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TAMIL TIMES Wol. No.4
February 1984 Price 60p
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION UK India/Sri Lanka.......
Published monthly by TAMIL TIMES LTD P.O. BOX 304 London W13 9GN United Kingdom
| CONTENTs
| Editorial.......................... 2 All Party Conference.................. 3 | Letter to Reagan......... 4.
Mathew doctrine ......... . . . . . . . . . 5
David Nellish in Parliament................ . . . . . . ES
We are shattered.............. ..了
NeWS from Sri Lanka.................. B US arms to Sri Lanka...............
Evolution of Tamil question......12 From the Press - Canada.16 From the Press - Nigeria...... 17
Book Reviews........................... 18
Prof. Eliezer Award.................. 19
Tamil Centre in London............ 2O
Views expressed by Contributors are mot ng Cessarily those of the editor Ort the publishers.
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PLANT HARA
Thegovernmenthas oi thousands of Tamil f: Wavuniya, Mullaitivu, conalee districts. The of these districts have effect the eviction with Security forces.
M0st of the famil Tamils who had been plantations and were di Violence in 1977 and th three occasions.
These families had b dhiyan and other volu on lands which were fungles. The iungles 10TTI PLIS COSL aldab
 

TAMIL TIMES
Annual Subscription Rates UK India/Sri Lanka. E7.50 All other Countries....... 12.50
LJS SE
FEBRUARY 1984
E oFDEsPERATion
ATION TAMILS SSED AND EVICTED
"dered the eviction of amilies living in the Mannar and Tringover IIlent agents been authorised to the assistance of the
ies Concerned are Working in the Lea splaced due to racial Creafter, at least on
|CCn. Settled by GanIntary organisations : Previously thick
Wr cleared at LIT arc the displaced
families were resettled and rehabilitated. They cultivated these lands on 1 լ միoperative self-help basis. Most of the people affected by the forcible eviction orders have lived in these areas since 1977.
Destroying crops
The government, through its security forces, has been harassing these families, torturing then and destroying their Crմբ: frequently for the last four years. This campaign of harassment has been the subicct of several reports by delegations of the Movement for Inter-Racial Justice and
TURN TO PAGE 2
m

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2 TAMIL TIMES
The so-called All Party talks which commenced on January 11, and were in session for several days, have not even produced a set of proposals to enable meaningful discussions to continue. The proposals that Wereworked out as a basis for the Conference between Colombo and New Delhi would appear to have been sidestepped, and the discussions apparently have proceeded aimlessly.
The entry of non-political party groups like the Buddhist priests, the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress and other delegations representing Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinistic vested interests has not only made the Conference too unwieldy and unmanageable, but also resuited in the Conference being saddled with extraneous issues which were never expected to be considered at the Conference.
initial expectation
The initial expectation that the Conference would start discussing at least the broad framework for a settlement of the grievances of the Tamil people on the basis of the proposals agreed between President Jayewardene and the Indian PM's special envoy, Mr Parthasarathy, has certainly been frustrated, primarily for two reasons.
Firstly, the negative attitude of the ruling UNP and the opposition SLFP, both of which have been engaged in a game of shadow boxing. Secondly, is the entry of Sinhala-Buddhist hardliners who have never conceded that the Tamil people
FROM PAGE 1.
Equality, which after on-the-spot investigations confirmed that there was a sustained campaign of violence, torture and destruction perpetrated upon the settlers by the security forces.
Since May 1983, Gandhiyam which has been looking after these families and catering for their needs, has been effectively
TALKS AT A on THE SINHA
suffer from any and therefore a ious evasive ar tics.
The apparent product of the opportunism o' himself who di courage to place ference the go set of proposals and therefore, tl for al and sund any idea they wa
Grievances
The Conferer Convened to di vances of the T. now apppointed consider the gi Communities'. demonstration o interested group cussing the su before the Conf
It is a refusal to recognise the the ethnic confli is a conflict aris that the Tamil pe distinct nationa and feel oppres: ply a question versity admissic
The Tamil p Wanted and do away anythingt Sinhala people. in fact, have the ion and cultura and are able to serve their iden nation. The Ta never presente identity or pre Sinhala nation.
smashed by the arre destruction of thei and other places.
"Stateless' peopl
Today, these hel evicted on the grou less' people. It was President Jayewarc
 

TANGENT LESE PROBLEM"
discrimination e adopting vard delaying tac
impasse is the vacillation and the President not have the before the Confernment's Own for discussion, je stage was set y to put forward inted discussed.
Ce which Was scuss the grieamil people has a Committee "to 'ievances of all his is a clear f the attempts by )s to evade disbstantive issue
BereCe.
understand and basic reason for ct in Sri Lanka. It ing from the fact ople constitute a ity and they are Bed. It is not simof jobs and unions alone. eople have not not Want to take hat belongs to the They can and do, r language, religand have been maintain and preity as the Sinhala mil people have a threat to the Servation of the
of its leaders, and the officers in Vavuniya
less families are being d that they are 'statenly a month ago, when ne was in New Delhi
ethnic conflict which has plagued the country for over 30 years. People often refer to the Tamil problem'. There is no such thing as a "Tamil problem' in Sri Lanka.
Likewise, the Tamil people do not want to be deprived of their language rights, religion and culture. On the contrary, they want to retain and preserve their culture. The retention and preservation of their identity does not and need not pose a threat to the Sinhalese nation.
it is old hat to say that the Sinhalese have only Sri Lanka, that Sinhalese is spoken only in Sri Lanka and that there are 50 million Tamils in South India and Tamilis can go there. That argument is wornt out and threadbare. It is no use saying to the Chinese in Singapore to forego their rights they hold dear to them on the basis that there is China with one billion people speaking Chinese
It is no good telling the French-speaking Canadians to forego their rights because there are millions of people speaking French in France
Legitimate aspirations
it is the failure, perhaps the refusal, to recognise the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people that has given rise to the
The problem is with the Sinhalese, perhaps more with their leaders, both political and religious, who cannot reconcile their aspirations to retain their language, religious, Culture and identity with those of the Tamil people. To be sure, it is essentially a Sinhalese problem.
attending the Non-Aligned Conference, that he said in an interview to the press that the problem of the 'stateless' people would be solved soon by the grant of citizenship.
The plight of these families is that they have no place to go to upon eviction from the lands where they have been settled. The motive of the government in harassing these people is to force them to go to India.

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ALL PARTY CONFERENCE
SLFP WIT
The prospect of reaching any consensus leading to any settlement at the All Party Conference on ethnic problems suffered a serious setback when one of the major Sinhala opposition parties, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) withdrew from participating in the Conference. Previously, the Majahana Eksath Peranumna (MEP), a small party with one MP in parliament, had already walked out.
Despite the withdrawal of the SLFP, the Conference has proceeded to set up three committees, comprising one delegate from each of the 16 delegations that are attending the Conference. One committee will look into the grievances of all communities, the second will examine decentralisation of authority at the district level while the third will investigate the causes of ethnic violence and terrorism.
It is perhaps a surprise, at least for those who thought the conference was convened to find solutions to the grievances of the Tamil people, to find that the conference is going to discuss the problems of all the people.
An embargo has lication of news c cussed at the confe end of each day, a by the Conference Athulaithmudali, i details.
Rather puzzling
THE SLFP's w ference is rather daranaike had earlie prepared, regardle ferences, to assist il the country's ethn added that the n should be granted th unitary state and t would face a majo) solution was found
The SLFP gave tv drawal. The first was trying to steer the cor
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SRI LANKA-U
Confidential sources in the State Department disclose that the Sri Lankan government has had secret talks with the Reagan administration to enter into a treaty
of 'friendship and co-operation' with the
government of the United States.
Since the assumption to power of President J. R. Jayawardene in 1977, there has been a right about-turn in foreign policy, from one of non-alignment to one of deeper and deeper involvement with the West, particularly the United States.
Deeper involvement
The Sri Lankan government has been negotiating with the US for the lease of the deep-water port of Trincomalee for the last three years and this has produced substantial local opposition within Sri Lanka and also acute concern in India. The accelerated pace of deeper involvement with the US commenced with the unannounced visit to Colombo last August of US Defence Secretary, Caspar Weinberger, who conferred with Jayawardene for two hours.
At that time, the Indian newspapers articulated the increasing concern of the Indian government which has always resisted superpower meddling in the South Asian region and the Indian Ocean in particular.
The visit by the US Colombo was follow ments with the Unite of which have not Lanka.
On January 12th, a from the US House C by Joseph Addabo, had negotiations with January 16th, the ch Appropriations Com Hatfield of Oregon, was given lunch by Pi
These visits by th secret talks that have reliably reported to “friendship and co-op Mr Jayawardene exp when he visits the U
Emergency situatic
It is to be observe government has alr agreement with the U. the most powerful V station in all Asia. Th this agreement provi an emergency situati the interests of the J use the relay station centre linking US na

TAMIL TIMES 3
|HDIRAWS
2en placed on the pubncerning what is disence. However, at the ess statement is issued pokesman, Mr Lalith ithout revealing any
k-out from the Conpuzzling. Mrs Bansaid that her party was ss of political diffinding a solution to c problem. She had inority communities eir due rights within a hat the whole nation catastrophe unless a to this problem.
vo reasons for its withthat the President was ference into accepting
a "pre-arranged' settlement. But this reason contradicts the SLFP's previous position criticising the government for not placing its own proposals before the conference.
The second reason given by the SLFP was its objection to the TULF leader, Mr Amirthalingam, departing to India as soon as the Conference recessed and having talks with Mr Parthasarathy. The latter's deep involvement in initiating the Conference is a well-known fact and one cannot understand why the SLFP should have any objection to the TULF leader talking to him. If Mrs Bandaranaike went to India, Mr Parthasarathy would certainly have no objection to meeting her
According to knowledgeable circles, the SLFP's dilemma arises more from internal reasons. One faction led by Mr Anura Bandaranaike and Mr K.B. Ratnayake are in favour of participation while the other faction led by Mr Lakshman Jayakody and the party secretary, Mr Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, are opposed to attending the Conference.
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S SECRET PACT
Defence Secretary to d by two new agreed States, the contents been disclosed in Sri
six-man visiting team f Representatives, led visited Colombo and Mr Jayawardene. On airman of the Senate mittee, Senator Mark visited Colombo and sident Jayawardene. US officials and the been taking place are be a prelude to the ration' treaty which :cts to formally sign in June this year.
that the Sri Lankan dy entered into an for the setting up of ice of America relay secret supplement to 's that in the event of larisingendangering e world, the US can s a communications l forces and military
bases in the region.
If such a situation arises, the US will have the right, without any control from Sri Lanka, to bring into the country and install all the additional technical equipment and the required military personnel.
The pro-US shift was demonstrated in clear terms at the recently held NonAligned Conference in New Delhi, to the consternation of several member states, when the Sri Lankan delegation, led by Jayawardene, insisted on the separation of the demand for the closing down of the US base in Diego Garcia from the issue of turning the Indian Ocean into a Zone of Peace.
MILITARY TRAINING FOR ONE LAKH SINHALESE YOUTH
It is reported that there has been a government directive that all Sinhalese MPs should recruit 50 to 1,000 youths from each electorate for military training. According to government estimates 1 lakh youths should have completed their training by now. These training programmes are said to be under way in Minneriya and Gampaha.

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4 TAMIL TIMES
ARMAS BUILD-UP FOI
LETTER TO PRE
"We have reason to believe, Mr President, that the Sri Lanka government has now embarked on a course, the grand strategy of which is to accept ostensibly the 'good offices' of the government of India and pursue a path of negotiations with Tamil leaders, while giving itself time to prepare for the FINAL SOLUTION’ that would see an end to “Tamil terrorism' and the Tamil demand for a separate state of Tamil Eelam, once and for all”, so states PROTEG (Organisation for the Protection of the Tamils of Eelam from Genocide) in a letter addressed to President Ronald Reagan.
6 PROTEG, an organisation composed of Tamils from Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu, is based in Madras and has been formed after the July anti-Tamil violence in Sri Lanka.
The letter from PROTEG to President Reagan is dated December 30th and covers a wide range of matters of concern to the Tamils of Sri Lanka, including the buildup of US arms, training of Sinhalayouth by military personnel in Minneriya and the high visibility of American presence in the country. The following is the full text of the letter to Mr Reagan:
We, the members of the Organisation for the Protection of the Tamils of Eelam from Genocide, wish to bring to your urgent attention the following:
The two and threequarter million Tamils in SriLanka who have yet to recover from the trauma of the organised islandwide violence unleashed on them in July 1983, today live in fear of another, looming, (what portends to be a more dreadful) tragedy. Heading as you do the most powerful democracy in the world, and committed as your government is to the upholding of human rights throughout the globe, we would yet not have thought it necessary to address this appeal to you, but for one reason - that we have reason to fear that your own government, unwittingly or otherwise, is siding with the Jayewardene government to drive the ethnic Tamil minority to the wall.
Arms build-up
Wehave reason to believe, Mr President, that, even as we write this, a large-scale induction of US arms is taking place in Sri Lanka, the kind of arms totally inadequate to meet the threat of any feared foreign invasion, but menacing enough when used against the country's own citizens to wipe out a major part of the Tamil population from the face of the country. At a time when the Sri Lanka economy is reeling under the impact of the severe dislocation caused by
the July devastation, tories and the inability meet insurance claims in tourist revenue, wi popular disaffection, Lanka is exhibiting e ing on an adventuris the Sinhala majority minority to slaugh ewardene himself exp his Sinhala people w colleagues on Decemb to be a hero and not a armed forces to kill won't do that
We have reason tob that the recent inflo' Lanka include the fol cars from Pakistan; matic rifles with nigh SMGs, LMGs anc ammunition from Europe, apart from grenades, and a large ammunition, and re
Military training fo
We have also reasc ident, that arms trai Sinhala youth in a st Minneriya. This sch by 13 Sinhala Budd are being rewardec
eThet COintraCitS bers of Parliamento been asked to furnis from each constitu envisages the trainil Under the provision Terrorism Act, cens on all matters relatil These have been inv and 14th Decembel cises were carried period all internati and from Sri Lal jammed; the object possible 48-hour o
 

FEBRUAHY 1954
FINA SOLUTION"
SIDENT REAGAN
the burning of facof the government to , with the steep drop th soaring prices and he government of Sri very sign of embark: policy of appeasing by putting the Tamil ter. President Jayressed the thinking of hen he told his party ber 10th, "I would like traitor. I can ask the all the Tamils, but I
believe, Mr President, w of US arms to Sri lowing: 500 armoured everal hundred autot vision; thousands of pump guns with NATO sources in laser guns, sensitive quantity of 303 rifle rolvers and pistols.
Sinhala youth
n to believe, Mr Presning is being given to cret training camp in eme is being financed ist businessmen who
in turn with govnd patronage. Memthe ruling party have h 500 to 1,000 youths ncy and the scheme g of 100,000 persons. of the Prevention of orship can be imposed g to the armed forces. ked now. On the 13th certain military exerout and during this nal telephone calls to ka were deliberately ve being to rehearse a eration during which
time the Tamil population could be decimated, leaving the outside world ignorant of the happenings.
We have reason to believe, Mr frecident, that the Sri Lanka government has now embarked on a course, the grand strategy of which is to accept ostensibly the 'good offices' of the government of India and pursue a path of negotiations with Tamil leaders, while giving itself time to prepare for the 'FINAL SOLUTION’ that would see an end to "Tamil terrorism' and the Tamil demand for a separate state of Tamil Eelam, once and for all.
American presence
This is particularly disturbing to us, Mr President, for the reason that this grand strategy appears to have evolved following the visits to Sri Lanka of your own Defence Secretary Weinberger and your ambassador-at-large Walters. There is also today a HIGHVISIBILITY American presence in Sri Lanka, which presence, a sudden presence, no one is able to account for, except in military terms.
We feel that the people of the United States will under no circumstances countenance the mass slaughter of defenceless Tamil people in Sri Lanka. May we draw your attention at the same time to the treaty commitments of your own government under the Genocide Convention which categorises genocide as a crime under international law. President Jayewardene has already gone on record as stating that the Sri Lanka Tamils are "one of the most powerful minorities in the world'. They are also one of the proudest minorities in the world. They have great powers of resilience too, and no attempted genocide is ever going to cow them down into submission, and with great respect to the undoubted US military might, Mr President, even with the aid of that military might
Speaking with concern for the feelings of the large mass of the peace-loving American people, and conscious of the spirit of human freedom on the bedrock of which your great noble nation was founded, it would be tragic for your image, Mr President, if history were to record that you placed your nation and your people on the side of the oppressor, the racist and the human rights violator in the little island of Sri Lanka in the year 1983. We appeal to you to desist from such a short-sighted course. Even in the act of struggling to be born, the future state of Tamil Eelam extends its hands of friendship to the government and people of the United States.
Please do not spurn it. 9

Page 5
HBHUAHY 1984
MATHEW DOCTR
NKID GLOVES
It would be interesting to know why the government-owned Daily News decided, on the eve of the All Party Conference, to publish and highlight Mr N.U. Jayewardene's article on the "The Ethnic Problem'. One can only hope that this is not an attempt to repeat an earlier performance, when an attack in the Daily News on Mrs B. and the SLFP just before the all-party meeting last December reduced that meeting to shambles.
As a former public servant, an exGovernor of the Central Bank, and now an eminent businessman, Mr Jayewardene stakes a claim in this article to be the main ideologist of the Sinhala bourgeoisie. His strictly class approach, as distinct from the usual obscurantist or racist positions of other would-be ideological leaders, makes his article worthy of special notice.
Nevertheless, for all its sophistication and polish, what Mr Jayewardene has to say is basically similar to what Minister Cyril Mathew and his JSS storm-troopers say more crudely and do more forcibly.
"Absolutely right'
Mr Jayewardene says that "Marx was absolutely right when he proclaimed that a socialised economy must control the commanding heights which he identified with production, distribution and exchange'. "Marxists', he continues, "recognise the supreme importance of exchange which includes banking and finance as a prime mover of the economy'.
But lest anyone should think that Mir Jayewardene has gone red, he hurries to express his opinion that the ruling class 'should read Marx, understand Marx, but NOT practise Marx'.
To cut a long story short, all this false homage to Marx is intended to buttress Mir J's main thesis - viz, that although the Sinhalese (by which he means the Sinhala bourgeoisie) have gained political power, economic power is still not in their hands, but in the hands of the Tamils, whom he distinguishes as "indigenous and 'dravidian' (i.e. of recent South Indian origin).
Mr J. argues that these Tamils got economic power by clever use of their positions in the private and state banks. Through the shroff system in the private banks and through Mr C. Loganathan, for many years the all-powerful General Manager of the Bank of Ceylon, bank loans were channelled to Tamil industrialists and businessmen, at the expense of their Sinhala counterparts. When, despite this drawback, the Sinhala bourgeoisie
developed independ omnibus transport, plantations, Lake H prises were national: electS.
To Mr J's mind, t should not bother ab language, etc. He a Tamil AND English cial languages - wi English as the langu bourgeoisie.
He also couldn't economic power oftl transnational corpora Sri Lanka. Nor does that nationalisation in Front government nationalisation of Bı panies - undermine of imperialism, as dic the private banks, western-owned.
Nor, again does he isation measures info sections of the com many of whom we nationality.
All Mr J. wants bourgeoisie should us to take economic po He does not advocat sical destruction ol enterprises, but he remarkable that the were singled out for the irate Sinhala gro did not conspicuousl conduct a sense of Sinhala community fited from”.
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TAMIL TIMES, 5
NE
by RANJITH TENNEKOON
ntly in such spheres as graphite mining, the ouse, etc., these entersed by the SLFP gov
he Sinhala bourgeoisie out smaller issues like lvocates that Sinhala,
should be made offi
h the weight given to age that can unite the
care less about the he foreign banks or the tion now flooding into he worry about the fact heasures of the United - especially the itish plantation comd the economic power l the nationalisation of most of which were
mention the nationalIreign trade, which hit pradore bourgeoisie, 're non-Sinhalese by
is that the Sinhala e their political power wer into their hands. e, of course, the phycompetitive Tamil
observes that "it is establishments which unjustifiable action by ups were those which y display by their own
belonging with the hey lived in and pro
When it comes to business, Mr N.U. Jayewardene is too hard-nosed a businessman to let anti-Tamil prejudices get out of hand. Many of the business enterprises with which he is associated have, in addition to his family members, Tamil directors and leading personnel. Obviously, Mr J. does not think this any impediment to the Sinhala bourgeosie gaining control of economic power.
In other matters Mr J. is at one with the Sinhala chauvinists. To him, the grant of regional autonomy to any group, even within a united Sri Lanka, amounts to "an attempt to BALKANISE Sri Lanka'. Even “reformed' DCCs will "destroy beyond repair the unitary character of the Sri Lankan Nation State".
As for Trincomalee, it is, in Mr J.'s view, "the only pawn Sri Lanka possesses in the game of geopolitics’. He trots out the familliar CIA argument that the concept of an Indian Ocean peace zone is a 'myth and mirage' and really a move to establish an "Indian Zone'. “For little Sri Lanka', Mr J. adds, "Trincomalee can be a forceful counterpose to redress her defenceless state against other nations in this region', especially with US help, of coursel
Perhaps after all Mr J.'s article is in the main a piece of special pleading. For an immediate step that he urges is a change in the banking system which will lead to Sinhala industrialists and businessmen being given greater aid to flourish. Such a step is already being contemplated in the starting of a so-called 'Sinhala' bank on the initiative of HPT and other Sinhala business firms. Is it an accident that Mr J. is being freely mentioned as its first Chairman?
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Page 6
6 TAML TIMES
"GOVERN MENT NJULY 83
VIOLENCE’
The following are extracts from a speech made by Mr David Nellist, MP for Coventry South East, in the UK Parliament on December 20th, 1983.
On July 25th at 6 o'clock in the morning, I initiated a debate to try to alert the House to conditions facing the Tamils of Sri Lanka. I wish to refer to two replies given by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. He described Sri Lanka as a "democracy which is to be much admired and which is a jewel in the crown of the countries with which we have been associated for so long.
The Minister denied that there was any form of dictatorship in that country. He said: "There is a thriving democracy, which has a serious problem with its minority. Therefore, it needs understanding, cooperation and help from us, and that is what it will receive, on the basis of our longstanding relationship with the people and successive governments of Sri Lanka.”
I regard that reply as complacent, but it has been heard more than my original speech. The reason is that the two Coonsrvative Members who spoke in the debate enjoyed the favour of a Minister of State in the Government of Sri Lanka. Their speeches, reprinted in a pamphlet with Big Ben on its front, were purported to be the view of the House of Commons. Anyone who has seen Sri Lankan publications would realise that the pamphlet probably cost several hundreds, if not thousands of pounds, to print. My information, which came through the United Nations organisations in Geneva and others which have received copies, is that the pamphlet purports to represent the view of the whole of the House of Commons, although it refers only to the views about Sri Lanka of the Conservative Minister and his honourable Friends.
Today's debate is necessary to redress that imbalance. Anything purporting to be a House of Commons view should include allopinions - not only Conservative views. That may be a matter which, at a later date, you, Mr Speaker, might consider.
The hopes and optimism expressed by the Under-Secretary in July have not been justified. About 2,000 people died in Sri Lanka in the terrible month of July, yet the British Government continue to give aid and military training to the Sri Lankan police and the army. They are stepping up and have so far completed 80 per cent of a
grant of £1 13 million t dam.
But what aid has t authorised to be given suffered so much i thousands of people riots. It is one thing to of a government who c but it would be ano Secretary announced th to the people who ha Lanka.
Economic aid
Giving economic aic of Sri Lanka, who, as I were among the mai events of July and there the human and democt in that country and i feelings of working pe It may seem that ch and government of a having been involved i our powers, buton Jul of the debate in the hot Sri Lanka broadcast expressed not a wordo for the Tamil-speaki been massacred or Instead, the President. Conservative membe1 previous debate as a man, announced: “Tł accede to the clamo respect of the Sinhala Ministers in the Pre took him at his word." ter, Cyril Mathew, 1 supporters in attacks people in July, and were used to ferry ga the island. Electoral within the governme. tinguish the houses o of Sinhala-speaking Given what the Department of Empl the previous debate t the Left, perhaps th regard my informati ever, there is informal whose editor and ec miles distant from th party. The Times rel 30th:
'Businessmen, civ nary people have gol

INVOLVEMENT ANTI-TAML - says UK MP
wards the Victoria
he Under-Secretary o the refugees who n July? Tens of were displaced by polster the economy used the problems, her if the Underat he would give aid ve suffered in Sri
to the government hope to make clear, organisers of the after, is an attack on atic rights of people t misrepresents the ople in this country. arging the President nother country with in riots goes beyond y 28th, within hours use, the President of to the nation and fregretor sympathy ng people who had made homeless. who was held up by s who spoke in the democratic statese time has come to Lr and the national
peopke.” sident's government The Industry Minised groups of UNP on Tamil-speaking overnment vehicles ngs of thugs around lists, supplied from t, were used to disTamils from those eople. Minister of State, byment, had said in day about those on government might n as suspect. Howon from a newspaper itorial staff are not 2 stance of the Tory orted on November
servants and ordie through race riots
before; but last July's killings and lootings were so premeditated, with the military and police playing an active role, that nothing can allay their fears.'
I suppose that Sri Lanka's Industry Minister would not be far distant from the aid that Britain is giving to the Sri Lankan government. He has written pamphlets which, by the tone of their contents, have encouraged attacks on Tamil people. The Guardian reported last September that a pamphlet called The Diabolical Conspiracy - edited parliamentary speeches by Mr Mathew - was "a pale counterpart, but nevertheless reminiscent, of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion'. Those are the documents that were used by the Nazis in the 1920s and 1930s to justify their pogroms and the beginnings of their form of fascism.
Other examples in The Guardian article mention attacks on Tamil teachers and interference with the marking of examination papers. The Industry Minister supported the attacks that took place in July.
Scapegoat
Despite the clear involvement of government officers, supporters and Ministers and the use of government vehicles and publications, the President of Sri Lanka has used the Left parties as a scapegoat for what happened in July. Two parties remain banned - The NSSP, the New Socialist Party of Sri Lanka, and the JVP, the People’s Liberation Front. Those parties have been banned. Emergency powers were introduced six months ago. The regulations provide:
“Where the President is of opinion with respect to any organisation that there is a danger ofaction by, or of utilisation of, the organisation or its members or adherents - (a) for purposes prejudicial to national security, the maintenance of public order or the maintenance of essential services . . . the President may, by Order published in the Gazette, declare that organisation to be a proscribed organisation.”
If those emergency powers were to be implemented fairly, the UNP supporters and the army who carried out the attacks in July should have been proscribed. The regulations also provide power to detain suspects for up to 18 months without charge. Moreover, if there are fatalities as a result of security service actions, the regulations provide that inquests to establish the cause of death do not have to be held.

Page 7
FEBRUARY 1984
Nevertheless, it is the leaders of socialist and other parties in Sri Lanka who are being blamed for recent events. Their headquarters, press and literature have been seized. They have also been banned from political activity. The Leader of the NSSP, Vasudeva, is a former member of the Sri Lanka parliament and was a candidate in the recent presidential election. He is being hunted and there is a bounty of £1,400 on his head. That might not seem a large sum to us but it is considerable in Sri Lanka.
The slanderous irony of the charges made against the NSSP and its leader is, in fact, that that party has consistently argued against tactics such as individual terrorism. It has supported the struggles of the Tamil-speaking peoples of Sri Lanka and favours the right of self-determination and, if it is desired, a separate state for those people. The NSSP is also well known in Sri Lanka for attempting to forge unity between Sinhala and Tamil-speaking peoples. It is a socialist party. In places of work it has fought for the unity of working people regardless of political affiliation, race or creed. Nevertheless, it is banned.
I should like the Minister to contrast that with the constitution that was established in 1978 which promises:
“Every citizen is entitled to: (a) the free
dom of speech and expression, including
publication; (b) the freedom of peaceful assembly; (c) the freedom of association; (d) the freedom to form and join a trade union.'
My charge is tha exist in Sri Lanka ernment hold it u liamentary democr hand of parliam friendship. The fac of people are bein died in July and hul denied the right t industrial organisat
United Nations C
Seven years ago Nations convention signatory. It is an i on civil and politic people who have be are entitled to cert: such people should in detail and in a la understand, of the 1 charges which are ht allowed adequate ti preparation of a deft out undue delay.
I have a list, wh December 13th, of 1 and Trincomalee wh ago as August and been detained but charged or allowed will enable them to as the United Nation Several of those peop date of arrest is spel
WE ARE SI
says Rev. S.K. PERERA, Presiden,
All peace-loving people, irrespective of aste, religion or creed, have been deeply taken by the communal violence, the voorst since independence in 1948, which guertook us in July 1983. The experience has shattered us all. It is a tragic comcentary that we still have not been able to ind a just solution to our ethnic conflict which is now the major national problem of ... day. If that be so and since the final solution has to be a political one, those who rule us should give top priority to this outstanding issue, and before it it too late address themselves to the task of finding a lasting solution. The cry for separation is a recent cry and the result of our failure to find a just solution. The only answer to terrorism, violence and the cry for separation is a just and fair solution, through peaceful negotiations and dialogue, and this has to be done without further delay.
The facts of July 1983 are well known. But various interpretations have been given. Why it happened the way it did, who were responsible for it and what motivated
them should be mad impartial commissic ernment should appo
It is said that what of violence was the ki the North. We conde ling. We express our families that had to be what is more tragic is violence and retaliat members of the Tam South, resulting in co loss of life and dama
We ask for forgive
For this present vic and suffering, the Sin responsible. Being a hands stained by the victims of senseless v of the Sinhala commu regret and sorrow fo and ask for forgiven
It is only through

TAMIL TIMES 7
such conditions do not hd yet the British gov» as a model of pary and extend to it the htary and economic remains that hundreds detained. Thousands dreds of thousands are join the political or ons of their choice.
Wenant
we ratified a United to which Sri Lanka is a ternational convenant al rights. It says that in arrested or detained in rights. It says that be informed promptly guage which they can lature and cause of the ld against them and be he and facilities for the nce, and be tried with
ich was completed on 72 people in Batticaloa o were arrested as long September. They have
have not yet been access to facilities that prepare a defence such is document mentions. ble are named and their cified. They are being
detained without charges. The Sri Lankan government argue that many of them supported terrorism or violence.
Surely our embassy, the Minister or another representative of the British government could, if they were really worried about human democratic rights in other countries, tell the Sri Lankan govenirment to which we are giving £100 million in aid, that, if what they say is true, those who are guilty should be charged and put on trial before a jury and that those against whom charges cannot be levelled should be released. There is no justification for months of detention if evidence does not exist on which people can be brought to trial. I charge Sri Lanka, that recipient of government aid, with abrogating its right to be called a democratic country when such procedures are allowed to continue.
Is the Minister more concerned, perhaps, with the use of Sri Lanka as a military and naval base for Britain and America in future, especially ports such as Trincomalee? Is that what is behind the fact that the aid continues to be given? Is it for that consideration that the suffering of the people of Sri Lanka is being swept under the carpet? The government should end the military and political aid that they give to Sri Lanka. They should press for the restoration of the rights of people to organise in political parties and effective trade unions. They should press for the release of political prisoners.
HATTERED
, Methodist Church, Sri Lanka
e the subject of the n which the govΙΩί. sparked off this orgy ling of 13 soldiers in min this senseless kildeep sorrow for the r that tragic loss. But he massive counteron against innocent 1 community in the ossal destruction and e to property.
eSS
ence and destruction ala peoplearemostly inhala I feel my own lood of the innocent plence. As members ity, we express deep what we have done
S.
repentence and for
giveness that wrongs will be righted, broken relationships restored and reconciliation and healing take place.
Violence self-destructive
What lessons do we learn from these tragic events? We must learn that violence always tends to beget violence. Therefore, we must eschew violence. We must condemn violence wherever it is found. We must learn through bitter experience that violence is self-destructive, that retaliatory violence is self-defeating, that violence destroys the moral foundations of our common life, that violence destroys the human values on which our society is built.
The government, especially the Sinhala people, must see to it that the senseless communal violence which occurred in July 1983 never recurs. Violence in the North cannot and should not be combatted by the unleashing of violence and terror on defenceless Tamils living in the South or on Tamils living in the plantation areas.

Page 8
8 TAMIL TIMES
SRI LANKA CONSUMERS PAY N
CONSUMERS hit in the stomach, said a headline in the Colombo daily 'Sun' of January 25. Prices of a variety of flourbased products shot up, following the government's surprise increase in the cost of wheat flour by nearly a rupee on a kilo. Hoteliers, restaurants and caterers have increased the prices of hoppers, string hoppers, buns, cakes, patties, in some cases well above justifiable levels.
The price hikes sin sectors as well. Laun tradesmen have all jo buck to the consumer ment’s increase of pri combat several inte among them being c rupee and the enhance Business Turnover Ta
SRI LANKA BROADCASTING CORPORATION CHAIRMAN
VIRTUALLY SACKED
EX-SINHALA newspaperman and chairman of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation Eamon Kariakarawana resigned from office on January 24.
He did so after the Minster of State, Dr Anandatissa de Alwis, wrote to him informing him that a gazette notification removing
him from office was du January 27th.
A veteran broadca who presided over the for a long spell and mothballs for some Wijemanne, has been a to replace Kariakaraw
NAVY MEN STOLE
ELECTRICAL FITTINGS
THREE Petty Officers of the Sri Lanka navy were arrested in connection with the theft of electrical fittings and fans valued at Rs.2.5 lakhs from a newly constructed building inside the Trincomalee dockyard. They were remanded by the Trincomalee magistrate, when the naval officer in charge declined to take them into naval custody since they they had been relieved of naval duties on orders from headquarters in Colombo.
BURDEN ON UAFFNA CITIZENS
HEALTH Minister Dr Ranjit Atapattu has appealed to citizens of Jaffna to launcha fund to purchase an "Image Intensifier', a machine urgently needed by the new Intensive Care Unit of the Jaffna Hospital. The Minister declared this unit open amidst tight security. Dr Atapattu said that government was unable to find the funds for the full cost and it was the responsibility of the Jaffna public to maintain and develop the intensive care unit. He said that the cost of treating one single patient at the unit could be as high as Rs.3,000/- a day. The arrival of the Minister in Jaffna was preceded by a series of security precautions which included the stationing of armoured cars, tanks and battalions of soldiers around the hospital
TAMILS HA
PAY FORT PROTECTI
THE Colombo news ous for its anti-Tamil editorial of January 2. product of the July et rent wave of extortiol notorious "kappan g these miserable vermi an innocent businessm his "protection mone just an isolated incider rect to link up extortio is possible that som anthropes have tried tc to terrorise and squ
The Sun comment attempts being mad press, the police and ernment to whitewa threaten the lives of Colombo, after the
The same newspap following day (26th) news: “A pavement ha ing a Tamil trader in arrested by a spel Nugegoda on Sunda
Police recovered a the murder weapon : buried in a backyar arrest police have dis motive of extortion a robbery . . .”

FEBRUARY 1984
ORE
wballed into other ry owners, tailors, ned in passing the The Food Depart
ces was effected to
nal factors, chief epreciation of the
d export duties and
K.
e to be published on
sting administrator Commercial Service who had been in time now, Livy ppointed Chairman
ala.
ME TO
HEIR ON
paper Sun, notoristance, wrote in its 5: 'A deplorable byhnic crisis is the curresorted to by the angs”. Last week, in stabbed and killed lan who failed to pay y'. And that is not t. Though it is incorn to ethnic factors, it of the lowly mispick on the minority eeze out "kappan'
is typical of the by the Colombo the Sri Lanka govsh the killings and Tamils who live in uly riots.
er in its issue of the
arried the following wker accused of knifettah last Friday was al police team in
knife, believed to be nd Rs.25,000 in cash
. . . Following the 'ontinued the former nd are treating it is a
SINHALESE THUGS RUN AMOK AGAIN
On December 27th, 1983, an altercation arose between an assistant superintendent and two workers in an estate close to Ragala. In the ensuing fight the assistant superintendent was injured and had to be hospitalised in Podeniya.
On the same evening, some Sinhalese workers belonging to the same estate along with Sinhalese thugs belonging to the nearby villages of Ratnayakapathine and Manthirithane, looted the belongings of the Tamil workers and set fire to 20 houses.
ROBBERY IN BATTCALOA UNIVERSITY
Equipment including typewriters, photocopiers, etc. worth Rs.2.75 lakhs, were stolen from Batticaloa University. Some question papers were also stolen. Ten youths are said to have arrived in a lorry at dawn and had overpowered the watchers. The president of the University Students Union was taken into custody by the police, but was later released.
SRI LANKA ARMAY GETS READY FOR ACTION
COLOMBO newspaper Weekend of January 22 reports: "The Sri Lanka army will soon acquire twenty armoured personnel vehicles (APVs) installed with light armour protection. The government has placed a multi-million order with two leading British concerns — government-owned Shorts Brothers, and Hotspur, a private C011CCTTì.
Shorts Brothers will make available two versions - nine Shortland basic vehicles and one with a roof hatch. Hotspur Ltd. will provide four Hotspurs with roof hatch and six Hotspur/Sandringhams with turret. All twenty vehicles according to informed Sources, are troop-carrying versions, and can seat seven to nine persons excluding the driver.'
FOUR BUDDHIST MONKS CAUGHT IN HIGHWAY ROBBERY
FOUR Buddhist monks and another person were remanded by the Embilipitiya High Court judge when produced on a charge of robbing passengers in a private bus plying between Embilipitiya and Colombo. Police Inspector Douglas Peris of the Embilipitiya police arrested the five Suspects.

Page 9
--b5 - UAHY 1984
Reporting this incident sent by the Mathara correspondent, the Colombo Tamil daily Virakesari said in its issue of January 21, 1984:
The private bus proceeding on its way to Colombo was stopped by armed men near Udawalawa at 3.30 in the early hours of the morning. Monies amounting to rupees one lakh and seventy-two thousand were reported to have been stolen from the passengers in the bus. When two of the passengers tried to run away they had been stabbed mercilessly and subjected to grievous injuries.
The head of the gang is reported to be the chief incumbent of a Buddhist Vihara in Matara and the other three priests attached to Viharas in Galle, Hikkaduwa and Habaraduwa. Police say that while this gang went about as Buddhist monks during the daytime they had been turning robber in the night. Police took into custody the following items in the possession of these monks: 104 love letters, photographs of two young women, Rs.2,900/- in cash, one revolver, two pistols, three face masks, one kris knife and several illustrations used for karate training.
It was reported that the bus which was stopped at gunpoint at the 99th Mile Post was forcibly diverted several miles into the jungle path before the passengers were systematically robbed.
TAMLS HAVE REASON TO REBEL, says SLFP MP
ALTHOUGH the SLFP talks with many tongues, on the question of Tamil grievances and Tamil rights, there has been one MP who belongs to that party who has been recently coming out strongly protesting against various acts of injustice perpetrated on Tamils.
In the course of a debate in the Sri Lanka parliament during the third week of January, MEP Leader and Sinhala racist Dinesh Gunawardene alleged that the terrorists in the North and the East have stolen three times the amount of money as has been spent on the three armed forces.
The Finance Minister had claimed that revenue from banks had totalled Rs.200 crores but wanted to know how many of these crores had been stolen from the banks by the terrorists. To which SLFP MP Ananda Dassanayake interrupted: "If injustice goes unchecked, terrorists will naturally take the law into their hands.
In an exchange of words in which Mr Paul Perera and Health Minister Dr Ranjit Atapattu were involved, Mr Dassanayake said: “There is no safety or security in any part of the country. People are openly complaining about this. You do not find safety or security even in the jails. Those inside
the jails are afraid back alive. . . Hac been treated fairly not have been any
Several injustices people. Even ballot because the people rights that they hav
ASSASS
THREAT C CHEF JU
CID detectives ar threat on the life of Samarakoon accort daily Sun of Januar addressed to Mr Sar Kalutara has cla approached by a hig official who offel Rs. 1 12,000/- plus a to assassinate the Kalutara resident statement to the Cl
BAN LIFT
JAFFNA PUBLICA
THE seven-monthlication of the
and the bi-weekly S on Tuesday January ing this, the Sri La said that they are per subject to censorship sorship have been c ernment Agent, Jaff
NEW DEPI COMMISS
FOR MA
MR S. PIYASENA, former Press Secreta arrived in Madras
Deputy High Comn in Madras. Mr Piyas. staff of Lake House. has held a number o sometimes in an a joined the President ary 1982 as Press Sec
SHOOTIN( BATTICAL
ONE person died an in a shooting incide ticaloa on January 2

TAM TIMES 9
whether they will get he people in the North nd justly there could rrorism. were heaped on these oxes were stolen. It is ere denied their basic taken to guns now.
IATION )N STICE
probing an alleged
Chief Justice Neville ing to the Colombo 23, 1984. In a letter larakoon, a resident of lmed that he was h-ranking government ed him a sum of bonus of Rs. 10,000/-
Chief Justice. The has already given a D in this connection.
ED ON
IONS
old ban on the pub
Saturday Review uthanthiran was lifted 24, 1984. In announcnka Ministry of State mitted to be published . The functions of centelegated to the Gov
.
UTY HIGH SONER
)RAS
a senior journalist and y of the President, has to assume duties as issioner for Sri Lanka na joined the editorial in 1948 and since then posts in newspapers, visory capacity. He l Secretariat in Januetary to the President.
N OA
t another was injured | reported from Bat, 1984, according to
the Colombo newspaper, the Sun.
The first incident took place at Arayampathy, a village five miles off Batticaloa, when three armed youths entered a temple, took a man, Gunasingham, 24, to a place near the Batticaloa lagoon and assaulted him. They later shot him below the knee. He was hospitalised.
The same gang then went to the house of Sathiyaseelan, 30, called him out and then shot him. He died on the spot.
ROUND TABLE
CONFERENCE - COMMITTEE STAGE
THE all-party round table conference in Colombo has decided to constitute two
committees to examine the grievances of all communities, find solutions to them and to examine the causes of ethnic violence, terrorism and their eradication.
The terms and references of the committees as given in the conference communique are as follows: Committee No.1 - will examine the grievances presented on behalf of communities and also examine systems of government involving the participation of people at all levels. Committee No.2 - will examine causes of ethnic violence, terrorism and means to eradicate them.
The Committees, which will comprise a delegate from each of the 16 delegations that participated in the conference, will sit for two weeks from Monday, February 6, 1984.
The conference spokesman, Trade Minister Lalith Athulathmudali, told the government-owned newspaper 'Daily News' that the grievances that were aired were greater in volume than the solutions considered! The committees have been given two weeks to complete the work and the plenary session would be reconvened after that.
WORLD BANK TEAM UNHAPPY OVER PLANTATIONS
SEVEN executive directors of the World Bank, who left Sri Lanka on January 26th, 1984, after a four-day assessment mission of the tea plantation and the Mahaweli Scheme have been critical of plantation management according to the Colombo newspaper, the Island.
They have called for an increase in the country's tea production and improvement in manufacturing standards. They are reported to have told Finance and Planning Minister Ronnie De Mel that replanting

Page 10
10 TAMIL TIMES
and diversification in certain areas was
necessary.
They also stressed the need for more incentives to managers and workers to increase production and improvement on housing, education and health standards of the workers. The World Bank is now considering granting aid of Rs.7,800 million for tea rehabilitation over the next five years. It is already known that tea production fell during the year 1983 as compared with the previous year.
NEWCHANCELLOR FORUAFFNA UNIVERSITY
PROFESSORT. Nadarajah, retired Professor of Law, Colombo University, has been appointed Chancellor of the Jaffna University to succeed Mr V. Manikavasagar whose term ended recently. Professor Nadarajah is the grand son of the illustrious Tamil statesman and scholar Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam.
KILLING OF TAMIL COLOMBO TRADER
A WITNESS giving evidence before the city coroner described how the gang attacked a provision shop at 4th Cross Street, Pettah, stabbed the "broker' of the shop, robbed him of Rs.80,000/- and set fire to the goods on January 20, 1984.
Witness, S. Kathirasan, 21, an employee of the shop, continuing evidence at the inquest of Shanmugampillai, 50, said that around 12.45 p.m. on January 20, a gang of youths numbering 15 to 20 appeared in the front of the shop, and about eight of them forced their way in and stabbed the deceased who was seated next to the witness. He said the other members threw what he thought was petrol. Some petrol slashed on his face.
When he returned to the scene, the goods in gunny bags were on fire. The injured Shanmugampillai was missing. He found that Shanmugampillai had fallen on the bags of goods in the adjoining shop and was dead.
JAFFNA LORRY ROBBED
A LOR RY returning from Colombo to Jaffna was stopped by an armed gang near Poovoya Bridge, off Vavuniya and cash amounting to Rs.44,000/- was stolen. The complainant Gnanasekaram has told the Vavuniya police that the armed men were
conversing in Sinhala. Following this inci
dent many lorry owners have suspended their night runs.
NO INFOR UNDERGR
THE Minister of Ed Cabinet spokesmail masinghe told the January 25 that he had reliable information at pened to the nine undel while they were on a Jaffna University prer say whether they were Mr Wickremasingh some Tamil profess
DISPLACE THE POLIC
On January 11th, a Jaffna University wa dents on a death fast militant youth group graduates belonging and those displaced fr South, went on an un through Jaffna city. Tl began from the Jaffne was stopped by poli junction and later a twos, instead of en n
17000 TAMI IN CAMPS
By the year end 198 Tamil refugees yet r camps in Colombo, chi. Out of these, 9,5t premises of two leadi Hindu College, Ra Vevekananda Colle balance, 7,757, are in chi Camps. Those suaded to leave the c additional aluminiu cups, mugs and jugs Red Cross Society.
SCHOOL HEA NORTH & EA
Heads of schools in th quandary as schoolsp the new academic ye January. Thousands placed by riot-affect Badulla, etc. and wh getting back to those lack of accommodat and other facilities stretched to capacity has made no arrange

Lu u u An T I SVð4+
MATON ON MISSING
ADUATES
lcation and acting Ranill WickreSolombo press on till not received any out what had hapgraduates abducted ast to death at the ises. He could not in India. e also alleged that ors, lecturers and
undergraduates had received letters threatening them with dire consequences if they did not return to Jaffna. Some of these teachers and students were returning while others were not doing so.
The government was unable to provide extra places at the Jaffna University to accommodate these students. The Minister also announced that the Cabinet had decided to recruit 1,000 teachers in the Tamil medium for the plantation schools.
D UNDERGRADS DEFY E IN JAFFNA
few days before the s closed and the stuwere "abducted by a ), over 1,000 underto Jaffna University om universities in the authorised procession he procession, which University premises, ce at the Ariyakulam lowed to proceed in
2SS wo
The procession was stopped for a second time at the Wellington Theatre junction after which the proposed route was changed. The displaced undergrads argue that if in 1977 Sinhala undergrads in Jaffna were transferred to universities in the South although they were in no way harmed in Jaffna, why was it difficult for Tamil undergrads who were subject to racial attacks in the South to be transferred to universities in Jaffna or Batticaloa?
L. REFUGEES
3 there were 17,326 emaining in refugee Jaffna and Kilinoch9 were housed in the ng Hindu schools - inalana Airport and le, Kottehena. The Jaffna and Kilinochwho have been perimps have been given 1 pans, pots, plates, ifted by the Sri Lanka
DS IN ST IN A FX
e Tamil areas are in a epared to re-open for in the third week of f schoolchildren disil areas in Colombo, have no intention of areas, are faced with n, lack of furniture,
Schools have been and the government nents to absorb these
children into schools in Tamil areas. Some teachers from riot-affected areas who were temporarily accommodated in schools in Tamil areas have now been ordered to go back to their former schools, although in many such schols there are not enough Tamil children. Some schools in Colombo and the South have even suspended their Tamil streams.
LAND FOR SLAVES BUT NOT FOR EBHOOMIPUTHRAS?
The Gampaha MP Mr S.D. Bandaranayake, said in Parliament recently that even plantation workers who were brought as slaves to Ceylon during British times are becoming owners of lands, but the real sons of the soil, the Sinhalese - at least 50 per cent of them - do not own even one inch of land. Until this problem is solved the country's ethnic problem cannot be solved, he said. The fact that 50 per cent of the Sinhalese people do not have even a piece of land is not the situation that we can expect any longer. Until this problem is solved what is the point in calling the All-Party
Conference and the Round Table Conference, he said.

Page 11
u uv u u VVT-A. I l II I KVVVT
ARMS BUILD-UP BY SRI LANKAN GOVERNMEN
Despite the unprecedented deficit of Rs.24 billion in the recently announced budget of Sri Lanka, the government has allocated $99 million to strengthen its defences. This massive expenditure, at a time of severe foreign exchange crisis, cannot be regarded as necessary to meet any external threat, but reflects the government's attitude and determination to militarily deal with the country's 'Tamil problem'.
The government has recently also bought four US-made helicopters and one maritime patrol plane at a cost of $12.5 million.
The purchases include two armourplated helicopter gunships suited for counter-insurgency operations and a twin turbo-prop light transport for searchand-rescue missions in the coastal regions. The aircrafts are two Bell 212 helicopters, two Bell Jet Ranger helicopter gunships and a Beechcraft Super King Air
200T maritime pat delivered before th
The helicopters Texas-based firm, and were purcha Singapore, Bell's a
immediate delive
The Internation ary Aircraft Direct that the helicopte immediate delivery of an order for th been diverted to Sl The purchases co Colombo governm military budget to million next year to against Tamil milita a Separate State.
U.S. ARMS TO SRI LANK
News Today - the Madras evening daily in a report from their special correspondent, datelined Colombo January 17th 1984, says:
The US Army and Navy would be giving training to Sri Lankans in latest warfare, both in the island and in the US, according to informed sources here.
The US offer came from Joseph Addabbo, Chairman of the Defence Appropriation Committee of the US House of Representatives and has been accepted by the Sri Lankan government.
"Defence co-operation'
Training of Sri Lankans would be part of the many-sided 'defence co-operation' between the two countries. Under the draft evolved by the Sri Lankans and Americans jointly, Sri Lanka would be getting some latest equipment for self-defence. The possibility of the US supplying re-conditioned naval vessels and a few latest type of aircraft has also been explored and some equipment not yet identified is said to be in the pipeline.
At the political level, Addabbo has pledged full support to Sri Lankan selfdefence. "Our visit was aimed at assuring the Sri Lankan government of US support for maintaining democracy in the island', Addabbo has been quoted as saying by the government-owned Weekend newspaper.
The paper further quoted Addabbo as saying that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi too had expressed serious concern for
democracy in Sri Laı delegation had wit erupted in the islanc
The US Senate lea the Sri Lankan gove what the Indian Pri the US delegation, I to Sri Lanka gettin country.
It may be recalle government denied a August that the Jay had asked for milit UK, Pakistan and kan government eve expelling from Co. respondent who had that time the Indian through diplomatic about the induction Island republic. At was saying that a fore the disturbances. It di
Similar report
The Times of India 16th, 1984, carried ing their coresponde
The Madras-basec Protection of the TI Genocide and other Rights (PROTEG) h dated December 29 President Reagan ov arms to Sri Lanka,

TAMIL TIMES 11
ol plane. They will be end of the year. were made by the ell Helicopter Textron, ed from Heli-Orient, ents for Asia.
у
Air Forces and Militry of London has said 's were available for because they were part
Philippines, but had
Lanka. me at a time when the "nt plans to increase its an unprecedented $99 strengthen its defences nts who are fighting for
A
lka during the talks the h her after violence i in July last.
der seems to have told rnment that in view of me Minister had told ndia would not object g arms aid from his
i that the Sri Lanka news agency reportin wardene government ury aid from the US, angladesh. The Lanwent to the extent of ombo the UPI cortled the story. Even at overnment conveyed channels its concern of US arms into the that time Sri Lanka gn country was behind not name the country.
in its issue of January similar report, quott in Colombo. Organisation for the mils of Eelam from iolations of Human ve already, in a letter , 1984, protested to r the induction of US ee page 4).
TAMIL TRAINING DENIED
The French Embassy in Colombo has denied reports that 350 Sri Lankan Tamil youths are being trained by the French Foreign Legion.
It asserted that the Legion was a special unit of the French army and gave no training to any other military personnel or group, either French or foreign.
In France, the embassy said military training and military co-operation were Subject to agreement on a governmentto-government basis.
ARMY, POLICE
CLASH: SIX SOLDIERS ON
THE MAT
The Sri Lanka government which has consistently failed to take action against army personnel who killed or harassed Tamils in the North and East was, however, quick to take action in the recent incident where a Sinhalese policeman was killed by army men in Trincomalee on Christmas Day.
The CID, which investigated the army shooting and the death of police constable Seneviratne Dharmadasa, filed plaint against six army personnel. Before the Trincomalee magistrate Mr M.H.J.F. Senaratne, Mr Punya de Silva, ASP, CID, filed plaint under Section 296 of the Penal
Code.
The six suspects against whom plaint has been filed are: H.H. Wipulasena, P.N. Dayaratne, P. G. Jayaweera, W.M.N. Chandrasiri, R.M. Sumathipala and K.B. Abeyrathe.
Police Constable Dharmadasa of the Trincomalee police succumbed to gun-shot injuries when army personnel are alleged to have opened fire on a police party which arrived at the Army Camp, Fort Frederick, for an inquiry.
On a directive of the IGP, Mr Rudra Rajasingham, the CID took over the investigations which ended on December 31.
On Wednesday afternoon, after the evidence of C. Obeyesekera, HQI Trincomalee, was led, the magistrate ordered that the ten rifles used by both the police and army personnel at the time of the incident and the other productions in court be handed over to the government analyst for examination and a report.
Mr Punya de Silva also moved for warrants on the six suspects and the Army Commander directing the latter, to produce the suspect in court on January 30, when the inquiry will be taken up by the magistrate.

Page 12
12 TAMIL TIMES
EVOLUTION OF THE TAMIL GUES
By Professor Karthigesu Sivathamby
Professor Sivathamby, who teaches at Jaffna University, is a Scholar of Tamil language, Culture and Drama
An attempt is made in the paper to describe and analyse the gradual worsening of ethnic relations between the two major groups in Sri Lanka since 1977, culminating in the violence of July 1983 and how the actions and the responses of each of the participant groups have led them to an impasse, so much so that it has become essential for an 'external' third party to mediate between them. Each one is finding it difficult to diverge from the lines of approach each has been adopting so far.
The primary aim of this study is to present those actions and responses in a chronological and ideological perspective. So that, at this time when this problem which was once taken to be purely an inter-communal matter (in the sense of being considered just a problem of two communities within a nation and not one between ethnic groups or nations or nationalities) has turned out to be one of South-Asian geo-politics, it will contribute, at least in a very limited way to an understanding of how it has assumed these gigantic proportions. An effort is made in this paper to delineate and discuss (a) those events, in so far they affected the Tamils, and (b) those actions and activities emanat
ing from the Tamil side having a cause and .
effect relationship with the former.
Brief summary of the current situation
The Sri Lankan ethnic holocaust of July 1983 has had such an international response that it is no more just another internal problem of the country. The relations between the two major communities of the island have worsened to such an extent that it had become essential for another country to mediate between them. It has become an issue involving the security of the SouthAsian region, to the extent that it has been accepted in international diplomatic circles that it calls for Indian mediation.
The most appalling result of the July events has been the political vacuum that has been created among the Tamils living in Sri Lanka. There is no representation of the Sri Lanka Tamils at any institutional level of democratic participation, from parliament to local government institutions. Even the few Tamils who are yet part of the government have expressed their dissent to some of the actions done by the government or done in the name of the government.
The credibility of the g Tamils is so low that w standing guarantee the of any face-to-face tal tlement.
The position of th organisation of the T.
: United Liberation Fr
found itself unable t liament; the parliament been advocating and lapsed. It has had to fa from within.
The youth movem liferation of mutually o finds itself unable to co, of attacks and actions argued, it was exposing sive and anti-Tamil ch ernment in power. It a has come for different The situation theref impasse, with each oft government, the TUL ment, are now engag reassessment. This strategies is also being forces that determi character of the govel something outside the The most importan the post-July ’83 Sri l together of all the T Lanka. They feel th: binds them together.
6 Whether it is Am CWC, or Maheswa lier that an identific ated by the man Tamils have been 1 We have different there is a determi criminate, to haras crush, then all the Tamil Naduor hert world feel that inju
4.
M Industri
The Tamils feel t faced also by the M Tamil-speaking, do selves as Tamils bu

hTEEBHRUAH Y | 934
TION
A survey of Tamil political demands and activities in Sri Lanka since 1977, including an analysis of the socio-economic and ideological orientations of the struggle. Reproduced by kind courtesy of LANKA GUARDIAN.
vernment with the thout a third party re is no possibility is, let alone a set
e leading political mils - the Tamil ont is such that it » continue in pararist approach it has adopting has colce bitter opposition
ent, with the propposed groups, also ntinue with the type by which, it always the in-built oppresharacter of the govlso accepts that time
strategies. ore is one of a real he three groups, the F, the Youth Moveed in soul-searching reassessment of done by the Sinhala he the anti-Tamil nment. But that is scope of this paper. t political reality of Lanka is the getting amils living in Sri at a common cause
rthalingam, or the an, I told you earation has been creher in which all reated in the past. roblems but when ned policy to diss, to persecute, to Tamils whether in or anywhere in the stice is done. . Thondaman, mister of Rural l Development
at this insecurity is slems, who, though not consider themas an ethnic group
distinct from the Tamils. This could be seen in the recent attempt among the Moslems to form a united group of all Sri Lankan Moslems.
The irony is that this worsening of interethnic relations should have happened during the period of (and because of forces within) a government that had (a) allowed one of its members - K.W. Devanayagam - to be one of the founder members of the Tamil United Front (TULF) in 1972 and (b) had accepted the existence of the Tamil problem and had suggested a round-table discussion of the problem, underlying thereby the need for the abandonment of entrenched positions in order to arrive at a real solution to the problem.
However, a chronological review of the events since 1977 would reveal that, given the events from 1977 to 1982, the events of July 1983 were not only predictable, but also inescapable.
Events in inter-ethnic hostility violence
1977 - Widespread attack on Tamils following an incident at a carnival in Jaffna. Police attack on people in Jaffna and Batticaloa. Sinhalese attack on Tamils and their property in the Western coastal towns, Ratnapura and in some plantation areas.
1978 - The inauguration of the Second Republic; Tamil given a place of a national language without a proper definition of its status; described by N.M. Perera as "too little too late' - Bombing of the Avro aircraft by the Tamil militants. - The dramatic exposure claim by Cyril Mathew of the role of Tamil examiners in the marking of Tamil medium scripts in the GCE (A.L.) examinations, much to the detriment of the Sinhalese students. This charge was never investigated officially in spite of the repeated requests for an impartial and objective investigation.
1979 - Attempt to transform Vavuniya into Sinhala-majority district by a merger of certain parts of Medawachiya, later given up because of the TULF boycott of parliament. - Emergency 1979, consequent to the murder of Guruswamy, Inspector of Police by the Tamil youth militants. - Police and army excesses in Jaffna. - The Anti-Terrorist Act. - December 31 deadline (given in July) for the eradication of Terrorism in Jaffna. The operation was declared successful. - Appointment of a Commission of Inquiry into the powers of the intended District Development Councils (DDCs). - Attack on plantation labour. - Attack on Tamils at Trincomalee.

Page 13
Ւ ԷԷ5Ւ{UAՒi Y 1984
1980-The Development Council Act No.35 of 1980. - The dissatisfaction of the Youth with the TULF for collaborating with the government for meagre benefits. - Rift within the TULF and the breakaway of the 'Sutantiran' group.
1981 - Attack on the Peoples Bank at Neervely and the robbery of money; unleashing of army police terror in Jaffna. - Burning down of the Public Library, TULF office, and the Eelanadu Press in Jaffna. - The fiasco of the DD C elections in which the loss of a few vote boxes could not be accounted for. - Events in Batticaloa, an inter-school match between a Sinhala and a Tamil school leading to ethnic violence spreading from Amparai. State forces play a prominent role. - Attack on Tamils living in Negombo. - The killings at Embilipitiya. - Attacks and arson at Ratnapura, Pelmadulla, Kahawatte, Rakwana and Balangoda.
1982 - Clashes at Trincomalee. - Violence in some villages within Batticaloa District. - Presidential Elections. - DDCs found inef. fective. Deterioration of political relations. TULF decision not to sit in parliament beyond 1983. - Attacks by armed Tamil youth on Anaicoddai, Nelliady, and Chavakkacheri Police Stations. - Sinhala-Moslem ethnic clashes - Galle. - Referendum to extend life of Parliament. - Ordnance empowering the police and the army to dispose of bodies without proper post mortem inquiry.
1983 - Killing of Police officers at PointPedro. - An ambush of the army unit at Paranthan. - Attempt to bomb the Jaffna Secretariat. - Local government elections in May 1983. TULF contested; Sutantiram group and militant youths opposed TULF participation; Violence against the TULF low turn-out at polls. - Election day attack on army by youth militants. - TULF forced to resign from local bodies. - Attack on Tamil student at Peredeniya. - MPs not attending parliament. - Armed forces attacking Tamils and their property in Trimcomalee. The killing of 13 army personnel in Jaffna. - Sixth Amendment to the Constitution outlawing advocacy of separatism; demands that administrative personnel and those connected with the judiciary to sign oath of allegiance to the Constitution against separat
S.
The events speak for themselves. When these events are related to the anti-Tamil cry that has been whipped up among the Sinhalese, in a planned manner and to the general worsening of the law and order situation of the country, July 1983 emerges as something not unexpected; it lay in the logic of events.
The situation in 1977
These events reveal quite clearly that there was a gradual worsening of the situation, one event leading to another, with greater intensity and more potential for fearful consequences and that the absence of a determined effort to come to grips with the problem was a causative factor in this worsening of the situation. A closer look would reveal that all these trends which assumed frightening proportions after 1977, were present in 1977 itself and it was the manner in which they were allowed to
drift that have le Sequences.
Firstly, it shot demand for a sep demand is for Ta Eelam is the anci Lanka derived fro what is demanded Eelam), had alreac fact it was made transformed itsell political unity for Tamil parties in which year the Frc United Liberation term "liberation orientation' the f itself.
This indicates TULF as the majo among the Tamils. the Tamil Congr leadership of Kur really manipulatec Christian, Hindu clique of Jaffna, itself. But that was sions of the TULF. own within Jaffna pose. When Kum tested the Preside possible for Tamils itional Tamil area idarity with the TI North by voting f emerging youth n styles of political went out of active, tence. It must also ernment patronage merely to show tha only Tamil party.
Though the TU Federal Party, on Congress and the the former two in t and Sivasithampar leaders, with actua the former as the Party, the leadersh as Colombo-based This is not to say belong to the profe given rise to the ea that they were not establishment. In could see the emerg party activist. Siva Colombo-based lav Jaffna. They were previous leaders - and S.J.V. Chelva classwise there wa these twomen wer more typical men
Prior to 1977, es years of the SLE TULF received Colombo-based TI

TAMIL TIMES 13
to the disastrous con
i be noticed that the rate Tamil Eelam (the nil Eelam, not Eelam; ht Tamil word for Sri the term “Hela” “Eln”; s the "Tamil portion' of been made in 1977. In 1976 when the TUF into the TULF. The ed between the various 1972 (TULF) during ut called itself the Tamil Front. The use of the indicates "the socialist ont was claiming for
he emergence of the r political organisation tis true that a section of ess under the nominal lar Ponnambalam, but
by the diehard antibrofessional and feudal had been articulating living only on the omisIt had no initiative of its , It did serve one purar Ponnambalam conntial Elections, it was } living outside the trads to express their solamils of the East and or Ponnambalam. With militancy and changing leadership, this group cognisable political exisbe noted that the govgiven to this group was : the TULF was not the
LF was a union of the section of the Tamil CWC, it differed from lat with Amirthalingam um emerging dominant power in the hands of leader of the Federal p of the TULF was not as it had been earlier. hat these two did not isional class which had rlier leaders. It is only part of the Colombo Amirthalingam one ince of the Jaffna-based ithamparam, though a yer, has firm roots in ore accessible than the G. C. Ponnambalam layagam. It is true that no major change but in behaviour and spirit f the soil. ecially during the final rule (1975-77), the the support of the mil professionals and
entrepreneurs, who as a class did not do well under the SLFP. With the coming of the UNP in 1977 the picture changed.
The Tamil professionals and entrepreneurs of Colombo gave their support to the UNP and pressured the TULF to come to some understanding with the government. But the new leadership of the TULF (Amirthalingam) did not belong to the Colombo-based establishment. They needed someone who comes from the establishment but sufficiently close to those in authority. And this explains the rise of Drs Jeyaratnam Wilson and Neelan Tiruchelvam within the TULF, thus enabling the dominance once again of the Colombo-based Tamils. The hostility towards the Colombo-based leadership has been building up within the FP and the TULF looks a half-way house between the Colombo-based Tamil bourgeoisie and Jaffna-Batticaloa-based middle-class Tamil interests.
Equally important were the total collapse of left activism in Tamil areas. Except in trade union matters, the left had ceased to attract political attention in the Tamil areas. And there is some organised trade union activity only in Jaffna town - not in other areas. The LSSP was the worst affected; it had lost its local leadership. The Communist, Party too was not quite effective, a price it had to pay for its collaboration with the SLFP. It is significant that only those leftist groups which had cut themselves away from the “traditional left were able to be active. This is how the LSSP was able to come into prominence.
With the collapse at the national level of the leftist parties which were the only available political institutions in which Tamil and Sinhalese could be members with a common ideology and equal status and a say within the party, it was inevitable that ethnic division emerged as the basis of polarisation.
By 1977, the acts of political violence by militant youths too, had begun. Alfred Thuraiyappah was killed in 1976 and a few bank robberies (Puloly and Puthur) had already taken place.
Equally well established was the pattern of state violence against the people. The action of the police during the Fourth Conference on International Tamil Studies held at Jaffna had led to deaths of innocents.
And the post-1977 events show that it was these trends that worsened, interacting upon each other, and assuring fearsome proportions until at last they climaxed in 1983. The trends as they stood in 1977 had worsened consequently and demanded a political solution. The absence of such a determined attempt towards a real political solution was all the more tragic, as the UNP had, before coming to power, realised the need for such a solution:
“The United National Party accepts the position that there are numerous problems

Page 14
14 TAMIL TIMES
confronting the Tamil-speaking people. the lack of a solution to their problems has made the Tamil-speaking people support even a movement for the creation C a separate state. In the interests of national integration and unity so necessary for the eocnomic development of the whole country, the Party feels that such problems should be solved without loss of time. The Party, when it comes to power, will take all possible steps to remedy their grievances in such fields as (1) Education (2) Colonisation (3) Use of Tamil Language (4) Employment in Public and semi-public corporations. We will summon an All-Party Conference as stated earlier and implement all its decisions.
The Manifesto of the United National Party for the General Elections of 1977'
It behoves the student of Sri Lankan politics to identify in clear terms the factors which inhibited the UNP from implementing the remedies suggested by itself and, more importantly, how sections of UNP took to open campaigning against the Tamils in these very four areas.
Quick succession
The actions and activities leading to events in inter-ethnic hostility are interlinked and they came in such quick succession, making it difficult to know which was the cause/effect of which. Acts of the militant youth and the excesses of the army had such a relationship. But whatever the sequence was, the Tamil masses were being subjected to harassment by the army and the police. The fear of the armed forces with increasing difficulties in obtaining legal redress, alienated the people from the government.
The actions and activities relating to the Tamil Question could be seen at two levels:
(I) the parliamentary level at which the UNP tried to solve the question unilaterally and in association with the TULF, which had emerged as the main opposition party in parliament.
(II) the extra-parliamentary acts of expressing the grievances, and the actions taken to contain such acts through the use of the armed forces and the police.
Before discussing the characteristics of the activities at these two levels, it is important to identify the main grievances of the Tamils that arose out of and were getting heightened with the events in and after 1977.
The first one undeniably is the increasing insecurity of Tamilian life and property in both the Sinhalese and Tamil areas. In the Sinhala areas it came from the Sinhala militants and in the Tamil areas it was through the army and the police. This explains the demand for Home Guards as
part of the constitution feeling of insecurity is
Closely connected v loss of traditional Tam settlers and colonists Sinhalisation, carried Negombo and Puttalan continued in the Gai O Amparai District, the there was a Moslem ma; to a demographic chang change was undertaken district, Trincomaleew bour was not attracting The pattern was the est sponsored agriculturals Sinhalese not already were brought and settle state-sponsored demog made in Mannar and too. The worst was in trict, in the Kalkudah torates. This problem dimension, when plant placed from plantatio Land Reform measur began to take up reside agricultural areas. Pl were the worst hit by th 1977 and 1981. After on them, they migra tlements in Trincomale tricts. Much of the directed against them. at the July events of 19 those were an all-islan was going on in Trinc June.
The Sinhala colonisa with the full blessin ration. The best exam make Vavuniya a Sinh There was also an alleg rant Sinhalafishermen to threaten the traditi
23S
The use made of the worship - the bo-tr consolidating both le settlements is significa religio-cultural legitim of Sinhalisation. In
State Sect
Category Percer Professional and Administrative All Categories
Public
Professional an Adm. and Mai All Categories

lal provisions. This felt by all Tamils. with this is the real hil areas to Sinhala The process of out first in the n disrict, was being ya Project Region, only district where jority was subjected te. The most crucial in the Trincomalee ith its strategic harbig power attention. ablishment of statesettlements to which resident in the area cd as colonists. Such rapnic changes were Vavuniya districts i the Batticaloa disand Padiruppu elecbegan to have new ation labourers, disn areas due to the es of 1972 and 1974 nce in these outlying antation labourers he ethnic violence of the constant attacks ted mainly to sete and Vavuniya disSinhala fury was In fact, a closer look 83 would reveal that d extension of what comalee in May and
tion was being done gs of the administple is the attempt to ala majority district. ation made that migwere also being used onal residents of the
Buddhist symbols of že and the stupa in gitimate and illegal nt. These provided a isation to the process this connection the
or (excluding Corporation Sector) (Employment)
tage of:
Technical and Managerial
emergence of sacred cities in these areas of colonisation – Seruvila and Digavapi – deserve close study. The use of the Buddhist "intrusion' into Tamil areas could also be seen in the controversy over the Buddhist statue in Vavuniya town.
The significance of the above two grievances is that these exposed the lower strata of the Tamil population to the cruel vicissitudes of ethnic disharmony, which until the sixties were largely confined to the middle classes.
The full fury of state terrorism was turned against Tamil inhabitants living near these areas of newly established Sinhalese settlements.
The attack on Hindu temples has been a characteristic feature during this ethnic violence and the worst damage occurred in the Trincomalee district. The periodic statements issued by such organisations like the MIRJE (Movement for Inter-Racial Justice and Equality) and the CRM (Civil Rights Movement) testify to the damage caused to life and property.
intensity of discrimination
With oppression thus widening and bringing within its vortex hitherto unaffected persons and areas, it cannot be said that the intensity of discrimination in education and employment faced by the middle classes was on the decrease. It was becoming worse.
The Tables I and II provide the percentages relating to employment in state and public sectors in recent years. The figures provided relate to 1980.
In the field of education, the main source of irritation has been the number admitted to the universities. And here again the admission figures for 1981, '82 and '83 reveal the real position relating to the intake. (See Table III)
The District Quota system of admissions, no doubt, provided an opportunity for a larger number of Tamil medium students from districts like Mannar, Mullaitivu and Batticaloa to enter the university. But this was mainly for the arts
Sinhalese Tams Others 82% 12% 6% 81% 16% 3% 84% 2% 4%
Sector (State and Corporation Sectors Combined)
(Employment) d Technical 82% 3% 5% hagerial 83% 4% 3% 85% % 4%

Page 15
- 5 H UAH Y | 84
stream and very soon this gave rise to severe disappointments, for after three to four years, there was graduate unemployment in areas where the social expectations through university education were very high.
The lack of education facilities in the
Tamil areas at t level is something lighted. Even in number of the sch no proper facilitie ondary school lev
Ill Admission Figures 98
Sinhalese Tamis
% Arts 82.8 3.3 Physical Sciences 63.5 3.8 Biological Sciences 72.5 24.3 Engineering 67.2 28. Medicine 72.7 23. Law 73.0 6.2 Total 76.4 9.2
982 Arts 79.4 6.3 Physical Sciences 6. 33.5 Biological Sciences 7.7 2. Engineering 66.9 28.5 Medicine 72.4 25.3 Law 68.8 24.0 Total 74.3 22.0
1983 Arts 77. 4.4 Physical Sciences 73.4 23. Biological Sciences 70.3 23. Engineering 66.4 28. Medicine 72.8 22. llaw 78.5 .5 Total 75.0 9.3
P
BIGGEST BANK ROBBERY IN SRI LANKA’S HISTORY
Jewellery worth Rs.36 million and Rs.240,000/- in cash were reported to have been robbed from the Kattankudy People's Bank in a daring daylight heist by an armed gang on Friday, January 13th. The robbery, police said, was committed in the populous, predominantly Moslem eastern province town of Kattankudy off Batticaloa. According to a Sri Lankan newspaper report, twelve youths arrived in a Hiace van and six of them entered the bank when it opened for the day's business. The bank manager, S.M. Maharoof, was taken hostage when he returned from the police station after collecting the safe key.
The safe lock mechanism, working on a time schedule was, however, no problem for the robbers who coolly bided their time until they could open the vault, having bundled the bank employees into a room earlier. A bank official who had the second key had been brought at gun-point to get at the cash and valuables. Telephone lines had been made inoperative before the robbery.
Within hours of the robbery, a massive
joint army-polices Sea was set going, t no breakthrough h government has m Rs. 10 lakh rewar leading to the arre
Bigger than the cash robbery (Rs Kilinochchi Bank the Kattankudy r( previous ones, ca casualties.
Although it is Tamil militant groc the operation, no c during the week all
SR KR

TAMIL TIMES 15
secondary education hich has not been highaffna district, a good ols are understaffed and are provided at the sec
Others %
3.9 4.7 3.2 4.7 4.3 0.0
4.4
4.3 5.5 2.2 4.5 2.3 7.3
3.9
6.6 3.6 3.6 5.5 S. 0.0
5.7
SS
The most frightening development in the field of education was the attack on the Tamil students at Peradeniya University (May 1983). The fact that this could take place at Peradeniya, yet the major university in Sri Lanka and the pacesetter of intellectual liberation was seen as a sure indication of the increasing insecurity of Tamil life and property.
Economic neglect
The other major grievance of the Tamils is the economic neglect of the Tamilspeaking areas in terms of development. There has been no major utilisation of the physical resources of these areas and the only economic activity that was doing well - the cultivation of subsidiary crops - in Jaffna was affected badly by the liberal import policies of 1977. Perhaps one of the few favourable aspects of the impact of the open economy on the Sri Lankan Tamil rural population was that it enabled them to go abroad for manual labour. This exodus of manual labour, unheard of in these areas since the days of travel to the Federated Malay states helped to ease problems and paved the path for higher earnings at certain lower levels.
A look at these grievances brings out clearly what Thondaman has described as the common cause that today unites all Tamils as Tamils.
It is against this background that one has to review the political activities taken at the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary levels.
arch both by land and ut even after one week as been reported. The eanwhile announced a i for any information t of those involved.
Neervely People's Bank .8.1 million) and the grab (Rs.7.9 million), bbery was, unlike the "ried off without any
videly believed that a up was responsible for aims were forthcoming er the robbery.
TAMIL YOUTH ASSOCATION presents
A TIME OF HOPE
in aid of Tamil Refugees Fund
SATURDAY 3RD MARCH 1984 WALLINGTON PUBLIC HALL STAFFORD ROAD, WALLINGTON
Doors open 6.30pm Dinner & Bar available Admission £2 Tickets available from: SUREN RAJESWAREN Tel: 856 0596 VENKAT BALAKRSHINA Te: 852 6996 KETHARSARA Tel: 656 9950
HINA:
Action rightly renounced brings freedom: Action rightly performed brings freedom; Both are better Than mere shunning of action.
- Bhagavad - Gita

Page 16
16 TAMIL TIMES
OTTOWA COMMIT
TO HELPING TAM
In the glow of the street lights, the army officer ordered the businessman out of his car and cocked his sten gun as he forced him to kneel at the side of the busy road. His hands raised over his head, Ratnasingam Subramaniam said his "last prayer'.
But as he waited in terror for the first burst of bullets, a jeep pulled up with a squeal of tyres and another officer jumped out. Instead of allowing the execution to go ahead, he accepted Subramaniam's denials that he was a terrorist and freed him.
Six months later in a crowded Toronto meeting hall, Subramaniam recounted his 'miraculous' escape from death. 'That was when I decided to go. This was not the country for me,' said the 36-year-old father of two, who fled Sri Lanka with his wife and two children last year.
On January 8th, three federal Cabinet ministers reassured a meeting of more than 400 Sri Lankans that the government was 'seriously committed' to addressing the problem of Sri Lanka's Tamil minority, of whom Subramaniam is a member.
Temporary residence
Tamils here are being provided with temporary residence status, said John Roberts, Federal Minister of Immigration and Employment, who was joined by Multiculturism Minister David Collenette and David Smith, small business and tourism minister. The future of Tamils in Canada will depend on the outcome of events in Sri Lanka, he said.
But Canada does not want to declare that there is a "tremendous crisis' while "there is some hope” Sri Lanka's troubles can be set
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||III TRIBUTE TO W.SA PULLANAYAGUMM
In a tribute to the late V.S.A. Pullanayagum who passed away in late December in Colombo, Colombo lawyer C.V. Vivekananthan, writing in The Island of January 9th, quotes Lord Eldon's words to describe him: 'Helived like a hermit and worked like a horse.' "Truth, justice, fair play and liberty,’ says Mr Vivekananthan, were Mir Pullanayagum's "governing passions and it was loyalty to those ideals that was the keynote to his whole career. It will be remembered with gratitude that Mr Pullanayagum gave his legal talents freely and without charging a fee to defend several Tamils who were held under the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act.
IIIHIII||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
tled internally, Roberts policy of genocide is bein Tamils, said Hassan Sl retary of the Society for Minorities, which orgar
Before his chilling a ramaniam had been fo guise after a mob drove and burned down his neighbours hid him an they went to a secret r
Horrifying fate
But more horrifying relatives of his wife, Vi erately burned to death Sri Lanka is known t dise, but to its Tamil 1 beautiful Indian Ocean marked by terror. Rac Sinhalese majority, wh million against its 2 r hundreds dead in July The wave of violence a small group of Tamil and killed 13 Sinhale unleashed a deeper res. Tamils, who are Sri La generally wealthier tha Since July, hundre come to Toronto. ramaniam, are uncerta, be allowed to stay beca relatives here to spons more Tamils are cro camps in Sri Lanka, country.
Subramaniam says opportunity to be able himself and his family, immigration status hec as I am concerned, I work. A former schoo harassment of Tamils f a career in education i Last year, Viji gave job she has held for harassment for belong that had a Tamil p ramaniam’s fortunes s into business for hims Lanka he was employ He and his familyar in a Scarborough apa have to leave soon bec coming from Sri Lank want to stay in Canad back and be killed, h
TORONTO STA

FEBRUARY 1984
TED" LS
said. However, a g practised against eriff, general secthe Aid of Ceylon ised the meeting. rest in July, Sub'ced to live in dishim from his home business. Moslem d his family before :fugee camp.
was the fate of six i. They were delibin a car, he said. o travellers as paraminority life on the island is becoming ial violence by the o number about ll million Tamils, left
was triggered after terrorists ambushed se soldiers. But it entment against the Inka’s businessmen, in the Sinhalese.
ds of Tamilis have Many, like Subin whether they will use they don't have or them. Thousands wded into refugee waiting to leave the
all he wants is the to work to support but while he awaits an't geta job. “Asfar will do any kind of teacher, he said that orced him to give up
1979. up the government 5 years because of ng to a trade union esident. But Subared when he went lf. When he left Sri ng 15 people. staying with friends tment. But he will use their parents are to live with them. “I . I don't want to go
said.
3y kind courtsey, R, Jan 9th, 1984.
By kind courtesy, FINANCIAL TIMES, Feb 13th, 1984.
SRI LANKA UNDER PRESSURE FROM IMP
Sri Lanka and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are at odds over the size of spending cuts and the amount by which the country's currency should be further devalued before the Fund grants a further standby credit.
The IMF is seeking further cuts of up to 3.5 billion rupees ($240 million), or about 7 per cent of planned expenditure this year and a devaluation of the rupee against the dollar from its present level of 25 to at least 27.
Tough debate
The Sri Lankan Cabinet this week began what is expected to be a protracted and tough debate over how far the country can afford to go in meeting the IMF requirements. Mr De Mel, Sri Lanka's Finance Minister, has negotiated skillfully with the IMF for over a year, but he is now likely to meet stiff opposition from colleagues who argue that the Fund is dictating Sir Lanka's economic policy.
There is also real concern of the possible effect of a further devaluation at a time of the soaring inflation and in the wake of last July's ethnic riots which left the island economically weak and politically divided.
Agreement with the Fund is critical for Sri Lanka. In the first place, the country needs the additional $50 million on offer. More important, the Fund's stamp of approval on Sri Lanka's economic policies would clear the way for a $210 million structural adjustment loan from the World Bank and an estimated $400 million from the aid consortium countries meeting in Paris in June.
Lack of concern
The IMF is worried about the apparent lack of concern among some ministers over the need for fiscal and monetary discipline and is likely to drive a hard bargain. It is, so far, even refusing to agree to send a mission to Sri Lanka - which was originally expected in March-tofinalise the standby facility.
Sri Lanka's last budget was regarded as 'soft' by the Fund, and there is growing concern that a credibility gap between the government's intentions and its actions could erode its international standing.

Page 17
FEBRUARY 1984
The following are extracts from a letter to the Editor of the SUNDAY NEW NIGERIAN of September 18, 1983, written by Mr U.W. Sirisena, Chief Internal Auditor, Unijos, Nigeria. Mr Sirisena is a Sri Lankan Sinhalese living and working in Nigeria:
“I happened to be in Sri Lanka during the period July 31st to August 23rd, 1983, and I have seen things in reality.
“The Public Service is the mainstay of Tamils in Sri Lanka wherein a disproportionate share of the high posts are their monopoly. The InspectorGeneral of Police and several of his deputies are Tamils. In the professions and business enterprises, Tamils dominated. It is these business and industrial places that were the main target during the disturbances.
"The reason: They openly financed the Liberation Tigers (Tamils) in their campaign to bring down the legally constituted government of Sri Lanka by the use of arms and establish a separate state. The Indian business entrepreneurs had also to suffer losses in their industrial undertakings as they were known to give financial support to the Liberation Tigers covertly.
Highly exaggerated
"The figures appearing in the cartoon are incorrect and have been highly exaggerated according to statistics released by the Sri Lankan government as appearing in the newspapers, which come under government censorship.
“It is a fact that political prisoners were killed. The victims were dangerous Tamil terrorists who broke into banks and attempted to stage a coup. The fellow Sinhalese prisoners were so angered by the massacre of 13 Sinhalese army personnelin Jaffna onJuly 23,
WITHOUT
1983 (which spal that they assas counterparts. So have fled to Inc gone undergroun government has
for the arrest or e arrest of those t civilians said to ha majority of them who were living il
The following a Rejoinder fr Sokoto, Nigeria SUNDAY NEW October 16th, 1
". . . Mr Ssays at the privileged clas! could have had before 30 years or: iota of truth in it
“Adding further Tamils in the polit Tamils who hap posts were there ei their promotions s or after having ear being the stooges ( selfish ambitions. ing claims had b premature retirer shelved to corners out having any sibilities. Some ourably elevated Ambassadors to c been stripped of tions. They now ri showpieces' of the the world in times ortion of the Tami the armed forces ligible - not ever
'Mr S says cyni massacred in the
The Fund is worried about:
o Sri Lanka's ambitious development programme. In its present form it is regarded as 'indigestible’ by the Fund. The IMF has pointed out to the government that aid and budget appropriating for 1983 were underspent by at least 25 per cent. A major target for the Fund is Air Lanka, the country's airline, whose aircraft purchasing programme is widely regarded as a luxury.
Runaway growth
to Runaway growth of the money supply last year. Sri Lanka's Central Bank has recently tightened credit, but inflation is
still running at an a 20 per cent.
O Poor export pe sively high imports. a further devaluati cuts in the count programme and t export-orientated ir High tea prices, S. have given the econo this year. But the Lanka's chronic cl reduced from l3 per 10 per cent in 19 optimistic, given th island's key tourist July's unrest.

TAMIL TIMES 17
COMMENT
2d off the violence) inated their Tamil e of the coup leaders a where they have and the Sri Lankan ffered cash rewards idence leading to the rrorists. Of the 300 ve been massacred, a are stateless persons egally in Sri Lanka.”
e extracts from the m M.A. Cruz, published in the W NIGERIAN of 983:
out the Tamils being i, etc. This statement an element of truth o, but has not got an now in 1983.
he claims there are e force. A handful of bened to be in such ther after having had everal years overdue, ned the credentials of of the government for Many of the deserveen forced to accept ments or had been of departments withmeaningful responllad also been “honto the position of ountries after having their executive func:adily become “handy government to show like this. The propls to the Sinhakese in is alarmingly negone per cent! cally that the people prison and the bus
nual rate of more than
rformance and excesThe Fund wants to see n of the rupee, major y's public investment le encouragement of dustries.
i Lanka's major export, ny an unexpected boost MF wants to see Sri rrent account deficit cent of GDP in 1982 to 4. This target seems : slow recovery of the industry following last
iness industries and the houses destroyed were all “terrorists', “their supporters' and properties of such people. In fact, the prisoners killed were suspected political prisoners. They include priests, teachers, lecturers, and welfare workers. The inability to catch the "real tigers' had resulted in the arrest of many innocent Tamils and their subsequent death in the hands of Sinhala criminals and prison guards. The industries destroyed were accomplishments of the hard-working Tamils; some of these people were pillars of the nation's economy. This mischievous detrimental attack was a premeditated one, planned to its detail well ahead of the ambushing of the 13 soldiers who were a nuisance in the North. This bloodbath and destruction were organised and initiated by the Sinhala extremists and thugs who had infiltrated even the Cabinet levels.
Justifies slaughter
'Mr S rejoicingly justifies the slaughtering of the civilian Tamils by declaring them as “stateless persons'. Like many of his comrades, Mr S also believes in a game of give it a bad name and hang it' - a typical third grade inhuman mentality of the Sinhala extremist. I do not understand under what definition Mr Sclassifies these Sri Lankan Tamils as "stateless persons', and my fear is that when his "ingenious definition' (if there was any) is extended, even he himself will be one of the stateless persons who are living "illegally in Sri Lanka', because most of the Tamilskilled were in a position to trace their history as a community in Sri Lanka to even more than 2,500 years, and I have my doubts whether Mr S could do this with his own community without distorting the history to his whims and fancies.'
RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Lull me not into languid dreams, Shake me out of this cringing in the dust, Out of the fetters that shackle our mind,
make futile our destiny; Out of the unreason that bends our
dignity down under the indiscriminate feet of dictators; Shatter this age-long shame of ours, And raise our head
into the boundless sky, into the generous light, into the air of freedom.

Page 18
18 TAMIL TIMS
BOOK REVIEWS
I must congratulate Mr K. Gnanasoorian who lives several hundred miles av vay from the lands of Tamil culture, for having written this handy volume which gives a bird's eye view of Tamil culture. Written in a simple style of English, I am sure that this book can be read and enjoyed by youngsters and elders alike.
As a student of history I read this book with absorbing interest and found the correct blending of history with cultural features of the Tamils living in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
The language and literature are mirrors reflecting the culture of the people over the centuries and they have been aptly highlighted by Mr Gnanasoorian. Tamils have always excelled infine arts and healthy traditions have been built over the ages, par
ANNTRODUCT CULTURE, by K. MSc. Second edition January 1984, revise 272 pages. Reviewed NAMBAROORAN Department Tamil S Countries, Tamil U. Thanjavur, Tamil N
ticularly in the realm of ple architecture, scul raphy.
This volume contain mation on Tamils living the world and on the school and university
In this small but beautiful volume, which is an incisive analysis of the constitutional framework of Sri Lanka, there is a brief epilogue which epitomises the essence of the work. It relates to the ethnic violence that broke out in July 1983 and this is what the writer has to say:
"In many ways the 1983 riots signalled an end to the "liberal' consciousness which had been the basis of elite decision-making. The hallmark of this liberalism was the tolerance extended to the cry for a separate state, a tolerance reminiscent, for example, of the Canadian approach to Quebec nationalists. That tolerance is no longer a reality in Sri Lanka.'
The author had described the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution as one done 'in haste'. Of the army, she says that it is no longer the loyal servant of those in power. 'The Sandhurst-trained conmanders have gradually faded away and are being replaced by new officers who perhaps see for themselves a different role in national affairs' - a point which President Jayewardene should have to take note of. There is a timely warning that if the Indian initiative on the Tamil problem, which may lead to positive results, fails, the cycle of violence “will only escalate'.
"The ideas and institutions spelled out in the text of the book will be of no significance in a Sri Lanka where rational dialogue and democratic decision-making have given way to irrationality and authoritarianism.' (Emphasis added)
Taking the 1972 Constitution for a searching probe, the author has said that it did not embody a concept of separation of powers and despite the heralding of parliamentary sovereignty (in the Republican Constitution) parliament had become more of an instrument for “ratifying the decisions of the supreme policy-framing body, the Cabinet, than the forum where the gov
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And, in the words of of affairs aided by majorities would char political life in the 70 comment is superfluol interesting to note that stitution 'a declarat limited parliamentary acts, prohibited judic pended the Bill of Rig vidual citizens. In sho given power to rule wit
Constant agitation
Tracing the history stitution to the 'Sinhal Fifties”, the author si constant agitation of th ties, the Constitution tations of Sinhala B “without a single conc speaking minority'. ' parties united underth separate state of Tami and east precisely for government totally demands, culminatin, youthful political mo

FEBRUARY 1984
ON TO TAMIL Gnanasoorian,
published d and enlarged,
by K. , Professor, tudies in Foreign hiversity, ladu.
music, dance, tempture and iconog
s very useful inforin different parts of study of Tamils at
levels in various
countries. As a research scholar, Mr Gnanasoorian has indicated the areas pertaining to Tamil studies in which more research has to be undertaken by us.
He is also concerned with the economic problems faced by the Tamils in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, and makes a strong plea to the affluent Tamils living outside those two countries to pool their resources through a voluntary international Tamil organisation and help their less privileged brethren who are the real torch-bearers of Tamil culture.
An Introduction to Tamil Culture is available at £6, excluding postage, from the publishers, the Institute for International Tamil Renaissance, 72 King Edward Road, London, E17, or from Messrs Paari Nilayam, Madras-1, Tamil Nadu, India.
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osition would norodate each other.
the author, this state large parliamentary acterise Sri Lankan ls and 80s. Further us. And it would be underthe 1972 Conion of emergency crutiny of executive ial review and sushits protecting indirt, the executive was hout accountability.
of the 1972 ConOnly policies of the ys that despite the 2 Tamil political parinshrined the expecuddhist nationalists ssion to the Tamilhe Tamil political e banner calling for a Eelam in the north the reason that the
disregarded their “in the growth of rements which were
soon to use violence as a means of political expression'. This is a highly realistic assessment of the position.
Following the United National Party's landslide victory in the 1977 elections under the leadership of the "an iron-willed strategist such as J.R. Jayewardene, a new Constitution came into being in 1978. Its main concern was stability, which found expression in the introduction of the presidential system of government and an electoral scheme of proportional representation. Even granting that developing societies require stability the author has given expression to the feeling that the presidential system is not so much the last stance of democracy but the first step towards dictatorship'.
Severely critical
There is also the fear that the concentration of power in a highly exalted office may have disturbing consequences. The author has been severely critical of the 1978 Constitution though praise has been showered on some aspects of it. First, it is remarkably concerned with technological improvements which would update the institutional processes of government. Secondly, it displays in its text an unusual fear of an indepedent judiciary and an independent public service. Thirdly, neither parliament nor the bureaucracy has been
granted incentives to create processes
which will meet the challenges of a modern nation state. Fourthly, the Constitution as enacted did not contain any structures for participation at the local level though legislation for decentralised participation to meet some of the demands of the Tamil minority was instituted at the end of 1981.
But the district councils, the author affirms, did not allow for much autonomy at the local level since the national executive

Page 19
HBHUARY 1984
THE ELIEZER AWARD FUNC
Professor Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer retired in December 1983 and in rec
ognition of his many and varied accom
plishments and services to society, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia, intends to establish an Award in his name, to be presented to one or more students in the Department of Applied Mathematics.
During a career spanning five decades and four continents, Dr Eliezer has lived a full life as a Christian and as a scientist, scholar, writer, public speaker, barrister, administrator, broadcaster, and community leader.
Research interests
He has worked with great men like Paul Dirac and Homi Bhabha in his research fields of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. His other research interests have included Inequalities and functional Equations, and more recently Lie Symmetries in Classical and Quantum Mechanics.
Dr Eliezer's early training at Hartley College and University College (Ceylon) and his later studies in the University of Cambridge led to his becoming a Cambridge Wrangler. Whilst at Cambridge he won the 1951 Royal Exhibition, the Isaac Newton award and the Charles L. Meyer award of the United States Academy of Science. He held a Fulbright Scholarship while on a visit to Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies. He was also a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, from 19461949.
Next, he took up an appointmentas Professor of Mathematics in the University of
Ceylon where he w; years. During this Dean of the Facu. also, for two years YMCA in Colomb
He has attende "Atoms for Peace'
Professor Eliezer
(1955, 1958) and th Energy Commissio1
In 1959 he was ap Mathematics in the where he served as a Deputy Vice-Chai
While in Kuala became Presidento Vice-President of th
In 1968, he and Australia where he fessor of Applied
LS
and parliament maintained strict control. With the Tamils demanding a separate state, any scheme of decentralisation was seen by the Sinhalese mainstream as being a concession and it is in this context the author would have it that the possibility of further decentralisation to ensure maximum participation and autonomy at local levels would require a conceptual separation of the issues of decentralisation from those of ethnic reality.
Warning
The author approvingly quotes the warning of F.A. Hayek, that a “free Constitution is a licence to the majority in Parliament to act as arbitrarily as it pleases to describe the situation in Sri Lanka 'from 1971 to the present.
A stimulating work covering other aspects, such as political participation, fundamental rights, women's status, etc., and dealing with some of the ideological conflicts which find expression in the Sri
Lankan Constitution Constitution finds a and there is a useful interested in a furth
VATILINGA
Mr V. Nadarajah lakam, Jaffna, pas on January 27th 19 took place on Feb Ham Crematoriun his wife - Sathiya Jeyagowri (Malay (UK), Senthill Travels, Sri La (UK) and Usha in-law - Ayat Pushpanathan (U (UK); daughters jandevi (Sri Lanka grandchildren - maraj, Nirmalan Ami and Gajen.
Inserted by th
 

TAMIL TIMES 19
s to spend a further ten ime he was for a period y of Science. He was Vice-President of the
.
the United Nations Conference at Geneva
e International Atomic
at Vienna (1958). pointed to the chair of University of Malaya., Dean of Science, and as ncellor for four years.
Lumpur, Dr Eliezer f the Rotary Club and e YMCA.
his family moved to became the first ProMathematics at the
newly founded La Trobe University in Melbourne. During his fifteen years at La Trobe University, Dr Eliezer has served for two periods as Dean of the School of Physical Sciences and has acted as Deputy Vice-Chancellor. He has been much involved in the activities of the Ceylon Tamil Association of Victoria which elected him President, and more recently Patron of the Association.
Much appreciated
His work over the years in broadcasting is well known and much appreciated. He was responsible for several radio programmes on Radio Ceylon, and Radio Malaysia on religion, science, and community matters, and lately has been compere of Melbourne’s 3EA Radio Tamil programme. For relaxation he enjoys a game of bridge orchess, whilst on the turf he has an occasional flutter or sometimes a game of golf.
It is felt that many of Dr Eliezer's colleagues, former colleagues, students and friends would wish to acknowledge his substantial contributions towards Mathematics, Science, Peace, Education and Religion by playing a part in the setting up of a Professor C.J. Eliezer Award. Contributions to the fund could be sent to Finance Branch, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia 3083. Cheques should be made out to LaTrobe University, Professor C.J. Eliezer Fund. Contributions are tax deductible in Australia. A full receipt will be forwarded.
. The text of the 1978 place as an appendix bibliography for those er study.
M NADARAJAH
(Volkart) of Maled away in London 4 and the cremation lary 1st at the East . He is survived by akshmy; children - a), Jamunasrigowri umar (Universal uka), Udayakumar mari (UK); sonslurai (Malaysia), K) and Ganendran , in-law -- Niranand Rita (UK) and hitra, Uma, Dhar
Prashani, Rachel,
bereaved family
THE LIBERATION STRCIGGLE OF THE PEOPLE OF TAMIL EELAM
A PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION
Portraying:
O The savage and brutal oppression unleashed
against the Tamil nation.
O Democratic non-violent protest against the
repression of successive Sinhala governments.
O Failure of non-violent protest and the birth of
the armed resistance movement.
O Heroic struggle of the Tamil masses and their armed vanguard - Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
On Saturday, March 3rd, 1984 From 3.00pm to 10.00pm
Kensington Youth Centre Wordsworth Avenue EAST HAM, E12 Tube: East ham)
LONDON TAMIL MANRAM
51 sELaoRNE GARDENs, HENooN, LoNDONNW 4 TEL o1-2o2-19o

Page 20
20 TAMIL TIMES
A dinner and dance in aid of the Tamil Centre was patronised by nearly 500 people on December 23rd at the luxurious Civic suite in Wandsworth.
The formation of the Tamil Centre was inspired by the poet Bharathi's eulogy ". . . of all the languages there is none so sweet as Tamil . . . and his exhortation ". . . its nectar should be dispersed the world over'. Negotiations are currently under way towards establishing the Tamil Centre within a 5,000-sq.ft building in Wimbledon.
This building will house a large Tamil library, a periodicals reading room, Tamil typewriters and word-processing facilities, a conference room, recreation and refreshment room, record, audio and video tape libraries. There will be facilities for research and subsequently a printing press may also be introduced. Culture awareness study groups are to be organised, and
it is reported that man abroad have voluntee
Such a large under power and money. T
TO MILLON PETITION U.N.
"A petition with 10 million signatures demanding UN intervention in the Tamil problem in Sri Lanka which was submitted by the Dravida Munneta Kazhagam, Tamil Nadu, Madras, will be considered by the UN Commission on Human Rights, said the Indian Foreign Minister Mr P.V.
Narasimha Rao, speak liament.
MILITARY
N KACHC
Mir Lakshman Jeyako the Sri Lanka parliam Sri Lankan military
established on the isl: which lies midway b
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CAMP two countries. H ATIVU? He appears to have forgotten or perhaps prefers to ignore the treaty with India about dy MP demanded in this island. At the time India agreed to ent that a permanent grant sovereignty over Kachchativu to Sri presence should be Lanka one of the conditions imposed was and of Kachchativu, that the island would not be put to any
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Page 21
" FEBRUARY 1984
An evening of Classical Veena by Mrs Kamalini Manoranjan
Saturday, 10 March at 8.30p.m.
at Ghanapathy Temple, 125-133 Effra road, Wimbledon London SW19
RAJA GOPURAM
Sri Vallipura Alvar Temple Trust of Thunnalai North, Puloly, Pt. Pedro, Sri Lanka, proposes to construct a 71-foot seven stepped Raja Gopuram for the Temple. In view of the unsettled,ituationin Sri Lanka, the trustees do not propose to approach any single person directly, but are making a general appeal for donations from devotees and well-wishers. Cheques, drafts, money orders and postal orders drawn in favour of the Trust may be sent to the Hon. Treasurer of the Trust. All donations will be acknowledged.
MEMORAL C.
TAMBI On 17th MA at 7.1. at BHARATA W 4a CASTLET LONDO
(West Kensingto
Telephone: items will include: Rohan de Saran c Kandyan drum Vipuli and her tro Dancing, Bharata Tambimuttu's song Paulinus Tambinu sung by Paulinus Chrysanthus Tamb Display of arts anc
During the intervals Ceylon food will be av
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Page 22
22 TAMIL IMES
RELEASE OF | 6 | DETA
Sixteen people detained without charge or trial since July last year are reported to have been released by the authorities in Sri Lanka in late November and early December. They include a 60-year-old lawyer, Prins Gunasekera, a prisoner of conscience whose case had been taken up by AI for adoption.
They had been held under Emergency Regulation No. 17 since the government's banning of three opposition parties on July 30th 1983.
AI welcomed news of the releases in a letter to the Ministry of Defence of December 29th and asked if 21 other people detained at the same time were also to be released.
AI noted that it was unaware of any charges having been brought against the remaining detainees, who have now been held for some six months.
On December 29th, 1983, AI wrote also to the Sri Lankan Minister of Internal Security, Y.B. Werapitiya, to inquire about reports that an estimated 170 members of the Tamil minority had been arrested in recent months under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Most of the arrests are understood to have taken place in October, November and December 1983, in the Bat
ticaloa and Trincomal a few arrests were also district.
AI has on a numbe: ssed concern to the Sr. that people arrested u: were detained withc months, sometimes subjected to torture a
In its letter to the Security, AI expresse safety of the 170, esp them had been trans Prison, where 53 Tam July 1983.
Specific assurance
AI asked the Minist ances that the detaine tured; that relative informed of the place and that their relativ immediate and regula
AI also drew atten during the recent disci report to the Human l Geneva in October 19 of the Committee exp the detention provisic
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I LOTI VARIT T . Stigat
NEES
e districts, although eported in the Jaffna
of occasions expreLanka Government der PTA provisions ut trial for many ncommunicado and nd ill-treatment. Minister of Internal i concern about the !cially since some of ferred to Welikada ls had been killed in
er for specificassures would not be tors be immediately : of their detention, is and lawyers have
access to them.
ion to the fact that
ussion of Sri Lanka’s Rights Committee in 83, several members ressed concern that ons of the IPTA had
given rise to 'allegations of arbitrary arrests by the government' and appeared to derogate from Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (against arbitrary arrest or detention.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER - February 1984
COLOMBO REFUSES
ΤΟ ΑOOΕΡΤ INDIA'S REGUEST
Sri Lanka has turned down India's request for a second entry point for Indian Airlines flights from South India at Jaffna, capital of the Northern Tamil province of the island.
A high-level Indian delegation, led by the Civil Aviation Secretary, Mr M.M. Kohli, which visited Colombo last month, failed to persuade the Sri Lankan Civil Aviation Authority to permit Indian Airlines to revive its service between Jaffna and Tiruchi, which was suspended in 1970, according to Indian Airline sources.
The reason for the refusal is stated to be 'political', as the Sri Lankan government does not want free flow of passengers between Tamil Nadu and Jaffna in view of the recent ethnic disturbances.
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Page 23
SLFP SPLITS A
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by Mrs S. Bandaranaike has split for the second time in two years.
This time, the split of the SLFP arose from within the Bandaranaike household. The persons who spearheaded the split and gave a new direction to the breakaway group, which has declared itself as a new political party under the name of Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP), were Mr Vijaya Kumaranatunga and his wife, Chandrika Kumaranatunga who is the second daughter of Mrs S. Bandaranaike. The President of the new party is the veteran, T.B. Illangaratne.
The new party had its first public meeting on January 22 at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium which was attended by nearly 15,000 people, a big turn-out for an infant in organisational terms.
Public meetings
Since then, reports indicate large attendances at the SLPP's public meetings and all signs point to its popularity in relative
terms. The breaka the SLFP's party which carries every of people who had ( to join the new part the entire regional to be defecting.
Dismissive mann
Although Mrs B. split in a dismissive Bandaranaike has at the issue and pok in-law, the apparen party wotild appea enough worry, acco.
Mr Vijaya Kumau Secretary of the Sl critical comment in issue of the Lanka G assure him - and a that I condemn racis we can be the prou veliseya and Sigiriya "Only time will tell', the original article,
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TAMIL TIMES 23
GAN
ay group took with it daily paper Dinakara day long lists of names fected from the SLFP . In some cases, almost hembers would appear
r
as publicly treated the manner and Mr Anura empted to personalise fun at his brotherpopularity of the new to be causing them ding to inside sources.
anatunga, the General PP, in replying to a an article in a recent Lardian, states: "Let me l who care to know - m even today. I believe d inheritors of Ruvanwithout being racist.' retorted the author of Dayan Jayatillake.
FUSS OVERAD IN CALENDAR
MR Arthur de Silva, Sri Lanka's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mission in Washington has protested to Pan Am over a 1984 wall calendar that carried a paid advertisement by the Eelam Tamil Association of America.
The calendar, with the airline's logo, carries the slogan "Independence is our birthright'. On the bottom left is a map of Sri Lanka showing the area covered by the proposed state of Tamil Eelam.
Mr T. Sri Thillaiampalam, speaking on behalf of the Eelam Association, stated that 2,000 calendars which have been printed for the association by Pan Am's printers were sold for $10 each, in addition to being distributed free to members of the US Congress, Washington-based diplomats and UN representatives.
He said: “The slogan was a popular cry during the American war of independence. Our objective is to publicise our just cause in the American context. We are a registered, tax-exempt, charitable organisation and Pan Am knows too well that it is a violation of our rights to deny us our right to use our message in the calendar. The whole issue is blowing up out of proportion and we are glad we are getting a lot of mileage out of it. We have no more calendars to meet the heavy demand.'
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