Page 1
Volume V NO. 3
Contesting MGR's seat against Janaki?
MGR's inlece Leelavathy
MVH GO F
aேteswar
BATTLE FOR TH
 
 
 
 
 

85p
N 0266-4488 FEBRUARY 1988
GREAT LURE
ERE DO WE ROM HERE?
S. Sivanayagan
E LEGAcY OF MGR

Page 2
2 TAMIL TIMES
CONTENTS
island on the Brink................................. 2
IPKF Offensive in the east..................... 3 SSN 02 Assassination of Vijaya......................... 3 ANNUAL SUBS
UK/india/Sri Lanka. Battle for the Legacy of MGR ................ 4 All other countries.
Where do we go from here?.................. 5 Published mol TAM IME Agenda for settlement........................... 6
P.Ο. ΒOX LTTE seeks majority role....................... 7 SUTTON, SURREY UNITED KIN Call for fresh initiative............................ 7
Views expressed by contribute The great failure.................................... 9 those of the editor or the pi The publishers assume no res Devolution package Criticised.............. 11 unsolicited manuscripts, phot
AN ISLAND ON
THE speech that caused the enforced resignation of Ronnie de c. Mel from the post of Finance Minister in President Jayawar- m dene's cabinet is significant in more than one sense. In the course of an intervention in the debate on the eleventh budget he had presented, Ronnie told parliament, "I am a strong believer in parliamentary democracy and parliamentary elec- e. tions. . . Most of Our troubles Stemmed from the fact that We all did not hold parliamentary elections at the correct time. In fact it of is strange that there are only 17 Members of this House who al
have been elected after 1977. . . So I think this Parliament is C stale. It is obsolete and obsolescent. . . I think we should hold to them (elections) before the poople of this country get up and m say, "in God's name go"."
Such a view, coming from a person of Ronnie's stature and ri position, gives the lie to the often repeated claim that Sri Lanka st is a "vibrant third World democracy'. As far as the Tamil people were concerned, parliamentary elections held no prospect. They V continued to be discriminated, oppressed and marginalised by P successive governments Coming to power after duly held elections. In the event, through the subterfuge of the 6th Amendment to the Constitution, even their elected MPs were Ousted.
The Sinhalese people defeated six governments in as many elections since independence. And it is the Sinhalese people who really lost by the abolition of elections in December 1982. Fed with a daily diet of anti-Tamil propaganda, the bulk of the Sinhalese people were hoodwinked and their cherished right to vote at periodic elections was taken away by the man who came to inaugurate a just and free society'.
Ronnie is right when he says that most of the troubles stem from the fact that elections were not held in due time. Mature societies have learnt by experience that the provision of space for democratic dissent and the opportunity to give practical effect to such dissent through periodic elections are guarantees against people resorting to extra-parliamentary methods.
− s Ronnie is one of those Ministers who strongly advocated the lifting of the ban on the Janatha Vimukhi Peramuna(JVP). The JVP has continued to remain prosribed since July 1983 for no C concievable reason. Unable to operate legally and without an p opportunity to express its viewpoint openly to the people, the t JVP and its leader Rohana Wijeweera have carried on their activities from underground. Presently the JVP is engaging in a c
 

FEBRUARY 1988
CONTENTS
TTE storms prison............................. 11
56-4488 Letter to the Editor............................... 12
CRIPTION Time for self-examination.................... 15
醬 Murders most foul................................ 16 thly by Formula to break deadlock.................. 17 S TD News in brief........................................ 19
121 - - - 7 SM1 3 TD Civil administration disrupted.............. 19 GDOM
Bomb attack on temple........................ 19 ors are not necessarily blishers. Call for ceasefire.................................. 20 ÇÑ ey! New naval training base...................... 21
THE BRINK
ampaign of unprecedented violence in the course of which any people have been killed in the most brutal manner.
From all accounts, the campaign of violence by the JVP is scalating every day. Government party MPs and its members nd supporters, senior and lowly placed government and police ficials, bank employees etc. have been killed. What is sinister nd dangerous about this violent campaign is that it is not onfined to government targets. Those who are totally opposed the government have already fallen victims, among whom are embers of the Communist Party, former JVP members, some tudent union and trade union activists etc. The LSSP and CP eadquarters buildings have been set on fire. Civil and human ghts organisations which have campaigned for a negotiated olution to the ethnic conflict have been threatened with dire onsequences. The latest victim of this campaign of terror is jaya Kumaranatunga, the leader of the Sri Lanka Peoples arty, who has taken a very positive line on the ethnic question.
The murder of Kumaranatunga has sent shockwaves of terror Cross the country. The Sinhalese people who did not miss a ingle night's sleep over the tragic happenings in the north and ast for the last four years find that violence is at the door step of very Sinhalese home. The government in characteristic form as responded by arresting and detaining thousands of inhalese youth on suspicion. The armed forces have been eployed every where in the south. The Special Task Force, pecially trained by ex-SAS personnel to deal with Tamil surgency, has been deployed in the south. Already reports manating from the area indicate many "disappearances' and ead bodies of persons taken into custody being found in itches.
As President Jayawardene remains in the Presidential palace njoying his last years in office in splendid isolation, his prime finister and Ministers are going about the country making peeches contradicting the positions adopted by the President nowing signs that the government itself is in serious Crisis.
in this month of the 40th independence anniversary, which the olombo authorities celebrated with the usual pomp and ageantry while an estimated 50,000 foreign troops remain in he north and east of the country and over whom the overnment or the President has little or no control, Sri Lanka is in the brink of national disintegration.

Page 3
FEBRUARY 1988
IPKFOFFENSIV
As we go to press, the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKIF) began a concerted offensive on 13 January in the Sri Lankan eastern district of Batticaloa after having saturated the area with thousands of troops airlifted during the previous several days. An indefinite dusk to dawn curfew was imposed as the offensive commenced. A house to house search was being carried out in which thousands of troops participated.
The failure of the IPKF in its effort to contain or subdue the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the many relatively successful operations by the LTTE would appear to have persuaded India to introduce thousands of soldiers with a view to putting into effect one of the most concerted attempts so far undertaken to 'flush out the Tigers'.
Even before Catholic prie full of soldie
Details oft are sketchy, doubt severel the people. several youn taken into cu "hooded infor cise, and wh ded his head that person w interrogation
John Retti ing from Colo Commission some senior including “Si commander
VIJAYA KUMRANAT ASSASSINATE
The leader of the Sri Lanka Mahajana (Peoples) Party (SLMP), Vijaya Kumaranatunga was assassinated on 16 February by two gunmen outside his Colombo residence. One of his collegues who was with him at the time of the shooting was also killed.
Two gunmen on motor cycles had waited near Vijaya's house and as he came out 3 get into his car was shot at point-blank range. He died almost instantly.
No one doubted that the assassination was carried out by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (Peoples Liberation Front - JVP) which has undertaken a ruthless campaign of murder in the recent past. The sheer brutality and the method of the killing bore all the hallmarks of the JVP handiwork. The method adopted in the recent gunning down of the ruling United National Party Chairman, Harsha Abeywardene, and the Police Chief of the Counter Subversion Unit were exactly
similar.
At 43, Mr turned out to popular leader, in a serious wa popular film darling of Sri His entry int through his n the second da Prime Ministe Lanka Freedo] anayake. Com who was mor than anyone family, Vijaya political colli Mrs. Bandaran the extreme r The ensuing b the side of An the family and Chandrika fro ing of the SL
The SLMP,
 

TAMIL TIMES 3
EINEAST SRI LANka
the operation began, a it said that "the town is s. They are everywhere'.
Le impact of the operation but the curfew has no 7 disrupted normal life for t is also reported that Tamils who have been tody were paraded before ners' in a screening exernever the informer nodas a person passed him, as taken away for further
, of the Guardian reportmbo, quoting Indian High sources, has said that Tiger leaders of the area ha”, the eastern political of the LTTE and three
others, Francis, Simba and Subesan have been captured, although the main leaders had escaped northwards when information about the IPKF swoop leaked. Subesan is reported to have killed himself by swallowing a cyanide pill immediately after being captured, while the attempt to commit suicide by Sitha was thwarted by members of the IPKF. The report added that the IPKF had blocked the escape route to the south towards Amparai.
The same report further said that while the IPKF distributed rations to the people who ran short of food during the curfew and generally allowed female relatives to take food to their men, the LTTE for its part are reported to have lifted their civil disobedience campaign in Batticaloa that crippled the civil administration.
UNGA
Kumaranatunga had
be a charismatic and
Before entering politics , he was one of the most stars and became the Lanka's cinema screen. o active politics came narriage to Chandrika, aughter of the former r and leader of the Sri in Party, Mrs.S.Bandarbining with Chandrika 2 ideologically oriented in the Bandaranayake
soon came into direct sion with the son of ayke, Anura who was on ight wing of the party. attle, with Mrs. B taking ura, led to a break-up of the exit of Vijaya and m the SLFP and foundMP.
and Vijaya in particular
took a positive line on the ethnic question always vigorously arguing for a negotiated political solution as opposed to the military approach of the government and the SLFP. At a time when the government was pursuing crude military attacks in Tamil areas and the anti-Tamil propaganda was at full throttle, Vijaya visited Jaffna and Madras and met all the leaders of the Tamil militant groups. He was one of the few Sinhalese leaders who could and did visit Jaffna and talk with ease to the Tamil militants. The photographs of him embracing Tamil militant leaders were used in the south to villify him politically.
Vijaya and his party strongly supported Indo-Sri Lanka accord and the grant of regional autonomy to the Tamils, but at the same time consistent and ardent in their opposition to the present government.
Vijaya's outright condemnation of the terror tactics of the JVP made him an obvious target of its assassination squads. Only two days before he fell victim to JVP terrorism, Vijaya spoke at the funeral of a Communist Party organiser who had himself been assassinated allegedly by the JVP. In the course of his speech, Vijaya denounced JVP’s terrorist attacks on left politicians, human rights activists, student leaders and trade unionists and declared that he would never abandon "the struggle against terrorism, as well as against the capitalist government even at the risk of our lives'. His attacks on JVP terrorism was given full coverage on TV. The JVP's response was quick and characteristically brutal.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS Please send all communications to the following new address TAMIL TIMES P.O. BOX 121 SUTTON, SURREY SM1 3TD UNITED KINGDOM

Page 4
4 TAMIL TIMES
BATTLE FOR THE
As to who is entitled to the legacy of the late M.G.Ramachandran is the battlecry that is echoing across the political skyline in Tamil Nadu. Only second in importance is the issue of the Indo-Sri Lanka accord and the role and actions
of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in .
the island and this is likely to dominate the forthcoming electoral campaign.
The inglorious end of Tamil Nadu's shortest-lived (just 24 days) administration of Janaki, the wife of the late MGR who had the honour of ruling the State for the longest spell as Chief Minister, came following the unprecendented rowdy and violent scenes in the State Assembly on 28 January.
The AIADMK had irretrievably split into two warring factions, one supporting Janaki and the other led by Jayalalitha. The Janaki faction had the support of 97 MLAs of the AIADMK in the 234 member Assembly. When the 61 strong Congress(I) contingent decided to oppose Janaki, the game was up and it was certain that she would not win the confidence vote to continue as Chief Minister. However, urged by AIADMIK's strong man, Veerappan, Janaki attempted to cling to power although a little knowledge of arithmetic and a little respect for democracy would have convinced her otherwise.
The unseemly scenes at MGR's death-bed and later at the funeral, the ferocious factional feuding and the intrigues and counter-intrigues within the AIADMK which began shortly af. ter the funeral paled into insignificance in the context of the extraordinary tactics adopted by the Janaki faction in an effort to cling to power - the unconstitutional actions of the Speaker, P.H.Pandian, in expelling from the Assembly all AIADMK MLAs belonging to the Jayalalitha faction and the use of baton wielding policemen and armed hooligans to beat up opposition
JANAK
THIRD LADY IN
(from our Madras c
MLAs in a clear effor from the Assembly. ernor, S.L.Khurana, h cynical exercise by his ruling that a simplem present and voting' du confidence in the Asse cient for Janaki to cor.
Constitutional pro violated, democratic no mined and the very Nadu was tarnished by minority faction to cor But the victory claim the vote of confidence of99 MLAs in an Asse than half the membe) proved to be short-live State administration and Presidential rule Article 356 of the Col January, there was allround. Dismissal of trations and imposition rule have never been a in India. But in the cas on this occasion, the N sion was received acclaim, the obvious so ing from the Janaki :
New Delhi and C promised support to an cy of MGR, but the divided beyond repair. warfare and a pletho) Unable to resolve claims, the AIADMK had been sealed by th ing its use by either fac claim by many, there enough to make a legi the vast legacy beque Angry at the decision topple her, Janaki, v New Delhi before he promised her full supp dhi, is now said to be e anti-New Delhi crusad which she has alread views is the Indian ap: Lanka Tamil questio) has not so far voiced he Indo-Sri Lanka accord support of her late hus already made critical the actions of the IPl areas of Sri Lanka.
Enjoying the alleg Ministers of the late M tion including the for Minister W.R.Nedu M.G.R.'s confidant machandran, the Ja claims to have the majority of the rank ALAMDK. Jayalalitha acted in several films t late MGR. She was v and was seen with hi Tamilians both in fil: unlike Janaki who ha
 

FEBRUARY 1988
EGACY OF MGR
'THE RING g
sorrespondent)
it to oust them the State Govad enabled this rather curious ajority of “those ring the vote of mbly was suffitinue in power.
cedures were rms were underimage of Tamil the antics of the htinue in power. ed by Janaki in with the support mbly where less rs were present d. And when the was dismissed imposed under institution on 30 a sigh of relief State adminisn of Presidential popular exercise se of Tamil Nadu ew Delhis deciwith universal le objection comfaction. Songress(I) had “undivided legaAIADMK was There was open ra court battles. the conflicting Head Quarters e police prevent:tion. Despite the was no one large titmate claim to eathed by MGR. of Congress(I) to who had visited r dismissal and ort to Rajiv Ganambarking on an
de. One issue on .
y expressed her proach to the Sri n. Although she er criticism of the i which had the band, Janaki has comments about KF in the Tamil
giance of many [GRs administramer acting Chief nchezhian and Panruti S.Rayalalitha faction support of the
and file of the the film star had cogether with the ery close to him m by millions of ms and real life d been relegated
این
JA YALALITA
to the background and never interested herself in politics while MGR was alive. Now Jayalalitha is making a determined bid for MGR's mantle and legacy. And what is this legacy?
According to Panruti Ramachandran, “MGR’s legacy means that whatever issues arose in our State MGR used to solve them with a national outlook. As has been rightly mentioned by the Prime Minister, whether it was the Sri Lanka issue or the language issue, or any such problem, he always had national and patriotic feelings. . . After our late revered leader Anna' it was only MGR who had an allround understanding of national as well as international problems. . . Naturally people like us who have been closely associated with him and who have been fortunate enough to be trained by him have imbibed that outlook, particularly Ms. Jayalalitha, Mr.Nedunchezhian. They will inherit such a legacy'. From this definition and the fact that Panruti Ramachandran was the liaison man between New Delhi and MGR on the Sri Lanka issue, and also the fact that Jayalalitha was met by Rajiv Gandhi for one hour when she visited the capital (as opposed to the half-an-hour given to Janaki), it is more probable that Jayalalitha’s faction will work closely in alliance with Congress(I) during the elections as ALADMK did under MGR.
In the battle of the two ladies in MGR's life, a third lady also has entered the ring. She is Leelavathy, the daughter of M.G.Chakrapani, the older brother of MGR, and himself not an insignificant film actor in his days. As the neice of MGR, Leelavathy is also said to have been close to MGR in a different sense. It was her kidney that was donated to MGR and the kidney transplant saved MGR's life. It would seem that Janaki resented the closeness between MGR and the Chakrapani family and had contrived in the past
Contd on page 21

Page 5
FEBRUARY 1988
WHERE DO WE
The Tamil saying about the man who fell off a palmyrah tree and (in his dazed condition) was trampled by a bull, was how people of Jaffna perceived their fate when on 10th October 1987 the Indian Peace Keeping Force - true to its name until then - launched its "Operation Pawan' in the peninsula.
"Operation Pawan' came at a time when the people had hardly recovered their breath from the bombs and the blockade of the Sri Lanka Government’s “Operation Liberation” in the Vadamarachchi region in late May. In between the two came "Operation Poomalai' - the airdropping of 22/2 TONNES OF Indian relief supplies, a mere bagatelle coming to think of it for a besieged population of 850,000, but whooshing out of the rear doors of five Antonov 32 transports and dramatically floating on parachutes to land on territory which had hitherto seen only 50lb bombs whizzing from the air. While Colombo burst out in anger and called it "naked violation of Sri Lanka's sovereignty and independence'. Jaffna went cock-a-hoop for a while; having nurtured themselves for centuries on emotional dependence on India, the otherwise hard-boiled Jaffna citizens lulled themselves into a sense of naivety which is a misplaced attribute in the new world of State power equations, where cynicism, not sentiment, is the central fact.
One would think that three 'operations (two overt and one deceptive) within six months, involving two governments, were enough to crush the spirit of a mere 8-lakh people who had faced for over three long years every act of inhumanity possible at the hands of their own government, not barring aerial bombing and helicopter strafing. The fact that needs underlining here is that the Ceylonese Tamil has an infinite capacity to survive. Unlike the supinefatalistic Tamilian of Tamilnadu, who had never faced State terrorism anyway, and quite in contrast to the unpredictably volatile but usually easy-going Sinhalese, the Eelam Tamil is a capable crisis-manager. I was told that hardly had the Wadamarachchi operation died down leaving a trail of death and destruction, an enterprising private minibus operator was already busy recouping his losses with quick "conducted tours' of the “ruins'. Which only goes to show that while a certain amount of self-pity, angry remonstrance and licking of wounds is inevitable, life must go on nevertheless. And now that the wind of "Operation Pawan' has virtually blown over in the shellstruck peninsular part-wasteland, we hear reports of moon-struck romances sprouting - among romantic IPKF personnel and local lasses, some we are assured even ending in betrothals and marriage! Under which law, Sri Lankan or Indian, one does not know.
S.S (Founder E
Since publ let us go ba May 1987, claimed that eration was have decided go on until til have taken ready. . . ev winning this (Reuters, Th.
On 28 Ma Rajiv Gandhi ing: “The tim occupation of be too late. ashes there alienation of determined treme option ombo, Finan May).
On 31 May don, carried t to send troops from Delhi, T: Gandhi the Ir under increas intervenre m a. . . Unconf suggested tha paratroopers l to the south readiness for which a sem source refused the paratroop Lankan force Tamil city of
The Londo date reportec Indian Navy waters has fu ombo that the yet intervene against sepal north of the Bhatia and I
The more report said: "A this stage wo Colombo sou standing rea Colombo befc One Sri Lan ernment-cont claimed that Rajiv Gandhi Government sive against t Tigers. Alth urged Jayew. sive, his appe Colombo as a his own oppos southern Ind forced to chal sive is prolol mobilise supp religionists in

Go FROM HERE?
WANAYAGAM
tor, Saturday Review)
memory is always short, a little in time. On 27 President Jayewardene the Vadamarachchi op
fight to the finish: "We o fight and the fight will 2y win or we win. . . we hree or four years to get rything must be put into var, if I may call it a war”. Independent, London).
, Indian Prime Minister gave Colombo this warnto desist from a military Jaffna is now. Later may rom the rubble and the :an only arise the total an entire people, a more militancy and more ex'. (John Elliott in Colrial Times, London, 29
the Sunday Times, Lonhe headline: Rajiv urged to Sri Lanka. Reporting vleen Singh wrote: "Rajiv dian Prime Minister was ing pressure yesterday to ilitarily in Sri Lankirmed reports in Delhi t several hundred Indian nad already been airlifted ern city of Madras in an attack. The reports, ior Indian government l to confirm or deny, said ers would be used if Sri s continued to bomb the Jaffna. . . '.
Observer of the same : "The sighting of two frigates in Sri Lankan elled speculation in ColIndian Government may in the military offensive atists guerrillas in the
country, wrote Shyam ucien Rajakaruna. . . "
significant part of the by Indian intervention at ld be contrary to what zes say was an "underhed between Delhi and e the offensive started. an newspaper, the govolled Sunday Observer, Indian Prime Minister nas given the Sri Lanka ie go-ahead for an offene main Tamil group, the 1gh Gandhi has since dene to halt his offenhas been interpreted in itual gesture to appease ion and Tamil groups in ... But Gandhi may be e his policy if the offened and the Tigers can rt from their Tamil coIndia.
TAMIL TIMES 5
NO ROOM FOR ALTRUISM
Before the Tamils pose to themselves the question: "Where do we go from here?', they might as well look back at these various media reports and decide to which of them were supposed to attach serious credibility - President Jayewardene's threat, Prime Minister Rajiv's stern warning, the unconfirmed airlifting of India paratroopers, the sighting of the Indian frigates, or the Sri Lankan government controlled SUNDAY OBSERVER version of the “understanding” between Delhi and Colombo'? I offer this as an exercise for thought and analysis (on hindsight) on the part of all thinking Tamils. Even if one dismisses the last-mentioned as a piece of calculated mischief on the part of the Colombo establishment. Tamils as a people have to learn to grow out of sloppy, sentimental thinking when assessing motivations and compulsions of governments. No nation, small or big, whether it is despotism or democracy, is ever guided in its policy except in terms of its own self-interest. It would be futile searching for altruism or morality in the dungheap of geopolitics. If any nation talks about them - and quite a few do talk morality now and then - it has to be recognised as acts of posture, not to be confused as declarations of policy.
One might say that this is a tragic state of affairs, but we live in tragic times when the stranglehold of the State over its citizens is becoming more brazen and the rights of the citizens vis-a-vis the State are being snuffed out, sadly enough in surviving Asian democracies. When governments opt for military solutions, the imbalance between the rights of the citizens and the prerogative of the State becomes more flagrant. What goes by the name of the defence of the citizens by the State is quite often the other way round; as in Sri Lanka where President Jayewardene had successfully persuaded the bulk of the Sinhalese citizens into defending the State. Once . citizens are bamboozled into an illusory concept of patriotism, it is a matter of time for State power to get concentrated in the hands of a caucus which could decide policy not even in the self-interest of the nation, but purely as a means of self-preservation. In Sri Lanka today, the extreme position has been reached where the State itself appears to have “withered' and has diminished into the authority of one man — President Jayewardene who might as well echo the supposed words of King Louis XIV: "I am the State'. When any nation reaches this pass, the next phase cannot be expected to lead into any semblance of order. The residual options will be hard; they could range from anarchy, revolution or fore
(Contd. on next page)

Page 6
6 TAMI TMES
r. ------
ign occupation Cynical as it may sound, in such an eventuality, it is Sinhala society that would have to pay the price - for decades of monopolising the State to the exclusion of Tamils.
NO MATTER FOR SELF-PITY
While it is true that the Tamils have suffered, and suffered grievously at the hands of two governments, that need not be a matter for self-pity. One cannot think of any other liberation struggle of any small nation of people in contemporary times that had led to such far-reaching consequences or historic changes in such short period of time (less than a decade) as to what has beer achieved by Tamil militancy. What Tamils have gone through in the recent past, and probably destined to go through for some more time in the near future, is what Alvin Toffler termed as "future shock' - the 'shattering stress and disorientation' when people are subjected to "too much change in too short a time'. The Irish Rebellion began over 800 years ago and is not ended yet It took 100 years of revolutionary ferment and defeat and disaster in 1905 involving the deaths of over 10,000 workers and peasants before the Russian Revolution succeeded in 1917. The Zionist movement propounded the idea of a 'Jewish national home' way back in 1897 and despite qualified support by the strong imperial power of Britain through the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the state of Israel did not come into being unti l948. The Palestinian Arabs who fled their homeland for fear of death since then, are yet waiting for a home despite international recognition accorded to the Palestinian liberation struggle. But while the Jews had no common territory nor a common economic life at the time of the founding of Israel, dispersed as they were in several countries and belonging to different political systems, and while the Palestinians today are steadfastly carrying on a liberation struggle without a territory, the Tamils in Ceylon do have their own territory (even leaving out the disputed East) and do have a common economic life as well as a settled identity in the land of their birth, however distributed it may be at this point of time. Qualitatively therefore, the credit column of Tamil aspirations far outweigh the debit side - the loss of thousands of lives over the years, the suffering, loss of property and the present diaspora outside their homeland notwithstanding.
The answer to the question: 'Where do we go from here?' lies in an honest answer to the more relevant question: "What do we want?'. Are we yet looking for an honourable accommodation within the Sinhala State? - a pursuit in which we had failed in the long 40 years of independence and which made us bravely declare in 1977 thus: "There is only one alternative and that is to proclaim with the stamp of finality and fortitude that we alone shall rule over our land our forefathers ruled, Sinhalese imperialism shall quit our
Homeland. The
tion Front regar of 1977 as a me the Sinhalese GC of the Tamil r TULF seeks in
the mandate of establish an in secular socialist
that includes a contiguous area: traditional hom speaking people
RE.
Ten years late as a piece of mist Jayawardhanap do we think t changed circum wake of the cons the Indo-Sri La such a recourse maybe, sensible academic this q hesitantly thoug the other end of the question, hy seem: Do we se WITHIN the Int ple are prone to t able at some fut even advantage run. Or do we c carry forward th its logical conclu temporising for t overpowering od against?
Whichever wa are certain sets nilly we have t polity we choose for all time, (w may have with tricably linked continent and th not a negative a one. What is mo the India of Jav walked tall ami tions relying mo: ity dervied from
Indo-Sri Lanka 14 February in M has, by way of ar an agenda of foul create a condu strengthening of cess in Sri Lank
The resolution a seminar held the Society an Supreme Court Iyer, President of Congress P. Ned the Madurai Uni ciation and two nando and Mah
The four dem
(a) Effective it

FEBRUARY 1988
Camil United Liberas the general election ans of proclaiming to vernment this resolve ation. . . Hence the the General Election the Tamil nation to ependent, sovereign, State of Tamil Eelam l the geographically
that have been the lands of the Tamilin the country. . . .
ALITIES
now, do we dismiss it imed rhetoric and say: ra here we come? Or nat in the radically stances and in the equences that followed kan Agreement that
is now possible? Or ? I asked a Tamil uestion, and he said, h, Yes. Or do we go to the spectrum and ask spothetical as it may ek an accommodation iian State? Some peohink that it is inescapure time, or otherwise pus to us in the long hose the third option; eliberation struggle to ision, even if it means he moment, given the ds that we are now up
ly one decides, there of realities that, willyo face. To whichever
to belong, our future hatever grievance we Indian policy) is inexwith the Indian sube Indian people. This is ssertion but a positive ore, India is no longer vaharlal Nehru which dst the comity of nastly on a moral authorthe Gandhian struggle
for independence. Much water has flowed down the Ganga since then. India today is a country with a formidable military muscle, and acutely conscious of it. She is the "policeman' of the Indian Ocean region and a tested ally of a superpower.
There are other realities. Liberation struggles are a far cry from conventional Parliamentary politics. It would be foolish to try to mix the two. The most resonant vocal chords of politicians are no substitute for Kalashnikov guns, and public platforms do not meet the needs as do landmines. On the other hand, the world does not look kindly on liberation struggles. Since most countries have their own domestic compulsions, governments usually tend to stay with other governments. They develop an identity of interest in crushing all popular movements, non-violent or violent; with a show of greater moral concern if they happen to be the latter. The United Nations itself cannot be expected to act as a watchdog of human rights or the right of self-determination of oppressed peoples. More often than not, it behaves as a lapdog of powerful nations and groups. On the question of Biafra, the UN identified itself with the Establishment regardless of the immense toll of human lives and suffering. On the Eritrean struggle it has continued to look the other way. The Kurds are faring no better. As some cynic who once threw his hands in despair, even God appears to be on the side of the big battalions!
We have therefore to find honest answers to the Following questions: Do we as a people have the stomach to carry on a sustained struggle? Do we have the bold conviction that there is no other alternative? Are we ready to pay the price for such a bold conviction?
There is an Arab proverb that goes thus: "GOD SAYS, TAKE WHAT YOU WANT IN LIFE, BUT PAY FOR IT. The cardinal weakness of the Tamils is that, while they would like to take what they want, they begin protesting the moment they are asked to pay for it.
AGENDA FOR SETTLEMENT by Indo-Sri Lanka Society
Society which met on (adurai in south India esolution, put forward 's demands in order to live climate for the the democratic proа. was adopted following under the auspices of addressed by exJudge W.R.Krishna Tamil Nadu Kamaraj maran, president of versity Teachers AssoSri Lankans H.N.Ferswari Velayutham.
unds were: mplementation of the
accord including a critical review of all measures taken so far towards devolution of powers and protection of the rights of the Tamil minority;
(b) Creation of a panel of eminent men and women who have distinguished themselves in the field of human rights to go into all instances of all human rights violations by the Indian Peace Keeping Force and the LTTE and put out a report;
(c) Release of all political prisoners including those belonging to the Tamil community in the north and east and up-country areas and Sinhalese from the south; and
(d) General elections throughout the island.

Page 7
FEBRUARY 1988
LTTE SEEKS MAJORIT TO SURRENDERAF
The leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has in an appeal dated 13 January urged the Indian Prime Minister to "call off military offensive operation and initiate peace negotiation to end all hostilites'.
The following is the text of Mr.Prabhakaran's appeal:
In view of continuing violence, disruption of peace in Tamil areas and the immense suffering placed on our people, I appeal to you once again to call off military offensive operation and initiate peace negotiation to end all hostilities and to establish peace and normalcy.
It is our considered opinion and that of the people of Tamil Eelam that a cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of Peace Keeping forces to preoffensive position will facilitate the return of peace and normalcy in the Tamil areas.
As a preliminary measure towards peace, we urge you to prevail upon Sri Lanka to grant amnesty to LTTE and to release our members and supporters
who are pres
IPKF.
As previou of agreement ernment of . pledge to sur) an Interim with a major tion.
As we havi the LTTE V Government mentation 0 accord if Tam and Tamil p hold the view cil proposals short of Ta LTTE should in future neg adequate frai devolution o Tamil state.
I sincerely serious and u: suggestion an sures for cea establish peac ing of our pe
FRESH INITIATIVEC BY LEADING |ND|A|
A group of leading Indian citizens comprising jurists, religious dignitories, political analysts and scholars have called for a fresh initiative to end the conflict in Sri Lanka.
The appeal made on the eve of President Jayawardene's visit to attend the Indian Republic Day celebrations stressed that the initiative should aim at securing a general amnesty to all political prisoners in detention at the time of signing the Indo-Sri Lanka accord, early general elections and genuine devolution of power.
Urging the government of India to re-examine its policy relating to Sri Lanka, the signatories said that they
were 'greatly rent situation events should tinue”.
The appeal government with the LTT tant groups w ing them toge a serious dialc opposition pa could be made of the popula The signato na Iyer, P.N. varty, Rev.C Prof. Ashish M
First Asian A djudicator
Mrs. J.Chatwani has been appointed by the Lord Chancellor as a full time Immigration Appeals Adjudicator based in Harmondsworth.
Mrs. J.Chatwani was called to the bar from Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn in 1959 together with her solicitor husband now practising in Southall. Mrs. J. Chatwani served as a Counsellor in the United Kingdom Immigrants Advisory Service until 1978 and thereafter as a Legal Officer in the Commission for Racial Equality. She was appointed as a part time Adjudicator in 1980.
RS, Tra
For the first Lanka suffere billion. Tota Rs.17.9 billior imports rose deficit for t during the p billion.
Japan was goods to Sri with Rs.4.8 bi imports. Unit with 7.1 per c with 6.4 per

ROLE MS
ntly in custody with the
y agreed in the minutes intered between the Govdia and the LTTE, we nder our arms as soon as dministration is formed y role for our organisa
repeatedly assured you, ill co-operate with the f India with the implthe Indo-Sri Lankan il interests are promoted 'ople are protected. We that the provincial counn the present form falls hil aspirations and the be allowed a crucial role otiations to work out an he work with satisfactory power for a regional
hope that you will give gent consideration to our di initiate immediate measefire and negotiation to e and alleviate the sufferople.
ALL \S
perturbed about the curand the likely course of the present trends con
also urged the Indian to reopen negotiations E and other Tamil milith the objective of bringther. They also favoured gue with the Sri Lankan ties on how devolution acceptable to all sections ion.
ries included V.R. KrishHaksar, Nikhil Chakraasimir, Rajini Kothari, andy and K.Elangovan.
10 BiliOn de Deficit
six months of 1987, Sri a trade deficit of Rs.10
exports amounted to during this period while p to Rs.28.5 billion. The e corresponding period evious year was Rs.9.5
the largest exporter of anka during this period ion or 17 per cent of total d Kingdom was second nt and the United States ent.
TAMIL TIMES 7
TULF Calls for talkS between India and LTTE
The Tamil United Front leader, Mr.A.Amirthalingam, in a recent press interview called upon the Indian government to resume negotiations with the LTTE with a view to enable the latter to take part in the political process. He also said that the LTTE should take some “meaningful steps' to help in the resumption of negotiations. Mr. Amirthalingam added that "an interim administration representative of the Tamil people living in the nothern and eastern provinces' should be set up without delay so that it could handle rehabilitation and reconstruction work thus inspiring confidence among the Tamil refugees to get back to their homes and villages.
Mr. Amirathalingam felt that all the Tamil groups should be represented on the interim administration and the number of seats that should be allotted to the different groups could be decided through negotiations between them and the Indian government.
GOVTAGENT GUNNED DOWN
Mr.M.M. Makbool, the Government Agent of Sri Lanka's north-western district of Mannar was shot dead on 2 January. It was reported that before he was shot dead on 22 January. It was reported that before he was gunned down, the G.A. was questioned by the area leader of the LTTE regarding his continued co-operation in the carrying out of the civil administration of the district, particularly in respect of resettlement of Tamil refugees returning from south India.
It is to be observed that the LTTE has put up posters asking the people and government employees in the northern and eastern provinces not to co-operate with the Indian Peace Keeping Force in running the civil administration of these areas.
LTTE CLAIMS 1,037 IPK LIVES
Posteres put up by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Vavuniya on 25 January claimed that as many as 1,037 men belonging to the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) were killed since October 10 last year when the confrontation between the
IPKF and the LTTE started. As
against such heavy casualties of the IPKF, only 170 LTTE men were killed, according to the posters' claim.
The poster also claims that over 2,000 IPKF men were injured, and 14 Indian tanks, 30 jeeps and some helicopters were destroyed.

Page 8
8 TAML TIMES
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Page 9
FEBRUARY 1988
THE GREAT FAILURE
BY A.P. VENKATESWARAN (former Foreign Secretary of India)
CLAUSEWITZ is often quoted imprecisely as having stated that 'war is diplomacy carried on by other means'. In fact, the correct quotation is: "War is politics carried on by other means'. But since wars take place usually between countries and nations and they therefore represent an international phenomenon, regrettable though it may be, the basic concept in this famous statement remains un changed. Obviously, therefore, wars take place only when diplomacy fails. Diplomacy clearly is preferable to the use of violence to yield the desired results and for realising national objectives.
However unpalatable it may be to us, by this litmus test of the numbers of wars fought, there have been more failures in India's diplomacy than that of any other country one can think of since World War II. India has fought four defensive wars: in 1948 with Pakistan over Kashmir; in 1962 with China on our eastern and western borders; in 1964 with Pakistan over Kutch; and in 1965 again with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
The fifth war in 1971 with Pakistan fell in a slightly different category. Although Pakistan had provided the provocation by suddenly bombing a number of military and civilian airfields in India, the strategic aim of India was to use the opening given by Pakistan, by going to the help of the Mukhti Bahini forces in the then east Pakistan, so as to bring about the birth of Bangladesh as a new state. This achievement is still without any parallel in world history after World War III. The 1971 war had many special characteristics which are to be fully analysed by future historians.
While there was great provocation and pressure at the time on India due to the eno;'mous influx of refugees from the then east Pakistan, with over 10 million men, women and children having to be provided with food, shelter and clothing by an already impoverished India, the Pakistani bombing of our airfields provided the necessary legitimacy for the offensive mounted by us. There was a national purpose served which was understood by and had the support of the entire Indian people,
The latest hidden war which now rages in the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, in the guise of a peace-keeping operation by the IPKF, however, falls in a totally different
catgeory. Neve India has one h force' resorting against citizen Support a tott lapsing under errors of com What is more, has placed its
overall comma state, reducing status of a mel is indeed a blot armed forces w
the defence of C
proudly in pea the United Na The India-S July 29, 1987 the failure ol many fronts. mats were lac the political le beyond its nos was a hastily without takin true national ences that cou
armed interver
term negative on the country ing vis-a-vis ou but not the lc money materia have to be bo whole in what and counter-pr It is a public to conclude the ment was tak without consul have been invo diplomats had sion may have
In this day a ters and space ernments have future as is hul involvement in the basic groun of defence. Th India, which is served by their in what is esse ter of another c dised rather til thought of the become fashion constructive c) anyone criticis Sri Lanka of b
Not so long being anti-nati highest level, a liament who ha enhanced defe: charge indeed, the entire purp Parliament in members have Constitution t affecting the n or external, necessary bala the formulation ture, carefully
There is suff establish that t Lanka agreem had been clear

TAML TIMES 9
r before in independent eard of a peace-keeping to full-scale hostilities of a foreign country to ering regime from colthe weight of its own mission and omission. for the first time India armed forces under the nd of a foreign head of our gallant forces to the cenery contingent. This on the fair name of our hich have only fought in ur motherland or served ce-keeping exercises of tions. i Lanka agreement of is a unique example of Indian diplomacy on Not because our diplokig in skill, but because adership could not look e. The agreement itself put-together patchwork g into account India's interests, the consequld result from such an tion by India, the longimpact this would have 's reputation and standur neighbours, and last, ast, the heavy cost in al and men that would rne by the nation as a is evidently a mindless 'oductive exercise.
secret that the decision India-Sri Lanka agreeen by a small coterie ting others who should lved. If the professional peen consulted, the decibeen very different.
und age of Supercompuexploration, when govto look as far into the lmanly possible, India's Sri Lanka has broken d rules of diplomacy and Le national interest of often quoted as being tervention of the IPKF, ntially an internal matountry, has been jeoparhan furthered, with no repercussions. It has able to brush aside even iticism and to accuse ng the armed action in |eing anti-national. go the same charge of onal had been, at the gainst members of Parid questioned the steeply nce budget. A strange which adversely affects pse of having an elected a democracy, where its the duty under our o debate all matters ation, whether internal hereby providing the ce which would help in by government of mathough-out policies. cient evidence today to he draft of the India-Sri ent sent by Sri Lanka 'd within a few days by
our leadership for formal signature. No one apparently questioned the sudden change of heart of the president of Sri Lanka who had till only a few weeks earlier, been adamant that he would not merge the northern and eastern provinces and would not tolerate a unified ethnic Tamil entity to be formed. It may also be noted here that the India-Sri Lanka agreement had not been acceptable either to the Tamil population, or for that matter to the majority Sinhala population of Sri Lanka. The regrettable assault on our Prime Minister by a member of the guard of honour, which could have been fatal but for the deflection of the blow struck with the butt of a rifle, was a demonstration of how strongly the emotions run in the majority Sinhala community.
One may pause and wonder what this could entail for the future of the India-Sri Lanka agreement where it is faced with opposition all round (except for the solitary affirmation by its present head of state) including the openly hostile but forced conformity of the country's prime minister and a host of members in the cabinet. If one were to consider this in the light of the fierce resistance put up by the LTTE for the last four years against the Sri Lanka government to protect the Tamil speaking minority community from the wanton excesses of the Sri Lankan army and security personnel, aided by foreign mercenaries, how much more would the problem be aggravated by antagonising the entire Sinhala community who view the presence of the IPKF as an abdication by their president of his responsibility to safeguard the sovereignty and national integrity of their country.
The recent statement made by a lieutenant-general of the IPKF, overseeing its operations in Sri Lanka, that the IPKF took orders only from New Delhi, may appear on the surface to be only a minor pecadillo. However, this statement has already resulted in inflaming Sinhala public opinion to fever pitch, compounding the embarrassment already faced by the IPKF.
The situation is made even more bizarre by India turning a blind eye to the non-fulfilment by the government of Sri Lanka of its solemn commitments under the India-Sri Lanka agreement in regard to the devolution of powers for autonomy of the ethnic Tamil population in the northern and eastern provinces. We have been content to accept the assurances of the president of Sri Lanka who has established a record of going back on such assurances as and when it suits him. Since Annexure C was agreed upon in discussions between India and Sri Lanka in 1983 and quickly reneged upon by the the Sri Lankan head of state, there have been a series of similar twists and turns on the part of the government. Sri Lanka is a signatory to the agreement and it should be all the more incumbent on it to observe its commitments both in letter and in spirit. The strident statements made by New De
(Contd. on next page)

Page 10
10 TAMIL TIMES
lhi have, alas, been directed at others who have not been party to the agreement.
The grave situation pertaining today in our relations with Sri Lankan is continuously sought to be obfuscated by self-congratulatory statements by the government and the ruling party which have described the Sri Lanka accord as a great success unparalleled anywhere else over the last 100 years! The same people constantly emphasise that the accord and the action taken by IPKF in its brutal implementation have been welcomed all over the world "from Peru to the Philippines.'
It is conveniently overlooked that while a personal congratulatory message from President Reagan was received by our Prime Minister, when he was in Colombo to sign the accord, even before the ink was dry on the document, there had been no such message from General Secretary Gorbachev.
This is all the more significant since India does have a treaty of peace, friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union signed in August 1971, whereas there is no such corresponding document which we have signed with the USA.
The statement by the president of Sri Lanka, explaining to his people the reasons for his concluding the India-Sri Lanka agreement, is even more intriguing. He is on record as having said that he first tried to get help from the USA to contain the insurgency. When that was not forthcoming, he addressed the UK, Pakistan and China for the same purpose. He admitted that it was only because he had not received a positive response from any of them that he had been compelled to turn to India for help since India was "the dominant power in the region' and was "friendly' to Sri Lanka! This statement alone should have set warning bells ringing in the corridors of South Block. But, such is our naivety that this was instead taken as a great compliment to India's status as a regional power. Perhaps no better example exists to illustrate the true meaning of the proverb: 'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread'.
Let us now turn from this senseless involvement with Sri Lanka and examine the relative priorities given by our government to the areas of defence and diplomacy. As already mentioned, diplomacy is a low-cost option, as against defence, for safeguarding the security and territorial integrity of a country and furthering its national interest vis-a-vis other countries, whether they be located near or far.
The lop-sided emphasis on defence expenditure, now compounded by heavy war expenditure which serves no national purpose except to alienate permanently the people of Sri Lanka, will serve to illustrate the futility of such a policy. For people who are known for their intelligence and capacity to think, it is anachronistic that we should countenance an expenditure on our armed forces which is over 60 times the expenditure on the ministry of external affairs, including all our di
plomatic representa were to remove th ministry of externa lating to grants a through the minis Bhutan in particul Asian, African an countries in gene budget of the mi affairs would be les of the appropriation purposes.
No one in his sen settle through viol settled through II. which had been ad solution to the eth Lanka over the last turned a complete trying to impose a the people of Sri I. Either we were ci assessment and, the as being dishonest the world, or we earlier assessment to correct by a su either case, our in hanced in the eyes c watching the unfold ing India and Sri glee and some with It is even sadder a deceit when the g ately ignores the v ments are being n minister of Sri Lan members of the ca commitments made letters attached to agreement in rega VOA broadcasts fr
What can be a di to the militarily situation which Ind Sri Lanka? One pos be for the IPKF ceasefire, this time tion, and to call si the government of S its remaining comr agreement. Such a an opening to su conflict and go a lor and to regain the Tamils in Sri Lank: Nadu. It would als the IPKF is ev approach.
If the Sri Lanll sponds positively, in regard to the di for providing auto speaking province sorted out. If, on th Lanka governmen this course of act likely), the IPKF rights to halt all fi stay put where it is the Tamil popula possible vendetta occur otherwise.
Our failure so f Lanka and especia neighbours as a w tion on the country A professional dipl and assess the si possible options te

FEBRUARY 1988
tion abroad. If one at element in the
affairs budget rend loans extended iry to Nepal and ar, and to various Latin American ral, the effective histry of external ; than one per cent s made for defence
ses would prefer to ence what can be egotiations. India vocating a political nic problem in Sri four years has now somersault and is military solution on anka. orrect in our earlier refore, will be seen now by the rest of vere wrong in our which we now seek dden volte face. In Lage cannot be enf the world which is ting tragedy involvLanka, some with mounting concern. and smacks of selfovernment delibervay in which Statemade by the prime ka and other senior binet, denying the
in the exchange of
the India-Sri Lanka ird to Trincomalee, com Sri Lanka etc. olomatic alternative unpalatable no-win ia faces presently in ssble way out would to declare another of indefinite duramultaneously upon Sri Lanka to fulfil all mitments under the move would provide spend the ongoing ng way to calm down confidence of the a as well as in Tamil to demonstrate that en-handed in its
(a government reany remaining gaps evolution of powers nomy to the Tamilis can be speedily e other hand, the Sri t does not agree to ion (which is more would be within its urther action and to now, so as to protect tion there from a that could easily
ar, in regard to Sri lly in regard to our hole, is not a reflec's diplomatic service. omat can only report tuation and Submit ) the political lead
ership, for minimising the damage and maximising the advantage in a given situation. It is for the political leadership then to choose an option which will thereafter be implemented by our diplomatic missions abroad under the overall guidance of the ministry of external affairs. So, to blame the diplomats for what is the result of ignorance and incompetence of the political leadership would be most unjust. In fact, the Indian Foreign Service has won the acclaim of other major foreign services of the world for its competence and effectiveness in projecting our interests abroad.
One aslo hears from certain quarters of blame being heaped on our diplomatic missions for not projecting a brighter and more positive image of India. One need only refer to the axiom in physics that an image cannot be brighter than the object. In any case, in the , long run, we have to set our own house in order and to revise our priorities if we are to make headway in this field.
There is no altruism in international politics and it is mainly the engine of self-interest which propels nations in regard to the decisions which they take. The necessary changes at decisionmaking levels can be made effective only through a more active involvement of Parliament so as to ensure that right decisions are taken in time and the possibility of errors is minimised.
Professional advice is a categorical imperative in the complex world where man has already landed on the moon and is reaching futher into space. In this, there is no place for interdepartmental jealousies and rivalries and there must be an overriding emphasis on natinal objectives. We go to a tailor to have our clothes stitched and to a barber to have our hair cut. If, perversely, a person goes to the barber to have his clothes stitched and to a tailor to have his hair cut, he will have only himself to blame when he is seen by others to be poorly groomed.
NOTEXT BOOKS FOR NORTH & EAST
The disruption of civil administration in the north and east and the unwillingness of lorry drivers to drive their vehicles to these areas owing to fear of violence have resulted in the problem of transporting school text books to Jaff. na, Kilinochchi, Trincomallee and Mullaitivu.
Although some schools, have reopened in the north and east, 197,000 students in Jaffna, 25,119 in Kilinochchi and 19,519 in Mullaitivu have not yet received their text books.
The text books printed at an estimated cost of Rs.25 million are stacked up in Colombo ready for transport. However, lorry drivers from Colombo are willing to go only up to Anuradhapura or Vavuniya and not beyond. Unless the education authorities are prepared to travel with vehicles to these towns to collect the text books, the inevitable casualties will be the Tamil school children.

Page 11
FEBRUARY 1988
DEVOLUTION PACKAGE CRITICSED
The package of devolution envisaged through the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and the Provincial councils Act enacted recently by the Sri Lankan parliament following the IndoSri Lanka Accord was subjected to critical analysis at a symposium recently held in Madras which was addressed by several academics and political analysts from India and Sri Lanka,
The leader of the Tamil United Liberation. Front, A.Amirthalingam, stated that the legislative measures enacted to give effect to the devolution of powers envisaged by the accord fell short of Tamil expectations and unless further amendments are enacted, the solution proposed would not be acceptable. He said that currency had been given to the wrong idea that what the Tamils had been given under the IndoSri Lanka agreement was more than what even the Tamils demanded, and such a claim was totally misleading of the whole history of the Tamil struggle.
Recalling the speech made by the Indian Prime Minister in August last year at Marina Beach in Tamil Nadu promising that the Tamils of Sri Lanka would be assured of the degree of autonomy that the States in the Indian Union would enjoy, Mr. Amirthalingam posed the question, "Can anyone who understands constitutional law say that the degree of autonomy given to the Sri Lanka Tamils is what the States in the Indian Union enjoy?"
In answering his own question, Mr.Amirthalingam said that the 'devolution of executive and legislative powers is not comparable to what is in the Indian Union. The powers overland are totally inadequate to meet Tamil aspirations; the emergency powers far exceed than those enjoyed by the Government of India over its States, The Indian Government tells us that these defects will be remedied. Apart from our bitter experience of Mr.Jayawardene's firm assurances, not even the Government of India is in a position to say when these assurances will be given effect to and when the shortcomings will be remedied. If somebody says that it will be done after the elections, you may as well forget about it'.
MORE S.T.F. CAMPS
IN THE SOUTH
As the violence in the south is escalating, the government is moving more and more Special Task Force contingents to assist the police and armed forces already deployed there. Three STF Commando Camps have already been opened up in the southern province and the Commandos are carrying on extensive cordoning-off and search operations in the region.
Until the violent crisis in the south developed, the STF specially trained by
ex-SAS Britis ployed in the its personnel their ruthless rary killings of for making pe well known fe Several perso missing recent southern prov. organisations : appearances t STF.
The STF is in of the Head of the Police. It er special positior atus of the i officially ackn believed that direct control a
sion of Ravi J.
dent’s son, who nated position, recent press in dene defended
ties thus confi
More and m are undergoing as each passe deployed in sou
LTTE ST BATTIOA
A ten-man LT AK-47 rifles an Batticaloa priso January and fre remand prisone attack, the prisc house about 20 40 convicted p) remanded awai who were on di ance and were the Tigers whi surprise,
It was report not guarded by time it was st suspected such because it did detainees.
Newspaper r soon after the the Minister of jeratne, under v ons operate, te: However the accepted it.
PKF MON KACHCHI COURT E
On 20 January belonging to thi Force (IPKF) m. housing the K Agent's Office) House in Batt attempt to preLTTE.
It was repor IPKF within 2

personnel were deastern province where acquired notoriety for nd indiscriminate arbit:ivilians. Their capacity ople 'disappear' was a ture of their operation, s have been reported y in the areas of the hce and human rights re atributing these dis
the activities of the
lither under the control the Armed Forces nor joys a rather undefined in the security apparland. Although never wledged, it is widely the STF is under the nd operational superviyawardene, the Presiholds no officially desigFor the first time, in a ;erview, Ravi Jayawarthe STF and its activiming his role.
ire batches of the STF intensive training, and s out, they are being uth Sri Lanka.
ORMS ALOA PRISON
"TE unit, armed with grenades, stormed the in in the morning of 19 led all the convicted and rs. At the time of the in which could normally 0 prisoners held about isoners and 14 others ting trial. The guards ity offered little resisteasily over-powered by ) took the guards by
ed that the prison was
security forces at the brmed because no one an attack on the prison not house any political
sports which appeared prison raid stated that Justice, Nissanka Wiwhose province the prisldered his resignation.
President had not
/ES INTO · ER AND UILDINGS
at least 350 soldiers
Indian Peace Keeping oved into the buildings achcheri (Government
Courts and the Rest caloa in an apparent mt any attacks by the
ed that this move by 4 hours following the
TAMIL TIMES 1
attack on the Batticaloa prison was made with an intention of preventing similar attacks on these government establishments.
Some reports stated that a contingent of the IPKF has also taken up positions within the prison buildings,
FINANCE MINISTER RESIGNS
Ronnie de Mel who has functioned as Minister of Finance for ten years in President Jayawardene’s cabinet resigned on 18 January ending several days of speculation about his future following his speech made during the recent budget debate in parliament,
In a rather surprising and uncharacteristic intervention, Ronnie de Mel stated that it was wrong for the government to have postponed the general elections in 1982, that he was opposed to the holding of the referendum in December 1982, that the present parliament was 'stale', that the government had no moral right to continue in power and that elections should be held before the people rose up and said, "In the name of God, go',
As the speech predictably received wide publicity, President Jayawardene who had been parading Sri Lanka as a unique bastian of democracy was left with no alternative but to call for the Minister's explanation, Ronnie's enemies within the cabinet itslf who were waiting for an opportunity to undermine Ronnie's increasing influence ganged up against him. When Ronnie failed to retract his speech or offer an acceptable explanation, he was told by the President to resign or be sacked. He chose resignation.
The deputy Minister of Finance, Mr.M.H.M.Naina Marikar, has been appointed Minister of Finance.
FAST BY MOTHERS FRONT
The Mothers' Front of Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka commenced a relayfast on 6 February. The fast lasted seven days.
The action of the Mothers' Front was intended to focus attention on two demands: there should be an unconditional cease-fire in the fighting between the Indian Peace Keeping Force and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; and the LTTE and India should resume negotiations.
Each day two members of the Front would engage in the fast which continued on a relay-basis by other members joining in the fast during the following days,
The fast attracted popular support and a large number of people, men, women and children gathered around the fasting mothers and sang religious hymns.

Page 12
12 TAML TIMES
BREAKING his long silence, Dr. David Selbourne (letter in your January issue) has directed his fire in all directions - India, Sri Lanka, LTTE, other Tamil militant groups, TULF and even the Tamil Times.
He predicts prolonged suffering for the Tamils and suggests that thousands of Tamils may die so long as the Tamil leadership continues to suffer from the present illusions with which it is afflicted. Hard it may seem, Dr. Selbourne would appear to be right in his assessment of the situation.
In an otherwise bleak prognosis, he considers that unless such time as the just cause of securing genuine political autonomy and physical security for the Tamils gains real ground among the Sinhalese themselves, Tamil suffering will be prolonged. The real question is how such "real ground' can be gained particularly in the context of the fact that Sinhala opinion is being mobilised day by day on an anti-Tamil platform. The increasing power of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna is quite evident and the JVP is daily escalating its armed rebellion against the government mainly on two grounds: against the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord which granted at least certain concessions to the Tamils and its total opposition to the setting up of Provincial Councils.
London SW17 K.J. Samuel
ck sk. k.
YOUR news item captioned 'Action
taken against 6 IPKF offenders' (Tamil Times, January 1988) is in very poor taste. What purpose does it serve to report the names of the victims? If it was done to lend authenticity to the story, surely you should have given the names of the Indian offenders. You have added gross and calculated insult to an unfortunate injury.
Hong Kong Dr.R.Natkunam
(Editor's note: We tender our unqualified apology for the inadvertance. We can assure our correspondent that had we known the names of the offenders, there would have been no hesitation in naming them)
米 米 米
MAY I take this opportunity to wish you the best in the continuing service to Tamils all over the world. There were so many papers which appeared after 1983, but we do not know what happened to them. They appeared without notice and disappeared without trace.
We have been your readers since the first volume. So, keep it up. Glasgow Dr.S.N.Saba
IN the last two is two of your reade task for your pre towards India in mier, Rajiv Gand accuse you of "inco al opportunism'.
I find their understand as y but a response tc IPKF in the Tam Do these readers to continue to si Rajiv Gandhi whi amongst innocent killing even old plundering even
Inconsistency til your part, but on his advisors. You consistent in you voice of the haple Please keep up th pay no heed to pointless criticism Southampton, UK
米 >
REPORTS in the December 1987 r far reaching histol custom so far ar. dispose of humar and dispersing th land. But in Octo Tamils had been
bodies of the dead
or unburnt, in the depth. The air ra prepared for certa ties, became conv this purpose.in thi there for the next to turn up whenev up. Foundations f ing of trees, or layi all likely to produ ancestors.
No doubt when : be treated with r will be told of the their ancestors' b laid there. These history alive for fu very effective wa result of that effe years the Ceylon connection with In Future friendly o that respect to a l historical episode, by the unearthin feature hithertc Tamils, is bound permanently a mc of Indian Forces a
What has India out of the accord ment, and does cri of India. But it h; unwise manner plementatation w as professed the political sphere, w with such haste' figure from Delhi with the power o Army at his call,

r Cor UARY 1988 ί
ssues of Tamil Times, rs have taken you to sent critical attitude general, and its Prehi in particular. They onsistency' and "cynic
criticism difficult to our new approach is the atrocities of the il areas of Sri Lanka. seriously expect you ng songs of praise to tle his army runs riot | Tamils in Sri Lanka, women and children, the poor. here has been, not on the part of Rajiv and I have been entirely r chosen role as the ss Sri Lankan Tamils. he excellent work and such baseless and
... Dr.S.Velayutham
k
Tamil Times issue of eveal details having rical significance. The mong Tamils was to bodies by burning e ashes over sea and ber 1987 the Jaffna
obliged to bury the l, either partly burnt ir own gardens at low id shelters they had in earlier eventualieniently suitable for s set up the bones are , thousands of years, ver the ground is dug or new houses, plantng offlower beds, are lice bones from their
so recovered they will espect. The children circumstances when ones happened to be liscoveries will make ture generations in a y. What will be the zt ? For thousands of Tamils had held their ndia in great respect. vertures may revive arge extent. But this revived periodically, of human bones, a
unknown to the to keep on reviving st unwelcome image nd thereby India too.
gained ? The working was a great achieve dit to the reputation is been spoilt by the in which the imis proceeded with. If solution lay in the ny rush the troops in A senior political
could have arrived the mighty Indian and proceeded more
effectively to process the implementation. Somehow governments seem able to restrain theselves from usi the force at their disposal. 3.
All big powers have fallen to this temptation of using the power of their arms. But recent history shows the error of such ways. U.S.A in Vietna U.S.S.R. in Afganistan, and now India in North and East Sri Lanka. If all this discourages the use of arms it is for the good. The Ceylon Tamils too have to draw the lesson that however deserv ing the cause, arms as a tool will not lead to the desired result.
It is an irony that the present two leaders with their antecede should be faced with these events. The India Prime Minister has spoken on world platforms of the greatness of India in other than military ways. The Sri Lankan leader has been professing and pointing out the futility of violence for several decades. They both no doubt regret that their well intentioned moves have produced such ugly results.
Will they have the courage to go back to their professed principles, and engineer a violenceless method of proceeding to implement the accord ? Gandiji was strong. When his civil disobedience movement went wrong, he admitted he had misjudged and modified his moves.
Adelaide Australia S.Rajan
INDIA would appear to have rejected the latest offer of the LTTE to surrender its arms on the basis of it obtaining a dominant role in the interim administration of the Tamil areas. It would seem that what India expects rather unreasonably is an unconditional surrender by the LTTE and the acceptance of the Indo-Sri Lanka accord. The Indian government should act with a sense of responsibility taking account of the penalty that the suffering Tamils are called upon to pay during this fighting between the IPKF and the LTTE.
It has been reliably reported that under the agreement signed on 28 September last year by the Indian High Commissioner and the Deputy Leader of the LTTE, Mahathaya, with the concurence of Prabhakaran, procedures were laid down for demilitarisation and for giving the LTTE 7 of the twelve seats on the Interim Administrative Council; the Chairman of the IAC was to be chosen from among three persons proposed by the LTTE; a degree of executive power was to be conferred on the Chairman until the Provincial Council elections were held. In short, LTTE obtained dominance in the IAC with one of its own nominee as Chairman with executive power.
In my view, the LTTE made a blunder of monumental proportions when it did not seize the opportunity it was given and decided to take on the IPKF egged on by irresponsible expatriate Tamils who, from their comfortable and secure positions in western countries. are prepared to 'continue the struggle to the last Tamil living in Sri Lanka.
Colombo, Sri Lanka K.Sivasundaram

Page 13
FEBRUARY 1988
I shall be most grateful if you could open the pages of your esteemed newspaper, to enable us to shed our tears over recent events in Jaffna, and thus assuage our grief to a small degree.
I have heard of the journalistic saw, Facts are sacred; comment is free'. The facts given below have been ascertained by me from three reliable witnesses, all professionals, who have managed to come out of Jaffna.
These facts represent a small silver of the truth of what happened in Jaffna after 10th October 1987 and are confined to two small areas (a) my village of Ariyalai and (b) the central area of Jaffna in the vicinity of the hospital.
I presented these facts, without making any comment to the Executive Council of the organisation of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka on 20th Nov 1987 and the distinguished professionals present told me that I had done a service by bringing these facts to their notice.
Perhaps a wider audience should become aware of these events. What they do thereafter or how they respond to what is presented, I leave to their conscience and their sense of values.
One of the dead, Mrs P.Thambimuttu, was my late mother's classmate at Chundikuli Girls College 70 years ago and a lifelong friend. About her violent death, I have penned a few lines of blank verse. This may rank very low as verse, but the feelings that impelled them are very deep.
O Mr. S.Shanmuganathan 45, employee in the Ceylon Electricity Board, going to his paddy field in east Ariyalai on a bicycle. Shot and killed on 12th October. Body left in paddy field, as no one dared to go there to retrieve the body.
O Mr. Thambiaiyah 82, (Father of Mr. T.Sabaratnam) living with his daughter who fled to safety with her children. Killed by shell in his home. No religious rites, no funeral due to continuous curfew. One neighbour has gone and buried him in his garden.
O Mrs. P.Thambimuthu 80, (Mrs. T.Sabaratnam's mother) Shot and killed and burnt half way between Ariyalai Sithivinayagar Temple and her home 200 metres away, where she lived with her eldest daughter.
O Kannan Iyer 28, accountant. Son of the Chief Priest of Ariyalai Sithivanayagar femple. Shot and killed and body left on road on 21st October 1987, this being Deepavali Day and the eldest son having volunteered to go to the temple to light the oil lamps as refugees were there. Body on road for 2 or 3 days. Dragged home by Chief Priest and burnt in his garden.
O A six year old granddaughter of the late K.Kuhathasan M.M.C. (LSSP) Jaffna. Died due to lack of medical attention during the continuous curfew.
O 2 bodies on Mampalam Junction, Ariyalai, Jaffna. May be people from neighbouring village of Colombuthurai. Putrefying bodies burnt at spot by
people living i. O Mr. D.Raj Ministry of Ho retired Chief Ceylon sons of Duraiswamy Sl living at No. Road. Shot and Radio announce obituary on 7t O 2 doctors, driver, 1 telepc supervisors an shot and killed hospital. Other. row shave from vent the story
O Mr. S.Shiv dent. Shot and
When I show
who visited my
relatives, amon and children w Lane, Kokuvil.
I have receive house in Jaffna looted. Howeve: any steps regar first priority is t wife's mother, si are living or not.
CWS.
When similar mitted against years ago in 19 and clear Tamil balam Ramanat
Now it is the pay that debt.
The first steps special census, v Northern and E ascertain the nu of those who hav
Human relief over infrastruct
The Gen
The gen Weak and walking Slowly Husband Children re Grand-childr Great grand-ch Weak of e Fond memo Longing t Slowly wall Om Ganes
What
What She writhed
And t White sarea The ge Felled by Fired by
In this
- The ge Shot like a dog
T.Somasekara (Courtesy of "l

neighbourhood.
indra retired secretary sing and his brother, hroff of the bank of late Sir Waithilingam aker of State Council,
Sir W. Duraiswamy killed on 21st October. ment on 6th November
November.
matron, 3 nurses, 1 line operator, 2 works
11 minor employees hile on duty at Jaffna yewitnesses had a narbeing 'silenced' to preeaking out. asankar, Medical Stukilled.
d this list to a friend nome, he said he lost 9 g the 42 men, women no dies at Pirambady
d information that my has been damaged and ', we have not taken ding this, because our o find out whether my sters and their children So far we have no firm
atrocities were comthe Sinhala people 72 L5, there was a strong voice, that of Ponnamhan to state their case.
turm of our brothers to
hould be to carry out a illage by village, in the astern provinces and umber and particulars e died or been maimed.
should take priority
ure reconstrcution.
tle Old Aachi
tle old aachi, wobbly with age, with her pollu, o' the temple. one long before, ired or about to, 2n in their prime, ildren by the dozen. e, weak of limb, ies of yesteryear, meet her god, ing to his abode. a! What hit me? urning pain, great thirst, riefly on the road, en lay still,
bathed in blood. tle old aachi, an alien bullet, an alien hand, ur free land, tle old aachi, nd burnt at the spot.
land”)
TAMIL TIMES 13
COLLECTIVE responsibility is a cau. dinal principle of any working democracy. But in Sri Lanka it appears to be fast running on the political loopline periodically Indian aligned and maligned.
When Parliament debated the much trumpetted Provincial Council Bill our Foreign Minister compared the cabinet to a packet of assorted biscuits.
Ready wittedly the Leader of the Opposition retorted - a packet of rotten biscuits.
The general public are at a loss to understand how any national minded Sri Lankan or the Urban Guerrilla leader Prabakaran would be convinced when the ruling hierachy had taken a surprisingly uncommon stand and perhaps ideologically divided on a crucial bill brought to parliament at the ဗူ: of thousands of valuable human
1VeS.
The opposition too fanned the flame instead of dousing the communal fire presumably to quench their power thirst. Added to the misery the state media also stoops to opportunist propaganda with misleading and fabricated interpretations.
This had a direct bearing almost across the Palk Strait and the Indian radio too started to tune against the LTTE in combat by smoke screening the basic cause of dispute.
In fairness to the minority, the IndoLanka Accord was thrust on them against their will and particularly in the absence of adequate parliamentary representation of their choice. The last four and a half years, the north and east and to a little extent the south have witnesed a painful ordeal of cold blooded murders on an unprecedented scale by the terrorists and counter killing by state forces.
Prior to the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord India embarked on an anti Lanka propaganda worldwidely based on the following factors:
1. Sri Lankan forces are the most indisciplined.
2. State orders the killing of its own ruling minority even to the extent of deploying air and naval force to help its regular infantry.
3. The combined state force, being given an enhanced pay packet a phenomenon unheard in the annals of any military history to combat terrorism within the country at an alarming cost to the national exchequer.
Charges of vacillation and genocide were levelled against Sri Lanka by no less a person than the Indian Premier Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and his Foreign Minister for the failure of the Sri Lankan government to reach a political solution. The Indian Premier even made use of all international forums to spice his arguements advocating political solution and never any military solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic problem.
Consequent to the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord, the Indian army has engaged in inflicting heavy casualties among
Contd. on page 21

Page 14
14 TMIL TIMES
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Page 15
FEBRUARY 1988
TAMLS-A TIME SELF-EXAMINAT
Dr. R.Narendran (Associate Professor, King Faisal Unive
WE have all been directly or indirectly affected by the tragic events that have taken place in our motherland over the past several years. It is imperative that we undertake a critical and dispassionate review of our role as a people and as individuals in these events, however unflattering the results may be, in order to be able to learn lessons that may help us in a future that appears rather bleak at the present moment.
While a section of our youth and a miniscule number of their elders responded with commendable courage and considerable sacrifice to the decades of injustice and mis-rule perpetrated on the Tamils of Sri Lanka by successive governments, with the only reaction — armed insurrection. —— permitted to them by a pernicious political system, another section of our youtha majority - discerned the ensuing turmoil as providing them the excuse to seek “Political Asylum' in greener pastures in the west.
A human rights lawyer in Canada once remarked that the number of Tamil asylum seekers claiming to have participated in the assasination of Mr.Alfred Duraiappa exceeded one hundred The latter youth were aided and abetted in this endeavour by a cross section of our people with the ability to command the financial resources required for these forays. This section of our population shamelessly believed that it was commendable for other people’s sons and daughters to die fighting for their cause, but their own should not do so. Yet another section of our youth lacking either the financial resources or the sponsors neccesary to help their foray abroad, found the on-going liberation struggle an ideal cover to raise the required finances or improve their station in life.
They shamelessly resorted to robbery, murder, kidnapping and drug dealing in their pursuit of money and glorified their brigandage by claiming to be freedom fighters! The ingenuity and intelligence of the Tamils were some times more discernible in the antics of the latter groups than in those who had vowed to deliver the Tamil people from injustice.
THE HYPOCRICY
It was also not uncommon to see staunch Eelamites living permanently as citizens or landed immigrants in other nations, desperately endeavouring to save their kith and kin through the device of sponsored immigration, while at the same time encouraging the armed insurrection in Sri Lanka with their money, words and deeds.
These people were incapable of discerning the hypocricy and immorality
綫 inherent in their condemning the the idealistic seg who for want o deliberate choice in their land, to after effects of t were encouraging
This period also the educated and in our society seel with the active ar ance of the Cana governments, in better future for children. We were ugly spectacle of ( cians seeking saf previleged guests nurture their through means t
The common t cern in most of which unfortunat ficant and an imp people, was an ov "Run Away' from than confront th
Amidst all th different percepti self preservation remain idle spect drama. ʻOur Bo were enacting responded with t as appropriate ti Some paid for the the show by way tions to the ʻBo creation, while ot of viewing it at themselves. The struggle of the T; thus beset with the most venal i its very onset, whelming the for
It was indeed ery, sacrifice, h
 
 
 

TAM TIMES 15
FOR ON
rsity, Saudi Arabia)
actions. They were weaker, meeker and ments of our people f alternatives or by had chosen to live on, suffer exclusively the he insurrection they y
saw a large section of professional elements king permanent exile, ld sympathetic assistudian and Australian order to provide a themselves and their also witnesses to the ur professional politi2ty in Tamil Nadu as , while continuing to political ambitions hey were master atl.
hread one could disthe above instances, ely embraced a signiortant segment of our erwhelming desire to heir problems, rather em head-on. s activity based on }ns of the lofty ideal of most of us chose to ators to an unfolding "s' and the "Enemy' play to which we vars, cheers and jeers each passing scene. privilege of watching of financial contribu's' of their choice or hers had the privilege no material cost to so-called liberation mils of Sri Lanka was he most sublime and human actions from fith the latter overner in most instances.
curious mix of bravpocrisy, immorality,
selfishness, chicanery and brigandage that presented itself to the discerning.
A SENSE OF SHAME
The inability of large sections of the Tamil people to respond with anger and rage at the repeated injustice that had been perpetrated on them for four decades and identify themselves completely with the struggle for their very survival as a people, has led to the present unfortunate situation in our land. Few other people have been subjected to what we have been in the past four months and suffered it so stoically. Unfortunately this was very effectively shielded from the prying eyes of the world by democratic India. When I see in the visual media the Palestinian men and women and, boys and girls, defying the heavily armed and brutal Israeli army with only sticks and stones, I feel ashamed for our people.
The scenario that emerged after the recent, brutal Indian "Peace Keeping onslaught in the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka is quite revealing. The very same people who had hailed "Our Boys' as heroes and did their bidding unhesitatingly when the 'Boys' were successful against the 'Previous Enemy', on being adversely affected by the brutal onslaught of the Indian Peace Keepers', began to consider the "Boys' a big nuisance almost overnight.
The intent behind the brutality of the Indian onslaught was none other than to evoke this response. The Indians knew very well that the general Tamil population in Sri Lanka was incapable of standing up for a cause in the face of overwhelming odds, The Indians provoked the anticipated reaction swiftly and with uncanny accuracy. This was one Indian calculation that did not go amiss in Sri Lanka.
DESIRE TO RUN
The response of most of our people to the murder, plunder, rape and numerous other crimes committed by Indian troops under the guise of peace keepers was not moral indignation and righteous fury, but fear and an accentuated desire to 'Run'. When hundreds of innocent civilians of all ages were deliberately, callously and brutally murdered by the Indian forces, the logical questions an indignant population should have asked is, "Who gave the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) the right to act the combined role of policeman, prosecutor, judge and executioner?" and 'Who gave them the right to behave as an invading army having come in under the guise of a peace keeping force?". Instead most of our people have bent over backwards to
discover reasons to justify the IPKF
actions and play the role of Devil's advocates!
Purported overt or covert support for the LTTE in various forms - meals, money and physical assistance, are
(Contd. on next page)

Page 16
16 TAM TIMES
being trotted out as crimes to justify the brutal slaying of 90 year old women and hospitalized patients Are not a large number of Sri Lankan Tamils whether resident in Sri Lanka or abroad guilty of related crimes? Are not the central government and Tamil Nadu politicians in India who covertly trained, financed and armed the LTTE
responsible for these same crimes to a
larger extent?
It is indeed a sad spectacle that a majority of our people despite their education and innate intelligence are unable to discern facts and feel even righteous anger at what is transpiring in their land. The very right of a section of our population to express their indignation at the injustice and mis-rule perpetrated on us for four decades and seek a just solution is being smothered by the brutality of the Indian army,
The LTTE, whatever its faults may be, is an expression - a symptom - of the deep malaise affecting us Tamils. Any discernible faults in the LTTE are the faults of the Tamil people. The destruction of the LTTE implies a destruction of the aspirations of the Tamil people. The destruction of the LTTE would only suppress the symptoms of our malaise, but would not cure it. Wilting under the brutal onslaught of the Indian "Peace Keepers', most of us have chosen to conveniently forget why in the first place the Tamil insurgency commenced.
Our memories are indeed very short
We want "PEAC and the IPKF Rajiv Gandhi ha this "PEACE' nov as a people for indeed heartrenc "Tamil Eelam Li raying their avc people and swayi IPKF and the SI such things can us. Tamils.
MOR
I wonder whe education and th long pursuit of c) sapped our mora We have become reacting to ranki betrayal with jus BERATION at acheived only if defy injustice, v limbs, lives or sponse can only a fury flaring up i.
This moral fury reach its logical principle that Ma cessfully taught a messiah of pas many. He showe to moral indigna confronted with in an Tamils have
Lily Rajah Age 76
A young woman from Jaffna lodged a complaint at a Colombo police station that her mother and three young children were massacred on November 3, 1987 by the Indian Peace Keeping Force.
According to the statement made by Mrs. Vasanthi Sivapathan (38) to the police Mrs. Lily Rajah (76), the mother of the complainant and her three young children Suresh (20), Priyanthi (16), and Mahendraraja (15) were brutally gunned down by an Indian soldier after being called outside their house premises by the Indian Army during the curfew hours.
She is presently residing at Rajagiriya, Meda Welkada Road. She has complained to the OIC Welikada Police against the Indian soldiers deployed in
MUR MOST
Mrs. Vasa
Uduvil area as Force during Oct She herself wa and came down admitted to Sri J pital on Decem) charged in janu Raja Mahend Force Officer, is patham and the Lily Rajah. Her about these killi
"I was residing
 
 
 

now and at any cost with the courtesy of s presented us with ! We should be happy ver after now! It is ng to hear of several peration Groups' betwed cause and their ng to the tunes of the . Lankan army! Alas! happen only amongst
AL FURY
ther the westernized e century and a half assmaterialism have strength as a people. a people incapable of njustice, brutality and tifiable fury. Our “LIa people will be majority amongst us without fear for our property. Such a rerise out of passionate every Tamil breast,
does not need guns to target. This was the hatma Gandhi so suche world. He was not sivity as mistaken by d us how to give vent ation and fury when njustice. We Sri Lank
missed a wonderful
FEBRUARY 1988
opportunity during the past fev. . months to teach Rajiv Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's lessons. What this missed opportunity will signify for our children and grand children is for history to judge.
This note is being penned out of despair at what has befallen the Tamils of Sri Lanka and with an intent of provoking a process of self-examination and self-assessment in every one who reads it. Our enemy is a combination of the timidity, fear and selfishness within each one of us and this is the hardest one to subdue. Let us seek out and destroy this enemy first if we are to keep our identity as a distinct people and our tryst with destiny.
We would become very much the stronger for this. Only a weak people can be trodden by others. This is a lesson repeatedly taught by history but which we seldom learn. Let us also not forget that we can live with pride and a sense of belonging and identity only in our land and in our own cultural environment.
Time will show our people the material comforts and life styles of the lands of their adoption cannot cater for these aspirations which would sooner or later surface. Let us cease being a people, who always want others to fight our battles! Let us learn to fight the most important battle of our lives - a battle we owe the future generations - by ourselves with courage, principles and lofty ideals.
DERS
FOUL
inthy Sivapatham
(ndian Peace Keeping ober- November 1987. is shot in this incident to Colombo and was ayawardenapura Hosper 28. She was disary 8. ran (44) former Air brother of Mrs. Sivason of the victim Mrs. complaint to the police ings is as follows: ' at Lilistan Uduvil,
Suresh Age 20
Chunnakam in my own house which is about 700 metres from Maruthanamadam Junction with my mother by name Lily widow of Sabapathi Raja aged 76 years, my two sons S.Suresh Aged 29C years and S.Mahendra Rak (Student aged 15 years and my other daughter' S. Priyanthy (student) aged 16 years.
On 3rd of November 1987 at about 6.45am I was about to enter the kitchen from the main house, which is visible from this main road. One of the two IPKF soldiers who was patrolling on the road shouted and signalled me to come out. I straightaway went towards the gate which was locked with a white flag hoisted on it with both hands raised. My mother, two sons and daughter who had also heard the call of this soldier followed me, with their hands raised.

Page 17
FEBRUARY 1988
FORMULATO BF DEADLOCK
A nine point package of suggestions has been submitted to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and to President Jayawardene by Dame Judith Hart, Chair of the International Emergency Committee on Sri Lanka and Martin Ennals, Secretary General of International Alert.
The suggestions are designed to assist in breaking the deadlock which currently prevents the implementation of the Peace Accord reached between the leaders of India and Sri Lanka on
28 July 1987. Indian Peace landed in Sri Tigers (LTTE) their arms. Pro be elected thro
The Accords a basis upon settlement of t Lanka can be rised proposals
O Agreemer
The soldier seeing us approaching pulled out a fence post adjoining the gate and ordered us to come out to the road. We did so still with our hands raised. He then marched us towards the Uduvil Girls School at the point of his gun. The other soldier followed from behind. We were led about 50 metres from our house and then stopped at a point opposite the house of Mrs. Solomons. Mrs. Solomon's son-in-law, Mr.Jayanthakumar was at that time sweeping the verandah of his house. On seeing him the soldier who was taking us shouted and ordered the man to come out. But that person went inside and did not come out. The soldier then ordered the other soldier to fire at the house. The other soldier fired twice which was followed by a volly of bullets - from the gun of this soldier. A few moments later the inmates of the house which included three men, two women and a child came to the road with their hands raised.
Rev. Sathiyan Kadirgamar and I independently tried to explain and plead our innocence but the soldier paid no heed to our pleadings.
He aimed his gun to shoot the Solomons family but when they raised cries he turned his gun towards us and shot us all in a row.
My mother and elder son were hit on their heads and fell dead on the spot before my very eyes. My second received the shot on his left hand near the shoulder and my daughter on her right thigh. I was shot just below the neck on the right shoulder. The other soldier
Priyanthi Age 16
Mahend
who was comir moved away as to be party to th having finished went avay, tov School to join t about 15 in nu Lane junction in leaving us two d critically injure curfew time anc ing for some t some help came the hospital at samaritans. My ter died on adı and I after th (Naganathan N vived.
Witnesses: Mr.N.Airiara Officer) Mr & mar, Mr. & Mrs singham, “Krish vachandran, S. Kuhan Mills,
AGA, Malvam Lane, Joseph Lane, Miss C
Girls College Secretary, Yl Sevaka, Chun (Presently En mar, Katavel Dr. K. Yoges Surgeon, Gene All of Manip nakam.
V
 
 

TAMIL TIMES 17
ЕАк
Jnder the Accord, the &eeping Force (IPKF) Lanka and the Tamil agreed to surrender incial councils were to lughout Sri Lanka.
ill appears to represent which the long term
he ethnic conflict in Sri resolved. The summainclude:
t of all parties not to use
raraj Age 15 ng along with us had though he did not wish is act. The first soldier the crime hurriedly yards the Uduvil Girls he other IPKF soldiers mber standing at Ark ear Uduvil Girsl School, ead and the other three d and bleeding. it was no help was forthcomime. When ultimately and we were taken to great risk to the good second son and daughmission to the hospital ree days of treatment Jursing Home) – sur
tnam, (Retired Bank Mrs. A.P.Jayanthaku.G.J.Watson, Mrs.Balainapathy”, Mrs. Dr. SelSomasabesa Kurukkal, Mr.P.L.Patrick, Retired Lane, Nuns of Ark, Ark Pathinathan, Dutch V. Chelliah, Principal, , Mr. Thambithurai, MCA, Jaffna, Grama nakam, Dr.Selvarajah gland), Rev.S.KadirgaChurch, Pt. pedro, varam, Consultant ral Hospital, Kotte.
ay Road Uduvil Chun
asanthy Sivapathan
weapons while a dialogue based on the Accord continues.
O The creation of an independent disputes procedure to prevent any violation of the agreement not to use weapons in order to avoid the escalation of violence and consequent threat to the peace process to which violation of the agreement would inevitably lead.
O The talks should provide a phased timetable - for elections; for the withdrawal of the IPKF; and for surrender of arms by militant groups.
O The International Committee of the Red Cross to be invited to fulfill its humanitarian role throughout Sri Lanka as recommended by the United Nations Human Rights Commission
The message to both leaders stresses that it is important that Sri Lankan opposition groups endorse any long term settlement achieved.
International Alert calls upon governments who have received Sri Lankan refugees not to return them to Sri Lanka against their will but to work with the United Nations High Commis
ision for Refugees to ensure a regulated
return over a period of time once the settlement has been reached.
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18 TAMIL TIMES
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July 8th - 12th July 22nd - 27th (incl. Nevers) August 12th-16th August 26th - 31st (incl. Nevers) September 9th - 13th September 23rd - 28th (incl. Nevers) October 5th- 9th
lnclusive cost per person to
OURO ES
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For further details call the Asian Chaplaincy: 01-222 2895 48 St. Peter Street, London SW or Amorito Nazareth - 01 -969 6986 aftasr i pm.
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Page 19
FEBRUARY 1988
DIED: Akion (P.W.Akilandan) noted Tamil writer died in Madras on January 31. Known for his contributions of short stories and novels to Kalki, Kalaimagal and Ananda Vikatan, he was the winner of the Sahitiya Akademi award for his historical novel, 'Vengaiyin Maindhan', in 1963 and the Jnanpith award for "Chithirappavai' in 1976.
RESIGNED: Well-known Tami cinema actor Sivaji Ganeshan quit the Congress-I along with four Congress-I MLAs on January 29. He said the decision of the party high command to vote against the Janaki MGR ministry constituted a betrayal'' of MGR.
HONOURED: Noted Mridangam
player Umayalpuram Sivaraman awarded "Padma Sri' on the occassion of India's 38th Republic Day celebrations on January 26. A similar award went to Sudharani Raghupathy for Bharata Natyam.
HONOURED: Awarded posthumously India's highest military award, the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) to Major Ramaswamy Parameshwarañ for “conspicuous bravery' in the IPKF operations in Jaffna on November 25 1987. The award was received by his widow in the presence of President Jayewardene at the Republic day celebrations on January 26.
DIED: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, known as Frontier Gandhi died in Peshawar, Pakistan on January 20 at the age of 98.
APPOINTED: Dr.A.Gnanam as ViceChancellor of Madras University succeeding Dr.B.B.Sundaresan. Dr.Gnanam was earlier Vice-Chancellor of Bharatidasan University.
KILLED: Sri Lankan Army officer (name not revealed) killed in landmine explosion at Triyai in Eastern Trincomalee district on January 30.
ANNOUNCED: M.Kalyanasundaram expelled from the Communist Party of India in Tamil Nadu announces formation of new party called Indian Communist Party to be formally launched on March 31 at Tiruchi.
DEBARRED: Indian cricket captain Dilip Ver.ksarkar debarred from representing his country or state for a period of 6 months for violating the contract which did not permit writing of articles.
REVERSAL: The Janaki Ramachandran AIADMK groups earlier policy of total support for the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement has been reversed with the Madras Assembly dissolution. "Let us pledge today that the Centre restrain the IPKF from attacking innocent Tamils in the regions of Eelam where they live', she said in the presence of a huge crowd of supporters at the Marina on the occassion of C.N.Annadurai death anniversary on February 3.
CIVIL
The civil ad. ern and east continue to
some parts, The call by not to co-ope Keeping Fo) civil admin appear to ha Many gove teachers hav from attend The posters that those fiance of its as traitors.
Even in th the IPKF asserted ove administrati severely disi
There app the test of st and the LTT a capacity to are ungover. The Govern the focal cen and for the people of the and Ampar ment Agent” be functionir Jaffna, Vav nochchi and be at a star
The most
D.R.P.C.ALE High Commis been appointe Tamil Nadu i ana. Hailingf India, Dr.Ale the post of P. former Indiar Gandhi.
TAML, NAD the late M.G.) humously bee the highest c LT. GENE JEE, has b General Offic of the Southe the overall C Peace Keepin succession to
FOUR MEM volutionary C were arrested ity forces in been released tion of the Int Sri Lanka. Th EROS in the against the successful.
 

TAMIL TIMES 19
ADMINISTRATIONDISRUPTED
IN NORTH AND EAST
ministration in the northern provinces of Sri Lanka be seriously disrupted. In
it is virtually paralysed. che LTTE through posters rate with the Indian Peace ce in re-establishing the istration in these areas we had its intended impact. rnment employees and 'e continued to keep away ing their places of work. put up by the LTTE stated who went to work in derequest would be regarded
he Jaffna peninsula where would appear to have rall military control, the on remains, by and large,
upted.
ears to be no doubt that in :rength between the IPKF E, the latter has displayed show that the Tamil areas nable without its support. ment Agent’s offices are tres of civil administration provision of services to the area. Besides the Mannar ai Kachcheries (Governs offices) which are said to ng partially, all the others, runiya, Mullaitivu, KiliBatticaloa are reported to udstill.
affected by this disruption
XANDER, the Indian ssioner in the UK, has d Governor of the State of 1. succession to S.L.Khurrom Travancore in South xander previously held rincipal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Indira
U, former Chief Minister, Ramachandran, has postin awarded Bharat Ratna, ivilian honour in India.
RAL A.K. CHATTEReen appointed the new er. Commanding-in-Chief }rn Army Command and ommander of the Indian g Force in Sri Lanka in Lt. Gen. Depinder Singh.
BERS, of the Eelam ReOrganisation (EROS) who by the Sri Lankan secureastern Sri Lanka have l following the intervendian High Commission in Le hartal organised by the Batticaloa area in protest arrest was reported as
of civil administration have been the ordinary people. There are an estimated 50 to 60 thousand pensioners in the two provinces who are seriously hit by the non-payment or the long delay in the payment of pensions. The other category, which includes the poorest of the poor, directly hit are an estimated 300,000 people entitled to receive food stamps without which they cannot obtain their essential daily needs.
EDITORN DETENTION
Mr. S.M.Gopalaratnam, Editor of "Eelamurusu', who was taken into custody by the IPKF in November 1987, is still under detention.
He was kept at the abandoned K.K.S. hospital premises for most of the time, under the IPKF unit based at what was formerly Paradise hotel.
His wife was allowed to see him for the first time only on 24th December.
On 15th January (Thai Pongal), she went to the detention centre but was not allowed to see him.
She was told it was a public holiday' and was asked to come the next day. She saw him on 16th Jan. and again on 23rd Jan. She said that her husband was on a very weak condition and that his eyesight was failing.
Appeals by the Editor of this paper to the Indian High Commissioner, Mr. J.N.Dixit, against his unwarranted detention have not been fruitful.
BOMBATTACK ON HINDU TEMPS
At least ten people were killed and 26 injured on 16 February when two bombs exploded at the Kathiresan Hindutemple at Bambalapitya in Colombo.
All the victims were Hindus belonging to the island’s Tamil community. The bombs exploded in the midst of hundreds of worshippers who had gathered for the annual all-night Shiva Rathiri festival. Those who planted and triggered off the bombs would appear to have deliberately intended and certainly would have had no doubt as to the consequences and casualties that would result from the explosions caused in such a crowded place.
No one or group has so far claimed responsibility for this outrage, but suspicions have predictably fallen on the JVP. However, it must be observed that although the JVP had engaged itself in a variety of attacks since July 1987, none have so far been directed at members of the country's Tamil community. If the suspicions turn out to be true, then it would mean that the JVP has opened up a new front in its terrorist campaign.

Page 20
2U , AMIL I MES
"CEASEFIRE AND NEGOTIATE
Indian PM urged
The following is the text of a letter dated 12 January 1988 sent to the Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, by the London based Standing Committee of Tamil Speaking People (SCOT):- “We wish to address you again on certain matters concerning the present plight of Tamils of Sri Lanka in the hope that you will give your earnest consideration and take appropriate steps to remedy the situation and bring relief to a harassed and suffering people.
"Firstly, despite the reported reduction in the scale of the fighting between the IPKF and the LTTE in the northern province, especially in the Jaffna peninsula, we are still receiving reports from affected families which make it clear that innocent civilians continue to be targets of retaliatory attack by IPKF personnel.
"Secondly, for the last several weeks, the violence resulting from the fighting has escalated in the eastern province. We are receiving reports of mass scale displacement of people of the area and a large number of civilian deaths.
"Thirdly, we are particularly shocked at the number of reports of Tamil
women having becor and personnel belon We note that action against a few in re ences, but we must a situation in this conn very grave. Particul reports where moth of the same families same time in the other. In some cases, ordered, under pain produce their daugh posts.
Fourthly, a consic houses have been ta personnel for use as and living quarters a these houses have bei less and destitute.
“Fifthly, a large nu school buildings havi by the IPKF and cor camps, and this has the education of chi
Now we wish to de of Sri Lanka Tamil Tens of thousands of Nadu and other coun unprecedented viole) and the violence and upon the Tamils the
APPRECATION
DR.A.SIVAPATHASUNDARAM
I came to know Consultant Paediatrician Sivapathasundaram as a fellow House Officer at Ratnapura Hospital 24 years ago. He was an internee in Paediatrics, a speciality he was to pursue later on. He was a pleasant colleague with an amiable disposition, a keen sense of humour and an infectious laugh. He led an austere life style, being a devout Hindu and a vegetarian.
Sivapathasundaram was educated at Hartley College, Point Pedro and entered the Medical College in Colombo in the late fifties. After qualifying as a doctor, he held various appointments in government service and specialised in Paediatrics. He worked at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital and passed the Diploma in Child Health. Later he proceeded to England to complete his training and obtained the MRCP.
In 1978, he was appointed Paediatrician at Point Pedro and in 1983 transferred to Jaffna General Hospital as a teaching Hospital Consultant, a position he held until he was killed in tragic circumstances. About a year ago he visited the UK and had told a friend that he had to live with constant dan
ger in Jaffna. Duri nights when the E target of frequent sh Lankan security forc care for the sick chilc eventually paid the for his dedication ar duty.
In October 1987, 6 including 19 memb Hospital were killed Indian Peace Keepi pathasundaram turn following day and w soldier of the IPKF i He raised his hands : der. The soldier havi as a doctor shot him i fell crying, "Muruga, left to die bleeding i where he had served of lives.
It is hard to explai I see in his death an the course of his dut his people. May his s the feet of God. - Dr. P. Arulana Paediatrician, Jafn

he victims of rape ging to the IPKF. has been taken spect of such offdvise you that the ection has become arly revolting are rs and daughters peing raped at the presence of each fathers have been of punishment, to ters at the army
erable number of ken over by IPKF
their army posts nd the occupiers of 2n rendered home
mber of the major e been taken over verted into 'army severely disrupted ldren.
sal with the plight s living in India. them fled to Tamil treis" following the nce of July 1983 ! terror unleashed reafter by the Sri
ng the days and Hospital was the ell fire by the Sri es, he stayed on to liren in Jaffna and
supreme penalty
ld devotion to his
8 innocent people, ers of the Jaffna. py members of the g Force. Dr.Sivaed up for work the is challenged by a nside the hospital. is in act of surrenng indentified him n cold blood. As he
Muruga', he was nside the hospital
to save hundreds
this tragedy, but
act of sacrifice in y in the service of ould find Peace at
ntham (former | Hospital)
FEBRUARY 1988
Lankan security forces. We recognise with deep gratitude the timely sanctuary and support given by the Central and Tamil Nadu governments to the fleeing Tamils. Now, those Tamil refugees living in the camps as well as those who live outside and fend for themselves are being asked to leave for Sri Lanka. In fact, according to reports in the Sri Lanka press, nearly 20,000 have already been returned to the
island.
"We are advised that the large majority of the Sri Lanka Tamils living in Tamil Nadu do not want to return to the island because of the continuing violence particularly in the Tamil areas. Although we recognise that the Peace Accord provided for their return, the prerequisite for such return was a restoration of peace and normalcy in the island, and this has certainly not been achieved yet. lin fact the situation in the Tamil areas have become so intolerable that thousands of Tamils have gone to Colombo and its suburbs in search of physical security. Even western governments which have been . waiting for an opportunity to repatriate all the Tamil refugees back to Sri Lanka have so far not thought it fit or safe for them to return to the island. India has always taken the view that the Sri Lanka Tamils in lindia would not be compelled to return until the situation is such that they can do so in safety and honour. In this context, we regard the attempts to return them to the island against their will as both premature and unjust. Besides, many Tamils while living in India during the last few years have been sending their children to schools in Tamil Nadu and a forcible repatriation at this stage would result in a sudden disruption of the children's education.
"The confrontation between the IPKF and the LTTE which began on 10 October 1987 is still continuing after three months. There have been high casualties on both sides. But the death, destruction and suffering to which the ordinary defenceless Tamil civilians have been subjected during this period have been unprecendented. Despite the enormous loss of life and destruction of property, there is yet no indication of an end to this tragedy.
India has always adopted the view that a military approach would not bring about a solution to the ethnic conflict and restore lasting peace, and this was the advice it always gave to the government of Sri Lanka. With respect, we believe that this advice holds good even in the context of the present confrontation between the IPKF and the LTTE.
"We urge your goodself and the government of India to take relevant and appropriate remedial measures in regard to the matters referred to above and also to immediately bring about a cessation of hostilities between the IPKF and the LTTE with a view to reaching a solution by negotiation.'

Page 21
FEBRUARY 1988
Contd. from page 4
to drive a wedge. Now that MGR is no more, the estrangement seems complete with Leelavathy throwing in her lot with Jayalalitha. Leelavathy is now threatening to contest in the Andipetti constituency against Janaki.
Having helped to topple Janaki, Congress(I) is in no better position than before. Five of its MLAs resigned from the party on the very question of opposing Janaki. Its most popular leader and well known film star, Sivaji Ganesan has also resigned from Congress(I) in protest againstits decision to oppose Janaki. His decision is a big blow to Congress(I) as he commands widespread support among his thousands of fan clubs throughout Tamil Nadu.
Although comprehensively beaten
during the last two elections, the former Chief Minister M.Karunanithi has kept his organisation intact. One time close associate of MGR and scriptwriter for his films, Karunanithi became MGR's arch enemy when he expelled the latter from the DMK. That expulsion and the subsequent founding of the ALADMK resulted in the downfall of the once mighty Karunanithi and the rise to power of MGR. MGR never forgave the DMK leader and very often
used, and mous pow Minister t year, whe anti-Hindu course of MILAs incll Indian Co steamrolle Assembly t to the DM from the A they had disrepute b During t in the AIA tained a dig occasionally close he wa together ur
Karunani ported the S tried hardt the Tamil the LTTE Karunanith not want to his Chief M mous suppo. upon the L made some namithi wit. support.
Karunani
Contd. from p13
the Tamil civilians and also does a subtle and spiteful propaganda against the LTTE to camouflage the excesses by its own military units. The undue haste shown by Sri Lanka and India for the re-settlement of the eastern sector and the surrendering of the arms by the LTTE are inadequately reflected in their efforts to implement the peace accord.
This cannot be achieved by muzzling the regional press, clamping down indefinite curfew, indiscriminate killing of defenceless civilians, shelling of educational institutions and intellectuals and damaging the agricultural and fishing industry of the north and the east. Instead the IPKF could negotiate with the LTTE, disband the "Three Stars' undoubtedly an IPKF's Trojan horse and create a climate conducive to the fearless, secured, healthy and happy living of the minority Tamils.
It has become sine qua non for the LTTE too to take stock of the dire consequences of fighting a losing battle resourcelessly with the Indian army and go to the negotiating table. Indian Gandhism, Lankan Buddhism or Hinduism cannot be taught through the mouth of machine guns. The concept of truth and non violence should not be taken for a ride. The leaders concerned must practise what they preach and that too when the writings are on the wall in the simmering south of Sri Lanka.
M. Selvasunderam Sinnamalai, Thondaimanaru.
IT IS time found a way by the vacuu Tamil peopl Leaving as failure to e which will b ever the dis with the acci opportunity to know the determine t An indica group has w bility of res prevented til unity. When group has, i power on a The strug the people stead, of stri and death : result of the look to alte
There see tive other th toral process factional stI what the per ated the peo any one gro tive of the method, has
The probl community leadership p no other opt adhere to th and accept th coexist in a
London SW1.

metimes abused his enorand influence as Chief beat his arch rival. Last the DMK launched an gitational campaign in the hich some of the DMK ing Karunanithi burnt the titution, MGR used his majority in the State expel ten MLAs belonging (, including Karunanithi, embly on the ground that ought the Assembly into
their action.
e recent factional feuding DMK, Karunanithi mainlified silence only recalling to newsmen about how to MGR when they were il fate separated them.
hi has consistently supi Lankan Tamil cause and bring about unity among militant groups. However ad kept its distance from
probably because it did lisplease MGR who, during nistership, bestowed enort, material and otherwise, TE. Lately the LTTE has riendly overtures to Karua view to getting his
hi has always been critical
that the militant groups out of the impasse caused um in the leadership of the B.
side the wild claims and the volve a united leadership e a very wise thing, whatagreement one may have ord it is best to avail of the of the elections and use it wishes of the people and he leadership.
ion of the support each ll also facilitate the possiolving many issues that e structural evolution of we know the support each will permit a sharing of reasonable basis. le was meant to bring to eace and prosperity. In2, tension, fear, insecurity re delivered as the end 'sacrifices, the people will natives. Ls to be no other alternan going through the electo end the deadlock. The fe and illusions are not ble want. It has not libere. The attempt to impose p as the sole representaeople, by whatever the wrecked the movement. ms faced by the Tamil un be solved only if the blenn is solved. There is n but to understand and traditions of democracy verdict of the people and nulti-party system
Aruler
TAMIL TIMES 21
of the Centre's 'soft' approach to Colombo. It must be certain that he and the DMK will raise this issue and the role of the IPKF in Sri Lanka in a significant way during the forthcoming election campaign.
In the context of the present state of the parties in Tamil Nadu, it is probable that no one party will achieve an overall majority. In that situation the possible scenario is that the Jayalalitha faction will align with Congress(I) and the Janaki faction, which is reputed to have a substantial number of Karunanithi fans, will align with the DMK. Whatever happens, if one goes by past record, any administration that is set up in Tamil Nadu will gravitate towards New Delhi and support the Centre.
NEW NAVAL TRAINING BASE
A new naval training base is to be established at Boosa in the south of Sri Lanka which is expected to provide all necessary training facilities to recruits to the Navy.
Hitherto main naval training facility was provided at the eastern port of Trincomalee. Although the officially attributed reason for the shift is that Trincomalee had already reached its limits as a result of the rapid expansion of the Navy's manpower, it is widely believed that the real reason is the instability and violence in and around Trincomalee resulting from the continuing ethnic conflict.
The new project is expected to cost about 30 million Sri Lankan rupees, and construction works are planned to
begin this year. Boosa was selected by
the government as a suitable site for the project because of the availability of land and its proximity to the Galle Harbour in the southern tip of the island.
GRADE A AT O' LEVEL BY 8 YEAR OLD
Ganesh Sittampalam, aged 8, has become unique in passing his O'LEVEL examination with an A Grade in MATHEMATICS. He is believed to be the first to achieve a grade A in O'LEVEL at 8 years and one of only three to pass the O'LEVEL at all at this age.
He is a pupil at Arundel House School in Surbiton but he did his maths at home. He was taught by his father who himself has a 1st class degree in maths and a Ph.D and is currently in a senior investment position in the City. His mother also has a maths degree. Ganesh's father, though very busy with his City work, managed to devote some time during weekends among other activities to teaching and guiding Ganesh, who increasingly worked on his own during the latter stages.

Page 22
22 TAMIL TIMES
cLAssIFIEDADs
irst2O Worcs Each additional word 60, charge for Box No.f3. (VAT15% extra repaymentessentia
MARMONAL HINDU, parents seek professionally qualified partner for their 27 year old Doctor daughter. Details & horoscope to Box 209 C/o Tamil Times.
SEEKING, suitable partner for talented Tamil Christian 35 year old brother, U.K. qualified in Electronic Technology, now settled permanently in Norway and holding good job. Write to Box 210 co Tamil Times JAFFNA TAMIL, Hindu lady secretary in U.K. professional firm aged 31 seeks suitable partner write with horoscope and details to Box M21 1 C/o
Tari inneS. JAFFNA TAMIL, Hindu male, highly qualified professional in U.K., aged 35 seeks suitable partner write with horoscope and details Box M211 c/o Tamil Times. ጳ SISTER, seeks suitable bridegroom and bride for her highly academically (Double Master & Ph.D) qualified, 35 year old brother in U.K. and 30 year old B.Sc (Hons) sister working in Colonbo. Please send charts & particulars to Box 212, C/o
arrill lines.
SRI LANKAN, Doctor, former staff member of United Nations, with two sons finishing their Post Graduate studies (M.B.A. & Electrical Engineering) in United States, 26 and 25 years respectively wishes to contact Sri Lankan parents, preferably Christians, settied in United states with a view to finding suitable marriage partners for his sons. Please contact Dr. K.Balasubramanian 524C, Sea Home, Tanjung Bungah, 1 1200 Penang, Malaysia.
N MEMORAM
DR.VALENTINE JEYARAJAH-Valentine was called to rest on the 27th of October tg87. He had a recurrence of his former illness and finally succumbed to cardiac arrest, at Bulawayo Cefntral Hospital, Zimbabwe. He leaves behind his loving wife Betty and children Praveen and Jayanth. The funeral service was held at St.Johns Cathedral, Bulawayo, close to Mpilo Hospital where Valentine was the Head of Department of Anaesthesia. Fondly remembered by his family.
"And God shall wipe away all the tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor Crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away."
Rev.21:4
MANLAM, A.P.S. (Palasuppiramanlamı Annamalai) passed away in October 1987 in the wake of the IPKF onslaught at his home in Urelu, Jaffna. He was the brother of Chanmugarajah, Saras w at hy , Mrs. Sivasu bra maniam, Mrs. Thiagarajah (Lincoln), Sivapathasunderam and Mrs.Arumugadas (Harrow). He was the uncle of Shyamala Kumarakulasooriyar and Kumaradas (Harrow) and Dr.Chitra Velauthapilllai (Lincoln). Fondly remembered by all his nephews and nieces for whom he lived - 39, Walton Road, Harrow, Middlesex.
韃。
Dr. (Mrs) PARAMES DUR. in U.K. on 15th January illness. She is the wido' T. Durayappah - former M and the eldest daughter Coomaraswamy (Irrigatio Mrs. Rukmani CoomaraSW "Parames' - as she was ( from the Ceylon Medical ( the Lady Ridgeway ho Maternity Home, and the She also served as the SC Jaffna and later as the C Health, Jaffna Municipalit in 1967 she took up an Brunei Government whe Medical services for the represented the Brunei G tional conferences in Ge tries. In recognition of promoted last year as the Services which post she death, The Brunei Govt. year by conferring on he title. She leaves behind her (Rochana) and son-it (Accountant U.K.).
Dr. Parames Durayappah G.G.Ponnambalam O.C. Balasunderam and the jaratnam and the belo Somaskandan (Teacher nam Pathmanathan (Bru|| wamy (Engineer-Brune bourne U.K.), Pathma Wi citor - U.K. & Dr.Sivar The funeral took place at and the rites were Condu lai Esq.r (Chairman, B Trust),
Jus
盗
ANGEL (Mathuram) Daughter of Mr & Mrs R of Mrs Ariaratnain nayagan (Welling), da Selliadurai (Nallur), sis' nathan (Bexley), Nath dran (Burton) and Ravi peacefully on 18 Janua 32 Southview Close,
ASIVAGNANAN al Engineer, Ceyl Formerly Lecture
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

FEBRUARY 1988
AYAPPAH-Expired 1988 after a sudden w of the late Alfred ayor & M.P. for Jaffna of the late "Beauty n Engineer) and of amy. jearly known qualified College and served at spital, Castle Street
Jaffna Hospital. hooi Medical Officer in hief Medical Officer of y.
assignment with the re she served in the past 21 years. She ovt. in various internaneva and other COuner services she was Asst. Director of Health held until her untimely also honoured her last ir a very distinguished
only daughter Esha n-law David Begho
is the niece of the late , the late Rev. Father late Mrs.Spencer Raved sister of Pushpa , Vaddukoddai) Puvanei) Mahen Coomarasi) Dr.Vijendra (Eastmal Sockanathan (Solidran (Perth-Australia). West Norwood Cemetry cted by S.Sabapathipil. rittania Hindu Temple
tice A.Nithiyananthan
JARY
beloved wife of Giri, asiah (Karainagar), sister (Karainagar), Amirthaughter-in-law of Mr & Mrs ter-in-law of Kathirgamaan (Epsom), Mrs Ganen(Kotahena) passed away ary after a short illnessBexley, Kent.
- Retired Electricon Electricity Board, er, Ceylon Technical
College and the Katubedda Institute of Technology died suddenly in Colombo on 16-2-88 (Maha Sivarathiri Day). He was the eldest son of the late Mr & Mrs. E. Ariacutty of Chunnakam, Sri Lanka. He had his early education in Kuala Lumpur and St Thomas College, Colombo and later qualified as an electrical engineer from the University of Ceylon. He leaves behind two brothers Ganason (Power Division, Asian Bank, Manila) and Dr. Maheson (General Practitionaer, Coventry, U.K.)
MRs. KANAGAMMA PONNUDURAl, Born 28-11-1921. Passed away 4-1-1988 in Tinnevely North, Jaffna.
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آسوم بدلےالی 0 کے نصب ہوتیج രമിL?
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a * *a డిస్టోని uക്ടേഴ്സ്
Fondly remembered by her children Vigneswaran (London), Rajeswary (Tinnevely), Vijendran (West Germany), and Srinivasan (London); son in law Karalasingam (Tinnevely); daughters in law, Thaya (London), Vimaladevy (West Germany), Suhantha (London); and grand children Sivas ut han, Pathma; Rathika, Prateepa, Sujeetha, & Ramji; Janakan, Vasanthan, Partheepan, & Harithasan; Subash & Suhan.
WEDDING BELLS
We congratulate the following couple on their recent marriage: SURESH THAYALAN, (Son of Mr. & Mrs. A. Nesaratnam, 16 Colindeep Lane, Hendon Central, London NW4) & SAKUNTHALA, (Daughter of Mr. & Mrs. V. Nadarajah, 24 Northfield Gardens, Highwoods, Colchester) On February 7 at Highgate Murugan Temple, London.

Page 23
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