of Y.M.C.As. of Sri anka has undertaken to give is a grant up to Rs.100,000/- brovided we raise the balince RS.125,000/-. Wethereore take this opportunity of appealing to those of you nterested in the development of the Y.M.C.A. and in he service that it can render o the youth and the community at large, to give us a generous contribution. Those contributing Rs.500/- and over, if they wish to obtain income tax relief, should make out their heques in favour of the National Council of Y.M.C.As. of Sri Lanka, which s an Approved Charity, and
=专荔
forward same to us. Those who contribute Rs.5000/- and over in their names or in memory of a loved one, would have this suitably commemorated on a plaque in our new building. We earnestly appeal to you to give us a contribution which would enable us to carry out the purposes for which this Campaign has been launched.
D.A. Aseerwatham Director
M. Thambithura Secretary
R.J. Gunaratnam Chairman
J.M. Sabaratnam Co-Chairman
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Page 14
14 TAM TIMES
CONTD FROM P.11 ment etc. In the Survey De
partment with 8,000 employees, less than 1,000 are Tamils and Muslims. Of Course with ethnic quotas, we will lose a few dozen of the high visibility places in the Medical, Engineering and Science Faculties of the Universities. But we will gain thousands of ordinary jobs thus the ordinary man will benefit. The Smart lads and lasses who narrowly miss the university entrance can look after themselves pretty well.
My second example conCerns the recent Presidential Elections. Four people have held political power in Sri anka after 1956, SWRD
Bandaranaike, Mrs. Bandaranaike, Dudley Senanayake, and J. R.
Jayewardene. All the three men tried in some small way to assuage the Tamil problem. SWRD and Dudley were not men enough to honour the agreements they reached. Mr. Jayewardene is the only man who has honoured his word. The lady, throughout her long years of
rule, completely ignored the Tamil problem. In fact it was she who introduced standardisation. But what do the people of Jaffna in their wisdom do? They go and vote for Mr. Kobbekkaduwa, a front man for Mrs. Bandaranai ke and a man with a visceral hatred of the Indian Tamils, in preference to Mr. Jayewardene! The Indian Tamils and Colombo Tamils gave Mr. Jayewardene record majorities, but the people of Jaffna perhaps saw only the Army and Navy in Jaffna and gave him third place.
MAJORITY WITHA MINORITY COMPLEX. My penultimate paragraph is about the way the Sinhalese have played their hand. David Selbourne has made the perspicacious observation that the Sinhalese are a majority with a minority complex. They see the dark mass of the Tamils in South india and ancient fears govern their actions. But as has been demonstrated in practice during the past 35 years, no amount of repat
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riation or emigration is going to reduce the Tamil population appreciably. About 18% of the population of Sri Lanka will remain Tamil. One cannot wish away two and a half million people. Let us draw a homely metaphor again. When Independence came, the Sinhalese were like a man who had married a woman whose loyalties he was not sure of, but the marriage was indissoluble. He thought her loyalties were with her brothers across the fence. A mature, adult man, free of complexes, would have figured out that the best course for him under the circumstances was to Completely win her over and her loyalty, which could have been easily done by showering her with gifts and affection and treating her generously. Instead, he refused to speak her language even a little bit in the night, he abused her and beat her, and on one infamous night, he burnt all her books, etc. Now, she, who wanted to live with him as a partner, has come to the point of separation. A Psychiatrist once made a very relevant observation. He said that even in a murder, there is the murderer and the murderee and both contribute to the murder. On the day he said this, a headline in the newspapers said that a man had stabbed and killed his brother over two rupees. Reading the small type revealed that the murdered man was a habitual drunkard and wastrel who came home only to demand money from the aged father, and had come home on the day in question fully drunk and started pestering the father for two rupees for more. drinks. The hardworking and sober brother who earned the money had then flown into a rage and stabbed the drunken brother to death. So, perhaps, both the Sinhalese and the Tamils have contributed to the present situation in Sri Lanka. If we accept this, we may be able to move forward. Anyone who thinks that the violent movement among the Tamil youth can be put down by
MARCH 1983
force of arms, without removing the underlying Causes, is making a serious mistake. Only supreme statesmanship, on both sides, can take us out of the present impasse. THE WINNING CARD Lastly, a word to you personally, dear reader, to you. YOU, sitting in the comfort of your sitting room can play a Card on behalf of the Tamils, and that cars' vill prove to be a winner. (1) Our long term objective throughout has been the preservation of the Tamil language and culture. We came to the demand for Eelam only because Mr. Chelvanayakam's long Guest for a united, federal Sri Lanka ended in failure. Whet you are in Sri Lanka, A India, Singapore, Britain, America or Mauritius, call your son or daughter or nephew or niece living with you and make him or her sit comfortably by your side. Ask the question Chelvanayakam asked us more than 30 years ago, "What is a keerthanai'. If the child does not know, take steps to have our ancient music taught to the child. There are schools even in London for this purpose. (2) Now ask the duestion, 'Do you know Tamil?'. If the answere is "Koncham, Koncham theriyum', take steps to see that the child answers, "Opa, na lahath theriyum" af two years. Then you will not See the heartrending sight of doting grandparents, their hearts overflowing with love, being unable to Communicate a few words with grandchildren during their infrequent visits back home. (3) If you are a Tamil Christian, you are well served in any part of the world. But if you are a Tamil Hindu, your child probably knows nothing of the intricacies of Hindu thought and will probably Start counting if you ask how many Gods are there in the Hindu religion. You can take steps to see that the child learns at least the rudiments of Bakthi Markam, if there is no time for Gnana Markam. In this connection,
COND ON P.2O

Page 15
MARCH 1983
WORLD TAMIL CONFERENCE IN SINGAPORE
The Sixth International Conference and Seminar of Tamil Studies will be held in Singapore in June this year. The actual dates are not yet known. The main academic area of emphasis at the Conference will be Tamil Studies related to the South East Asia Region. Papers on Language, Literature, Society and History, Culture and Arts will be also presented at the Conference.
The Steering Committee has Mr. S.M. Vasagar as Presi: "ent and Messrs. M.S. reerappan and T. Sivanathan as Joint Secretaries. The office of the Steering
Committee will be at 35,
PRINTING INSTITUTE TO BESET UP
Proposals are afoot for the creation of the Sri Lanka institute of Printing to train personnel in printing technology and to improve printing standards.
All the study courses in the proposed Institute will be as prepared by the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation in the USA.
At present over Rs.400,000 in foreign exchange is spent for the training of printers abroad, and with the setting up of SLIP, all the required training could be given within the country.
A Diploma Course at the SLIP is expected to cost in the region of Rs. 18,000. Students from other countries are
Norris Road, Singapore likely to be admitted for (O820). training at the Institute.
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TAMILTIMES 15
CONTO FROM P 1
to Rs.39.32. The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has also increased the price of LP gas by Rs. 1 a kilo. The present diesel subsidy of Rs.3.50 per gallon to the CGR and CTB has also been withdrawn. The present subsidy is worth Rs. 12 million monthly with the CTB benefiting by Rs.9 million. The withdrawal of his subsidy gas inevitably ed to increased transport ares.
Among the items in regard to Which BTT has been doubled are soft drinks, carbonated waters, dried fish, textiles, milk foods, flour, macaroni, noodles, eggs, salt, pharmaceuticals, canned fruit and vegetables, rice and a host of other articles. BTT on cigarettes, beedies, cheese, soap, ooth powder, butter, cocoa powder etc. are up by 5 per
ent.
Price of cigarettes has gone up by 5 cents each, bread by 30 cents a loaf, a pint of milk by 90 cents and Lakspray
(infant food) from Rs. 14.85 to RS. 18.35.
To cushion the impact of his rather savage measures, the Finance Minister announced a salary increase of Rs.100 a month to all public servants, local government employees and pensioners drawing less than Rs.1000 a month. Employees in the private sector covered by wages boards and collective agreements would get automatic adjustments in their earnings, and he expressed the hope that employers not covered by wages boards and collective agreements to make similar adjustments. This salary increase is unlikely to have any real compensating effect upon the living conditions of the mass of the people affected by the severity of the budgetary measures. The honeymoon days of the 'open economy' are definitely at an end and the harsh realities of the financial bungling of the last five years have finally come home to rOOSt.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE PLANTATION WORKERS OF SRI LANKA
APRIL23-24, 1983
At Hampstead Town Hall, Haverstock Hill, London NW3
Contributions by: O Fr. Paul
Justice.
O Dr. David Selbourne, Lecturer, Ruskin
College, Oxford.
O Rachel Kurien, Author of ILOpublication: ''Women in the Sri Lankan Plantation
Sector'.
O Kumudhini Samuel, Women Centre, Sri
Lanka and many others.
Organised by the Sri Lanka Research and information Group, 9 Grays Inn Building, Rosebury Avenue, London EC1
Caspersz S.J., Movement for Inter Racial Equality and
President,
TAMILWOMEN'S LEAGUE
Ols organising a day trip to SriSkantha Temple in Wales.
For details, please ring 01-2262367.
O Will behaving a Social Evening on 23 April 1983. Only limited number of tickets available. Please telephone:
O1-4359584.

Page 16
16 TAMILTIMES
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
POLITICS OR SEMANTICS2
R. Ganeshan, in his article titled "Migra and the Sri Lankan Press' (Tamil Times, Vol 11, No. 2, December 1982, pp 6-7), uses such terms as 'inter racial harmony', 'ethnic conflict" and 'Tami nation', as if 'race', "ethnicity' and "nation' Were interchangeable concepts. In fact, they are logically desparate elements, with different meanings and cannot be welded into a unity.
Leaving aside his ignorance of concepts, I wish to know what criteria he employs to establish that the Tamils and Sinhalese are of different 'race'. What he fails to recognise is that the term "race' is so vague and ambiguous that it is never employed in the theoretical disCussion of a national problem. Furthermore, emp
loying such concepts as ''ethnic conflict' to explain the national question in Ceylon, is not only reactionary but also alien to social Science. The truth of the matter is that Ceylon is a country where two nations exist within a unitary state structure. The dernand of the Tamil nation - Eelam - for the right of self-determination is a national question, not a racial or ethnic one.
What does Ganeshan mean when he mentions "national leaders' and 'national press"? Is he talking about the press and leaders of one nation – be it Eelam or Sri Lanka - or is he referring to the whole country?
Worst of all is the usage of the term 'ethnic nation', a concept not to be found in any theories of nationalsim -
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MARCH 1983
Marxist, cultural, psychological or 'ideological' variants of nationalism. What Ganeshan attempts to do is to transform his individual ignorance into collective ignorance. Unfortunately, the poverty of theory is a typical reflection of the state of affairs in Ceylon. I do not expect an informative journal such as 'Tamil Times' to elevate its contents to the realm of science. However, it is not unreasonable to expect it to avoid employing idiosyncratic notions.
M. Maha Uthaman (Tutor in Social Theory, The National University of Ireland, Cork, Eire). 20 February, 1983.
A MINE OF INFORMATION
May introduce myself as Prof. V. Suryanarayan, Centre for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Madras, Madras. The main focus of our Centre is on Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Special
emphasis is laid on the study of contemporary problems including the problems of the Indian minorities. Though most of my work had been on international Relations, I am also interested in the problems of Tamil Communities abroad. I have contributed a chapter on "Malaysian Indians' in the recently published book "Indians in Southeast Asia'edited by I.J. Bahadur Singh (Sterling Publishers, New Delhi, 1982). I was in Sri Lanka recently and had the good fortune of going through the back issues of Tamil Times. Your journal is a mine of information and shall be grateful if you will include my name in you mailing list Needless to sa: Tamil Times will be of great use to the faculty and students of our Centre.
Dr. V. Suryanarayan Professor and Head, Centre for South and Southeast Asian Studies
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MARCH 1983
COURSE ON TAMIL CULTURE
The Department of Tamil Studies in Foreign Countries, Tamil University, organised a 30-day Course entitled "An introduction to Tamil Culture' for foreign students, teachers and Scholars interested in Tamil Studies from 18th December 1982 to 16th January 1983. Twenty participants from the following countries followed the Course: London (2), South Africa (7), Sri Lanka (1), Mauritius (2), Malaysia (6) and Fiji (2). The Course comprised three weeks of lectures on various aspects of * mil Culture and a weekring tour covering Madurai, Tirunelveli, Suchindram, Kanniyakumari, Tiruchendur and Rameswaram, in addition to short weekend tours. The course was conducted in the campus of the Tamil University, Thanjavur. Thanjavur (Tanjore) is the district headquarters of the district bearing the same name which is well-known as the granary of So, th India. It is
about 220 miles from Madras and is well connected by day and overnightfast trains. The nearest airport is at Tiruchirappalli which is about 35 miles from Than
javur. Several of the participants were teachers teaching
Tamil, mostly at school level. Very few had had an opportunity of visiting the Tamil Country and understanding the various facets of Tamil Culture. Their knowledge of Tamil language and Culture WaS mostly acquired through books only.
Besides the Tamil teachers, there were also undergraduate abd post-graduate students, research scholars working on Indology or Tamilogy and post-doctoral fellows interested in Tamil Studies.
Another aim of the course was to give an opportunity to those who were interested in Tamil studies to come over to Tamil Nadu to learn and understand the various aspects Of Tamil culture in a short period. The lectures were in English.
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TAMITMES 17
TA/M/L ED/TOR V/CT/M OF
RACIST THREATS
An incident happened a few lays ago, when an Editorial Consultant" in Lake House valked into the room of the Editor of the THINAKARAN, he Lake House Tamil daily, Ind gave vent to a racist butburst in the presence and "iew of the editoral staff of he paper, during working lours!
The Editor of the THINAKARAN is Mr. Sivaguunathan, who is not only a enior journalist with long tervice at Lake House but the resident of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists' Assocation that represents the bulk of the working journlists in all three language nedia-Sinhala, Tamil and inglish. The "Consultant" Iramatised his entry into the :ditor's room by banging the -hair in front of him and then vent into a frenzy of abuse ind threats, called Mr. SivaJurunathan "you Kallathoni' illicit immigrant), threatned to end his Editorship, Isked him what right he had
to be a lecturer at the Ceylon Law College (Mr. Sivagurunathan is also an Advocate of the Supreme Court and Lecturer in Legal Systems and Muslim Law) and made such a noise that the entire Lake House knew of the incident. The provocation that made the "Consultant' act in the way he did was the fact that the Working Journalists' Association had suspended him from membership following various allegations that he was trying to set up a rival professional organisation. The 'Consultant' had later in the day repeated the threats on Mr. Sivagurunathan at the Moors Islamic Cultural Home where the Association held a meeting and told him in Sinhala: 'Go back to Jaffna." The Secretary of the Association has written to the management of Lake House requesting an inquiry into the incident.
ARMY ME/WAMBUSHED
ive youths ambushed 2 rmy vehicles round about 6 .m. on Friday (4 March) at he Umayalpuram cuivert on he main road, Kilinochchi, pened fire injuring five oldiers and made their getway in a hijacked car.
he youths had earlier larked a hijacked lorry near he culvert and booby
trapped it. As an army truck nd an armoured car neared ne culvert, the youths set off n explosion and opened fire njuring Corporal H. R. Ariytileke (26), N. M. Perera (24), I. M. A. Somasiri (35), W. G. joonetilleke (36) and Sisirau mara (36).
he five youths-three of nem in army fatigues and rrned with sub machine uns, two in Sarongs toting un-had then stopped a "atsun Car (12 Sri 3094) at he Paranthan junction, told he owner Kumar, proprietor f a firm in Kilinochchi, "we re the real tigers, we need Our car' offloaded him and nother person in the car and peeded off towards Mullai.
CONTD FROM P.12
tivu. The car was later found abandoned on the Mullaitivu road. The lorry, belonging to the Anuradhapura MPCS, is reported to have been earlier hijacked at gunpoint at Murukandy. The lorry driver and the cleaner were tied up and bundled into a van which was later found abandoned behind the Umayalpuram temple. The injured soldiers were rushed to the Jaffna Hospital where an emergency operation was performed on N. M. Perera who had received head injuries. Sisirakumara was discharged after treatment for slight injuries. Hospital sources say the other 4 soldiers who are warded are out of danger.
people from the church as well as the community. People from all walks of life loved and respected her. Her home was open to all who needed comfort and care.
RANEE KULANAYAGAM

Page 18
18 TAMILTIMES
CONTD FROMP.7 his son-in-law Natesapillai and nephew Mahadeva were pleading most eloquently (in the debate on the Soulbury Commission Report) that the Sinhalese must be trusted and should be given a chance to prove their benevolence to the Tamils. In 1956 they were compelled to leave the U.N.P. even more disillusioned than their wise and more farsighted forebear. Space does not permit me to go into greater details of the Sordid history of this period, but it is enough if we can take note of the fact that for fifty years since Ramanathan's prophetic warning, generation after generation of our leaders have persisted in each one of them trying out this cooperate-with-the-Sinhalese-and-get-as-much -as-you-can-for-the-Tamils type of defeatist politics. One can only hope that the present Tamil Parliamentary leadership is made a different calibre although, may be, some of them do not believe in a self-ruling Tamil Ceylon as a viable proposition. We have to recognize the fact that, after all, President J.R.
Jayawardene is the leader of the Sinhalese people. Like all heads of government before him he has his own ideas about how best to serve his people and how to run the government. He sought and obtained the mandate of his people to do just that. If his concept of democracy does not conform to the textbook, that is the business of the people who gave him the mandate. The Tamils have no say in the matter, and their position would not be any better even if he had abided by the textbook rules of democracy. Criticizing him on that Score is pointless. STARK REALITY But where the President has done wrong is in emulating the previous governments and converting Tamil Ceylon into an Army-cum-Police state and unleashing oppression, and that is exactly the ideal situation where the students and the young all the World over organize themselves for protection and resistance. Young Tamil Ceylon is not different, and apparently it has realized the need to organize for protection of the life and prop
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erty of the people, the need for a national defensive bulwark - something in the nature of the mosquito coils that are used in Jaffna to keep away the swarms of mosquitos to get a night of restful sleep. And who can blame them? If they argue that had there been such an organized effort, the Jaffna Grand Bazaar shopping centre might have been protected from the repeated attacks of arson and pillage it was subjected to, that the Chunnakam shopping centre could have been saved from a like fate, that the Jaffna Public Library could have been saved from that total destruction, and so on, there is no answer, and nobody is in a position to offer any alternative.
That is the stark reality as the TAMILTIMES editorial put it. Pushed to the wall, young
Tamil Ceylon is carrying on a heroic struggle for the ideal it has decided on as the only solution for the otherwise unsolvable ethnic problem. It is a national struggle to ensure a homeland for generations to come, and all the polls since 1956 have demonstrated that the entire people are behind it. This then is the context in which the new and surprising move for an all-party parliamentary committee for further talks and negot tions comes. What causes dismay is not the move itself, but the reported opinion on the part of the Tamil Parliamentary leadership that the proposal is worth looking into. The biggest service that anybody can do at this juncture is to do or say nothing that might undermine the people's struggle or dampen the spirit of resistance it represents.
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MARCH 1983
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Page 20
2O TAMIL TIMES
Siva temple in black granite planned in Hawaii islands
Plans for a Siva temple of black granite in South Indian style to be put up in the Hawaiian islands of the U.S. are being finalised.
The unusual structure, claimed to be the only one of its size, will be built in Tamil Nadu by about 800 workmen in five years and then dismantled, block by block and shipped to the Pacific to be 'assembled' and put up there.
Not since the days of the Cholas nine centuries ago has anything like this been done, it was claimed.
The idea has been Con
ceived by H.H. Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, the American monk, who founded the Saiva Siddhanta Church in Hawaii in 1957. Told in a vision to search in a bush he retrieved a huge 'lingam'. A new Lingam will be installed over the one found out by the Swami and behind it will be a bronze image of Nataraja. The tower will be 20 metres tall.
Details about this project, estimated to cost around
cussed by him with Mr. V. Ganapathi Sthapathi, the temple architect, who heads the Government School of Sculpture, Mahabalipuram.
H.H. Sri Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, said the temple would turn out to be a place of pilgrimage. 'This is the best gift that Tamil Nadu can offer' his American disciple Sri Siva Siva Palani Swami, added.
H. H. Sri Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, who has already erected a Siva Nataraja temple in Kauai, encourages the spirit of mission in Saivite Hindu communities around the world and creates facilities to raise the younger generation in religion. He has been establishing temples in the U.S.
CONTD FROM P.14
such books as the one published by Mr. K. Gnanasooriyan - "Saivite Hinduism, a Primer for Beginners' and available for f2 at the London Saiva Centre, 72 King Edward Road, London
Published by TAM L TIMES, and printed by Modern Offset Litho.
Greenford, Middle sex. Tel: 01 - 575 2964
 
 

BOOK REVIEW INDIA and SRI LANKA Beauty that Never Fades: (Ancient and recent history of Sri Lanka); Co-authors: Amal Ghose and Charlotte Rajpakse (Amendra) Rajesh Publications, 1, Ansari Road, Daryagnj, New Delhi 11 OOO2; Rs.60.
It is history which shows the glorious past, guides the present and forecasts the future. If history were to measure simply the past of man, it would not have secured the right to exist. It has its own beauty, the beauty that never fades irrespective of the lacerations and indents on its face by the lash of time.
The book is written by two different persons who belong to two different nations, two different sexes. One belongs to Sri Lanka and the other India.
Both the countries have passed through the turmoil of Emergency - good or bad, have passed through the same ex
Gnanasooriyan has played
an ace. (4) If, after doing all
these basic things, you still
have time and money left,
you can form a group and
adopt a school or a village or some institution back home and give meaningful aid. For example, Mrs. Thatcher has, through her Government, provided every secondary School in Britain with a computer. Not one school in Sri Lanka has one. Now Personal Computers are available for less than 1,000 dollars. Your group can donate a personal computer to a deserving school. Or you can endow Research Fellowships to a Tamil University and thus see that the staff of the universities remain at their posts and thus benefit the students. Publication of the Tamil Times, contributions to Libraries back home, etc are really worthwhile deeds, because the payment is by you and not by some unfortunate back home. The Jews wandered all over the earth without a land of their own, hunted and persecuted everywhere, but they managed to keep their religion and their language and their culture intact for 2,000 years. We too
Ca.
MARCH 1983
periences, had the privilege of having woman Prime Ministers, have seethed in the cauldron of slavery and that too under the same Emperors, have more or less the same religions.
The book will unseal and widenthe horizons which Were sealed or otherwise narrowed. It will calm the turbulent minds of the people who consider a man different from the other, it will shake the human frame with emotions pleasant. Why can't we live together?
One may feel that the title presupposes beauty that fades. Can beauty which fades be beauty? Is it its manifestation? These are some thoughts which may taint the taste of the title. The authors have given its explanation in the last chapter - Aesthetic Excellence'. Beauty manifested in the palpable fo'S may fade away with the for, but the spirit behind it never dies, never fades. The book begins with "Around 45 A.D.' ... and ends with... "the land renowned for its rubies, pearls and sapphires of eternal beauty?' and between them comprise 185 pages replete with ancient and recent history of Sri Lanka. The authors make the readers take a vicarious trip to Ceylon - Sri Lanka and with it the mainland that is India-Bharatodesh. The readers meet Sri Lankan dignitaries of different walks of life-politics, government, social work, arts, sports, etc., with refreshing reference to India. Mandav Gadh near Dhar, Rabindran Tagore, the everpresent spiro, and his Vishwabharati and Shatiniketan, Mahatma Gandhi, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Lata Mangeshkar, etc. have the place of honour in the book. Knowledgeable readers feel that the mainland and the isle are so intertwined with each other that the problems of culture and history and politics and social work are almost indentical. The observation of the authors that the media and the universities of both the countries have been neglecting each other for long, should not remain a cry in the wilderness and before it is too late something substantial should be done and the reviewer wishes that the sooner
it is done the better.
H.M. SSODA
By courtesy of "The Hindu'.