Page 1
Tamil
TIME
TAMIL TIMES
ISSN 0.266-448B
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION
UK/India/Sri Lanka. ESWUSS15 All other countries..... E15/USS25
Published monthly by TAMIL TIMES LTD P.O. BOX 304 London W13 9ON United Kingdom
CONTENTS
Editorial. .2 Random Thoughts...............
Dr. Kana pathipillai Arumugam.................. Trinco, The Pulse of Bitter Conflict,5 The Tamils and Their Futurgin
Sri Lanka........................................................ Effects of Conflict on Economy in Northern Sri Lanka.......................,,,,,,,,,,,.......8
Deficiencies in Government Proposals.9
The Lies of ReWarend Pam Nasha Thbra +++=rr++++,aar1.-....araari,-.-...........arraaar.-.-.....+++--; O
Extracts from The Sanson Commission
Report,.............11 Towards a Consensus,...................... 12
Sri Lanka & International Aid,................... 14 The UnsawOury Reality of the Sri Lankan Media.................................................. 15
Mödia Filla..................... .1高
Letters to the Editor.....,,,,.............. 19
Asian Students Express Solidarity. With
Tamil Struggle....................... .芷0
Classified Ads..... 22
The U.S. intrigue ...............................민씨
Wiews expressed by contributors are mot necessarilythose of the editör orthe publishers.
Thвршblishстsassшгmв по твsропsibilitү for return of unsolicited Tanuscripts, photographs and artwork.
Printed. By Clarendon Printers Ltd. Beaconsfield, Buckingha T1 shire.
E MILIT
Ν
The first two V operations by th These operation villages abandon
The govern Ter explain these operations of th militants Were TE in the Battical districts and assaults on Tili persoппel,
The govern military operatio Örı 2 Octobert w Ministry of Nat "combined joint main objective transport bottl civilian sources reported that personnel were Operations, the that only three ( of a Tlaximurth engaged in the Ti The so-called f in Sambalthivu district resultad i security forces Tilitants. The reported to haw and helicopter
E
Several soldiers injured on 12 O unit engaged in Adampan, a w Western distric ambushed by
militants belong Tigers of Tamil E
A pitched ba ensued lasting around Adarpal reinforcements to the entrapped by Tamil militar
 
 
 
 

75р
W0. W
MD, 12
October 1986
SCALATION OF
ARY OPERATIONS EAST SRI LANKA
eeks of October witnessed a massive escalation of military government in many parts of the eastern province of Sri Lanka. have inevitably led to scores of Tamil civilians being killed, many ed and has created a refugee problem of enormous proportions.
it would appear to widespread military e basis that the Tamil grouping themselves pa and Trin COITTalee ToLunting spora di C tary installations and
mant's concentrated ns which commenced ere described by the ional Security as a ; Operation with the of clearing the e-necks". Although in east Sri Lanka over 1000 military in Wolved in these government claimed :ompanies consisting of 450 soldiers Were іпсогmaleе агеa. ushing-out operation in the Tricomalee a battle between tha Ind groups of Tamil Security forces are used attack aircraft gunships in these
operations. The entire Civilian population of Sambalthivu and nearby areas had been ordered to evacuate before the operations began. The other willages affected by these operations were Nilaweli, Kuch chaweli, Kumburup iddy and Irakkan di on the east Coast, north of Trincormalee,
Mass arrests Of TaTils between the ages of 15 and 50 have also taken place in various villages in the eastern province, especially in and near Batticaloa. Even the government controlled press in Colombo hawe reported several instances of mass arrests, wery often 100 to 200 persons in a single swoop. The English daily, "The Island" of 20 September reported that "security forces rounded up over 100 youths in a massive Cordon-off operation mounted in the heart of Batticaloa" on 18 September. The same paper reported the arrests of 44 persons on 26 September in Batticaloa, 75 persons on 9 October at Urani, over 200 persons in a dawn raid in the heart of Batticaloa town on 12 October and another 125 persons at Puliyanthivu on the same day.
BATTLEATADAMPAN
were killed and many tober when an army ombing operations at lage in the northof Mannar, was a group of Tartil ng to the Liberation lam (LTTE),
tle is Said to have three days in and Helicopters carrying ld providing air cover rtly unit were shot at skilling a machine
gunner. Although the government claimed that only one soldier was killed in the battle, LTTE sources claimed that as many as 28 were killed. The bodies of 9 soldiers were removed by the LTTE to nothern Jaffna where they were handed over to the Commander of the Army Camp in the Jaffna Fort through the Jaffna Citizens' Comittee,
It is also learnt that Wictor, the Commander of the LT TE in the Manmar district, was killed during the military encounter at Adampan,

Page 2
2TAMILTIMES
AGREAT LOSS
DR. K. ARUMUGAM, an academic of great excellence in his chosen field, was a man of wide knowledge, learning and experience. He was a much travelled man with an international outlook. He was unassuming, simple and humble. He was åt ease with ment of learning as well as the not so learned. He befriended the old and the young alike. He possessed a social conscience which inexorably led him to serve in many organisations committed to the cause of the oppressed and the needy.
Although Dr. Arumugam played an invaluable role in the work of the expatriate Tamil community in focussing attention on the trials and tribulations to which this community has been subjected in Sri Lanka, he eschewed narrow nationalism and ethnic chauvinism. He was passionately committed to the liberation of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka from majority, domination and oppression, but he never condoned the excesses committed in the name of liberation. Even in the context of the almost unbridgeable gulf that had developed between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities of Sri Lanka in recent years, his contact with all the positive and progressive sections in Sri Lanka never ceased.
Dr. Arumugam's premature demise is a great loss to the City University where he taught for over 20 years, to his family and above all to the Tamil people of Sri Lanka for whose liberation he was actively engaged at the time of his
death.
SEVERAL HUNDREDS of substantiated and proven cases of torture, enforced or involuntary disappearances and summary executions of persons (mainly belonging to the Tamil community) taken into custody by the security forces, form the basis of the latest 89-page Amnesty International Report titled 'Sri Lanka. Disappearances'. The Report draws attention to 195 cases of 'disappearances' in respect of which the United Nations Working Committee on Disappearances called for explanation from Sri Lanka in 1985. It also lists a further 272 cases of 'disappearances' of persons since 1985.
The reaction of the Sri Lankan government to this Report was predictable: total denials and a campaign of calumny against Amnesty International. Before the Report was released to the public, the AI had transmitted its findings to President Jayawardene and his Minister of National Security, Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali, requesting explanations and calling for independent judicial investigations. Their response had been total silence. ; ... .
That the Report was partial, incomplete and based on easily obtainable affidavit evidence were some of the accusations levelled at the AI once the Report was made public. When confronted by a BBC correspondent, Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali replied that it was not for him or his President to undertake investigations as requested by the AI. He further called upon the AI or any other
 

OCTOBER 1986
MWe complete five years
TAMIL TIMES completes five years of its existence with this issue. It has not been an easy five years; it involved a great amount of effort, work and sacrifice. .
These five years also have been tragic and traumatic for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. In the pages of the TAMIL TIMES, we have to some extent attempted to reflect this tragedy and trauma. We have sought to expose and focus attention on many issues including the growing menace of state terrorism, the abuse of emergency rule, the undermining of the constitutional and electoral processes and the drift towards authoritarianism in Sri Lanka.
The government of Sri Lanka 'loved the TAMIL TIMES so much that it activated its dirty tricks department, the so-called Society for Ethnic Amity, to produce forgeries of the TAMIL TIMES with its own propaganda material, and to circulate them through Sri Lankan missions abroad. As a British Conservative Member of Parliament said, the greatest fact that the government was forced to indulge in such an exercise of blatant deception is proof of the effectiveness of the TAMIL TIMES.
During these five years, we have had our denigrators and detractors, but they were very few. Attempts have been made to pressurise us to write this or omit that. But we never succumbed. We are gratified that the paper is read by many, in as many as 75 countries throughout the world. We have been beneficiaries of a tremendous amount of goodwill and support from our readers and well wishers. We go into the sixth year in the confident hope that we will continue to have that goodwill and supportin increased measure.
oMPLICITY
organisation to lodge their complaints with the police who, he assured, would investigate.
Mr. Athulathmudali is not fooling anybody by this laughable suggestion. Does he really expect anyone to believe that any purpose would be served by a complaint made to the very person or body of persons who are responsible for the alleged crime? The fact is that, in Sri Lanka, incommunicado detention without trial, torture, enforced or involuntary disappearances and arbitrary and summary executions constitute an integral part of the repressive machinery of the state.
The President and the Minister of National Security preside over this repressive machinery, with the police and the security forces operating under their direction and control. As the Ministers responsible, they provide the locations in which and the tools with which these crimes are committed. They have consistently refused to order independent investigations - not a single court martial and not a single prosecution so far. Nor have they condemned such crimes. On the contrary, they have often attempted to protect the perpetrators by shielding them through blanket denials. To that extent, they are as culpable as their military minions who commit these crimes. They have done nothing to exculpate themselves from the charge that they are guilty of complicity in the commission of these crimes.

Page 3
OCTOBER 1986
RANDOM
By C. Subramaniam (Princ
THE EDITOR of the Tanni Tinnes has honoured me by inviting me to write and, though I am in indifferent health, I am bound to accede to his request, as I feel that the Tamil Times has a very important place in the life of the Tamil Community in the United Kingdom, giving them and the world outside, correct and authenticated accounts of what is happening in our country and publishing the views of eminent men on some of our current problems. In fact I have found more detailed and up-to-date information about the killings and destruction there, than what I have been able to know When was in Jaffna. I wish that, with the co-operation of our people, its usefulness is enhanced by being made a weekly at an early date.
I belong to a generation that has almost passed away. As Sir Bedivere cried out to King Arthur when he was being taken away by the Ladies of the Lake, "The days darken around me, and I, the last, go forth companionless, among new men, strange faces, other minds” (quoting from memory), I too find myself among a generation with "other minds', separated from it in many matters, especially in ideologies. To offer advice is the
perogative of old age, however gratuitous
it may be, and I hope my friends will forgive me for my views on some matters.
I do not know how many of our people are living and working here but, meeting friends and talking to them, I find that almost all the people I know, (and my life has spanned many generations) or their children or their grandchildren are here. They are all working and doing well. In a way the whole of Jaffna seems to be here, leaving it to the Boys' there to fight it out. In the euphoria that naturally flows from a happy life, there is always a tendency to be complacent and neglect vital issues, some of which I wish to place before you.
The Tamil Community will not integrate with the British, nor is it desirable. They cannot lose their identity. They have fled their homes as their identity was in danger. To retain their identity they have to preserve their language and their culture. Their children should not be cut off from their cultural moorings. I have in mind parents who have growing children.
There is a strong belief among many parents that the language of conversation in the home should be English and they converse with their children in that language, otherwise, they think, that their children's proficiency in English would be poor. This is a fallacy. In the school, in their extra-curricular activities and in their
dealings outsi speak in Engl to give them Besides, mast main thing in knowledge of all important reader, speak English? Hav parents not do contemporari coming here a seen many of in Tamil. Thi perpetrating a therefore earn are not doing the children Religious wo Tamil devoti regular featu could take Language an children. This Hard work adversity, and have made th should not lo sturdy ancesto young men v Kingdom for h or six years si crash courses work schedu distractions a records in t Universities, Sciences. Oul these example the motivatio lives of great r
AF
Several vil in eastern abandoned taken refug made Sia Lanka airf mercenarie, bombs for Low flying the area wit Residents scheme at were forci Lankan sec
MV3S COf W69f" camp of th September. Commando tuted the ol villages to ti 7 villages a Mwan, Karav du, Thoona
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

TAMILTIMES3
THOUGHTS
'ipal Emeritus, Skanda Varodaya College)
de the home, they have to sh and this is quite enough fluency in that language. ry of a language is not the a child's education. It is he subject of study which is Did your parents, dear to you in your home in : you lost anything by your ing this? Have you and your es not done very well ind taking up a job? I have ur children unable to speak s is a tragedy and you are virtual genocide, I would estly request parents, who so now, to speak always to in the home in Tamil. rship by the chanting of onal hymns should be a e in the homes. Parents a few lessons in Tamil d Literature with their will be of mutual benefit. , courage to fight against to face up to all challenges e Tamil people great. We )se these qualities of our ors. In earlier decades our who came to the United igher studies, crammed five tudy in two or three years , by following a fantastic le in spite of all the round them and created he English and Scottish aspecially in Medicine and children should emulate s. Parents should give them 1 by narrating to them the men like Christian Barnard,
Aerial Bombing:
FERJAFFNA, NOWBATTICALOA
ges in the Batticalodistrict Sri Lanka have been and their inhabitants have e in nearby jungles as italian Marchetti aircraft of the Sri orce manned by foreign s fired rockets and dropped several days in September, helicopter gunships strafed h machinegun fire.
of 40 houses in a housing Paduvankarni in Batticaloa ply dislodged by the Sri urity forces and the scheme fed into a police commando 9 Special Task Force on 10 The point at which the post was created constiily access to and from the 7 he nearbytown. The affected |re Eechanthivu, Vilaveddueddy, Navatkadu, Monkykadi and Kurichanmunai.
offering oblation to
the well known heart-transplant specialist who, in his autobiography, says that he and his brothers went constantly barefoot and often during the winter, their feet would toughen up and crack open; that he was sent to Cape Town University, wearing his brother's cast-off clothes.
I find that television has become a craze among our children both here and in our country. I have seen children sitting in front of the set and taking their meals as if the Television Goddess, before their meals. If this trend continues, our children would imbibe T.V. culture and mastery of cockney English I think T.V. should be selective
and controlled. Parents may not realise
the dangers to which their children are exposed at a very impressionable age, seeing scenes which are violent, brutal
with lots of shooting and killing. Their
finer senses would be blunted. Their
minds, enervated by the amorous scenes
they see so frequently, would be totally unfit for the hard work required of them
- for a successful, if not a distinguished
completion, of their educational and professional courses. I must now stop as I have outrun the space given to me.
At 84, Mr Subramanian is as alive and alert as he was three decades ago when I
was privileged to sit at his feet. We look
forward to more words of wisdom and admonition from one of Jaffna's most revered schoolmasters, now on a short sojourn in Britain. Incidentally, his friends and old pupils will be entertaining him to lunch on Sunday, 9th November, at the Lola Jones Hall, London SW17. (Ed.)
As the dreaded Commandos of the STF moved in, the people fled from their villages. In the meantime Tamil militants commenced a sustained attack on the Camp with small arms and mortar fire. As this attack continued, the Sri Lanka airforce began bombing and strafing the surrounding area,
No exact details of casualties and damage are available at present, but are thought to be heavy. However according to sources close to the Batticaloa Citizens' Committee, food and other necessary supplies have not reached the villagers for many days. The request of the civilian Government Agent of the area for permission to transport supplies to the affected people has been refused by the authorities, but supplies to the security forces have been airlifted. As of writing (16 September) the fighting between the forces and Tamil militants is said to be continuing.

Page 4
4TAMTVES
WHEN the phrase the “abundance of the heart' was first coined, it is likely that the author had visualised rare people like Dr Arumugam who has been suddenly snatched from our midst on the morning of 9th October 1986. His large heartedness was legendary, his keenness to help transcended all barriers. His enormous fund of goodwill was never exhausted. The endearing terms in which he was referred to - Aru and Doc Aru - reflected the warm affection which bound him to his friends and associates.
After a brilliant career at St John's College, Jaffna, where he won several prizes, he entered the University of Ceylon, where he passed out with a first class in Civil Engineering and went on to a research scholarship in the United Kingdom. On his return to Sri Lanka after obtaining his doctorate, he joined the Civil Engineering Faculty of the University of Ceylon before coming over to England. Aru was a classic example of a generation of Tamil academics, whose brilliant services were lost to Sri Lanka as a result of their being treated as “second-class citizens' in the land of their birth.
On this fateful day, Aru was walking along the corridor of the City University, (where he was a Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering) to his lecture hall, when he collapsed and never regained consciousness. His sudden demise has been a rude shock to the members of his family, colleagues and numerous friends and associates. It was only the previous
From the City University
DR. KANAPATHIP
*A GREAT TREE. HV
evening that he hac vigil organised by th Campaign (of which opposite the United Rehabilitation office
ت
Aru has left a expatriate scene, W difficult, nay impos tragic that he has pa of great crisis for the He spearheaded th expatriate Tamil c United Kingdom for the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.
Even before the ; violence of 1977,
through the Pothuk plan to assist the within the Tamil co their standard of liv 1977 which displa Tamils convinced h ahead required wide expatriate communi the Standing Con
An outstanding academic, full of warr
THE sudden death of Dr. K. ARUMUGAM, who was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering at The City University, came as a great shock to all who knew him. Aru was a highly respected and much loved colleague for over 20 years since joining the University early in 1966.
He had been an outstanding postgraduate research student at Imperial College in the early 1950's and has been described by one senior academic as the most brilliant and most efficient doctoral candidate known to him over a period of 37 years.
Aru brought to The City University an unbounded enthusiasm for his speciality, Fluid Mechanics, an enthusiasm which he passed on to his colleagues and the many
undergraduate and p. with whom he worked In addition to his t Aru was a member o in Civil Engineering research and he was initiating a Master's d Resources Engineer with Queen Mary C London.
Apart from his dep lities Aru hadalso se a whole as a member a time, treasurer of th Association of Unive active member of the
He was a citizen responsibility and problems in Sri Lank who knew him well.
Aru had agreat l
 
 
 

OCTOBER 1986
LA ARUMUGAM .
AS BEEN FELLED'
taken part in the e “Eelam Solidarity he was Chairman) i Nations Refugee in London.
void in the Tamil hich it would be sible, to fill. It is ssed away at a time : Tamil community. e campaign of the :ommunity in the the rightful place of the body politic of
terrible anti-Tamil Aru had initiated Kai Trust, a broad
deprived sections. mmunity by raising ring. The events of ced thousands of mim that the tasks r support from the ty and that is how hmittee of Tamil
Speaking People - SCOT - came to be inaugurated in that year. He was its first President and throughout the nine years since then, has been its main guiding force. SCOT today is a leading Tamil organisation in the UK with strong links with relief agencies and expatriate communities outside the UK. It was largely his vision, his deep concern for the less privileged sections of our community, his insistence on credibility and accountability that have put SCOT in a position to channel support of those outside Sri Lanka, who are concerned with the sufferings of the Tamils of that country.
Aru along with his wife Lingeswari and daughter Ponni formed a closely knit family. His loss must be a great blow to them. They might derive some consolation from the fact that their great grief is one that is shared by many hundreds, and perhaps that thought might sustain them in the days to come. While we miss him and grieve for what we cannot but feel was his premature death, we are thankful that we had the privilege of knowing and being served by Someone who was a giant among men, but endowed with an abundance of humility. s **
A great tree has been felled by the remorseless forces of nature. Those of us whom he left behind have a duty by him and the great vision for the future which he represented- to translate that vision into a reality.
به هم May the great soul rest in peace.
N. S. Kandiah President, S.C.O.T.
nth and generosity. . .
ostgraduate students
eaching and research the Board of Studies , Senior Tutor for also responsible for egree course in Water ng in collaboration ollege, University of
artmental responsibived the University as of Senate and was, for e local branch of the rsity Teachers and an ocal committee. with a great sense of is concern for the a was apparent to all
ove of books and of
knowledge and truth. He enjoyed discussion on many subjects always demonstrating his clear understanding of the problems involved. .
Some of his colleagues and postgraduate students will remember him also for his culinary skills for he introduced them to the delights of Sri Lankan cuisine at the parties that he organised for them. -
Above all Aru will be remembered with affection for his personal warmth and generosity, for his willingness to give support to all who sought his help and for his joviality at all times.
He will be sadly missed both as a friend and as a colleague by all who knew him at the City University and in his field of work outside.
Prof. P. O. Wolf, Peter Burhouse, Paul Carr and Kuldeep Virdi. Dept. of Civil Engineering

Page 5
CroseR-1936
An Untiring and Steac
T was sometime in 1981. I was talking to a friend in my home in Colombo. My friend was a Tamil who was working abroad as a VicePresident of a large multi-national corporation and he was in Sri Lanka on a short visit. He said: “You know, in Dr. Arumugam, we have a future Prime Minister of Eelam - he is one of those few Tamils who can help to bring many of us together.' I had not met with Aru at that time. But I did meet with him in the years that followed and I believe that I came to know him and also understand him. also came to understand something of what my friend had said in Colombo in 1981.
Last week, when I heard that Aru had passed away, my immediate feeling was one of having suffered a personal loss. It was a feeling that comes from the passing away of a human with whom one has shared not only many thoughts but also many feelings and experiences. Each one of us is a composite of matter, life and mind and to the extent that we integrate all of these elements into a larger whole, we move towards becoming whole and
therefore holy. more evolved. evolved humar integrated than was often rel integrity. Th when I did not : but there was doubted his int Tse Tung, theo things. And practice was r capacity to lau laughing with h not given to OS easy to talk to h had a clear mi home with Aurobindo. A Siddhantham W He cared for p has helped mai without expect his own life, Krishna's inju battlefield of K have a right-b My wife as w twenties, enjoy I did, but not al Aru was not o
FOR the people who try to go on living here, this picturesque port is Sri Lanka's most sensitive barometer of war and peace.
To the í north, around the Jaffna Peninsula, the land is acknowledged ethnic Tamil territory. The city of Jaffna lives in armed equilibrium, with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam co; ; trolling the streets and the Sri Lankan Army, mostly ethnic Sinhalese, safe behind fortifications. In the south, few people have to face the reality of civil war.
But Trincomalee remains the focus of a bitter contest between the minority Tamil Hindus and the majority Sinhalese Buddhists. When talks to end the country's ethnic strife progress, tensions dropperceptibly, according to residents of the town and the surrounding district, also named Trincomalee. When talks fater, - fears rise and violence returns.
Over the last few years of accelerating warfare between Tamil separatists and the security forces, thousands of refugees have fled in and out of Trincomalee, leaving the town crammed with dislocated villagers but empty of professional services.
When a team from the French voluntary organisation Doctors Without Borders arrived here in August to offer help, they discovered that the town had no functioning surgical hospital and scant medical supplies. No Sri Lankan medical people want to work here, they were told.
The Tamils and the Sinhalese both say that the port, with one of the world's best natural harbours and an extraordinarily beautiful geographical setting that could make it a major tourist attraction, is what
Trinco, The Pulse OfАBiti
the Sri Lankan
Neighbourhc Sinha lese an pockmarked v shells of hous destruction ha families, whos been detained say. Local moi people missing As many as 80 Although Ta begun raiding relief workers their attackers Guard, a loca force.
The Home ( Without Trir say, neither a nor the indeper would work ecc With Trincor ists say, the Ta security threa installations til could be offere
power or serve endless civil wa lf the ethni peacefully, m Suggest, Trinc declared a spec On the stree town strung ou sand and wate effects of the : future have b that if the poli Capital, were dispute mightb

TAMTMÈS 5
fast Fighter for Justice . . .
- and to that extent, we are Aru was one of those more ls. He was more internally many and it was this which lected outwardly as his ere were many occasions agree with his conclusions - never a moment when I egrity. To him, as for Mao ry was the most practical of a theory divorced from not for him. He had the gh openly and I enjoyed him. He was a simple man, tentation and it was always lim directly and openly. He ind and he was equally at Karl Marx and with nd the philosophy of Saiva was not unknown to him. beople and I know that he ny in unobtrusive ways and ation of any return. Aru, in gave content to Lord nction to Arujna on the urushetra: To action you ut not to the fruits thereof". fell as my son, who is in his 'ed his company as much as lways for the same reasons. nly a personal friend - he
was a family friend. The largeness of a human is often shown by his capacity to relate to a wide spectrum of people, of different ages, coming from different backgrounds and with different aspirations. The friends that Aru has left behind reflects the largeness of the man.
It is related in the Mahabharatha, that when Tharmar, the eldest of , the Pandavas, was questioned as to what was the most surprising thing in the world, he replied: "The most surprising thing in the world is that man knows that he must die, but he lives as if he will never die”. Aurobindo, for whom Aru had an enduring affection, commented many thousands of years later that this feeling, which impels man to live as if he will never die, was but a shadow of his true immortality - an immortality which we may glimpse from time to time, in our moments of inner quiet and peace, when our chattering mind is silent. Aru was a good and honourable man in a world where goodness and honour are not always easy to find. In his death, the Tamil people have lost an untiring and steadfast fighter for justice, his family a caring husband and father, and many of us, a friend to whom we could turn to.
Nadesan Satyendra
'er COnflict , !
guerrilla war is all about.
pods once shared by Tamil, d Moslem families are Nith sacked and burned. es and shops. Most of the as been borne by Tamil se sons and fathers have
by the hundreds, residents
nitoring groups report 217 since January of this year. oc. of them are feared dead. milguerrillas have recently uncooperative villages, say, many victims insist were members of the Home illy recruited paramilitary
Guards patrol the streets, comalee, Tami militants n autonomous homeland hdent state they are seeking onomically. malee, Sinhalese nationalamils could pose a serious t. The harbour and port hat might be developed 2d to an unfriendly foreign as a supply conduit for an 3. c Strife is to be settled oderates on both sides :omalee may have to be cial territory.
ts of this low-rise stucco It along miles of clear white rs in all shades of blue, the struggle for Trincomalee's een brutal. Residents say ticians from Colombo, the forced to visit here, the be resolved faster.
spreading terror, one resident said, that electricity was often purposefully Cutoff to cause alarm and inconvenience and that guards pounded on doors at night to keep families in a state oftension. s Recent reports that 100 prisoners were about to be released from a camp near the country's south coast brought hopeful women to the offices of the Trincomalee Citizens' Committee.
There, where local volunteers try to keep track of broken families, the women thought they might learn if a son or father was among those to be freed.
But the government had not issued a list. The failure of the authorities to provide information is a major source of anguish, relief workers say.
Trincomalee, a British base in World War II, has Christian districts drawn from both Sinhala and Tamil people. Priests have been active in organising what relief services are available to refugees in the town.
At the Eastern Human and Economic Development office of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trincomalee-Batticaloa, a relief worker said, nearly every house in town was being shared by two or three families. Hundreds of other people are crowded into makeshift camps.
Near the development office, an empty school building, hot and putrid with the smell of overtaxed latrines, is home to several hundred women, children and elderly people who sleep on concrete floors.
If and when the war ends, relief workers say, many of these people will have no homes to return to, and perhaps no income-earner. The rehabilitation of Trincomalee and countless rural villages around it will be a huge and costly task.
International Herald Tribune, 8.9.86

Page 6
6 TAM TIMES
The Tamils and Their
University of New Brunswick being the text of a public lecture under the auspices of The Tami International Research Council headed by the Rev. Fr. Philip Ratnapala, of Continuing Education and of the Department of Political Science, University of Ottawa on 24 September 1986
I AM pleased to appear before this gathering and to speak to you on a subject which is of critical international and domestic concern. Many of you would already be acquainted with the record of human rights' violations and the pogroms perpetrated on the Tamil people, pogroms which in my view have reached epidemic proportions since the present government was elected in 1977.
To look at the question of the future of the Tamil community, we must go back in time and see how certain historical forces have led us through the various twists and turns of history. I do not think these forces could have been stopped, immobilised or confronted. They had to wend their way through time. But in their wake, they brought consequences which had adverse effects on the Tamil community. Some modifications of policy could have dammed the flood tide of Sinhalese nationalism. But Sinhalese statesmen were not willing to undertake what to them seemed fraught with danger. The result was that the main impact of the movements I shall enumerate here were felt most by the Tamil community. Some measures enacted were wilful, vicious, pre-planned and deliberate. Instead of letting sleeping dogs lie, they were roused from their slumber. The result is what we are experiencing today almost 40 years after independence, a very short time indeed in terms of historical periods, within which the Sinhalese leadership of this country has brought it all to the edge of the abyss. So history will help us
understand and enable me to explain why
the present situation arose.
Firstly, a free education scheme launched in 1944 widened the provenance from which governments could draw for appointments to the public services and the public sector. Merit virtually ceased to be the criterion. Political influence replaced merit. And since the majority of MPs were Sinhalese, appointees were also Sinhalese. The Tamils did not count. Numerically the Sinhalese constituted the majority. The democratic view is that the will of the majority must prevail. But in Sri Lanka, it was and is the will of the numerical Sinhalese majority.
Secondly, it became state policy from 1953 onwards to enforce the national languages, Sinhalese and, Tamil as the media of instruction at all levels, in stages, inclusive of the universities. This meant that a common language of communication ceased to exist. English is still used in certain sectors but is fast disappearing. What I am saying is that when
By Professora
communities are com this way, there is littl national integration. language between the ties.
Thirdly, the enactme the only official langua island in 1956 meant Tamilto an inferior sta for the use of Tamil in Tamil regulations in constitutions of 1972 maintains Tamil at an i. means the exclusion of I from the public services and sizeable sections of Besides, none of these use of Tamil have mean not implemented. The ment itself has admitte the Sinhalese bureaucra to sabotage the use of T limited purposes intende Fourthly, the nationa in 1960 and 1961 dealt a educational institution areas. Where these we and efficiently maintai missionary institutions managed by a state w them. This means laboratories and day-to are neglected while Sin obtained favoured treatl Fifthly, the enlargem sector, particularly the public utility undertakin and of the plantations again more or less Sinhalisation.
Sixthly, Tamil politica no share in the state pat the spoil system, in the no Tamil political party governments during 195 to the present day. It mi know that not a sing constituency in the Tam has served in any gover The brief interlude 196 specific purpose of implementation of , di When this failed to ma and only Tamil ministe the government. He w; minister but a membe chamber. There are a present government. Th opted. They are not Tamil opinion. The showpieces. Even thi minister in the present admitted to me that he to help his community protests that he is out-vo the cabinet whenevel projects that could benef Seventhly, the gover introduced a vicio discrimination against

OCTOBER 1986
Future in Sri Lanka
. J. Wilson
partmentalised in e or no hope of There is no link major communi
nt of Sinhalese as ge throughout the the relegation of us. The provision an act in 1958, in 1966 and in the and 1978 still inferior level. This humbers of Tamils , the public sector the private sector. provisions for the ing since these are present governd that sections of cy have attempted amil even for the d. lisation of schools death blow to the S in the Tamil re previously run ned by Christian , they are now
hich is hostile to --
that libraries, -day maintenance halese institutions
ent. ent of the public nationalisation of gs during 1956-65 in 1971-72 were tamtamOunt tO
l parties have had ronage system, in pork barrel, since cooperated with 6 to 1965 and 1970 ght interest you to le Tamil from a il Jaffna peninsula nment since 1953. 5-68 was for the ensuring the strict automony. terialise, the one er withdrew from as not an elected r of the Second few Tamils in the ley have been corepresentative of y are mainly e Indian Tamil government had has not been able in any way. He ited at meetings of he brings up it his people.
ment of 1970-77 us system of Tamil students in
superiority which
the matter of admissions to the universities. The system was given the misleading designation of standardisation. It meant that Sinhalese students with lower marks could enter the universities whereas Tamil students had to obtain higher marks. To worsen matters a quota system of admissions was tacked on to the so-called standardisation policy. The more densely populated Tamil Jaffna peninsula had its numbers lowered. So was the Western Province where the schools had low country Sinhalese and Tamils. The overall result of quotas was that the Kandyan Sinhalese benefited and were over-represented in the universities. Here is reverse discrimination in favour of a majority ethnic group, a political concept impossible to justify.
Lastly, the policy of state-aided colonisation with Sinhalese settlers in areas traditionally regarded as Tamil homelands served the double-edged purpose of reducing Tamil representation in Parliament and of inroads being made into Tamil territory.
Mention must be made of the acts of 1948 and 1949 enacted within a few months of independence under which the large majority of Indian Tamils were deprived of citizenship and voting rights. These acts were a reversal of promises and undertakings given by the Sinhalese leadership before the grant of independence. Britain had been made to understand that there would be seven Indian Tamil representatives elected to Parliament. Seven were elected at the 1947 general election to prove the
leadership's good faith. This was because of their quest for independence which
Britain granted in February 1948. Soon thereafter the acts of 1948 and 1949 took the Indians out of the voting registers. Not a single Indian Tamil was elected to Parliament at general elections since 1947. In 1977, a single Indian Tamil was returned notwithstanding the fact that there are over half a million Indian Tamils who are entitled to Sri Lankan citizenship.
Several questions arise from this tale of deliberate discrimination against Sri Lanka's principal ethnic minority. The Sinhalese leadership had hoped and
believed that the Tamils would endure
repression and suppression and would
resign themselves to second class status.
This did not happen. On the contrary there was strong resistance to the Sinhalese attempts to make the land, the Arya-Sri Lanka race (a concept of racial incidentally Paul Sieghart in his Sri Lanka: A Mounting Tragedy of Errors, a publication of the International Commission of Jurists, published in 1984, states that "outside the Nazi imagination of half a century ago, there is no such thing" . . . p.4) and the faith (Sinhalese Buddhism) the foundation of the social structure of not Ceylon
or Sri Lanka but Sinhaladipa (the island of
Continued on page 7

Page 7
OCTOBER 986
Continued from page 6 w
the Sinhalese). The faith is given special recognition. Section 9 of the present constitution states "The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place" etc.
Firstly, is there any hope in a set-up which drills the Sinhalese people daily into a war psychosis through the state controlled media? Can there ever be peace between the two communities when this kind of thought control is rigorously applied? Just now there are reports that government ministers are stomping the country preaching the virtues of intercommunal harmony. I shall answer this question shortly, after I have raised a few other pertinent ones.
Secondly, given the shameful record of betrayal of solemn understandings and pacts between the leadership of the two communities under which the Sinhalese leadership solemnly pledged to provide for a measure of autonomy for the Tamil areas, can the Tamil people or their leadership place any reliance on the undertakings of Sinhalese leaders?
Thirdly, the measures I have enumerated directed at forcing the Tamil people to a second class status from 1948 to the present day in my view cannot be wished away with a magic wand. The land, the race and the faith are the credo of every Sinhalese. One does not need a pick axe to find this out. It is there either staring you in the face or just below the surface. A war to the death between the two races in the course of 2,500 years cannot be settled in a week or two of negotiations.
Fourthly, the savage brutalities of an inhuman rabble that passes off as an army, the bombing of centres of population in the Jaffna peninsula, the massacre of innocents, the raping of women, will not be readily forgiven by proud people who have a civilisation of their own.
My last point is that persons do not count in this clash and movement of historical forces. It does not matter whether the persons are D. S Senanayake, J. R. Jayawardene, or S. J V. Chelvanayakam. These persons are part of an ongoing historical process. In my opinion, this historical process is moving inexorably to the completion of the task set out for it by history itself. History waiteth for no man, for that matter for no statesman. There might be moments when history like time can be seized by the forelock. In my view that time has passed.
The answer to my question has been in a way provided by none other than the President of the Republic of Sri Lanka. In his apocalyptic moments, in interviews to the foreign press, he stated on one occasion: “my country will become like Cyprus." On another occasion, he said “Sri Lanka will be partitioned and U.N. troops will have to be called in to protect the borders.' You might think this to be a negative view of the situation that prevails in that sad island. But let me remind you
that far from b that one man's optimism.
Are there a effected sho partitioned, a be ruled ou situation.
I think demonstration referred to, w asa single enti Firstly, the Parti Quebe advocated foi Ouebec will b. state but association wi in Ottawa for such as defe communicatio Ouebec will re the Parti Qu spirit of a prevails amon Quebecois po question is not and again.
Secondly, B a deal to the federal gover retain contro affairs, curren all other matte control.
Thirdly, (pronounced Britain was l; settlement br League of Na Islanders are mother tongu however und neither Swede
Huu
TRAGEDY St children wer Rengasam Kulasega ram towing the v vehicles on 1 Ramadas die hospital.
Ai three di also of the Lo Their funer mmmmmmmm
 

eing negative, it can be said pessimism is another man's
ly compromises that can be it of the island being
proposition which cannot , or for a Cyprus-style
here are models, the effect as I have often nich can maintain the island
e is the solution that the cois of Rene Levesque the French in Canada. e in all respects a sovereign maintain a sovereignty th the Federal government certain common purposes nce, currency, trade and n. In all other respects itain sovereignty. Although ebecois was defeated, the separate sovereignty still g influential sections of the pulation. My view is that the dead. It will come up again
enazhir Bhutto has offered provinces of Pakistan. The nment in Islamabad will l over defence, foreign cy and communications. In irs, the provinces will retain
there is the Aaland Orland) Islands solution. argely responsible for the ought about through the tions in 1921. The Aaland
Finnish citizens whose le is Swedish. They are ler the 1921 Settlement es nor Finns. The Aaland
YWYNNWess7
Islands based their claim under President Wilson's principle of self-determination. The compromise reached through the League of Nations was that Finland retained sovereignty but the islanders obtained home rule and powers in respect of education, labour, farming, fishing, police, social and health services, roads, town planning and nature conservancy. Control in foreign affairs, defence, national taxation, the courts, post office and alcohol are in the control of the government of Finland. However the Governor of the Aaland Islands who is regarded as the representative of Finland is appointed only with the approval and consent of the Parliament of the Aaland Islands. Shipping and tourism are the principal sources of income for the 23,000 people of this territory.
A final point worth noting is Clause2(b) of the Constitution of Malaysia. It states: "Parliament may by law alter the boundaries of any state but a law altering the boundaries of a state shall not be passed without the consent of that state (expressed by a law made by the legislature of that state), and of the Conference of Rulers.
It is my view that any of these compromises can maintain Sri Lanka's unity. Any one of these can confront the forces of history and stop these in their tracks. Any other solution in my opinion can only be a temporary truce, a calm before the next storm. None of the other solutions will prove acceptable and we will then be on the path to state breaking. Like pre-partitioned India and postindependent Pakistan, Sri Lanka can become two states unless individual Sinhalese leaders are bold enough to make history stand still and work out the kind of solutions I have suggested.
ree Sisters Widowed Overnight
కళ
ruck the husbands of three young sisters, all in their 20's, and six young
rendered fatherless, in a motor accident on the M1 motorway.
Janathanan Ramadas (34), (34) had all gone to Birmingham to recover one of their lost cars, and were hicle home to Manor Park in East London, when a lorry crashed into their he M1 motorway in the early hours of Friday, 3rd October. Kannan and d instantly whilst Kulasegaram succumbed to injuries after admission to
y Kannan (23),
eceased were active members of the London Tamil Sangam School and ndon Sri Murugan Temple at Manor Park. alstook place on the 6th October.
l
and Gopalakrishnan

Page 8
8 TAM TIMËS
Effects of Conflict on Econo
The economic effects of disturbances short of full-scale war such as those that cur people and institutions directly touched by the violence. This paper examines t mainland by a single road through which all trade must pass. While the focus oft distortions, it also looks at the micro-economic repercussions of the conflict, such a
This is the first part of the study undertaken by Dr. Paul Seabright in Northern Sri Lanka during the latter half of 1985. The second instalment will appear in a Subsequent issue. Dr. Seabright is presently attached
to Churchill College, Cambridge.
THE micro-economic effects of certain kinds of stress or hazard upon primarily agricultural systems are an important area of study. Economists are increasingly appreciating that studies of economies at points of crisis, as well as being of intrinsic value, may have lessons for our understanding of their behaviour in more normal times. Crises of an environmental nature - famines, droughts, floods, and so onhave for obvious reasons been better Studied than those that are primarily man-made - especially crises due to a deterioration in people's physical security, of which war is the most extreme case. In conditions of physical insecurity short of full-scale war, such as those that currently prevail in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka, the economic effects of the disturbance usually extend well beyond those people and institutions directly touched by the violence.
The Jaffna Peninsula Current State of Conflict
The Jaffna peninsula is an area of 524 square miles at the northern tip of Sri Lanka, comprising just over 3 per cent of the total land area of the island. Its population according to the 1981 Census was 853,000 and is currently estimated at 975,000. The large increase is due to the inflow of Tamils from other parts of the island and has taken place in spite of considerable Jaffna.
Some 50,000 to 60,000 families are thought to have entered Jaffna since the 1983 violence, and of them more than 50,000 have come (mainly from the districts of Vavuniya and Trincomalee) since the ceasefire agreed between the government and the main militant organisations on June 18, 1985. The population is overwhelmingly (more than 95 per cent) Sri Lankan Tamil, with a small presence of Muslims and Indian Tamils (though the latter are somewhat more represented among the recent refugees).
The peninsula appears to be the only area of troubled Northern and Eastern provinces where the ceasefire has had any effect. Elsewhere, particularly in the ethnically mixed areas of Trincomalee and Vavuniya, killings and displacements by all parties to the conflict have intensified since August 1985. These include many killings of non-combatants by Sri Lankan security forces and home guards and also (to a lesser extent) by militant organisations. In Jaffna district the security forces have with rare exceptions remained confined to barracks, and there have been only occasional incidents, usually involving mistaken identity as in cases of firing upon other members of the security forces or upon cattle. This has meant that there is no official lawenforcement in the peninsula. One corollary to this has been a reported increase in incidents of robbery and killing, either by members of
international migration from
militant organisations o operating in their name. E businessmen in Puthur October provoked strong demonstrations, including and threats to expose milit the army, there was wides robbing of the large Peru November 12 an attempt railway station was prevent protest.
The frequency of such have since declined. A sho 15 between rival organisa other of robbery indicates militant groups to mai somewhat fragile, and on was a general strike in Jaff the killing of three Tamil group. But overall there i ceasefire has brought the welcome reduction inviole Prior to June 18 by co violence was focused on t here that an army patrol w, 23, 1983 with the loss of that sparked off the ethni some 2,000 Tamils are saic them in Jaffna town as a the army.
Following a second lanc April 9, 1984 in which so killed, a further 77 civilian injured in reprisals that : scale destruction of prop faced by civilians deteriora of the Velvettiturai coasta August 1984, killings of Pedro, and the beginning c and-search operations in O afterwards the authorities and a land strip of 100 Mannar round the penins the East, to be a prohibite which all fishing in the November 22, 1984 a cur Jaffna, extending with Christmas and the Tamil 10, 1985.
During the day traffic peninsula was severely rest incidence of bank robbe declined from a high point are only 27 bank branches in the first ten months of 19 refusal by banks to carry ca of any diminution in the vi before the truce in June.
Disturbancesi
Against this background and it will be seen that the significant easing of stres economy of the peninsula. is to improve trade much b{ and the rest of the island. failure of trade to pick ups ceasefire appears to be th vehicles and drivers have d peninsula, south of Eleph remained high.
Some 20-25 lorries a estimated to have been los such cases having taken pla Vavuniya incidents in A

OCTOBER 1986
my in Northern Sri Lanka
rently prevail in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka, extend well beyond those he economic conditions in the Jaffna peninsula which is connected to the he paper is on the trade and production disruptions and consequent market is those arising from Sri Lanka's foreign exchange constraints.
by other groups But murders of local and Karainagar in public protests and blocking of roads ant encampments to pread outrage at the mai temple; and on t to rob the Jaffna ted by a major public
incidents is said to ot-out on November tions accusing each that the ability of the ntain discipline is December 14 there na in protest against militants by a rival is no doubt that the citizens of Jaffna a
CC. ntrast, much of the he peninsula. It was as ambushed on July 13 lives, an incident ic violence in which i to have died, 51 of result of reprisals by
il-mine explosion on me 15 soldiers were is were killed and 52 also involved largeerty. The situation ted with the shelling | area by the navy in students at Point fsystematic cordonctober 1984. Shortly declared the coast yards inland, from Lula to Mullaittivu in d Zone, as a result of region ceased. On few was imposed in
2-day breaks for New Year until July
movement in the ricted. Although the ries in the district
of 17 in 1984 (there in the district) to five )85, this was due to a sh and was not a sign olence on either side
i
in Trade
l, it is to be expected ceasefire has led to a s upon the internal What it has not done etween the peninsula
The reason for the ignificantly since the at while hazards to iminished within the ant Pass they have
hd their goods are st during 1985, six of ace at the time of the August; I have no
reliable estimates of the numbers of occupants killed or injured. After a lull in September and October, a lorry driver was reported shot on November 18 by soldiers at the Elephant Pass army camp after being passed through the police checkpoint there. A result of the danger has been to raise the salary paid to drivers to some 500 Sri Lankan rupees for the JaffnaColombo round trip, from a level of about Rs 175 before July 1983; especially at difficult times it has risen to Rs 750. There are other costs as well: some 8-10 cases of hijackings of entire lorry-loads of goods (the lorries themselves being sent back) have been reported in 1985; diversion of small quantities of goods at road checkpoints are said to be common though I have no means of estimating their frequency; however, monetary demands are reportedly rare. -
The goods sent out of the peninsula consist mainly of onions, chillies, tobacco, potatoes, gingelly oil, cement and asbestos sheets; those coming in are primarily essentials such as groceries and textiles. A reduction in transport of chemical products, such as caustic Soda, has been noted by the “Central Bank Review of the Economy 1984' (CBRE) as contributing to the poor sales performance of the Paranthan Chemical Corporation. And trade in electronics and other consumer goods has dropped severely, both because these are nonessentials and because they invite pilferage. Before the troubles, importers of consumer goods in Colombo reported brisk trade with the peninsula (a trade no doubt swelled by possibilities of smuggling to India); one such, 50 per cent of whose turnover was in Jaffna, now reports a complete cessation of trade.
There is a further reason why trade in consumer goods has been particularly cut. Within the peninsula, though threats from the security forces are now rare, vehicles are prone to be taken by militant organisations. Often these are borrowed and returned, if not always in the same condition as when taken; but several informants report that the brunt of these demands falls on business and commercial enterprises in Jaffna town and that farmers are rarely troubled, this may be due to a combination of the ideological sympathies of the organisations concerned and a concession to the fact that the rural areas, where camps are based, are where they most require public support or at least acquiescence.
As might be expected, trade in vegetables and other perishable commodities which fell significantly during the troubled period, has not reached its former level, for journeys still frequently involve delays as well as risks, and vegetables that arrive in the South may not be in condition to fetch good prices. In vegetables produced in Jaffna this has meant much lower prices in the peninsula: tomatoes, at Rs 3 per kilo in Jaffna, compares with Rs 15 in Colombo; brinjal at Rs 3 compares with Rs 12 in Colombo; grapes at Rs 8 to Rs 10 per kilo in Jaffna are sold for up to Rs 30 in Colombo; during the mango season the famous Jaffna mangoes were at Rs 1.50 against a Colombo price of about Rs 4.50, manioc at Rs 1.50 a kilo in Jaffna is now reported at Rs 6 in Batticaloa.
Nonetheless, although overall trade volumes have not picked up significantly since the ceasefire, in certain categories of goods shortages and distortions have been clearly Continued on page 18

Page 9
OCTOBER 1986
DEFICIENCES
THE MOVEMENT for Inter-Racial Justice and Equality (MIRJE) is glad that, based on the government's proposals for the devolution of power to a provincial level, a process of political negotiation has now begun in order to evolve a solution to the ethnic problem.
MIRJE has examined the government's proposals and wishes to place before the people its observations: 1. Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious polity. From this flows the promise that state and political structures must be such as to favour no particular ethnic group or religion.
2. The major problem that faces the country today is ethnic. The Sri Lankan Tamil people, who form the second largest ethnic group, constituted on the basis of their ethnicity, language, religion, culture and habitation, have been led to demand the creation of a separate state because the existing Sri Lankan state, dominated by the majority Sinhala community, discriminates against them and has been unble to provide them the safety and security that a state should ensure all its citizens. Some sections of the Tamil people have taken up arms in the course of this struggle and have been engaged in an armed struggle for the last 8 years or so.
When examined against this background, the present proposals immediately reveal certain basic deficiencies. ,
The establishment of Provincial Councils throughout the country and the devolution of certain powers to them are the core of the government's proposals. This is being put forward by the government as part of a continuing democratic process which will also solve some of the problems faced by the Tamil people. While welcoming the substantial devolution of power to the level of the province, it is necessary to state that these proposals do not take into consideration the specific characteristics of the problem before
S.
For example, the decison to adhere to existing provincial boundaries and to devolve power on the basis of existing administrative units necessarily negates the desire of the Tamil people for a region in which they can, in unity and security, manage their internal affairs. A similar defect relates to the devolution of power with regard to education. Letting the province exercise power up to the level of secondary education and reserving state universities, professional occupations and training to the state will hardly meet the needs of Sri Lankan Tamils, specially when it is remembered that the victims of a discriminatory system of education originally constituted the militant groups.
It is therefore necessary that the scope of the present proposals be expanded to the point that they amount to a reasonable and just Solution of the ethnic problem and meet the demands of the Tamil peoples for recognition as an ethnic community whose rights of self-determination can be exercised within a united Sri Lanka. In that context it is suggested that the present proposals be revised in the following areas:
1. Unit of Devolution
(i) , The existing provincial boundaries will constitute the limits of the area of authority of the provincial council, excepting in the case of the Northern Province whose boundaries will be redrawn so as to include those areas of the Eastern Province which are predominantly ethnic Tamil. It should be possible to demarcate such a contiguous region on the basis of AGA districts or electoral districts. Given the demographic patterns in Sri Lanka, it is
IN GO
una voidable that communities in e Arrangements ar that all ethnic gro government ofth
2. The Provi
(i) The Provir legislative as W financial) power devolved subjects (ii) The Goverr, a constitutional independent exec, (iii) There is inc of each Provin terminous with t may be dissolved should not affec which should also their own. Since administrations s frequently than t that the normal te Council be limited (iv) In order t. Provincial Cou members of Pan districts within participation at Provincial Counc (v) The Finan apportion financi should be repres groups.
3. DevolutioII
The subjects reserved to the Ce authorities should (i) National P functions is too override provinc authority on all n power be restric devolved on Pro consultations and those areas, (ii) The subjects province/district professional occu be reserved e. government. (iii) While natic sion may be hand it should be administrations operation of loca stations.
4. Industry (i) The manage industries can administration of situated. (ii) Ministry ap) only be necessary loans are involved
5. Education
(i) The devoluti level- is totally in should have the r universities as w technological ana their funds or top subject, of cour. Universities Gran nal bodies at then

TAMILTIMES 9
VERNMENT PROPOSALS
here will be people of all ethnic ich of the units of devolution.
therefore necessary to ensure ps participate equitably in the province.
cial Councils
cial Councils should have ell as executive (including within their territories in the
or of the Province will be only head and should have no tive authority.
reason why the term of office ial Council should be coat of Parliament. Parliament for a variety of reasons that t provincial administrations, possess an autonomous life of it is desirable that provincial hould face the elections more 1e Parliament, it is suggested rm of office of each Provincial
to 4 years.
preserve the autonomy of
ncils and “administrations, liament elected for electoral Province should have no all in the deliberation of ils.
Ce Commission which will al resources to the provinces entative of the major ethnic
h of Powers
and functions exclusively ntral legislative and executive
be amended as follows: plicy on all subjects and broad. This may be used to ial legislative and executive latters. It is desirable that this ted in respect of functions vincial Councils by making l concurrence mandatory in
- mines and minerals, intertrade and commerce and pations and training need not cclusively to the central
inal broadcasting and televi'ed by the central government,
possible for provincial to operate or licence the broadcasting and television
ment of existing state-owned be transferred to the he provinces in which they are
raisal of new projects should when foreign investments or
in envisaged-up to secondary dequate. Provincial Councils ght to establish and maintain 'll as institutes of technical, professional education from 'rmit such private institutions, e, to standards set by the s Commission and professiotional level.
(ii) It is also not enough to state that national education policy will be non-discriminatory. This will have to be spelled out in detail.
6. Law and Order
(i) The objective should be to ensure the greatest degree of autonomy to the provincial administration with regard to the maintenance of law and order.
(ii) For this it would be more desirable to have separate Police forces in the provinces and a central police force with linkages at the level of D.I.G. rather than the divisions - central and provincial— that are now proposed.
(iii) It will then follow that recruitment in accordance with nationally accepted standards, discipline, etc., in the provincial police forces will be attended to by Provincial Police Commissions, constituted of the D.I.G., a nominee of the Chief Minister and a nominee of the presiding High Court Judge of the Province, and that the size of the provincial force and other matters including the type and nature offirearms will be determined by the provincial administrations and the Provincial Police Commissions.
(iv) Training of recruits may be handled by the Provincial Police Commissions at lower levels and by the National Police Commission at higher and more specialised levels.
(v) It will also be necessary to ensure that the National Police forces operate in the provinces only in consultation with the Provincial Police.
(vi) The provisions with regard to breakdown of law and order need amendment. It is open to the President in such circumstances to declare an Emergency, assume the powers of the chief executive and move in with the central police force or the armed forces. However, in the event of an Emergency not being declared, the President should be able to do so only if he is specifically requested by the Chief Minister of the Province.
(vii) Together with the devolution of police functions, it would also be necessary to decentralise the functioning of the Attorney General Department so that each province has a Director of Public Prosecutions.
7. Land and Land Settlement
(i) It is agreed that land should be a devolved function. However, the present proposals envisage that state lands will remain outside the control of the provincial administration. This is not correct. State lands within each province should be vested in the provincial administration with the proviso that land required for the purposes of the government in respect of subjects not devolved on Provincial Council will be made available without any restrictions.
(ii) The National Land Commission should be representative of provincial administration.
(iii) The stipulation that all inter-provincial irrigation and land development projects should be the responsibility of the central government is too broad. While it is possible to accept that schemes like the Mahaweli, Walawe, etc., that straddle several provinces should be the central government's responsibility, there may a large number of smaller projects which concern only two provinces. In such cases it should be possible for the two provincial administrations to work together in consultation and determine such matters as size of holding, principles and criteria for selection of allottees, etc.
Continued on page 11

Page 10
1OPTAMILTIMES
THE LIES OF PANNASEEHA MAH
THE BUDDHA proclaimed the Dhamma or Universal Truth for the benefit of the people. The essence of the entire Buddhist teachings lies in the realisation of the Four Noble Truths which will guarantee everlasting peace and happiness.
However, to some of the so-called followers of the Buddha in Sri Lanka, TRUTH has always been a disposable commodity. Their stock-in-trade is brazen lies and misleading propaganda in their relentless anti-Tamil campaigns.
Recently, Rev. Madhie Pannaseeha Mahanayake Thera, the leading ideologue of Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism, wrote a series of articles in the Sri Lankan daily, The Island (13,14 and 16 September 1986), which were predictably replete with distortions, exaggerations, half-truths and deliberate falsehoods. One example is more than enough to illustrate this point. Pannaseeha Thera wrote, “The Sansoni Commission Report refers to the murderous statements made by Mr. Amirthalingam and his wife about swimming in waters of Sinhala blood and wearing slippers made from Sinhala skins'. This is not the first time he and some in his yellowrobed fraternity have peddled this lie to incite the ordinary unsuspecting
Sinhalese people against the Tamils.
t
"Army Camps.
Must Be Fer
Jafna Citizens Committee
THE Jaffna Citizens' Committee had addressed the following memorandum to the President of Sri Lanka M. E. J. R. Jayawardene regarding wanton acts of destruction caused by the security personnel to cultural institutions in the North:
WE refer to our letter of 25th August '86 wherein we appealed to you for your immediate intervention to stop shelling of Vembadi Girls' High School by the State Armed Forces. In another letter to you on the same date we demanded the removal of the Jaffna Fort and Mandaitivu Army Camps. -
We now understand that there is a threat of closure of Vembadi Girls' High School and Jaffna Central College. Jaffna Citizens' Committee shares the deep grief with the students of these schools past and present, well wishers, educationists and the population they serve of this shocking
eWS.
This now brings us to the strategy involved in the establishment of these camps in such congested areas under the pretext of fighting the militant youth. At Point Pedro the Army Camp was established near two leading schools Hartley College and Methodist Girls' High School - the Hartley College library was completely burnt down by the State Armed forces, people living close by moved out, places of business, markets all moved out and the net result - an area of about 1 km radius is deserted. This was repeated at Valvettiturai. Now' we fear this may be repeated in and around Jaffna town - a civilisation that the people of Jaffna had taken centuries to build; but the Government, whose function is to govern, is following a policy of destruction - a philosophy certainly foreign to this country. It is felt locally that destruction of libraries and closure of schools in these areas has now become Government policy. These areas probably have comparatively more 100 year-old-schools and larger number of libraries than the rest of the country put
together. This civilisat not built overnight.
The establishment c resulted in closure of S such as Hartley Colle High School, Chithamb nayagar Vidyalaya, Pal Vasavilan MMV and closure of Jaffna C. Vembadi Girls' High Sc two national schools in destruction of the Ja which was reconstruct after the near total de state armed forces. Th to cultural genocide.
We are told that establishing these cam law and order in the at safety and security of area. The result of estal has exactly the opposi citizens of Jaffna, are drama where we are security to the State a the State armed force the people as profess operation amounts to innocent Tamil citi indiscriminate shelling
According to the number of Tamil civili forces during July '86 292 and 137 respective persons missing during
Your Excellency, if y be considered as citi. then it is our conter camps which have these areas endangeri and the very existence and places of worship 1
The presence of thes a prestige value anc security to the citizens.
If Your Excellency re it will pave the way f ment of schools an functioning of the pla removal of threat of clo

OCTOBER 1988
REV. MADHE IANAYAKE THERA
This same allegation was made before the Sansoni Commission, the Special Presidential Commission appointed to inquire into the causes of the island-wide anti-Tamil pogrom of August 1977. The allegation was investigated by the Commission which concluded that “there has been a conspiracy to implicate TULF politicians by accusing them of having made such shocking statements which they never made. It was a dangerous and evil conspiracy which was calculated to damage Sinhalese-Tamil relations . . .'
Rev. Pannaseeha and his ilk have not been detracted by such an outright rejection of such maliciously wild and criminally irresponsible allegations. Some Sinhala politicians and prelates have been and are repeating the same allegations on public platforms even today with a view to inciting the
Sinhalese people against the Tamils.
The relevant parts of the Sansoni Commission Report of July 1980 (Sessional Paper No. VIII — 1980) are contained in paragraphs 107 to 124
on pages 79 to 82.
Extracts from the Sansoni Commission Report are shown opposite.
noved
ion and Culture was
of these camps has chools and libraries ge, Methodist Girls' bara College, Sithivialy Training College, now the threat of 2ntral College and hool (one of the only the Tamil areas) and affna Public Library ed from public funds struction in 1981 by ese actions amount
the purpose of ps were to maintain eathereby ensuring the civilians of the blishing these camps te effect and we the witnessing a human held hostages as rmed forces and not s offering security to ed. This process in annihilation of the zens by frequent
daily papers, the ans killed by armed and August '86 were ly and the number of
July '86 is 96.
pu wish the Tamils to tens of this country tion that the army been established in ng the life of civilians of schools, libraries nust be removed.
e camps serves only does not provide
-moves these camps or the recommencei Training College, ces of worship and sure of Schools.
ARMY KILLS "WEST GERMAN
A West German Engineer, Urich Heberling, attached to the Deutsche Wella Perka radio station in Trincomalee who according to the state media, Ceylon Daily News; was killed "by terrorist mortar fire on the evening of 27th September" was actually shot by a Sri Lankan aircraft.
At the inquest conducted by Trincomalee judge, Sunil Rajapakse, a West German colleague of the deceased stated that he and four others were travelling by car towards Trincomalee when they were stopped by some civilians and advised not to proceed further, as firing was going on. They stopped the car and went on foot to the other side of the Erukkampitiya bridge which had been damaged earlier.
Suddenly an aircraft appeared overhead and started to drop bombs on all sides, including the top of the car. They had run for Safety into the jungle.
Lt. Punchihewa stated at the inquest that the security forces had received information that "terrorists' were attacking the area. He and fourteen others went to the spot. At that time there was a land-mine explosion and they counter-attacked. As they could not get out of the area, they asked for air cover and they were able to extricate themselves in the night under air cover. He said that he did not see any foreigner being killed but they later heard from the villagers that a foreigner had been killed.
The judge returned a verdict of accidental death.
Refugee Situation as on 30.9.86 District No. of No. of No. of Camps Farmiljes persons
Trincomalee 23 5,780 28.746 Batticaloa 5 2,301 10,722 Mulaitivu 8 2,420 10,889 Vavuniya 6 727 3,127 Mannar 2 233 1,047 Kiljnochchi 5 280 1,397 Kilinochchi (outside camps) 5,300 26,500 Jaffna 1,201 5,301 Jaffna (outside camps) - 14,699
Tota 60 18,242 102,428
The above figures are only in respect of those who have received assistance in some form or other from TRRO. (See Appeal on p. 14).

Page 11
OCTOBER 1986
Deficiencies in Govt. Proposals Continued from page 9
8. Other Matters
There are certain other matters that are outside the present proposals which should receive consideration if a satisfactory political settlement is to be achieved. Among these are the following:
(i) The state should be a secular institution with no partiality towards any particular religion. (ii) Sinhala and Tamil should both be declared official languages. (iii) Institutional arrangements for the protection of civil, linguistic, religious and cultural rights of individuals as well as of groups, this be done through appropriate constitutional amendments or through the establishment of a Council of State in which all ethnic groups find adequate representation and whose concurrence would be necessary for any legislation affecting fundamental rights.
MIRJE hopes that all progressive political parties, other mass organisations and elements in Sri Lanka will assist in expanding the scope of the present proposals to the point that they amount to a reasonable solution of the ethnic problem and in mustering popular support for their implementation.
Charles Abeysekera President (MIRJE)
A SUPR
THE recent annc the Canadian Ex his governme investigation ir Lankan High Co, Gen. Tissa MVe allegations aga human right predictable noi among the ex lobby abroad.
MWhile the ch, been concentral in Canada for h, first instance, government m bounds of ju, Canadian move Mvas the editori lsland", of 9th proposed inves supreme insult" while engaging glorification, w, the Canadian p remind the sir dians, with a h, old that Sri La dealing with g,
-Extracts from The Sa
"107. I should refer here to evidence that led us to statements alleged to have made by Mrs. Amirthalingam at a meeting held by the TULF at Vavuniya o June, 1977. Three witnesses called S. Appuhamy of Mamaduwa, A. L. Seneviratne of Vavuniya, and K. Suddahamy of Perappammadu wa statea they heard her say that the Tamils must swim in the blood of the Sinhalese, an she will be able to sleep only when she wears shoes made out of the skins ( Sinhalese. Undoubtedly if such statements had been made by her, they would evoked hatred between the two connunities, which would have led to the out of violence. Their evidence has been contradicted by Mr. Sellathambu, M. Mullaitivu and Mr. Sivasithamparam, M.P. of Vavuniya. Both of them sai they were present at that meeting, that Mrs. Amirthalingam spoke at it, but th never used such language in her speech. Mr. Amirthalingam who said that h also present, also denied that his wife uttered such words. He said that i against their culture to say such things, and especially for a lady to do so. I pre believe the three Members of Parliament on this matter.
108. Evidence was also led in regard to another meeting held in Jaffna o July, 1977, close to the Naga Vihara, in support of the candidature of Yogeswaram. The Venerable Nandarama Thero, Chief Priest of Vihara, that he heard Mrs. Amirthalingam making a speech there, in the course of she said that she could not sleep until she cut the Sinhalese and swam in and their blood. He also stated that Mr. Amirthalingam in his speech said th Sinhalese population in Jaffna was not sufficient to make a sambol, and th Sinhalese must be assaulted and chased away from Jaffna.
109. The witness also stated that he heard Mr. Yogeswaramsay that the T will not be content till they skin the Sinhalese and make slippers with their and that he also heard another unidentified speaker say that one month aft elections, they would walk over the bodies of the Sinhalese and establish State. All this the witness claimed to have heard from his temple becau meeting was held very close to it and loudspeakers were used. He also state the Police were at the meeting, recording speeches.
1 10. When the witness was being cross-examined by Mr. Bartlett, Co asked Senior State Counsel to produce the Police report of the speeches be that would be the most acceptable evidence of what was said by the spec Senior State Counsel said that he had already asked the Police to produ report and make it available to him.
111. The witness stated that the news of these statements referred to by hit spread to the Southern province and other areas of the country, and that wa an important factor in the communal disturbances of August, 1977.
112. The witness finished his evidence on 1st September, 1978, but the report on this meeting had not yet been made available to the lawyers.
113. On 20th April, 1979, Mr. Yogeswaram was recalled and he contra, what the Chief Priest had stated. He said he remembered the public meetin near the Naga Vihara on 4th July, 1977, in support of his candidature: it w only meeting held there. He was present, but neither Mr. nor Mrs. Amirthal attended it or spoke at it, though he himself did. He denied that he made the statement attributed to him by the priest.
114. Mr. Shanmugalingam at this point again asked that the Police rep this meeting be produced. Senior State Counsel replied that if it was avail. would be produced. On 23rd April, 1979, while Mr. Yogeswaram was being examined by Mr. Gunatillake, Mr. Shanmugalingam informed me that h received the Police report of the meeting on the previous day. .

TAML TINVIES ?
E NEVNS EMENSULT?
uncement by Mr. Joe Clark, ternal Affairs Minister, that nt would re-open an to the affaire of the Sri mmissioner in Canada, Maj. eratunga, following fresh inst him of torture and
abuses, has ρroνoked ses within Sri Lanka and remist Sinhala chauvinist
auvinist Sinhala lobby has ing its venom on the Tamils aving raised the issue in the lack in Sri Lanka the prodia has gone beyond the stifiable criticism of the . A typical example of this il in the English daily, 'The October. Describing the tigation by Canada as 'a to Sri Lanka, the editorial, in an exercise of selfas abusive of Canada and eople: "We might as well mple-minded, naive Canaistory barely two centuries nka has had experience in reat empires of the world
nillenniurns before North America was
colonised - at a time when human rights of the New World were not a matter for consideration. The Roman historian Pliny records visits by ambassadors from Anuradhapura to the Court of Augustus l... The Sri Lankan government must say it
loud and clear that we are not prepared to barter our self-respect as a nation for a few
Canadian dollars. We will never succumb to the power of any purse, be it Canadian or someone else's... This is not the first time that Canada has insulted Sri Lanka. There were the so-called refugees from West Germany. Despite conclusive evidence that they had lived in West Germany and would have been deported from that country had they not left, Canada was naive to grant them asylum status. Present day Canadians may be wanting to rid the guilt complexes of their nation, of building up a country while obliterating the native population. That is not the concern of Sri Lanka."
One is tempted to ask the question: "What happened to the native population of Sri Lanka following the arrival of the socalled Aryan Prince, Vijaya, with 700 of his followers and established the first Sinhala settlement in Sri Lanka? Do the present day Sinhala jingoists suffer from any guilt complexes for the virtual genocide of the indigenous Sri Lankan population by Vijaya and his followers?"
nsoni Commission Report
been in 3rd ). A. that d that of the have break P. for d that at she
ሮ }Vd§
f MyCN$ ferto
in 4th
Mr.
tated which trank at the at all
amils kins; *r the their e the d that
unsel
CdM$e kers. e the
a had also
olice
licted held as the ngam filthy,
ort of ble it
TrOSS
2 had
115. The report was produced and marked on 23rd April, 1979. It is a report on an election propaganda meeting held on 4th July, 1977 at 74, Stanley Road, Jaffna, organised by Mr. V. Yogeswaram for the TULF and lasting from 7.10pm to 10.30pm. It contains a list of 15 speakers. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Amirthalingam is mentioned in that list. This was obviously the report that Mr. Bartlett and Mr. Shanmugalingam had been pressing for. It corroborates Mr. Yogeswaram's evidence, and I informed Counsel on that day that Mrs. Amirthalingam need not be called to contradict the evidence given to prove that she had spoken at that meeting. · · -
116. Mr. Amirthalingam gave evidence for the second time on 25th April, 1979 and subsequent days. He denied that he or his wife said the filthy things atrributed to them at the Vavuniya meeting held on 3rd June, 1977, although he admitted that they had both spoken at it. He also denied that he or his wife attended the meeting held near the Naga Vihara on 4th July, 1977, and he said that it was a diabolicallie if anybody said that they attended or spoke at it. . .
117. I consider the evidence led in rebutal of the priest's evidence, including the Police report, sufficient to disprove the priest's evidence on this matter.
118. I shall now deal with other witnesses who implicated Mrs. Amirthalingam in statements she was alleged to have uttered at other meetings. G. Dharmadasa, a bakery owner, who claimed Rs. 85,000, as damages over an attack on his bakery, said that he listened to speeches made near Punkankulam Railway Station about 15 days before the election. Neither Mr. Amirthalingam nor Mr. Sivasithamparam the candidate for Nallur, made any remarks against the Sinhalese, according to the witness. He had a different tale to tell against Mrs. Amirthalingam and a young girl who also spoke. He said he heard Mrs. Amirthalingam say "the Sinhalese people should be killed and beaten and they should be skinned, and until we wear slippers out of their skin we will not sleep". The young girl, he said, spoke saying "the Sinhalese should be caught. We should swim over their blood and create a separate Tamil State". The witness admitted that he had not told anybody about having heard these statements, before he gave his evidence.
119. Mr. Amirthalingam denied that his wife uttered such words, and I believe him. Mr. Shanmugalingam at this stage asked Senior State Counsel to produce the Jaffna Station reports for which he had asked earlier, and the latter gave his assurance that no such speeches had been recorded by the Police. This took place
on 25th April, 1979. I reject the evidence of witness G. Dharmadasa.
(The evidence of two other witnesses making the same allegations, this time at Trincomalee, was also examined and the ex-Chief Justice concluded as follows:)
124. I have considered the evidence led on this subject through all the witnesses I have referred to. I am satisfied that none of these “filthy statements', as they were correctly described, were made at the TULF meetings mentioned. I accept the evidence of the TULF leaders who repudiated the allegations that such expressions were used. It is remarkable that not a single police report supporting the allegations is available. It seems to me that there has been a conspiracy to implicate TULF politicians by accusing them of having made such shocking statements which they never made. It was a dangerous and evil conspiracy which was calculated to damage Sinhalese-Tamil relations, and if any Police Officer heard any of these statements he could not possibly have omitted to make a record of them."
This must surely nail the coffin for the chauvinistic efforts of that worthy prelate.

Page 12
2TAMILTMES
TOWARDS CONSENSUS
The Product of Our Own History
1. Before analysing the substantive contents of the PPC proposals, and its implications for consensus, I would like to put forward a few preliminary remarks. The first point that I would like to make is that the proposals before us today are the product of our own history, the history that we as a society have chosen to create. Most of us here who are bilingual have been brought up or trained in the liberal, social democratic or Marxist traditions of political thought. We do not really like the word ethnic. Nor do we favour political boundaries drawn in terms of ethnic factors. And yet, history has deprived us of the opportunity of drawing political lines based on more objective criteria such as administrative efficiency, geographical similarity or economic backwardness. Instead our recent history presents us with an intractable ethnic conflict waged over ethnic boundaries. This has been waged at a primordial political level, involving issues of territory and physical security. خ۔ ,
In appraising the proposals before the PPC, or any proposals for that matter, we have to move away from what we may ideally favour in terms of political structure to appreciation of historical processes and historical necessity. This realism is fundamental if we are to survive as a nation-state. And I believe that it is this realism that will allow us to build a future
society where more universal values which ...,
transcend ethnic boundaries will be nurtured. In other words, it is a realism rooted in an awareness of an ethnic give and take which will move us toward a greater humanism away from the injustice and brutality of the past few years.
The PPC Proposals Distinguished From Peace Process
2. The second point I would like to make as a preliminary remark is that for the sake of clarity, we must separate the PPC proposals themselves from what may be called a peace process. Aspects of the proposals can be rejected but there still may remain a commitment to the peace process - a process based on negotiation, barter and compromise. We do not know what the final outcome will be, but if this current process continues for a longer period, I think that we will find that the major contradiction will no longer be between Tamils and Sinhalese, but between those who want a just peace and those who want a tribal war: those committed to a political solution and those committed to a final military solution.
It is premature to predict. which political groups are on which side of this contradiction, but if the peace process in operation today gathers momentum, then I think the groupings will also become more clear.
In this context, we must accept the fact that a commitment to peace must be based on a rejection of a military solution, and the desert civilisation which must inevitably follow the pursuit of such an option. − .4
The Sinhalese who want a final military solution are ready to brook genocide - one speaking to me not realising that I was a Tamil
said without batting an eyelid, “Well about
8,000 Tamils will have can break the back of th final solution". They clin can impose Central gov the Tamil periphery with the face of historical ex of the world. In additic super-power and is in fa extremely vulnerable to and international eco pressure. It is my belie: solution on the Sinhale meam a measure of geno also lead to the tragic br culture and civilisation as
Tamil commitment to other hand is based ( generation can be sacri used to achieve the goal C assertion of Tamil rights
against the will of ou
violation of others right and catastrophe. A move in terms of preventing Tamil people may, unles lead the Tamil people to say all this because unli have recourse to pol innocence which we Sin] and find at our own conve The past few years hav real terms what ethnic violence means, what in brutality means. We kn set in motion on both sid chambers of the S Commandos or the bom militant movement.
Given these ugly tr which accept or reject p with which they rejecte D-C Pact can only be opportunistic. In doing expect to be regarded as with a future alternative the present proposals answer or that democrac they have set in motior process which should
boycotted, guided not re.
Consensus of the Select
3. This brings me to wi consensus. I would like that there can never be on the resolution of especially if any politi
loyalty as the suprem
believe that even thoug consists of minorities, S. ethnic Society, cannot political concepts of cannot form part of a consensus. Their idea imposition of majority w the so-called majority i population.
On the other hand, t the Ceylon Tamils have create a separate state in
 
 
 
 

OCTOBER 1933
o be killed before we e movement and get a g to the belief that they ernment authority on out its consent. This in serience in other parts in, Sri Lanka is not a |ct a small island State geo-political realities nomic and political f that pursuing a final se side will not only cide against Tamils but Italisation of Sinhalese ; we know it.
a final solution on the on the belief that a ificed and any means f a separate state. This to statehood, if pitted r neighbours and in s may lead to debacle ment which is justified the genocide of the is tempered by reason, oward ethnic suicide. I ke in 1983, we cannot itical innocence, an halese and Tamils lose *nience. 'e shown us in concrete conflict means, what tolerance means, what ow the forces we have es whetherit betorture pecial Task Force b squads of the Tamil
uths, political parties roposals with the ease il the B-C Pact or the
seen as callous and so they cannot really providing the country ... I am not saying that in themselves are an
y can be regained, but
a political process, a be encouraged mot jected.
ny I am speaking about to state at the outset a complete consensus
our ethnic conflict, cal group sees ethnic e value. Those who h 25% of this country i Lanka is not a multi
be made to accept sharing power. They national democratic of a solution is the ill even in areas where s less than 2% of the
hose who believe that a historical destiny to the North and the East
by Radhika Coomaraswamy
also cannot be made to accept a broad-based negotiated settlement. Their romantic notion of the future will find it difficult to compromise with the imperatives of the present. Destiny and consensus are irreconcilable words in the Sri Lanka context.
When we talk about consensus then we can only mean consensus among those who do not regard ethnic loyalty as the Supreme political value, those who accept modern strategies of bargaining, negotiation and compromise over feudal loyalties based on myth, destiny and promised lands. I am willing to concede, that in defining consensus in this manner, we may exclude a large number of Tamils and Sinhalese. But my consensus is aimed at the consensus of the future, the "ethnic compact" which will have to emerge if we are to survive as a civilisation. Today this may seem to be the "Consensus of the Select", but I am convinced that it will not be the "Consensus of the Bereft', .. ''
Forces behind a Consensus
7. Given this reality, I think we have to accept the fact that the present proposals, with all their shortcomings, have set in motion a process which may, and I want to emphasise the word may, lead to a consensus. Already the forces aligning themselves behind this process both at the national and international level are quite formidable. We Sri Lankans have a cultivated "xenophobia" and this exists precisely because we are so vulnerable to regional and international pressures. However, we must also be realistic. The PPC proposals have received
tremendous international support; the same mixture of strange bedfellows who always
appear to come to Sri Lankas rescue. Any group which decides to go against the peace process therefore risks being categorised in international eyes with all the other international pariahs, whether in South Africa or Israel, who see their race and their tribe as the only factors of importance in world history and civilisation. Both Tamil and Sinhalese extremists become vulnerable to this charge.
What about other major actors? Let us begin with Tamil Nadu: unlike at Thimpu, the PPC proposals and the peace process have approval in Tamil Nadu as represented by their Minister in the Central Government, Mr. Chidambaram. He has put on record not only Rajiv Gandhi's reputation, but also his own. There may not be overt pressure from India on the
respective parties to this conflict, but only a
very naive political scientist will be oblivious to the subtle but dynamic pressure applied by both the Indian Centre Government and certain sections of the Tamil Nadu Government. w
As for the Tamil movements, the TULF has already come to Colombo and judging from interviews given to the media they are taking the process seriously. But one can legitimately ask who do they represent? They do have the expertise to iron out a solution which may be more acceptable to the Tamil militant groups especially if it is done without public posturing and declaration. But in the final result without the endorsement of some of the militant groups, a political solution is impossible. Therefore the process in operation must be a two phase project - the first phase involving negotiations between the government and the TULF to work out the blueprint. The second, negotiations which include the militant IhOVelentS.
I think that it is well known, despite the protests in Jaffna against the present PPG proposals, the militant groups themselves are divided on the issue of the inevitability of a --- Continued opposite

Page 13
OCTOëÈf^986
separate state. There are those who have transcended their ethnic loyalty to accept at least in theory a solution short of Tamil Eelam. If the current process is successful and provides a meaningful alternative, the left groups within the Tamil Movement will reconsider. Their main problem, I think like everyone else's is the lack of trust they have in the "on again, off again" Sri Lankan Government. Even if a solution is reached, will the government implement its promises?
What about the Sinhalese political parties. Again, there is a strange mixture of bedfellows. The UNP, the SLMP, and the traditional left favour the PPC proposals. Political gossip has it that despite the unanimous endorsement for public consumption. the SLFP itself has been divided on this issue. If the process succeeds the left flank of the SLFP may give it their tacit support. h
What we see then is the gradual inching together of the middle with widespread regional and international support. It is still a delicate process and one does not know whether it will succeed and yet such a historical conjecture has not existed with such intensity before. The intensity is conditioned by the fact that both sides are running out of other options. "Unless one seizes the time, there may be little hope for a non-violent future. :
Political Will? 8. Given the past history of the government, we must also ask - is there a political will to negotiate, and to genuinely solve the problem politically. My answer is yes, some members of the government have the will not because they jare visionaries, statesmen or humanists. They have not shown any of these qualities in their 'approach to the ethnic conflict. I hold no brief for them. But at this time, even they have begun to see the writing on the wall. As a cabinet they have, I think, come to terms with the intensity of our crisis and what that means for their future. Let us be grateful that this realisation has come now, even if we condemn the fact that they have allowed so many lives to be lost and so much suffering to take place. Will : they really implement the proposals in a spirit of sharing power? I think that their pragmatism and will to survival will compel them to do so even if their democratic and liberal convictions have long been silent. Even as I say this, however, we hear of incidents yesterday, in Mutur and Mullaitivu. I am not a believer in conspiracy but in contradictions. I feel that there are sections within the government, the administration and the armed services who will attempt to scuttle the talks. But in the long run, I think or perhaps hope that there is a slight !chance that pragmatism will win out.
The main reason for this optimistic introduction is to sustain you through the rest of the analysis, which involves identifying the disagreements and gaps in the proposals themselves.
Indian Constitution ۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔ ۔ ۔ ۔۔۔
9. Before discussing the actual provisions of the Proposals, it is important to note that many of the principles and in fact much of the language in the proposals and in the draft legislation which has been circulated is drawn directly from the Indian Constitution.
However, the Indian Constitution is the gresult of a different political and legal process. Constitutional provisions are often copied from other Societies, this is not new, but one may have to make adjustments to suit our own reality. Two aspects come to mind with regard to the Indian Constitution. The first is that the Indian Constitution is a federal one while we in Sri Lanka are trying to squeeze devolution within a unitary framework. The Indian
Constitution in sovereign will of not. We can majority in Pa devolution, wh ours is atter decentralisation framework.
Secondly, th drafted just af when trust with trust in leaders extremely high. of maximising but accepted a g in the 1960's thi context, these the height of ou is no trust and then become especially in a Centre as I said the scheme all framework, w regionally base voting power, t insecurity to the articles in the statement, it ap does not seem t
the Sinhalese.
... WHAT TH
10. In discussi with what is not which is essentia The first and there are no pro this will be work the fact that al reasons why the was no adequa expected this tc aspects of the something to the where economis of 1984 envision be granted to til But, powers are a resource base. to be developing and foreign loar have the power will be the na control? Can for or will objectiv have to be work which have to Presumably, the greatly depend Finance Commi each Province. What are the cr be given? It ma out in detail political efforts, lack of financial be only part of a
Regional Public:
11. Another i mentioned in t regional public Provinces. This section on financ of employment Service etc. . . h.
Dissolution
12. A third ir clearly covered i the "dissolution
the Centre in th

ts very structure recognises the the regions or states, ours does crap any scheme with a % rliament. Their is a political ich is recognised and secure, mpting to be a political
within an administrative
e Indian Constitution was er the nationalist movement in the Indian polity, especially such as Nehru and Gandhi was Nobody was thinking in terms safeguards against the Centre enuine give and take. It is only it other issues emerged. In our provisions are being drafted at national conflict in which there tery little goodwill. Safeguards important considerations unitary framework where the by a mere 2/3 majority can scrap ogether. Given the political here Tamil voting power d is less than % of national his gives a certain measure of minority. Ironically, in reading papers and also the SLFP pears that this national control o give any sense of security to
CIS NOT INCLUDED IN E PROPOSALS
ng the proposals let us begin included in the proposals but if the scheme is to succeed. most important factor is that visions on Finance. Presumably ed out by the PPC itself. Given 1 sides agree that one of the DDCs failed is because there te finance, one would have be one of the most detailed proposals. Perhaps there is statement that lawyers rush in its fear to tread. Annexure 'C' led a broad range of powers to he periphery to raise revenue. meaningless unless there is also In that context, what appears Sri Lanka today is foreign aid IS. Will the Provincial Councils to raise foreign loans? What ture of Central Government eign loans be denied arbitrarily 2 criteria for decision making ed out? These are all questions be faced and answered. finances for the province will on a Central Government ssion which will make grants to But aren't these funds limited? teria by which such grants will y be necessary to work all this beforehand. After all these if the scheme were to fail for feasibility, then the efforts will wasted process.
Service mportant aspect which is not he proposals is .the-area of a . Service to administer the is perhaps not as crucial as the es but the terms and conditions , their link to the national ave yet to be worked out. ;
nportant aspect which is not in the proposals is the subject of of the provincial Councils" by e event of disagreements with
TAMILTIMES 13
the Governor, or with the Centre. The DDC Act allowed dissolution by the Minister in charge on ground such as mismanagement etc . . . after an independent judicial hearing. This is dissolution as it operates on
administrative bodies and after precedents set
up in the administrative laws of this country. However, when it comes to provincial bodies which are elected, this kind of dissolution is not feasible because of the political nature of the body. In this context it may be necessary to work out how and why the Governor or the President can dissolve the Provincial Councils. Perhaps the provisions with regard to the dissolution of the national parliament can operate at the provincial level with regard to provincial councils, thus ensuring a time-limit and subsequent elections.
Democratic Climate
13. There are many aspects, not directly linked to the proposals, but which will determine the climate for implementation, which have not been included as part of the package, eg: a ceasefire - in fact a ceasefire should have been a first priority. Also such matters as Amnesty, the Removal of Emergency and the PTA have also to be considered.
The SLFP has also been urging that the proposals be linked to a greater democratisation in the South. In fact it is said that the SLFP rejection of the proposals came after the reading of sections of the Chidambaram papers which stated that Provincial Council Elections will be held in the North and not in the South. If the PPC solution is to be seen as a genuine political solution, it cannot be fettered by petty politicing. It should apply to the whole country, as a democratic exercise for everyone. Otherwise, arguments of unfairness will cloud any achievement of peace. In fact the constitutional amendment could be struck
down under the equal protection clause of the constitution.
In addition to creating a democratic climate, no provisions have been set up for the possibility of sharing power at the Centre, eg: Tamil being made an official language or the creation of a second chamber or the creation of
a type of Ethnic Relations Commission. These are also matters for consideration.
To be concluded
ON 10/9/86 at 6am Army personnel cordoned off the
slave treatment. At times these persons were taken Out to the esplanade ground out of the Fort and forced to cut
Arrest of all males
Tamil area of Chelvanayagapuram in the Trincomalee District in east Sri Lanka and began search operations and arrested almost all the male inmates including elderly people. They arrested nearly 150 people and took them through jungle paths and sound of gun shots were heard by the people of the area. All arrested people were taken to love lane Police Station. Nobody was allowed to see them.
When the dependants, relatives, kith and kin went to Love Lane Police. Station where the arrested persons were taken they were told that all the detainees had been taken to Fort Frederick Army Camp. Complaints were made to the local Citizens' Committee. About 40 people mostly Government employees were released the next day. There are nearly 100 people still in custody. On the same day three bodies were brought to Trincomalee Base Hospital by Security Forces. These bodies were not identified. Later Mrs. Senthivel Puvaneswary testified that her husband Senthivel was one of the three persons shot dead.
The arrested persons while in Custody were said to be very cruelly treated. They were hand-cuffed and chained to one another and led in rows reminiscent of
grass and clear shrubs in the land in front of the Buddhist Pilgrims Rest. The visiting dependants and relatives complained that they were forced to make payments for the haircuts of the detenus

Page 14
14 TAM TIMES
SRI LANKA & INT
The Board of Governors,
World Bank/International Monetary Fund,
Washington D.C. September 25, 1986
Dear Sirs,
Having been stung by - wide international publicity of increasing military attacks against the Tamils, the Sri Lankan Government has responded with much publicised "peace moves" . . . "negotiated settlements" . . . and "recognition of legitimate rights of Tamils", while relentlessly pursuing what is considered to be a military "final solution'. Over the past three years, the Sri Lankan Government's "peace initiatives" were orchestrated and given greater visibility just prior to important events - UN Sessions, Summit meetings, Aid Consortium Meetings etc.
Thus just prior to the 1984 Aid Consortium Meeting the Government let the world believe that President Jayawardene was serious in fulfilling
the promises held c Mrs. Indra Gandhi
peaceful settleme grievances. In Jun Countries believed
was being hammer Talks in Bhutan.
consortium meetin Lanka delegation C criticism by the d announcing that th issue " new propos peacefully resolve t and So it did. In the aՈրOԱ ոCՅՈՈ6Ոt Wa Paris, however, the making intensified tions. Despite our
the aid Commitmen increased with the the serious ethnic resolved through p
The Refugee problem
--as we face it.
The refugee situation in the Tamil regions of Sri Lanka has become too acute, and thus more complicated, to be solved soon and easily. It has become a part of our present existence.
Whereas on the one hand the Sri Lankan Tamil refugee problem has been internationally highlighted, involving such countries as West Germany, Canada, the U.K., Scandinavian countries and lndia, within Sri Lanka, which is the focal point of TRRO's activities, Tamil refugees could be classified into two major groups: (a) Inter-district refugees - These are Tamil families which have been dislocated from the districts where they have been living and are now seeking security and shelter in other Tami districts.
(b) Intra-district refugees - These are persons and families having to leave their homes due to proximity to Army Camps and/or to the sea coast (fishing is banned) and are seeking shelter and security in safer areas within the same district.
They are too poor to leave the Country, too poverty-stricken and indigent that they need some assistance to establish themselves in the new areas. Having lost their near and dear ones, their homes, their life's earnings and all material wealth and the community living they had, they are now without huts to live, fields to
children.
RRO has undertaken the humble task of helping these people directly and through their own grassroot level organisations to secure a 'renewal' of their lives. Your cooperation towards alleviating the sufferings of these unfortunates is earnestly solicited. Cheques may be drawn in favour of TRRO Ltd., Account No. 12503 maintained with the
Lanka.
106,4th Cross Street, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. 30,986
work on, sea to catch fish and schools for their
Commercial Bank of Ceylon Ltd., Jaffna, Sri
SAV
80% of the huma the moment life Sta mother to within th if the nutrients development of the during this short damaged beyond subsequent nutri damage done ar condemned to men Jaffna Municipal to tackle this widespread in all including Jaffna w ing a particularly || times come to a f who stints herself and her husband. child in her womt brain of her child. her child, the milkw The M.O.H. Ja selected the Jubile a field project. This 5. If this project is to the other war
Th
"We
"It is not much fun Jaffna while them The Times (19 Sept
Brigadier Gery Peninsula, is furthe - We wa
Wemi
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

OCTOBER 1986
ERNATIONAL AID
Tamil information Centre, 24-28, 3rd Floor, Chapham High Street, London SW47UR, England, U.K.
ut through the late o find a quick and it of the Tamils' 2 1985, the donor hat a just solution ed out at the Timpu
In 1986 at the gs in Paris, the Sri untered mounting onor countries by e Government will als" on June 25 to he ethnic conflict - same week as this s being made in Government was
military preparaappeals, however, ts to Sri Lanka were proclamation that problem should be eaceful, negotiated
means and not by military force. But the subsequent activities - indiscriminate arrests, mass executions, aerial bombings, disappearances of thousands of young Tamils, and many crimes committed by the Police, Army, Navy, Air Force and Home Guards - show beyond doubt that the Government never had any serious intention of relenting, but was persistent in using military force to achieve its initial design. In 1985 alone Sri Lanka spent US$400 million on this war against the Tamils.
We again appeal to the international community in general and to the aid donors in particular to censure the Sri Lanka Government on its pursuit of its malicious war against the Tamils, and to suspend economic aid until the Government satisfactorily resolves the ethnic conflict. Information Officer
E THE BRAIN FUND
n brain develops from rts in the womb of the ree-four years of life. needed for the brain are not provided period that brain is repair. No amount of ents can undo the ld that individual is tal retardation for life. ity has started a project problem, which is third world countries, nich is now experienchard time. When hard amily, it is the woman and feeds her children When she is carrying a this will damage the f she is breastfeeding vill be inadequate. fna Municipality has e Health Centre to start includes wards 2, 3, 4 & success it will expand ds too. All expectant
mothers and children under five years are registered and attended to at the J. H. Centre. Medical defects are corrected and necessary milk and food supplements given. There are about 200 infantts and pre-school children under 3 years who are malnourished and need supplementary feeding. In order to provide them milk we need about Rs.24,000 per month. Jaffna Municipality is not able to finance this alone. Hence we hope well-wishers and philanthropists will come forward and help us in this project to make ita success.
in terms of Section 31 of the Inland Revenue Department Act No. 28 of 1979 your contributions to this fund will be considered tax-free. Your contributions should be made to:
Municipal Commissioner A/c. No. 12698 Commercial Bank, Jaffna
with a copy of information to us, i.e.
Municipal Commissioner, Jaffna Municipality, Jaffna.
e Army Wants Peace: Want This War To End"
or the soldiers to be penned up in Camps in the Northern peninsula of ilitants lie in wait at every gate", says Michael Hamlyn reporting to ember) from Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Da Silva, the Commander of the Security Forces in the Jaffna
reported to have said:
nt peace, too, you know. . . is the company of our families too. We want this war to end.

Page 15
VJU U Sri Sð
THE UNSAVOURY RE
THE SRI LANKAN
“Sri Lanka's media', says the Far Eastern Economic Review, “is constrained by restrictive press and emergency laws. The largest newspaper group in the country was nationalised in 1973, and with radio and TV also under state ownership the government has almost total control over the national mass media.'
In a damning review of the Sri Lankan Press and its attitude on national issues over the years since independence, its hard hitting analysis of the Sri Lankan media refers to at least two thirds of the dailies and a sizeable part of the magazines' circulation as coming from the government-controlled publishing group:
"To a casual visitor the varied fare in news and views gives the impression of a vibrant and thriving press in Sri Lanka. But a closer look unveils an unsavoury reality."
". . . the press tamely follows the official line on almost all issues, for fear of offending the authorities who are armed with a set of draconian laws to rein in the press. State power of patronage, in large scale public sector advertising and import regulations on newsprint, act as an additional restraining influence on the press. With radio and TV also in official hands, the government has almost total control over the national media, a situation which has prevailed since the 1970's".
"The ethnic unrest in 1981 and 1983 and the ensuing Tamil insurgency which led to the emergency rule have also come in handy for the UNP as an excuse to ignore demands for relaxing press controls. . . .
The daily fare of Colombo's newspapers consists of stories that read the same, most emanating from the same official sources. In the absence of correspondents abroad, foreign news is limited to copy from international news agencies and syndicated features. During Bandaranaike's rule in the 1970s, development news from the Third World was favoured, but under the pro-Western Jayawardene government the Third World no longer gets extensive coverage.”
"Colombo's new found relationship with Israel, which is providing aid, weapons and training to help the government combat the Tamil insurgency, translates into a total absence of editorial criticism of the Jewish state, and its
economic and praised. On t employment op the Middle East Muslim minori limiting its conn "News of th military's count Ministry of Na Operations Co Forces. Althou telephonic cont areas of the cou who would dare side of the story. "With the in conflict since la bias of the Co Even those p usually liberalo hard line on the language newsp other in taking line, while the timid to upset thi
The Council voluntary group a content analy issue in the Sinh 1981, when the the backing of led to counter vil "The analysis distorted the fac suit its biased editorials again, reports was tha grievances and community tha regretted that | underlying cau added that i propagатdа, и communal harn The anti-Tan since then. The rarely mentions alike - detained except when th release, Earlier campaigning fo, issued a stateme the press. Late print eyеп араia
The Bishop of Batticaloa and Trincomalee, in eastern Sri Lanka, Dr. Kingsley Swampillai, has outlined in a letter to President, J. R. Jayewardene the 'dark happenings' in Batticaloa in recent weeks.
'Terrorism should not be welcome in any form. It is the duty of the security forces to provide protection to the people. They are paid by the state exchequer from the taxes levied from the people. Those very forces are killing the people without remorse or pity and this is a cause for CSSLe.
Three days ago (19th September) the security forces in a 'gunning spree' killed 8 innocent people in Batticaloa town.
Bishop Calls For An End to "Int
A worker atti Anthony's was bullets.
Aerial bomb been undertake the Cloak of se in this type of civilians.
It is, therefor action acceptat bring an end to
Hartal: Widesp hartals were O and Kaimunaic rampage on 18.

TAMILTMES 15
ALITY OF MEDIA
technical achievements are: he other hand, the sizeable portunities for Sri Lankans in , and the favoured position of the y at home results in the press nents on Arab affairs." e Tamil insurgency and the er moves come mainly via the tional Security and the Joint Immand of the Sri Lankan gh local journalists keep in act with the Tamil-dominated ntry, it would be a brave editor to dwell at length on the Tamil
y
creasing violence of the ethnic
te 1983 the prevalent anti-Tamil
lombo press was strengthened. ublications which have been in most other issues have taken a ethnic problem. The Sinhalese papers in particular with each a decidedly majority-chauvinist famil press is too small and too e Sinhalese authorities. for Harmony through Media, a of Sri Lankan intellectuals, did sis of the coverage of the ethnic alese press during June-August police ran amok in Jaffna with JNP politicians and the carnage olence by Tamil youth. " -
found that the Sinhalese press ts, doctored age-old proverbs to reporting and wrote jingoistic st the Tamils. The thrust of the it there was no basis for Tamil in fact it was the Sinhalese t was threatened. The analysis the press did not discuss the ses of the ethnic conflict and t was full of "anti-Tamil hcih goes against attempts at nony”. iltirade has grown more strident press is so subservient that it those - Tamils and Sinhalese d under emergency regulations, te governтетt itself put out a this year a civil rights group r the release of political prisoners int which was totally ignored by
r, no newspaper was willing to
ladvertisement by the group."
= human Acts'
ached to the Church of St. individually downed by
ing, bulet spraying have 2n by security forces under curity. The hapless victims action have been innocent
re, necessary that suitable ole to al be formulated to these 'inhuman acts'.
read protests in the form of bserved in the Batticaloa districts following the army 9.86.
لسسسس--
N
HoLIDAY
RETREMENT
HOMES
Building plots are available in an area of outstanding natural beauty in the hills of Tamil Nadu.
Aland of eternal spring, yet
within driving distance of the
greattemples of Madurai and Palani.
Only a limited number of plots are available - He stopped creating such beauty ages ago.
For details urite to:
M. PILLA,
"SERENDIB”,
LAKEROAD,
KODAIKANAL 624101,
TAMIL, NADU,
NDA:
muted, almost stilled, by the burning of
SUBSCRIBE NOW!
There are many strands of Tamil life and experience but today only a few voices are heard. This is not because the others have nothing to say; they simply lack a place in which to say it.
The Tamil voice in Sri Lanka has been
presses and libraries, banning of foreign journalists, censorship, draconian laws under continuous Emergency rule, intimidation, debarring of Tamil MPs from Parliament.
The Sinha ese voice is heard lotud and clear as the Sri Lanka Government ovvn and contro not only much of the press but also radio and television and, above all, possess the full paraphernalia of propaganda and publicity.
The TAMIL TIMES, launched after the Army burning of the Jaffna Public Library, provides a forum for discussion and evaluation of plans and proposals for a solution to the Tamil Ouestion and for the dissemination of news. It is published monthly. Don't be left out, without your copy of Tamil Times. * : Հ
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Page 16
MEDA FLE
Rarely has a diplomat kept so low a profile yet frayed ties so badly between two friendly countries as Sri Lankan High Commissioner Tissa Weeratunga.
The envoy, a relative of Sri Lankan, President J. R. Jayawardene, was dispatched to Ottawa as a reward for (armed) services rendered: he was the officer who commanded the army's brutal campaign against Tamil separatists.
Probes by human rights investigators from Amnesty International amassed testimony by Sri Lankan Tamils that Brig.- Gen. Weeratunga (at the very least) tolerated torture and disappearances of Tamil civilians while he was stationed in Jaffna in 1979. This week, a Tamil refugee" visiting Canada from Paris claimed he was
DIPLO
personally tortured by tunga.
The Canadian governn to rock the diplomat controversial diplomat, Minister Joe Clark was a allegations when the nominated for the Otta little effort to verify them. few months to discoura sending him, but I vouched for his kin's inn finally accepted him.
Faced with new accusa ex-officer, however, Mr. decided to make "cautio him, Anything less wou the UN Convention On Canada is a signatory. circumspection - to
Sri Lanka:
Institutionalisatic
Of Violence
P.T.A (Prevention of Terrorism Act),
Emergency regulations, Armed Reserves,
Home Guards, STF, Foreign instructors and a Ministry of National Security ... but there is no security. Few persons of responsibility, whether government or outside it, appear to be fully alive to the astonishing spread of violence throughout the island in the very recent past. Not the military conflict or the terrorism or the private killing but altogether new types of violence, by small organised bands, most of them equipped with modern weapons.
Armed groups, not of any known political persuasion, seem to be quite active outside the north and east, the main theatres of war. The first signs of this phenomenon came with the disbanded Raja Rata Rifles. But then there was talk of other small numbers booted out of the forces for indiscipline. Next came news of deserters, who had taken to highway robbery. The private militaries and the gangs are also part of a dangerous new scene.
SOCIAL LINE
Thanks to the Finance Minister the country had been rudely awakened to economic costs of war and the price the "liberalised economy" may have to pay (and therefore every consumer) if the peace effort collapses. What of the social costs of militarisation? While we are seeking to protect the nation and the religion, the dhammadeepa is being So rapidly transformed to a new kind of society where violence, like the Philippines in the 60's and 70's, becomes a way of life. And what of the moral costs? The incidence of violence involving young people, often from "respectable" families is not only shocking but menacing.
LAW ENFORCEMENT The increasingly urgent and slightly desperate appeals by the IGP for discipline is yet another sign of the dry rot in old
structures. Lawlessness tion have spread into t enforcement. The headli at Police School" is sy observations in an unu SUN editorial represen about a dangerous trend
"The recent shooting indisciplined and crimi policemen have spread terror over innocent pe travel at night.
As the Morawewa M an inquiry on the Mawarala, the Police h right to kill. They have be they have been given have not been given an irresponsibly or ind Magistrate ruled.
At Pepiliyana last Ft drunken policeman ope van carrying Telecomr ment engineers, after | had checked their ident to proceed. An innocent a Crazy, Cock-eyed cop to aim at the tyres".
At Batapola, an innoc seriously injured when p blindly, at a suspect esca All three incidents which are relatively pea gun should be, if at all, th The corrosive effects "institutionalisation of (the phrase is Pri Gananath Obeysekera's of Sri Lankan society we in the Trinco camp incid a soldier killed two reportedly, shot himse private in a Colombo car killed a colleague and t this not the enemy's (w give him) real reveng stable and peaceful sout
(La

6erO3, 1986
VAT WITH A PAST
Brig. -Gen. VMVeera
ment has been loath c boat over the External Affairs ware of most of the Sri Lankan was va post, but made External tried fora ge Colombo from Mr. Jayawardene ocence and Ottawa
tions aimed at this Clark has belatedly us inquiries' about ld be a betrayal of Torture, of which
In Contrast to the the point of
fecklessness - that Ottawa has shown, Colombo has been all too quick to escalate the controversy. m
Two Sri Lankan cabinet ministers on Tuesday issued provocative statements, one demanding the extradition of the Tamil refugee who is visiting Canada from France, the other threatening reprisals against Canadian diplomats if Ottawa pursues its inquiries concerning Brig. -Gen. MVeeratunga.
Mr. Clark should be equally blunt, Canada does not extradite exiles wanted for political offences. But Canada is prepared to expell diplomats if there is solid evidence they have committed war crimes. Or if Canadian diplomats face reprisals for inquiries into such abuses.
Globe and Mail, (Canada) September 25, 1986
)r)
, crime and corruphe agencies of law The "Probe on Fraud fmptomatic. These isually hard-hitting t a timely warning
scandals involving nally irresponsible fear and a reign of hople who have to
agistrate said after
double-killing at ave absolutely no een given weapons, authority but they y right to use these iscriminately, the
iday, an allegedly ned fire at a state munication Departanother policeman ities and told them driver was killed by who was supposed
ent pedestrian was police fired, perhaps ping from custody.
occurred in areas ceful and where the elast resort." s of the post-1977 political violence" nceton Professor ) and militarisation retragically evident ent in August when officers and then, lf. On Sept. 24, a mp was said to have hen Shot himself. Ils hatever identity we e on a once fairly hern society?
inka Guardian, 1. 10.86) :
CONFUSION REIGNS
Canada's official attitude towards Sri Lanka is baffling. Our bureaucrats and politicians are marching to their own drummer. And they're all out of step.
They should know that there are conflicts in Sri Lanka between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority. Both sides have been accused of murderous acts in this struggle, with the Tamils getting the worst of it.
That's why Tamils have been fleeing, why some were willing to brave that infamous lifeboat drop,
As a result, the Canadian government put Sri Lanka on the blacklist of 18 nations to which refugees cannot be returned. So far, Ottawa's attitude seems clear. But then it staggers into two murky questions.
Why is official Ottawa so casual about the charges against the Sri Lankan High Commissioner when he first came to Canada? Just why are we giving aid to this government that persecutes a minority?
Brig.-Gen. Tissa Weeratunga's appointment was accepted by Ottawa in spite of violent objections from the Canadian Tamil community which said he'd been involved in torturing Tamil separatists. Amnesty International says it has affidavits backing the charges. People swore they were tortured while Weeratunga watched.
External Affairs say the charges are unsubstantiated. But such serious charges must be investigated further,
Can anyone explain Canada's $30-million annual aid to Sri Lanka? Here is a country from which citizens are fleeing for their lives and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) gives it our money.
Oh, they have explanations. Trouble is, they're not rational. CDA says Sri Lanka is a democracy with whom we've had excellent relations since 1950.
Therefore, CDA doesn't consider the Sri Lankan regime oppressive. Perhaps these officials might descend from their ivory CIDA tower into the dungeons long enough to consider the evidence of the tortured. After all, the torture is not in doubt, even if the politicians and bureaucrats of External Affairs haven't quite decided who supervised. ჯ This confusion and blindness over human rights violations reveals our officials as uncaring bumblers on the world stage.
The Toronto Sun September 16, 1986

Page 17
OCTOBER 1986
BELEAGUERED S
Sri Lanka's national carrier Comes
government scrutiny
'THE taste of paradise', the heavily advertised slogan to which Air Lanka, Sri Lanka's national carrier, hitched its promotional star, has taken on a bitter tinge. With the state-owned airline proving to be a huge drag on the country's beleaguered economy, President Junius Jayawardene ordered in early August that a three-member commission of inquiry look into the affairs of the company, whose borrowings abroad now account for 17% of the country's debt-servicing obligations.
Victor Perera, a retired Supreme Court judge, is heading the probe team, whose other members are Tilak Samarasekera, chief of the Greater Colombo Economic Commission responsible for running the free-trade zone north of the capital, and Colombo attorney Henry Jayamaha, who is also assistant secretary of the ruling United National Party. The commission has been told to report to Jayawardene within two months. The terms of reference do not provide for an investigation covering the full seven years that Air Lanka has been operating, but are restricted to the period 1 January 1983 to 31 July 1986,
These years have seen Air Lanka's troubles and losses mount. The problems climaxed with the 3 May blast in a Lockheed Tristar-1011 on the tarmac of Colombo's international airport. Seventeen passengers and crew were killed in the explosion attributed to Tamil separatist terrorists battling for a Tamil state in northern and eastern Sri Lanka.
The commission has been given wideranging reference terms: it is required to establish whether there has been maladministration, financial irregularity or other administrative malpractice, or abuse in the conduct of certain specified activities of the airline, and if so, to fix responsibility. The activities specified for investigation include: staff matters; management of funds; acquisition, management and maintenance of property including land, buildings, aircraft, equipment and vehicles, and the conduct of all the airline's business,
Although the word corruption has not been specifically used, the terms of reference clearly provide for investigation
of 'malprac management aircraft and 'conduct of a would enable have occurr However, ther corruption ch against any managers. however, is th itself in purst airline, and bo Most airlin Lanka's 3,400 fleet of five a Boeing 707s Overload. Bu Commerce, owned entert intensive, eve Air Lanka has it lin recento ! Tristar blast, great deal of n privately-own ers of Ceylo advertise with distribute its Lanka flights. Newspapers' The Week-En banner, “Wor quoting Davic president for S Hopper said country. If the prop up an air decision. All I ( rupees spent c much better us not see the jus Lanka to give Air Lanka.'
Hurt to the q Capt. Rakhi commercial-ai fly to keep h employees reaffirmed his board and ma was aware th, Was being pra credibility oft detractors in
British Association of Tamilisc
The Association was formed early this year with the mai umbrella organisation for the various Tamil schools in the functions will be inter alia the consolidation and centralisatior administration, operations and the setting up of a comm ensuring a common syllabus, textbooks etc. In addition, it wi of expertise, especially in the field of Carnatic Music and Bhar classical dancing) whence the various schools can draw accor Currently 21 weekend schools in the United Kingdom have support for the British Association of Tamil Schools and m Between them 800 students are actively engaged in the le
Music, Drama and Bharatha Natyam.
Interested schools may contact Mr Pillai on 01-857, 59 Summit Road, Northolt, Middx. Engi
 

TAMITMES 17
i
KIES .
Inder
ice and abuse' in the of funds and acquisition of ther property as well as 'l business activities'. That any corruption which may 2d to be investigated. 9 have as yet been no major arges levelled up to now of the airline's senior The principal criticism, at Air Lanka over-extended lit of becoming a first-tier rowed too heavily to do so. as would also regard Air strong staff to operate a ircraft - two Tristars, two and one 737 - as a heavy t much of Sri Lanka's particularly governmentprises, have been labourby South Asian standards. been no exception. nonths, even before the the airline has received a ewspaper criticism from the 2d Independent Newspapn. The airline does not the group, and does not publications on board Air Early this year, Independent Sunday English newspaper, d, splashed a front-page ld Bank blasts Air Lanka', f Hopper, the bank's viceouth Asia, : 'Sri Lanka is a democratic people of Sri Lanka want to line, that is their sovereign an say is that the billions of bn Air Lanka could be put to :e to benefit the masses. I do tification for a citizen of Sri lup his benefits to subsidise
uick, Air Lanka's Chairman, ha Wikramana yake, a rline pilot who continues to is licence alive, told his "hat Jayawardene had confidence in the airline's nagement. He said that he at 'a calculated campaign grammed to damage the he airline'. He accused his the press of 'constantly
attacking Air Lanka with distorted facts, with the sole purpose of damaging the progress and identity of the airline.'
Wikramanayake, who has been the chairman and managing director of Air Lanka since its inception, claimed that Jayawardene, who is ministerially responsible for the airline, had assured him 'in no uncertain terrns of his confidence in the airline's progress and his total support for the manner in which the airline has been managed to date'. He concluded by saying that Jayawardene had requested that his views be conveyed to all Air Lanka staff 'in order that no disruption or dissatisfaction should arise from these inaccurate and falsified reports.'
That was in February. Three months later came the Tristar blast, and questions have been raised about whether Air Lanka was in any way negligent. Another probe, with a retired judge as commissioner, has been appointed to separately investigate the explosion in the jetliner, believed to have been caused by a heavy charge of gelignite planted in a cargo hatch.
In July, Air Lanka published its financial report for 1984-85 (ended 31 March), which reported an operating loss of Rs 151.46 million (US$5.4 million) against the previous year's operating profit of Rs 203.1 million. The operational loss was the least of its problems. Interest on capital borrowings put Rs 828.3 million worth of red ink on the balance-sheet and currency losses added another Rs 259.7 million, leading to a huge loss of Rs 1.24 billion, more than twice the previous year's loss of Rs 602.9 million, on the bottorn line.
Wikramana yake explained that an inadequate equity-capital base in the initial stages of operations compelled the company to seek the assistance of commercial banks and other financial institutions.
With a total of Rs 5.3 billion in mediumterm loans and capital-lease contracts on its books at the last balance-sheet date, and liabilities exceeding assets by Rs 1.6 billion, the financial picture looks gloomy. What Jayawardene would do once the commission's report is in is unclear, but observers in Colombo do not think it likely that a closure of the airline is imminent, as the commissioners have been asked to recommend remedies for whatever defects they may find.
By Courtesy of Far Eastern Economic Review, 4 September 1986
hools (BATS)
n object of serving as an United Kingdom. Its main of a substantial part of the on examining body thus maintain a central Source tha Natyam (South Indian ding to their needs.
pledged their unqualified re are anticipated to join. arning of Tamil, Carnatic
$168 or write to:
and.
Colombo YMCA General Secretary Alagan Kadirgamar retires
After nearly thirty years in the service of the YMCA including ten years as its General Secretary Mr. Alagan Kadirgamar retired in June 1986 at the age of 55, to provide an opportunity for younger men equally dedicated to prove themselves. His portrait was unveiled in the Board Room of the Colombo Headquarters and several felicitations held in his honour.
Mr. Kadirgamar has attended several international consultations and conferences on behalf of the YMCA Colombo and was the chief executive conducting the YMCA centenary celebrations in 1982.
He is now on an assignment covering Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan as consultant in the same service.

Page 18
18 TAM TIMES
Continued from page 8
eased. Most important of these categories is fuel. Since the ceasefire the civil authorities have issued permits to private traders in petrol and kerosene, as a safer way of ensuring supplies than by using government transport. Most petrol in Jaffna is now purchased at the
roadside in bottles; these sell for Rs 17 per
bottle against a value of about Rs 11 at the controlled price of Rs 13.50 per litre. During the curfew period petrol rose to a price of Rs 80 per bottle. Kerosene is now Rs 10 per bottle against a controlled price of Rs 7.35 per litre, so the price remains somewhat more distorted. But it did not earlier reach heights comparable to those of petrol, the demand being regulated more by unavailability than by price (a difference due perhaps to the greater ease of finding effective substitutes for kerosene).
What is striking is that markets for different products have behaved in very different ways, so that relative prices have undergone great and continuing change. Table below shows the behaviour of prices of an unsystematically selected shopping-basket of items, grouped into seven main categories of price behaviour. It is notable that goods of which Jaffna produces a surplus have seen large falls in price within the peninsula due to inability to export customary quantities: grapes, coconut and mangoes are striking cases. However, this has occurred only in goods in which the impact of the disruption to trade has been greater than that of the disruption to production; by contrast, fish and potatoes, which have both seen production severely reduced, suffered overall rises in price inspite of their being among Jaffna's main traditional exports.
It should be borne in mind also that the insecurity in Jaffna has led to a fragmentation within as well as between markets, requiring us to take some liberties with the very notion of a market price. It is clear that grapes, for example, currently sell for prices that can
change sharply from day to day and locality to
locality, as supplies come irregularly onto local
EFFECTS OF CONFLICT ON ECON(
markets that have not in dispose of surpluses (the Table are in such ca, average). To complemen trade it is now necess: disturbances in productio
Disturbances in
Fisheries: Approximate (over 10 per cent of dependent upon fishing in group has been econ hardest-hit sector of the the terms of the prohibitic late 1984 it was required 1 and move inland, ther livelihood. Some 15,000 with government food sta person , per month t inadequate to meet even study in April of fishermel years of age in a camp peninsula found evidence calorie deficiency) in 4: examined, as well as high i other complaints. As will severe malnutrition has I the fishing communitic labourers have also been the situation. But even no is reported that many of children's diarrhoea wa fishermen, and that aro patients show signs of acut
Since June 18 the proh relaxed though not officia can take place up to three limitation on distance st both the volume of catch a of the larger fish are to be waters. The result of this to the local market have exports from Jaffna to t remain negligible. A dail. carrying ice fish and one ( Jaffna to Colombo has fal
RETAL PRCES OF ASSORTED TEMS
Group Item - Unit Present Highest Pri
Price Last Year ܚ I (high price Blackgram kg 32 32 rises) Greengram kg 28 28 . . Milk powder /4 kg "29.90 29.90
Shoes pair 120 120 Il (lowerprice Eggs each 1.60 1.60
rises) Mutton kg 55 55 Chicken kg 50 50 i ... Coffee kg 90 90 Tea kg 70 Vd 70 Mysoredal kg 29 29 Sugar kg 14 14 Bread loaf 3.15 3.15 Cooking gas cylinder 210 210
(rises, then. Rice kg 13 15 moderate Fish kg 30 40 falls) Potatoes kg 14 25 Chillies kg 32 70 Petrol bottle 17 80 Kerosene bottle 1{} ・ ー 12
IV (rises, then Grapes kg 8 20 large falls) Coconuts each 15 Mangoes (in season) each 1.50 10 V (small falls) Soар bar 2.95 3.10 VI (large falls) Coconut oil litre 9 22 VII no change) Flour kg 4.90 4.90 Milk litre 550 5.50 Textiles (local) Imetre 22 22 Textiles (foreign) metre 28 28
Note: * Controlled price
 

OCTOBER 1986
MYINNORTHERNsRLANKA
he past been used to price quoted in the es an approximate this picture of local ry to consider the .
Production
:ly one lakh persons he population) are Jaffna district. This pmically the single population, for under on Zone introduced in o leave the shoreline eby abandoning its families were issued mps, but at Rs 40 per hese I were clearly basic necessities. A h's children under ten in the north of the of marasmus (protein i per cent of those incidences of skin and be seen, Sudden and not been confined to es, for agricultural seriously affected by w at Jaffna hospital it f the patients in the rd are children of und 95 per cent of e under-nutrition. ibited zone has been illy lifted, and fishing miles offshore. This till severely restricts nd its value, for many found only in deeper is that while supplies somewhat improved he rest of the island y traffic of ten lorries carrying dry fish from len to a rate of a lorry
(in Sri Lankan Rs)
Ce Normal"
Price 18 14 17 80
1.40 42 40 80 70 25.50* 12*
3.05 185
8 15
2.50 32 11:
6*
12
2.50 3
3.10
22
4.90
5.50 - 22 28
only every five days or so. This represents a fall in value of exports of some Rs 250 million per annum from the peninsula alone. The Northern and Eastern provinces together are estimated to supply some 55 per cent of the island's requirements of fish. In particular they supply much of the high quality fish (especially crustaceans and molluscs) exported from Sri Lanka. So it is surprising that the country's exports of fish in the first six months of 1985 were Rs 123 million (nearly 40 per cent) down on the same period in 1984. The increased disturbances in the Eastern province since then mean this trend can only accelerate. i In addition to production losses there has been considerable damage to fishing boats and equipment. The Gurunagar Fishermen's Association reports about 100 boats destroyed by the security forces in 1985; other sources suggest the true figure for the whole peninsula may be much higher, with up to a quarter of all craft destroyed or seized. Boats are taken both by militant organisations and by security forces; most of the former and some of the latter are said to be returned. Despite the relaxation of restrictions fishermen are subject to continued harrassment by security forces, with some ten per cent of craft stopped, portions of catch taken and crew members assaulted. (However, accounts from other districts indicate it is not Tamil fishermen alone who face hazards: 37 Sinhalese fishermen were kidnapped by unknown Tamils in September in the Eastern province; some bodies have been found and the others are reported killed, though there has been no official confirmation.) Given the high visibility of fishing as an occupation, and its dependence on expensive and vulnerable equipment, it is unlikely that fishing in the North and East of Sri Lanka will be able to return to anything like normal (whatever the state of official restrictions) before a resolution of the current conflict as a whole.
To be concluded
Courtesy of Economic and Political Weekly, Vol XXI, No. 2, January 11, 1986
UAFFNA PUBLIC LIBRARY
The newly restored Jaffna Public Library now stands deserted due to its close proximity to the Army Camp in the Old Dutch Fort in the centre of the town. However, it continues to function through its four branch Libraries. On July 18th Library Services had been further extended to cover the Muslim areas as well, by the opening of a fifth Branch Library at Muslim ward by the Municipal Commissioner Mr. C. V. K. Sivagnanam.
Australian HC's Donation
The Australian High Commission has donated Rs. 100,000 for the purchase of sewing machines, basic equipment and clothes. w
The donation has been made to the Refugee Rehabilitation Fund- 1983 as part of its rehabilitation programme for families whose bread-winners had lost their lives in Jaffna District in northern Sri Lanka due to the ethnic disturbances.
The Council of the Refugees Rehabilita tion Fund selected 25 widows 'who had opted to earn an income for the maintenance of their families by sewing and dress making'.

Page 19
OCTOBER 1986
eters to the Editor
Our Men who lie abroad . . .
DIPLOMATS are an accepted breed who "lie abroad" for the sake of their Country. Not that there are others who don't. But diplomats are of course special in that they alone hold a state licence to do what they do, so long as it is purported to be in the interest of their country. It however beats the average layman how this genre could compromise its conscience against the blatant lies and half truths one is sometimes asked to dish out or defend, all in the name of his country. It makes him quite unlike the sort that average mortals are made of
His kind however understands his language, his idiom so to speak, and the moral quandary he is put to. A wince or an enigmatic smile or sneer perhaps settles the matter of principles when he expresses himself to his counterparts at official levels. To the audience outside, however, he remains a genuine picture of all that his country holds dear, all that the country upholds that justifies its representation before the international community.
When therefore, Brigadier Lionel Weeratunga, now accredited to Canada after his "war service" in the North of Sri Lanka, went on Canadian TV to explain the human rights violations not only of his country but equally to exonerate himself from the accusations laid against him for being witness to the torture that is perpetrated by his regime, a grave charge in itself, he naturally had a double duty to perform. First his duty to his own benefactors, Those who accepted his inability "to eliminate the menace of terrorisrn in all its forms from the island and more specially from the Jaffna district", and this in a matter of six months from July 1979: A decree from His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka himself
Seven years now and the Island is yet in turmoil. A part of the Country is virtually abandoned to the so-called terrorists and the Army that the Colonel commanded is penned up like hostages in the encampments they built for themselves in north Sri Lanka, the Jaffna district referred to in the Presidential edict.
Despite all this, the Country somehow saw through the Brigadier's hidden talents
The Cyanide Tablet
AS adults we have the option of choice, one which is often denied to children and in intolerable circumstances, to grown-ups. In Sri Lanka now the choice is almost nonexistent.
Tamil youths, many in their late teens, are fighting a war. A war they believe is for the betterment of life, not just for themselves, but for all Tamils and in particular for the future generation.
ls this a selfless act of love?
The answer, I think, lies in the Cyanide Tablet. The Eelam Freedom Fighters risk their lives and worse still, the harrowing prospect of being tortured if they are captured by the security forces- rather than face this unpleasant fate, they opt to swallow the cyanide tablet, thus dying young, with an incomplete or unsatisfactory karma.
Why do they do this?ls ita sacrifice? When one considers the age of the
to reMWard hir accomplish. Th forever gratefu Superiors is so, is sure i to ur through the mi Was put on participation in own camp, L apparently at conscience ca Contained in th correct. Not enjoying diplor such conduct. I fO Console hin there are O Countrymen w, dilenna: all , personal adva their personal i, Some stoop a distribution of TIMES to the Australia fron Australian Hig Sorme do ben would permit Master for inquisitorial p collusion with London, a bas desperately cl pension in the are others who the wayside foi fo do: and the Consolation the
Amidst all th given. And this duty to her con to her conn
lying" for a cc own people an obtain a "fina tactics and tor any civilised so has yet used its civilian blacks i Lakshmi Naga with the Gover represent with Tarmil she refus seekers who rm Tamil connur distant future.
freedom fighte indeed, sacrific they hold dear State for the T would be dem in all spheres a the people. This such an Utop function efficie promise.
However, un solidly achiev passive resista threat of a nucle - most people whichever way But one can see Sri Lanka and the Tamils, it v change in a confrontations failed to negoti. at times, drasti get what one wa

TAMLTIMES 19
for the task he at he must therefois I for the benevolence of his mething the world fraternity lderstand. But what went nd of the Brigadier while he
the dock for his own a torture taking place in his 'nder his very nose and his own behest - only his n tell, if the allegations e affidavit of the victim are even his own fraternity natic immunity will condone de can only therefore be left self with the thought that thers among his own ho are equally in the same for the sake of their own
cement at the expense of ntegrity and moral rect de. s low as to unde ne
fake copies of the AMIL 2 unsuspecting public of he privileged position of the h Commission in Sydney. d as far as their physique in placating the Lord and etrieving him from the roceedings for acting in the Tigers of Tamil Eelam in less charge against a man inging to his power and evening of his career. There have been abandoned by things they never ventured se had to be Tamils. Some in for the Brigadier. is at least one lead has been by a lady diplomat to whom science and above alla duty inity was far greater than untry that has disowned its d uses its military might to I solution" through terror ture hardly associated with ciety. Not even South Africa : war planes to bomb out the n their own ghettos. So, Miss nathan has called it a day nment she could no longer dignity and self respect. As a sed the company of the self ust perforce reckon with the ity someday in the not too
A. Srikanthan Melbourne, Australia
rs, it would appear they are, cing their lives and all that
to follow their dream of a amils. A place where there ocracy, equal opportunities nod fulfilment of the needs of s is a dream - whether or not bian State can exist and htly is to be seen. But it holds
like Mahatma Gandhi, who ed his success through nce, today's world, under bar war, seeks results quickly would agree that violence, one looks at it, is abhorrent. that in an island as small as given the minority status of would be difficult to effect a ny other way. Peaceful among party leaders have ate an acceptable solution - c measures are required to ants out of life.
Dawn Wilson, London, W5
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'WE won't have peace coming from the barrel of a gun. Freedom has to be shared or those who think they could enjoy it alone, find they are too busy trying to guard it.'
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Institute of Tamil Culture
The Institute has moved to its new premises provided by the Kingston Borough Council, at Knolmead Primary school, Knolmead (Sunray Estate) in Tolworth, Surrey as from 6th September '86. Classes in Tamil are held at 9.15am on Saturdays.
Further information from:
K. Jegatheeswaran, head Master: 01-9493012 W. Thayalan, Administrator:01-3997848

Page 20
20 TAMTVES
NX ASIANSTUDEI SOLIDARITY WITH'
Text of the resolutions passed at the Asian Students Solidarity Mission to Eelam Seminar held in Madras from 28th June to 4th July in association with the General Union of Youths and Students of Eelam.
DECLARATION
We, the participants of the Asian Students Solidarity Mission to Eelam, held in Madras from June 28 to July 4, 1986, have in these seven days seen with our own eyes the plight of the Tamil refugees, have had input from renowned speakers and have had lengthy discussions.
Through all seminars, photograph exhibition and a visit to refugees camp we have become aware of the history of oppression of the Tamil speaking people in Sri Lanka, the grave violations of human rights and the struggle of the Tamil speaking people.
The very existence of the Tamil people has been threatened by the systematic genocide by the Sri Lankan regime since independence in 1948.
While we abhor and condemn the systematic programme of genocide carried out by the state forces through the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the Emergency Regulations and all other black laws by the Jayawardene regime upon the Tamil speaking people, we also recognise that the continued support of foreign governments and imperialists through the supply of arms, military training, economic aid and all other kinds of assistance serves only to lend legitimacy to the regime, to perpetuate and intensify the mass killings.
a. We therefore condemn the following: the sale and supply of arms to the present Sri Lankan regime by the governments of Singapore, the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Peoples Republic of China, South Korea, Malaysia, Apartheid South Africa, Italy, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and Zionist Israel.
b. the provision of military training to
the Sri Lankan Security forces by the US, the Mossad and Shin Beth of Israel, the SAS and KMS (Kini-Mini Services) of the United Kingdom and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
c. the direct interference and involvement of the Israeli Services Personnel, i.e. Mossad and Shin Beth, and the SAS and KMS mercenaries of the United Kingdom in the Sri Lankan's insurgency operations against the Tamil speaking people.
We therefore demand:
O that the Jayawardene regime halt all
indiscriminate killings, withdraw all
troops from the North aerial bombings spec napalm bombs, strafin
shelling from nava immediately; O that the Jaya
terminate all arrests Tamil speaking peopl Sinhala opponents ur Prevention of Terroris black laws;
O that the Jayaward ALL political prison under the above law unconditionally;
O that all sexual expl women by the re. terminated;
O that all foreign go ing or intending to Jayawardene regime d any form of aid, economic or diploma these, in view of the human rights in the col regime against the Tan
O that all foreign go ately stop all arn Jayawardene regime il condemned human r government, especial atrocities against th people;
O that all governm concern for the heigh bloodshed in Sri Lank recognition of Eelam, speaking people in thi determination and indi
O that the Indian organisations such as Committee of the R United Nations ag attention to the wel refugees, especially regarding migration,
improvement of education and medical
O that the Indian go all the crimes co Jayawardene regime speaking people, utili its disposal, bilateral ensure the rights of people are safeguarde
O that all governme: the Jayawardene
International Court o the atrocities that har against the Tamil speal
O that all justice lovi the right to self-dete) and independence of people;

OCTOBER 1985
NTS EXPRESS TAMIL STRUGGLE
and East, cease all ifically the use of gby helicopters and al coastal areas
awardene regime
and detention of e and the regime's nder the draconian m Act and all other
ene regime release ers presently held s immediately and
R oitation and rape of gime's forces be
overnments providprovide to the lirectly or indirectly military, political, tic, to withhold all grave violations of untry by the present nil speaking people;
vernments immedins sales to the n view of the widely ights record of his ly the continuing e Tamil speaking
* ܝ ents express their tening conflict and (a and declare their support the Tamil eir struggle for selfependence;
government and the International led Cross and the encies pay more fare of the Tamil their problems job opportunities, living conditions,
care,
vernment aware of mmitted by the on the Tamil ses all resources at and international to he Tamil speaking i;
nts attempt to bring regime to the f Justice to expose ve been committed king people;
ng people recognise mination, freedom the Tamil speaking
We, the participants pool our strength in defence of the Tamil speaking people and express our profound solidarity with the
Eelavar of Eelam in their quest for a new
society. We, the participants anticipate that in the future, solidarity with the Tamil speaking people's struggle will be strong not only in the Tamil areas and outside Sri Lanka, but also within the Sinhala community. In conclusion we, the participants of the Asian Students Solidarity Mission to Eelam, believe in and support the struggle of the Tamil speaking people for self-determination and for a free and independent Eelam. At the same time, we would like to alert the Sinhala masses that the arms and ammunition which are at present being used against the Tamil speaking people will one day be used against then.
Signed by:
Dravida Kalaham, Australian Students International Network, Australian Coalition of East Timor, League of Filipino Students, Moitree International, Asian Youth Centre, PA MO KAU, Third World House of Bremen, YSSU, CSCAB, Humanity Organisation of Indian Students and Youth, Bangladesh Students League (JSD), Dhaka University Central Students Union, Palestine Youth Organisation, SACRED Asylgrup West Berlin, College of Pharmacy, Canchipuram Arts Troupe, Student Organisation of Liberation Tigers, Hong Kong Federation of Students, Eelam Repatriates Organising Society, Eelam Friends Organising Society, New Zealand University Students Association, American College, Sri Lanka Solidarity Campaign, University of Jaffna Students Assembly, Democratic Youth Front, Rural India Social and Cultural Centre, ASA - Secretariat, General Union of Youth and Students.
Y.MM.C.A. DESTROYED BY ARMY
One of the important buildings recently destroyed by army shelling from the old Dutch Fort in the Jaffna City happens to be the Jaffna Y.W.C.A. Headquarters, which was ceremoniously opened by the Canadian High Commissioner His Excellency Collacott in March this year when he visited Jaffna to inaugurate the new fire service of the Jaffna Municipal Council.
The Y.W.C.A. runs a Finishing School for the girls who leave school after finishing their secondary education, at the Methodist Trimmer Hall, which itself got destroyed a few days earlier. Now the Y.W.C.A. is faced with the problem of finding alternate accommodation for its Headquarters, as well as the Finishing School which is attended by more than two hundred students.

Page 21
OCTOBER 1986
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Page 22
22 TAMTLTMES
CLASSIFIED ADS
To advertise in this section, please send the text of your advertisement and prepayment to Advertisement Manager, Tamil Times, PO Box 304, London W13 9ON. First 20 words cost f10 and each additional word 60 pence. If a box number is used, an additional f3 is payable (VAT 15% extra). Deadline for each month's issue is the 1st. Cheques should be drawn payable to Tamil Times.
MATRIMONIAL
BROTHER SEEKS Catholic bride for his 28 year old brother, U.K. gualified, electronic engineer, employed in London. Please write with full confidence. Box Nilo. AM 129, c/o Tanni Tinnes.
GROOM WANTED - well qualified computer programmer, I.C.M.A. or electronics engineer, for 26 year old Hindu Jaffna Tamil girl, Canadian citizen. Reply with horoscope and photo to Box 256, 4141 Dixe Road, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, L4W 1 vs. JAFFNA HINDU parents, Singapore, seek professionally qualified groom for pretty English educated working daughter, age 36, home owner, financially stable. Box No. VM 131, c/o Tarmil Times.
PARENTS SEEK fair pretty simple-living, kind-hearted Sri Lankan Hindu bride professional/graduate for computer scientist and engineer's son, 32 years. Excellent job. Willing domicile North America, if need be India/Sri Lanka. Opportunity PostGraduate study. Details, horoscope, recent photograph, returnable. Treated confidentially, Box M132, c/o Tamil Times,
MOTHER SEEKS educated Hindu bride for
son 33 (ex-Peradeniya lecturer) settled in Canada. Research assistant in a University, completing Ph.D. Please write with details and phone number, Box M133, c/o Tamil Times.
JAFFNA HINDU paren seek suitable partners their working daughter engineers son, 29 years in both charts. Reply v details, Box M134, c/o Ta
JAFFNA HINDU parent in late 20s, British citiz high professional gover
in London, a suitable l
write with details. Bo Times.
JAFFNA TAMIL parents below 28 years for MR years working in UK. B. Times.
JAFFNA HINDU parents 31, working as accounta electronics and busin Telephone: 01-8884870,
AFFINA HINDU brot seeks understanding g. or student, above 29 modest sister, home ov accountant, computers (Earlier marriage imme innocent party). Horosc M138, C/o Tamil Times.
JAFFNA HINDU parents qualified bridegroom, graduate, for compute engineering finalist dau. years. Please write wi other details. Box M. 139,
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Appreciation
Mr. S. CHOAMBARAPILLA Mr. Chidambarapillai was known tò me from the early thirties till the late eighties. He graduated from the Ceylon University College and served at Victoria College, Chulipuram, under the late Mr. S. Shivapathasunderam and the late Dr. K. Shivapragasam.
Later, he taught at the Teachers' College -
problems to him and h
at Paramesh vara College, of which he became Vice-Principal.
He was known for his sweetness of temper and ready-wittedness which won him the affection of his teachers, students, colleagues and friends.
At a time when the intricacies of the atom, radio, television, space travel and relativity were novel to many of us, he had familiarised his students with these
subjects. S.Kanthasamy (Principal emeritus, Palaly Training College)
Obituary
V. Navaratnam latterly attached to the University of Jaffna (Mathematics Dept.) passed away suddenly on 5th September '86.
He was formerly Asst. Director at the Department of Census and Statistics and subsequently joined the Institute of Chartered Accountants where he rose to the position of Director of Studies of that Institute.
~ነኘ ن
DR. K. ARUMUGAM Aru, as we fondly callec hearts of his family an
void that can never be fil
He stood out as a do community, a man whc champion of the less a need. His warmth and inspired us with confide
to end his shouldertow
He will be mourned he was an inspiring whom we consider a known.
H IN MENM
` JAYANTHI VIL
V (25.11.51-1 1.486)
Remembered during and always by husb JAH (USA), brother sisters Bavani, Rama Co-workers at "Macro poojas will be perforn Temple.

ts, settled in U.K., in employment, for 27 years and civil Mars in 8th House with horoscope and Irriji irres.
seek for daughter an and graduate in nmentemployment pridegroom. Please M135, C/o Tamil
屁
seek doctor bride CP qualified son 30 ox M136, C/o Tarnil
; seek bride for son nt. Also qualified in ess management.
her, professional, room, professional
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student, London. 2diately nullified -- ope essential. Box
seek professionally preferably medical er and electronics ghter, attractive, 26 th horoscope and , c/o I amil Times.
NEOUS
taken for
pers, Thosais, Jaffna Ils a Speciality. rfunctions,
-6802315
OCTOBER 1986
DEATHS སྣ་ཙྭ་ལ་
SVAGURUNATHAN, Kumaraswamy, Advocate, husband of Thilagawathy, father of Murukesan, Sakunthala, Ranjini, Nalayini and Kumerasen. Funeral 15th September
1986 in Madras.
RATHNASABAPATHY, (Retd. Chief Designs Engineer, P. W. D.) husband of late Kanagamma, father of late Sabanathan, Linganathan, Loganathan, (Kuwait) "Saraswathy Vasa", Tinnelveli North, Jaffna.
THURAISINGAM, Velupillai, husband of Grace, father of Selvayohini. Dr. Vasanthayohini, Saroj Kumar, Dr. Vasantharajah (U.K.) 9/6, National Housing Development Authority Building, Colombo 2.
ARUMUGAM, Dr. (Mrs) Thanaluxmi. Wife of E. Arumugam, sister of Shamugananda, Dr. Satchithananthan (U.K.), Vivekananda, Seetha. Funeral 18th September 1986, St. Kildas Lane, Kollupitiya.
PONNIAH, Father Philip, The death occurred recently of Father Philip, who began his service under the internationally renowned Rev. Fr. Gnanapiragasar at Nallur in 1940. Over the past 46 years he had served as a parish priest in Passayoor, Kayts, Cheddikulam, and many other areas in the Northern Province. He was Rector of the Seminary and the Director of the Evangelical Commission. Most recently, he started two missions at Maniyamthoddam and Uthayapuram in the suburbs of Jaffna.
We regret to announce the death of MANO KADIRGAMAR, which occurred on Sunday, 19th October after cardiac surgery at the Harefield Hospital. At the time of his death Mano was a Manager in the Export Department of Lloyds Bank, London. He leaves behind his wife, Pathmaranee (nee Thurairajasingham), a son, Ajit and a daughter, Nina. The funeral took place on Saturday, 25th October at the Golders Green Crematorium, 33 The Glen, Pinner, Middx.
him, has left in the ld us, his friends, a led. Tninant figure in our was respected as a ble and of those in
cheerful frankness, ance to pour out our e was always ready teep on.
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Anushya, daughter of Dr & Mrs S. Thanabalasingham, had her Bharata Natya Arangetram in Logan Hall, London on 29th September, 1986. Anushya is a student of Smt. Uma Chandratheva, a diploma holder from the Kalakshetra. Anushya's splendid, faultless maiden performance reflected the stamp of this institution. g

Page 23
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Page 24
24 TAM TIMES
U.S. INTRIGU
lf Sri Lanka is attacked by a foreign country, the United States wou said the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. James Lilley, whi evidence before the Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee of th Representatives. He added that if Australia was attacked, the US quick and determined, thus drawing a distinction between countries
had formal military treaties and those with which it did not.
Political observers in Colombo are wondering as to why such a senior official in the Reagan administration should have singled out Sri Lanka for special reference although there are scores of countries in the world with which the US does not have formal military treaties. Such special mention is particularly intriguing when Sri Lanka does not in fact face such a danger of an attack from any foreign country at present. Was the US official trying to raise the bogey of an Indian invasion?
Speculation is rife in Colombo that singling out of Sri Lanka on this occasion was not accidental. At a time when Sri Lanka is engaged in a feverish attempt at militarisation and seeking financial and military assistance, some regard the action of the US official as an attempt to cajole Sri Lanka into a formal treaty with the US thus ensuring facilities for the US Seventh Fleet in Trincomalee harbour.
Action and Counter-Action
At a recent meeting of a gathering of Buddhist priests addressed by former Prime Minister and leader of the SLFP, Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike, the Mahanayake of the Asgiriya Chapter, Rev. Chandananda Palipanna, threatened that the Buddhist clergy would "resort to stern action' if the government went ahead with its devolution proposals. Mrs. Bandaranaike, in an attempt at political bribery, promised to reward any government MP who defied the government and voted against the government Provincial Councils Bills if and when they were presented to parliament.
President Jayawardene's response was prompt and characteristically authoritarian. He got his Cabinet's agreement to invoke the provisions of Emergency Regulations dealing with attempts to influence the President, MPs, the Police
and any service person their lawful powers. E tion 23, which is alreac as follows: "in any manner overe coerces, or prepares, con overawe, influence or co, the intention of inducin Government of Sri Lan Member of Parliament, a a member of the Arne officer, to exercise or refr any manner the law. Government of Sri Lanka Member of Parliament, n member of the Armed F. shall be guilty of an off anything in any other law before the High Court be p rigorous imprisonment exceeding twenty years a property."
President Jayawarde the proposed ame Constitution which wil aforementioned pena imposition of civic dis virtually outlaw a pe life) by a Presidential will investigate and rep any speeches, writing attempt to organise prevent by force or oth MPs from attending voting for the Bills wh government's proposa It is learnt that ma forefront of the cam establish ment of Prov getting cold feet in th Jayawardene's latest r anaike in particular i worried. She had been and therefore out of pa for nearly six years, restored only in Janu certainly is unlikely to long term in the politici
oUESTIONS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
CANADA
(Extracts from the Hausard of October 6, 1986)
Sri Lankan High Commissioner
Ms. Pauline Jewett (New Westminster - Coquitlam): Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Secretary of State for External Affairs. This morning he was given six confidential sworn affidavits by Tamils of Canada indicting Brigadier General Tissa Weeratunga for the torture of Tamils in northern Sri Lanka in 1979. Given this serious new evidence presented to him today does the Minister not think it time to invoke the Vienna Convention and declare Brigadier General Weeratunga persona non grata?
Right Hon. Joe Clark (Secretary of State for External Affairs): Mr.

OCTOBER 1986
ld not get involved, 2n he recently gave he US House of response would be with which the US
nel from exercising mergency Regulaly in force provides
wes, influences, or spires, or attempts to arce, any person with g or compelling the ka, the President, a member of the Police, d Forces or a public ain from exercising in ful powers of the , the President, such nenber of the Police, orces or public officer sence notwithstanding shall upon conviction punished with death or
for a period not ind shall forfeit all his
ene also announced endment of the l, in addition to the ties, authorise the abilities (which will rson from political Commission which bort immediately on g or action which a movement to her unlawful means parliament and ich will implement Ils on devolution. ny who are in the paign against the incial Councils are e light of President move. Mrs. Bandars said to be very without civil rights rliamentary politics Her rights were lary this year. She bargain for another a wilderness.
Diplomatic Embarrassment
The term "economic refugees' is a byword in the vocabulary of the Sri Lankan government propagandists to describe the Tamils fleeing from the ethnic violence in Sri Lanka. However, they have been particularly embarrassed by the action of two diplomatic officials belonging to the Sinhala community attached to the Sri Lanka High Commission in Canada.
Although their periods of assignment have long expired, the two officials, Francis Jagoda and Gamage Palihapitiya, have refused to return to Sri Lanka. Canada is not allowing the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry to replace the two officials who had finished their tour of duty until they return to Sri Lanka.
Jagoda had reached the mandatory retirement age of 55 when his three-year term in Canada ended in January this year. Palihapitiya who is 42 has rejected the recall to Colombo at the end of his term. He is reported to have enrolled himself for a course of study at the University of Ottawa. He refuses to return to Sri Lanka saying that Canada is a compassionate society to live in',
The Sri Lankan High Commissioner, Arthur Ranasinghe, accusing the two said "these men want to enjoy what they see as 'greener pastures' by taking advantage of the more liberal Canadian immigration
system .
The Canadian External Chief of Protocol, Ted Arcand, commented;
"When we send foreign service officers to Colombo, or elsewhere, we ensure that they return to Canada when their terms are up. We simply want to see other governments follow suit. Unfortunately, Canada's current immigration mechanism is being exploited. To permit Sri Lanka to name replacements to fill the present gaps in its Ottawa mission would be to make a mockery of accepted international practice".
The extremist Sinhala chauvinist lobby in Canada which went to town when 155 Tamil refugees recently landed in Canada, has observed total silence on the issue although the media has been full of the ding-dong battle concerning the two diplomatic officials.
Speaker, just this morning I received the six affidavits in question and I will naturally look into them. Our inquiries so far on the first affidavit have not turned up any information to corroborate allegations against the High Commissioner. Our inquiries are, naturally, continuing.
Requestion for Investigation
Ms. Pauline Jewett (New Westminster - Coquitlam): Mr. Speaker, the
Minister said he would, if necessary, launch a full-scale investigation rather than the informal investigations he has hitherto conducted. Will he now at least launch a full-scale investigation given the serious new evidence presented to him today?
Right Hon. Joe Clark (Secretary of State for External Affairs): Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, we will look into the allegations contained in these affidavits to see what further action they merit. I understand the delicacy of this matter and we will proceed in that context. I intend to have discussions with the six persons who have filed the affidavits to see if there is any way which will protect their security and allow the information they have conveyed to me this morning to be made available to Sri Lankan authorities. As the Hon. Member and the House will know, it is only in Sri Lanka that the final legal authority to adjudicate these matters resides. I will, naturally, not take any action that would cause injury or damage to citizens of Canada.