Page 1
Ta
WOI IX No.9 ISSN 0266-4488 15 AU
Polis a as W. E.
An Appeal From th
The North-East Gettin
become the focal point of the war in north Sri Lanka
LTTE Seeks Indian Support
EDP MPs it
A Refugee influx
 
 
 
 
 

|ES - 1-3(Ek Sණ්ඩ්‍ර:
eS Mont
و يتوقعات لتقي nder siege, has between government forces and the LTTE,
Civilians to be Uprooted From Jafa

Page 2
2 TAMIL TIMES
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15 AUGUST 1990
CONTENTS
Jaffna Civilians to be evacuated. . . . . . . 4
LTTE seeks Indian Support. . . . . . . . . . . 5 ISSN
c
Balasingam seeks indian intervention... 6 ANNUAL S UK/India/Sri La Politics takes back Seat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 All other coun From the war front. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Publis
TAM
The N-E: Getting back to fundamentals. 12 P.O. SUTON, SL Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily UNITE those of the editor or the publishers. Phone: (
AN APPEAL FROMT
(Instead of our usual comment, we consider it appropriate behalf of the Centre for Better Society based in Jaffna)
The frightening events of the North-Eastern Province urge us to make a fervent appeal on behalf of the voiceless masses, be they Sinhalese, Tamils or Mus lims, to all Sri Lankans of good will. After years of death and destruction of lives and property, we were hoping and praying that the lives, already shortened by fears and terrors of war, may still have some chance o peace and stability through the talks which were going on between the LTTE and the Government. In spite o Criticism and opposition from selfish politicians anc Others, both sides did well to trust each other and seek a solution in the interest of peace. But unfortunately the Worst has happened and once again a war of death and destruction is at our door, if not on our head.
We have survived much strangulation of our lives - through months of curfew, shortages of the essentials of life, communication and transport. We have survived shells, mortars, helicopter-firings and aerial bombings. Our survival is a miracle. We are proud of our faith-be it Hindu, Muslim, Buddhistor Christian - that has kepi alivein usan undying hope abouta bettertomorrow for justice and peace. But have we the physical and moral strength to go through another war? The signs and Voices from the top give us only a mortal fear but no aSSurance of life.
We are already in a coma with minimum facilities of life. We do not even have the strength to speak up for ourselves! Silence in suffering has become the style of our life. We have only one question: Do we still have a future?
It is not our intention here to blame anyone or try to find out who or what went wrong to reverse the valuable dialogue for peace into a war of this magnitude. But amidst the noise of shells, helicopter-firings and aerial bombings, we are fast losing sight of values like truth, justice, and respect for life. And time is running out.
Forgive us if we sound too demanding on those who are fortunate to live away from these war-torn territories. But to whom shall we appeal, if not to you our brothers and Sisters? With death and destruction at Our door, we appeal to all peace loving citizens of this country to listen to the feeble voice of the voiceless masses who are still in their wounds but not yet SuCCumbed to death, to the voiceless masses whose left-over properties have been burnt by the fires of hatred, to the voiceless masses who are screaming into kovils, temples, mosques and schools and spend their days looking up for some food and their nights searching for a safe place to rest.
Some of us may try to wave victory flags from one post or the other. We may try our best to cover up of pretend not to hear the cry of the voiceless lest out
 

TAMIL TIMES 3
CONTENTS
The Value of Dissent (continued). . . . . . 14 0266-4488 Statement from S.C.O.T.. . . . . . . . . . . . 17 UBSCRIPTION Refugee influx into Tamil Nadu. . . . . . . 19 ທີ່ .. ES Readers Forum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 ned by Book Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 TIMES LTD
BOX 121 Classified Advertisements. . . . . . . . . . . 25 RREY SM1 3 TD
KINGOOM The publishers assume no responsibility for return oft 81-644. O972 unsolicited manuscripts, photographs and artwork. It
HE WOICELESS MASSES
to adopt and reproduce the appeal by Rev. Dr. S.J. Emmanuel on
celebrations be disturbed, lest we be forced to sacrifice. some of our comforts. But can we really run away from Our Conscience.
Much harm is done in this world, not by the activity of the bad people, but by the passivity of the good people. The good citizens of this country have surely much more to do for peace and stability than a mere vote at the elections. The silence of these days in the face of massive death and destruction urges us to ask, "What has happened to the moral conscience of our leaders? What has happened to the various welfare organizations? What has happened to our religious leaders who. have an obligation to be the makers of peace? What has happened to the professionals and intellectuals who are so enlightened about the rights and duties of citizens? What has happened to the business magnates who are so influential in electing governments? Have they all done their best?
Without communications (no newspapers), without transport facilities, not even hospitals for the dying, we are thirsting for truth as well as for peace. We are gripped with fear and the warring factions only terrify us of a worse future. We see only fear and agony written large on the faces of these masses. We do not even have that sufficient hope to share among us.
Are We all going to stand by and helplessly witness in Silence the horrors of death and destruction? Are We not obliged to Cry out that you, who are outside these dark territories of death and destruction, may hear and come to our aid? You, who are fortunate to be living in some peaceful area of this island, you who are privileged to have a say with those who are in power, please consider your obligation for those who are still in pain, if not in a state of coma, for those who are still very young and have a right for the future. Please do not cordon off our areas as troubled spots and continue your lives undisturbed. Please do not allow a decision that amounts to 'operation successful but patient (Population) died. We beg all men of good will in this country, as well as all those who ably represent other countries which can influence our decision-makers, to do their best to stop this senseless war in favour of a meaningful dialogue. We have no confidence in the victory of a war. It can only leave behind a wounded conqueror without even the conquered. We have confidence only in your good will to work for peace. As we close this appeal to you around the early hours of Monday (25/6/90) morning, bombs are falling for the last four hours and the population is literally groaning and dying. We may not live to thank you, but we hope that this letter reaches you for your moment of action for a noble cause - LIFE.

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4 TAMIL TIMES
Jaffna Civilians to be Evacuated
All civilians in Jaffna are to be advised to vacate the peninsula and move into a massive refugee camp to be opened in Vavuniya to pave the way for the security forces to get at and annihilate the LTTE leadership without harming innocent people. A proposal to this effect would be placed before the President for a decision shortly, Plantation Industries Minister and State Minister for Defence, Ranjan Wijeratne told Parliament on 10 August.
Winding up the debate on the situation in the Eastern Province, Mr. Wijeratne noted that it was imperative to move out the people en masse from the Jaffna peninsula to enable the armed forces to deal with the LTTE and "thrash them out of sight'. Those who did not heed this warning and remained in the peninsula would have to face the consequences. 'We have to do that. There is no going away. We want the LTTE leadership as much as we wanted the JVP leadership. We have got the means to deal with the LTTE but we don't want any civilian casualties. This proposal when implemented would not only prevent civilian casualties but also help those youths who had been forced to join the LTTE to find their way to the refugee camp and escape death', the Minister said.
Minister Wijeratne explained that his greatest concern was for the civilian population. The LTTE was today hiding in the kitchens of innocent people and saving their necks temporarily. The civilian population was being used as human shields by the LTTE in the continuance of their atrocities.
Once all civilians were vacated from Jaffna peninsula the LTTE could decide whether to face the bullets of the security forces or swim across the Palk Strait to their bosom friend in Tamil Nadu. The LTTE would have no alternative but to either face the wrath of the forces or swallow the cyanide pill should they decide not to do the 'swim' across the Strait.
He noted that all persons from the Jaffna peninsula housed in the Vavuniya refugee camp would be looked after and rehabilitated after the LTTE was eliminated. In desperation the LTTE was today killing innocent civilians. The LTTE should be confronting the forces and engaging them in combat. Instead of that they were attacking and killing innocent people in the East. Muslims were being trained to help the security forces to provide security to villages.
He said that it was only a matter of time to get at the LTTE. If the LTTE thought that they could by their actions force a thin spread of security forces in the East to prevent more troops being moved into the North
they were sadly mist in the North will c. LTTE criminals wou the salty waters of th
PLANS TO E. TAMILS OP
COLOMBO, Aug 11said that they were st government plans to dreds of thousands ( northern Sri Lanka 1 an all-out assault on rillas.
"It is not a practicab so many people be ask their homes just like Senathiraja, a Tamil I ment.
Deputy Defence l Wijeratne said on civilians in northern na peninsula - most would be evacuated in a major assault on the Tigers of Tamil Eelan
Senathiraja, of the United Liberation F. members of parlial meeting with Presid Premadasa to express
Other political sour be difficult to move so provide them with s security.
Wijeratne said would be asked to m camp in Vavuniya, 1. to the south. - Reute
"Refugee Color Shof D
The proposal by the ernment to establish centre, a sort of "Reful Island of Mannar to Lankan Tamil refug get off the ground.
The idea of settin centre to be run und of officials of the Uni Commissioner for Re and the Internation the Red Cross (ICRC ly put forward by Parliamentary deleg the Indian Prime Mi in Delhi who had a proposal. The aim o prevent the spillovel of Tamil refugees f north-east of the is estimated 50,000 re. south India since f between governmer LTTE on June 11. "W it up in Mannar Is where most refugee to get into India”, se involved in planning
The Tamil Nadu C M. Karunanidhi al

15 AUGUST 1990
ren. The march ntinue and the be swept into Indian Ocean.
ACUATE
POSED
Tamil politicians ongly opposed to evacuate hunf civilians from make way for separatist guer
e plan. How can 2d to move out of hat? said Mavai lember of parlia
finister Ranjan 0 August that Sri Lanka’s Jafff them Tamils - preparation for rebel Liberation
(LTTE). moderate Tamil "ont, said Tamil ment wanted a ent Ranasinghe their opposition. ces said it would many people and helter, food and
saffna civilians ove to a refugee 40 km (90 miles)
.
 ݂- ܪܶ܆ ܊,
y’ Proposal
OMVs .
Sri Lankan gov
a giant refugee gee Colony' in the take in all Sri ees has failed to
g up the refugee r the supervision ted Nations High fugees (UNHCR) al Committee of had been initialthe Sri Lankan tion when it met hister, V.P. Singh so welcomed the Colombo was to into Tamil Nadu om the war-torn and. Already an ugees had fled to ghting broke out t forces and the e are trying to set and since this is go before trying d a senior official the exercise.
hief Minister, Mr. o had urged the
Indian Prime Minister to persuade the Sri Lankan government to organise refugee camps in northern Sri Lanka itself with assistance from the UNHCR. In his letter to the Prime Minister, Mr. Karunanidhi recalled the Prime Minister's statement at a press conference on July 20 indicating that he was exploring the possibility of asking Colombo to set up camps in the island itself. "I will be grateful if you can immediately initiate action on this suggestion and let me know', the Chief Minister had said. He also expressed "grave concern' over the continuing influx of refugees into Tamil Nadu. "My visit to refugee camps show that the refugees are not only from poor families but also from the middle and affluent strata”, the CMI added.
The Sri Lankan idea is to convert the whole of Mannar Island into one big refugee centre, but this would first involve ensuring that both the government and the LTTE respect the island as a non-combatant zone. The ICRC's experience could be used in making Mannar a non-combatant area, while the UNHCR which already has projects in the North-East could deal with refugee relief.
Observers note a political motivation behind the government's move. Sri Lanka wants to keep India as distant as possible from the Sri Lankan conflict, and Colombo sees the influx of Tamil refugees into Tamil Nadu as providing a perpetual cause for India "expressing continued concern' in respect of matters which Colombo regards as 'essentially internal'.
While the refugees already in India have expressed total opposition to the idea, the LTTE itself has turned down the call to help in converting the Mannar Island into a demilitarised zone to accommodate Tamil refugees. The LTTE has flatly refused the idea that it moves out of the island completely.
As for the refugees already in Tamil Nadu, they are not prepared to return until hostilities cease in Sri Lanka.
DEMILITARISED ZONE IN JAFFNA PROPOSED
The government has proposed a demilitarised zone in the area of the Jaffna Fort with the sole intention of re-opening the Jaffna General Hospital and protecting it from being affected in the cross-fire between government forces and the LTTE, Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Amaratunga told a press conference on 2 August. He said that many representations had been made to re-open the Jaffna Hospital and the GMOA had written in to say that all doctors there were safe and were prepared to work.
Mr. Amaratunga said that the folContinued On Page 5

Page 5
15 AUGUST 1990
lowing basic guidelines would have to be adhered to within the DMZ:
a. No new camps, bunkers, checkpoints or any type of military installation should be established and such existing installations should be removed from within the DMZ and occupied buildings vacated. b. Carrying of weapons is not permitted. c. All weapons, explosives and warlike materials held in DMZ should be removed.
d. Radio Communication systems and allied installations should be removed.
e. Transport of weapons, explosives and any other warlike material and equipment will not be permitted in any vehicle or vessel.
f. Any type of weapon will not be fired within or into the DMZ.
g. Aircraft flying over the DMZ and heli-movements within the DMZ, particularly into the Fort, should not be interfered with.
h. Sri Lanka naval vessels and craft that move along the channel should not be interfered with.
j. On the seafront, no vessel within a radius of five miles from the Fort should be interfered with. This is being done expressly to permit fishermen the freedom of movement.
The Minister said that negotiations were continuing with the LTTE through the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) and that the government was awaiting the response from the LTTE. Asked as to why the government had previously rejected the LTTE's proposal for demilitarisation, the Minister said that what the LTTE suggested was to have only the hospital demilitarised. That was not acceptable. “We cannot demilitarise only the hospital premises. Anybody can fire from the front or behind or inside the hospital. What will happen when we retaliate?', the Minister asked.
LT TE Seeks Indian "Recognition & Support'
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has appealed to the Government of India to recognise their organisation and intervene directly in the current conflict between the Tigers and the Sri Lankan Government.
This was disclosed by one of the militant group's leaders and former Jaffna Commander of the LTTE, Major General Kittu alias Sathasivam Krishnakumar. Speaking to India Abroad, the Tiger leader said that India should recognise the LTTE immediately.
"India must get involved. If it does not, other forces will intervene. Already there are other foreign involvements detrimental to India's security interests. Recently, a Pakistani warship was in Colombo. Chinese
arms are being sul forces. A monito cover of an Ame station is stil acti
However, Indias ni warship had vis that a coast guarc Colombo on its w; China.
Kittu added th requested Mr. M. Minister of the sou Nadu to explain t ments' to the Ind when he meets M week in New Del them to understan
When we were Army we told the loved the people of were their friends support us morally
Answering a que there had been r central governmen Nadu Chief Minist fugees and making them. That is als claimed.
He said that Int the African Natio) that the LTTE s recognised as it wa for "oppressed peopl
Kittu said that blamed unfairly fo Madras of the EE ruled out talks with saying that more had died since the o on June 11th.
'We shall win th are fighting for jus couldn't have fough army in the world',
ENVOY TOI MEET LTT
Ex
New Delhi, Aug. Commissioner in th Mr. Kuldip Nayar, "not to meet LTTE Krisha Kumar'.
The direction was dip Nayarin respon Indian High Commi could receive Mr. with him the Sri La Mr. Kittu had con High Commissione meeting to discuss t in the North-Easte Lanka. It was an att of communication ment of India. Mr. K message to New political clearance fi External Affairs. A pros and cons of t Kittu, the Foreign Mr. Nayar.

plied to Sri Lankan ing station under rican broadcasting
e'
aid that no Pakistated Sri Lanka and ship had called at y to Karachi from
ut the LTTE had Karunanidhi, Chief hern state of Tamil e 'foreign involvean Prime Minister r. V.P. Singh this li. "The rest is for l', Kittu said. ighting the Indian m clearly that we India and that we Now India must , said Kittu. stion, he said that o reply from the t. But the Tamil er is receiving rearrangements for o a message’, he
lia had recognised nal Congress, and hould likewise be is a group fighting e'.
the Tigers were r the murders in PRLF leaders. He n the Government, than 3000 Tamils utbreak of fighting
e war because we tice. Otherwise we t the fourth largest Kittu argued.
-D NOTTO E LEADER
ress News Service
5: The Indian High United Kingdom, has been advised leader Kittu alias
given to Mr. Kule to a query by the isioner whether he kittu and discuss nkan Tamil issue. tacted the Indian
for a one-to-one he present clashes n Province of Sri 2mpt to open a line with the Governuldip Nayar sent a Delhi and sought pm the Ministry of ter examining the e request by Mr. Office said 'no' to
TAM TIMES 5
There has been no direct (official)
contact between the LTTE and the Government of India or the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi since April 1990. However, Mr. Kittu has also been in telephonic contact with Mr. Karunanidhi. The External Affairs Ministry which formulates the foreign policy does not want to “encourage the establishment of contacts with any of the Tamil groups, at this stage'. The sources say that the Foreign Office would like to maintain a studied silence on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue.
However, India has decided to despatch medicines, including life-saving drugs and other medical supplies to Jaffna on humanitarian grounds. This decision has been taken at the highest political level.
Despatches of essential medicines would start moving at the earliest, said a highly-placed source.
Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh has expressed his deep concern over the heavy casualties suffered by the Tamil population in the NorthEastern province of Sri Lanka.
At a review meeting with officials on August 4 immediately after a meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi, Mr. Singh was understood to have given his consent to the gesture of sending life-saving drugs. The actual modalities of the despatch are being worked out at the officials level.
Officials are tightlipped on the question of whether a medical team as such would be despatched. The reply was: "Please wait and see. India cannot be a silent spectator of continued clashes and heavy casualties in a neighbouring country'.
Muslims Massacred in Mosques
At least 120 Muslims were killed and over 75 seriously wounded in raids on two mosques on 3 August at Kattankudy in eastern Sri Lanka. The victims included children and old men who were engaged in evening prayers when they were massacred by armed gunmen who stormed two mosques at about 8.15 pm.
Soon after the killings, the government, the security forces and the opposition political parties including other Tamil groups accused the LTTE of the slaughter. Denying any responsibility, the LTTE blamed the security forces and its rival Tamil groups for the killings. The Batticaloa LTTE leader Karikalan was reported to have said, "This has been done by the Red Movement 90, a splinter group of the Tamil National Army to discredit the LTTE. A statement issued by the LTTE's London office said that the killings were the result of a 'carefully designed diabolical plan in order to get
Continued On Page 6

Page 6
6 TAMIL TIMES
Continued From Page 5
financial and military assistance from the Arab world. The massacre of innocent Muslim civilians was neatly orchestrated and the blame was put on the Liberation Tigers'. But the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader, A.H.M. Ashraff, was categorical in his accusation against the LTTE which, he charged, was bent on seeking to destroy the political and religious identity of the Muslims.
The two mosques, the Meera Jumma mosque and the Hussainiya mosque were located in close proximity to each other, only a quarter of a kilometer separating them. The gunmen numbering about 30, armed with automatic weapons and grenades had arrived in two vehicles and burst into the
mosques simultaneously after forming.
into two squads. After mowing down the praying Muslims in their kneeling positions, the assailants had lobbed grenades into the screaming crowd. Some of the victims had been hacked to death. The gunmen, some of whom had been attired in military-type fatigues and black uniforms, had regrouped and presumably escaped by boat leaving behind the two vehicles they arrived in.
Opposition condemns: Many opposition parties met in emergency sessions and condemned "unreservedly the uncivilised and barbaric rampage by the LTTE on the Muslims of Kattankudy on August 3 which claimed nearly 140 lives and wounded more than 100 while they were offering their congregational prayers at two mosques'.
The statement issued by the TULF, SILMP, SLFP, MULF. ENDLF, EPDP, EPRLF, NSSP, TELO, CPSL, MEP, SLPF and the Liberal Party added: "From the beginning of this war between the LTTE and the security forces thousands of innocent Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese lives have been lost. The intransigent attitude of the LTTE and its insistence in refusing to recognise other democratic forces has resulted in the Northern and Eastern provinces becoming a battle-ground wherein innocent civilians have been subjected to misery and misfortune. While condemning all killings of Muslims and Sinhalese civilians by the LTTE we are also equally concerned by the killings of innocent Tamils recently and condemn all those who are responsible for it.
"The cause for the present plight of civilians in the Northern and Eastern provinces is the government's total failure to protect the interests of democratic forces. In the circumstances we state that the government should hold themselves responsible to provide equal and adequate security to all communities in the North and East'.
BALASINGH INDIAN INTE
From S. Ven
NEW DELHI, A third time in less th Liberation Tigers (LTTE) have sought intervention’ in Sri
The latest reque plomatic interven Anton Balasingham to the boss of the Prabhakaran.
Talking to a gro Jaffna over the we singham said all tha is "the moral supp( ment of India”.
New Delhi shoul initiatives” to prevel genocide of our peop However, Mr. Bal jected the possibilit tervention either by international peace
He complained tha ly expressed its con condemned “the larg massacre of Tamil p The LTTE theoret out precisely what “intervention” should said: "I think India diplomatically becau Lanka likes it or not of strategic importan Asked about Mr. osal for 'internation Balasingham said: “ be opposed to any for military intervention Nations Peace-Keepi gers are opposed to effort that will circul Commenting on t seven-week war so ham said that whil moved out of towns Northern Province v control, and that the has been finding it "e to move forward.
"All the importan the North are under stopped their mobil: supplies", Mr. Balasi Responding to a c possibility of a pol said: "We are prepar more regional auto proposes a federals Colombo's condition lay down arms befo talks as “totally una
EPDP F PFLT Leader
After all attempts tional aid and s. attempts of the II

5 AUGUST 1990
\M SEEKS RVENTION
t Narayan gust 6 — For the in two months the of Tamil Eelam ndia's 'diplomatic anka. t for India’s dion comes from political adviser LTTE, Velupillai
p of reporters in kend, Mr. Bala, the LTTE wants it of the govern
take 'diplomatic t “the continuous e' he pleaded.
asingham has rey of military inIndia or any other jeeping force. t India has merecern but has not -scale killing and ople”. ician did not spell form the Indian be. He merely can play a role use, whether Sri , it (Sri Lanka) is ce to India'. remadasa's propal mediation', Mr. The LTTE would m of international , such as a United ng Force. The Tiany international mvent India”. he course of the ar, Mr. Balasinge the LTTE has in the East, the was still under its Sri Lanka Army xtremely difficult
, Army camps in siege and we have ty and their food ngham claimed.
uestion about the tical solution, he 2d to negotiate for omy if Sri Lanka stem. He rejected that LTTE first e beginning fresh ceptable'.
ecalls S Statement
to solicit internampathy for the TTE to establish
fascist authority had failed, they are making frantic public appeals that India should now intervene. India can never forget the statement of Mahataya, the present Leader of the PFLT (People's Liberation Front of Liberation Tigers) that "The Sinhala and Tamil people are the sons of this soil, their problems can be solved by negotiations amongst them, India need not interfere in our internal problems.
Making use of foreign and local contact and relationship for their narrow fascist motives, stabbing in the back, deception of being friendly will not continue to serve any purpose, states a Press release by the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP).
The release adds: "The LTTE is adamant in continuing the war unleashed by them for the establishment of a fascist hegemony.
"The LTTE is hellbent on extorting two sovereigns of gold from every household in the North. Failing to obtain the gold they are demanding a youth from every household for their wicked and evil army, from the people who have been forced to lose contact with their dear kith and kin and face untold hardships consequent to being reduced to the state of refugees.
"The LTTE which is involved in conscription much against the wishes of the Tamil-speaking people is forcing the future generation of Tamils to fall prey to the war designs of the fascist LTTE and has driven the Tamils to the brim of frustration.
"The barrels of the guns of the LTTE which have been directed against the ordinary Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil people contrary to the norms of human civilisation, wishes and aspirations of the people, are attempting to build fascist authority on the very ruins.
According to the proposals made there should be no referendum as the merger of the two provinces should automatically be made permanent. The Muslims would have autonomous rule with Amparai as their base and they would also have their own law and order machinery. They would also be able to preserve their identity and culture by the autonomy given to them. The Sinhalese in both provinces would be treated equally and will share all facilities and privileges with the others.
Political sources said that the six parties were now having consultations with the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) in an attempt to convince it and seek its support to have the recommendations implemented. The parties which also met Opposition Leader, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike would seek another meeting with her after matters were finalised with the SLMC.
Two matters which were yet to be finalised were the unit of devolution
Continued On Page 9

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15 AUGUST 1990
POLITICS TAKES BAC AS WAR ENTERS THIR
Rita Sebastian From Colombo
Black Friday August 3. 140 Muslims are brutally gunned down as they kneel for Insha (night) prayers in two mosques in the coastal village of Eastern Kattankudy. Two days later 49 Tamils meet with the same fate in neighbouring Kalmunai. August 12. 122 Muslims are hacked with swords and knives in Eravur. Hours later men armed with knives storm a Tamil refugee camp in Weeramunai in the Amparai district and massacre over 40 Tamils.
Communal tensions simmering under the surface had reared its ugly head with devastating consequences. The massacre of Muslims was laid at the door of the Tigers. Nobody was quibbling about it. Whether it was the UNP, the main opposition Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the Muslim leadership or the Tamil groups, they were all agreed that it was part of a planned strategy by the Tigers to trigger communal violence in the island. Two reasons were attributed for it. One was to force the government to order troops back from the north to protect the border areas and Muslim villages, thereby depleting its strength in the northern areas. And secondly to internationalise the killing of Tamils and give credence to the genocide theory.
The Tigers however have denied the massacre of Muslims and charged the Colombo Government of a diabolical plan to drive a wedge between the Tamils and the Muslims and enlist Arab assistance, in its military onslaught against them.
A divided Muslim political leadership found common cause and came together on one platform not only to condemn the several killings of members of their community but also to demand that the government provide adequate protection to vulnerable Muslim villages in the eastern province.
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress President, H.M. Ashraff angered at what he described as the government's footdragging on the security issue threatened to declare a Jihad (holy war) that would engulf the whole country in flames.
The demand to arm Muslim youth to protect their villages was met with a firm refusal by State Minister for Defence, Ranjan Wijeratne. “I am not going to 'bring back gun culture into the country' he told Parliament. Equally unhappy about arming civilians is the Tamil United Liberation Front who feel it would easily lead to
gang warfarew to destroy the ot
The TULF a arming civilian declaring of demi civilian enclave region with the II tee of the Red C. Whether its su or not the retu M. Sivasitham member R. San this week to p Party Confere scheme of dev Councils heralds politics.
Both men w volved in discus powers in the played a key rol teenth Amendm the party back Tamil politics in The moderate distanced itself f parties, The Ee. tionary Liberat The Tamil Eelam tion (TELO), T Democratic I (ENDLF), The Organisation ofT and the Eelam Front (EPDP) wh trying to forge a demands.
With the thirt Eelavar Democrá of Parliament, a government force there seems little of any Tamil pol for articulating Colombo. The TU basic demand th: flict must cease engage in a dia Tamil question.
Between 1983 Sixth Amendm swearing allegian cept of the consti book, there was tion in Parliamen local bodies. The ceased to be part Lanka and seem cluded from polit at national or loc Many attributed Tamil militancy a tion of democratic opinion. Recent raised serious col

TAM TIMES 7
K SEAT ) MONTH
th each group trying
e. s an alternative to has suggested the litarised zones around in the North-East nternational CommitOSS as guarantors. iggestion is acceptable n of TULF President param and politburo bandan from Madras articipate in the All nce discussing the olution to Provincial a new phase in TULF
no were actively insions on devolution of years 1983-1987 and 2 in shaping the Thirent could well propel into the forefront of the country.
TULF has somehow rom five other Tamil lam People’s Revoluion Front (EPRLF), Liberation OrganisaThe Eelam National liberation Front People's Liberation Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) People's Democratic to together have been consensus on Tamil
een members of The tic front bowing out ld the LTTE battling es in the North-East, likelihood at present tical activity, except Tamil grievances in LF stands firm on its ut parties to the conhostilities and reogue to resolve the
and 1987, with the ent that required 2e to the unitary conution on the statute Lo Tamil representa, District Councils or Tamils more or less of the politics of Sri d alienated and excal decision making ul government level. this to the rise of nd the marginalisaand moderate Tamil developments have cern as to whether
these events are likely to replay themselves.
The EDF, a close ally of the Tigers was in one sense able to articulate within the legislative forum some of the political concerns of the LTTE while maintaining a certain independence to act as an intermediary between the LTTE and political forces in the south. The EDF decision to quit Parliament therefore represents a setback to the process of national reconciliation and the attempts to bring the LTTE into the political mainstream.
With the "war now into its third month and with no signs of any headway being made to call a halt to hostilities a number of concerned international non-governmental agencies are working behind the scenes to open lines of communication between the Government and the Tigers. India which was adamant at the initial stages about not involving the international community on the premise that if any outside mediation was necessary it should be India that should be called in, has suddenly changed its mind and given the go ahead. On the ground the apparent scaling down in the intensity of the fighting has in no way reduced the number of casualties, on all sides. Neither has it called a halt to the influx of refugees to Tamil Nadu.
Mannar Island has become the transit camp for Tamils fleeing the wartorn North-East. Boatmen who know the exact schedules of the Sri Lankan Navy patrols keep watch and manoeuvre their craft across the narrow stretch of waterway to the Indian coast. Although intense negotiations have been on with the Tigers through the International Committee of the Red Cross to turn Mannar Island into a mass refugee camp and declare it a demilitarised zone to accommodate the refugees who have fled to India as well as other Tamil refugees fleeing conflict areas in the North-East, the Tigers have refused the request. They have also refused the Government proposal for a demilitarised zone in the Jaffna , Fort area inclusive of the Jaffna Hospital complex. The Tigers have sent in a counter proposal of declaring only the hospital complex a demilitarised ΖΟΙΩθ.
The North-East conflict has quite understandably thrown up new demands. SLMC's Ashraff is demanding community oriented devolution of power as a safeguard for the Muslims. Power devolved on some form of formal structure for the Muslims by joining together Muslim majority areas. It does not have to be a contiguous area he says and can be patterned on the Indian Pondicherry model, with Amparai where the Muslim areas are contiguous as the base, administratively linked up with other Muslim dominated areas in the region.
Continued On Page 17

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15 AUGUST 1sbo
Continued From Page 6
and the position of the Muslims with regard to the quantum of autonomy. The details of these two vital matters were still being worked out.
A summary of the proposals made is expected to be placed before the President at the All Party Conference (APC) which is scheduled to reconvene on the 13th August. The proposed Regional Council, according to the recommendations, should have powers over, among others, law and order machinery, colonisation, land and land settlement. It should function as an autonomous body.
The leader of one of the parties in the Group said that if their recommendations were accepted by the President, the LTTE would lose the basis of its struggle. The question of “Eelam” (a separate state) would not arise. With a solution found with the consent of the six leading Tamil political parties in the country, Eelam would become redundant. The LTTE struggle will then no longer have popular support either here or abroad.
EDF MPs OUT
Colombo, July 23: The 11 Eelavar Democratic Front members of parliament have resigned.
The EDF MPs who had boycotted parliament these last weeks in protest against military operations in the north-east - which, they charged had led to many civilian casualties and had rendered thousands refugees - said in a statement today that “they could no longer remain dormant spectators to the torment of the Tamil-speaking people'.
EDF General Secretary Balakumar charged that the 'communal attitude of the government had not changed since 1983, and that the actions of the government and its forces made it clear that requests made through the democratic process had become meaningless'.
The statement further added that when the EDF MPs entered parliament they had been given an assurance by President Premadasa that a solution to the ethnic question would be found politically, and that no military action would be taken against the Tamil-speaking people. Balakumar also charged the government with taking steps to 'suppress the Tamilspeaking people and of trying to rouse the hatred of the majority in the name of national defence.
"The propaganda made in favour of the forces is a threat to the Tamilspeaking people', he added.
Terming all the exhortations for national unity as mere "eyewash', Balakumar accused the government of "becoming captive to the forces of chauvinism”.
Govt. Reje
The governmen al by the Libe Eelam (LTTE) 1 the Jaffna Pen Jaffna hospital proposal chann a few days bac peninsula decl. zone'. The gove doing. We didn' it. The LTTE when the ICRC visit the besiege camp. The ICRC but the Tigers Plantation Ind State Minister Wijeratine disclo Addressing th briefing at the Minister said t tinuing their o LTTE in the No ble to land 100C Elephant Pass a ance from the T their way to K heavy resistanc that was overc continued their Vavuniya were by troops. The II but there seem fighters facing onslaught. It was to clear up t Elephant Pass.
Mr. Wijeratne persons were kil at Thampalagal were continuing malee district. A LTTE had raid hamlet and kille gers and burnt it LTTE cadres no were trying to k and run into th knew they them nered and killed
EOF Bid TO E
Two former. Men the Eelavar Der political wing of Jaffna for urge their leader, Ve. determine the p party amidst re EDF activistswe the country, p. yesterday.
A EDF MPs last month for w sonal reasons', b by political obse) vated by the Tig the on-going offe the North-East.

f'S LTTE Offer
has rejected a proposation Tigers of Tamil ) declare a ceasefire in Insula and re-open the The Tigers in their Lled through the ICRC had also wanted the red a "de-militarised rnment said 'Nothing even want to discuss laid down conditions sought their consent to d Jaffna Fort military was prepared to do it, set out conditions', ustries Minister and for Defence, Ranjan sed last week.
e weekly Cabinet news Cabinet office, the hat troops were connslaught against the rth-East. It was possi
security personnel at nd despite stiff resistgers troops had fought illinochchi. There was e at Paranthan, but ome and the soldiers advance. Mannar and also firmly established TTE was on the run, ed to be some brave upto the security s only a matter of time he mainland upto
explained that a few led during a skirmish mam, but the forces
to clear the Trincot Medawachchiya, the ed a remote jungle !d 20 Sinhalese villaheir houses last week w in desperate straits ill Sinhalese peasant 2 jungles where they selves would be corby the forces.
(EROS - nd Impasse
bers of Parliament of locratic Front (EDF), EROS, have left for It consultations with upillai Balakumar to olitical future of the ports that scores of e making a bid to flee litical sources said
resigned their seats hat they termed perut apparently viewed vers as a move motirs to protest against hsive on the LTTE in
arr type Air nt
TAMIL TIMES 9
Ex-EDF MPs, Edward Sebestianpillai and K. Selvanayagam set off for the North by ship with the approval of the government for talks with their leader to end the impasse faced by the party. Confirming the mission to the North, former EDFMP, M. Ramalingam said yesterday that the purpose of the visit was for urgent consultations with leader Velupillai Balakumar regarding the future position of the party. "We want to find out what we are expected to do and determine our future political programme', he added.
Mr. Ramalingam explained that the EDF was in no hurry to nominate new members to Parliament. The conflict in the North-East should be resolved through political means and further loss of life and property prevented.
The former MP said that a number of EDF members were trying to leave the country and applications had been made to several embassies in Colombo in that regard. Some of them who were trapped in Trincomalee and Batticaloa have also found their way to Colombo.
Mr. Ramalingam charged that an appeal to the government to ensure the safe evacuation of EROS members and activists from particularly the East had not produced any results and ultimately some of them had managed to find their way to Colombo amidst a lot of difficulties. He said that the resignation of the EDF Members of Parliament was a decision of the party leadership. That was a clear cut decision, he said.
Asked why scores of EDF members were trying to leave the country, he replied, "They are going for various reasons'.
LTTE RELEASE 15 POLICEMEN
The International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Sri Lanka yesterday announced the release of 15 police constables who had been held by the LTTE.
The LTTE released the policemen to ICRC officials in Jaffna on August 1 and they were brought by ship to Trincomalee and handed over to the police authorities there yesterday, according to an ICRC press communique.
Police sources in Colombo said that the released policemen were all reserve police constables who had been attached to the Kilinochchi police station. They had been captured by the Liberation Tigers when the Kilinochchipolice station was attacked on June 6.
The sources said that the released' personnel were all either Muslim or Tamil and that no Sinhalese were among those released.
ICRC officials had visited the cap
Continued On Page 16

Page 10
10 TAMIL TIMES
FROM THE WAR FRONT
OFIVE MUSLIMS, alleged by the LTTE to be “informants' were shot and killed on 28 July in the Al Jahaiya mosque at Sammanthurai in eastern Sri Lanka. Five policemen were killed in an LTTE ambush at Muttur. Security sources claimed that government forces had killed 16 Tigers in two separate encounters on the Vavuniya-Mankulam road and at Talaimannar. At Kattaprichchan in the east, ten soldiers and four policemen were shot dead in a Tiger ambush and one escaped with serious injuries. All arms and ammunition belonging to the dead men were removed by the LTTE.
O TWENTY THOUSAND metric tons of cement will be imported in September by the Sri Lanka Cement Corporation to ease the prevailing acute shortage. The closure of the Galle and Kankesanthurai cement factories has created a severe crisis in the production of cement.
O PRIVATE SECRETARY to former Cabinet Minister Gamini Dissanayake, P.M.G. Piyasiri was shot and seriously injured on 28 July by a suspected JVP armed gang. O SRI LANKA MUSLIM CONGRESS leader M.H.M. Ashraff, after meeting President Premadasa, said that the President had given an assurance that the security authorities would be directed to formulate a security plan for the Muslims in the districts of Amparai, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and the Wanni; and the question of recruiting and deploying Muslim Home Guards in the villages and along the borders would also be gone into and appropriate action initiated. There were nearly 200,000 Muslim refugees at Thoppur, Kinniya and Muttur in the Trincomalee district and in the districts of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Puttalam.
O FORTY-EIGHT THOUSAND Tamil refugees from north-east Sri Lanka arrived in South India during the previous month, and nearly 200 refugees made the crossing of the Palk Straits every day, the All India Radio reported on 30 July. O GOVERNMENT sources claimed that on 29 July the Airforce succeeded in airdropping 21 food parcels into the Jaffna Fort which had been under siege by the LTTE. As the LTTE resumed its mortar attack on the Fort, the airforce continued with aerial bombardment of the areas in the vicinity of the Fort destroying many buildings. As the Tigers mounted a sustained mortar and machine gunfire attack on the Mullaitivu army camp, government forces retaliated with aerial strafing and bombing of the areas causing heavy damage and many casualties. The Kilinochchi army camp in the north has been abandoned by the armed forces.
OSIX MUSLIMS were abducted on 29 July by an unidentified gang from Udugampola in the Medawachchiya area while they were returning from the bazaar. O FOURTEEN MUSLIMS, some traders and others farmers, while returning home were killed in Akkaraipattu on 30 July. The victims had been abducted by the assailants, their hands tied behind their backs with their own clothes, lined up and shot dead. An armed gang raided the Koviladdi village and attacked villagers with axes and knives killing 9 Tamils and a Muslim.
O TWO POLICEMEN trapped in the besieged Jaffna Fort were killed and three others injured when the Tigers launched a mortar and gunfire attack on the fort. The dead policemen were identified as Abdul Jabbar and Gnanakumar. The dead policemen were buried within the premises of the Fort. O THE EELAM NATIONAL Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF) in condemning the appointment of two separate DIGs (Deputy Inspector Generals of Police) for the north-east province stated that the ENDLF also opposed the delinking of the villages of Sinnawatte, Medawatte, Puludunawa, Gemunupura, Kosgoilla, Niaguna, Wangamuwa, Digavapi I and Digavapi II from the Batticaloa district and linking them with the Amparai district. Such actions by the government would show that it is not prepared to recognise the north-east province as traditional homeland of the Tamilspeaking people. O AN ARMY LIEUTENANT and four soldiers were killed in a Tiger ambush at Uyilankulam in the Mannar district on 31 July. Following this incident, units of the combined armed forces mounted intensified military operations against alleged Tiger positions in Mannar. The operations included aerial strafing and bombing resulting in damage to buildings and civilian casualties. Security sources claimed that a number of Tigers were killed and six bunkers were destroyed at Thiruketheeshwaram. O FIFTEEN smouldering bodies of men were seen on the Dunuwilaaa-Akurana road in Alawathugoda in the Kandy district on 31 July.
 
 

15 AUGUST 1990
THE ENDLF, in condemning the government's decision to recruit ),000 homeguards as a threat to the Tamil people, stated in a ress statement that the LTTE had brought shame on the Tamil ommunity and the militant movement by the killing of innocent vilian Sinhalese and Muslims.
GENERAL SECRETARY of the People's Front of Liberation igers, Yogaratnam Yogi, in an interview, had stated that the resent war is a “war to a finish until a separate state of Eelam is chieved'. He accused the Sri Lankan government of being sincere during negotiations. Right from the beginning, the overnment was insincere. We trusted the President, but he did not rove himself to be sincere'. ) SEVEN MUSLIMS were abducted at gunpoint as they were eturning from their paddy fields by armed men at Kodawatta 'ayal, a few miles off Sammanthurai on 2 August. In another ncident, two bodies of Muslims identified as father and son were hot dead at Majidpuram in the same area. Since the outbreak of rmed hostilities between government forces and the LTTE, over 00 Muslims had been killed in the eastern province alone, ccording to the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.
) GOVERNMENT SOURCES claimed that the Sri Lankan Navy ntercepted a boat on 2 August at Weddithalithivu off the coast of Mannar and arrested six Tigers. Two of the arrested are reported to e 'important LTTE men'. One soldier was killed and three were wounded in a Tiger ambush when soldiers belonging to the Gajaba egiment were engaged in search operations between Kilinochchi und Elephant Pass in the north.
O THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT has donated a consignment of urgently needed medicines, drugs and medical items worth over 3.4 million rupees to Sri Lanka. These were supplied through UNICEF or use among the civilians affected by the current conflict in the north-east. It is reported that the Ministry of Health with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross and other NGOs will distribute the medicines and drugs to medical institutions in the affected areas. OTHE BRIDGE on the Ottamawadi-Kiran highway in the east was comprehensively destroyed on 3 August by the LTTE. Security sources claimed that 9 Tigers including a leader were killed in an ambush by government forces at Palampattar in the Trincomalee district. O THE CANADAN HIGH COMMISSION in Colombo has donated Rs.1,710,000 to the Central Council of Social Services, an umbrella organisation comprising 118 affiliate NGOs, to support emergency assistance in the form of dry rations, medicines, clothing and to cover transport costs primarily for the benefit of displaced persons in the Mannar district. This latest contribution brings the total Canadian assistance committed to the current emergency to Rs.27,299.465. O AN ARMY clearing unit was ambushed by the LTTE on 4 August near Borupola on the Amparai-Kandy Road, killing one soldier and seriously injuring another. Following the ambush, the army cordoned off the area and launched an extensive search operation. O A MAJORATTEMPT by the LTTE to break into the besieged Jaffna Fort on 5 August with nearly a dozen armour-plated heavy vehicles modified for the purpose was thwarted by government forces with nassive aerial strafing and bombing. Claims by the security forces that the LTTE lost dozens of their men in this rather daring endeavour was confirmed by Tiger circles. A large contingent of Tigers walking behind armour-plated heavy vehicles approached the Fort while they fired mortars and rocket propelled grenades at the camp. As the soldiers and policemen retaliated with heavy artillery, Italian built SF 260 Sia Marchetti ground attack aircraft and American Bell 412 and 212 helicopter gunships bombed and strafed relentlessly until the Tiger attack was repulsed. As the Tigers withdrew, many bodies were seen strewn along the approach road to the Fort. OTHE NATIONAL DEFENCE FUND commenced by the government following the outbreak of the Govt.-LTTE war has topped Rs.120 million and according to President Premadasa, the target of the Fund is Rs.5000 million.
O AT LEAST 58 Muslims were shot and hacked to death by armed gangs in separate incidents at Akkaraipattu in eastern Sri Lanka on 5 August. In the first attack, 18 Muslim farmers were killed at Palamukulam in the Attalachenai area. The victims had been returning from their fields when the assailants surrounded them, tied their hands behind their backs and shot them through their heads after lining them up. In another attack at Panayaruppu junction on the Akkaraipattu-Amparai Road, 15 Muslims were killed when the assailants opened fire with automatic weapons. The Treasurer of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress alleged that

Page 11
1s AUGUST 1990
about 21 Muslims had been abducted in the Akkaraipattu area and their whereabouts were not known, by a gang, allegedly belonging to the LTTE. Later 18 bodies with gunshot injuries were found a Alindakadu. The SLMC also alleged that the LTTE had issued 'qui notices' to Muslims living in the Akkaraipattu area to evacuate by 10 August.
Newspaper offices in Colombo received telephone calls on 6 August from a person allegedly belonging to an extremist Muslim organisation who stated that the group's "Hisbullah' office in Tehran and Lebanon had been informed to bomb the LTTE offices based in London, USA and other western capitals in retaliation for the killing of Muslims in Sri Lanka allegedly by the LTTE.
OTHREE SOLDIERS of the Second Sinha Regiment were severely wounded when they trod on a pressure-mine while engaged in clearing operations on the Mannar-Vavuniya road on 5 August.
O OVER 100 MUSLIMS in Colombo apparently provoked after watching the bodies of those killed in Kattankudy mosques over the Rupavahini (TV) news bulletin on 5 August marched towards the Hindu Kovil at Bandaranaike Mawatte in Kotahena and made an attempt to attack it. Police who rushed to the scene used tear gas and opened fire forcing the angry crowd to disperse. But the gang had already attacked a father and son living behind the temple. The incident prompted the police to provide guard to the Kovil while police stations in other areas were alerted following the incident and security was strengthened around Kovils and Mosques. O ALL MUSLM traders in Akkaraipattu, Kalmunai and Sammanthurai kept the shops closed on 6 and 7 August in protest against the killing of 58 Muslims in Akkaraipattu on 5 August. White flags were hoisted in some shops as a mark of respect for the dead.
O SECURITY SOURCES claimed that 13 Tigers were killed in separate operations in the Akkaraipattu and Pahalamunai areas on 6 August; on the same day 21 Tigers were shot dead near the Palaly and Karainagar army camps.
O "WE WILL NOT capture the LTTE, but destroy them. We will show no mercy. The LTTE does not deserve to live in this country or anywhere for that matter. There should not be ceasefires. We will go all out and destroy everyone of them, up to their last man. Nowhere in the world had any terrorist group killed people inside a mosque, kovil, church, temple or any place of religious worship. The LTTE brutes had gone into a mosque at Kattankudy and gunned down innocent Muslims, Plantations Industries Minister and State Minister for Defence, Ranjan Wijeratne said in Parliament on 7 August.
O IN ADAWN RAID on 7 August by the Special Task Force on an LTTE hideout in Sangamankanda between Thirukoil and Komari in east Sri Lanka, government sources claimed that six Tigers were killed and a large quantity of weapons and ammunition were captured.
O 57 SINHALESE, including twenty women and children, were shot and hacked to death in two separate attacks in east Sri Lanka on 7 and 8 August. In the first attack on 7 August, 32 Sinhalese were hacked to death in the remote village of Bandaraduwa in Uhana police area in the Amparai district. Four were critically injured and admitted to hospital. The attackers had entered the village clad in uniforms similar to those worn by the army and attacked the inmates with knives. A 27-year-old survivor of this attack, Mrs. K. Karunawathie, speaking from her hospital bed is reported to have said that when the men in camouflaged uniforms entered their house, she fell at their feet and pleaded with them to spare their lives, but they killed her husband and children in her presence and thereafter cut her also. She fell unconscious and when she regained consciousness, she found herself in hospital. On 8 August on the Mahadivulwewa-Rotawewa road, a gang of 40 armed men bombed a private bus on its way from Morawewa to Horawapotana before dragging the people out and shooting them at point blank range as the victims tried to escape into the jungle. 25 persons, including 14 women, one child and an off-duty soldier, were killed in the incident. Seven persons with knife and gunshot injuries were rushed to the hospital. The government blamed the LTTE for these killings.
O ABOUT 150 foreign passport holders stranded in the northern Jaffna peninsula since the fighting broke out on June 11 were transported to Colombo by ship on 7 August. The evacuees included Britains, Australians, Germans, Americans and many Tamils who had returned to Jaffna to see their relatives. OMINISTER WIJERATNE told a press conference on 9 August that LTTE cadres had killed seven Sinhalese and four others were injured in the village of Nawgamuwa in the Vavuniya area on 8 August.

TAMIL TIMES 11
O THE LANKAN AIRFORCE launched a massive sustained bombing and strafing operation in the Jaffna city on 9 August. Security sources claimed that the operations were carried out in an attempt to destroy LTTE bunkers situated about 700 metres away from the Jaffna Fort from which the LTTE had been firing rockets and mortars at the Fort army camp. Heavy exchange of mortar and small arms fire between government forces and the LTTE took place on 10 August at Talaimannar. مېرم
O S. PREMACHANDRAN, EPRLF (TULF) MP for Jaffna district, speaking in Parliament on 10 August condemned the killing of innocent Muslim and Sinhalese civilians in the eastern province. During the past few months, more than 1500 innocent Tamils had been killed and some burnt alive. Muslims and Sinhalese were being killed by the LTTE, but who were killing the Tamils? They were planned murders and little publicity was given when Tamils were killed, the MP said. Mavai S. Senathirajah (TULF National List MP) said that over 2500 people had been killed in the north-east and the people could not endure the suffering much longer. Every newspaper reported murders of Muslims and Sinhalese. In one incident the army had escorted men and women of the area to the Trincomalee esplanade and many of them had been killed, but the papers did not report these killings. In Akkaraipattu 37 Tamils were arrested and had later been killed, but these killings were not reported. Many forces are working to create division between the Tamils and Muslims in the eastern province, the MP added.
O PRESIDENT PREMADASA, speaking at a public meeting at Amparai on 31 July said that it was now clear that the LTTE had been preparing for war while continuing its dialogue with the government. During his talks with the LTTE, he had told them that the government would not allow any group that retained arms and ammunition and maintained a guerrilla outfit to contest the North-East Council elections. It was stressed that all arms should be surrendered and a climate for free and independent political activity be created to hold the elections. All parties interested in contesting the elections should be free to do so without fear. One group could not be allowed to contest the polls carrying arms while the others had to face the elections as ordinary citizens. With the dissolution of the North-East Provincial Council and if fresh elections were called, the LTTE knew that they would have to surrender their arms as they had pledged earlier. Frightened of that prospect, they made use of minor incidents in a refugee camp to wage war against the government.
O A LARGE NUMBER of Tamil and Muslim students from the , Jaffna and Batticaloa universities have sought permission from the University Grants Commission to continue their academic activi- , ties in other universities in the south of the island. The Chairman of the University Grants Commission, Prof. Arjuan Aluvihare said that students whose lives were at risk because of the security situation should be provided with alternative suitable arrangements irrespective of their ethnic group.
O OVER A THOUSAND Sinhala and Muslim youth in the Eastern Province are to be given military training beginning shortly. Most of the youth to be given training are from the Amparai and Akkaraipattu areas. The Commander of the Home Guards, SSP Sumith Liyanage said that he was prepared to give the training to all selected applicants. Among other things, the youth will be given training in the use of firearms.
O AN ESTIMATED 85 Tamil villagers were hacked to death in eastern Sri Lanka at the beginning of August in apparent retaliation for the killings of hundreds of Muslims, residents said. About 100 more Tamils were injured when a gang of people with knives and axes attacked the villages of Chenkalady and Kudurippu in Batticaloa district, they added. Batticaloa residents contacted by telephone said some houses were set on fire. They said they believed the killings were carried out by Muslims to avenge the massacres of people of their community by suspected Tamil guerrillas. Security sources said they had heard of some incidents in the two villages but had no details.
O 40 TAMILS, including women and children, were hacked to death by a Muslim mob in eastern Sri Lanka on August 7 amid mounting communal tension. A leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), who did not wish to be identified said the incident occurred at Thirkkerni in Amparai district. He said a number of Tamil women had also been abducted by the mob and their fate was unknown. Officials were not immediately available to confirm or deny the incident. The attack on the Tamils appeared to be in retaliation for the massacre of more than 100 Muslims in two mosques at Kathankudy in the neighbouring Batticaloa the previous Friday and 50 others in the Akkaraipattu area of Amparai on the Sunday by suspected Tamil militants.

Page 12
12 TAMIL TIMES
The North-East: Getting Back To Fundam
- Jehan Perera
The feeling that one is in the right has been a source of all kinds of intolerance throughout human history. From the Spanish Inquisition to the civil wars of Lebanon the story is the same. When we are right we do not want to give in at all even if we have to burn and kill to get our way.
In our second month of war the illusions we had continue to be dispelled. We are not as strong as we thought. If the Tigers expected to hold their positions against the security forces they have been mistaken. Countless bunkers so painstakingly built have been destroyed. The East is lost and the security forces advance, slowly but surely. In turn if the Government expected to win a quick and crushing victory with its professionalised army it has had to re-evaluate the strength of the Tiger guerrilla movement. The LTTE is more entrenched in the land and people than the JVP ever was. Nor do the security forces fight on their home territory, in their very villages of birth. " . . .
This was not a war we wanted. Nor is it pne that must be permitted to drag on. The casualties are very heavy. it is
a life for a life, a bullet for a bullet, a
limb for a limb and an atrocity for an
atrocity. An entire population
threatens once again to become an enemy.
There is no slogan more calculated to dehumanise than the cry that this is a fight to the finish or that this is our last fight. But we do not like to give up the costly gains of the military battlefield. To negotiate now may seem like a betrayal of the dead.
We must, of course, remember the dead. But in seeking punishment and vengeance for unspeakable atrocities and treachery, we create more. This is perhaps why, many thousands of years ago, it is recorded 'Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord, it is not for you'. The longer we delay to negotiate the more vulnerable does our international position become. Even more disturbing, the Sinhalese and Tamils are polarised and driven under the leadership of two different and monolithic power blocs shattering the pluralism that was gradually emerging within both communities.
Different Truths
As the war continues the more polluted becomes the mental environment we live in, the more ugly the disparity between the glittering extravaganzas of Colombo and the stench and hunger of refugee camps in the North-East. Vested interests grow that benefit
from the perpetuation struggle to remain hu not become fired up Almost against our ourselves taking grin the death toll of the ot The natural inclina is to blame others. S President. He acted a was too trusting. He advice and see the per the Tigers. Or we bl Once a tiger always boys with big guns a the Tamil counterpart we blame the 'Sinha bent on preserving Si tion over the Tamil the police stations policemen in Tamil a the army camps and Sinhalese settlers. All different perspectives. that see one side of the
the other.
Thus from one p LTTE's sudden attac
stations and inexcusa 300 (or perhaps 600) men may be seen as
Tiger treachery and a 1 chance offered by the enter the mainstream tiation. On the other
LTTE perspective th
may be seen as an ine stemmed from the g capacity or unwilling stand that the LTT offering it a last chal that this was indeed a in which Sinhalese the North-East had to
This inability to s sides of an issue is of the human condition and inevitable. But excusable nor inevita ance to get down to damentals, and to g with openness and v agenda.
The government at been negotiating for neither side plainly prepared to settle for prepared to concede. '' that the government enhance the devolut were even less info LTTE's goal. The gov LTTE themselves ap uncertain about eac and intentions.
The Present
There are indeed mands the govern made of each other.

:15 AUGUST 1990
entals
of the war. We han beings and ethnic beings. fishes we find satisfaction in ner side. on at this time we blame the one, we say. He id not take our idious nature of me the LTTE. a tiger. Young d no education, of the JVP. Or la government halese dominaureas. Manning with Sinhalese eas, beefing up colonising with true, from our Limited truths reality and not
erspective the k on the police ble slaughter of unarmed policethe apogee of rejection of a last government to i through negohand, from the e confrontation vitable one that overnment's inness to underwas, in turn, hce to recognise new Sri Lanka lomination over
end. ee the different course a peril of both excusable what is neither le is our reluctbasics, to funt down to them ithout a hidden
d the LTTE had ver a year. But aid what it was and what it was le vaguely knew was prepared to
on package. We
med about the rnment and the bar to be equally
other's targets
Disputes
some open deent and LTTE The government
had called upon the LTTE to lay down
its arms and enter the mainstream of politics. The LTTE in turn demanded that the government should repeal the 6th amendment and hold fresh provincial elections.
The essential element in creating a new democracy and a new Lankan identity is that majority rule should yield to the principle of consensus in the area of ethnic relations. The passage of the 6th amendment in the aftermath of the July 1983 events, perceived by Tamils as a holocaust, was a clear violation of this principle. Instead of giving comfort to the devastated Tamil population, the government used its steamroller majority (kept intact by the morally questionable referendum) to give the Tamils a further slap in the face.
The repeal of the 6th amendment is not simply an LTTE demand; it accords with the sentiments of the Tamil people themselves. For that reason alone it should be repealed. Second, as long as the LTTE is armed, such a clause in the constitution is meaningless in practical terms since it is unenforceable.
However, the LTTE's other demand, the holding of fresh provincial elections is a specifically LTTE demand. It cannot be called a demand of the people of the province. Other parties, which represent both Tamil and Muslim people in the province have strongly opposed any fresh elections so long as the LTTE is armed.
Above all, the LTTE seeks recognition as the sole representative of the Tamil-speaking people. But in a democracy such a recognition cannot be bestowed by governmental decree or be obtained because of present military. dominance or past sacrifice. The representative status that the LTTE craves for can only be gained when the people of the North-East choose them by voting freely at fair elections. But so long as the LTTE is armed there cannot be such free and fair elections. If the Tigers want elections then they must disarm.
The Fundamentals
But such a conclusion is only a half of the solution. For two long years the Tigers fought the mighty Indian army. They made great sacrifices for their cause. We cannot ask the LTTE to disarm and expect them and the Tamil people to believe that the government will play fair thereafter. Perhaps the Tamils do trust President Premadasa. But the President is not the government, and past governments have had a very poor record of sticking by their promises to the Tamil people. Dudley Senananayake's offer to the Federal Party to resign when his government refused to honour its agreement with the FP comes to mind. Before that, of course, was the agreement that S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike signed with S.J.V. Chelvanayakam and then tore

Page 13
15 AUGUST 1990
up in the face of Sinhalese protests.
Before insisting that the Tigers should disarm, the government must make up its mind what it is willing to offer the Tamil people. This offer must be based upon what the Tamils are entitled to, not upon the balance of power. The standard we must go by is not what the military situation dictates or what the Sinhalese feel like giving or what the Tamils feel like having, but what is internationally accepted in the International Convenants on Human Rights. As a distinct people, different from the Sinhalese in their language, religion, culture and history, the Tamils are entitled to self-determination. Minorities whether in Nigeria, Spain or the Soviet Union have been provided a high degree of autonomy in recognition of this right.
A few countries such as the Soviet Union have proclaimed in their constitutions that self-determination permits secession. But nowhere in the international human rights covenants is it said that the principle of selfdetermination means the right to secede. This is because setting up a separate State can violate the human rights of other people. Especially so in Sri Lanka which, unlike the massive Soviet Union, is a very small country.
For instance, the proposed state of Tamil Eelam obtained by carving out the North-East province would lead to a tiny country even more ethnically divided than the present Sri Lanka. The Tamil population in the new state would amount to only 65% of the total population. Therefore, this population would be determining the futures of the balance of 35% of the non-Tamil peoples. They in turn might wish to secede. New conflicts would arise. As in Palestine there would be an urge to expand. Divison would be no solution.
But within the political framework of a united Sri Lanka, the principle of self-determination means that the Tamils and Muslims of Sri Lanka are entitled to demand a maximum of political and economic freedom. The present provincial councils, although an improvement on previous efforts at devolving power, are considerably inadequate in this respect. The frustrations of the Chief Ministers in the Sinhalese-dominated provincial councils provides ample evidence of this inadequacy.
The Negotiables
In a newly published book titled "The Anguish of '83', C. Suriyakumaran, a seniormost U.N. official, a professor at the London School of Economics and now on the JVP Surrender Committee, offers several valuable ideas he articulated in widely read newspaper articles between 1983 and 1989. His writings are a testimony to the ability of a Tamil (or Sinhalese or Muslim for that
matter) to ove separation and with the well b on the island.
Regarding th Professor Suriy, "From the begin tions to the Sou cils, the Count meeting in hot public places an at the Kachche have. They ha speaking of.
The backbone is the power to nances. In add: over land, police be devolved, at provinces. The by-passed in th They tend to be are often not wi academic, media nas. So their vo The Muslims ju Tamils are entitl in the decision m areas in which th merger of the N provinces is not the Muslims or S East.
The assertion has been the Sinhalese conce and “Dhamma C proclaim the pri place of the Sin The psychologica cept in the Tami such that an some form of a prising the Nort least the predom the Eastern prov This would not nantly Muslim p despite their no their own separa dominantly Sinh merged with a majority provinci
It may well be devolution we ha of directly streng tical involvemen ernment. Profe argues for the presidents and c quota system f Muslim commu) advocates a sy decentralisation which would rei cipation in na! making.
The specifics g possibilities tha But the need for upfront about w are entitled to h the Tigers. To el the LTTE may

ཆང་ན་འང་དགའ་ཡང་གང་མིང་ཙ་ར་ཀས་གང་ جیx&جب
come the anguish of emain truly concerned ing of all people living
Provincial Councils,
kumaran asserts that ning of the first elechern Provincial Counils found themselves ls, town halls, other
anywhere else except is where they should no finances worth
of genuine autonomy
tax and to raise fition, complete power and education should least to the minority Wuslims must not be s devolution process. left out because they ell represented in the
and expatriate areice is not well heard. 1st as much as the ed to participate fully aking process in those ey are a majority. The orthern and Eastern satisfactory to either inhalese living in the
of "Tamil Homelands' Tamil response to pts of 'Sinhaladeepa" leepa which tend to mary if not exclusive halese on the island. l reaction to this conl mind appears to be acknowledgement of Tamil homeland comhern province and at nantly Tamil parts of nce will be necessary. prevent the predomiarts of the province, n-contiguity, forming te province. The prealese parts could be djoining SinhaleseS. hat in our concern for fe neglected the issue heming minority poliin the central govsor Suriyakumaran appointment of vice binet ministers on a om the Tamil and ities. He eloquently em of “Interlocking and centralisation' force minority partional level decision
'en above are merely can be negotiated. he government to be at the Tamil people is nothing to do with ure its own survival mand more or may
ཡུན་ཟླ་སྣ་ ༈ ཐག ༈ འབྱ༤༣
TAMIL TIMES 1
--- -ormat
demand less, but this does not change the Tamil right to self-determination, to democracy, to fair elections and to honest government. The opposition parties, appear to be newly willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with the government in working out a mutually acceptable solution.
A New Attitude
What this calls for is a new attitude of mind as evinced by Professor Suriyakumaran’s writings. Our politicall leaders, and we too, have to cultivate a supreme sensitivity to the concerns of others, a willingness to listen with patience and to give up our position if another position is shown to be better.
At a recent seminar a Tamil speaker said "No government has understood what the Tamils really want'. Those of us in the audience thought we knew what he meant. But we did not, and so without asking him we each came to our own conclusions. This is a microcosm of a larger social problem. We do not engage in real dialogue.
Later on when the speaker was asked what he had meant he replied "The government has gone on the basis that it is jobs, land, devolution and so on. But those are secondary issues.
“What we really want is to know we are treated equally in this country. We want to know, for instance, that the decisions of the government in supplying or not supplying food to the war affected areas are not influenced by the fact that the affected population is Tamil and not Sinhalese'.
It is only through participation in such decision making that the Tamils can be sure that the rationale underlying certain decisions was fair. In a new Sri Lanka there can be no getting away from equal partnership and team work. In the President's words what we need to do is to strive after a consensus on the future of Sri Lanka. Compromise will be important to us because it is the technology to achieve our goal.
A generous offer at the All-Party Conference, Federalism, no less, by the government at this time to the Tamil people, including the LTTE, can cause a dramatic change in the mental environment, both international and domestic, and can lead to the pronegotiations elements within the Tamil community and even the LTTE gaining the upper hand.
The gun may very well impose conditions for peace. But it cannot create peace. Peace flows from a new attitude of mind, forgiveness and fairplay. And perhaps, as Professor Suriyakumaran concludes in his book, peace also requires faith.
" (The Anguish of '83: Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis and the Way Out by C. Suriyakumaran (1990). Published by K. V.G. de Silva, Colombo, Ltd.)

Page 14
14 TAML IIm--
KANTHIASAMY MEMORAL LEC
THE VALUE OF DISSEN
, Izeth Hussain
(Continued from last issue)
I will not go into details about the undemocratic actions of our governments as they are quite well known. I will merely remark, before proceeding further, that it is surely significant that, unlike in most other democracies, whatever parties happen to be in the opposition consider whatever government happens to be in power in Sri Lanka to be anti-democratic. Since this lecture is on the value of dissent, I will make some observations on the failure of dissent in Sri Lanka. It is a fact that none of our governments have silenced the opposition in Parliament. It is also a fact that since the 'sixties our opposition parties have been renowned for their inertness. With conspicuous exceptions, such as the late Sarath Muttetuwegama, our opposition members have usually failed to shout over the grievances of the people, perhaps for a tactical reason: they shout, the Government corrects its mistakes and gets re-elected. Far better to allow the government to compound its mistakes and await their own turn, good souls, to come to power and enjoy power thoroughly. I personally believe that this is an uncharitable explanation, because there seems to be something about our culture which makes people look on power as something that is virtually sacrosanct, so that there is on the one side the government's power and on the other the opposition’s nompower, and there is no point in shouting about abuse of power. The opposition's failure to utilize the opportunities for dissent might be the expression of a society's failure to value dissent.
That might be the explanation for the ease with which press freedom was eroded in the 'sixties and then destroyed in the 'seventies in Sri Lanka. The contrast with the reactions to Mrs. Gandhi's Emergency, and any attempt to muzzle the Indian press, is very striking. It has to be acknowledged that some latitude was allowed for the mini-press in Sri Lanka, and that there was even a slight extension of the latitude after 1977, but it was far from being adequate for a democracy. I say this because I had the opportunity of observing at first hand the last years of the Marcos Government in Philippines, where I was shocked to find that the Manila press under the Marcos dictatorship was certainly freer than the Sri Lanka press under the Jayewardene democracy. There can be no democracy unless the right to dissent is fully respected and that requires a really free press, not just that
some latitude be allow press. We have not hi
Sri Lanka, in any wi
since 1970, since our has been severely c. even possible that we democratic than som torships.
The hypothesis tha arguing is that the bel of 1948 shown in poc other performance, a astrous situation we 1989, was the conseq constrained power er: governments. I bel hypothesis is supporte that have been taking times. There seems to siveness to public opini the Government - sho in what is taking place Conference - which h outstanding character ernments for a long til to be some willingnes gap between rhetoric perform to some ext terms of what is prom hardly there under t ment. And the talons being loosened from t this might have a grea the personality of Pre: sa who has over the d the reputation of bein the doer, not just ano more important reason I think, is that the ( been shown that it unlimited. This has be Tamil rebellion in the it was shown for sol J.V.P., and it was als I.P.K.F. There has bec to reality through th gun. It is better to speech and writing, ra it out and eventually the dissent of the gun I will now address th value of dissent. Th have made on the Communist system i pean countries, the b) traditional polities o! the peculiar case of Sr that for countries out most important value it constrains governn the West, the power has been tamed, whi the case elsewhere.
Governmental pow strained in some was can be mad and des dictum that power t absolute power corn
 
 

15 AUGUST 1990
T
ed for the minid democracy in rthwhile sense, right to dissent nstricted. It is have been less of the dicta
t I have been ing of our hopes r economic and nd in the disfaced in 1988ence of the unercised by our eve that this I by the changes
place in recent De a new responon on the part of wn for instance at the All-Party as not been an isic of our govne. There seems s to narrow the
and reality, to ent at least in ised, which was he last governof the State are he economy. All it deal to do with sident Premadalecades acquired g pre-eminently ther talker. The h for the change, Government has power is not en shown by the North and East, me time by the to shown by the in an awakening e dissent of the allow dissent in ther than stamp face once again
e question of the observations I collapse of the Eastern Euroeak-down of the
Afro-Asia, and Lanka, suggest ide the West the of dissent is that ental power. In of governments h is not usually
r has to be con
as otherwise it ructive. Acton's ands to corrupt, upts absolutely,
should be adapted to read: Power tends to derange mentally, absolute power deranges absolutely. The evidence is there in Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Ceaucescu, Papa Doc Duvalier, Somoza, Idi Amin, Bokassa and others, not to mention the great state-criminals of earlier centuries. Apart from helping in constraining power, dissent has also an obvious constructive function in relation to government. Unless conflicting views can be expressed, the Government cannot always be expected to recognize its faults and correct them. This should be self-evident, but for some reason it is not evident at all to a great many governments.
My argument seems to be contradicted by undemocratic governments which allow little or no dissent, and yet have excellent socio-economic achievements to their credit. I am quite sure that empirical studies will show that in all such cases governmental power is in fact constrained in important ways. For instance the East Asian governments and some of the ASEAN ones, may not have democratic legitimacy or may be undemocratic in practice, and may show a pathological impatience with dissent as in the case of Singapore, but in allowing a very important place for the private sector those governments are in fact limiting their power to a far greater extent that the Afro-Asian socialist or Communist governments. There could be all sorts of constraints, religious or ideological ones, anxieties about being overthrown by the military, fears of dictators about provoking rebellion, operating in undemocratic governments which show achievement. The problem is that such governments may be overtaken by power-mania at any time, and the people may suddenly find themselves sinking. It is better to allow dissent.
I will not be able in this lecture to go into all aspects of the value of dissent. The great text on this subject is John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, which should be required reading for everyone responsible for our politics. Rather than recapitulate Mill's arguments, whose text is easily available in Colombo, I will deal only with some aspects of the value of dissent from a Sri Lankan and Third World perspective. The Index on Censorship, a periodical published by Writers and Scholars International in London which is helping a Sri Lankan project to compile an anthology on the value of dissent, contains the following which should be regarded as selfevident: “Human progress depends on the free exchange of conflicting ideas. Not merely good government, but the development of civilization itself - cultural, economic scientific — centres on this.
The material affluence which today is available for the mass of mankind - from which many are held back by their governments - is the result of the

Page 15
15 AUGUST 1990
scientific progress which would never have been possible if dissent had been disallowed against earlier scientific orthodoxies. There would have been no Copernicus, Newton, or Einstein if not for dissent. In fact, mankind would not have made the great break-through to the neolithic stage if dissent had been disallowed against the orthodoxies of paleolithic man. We would still be cavemen if not for dissent, enjoying lives that are nasty, brutish, and short. Life is just that for a great many human beings in the Third World, where dictators will do well to reflect over the fact that the gadgets and other products of the industrial West that are so conspicuous in their lifestyle, and that of their supporting elites, would not have been available if not for the dissent allowed in the West. Some of the leaders of those East Asian and South East Asian economies which have done so splendidly - one of whom berates the West for its decadence and foresees those economies overtaking the West before too long - should be told that they and their economies are where they are today because of the dissent allowed in the West, which they will not allow to their own people.
Many of us in Sri Lanka will not be particularly impressed by the argument that dissent has to be valued because without it there would have been no scientific and material progress. We practice four world religions in Sri Lanka and are the inheritors of a great and ancient civilization, and civilization has far more to it than mere material progress. We cannot admire a West which has acquired gadgets and lost its soul. We should reflect on the melancholy fact that the great Asian civilizations have been decadent for centuries, and we should try to acquire an understanding of how civilizations renew themselves. It involves dissent. Civilizations stagnate or decay unless there is change, after which they become dynamic once again. Mill refers to the Reformation in Europe, the eighteenth century Enlightenment, and Germany's intellectual ferment during the time of Goethe, and writes:
These periods differed widely in the particular opinions which they developed; but were alike in this, that during all three the yoke of authority was broken. In each an old mental despotism had been thrown off, and no new one had yet taken its place. The impulse given at these three periods has made Europe what it is now. Every single improvement which has taken place either in the human mind or in an institution, may be traced distinctly to one or the other of them'.
We need not agree with Mill's every point, only that civilization renews itself by breaking the yoke of authority and throwing off old mental despotisms. The process means dissent.
I believe that ir Lanka where the tion has not gone we should try to dissent firmly on of Hinduism al Buddhism, Chri could not have ar. the Buddha ch orthodoxy, Chr Judaic order and Prophet Mohamm the Meccan m found their pagan tive to be given began with just a theyswept the wo these three relig Hinduism which ence, have to res which their religi come into being in may refuse to allo religious fundame to respect dissent
All these four r ultimate value on not the human grc transcendental. P dissent can be del More clearly, it can religious position the realm of the human is imperfec Governments whi dissent are in effe ity: they know inf for everyone, and lence dissent. It some who have enј have claimed to be Roman Emperors, chock-full of the c. Weber thought wa of authority. As chased away, shot comes apparent thought they were or charismatic. II w Government which sent is claiming therefore irreligiou have been many s religious societies.
Some would a should be allowed not just in the secu great religion orthc lenged and schism the case of the Bhi ism, Mahayana in tantism in Christia Islam. Mill thou, schism reinvigora rather than quote secular-minded We ouote one of Em edicts:
"One should not own religion and gion of others, but others' religion for So doing one hel gion to grow and the religions of ot

countries such as Sri process of secularisaas far as in the West, ground our case for religion. The origins e not known, but stianity and Islam sen if not for dissent: allenged Brahmin st challenged the vas crucified, and the ed fled to Medina as rchant-aristocracy | practices too lucraup easily. All three few disciples before rld. The adherents of ions, as well as of secumenical in esspect dissent without ons would not have the first place. They w dissent on certain ntals, but they have in the secular realm.
eligions posit as the earth the individual, up, in relation to the erhaps the right to ived from that fact. be derived from the hat the perfect is in sacred, while the t and man is fallible. ch refuse to allow ct claiming infalliballibly what is good therefore they siis no accident that oyed absolute power gods, like those old or to be god-like or harisma which Max s one of the sources soon as they are , or hanged, it behat no one really infallible, god-like, ould argue that the i will not allow disinfallibility, and is s to the bone. There uch governments in
rgue that dissent in religion as well, ular realm. In every doxy has been chalhas followed as in kti cults in HinduBuddhism, Protesnity, and Shiʼism in ght that religious es orthodoxy, but
him as he was a stern liberal II will eror Asoka’s rock
honour only one's condemn the reliOne should honour this or that reason. )s one’s own relirenders Service to ers too. În acting
TAMILTIMES 15
otherwise one digs the grave of one's
own religion and also does harm to other religions'.
The Emperor Asoka was of course speaking about tolerance towards. other religions. It is difficult to see how one can tolerate other religions which deny the fundamentals of one's own religion, and at the same time be intolerant of schismatic developments which accept those fundamentals.
This predominant religion of Sri Lanka, Buddhism, seems to be preeminently the religion of dissent. The Buddhist is asked not to take anything Ón faith, not to follow a master blindly, and to come to the truth through his own experience. I will not quote the Buddha's well-known advice to the Kalamas, or any other Buddhist text, but refer only to the succinct and categorical statement of one of our authorities on Buddhism, the Ven. Dr. Walpola Rahula, who wrote in his book What the Buddha Taught: "The freedom of thought allowed by the Buddha is unheard of elsewhere in the history of religions'. Perhaps a Buddhist will hold that a Buddhist, government which refuses to allow. dissent is not being Buddhist.
Buddhism seems to give a rather unusual place to truth, which of course is a central value in all religions, because according to Buddhism everything else, including love, is in an ultimate sense bondage. I have already pointed to the integral connection between truth and dissent. When we . dissent we do so, except when we are deploying forensic skills at the debating society level, in terms of what we regard as the truth. I might mention parenthetically as it were, Michel Foucault's essay Disciplinary Power and Subjection which begins by discus- : sing the triangular relationship between power, right, and truth. The discourse of power always claims to be the discourse of truth, and the delimitation of power, and our rights, are also legitimated in terms of what is regarded as the truth.
Instead of becoming too theoretical, I must now point to the obvious practical value of truth. When we refuse to : value the truth, our capacity to recognise reality, what is out there in the world, is lessened and our grasp of reality is weakened. That is why governments which have contempt for the truth, which lie all the time and come to believe their own lies, which cannot allow the dissent that points to the truth, so often lead their countries to disaster.
Such governments also diminish the humanity of the people subjected to their power, for something about being properly human demands the truth, even though we find it socially expedient to lie frequently. Wyndham Lewis in The Writer and the Absolute
Continued On Page 16

Page 16
16 TÄML TIMES
Continued From Page 15
claimed that he found himself paralysed the moment he tried to write something that he did not regard as true, which he thought as the consequence not so much of moral scruple as of what he called "Our nature's rootedness in fact'. The artist, he thought cleaves to the true but the gravitational pull of the true is felt by everyone, in one degree or another, because "truth is as necessary to everybody as the air we breathe“. And Simone Weil, in her The Need for Roots, thought that the denial of total freedom of expression makes our intelligence ill at ease and, as she put it, "The whole Soul is sick'. When we are denied the right to dissent in terms of what we see as the truth, we become less than fully and properly human. I suppose that is the reason why the sub-human has been erupting in so many Afro-Asian countries.
In Sri Lanka, during 1988-89 we saw the sub-human erupting with terrifying force. We must ask ourselves whether that was because we were denied the right to dissent in terms of what we saw as the truth, and were consequently less than fully and properly human. There was no press free
Continued From Page 9
tured policemen while they were in LTTE custody in Jaffna on two occasions during the month of July, according to the ICRC press communique.
EDF/EROS To Sever Links With Plantation Workers
Plantation sector members of the EROS and EDF have been told by V. Balakumar, the General Secretary of EDF, that they must form their own separate organisational system among the plantation communities and function in future without any links with North-Eastern politics, former EDF, MP for the plantation community, M. Ramalingam said recently.
Asked why such a decision had been taken, Mr. Ramalingam replied that the on-going war in the North-East of the country had no connection whatever with the up-country plantation com- - munity who therefore had to be pro- i tected. r "A survey of opinion among the cadres who had belonged to the EROS and EDF, has indicated that some of them were now desirous of joining up with the up-country plantation sector trade unions.
Some others, however, had indicated that they would like to set up a new trade union, while still others had wanted to form a new political party', Mr. Ramalingam explained.
A three-member committee chaired by Mr. Ramalingam and consisting of
dom worth talking
opposition parties sh express the dissent of 1960. That led to th gun. On the one ha thesis of Sinhala ex J.V.P., and on the oth of Tamil extremism
with no prospects wha esis. But we must
groups of extremists s in common to which t committed: their righ one who disagreed
denial of dissent in sp except to a derisory e the dissent of the g would not allow diss sub-human erupting a a respite. We really respect truth and to v
In concluding this revert to the late Kan tional commitment it wanted the Saturda published in Jaffna b daily newspapers onl published there, wh developments in the were seen inevitably f tive of Colombo. He formation imbalance
Messrs. Sudhaharan nam is now in the pro about complete dissolu of EROS and EDF in plantation areas, M further said.
Appeal by to Govt. &
The following demand sented by a concernec regarding the presen North and East.
Our appeal to both the Sri Lankan State
Take all steps poss and protect unarmed areas of conflict and national Committee o' carry out all its f affected areas;
Declare and imple with immediate effect an international moni to oversee the ceasefi
Seek a negotiated conflict, not a militar time urge the Sri Lar some concrete actio confidence of the Ta Sri Lankan state; t some of the steps it sh take -
Repeal the Sixth A Constitution (this a was rushed through of the events of July
obstacle to the der

is AUGUST 1990
bout, and our kingly failed to the people after : dissent of the hd we had the |remism in the er the antithesis in the militants, tever of a synthnote that both ared one dogma Ley were fiercely to murder anywith them. The ech and writing, (tent, had led to un which itself nt. We saw the nd we now have must learn to alue dissent.
lecture I must hasamy's excepthe truth. He y Review to be 2cause out of 13 f one was being ch meant that North and East rom the perspecwanted that into be corrected
because he thought it important for people to know the truth. In a letter written from London in 1986 he regretted that the Saturday Review had not published contrary views, and added: "We should take extreme care to preserve the freedom of the press which is achieved more by publishing conflicting views rather than by suppressing any'. Evidently he saw the truth as something that could be reached only through dissent. And for him the truth was not just the object of a lonely intellectual pursuit, but a supreme value that had to be put into practice. Insisting that the foreign donors of his Tamil Refugee Rehabilitation Organization be told the truth about the difficulties it was facing in the North, he wrote: "...and I am not willing to act on any basis other than the truth'. With that kind of commitment to the truth, he had to dissent and he paid the price for his dissent. But we cannot be quite sane unless we have some respect for the truth and value dissent. His untimely death has therefore to be seen as a tragic event in which the mad erupted. I look on him as having been a fortress of sanity in a country wrecked by the mad.
(Concluded).
and Kanagaratocess of bringing ution of the work the up-country r. Ramalingam
NGOs LTTE ν
s have been pre| group of NGOs t conflict in the
the LTTE and is: ble to safeguard civilians in the permit the Interthe Red Cross to unctions in the
ment a ceasefire and arrange for Toring committee re;
ettlement to the one; at the same kan state to take to restore the nil people in the he following are ould immediately
mendment to the hendment which n the aftermath 1983 is a major
ocratic right to
express a political opinion; in particular, it is seen as a limitation placed on the freedom of political expression of the Tamil people);
Strengthen the Provincial Councils structure and the process of devolution of power and withdraw the two proposed amendments to the Provincial Council Bill; (the amendments will place the power of dissolution of the council in the hands of the non elected state officials and pose a major threat to the very concept of devolution of power as enshrined in the Provincial Council Legislation);
Take immediate steps to constitute the North East Peace Committee and prepare the groundwork for the initiation of democratic political processes;
Begin a process of negotiation to solve the ethnic conflict on a lasting basis with the participation of all Tamil political parties and organisations; discussions must centre on the concrete political and economic demands of the Tamil people;
In the meantime we urge all concerned, particularly the mass media to refrain from any action or expression that might inflame ethnic passions and further embitter the relations among our many ethnic groups.
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Page 17
15 AUGUST 1990
TAMIL PEOPLE'S GR, CRISIS IN THEIR HIS
The London-based Standing Committee of Tamils (SCOT) has called upon foreign governments, governmental and non-governmental organisations to bring pressure upon the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) for an immediate cessation of armed hostilities, for an end to all human rights violations by both warring parties and to provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance to an estimated 500,000 refugees displaced as a direct consequence of the continuing armed conflict.
A press release dated 1 August, issued by SCOT states:
"The Tamil people of Sri Lanka are today facing the gravest crisis in their history in consequence of the "war that has broken out between the government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). Never before have the civilian population in the northeast of Sri Lanka been subjected to the scale ofviolence, violations, death, destruction and displacement that has occurred since June 11. Every succeeding day has brought more havoc and devastation to the Tamil areas of the island. -
- An estimated 500,000 people have been uprooted from their homes and even from the areas of their residence and become refugees. Despite the attempts by the Sri Lankan Navy to prevent their escape, over 50,000 refugees, the young and the old, the sick and the infirm, women and children, have taken the boat again and fled to South India. The worst affected areas are the districts of Amparai, Batticaloa and Trincomalee in the east and Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Jaffna in the north covering almost the entirety of the populated parts of the north-east.
Since the outbreak of the conflict, nearly 1600 civilians have been killed and this figure excludes the casualties among the security forces and the LTTE cadres.
The primary cause of this mounting
refugee problem and the large scale civilian deaths is the continuing war between government forces and the LTTE and the unprecedented large
scale military operations conducted . . .
from land, air and sea. Although the government claims that the operations are directed against the LTTE, the reality is that it is the defenceless civilian population that has become gravely affected. Having been forced to evacuate from their homes, hundreds of thousands of people are suffering
without food and other essential facilia .
ties. The towns and villages are vir
.
tually deserted. Ir
al hundreds of ho
been set ablaze a people driven C forces, and this is in Trincomalee di ernment claims regained control. blockade has be north east, partic district, which hai to the point of sta peninsula in the remain completely of the island with communications a
Medical service grinding halt in n been severely di Almost all the m been closed either military operatio medical supplies a flee for safety. E vices are unavaila In the context crowded in makes airborne and water become an acute p
In an ostensible LTTE from their el government forces ing a continuingl minate aerial and
of several areas r
hundreds of casual
of an unaccountec
and private buildin
have been firing
other incendiary
towns and vill gunships and attac tinued to indiscrir
bomb causing deatl
an unprecedented s ing operations, the ped lethal 'barrell kets each loaded w of liquid chemica with incendiary do ferocious fires w ground resulting in casualties and dest Most of the bu houses, churches, libraries, shops an of Jaffna have be continuing bombin
What is worse is basic norms relatiu laid down in inter rian and human r being flagrantly v tinuing war. Capt prisoners' in their
found murdered. H Tamils, Sinhalese
fallen victims of
killings. The pa

TAM TIMES 17’
VEST ΟPY’
certain areas, severmes and shops have d destroyed and the ut by government particularly the case trict where the govhat its forces had A virtual economic n imposed in the larly in the Jaffna brought the people rvation. The Jaffna north continues to cut-off from the rest out transport, teleld postal services.
s have come to a ost areas and have srupted in others. ajor hospitals have due to violence and ns or for lack of nd staff who had to "en emergency serble in certain areas. of the thousands hift refugee camps, borne diseases have roblem.
effort to dislodge the ntrenched positions, have been conductbarrage of indiscrinaval bombardment esulting in several ties and destruction t number of public gs. Navy gunboats shells, rockets and devices at coastal ages. Helicopter k aircraft have conhinately strafe and and destruction on cale. In their bombairforce has dropombs” — metal casth 45 to 75 gallons substances fitted vices - that cause men they hit the widespread civilian uction of property. ldings, including schools, convents, offices, in the city in flattened in this
campaign.
that even the most g to armed conflict lational humanitaghts covenants are olated in this conred or surrendered undreds have been ndreds of civilians, nd Muslims, have eliberate revenge amilitary outfit
known as the Special Task Force has been deployed in the Tamil areas where they are committing the most barbarous atrocities for which they became notorious in the recent past in the south of the island - hacking, shooting and burning people in the most brutal and indiscriminate manner. Ever since the deployment of this force, bodies with gunshot injuries, burning bodies on roadsides, mutilated and severed bodies - heads without bodies and bodies without heads - and 'disappearances' have become commonplace in several parts of the northeast.
The fund of sympathetic response from international governmental and non-governmental organisations to the Tamil point of view and the active support forthcoming from the Indian government and people were crucial factors that prevented previous attempts to impose a military solution . to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and deny the Tamil people their legitimate rights. But it is unfortunate that the war that is raging today in the northeast of the island is taking place in the context of an abysmal lack of concern by the international community despite the unprecedented scale of death, destruction and intolerable hardships experienced by the civilian population and gross violations of human rights that the continuance of war entails.
It is time that the international
community - governments, gov
ernmental and non-governmental , organisations - alerts itself to the enormity of the tragedy that is being enacted in the north-east of Sri Lanka, bring pressure for an immediate cessation of armed hostilities between the government and the LTTE, call for the strict adherence of international humanitarian and human rights covenants, and provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the refugees and all adversely affected people.
Continued From Page 7
There is also fresh thinking on the crucial issue of the referendum which
would decide the delinking of the East
from the North, postponed several times to appease Tamil demands that the merger be considered permanent. Southern political parties against the merger from the beginning are determined to have the two provinces delinked, and SLMC President Ashraff who was against a referendum being held says he now has an open mind about it, specially after the massacre of Muslims in the Eastern Province.
Political questions however will take a back seat until the fighting on the ground is resolved, concerned citizens are agreed that only international mediation can bring about a cessation
of hostilities as a starting point to
negotiations.

Page 18
18 TAMIL TIMES
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15 AUGUST 1990
Refugee Influx Into Tan
RAMESHWARAM: If the way the refugees pour into Tamil Nadu from the northern parts of Sri Lanka is any indication then trouble is in store for both the Centre and State governments in meeting the challenge posed by the ever increasing refugee influx that threatens to eat away a large chunk of the resources of the exchequer.
The sight is pathetic. Their tales are moving. Men, women and children land on the shores, some of them half naked and others on the verge of tears due to starvation and fatigue. Their faces brighten when they set their foot on Indian soil, for they know this is a country that will not turn them back or dump them into the sea.
With the war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government forces assuming intensity and culminating in a now or never battle to gain complete and total supremacy in the Jaffna peninsula, a section of the 15,000 refugees who have landed in India want nothing less than a direct intervention by India to restore peace in the troubled island country.
"There is a yearning for a direct Indian intervention and the return of the Indian Army, said Balakumar, a 28-year-old shopkeeper in Vadukovil in Mannar district who is now in the Mandapam refugee camp near here. Many others, whose tales of woe are shocking and heartbreaking, sincerely hope that India would not let them down.
"Things were much better when the Indian Army was there. Of course, there were skirmishes now and then followed by search operations in which young men suspected to be LTTE sympathisers would be taken into the army camps for questioning. But normal life was never allowed to be thrown out of gear. The roads were open, the bazaars were full of goods and above all, the Indian Army did not kill for the sake of killing.
"Now the situation in most parts of the Tamil province is so bad that there is virtually no security of life. Food stocks are running dangerously low and starvation deaths could begin. The Black Shirts and Green Tigers attached to the Sri Lankan forces are going about chopping off the limbs of young men, who are all dubbed Kottiyas (Tigers), Balakumar explained.
Kandan, also from Mannar district, says: "The Indian Army was not against the common people. It was only against the terrorists. We know that the LTTE would not be happy about the IPKF coming back, but for the sake of the common people, it must come”. According to Kandan, people
Ganesh
were somewhat fe though they ackn ery and commitm pendent Tamil Ee
"But we cannot every Sinhalese Tamils have to la Kandan argued. T losing faith in t guerrillas openly ability to protect strafing by the h incendiary barrel led with petrol mi mical which burst hitting the ground bers of the Sri Lan
Said George, a ca tan in Mannar dist told us clearly throl the walls, that the and that we are f anywhere we think losing ground rapi that they might b India can help us n should directly int Tigers with arms, G ing the Tigers to fi take the people ve IPKF was there, the now, sighed George
Sivaratinam, a keeper from Vavun his two teenaged bo wife and daughter b land. Asked why, he that either the Tige Green Tigers wou away. The Tigers into their net while are on the prowl cat and chopping off the prevent them from the Tigers'.
There are Tiger the refugees. The Ti hailed as the only committed' to the i Tamil Eelam, which only lasting solution Tamil problem in S also a widespread refugees that the Tamils had been ch madasa government
The Premadasa g ises a whole lot of th but was giving aw fight became inevita liyan, a boatman wh the trip to Ramesw time in the last 10 against a direct In seemed to be strol from Jaffna from draws its support.
It is reported tha'

TAMIL TIMES 19
il Nadu
Chandra
up with the Tigers, wledge their bravnt to get an indeΠΥ). ut want peace if for oldier killed, 100 down their lives', e people seem to be e LTTE with the xpressing their inhe population from blicopters and the bombs” (barrels filed with some cheinto flames upon ) dropped by bomkan Airforce. penter from Nanaict: "The LTTE has gh notices stuck on t cannot protect us ee to seek shelter fit. The Tigers are lly and it is likely 2 wiped out. Only ow. Asked if India ervene or aid the reorge said: “Enablght is not going to ry far. If only the re would be no war
48-year-old shopiya has come with ys, but has left his ack in the troubled said: "I was afraid 's or the Sri Lanka d take my sons might draw them the Green Tigers ching hold of boys ir hands or feet to eing of any use to
supporters among gers are generally group genuinely lea of securing a
many see as the to the Sinhalesei Lanka. There is eling among the Tigers and the lated by the Pre
vernment promngs to the Tigers y nothing. "This ble', argued Emihas been making am for the third ays. The feeling ian intervention - among Tamils here the LTTE
people who were
waiting to come to India were waiting on the beach for three days and nights without a morsel of food. "A Christian
priest tried to arrange for some food,
but little could be done', they said. There are no hospitals in Mannar. “People will soon be left to die. Such deaths might have occurred if some Red Cross workers had not come to work among us, Emiliyan said.
Prices have shot up in the past one month and there was much black marketeering, according to George from Mannar. "Paddy is selling at Rs.(SL) 600 a bag, sugar at 80 a kilo, petrol at Rs 200 a litre and diesel at Rs. 60 a litre and rice at Rs. 22 a kilo, prices which are much more than in India', George said. All this would have been acceptable if things were available. "The trouble is things are simply not there'.
The boatmen charge anything between Rs. 300 to Rs. 1500 per head for ferrying the refugees. Since many poor
people could not pay the boatmen, they
were stranded in Pesalai waiting for some good samaritan to ferry them across, free. The refugees had to walk miles, in some cases, hundreds of miles to reach Mannar, as bus transport had come to a halt after the Sri Lankan air force started the aerial attacks.
On arrival in Dhanushkodi, what the refugees see is a vast expanse of land, treeless and almost totally uninhabited. The state authorities come into the picture only when the refugees reach Rameswaram 15 kms away. Hungry and tired they have to bargain with private van operators at Rs. 10 per head, they are packed into the vehicles like sardines. Those who don't have Indian money, walk the distance.
The refugees sell small things like soap and flash lights to make a few Indian rupees to enable them to buy some food or tea. Refugee camp authorities are tremendously overbur
dened. “We are unable to plan for the
day because nobody knows how many would land today and when', said an exasperated official who hadn't slept for three days. State transport buses are taking the refugees to camps elsewhere in Tamil Nadu continuously to relieve the pressure on Rameswaram.
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Page 21
15 AUGUST 1g
READERS
FORUM
EXPATRIATES AND EXILES
I WISH to clarify B. Skanthakumar's criticism (Tamil Times, June 1990) on my previously published letter on the actions of expatriate Tamils. I am afraid that his presumption is wrong and my comments were made against the expatriates (as the title stated) and not against the Tamil political exiles and refugees.
Skanthakumar has sarcastically
noted my comments as 'an attempt by
an expatriate Tamil to salve his own conscience'. I wonder on what grounds
he had deduced my status as an ex
patriate and not as an exile. The Webster's dictionary defines an expatriate as one who “renounces the rights of citizenship where one was born and becomes a citizen of another country'. An exile is one who 'abandons one's country or removes to a foreign country for residence, either from choice or necessity.
So that the Tamil Times readers are not misled by Skanthakumar's unverified misinformation, I wish to state that I am also an exile and not an expatriate. I still hold a Sri Lankan passport and I have not gained permanent resident status in the counry I am residing now. To be precise, I left Sri Lanka in August 1981 for my doctoral studies, after receiving two Masters degrees from the University of Peradeniya and after being rejected four times (not once or twice) for a permanent teaching position in the University of Jaffna (God only knows the internal politics!) between 1978 and 1981. For the past nine years I have lived only in rented apartments and have not even owned a car.
Skanthakumar also pointed out that my 'attack on the "dinner and dance” events...have little moral foundation', since most of these events have a charitable motive. Well, if it is so, I wonder why I do not see any announcements in the Tamil Times about the cash collected in these 'dinner and discos”, and what percentage of the collected sum is being donated to the Sri Lankan institutions? Isn't it courteous to inform the readers about these donations, however meagre the sum is? Only the announcements about the events are published in the Tamil Times and beyond that one is not kept informed about the proceeds.
Finally Skanthakumar's parting comment on the socio-economic development of the Tamil diaspora needs in-depth study and I wish when space permits, the Tamil Times will publish diverse opinions from expatriates, exiles as well as Sri Lankan natives, on what will be the status of Tamil di
----****seace-o wrewassesswarm
aspora in the 2 should be guid and grandchild illes continue t with the Tamil become assimil minorities of th they discard t cultural marke gage from the p remnants of Ta we have too m
aSWeS.
330 Henry Aver Philadelphia, U.S.A.
WRONG F OVER C
THE TAMILS C ways eschewe espoused democ; stitution publish Government ne which I have just constitution. It h; ture and commu Politburo and and with the ain liberation strugg Castro. Under when communis around us, how c expect to win recognition of th should have cha with the advento with the times. W theoretician an Anton Balasingha is obvious that he It is an accepted when one is brail ing something, t recognise or accep is why they have in North Vietna fugees and othen their country. A really a brain-wa
As I have poi LTTE cannot wir irregular guerrill is a case in pc Tamils, they too and have many
LTTE for theil struggle for my their wrong pol dence after chas have militated ag ign IPKF had t within a fixed tin Sri Lankan arm tions and are of
The only thing renounce the cor talk of 'Democrac cratic Socialism ism is a dirty wc do is to internati seek foreign ass
 

TAMILTIMES 2.
it century and how it d? Will the children in of present-day ex
identify themselves ulture? Or will they ted into the ethnic
host countries? Will 2 Tamil names and } as “unwanted bagst' and carry only the hill food habits? Well, ny questions to find
Sachi Sri Kantha le,
OLITICS AND ONFIDENCE
Sri Lanka have alcommunism and acy. The PFLT con2d during the LTTE/ otiation period, and seen, is a communist as a communist strucist ideology, havinga Political Commissars of supporting world les like Gadaffi and these circumstances, m is collapsing all an the valiant Tigers votes and gain the e Government? They unged their ideology fperestroika to move hat has the so-called d political mentor am got to say now? It has misled the 'boys'. human failing that n-washed into believhe brain refuses to t anything else. That re-education courses n for repatriated renon-communists in e-education course is shing course.
inted out before, the the war with only an a army. Afghanistan int where, like the are unable to unite actions. I salute the valiant liberation eople but I feel that tics and over confiing the IPKF away ainst them. The forecomplete their job e frame, whereas the has no such restriche people.
left to do now is to munist ideology and r’ rather than "Demobecause now “Social'd. The next thing to nalise our cause and stance in seeking a
suitable settlement with the Sri Lankan Government.
I have composed a little poem to indicate mythinking on the matter
Tiger, Tiger burning bright, In the shadows of the night, in your jungle hide you are king by night, But not so by day, when the Lion has better Sight, You thought you were triumphant, Because you chased the Elephant, Now in our little island, You too are an island, With the ammogone and to fight too ill, All you've got now is the cyanide pill.
if you want to be triumphant, You've now got to bum the Elephant, Having kicked the Elephant's bum before, He will not want to come again, So try Uncle Sam, who could be a generous man, To consider giving us all a Marshall plan, Then you won't have to take the pill in vain, And with the Lion make friends again.
Otherwise, dear Tiger, there is nothing left for you to do, Than to do what a man's got to do, To reach for the pill and with a drink swallow, For eternal peace to soon follow.
So Tiger, Tiger, burning bright, In the shadows of the night, it's time you stopped this bloody fight, And took advice about your plight, So throw that blasted pill away, And let negotiations show the way.
It is obvious that leftist Balasingham and his entourage do not fit the bill any more. They have to be replaced by more erudite persons with a more liberal and democratic mentality. Could somebody please help?
Lt. Col. Anton J.N. Selvadurai
8 Blenheim Court, Stoke-on-Trent U.K.
UNITE BEHIND THE LTTE
The LTTE made a big blunder in alienating India and placing its trustin the Sri Lankan government. Having got rid of the IPKF with the help of the LTTE, now the government has turned against the Tamils as could have been well anticipated.
Now that the LTTE is leading the fight, all Tamils should unite behind the LTTE and support it to resist the government's offensive. The other Tamil groups should not permit themselves to be used by the government to isolate the LTTE. If the LTTE is defeated, that means the Tamil people will be defeated.
Your journal is good reading, but you must openly call its readers to support the LTTE in this our hour of need.
P. Sri Kanthan
Tooting, London SW17, U.K.
Continued On Page 22

Page 22
22 TAM TIMES
Continued From Page 21
FALSE PROPAGANDA
IT SEEMS your magazine has still not improved in focusing the plans that the Sinhalese government have in their mind to destroy the entire Tamils from Tamil Eelam.
Why can't you show the entire world about the atrocities the Sinhalese have unleashed against the Tamils? The Sinhalese government is giving out false propaganda that 140 Muslims were killed by the Tigers which is not true.
Rather tham criticising the only genuine Tamil group, "The Tigers', better you spend some more time to get some recognition for Tamil Eelam.
S. Balasothy 101 Swarthmore Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham U.K.
FOU 8 VILLE
TO BE in tune with your editorial policy you should retitle your monthly: ANTI-TAMIL TIMES. Your editor is so foul and ville
S. Pothalingam
GOING TOO FAR TORUN
I AM HAPPY to read the Tamil Times which I think has a great future. I envisage a time when it would be a great link between all our people scattered all over the world.
I am glad that you have taken a balanced view of the situation in regard to the present struggle. Both in your editorials and other articles, you are voicing the longing of the Tamil people for peace after so many years of suffering. Your stress on the urgent task for both warring parties to arrive at a ceasefire is most appropriate. What you feared for the people is happening now. I had great respect for the LTTE for the courage with which they fought in the past, but now I feel that they are going too far; this may ultimately result in the ruin of the Tamil community.
I am also glad that you gave so much of space to praise the service rendered by Sam Thambimuttu. He was a good man and it is a sin that he and his wife were killed.
We do not know what is going to happen; having lived all my life of 85 years among our people in Jaffna, and come only recently on a visit which has become unduly prolonged, I am deeply worried about our people back at home.
C. Subramaniam Hartside Grange, Hartlepool, U.K.
“TIGERS ARET TAMLS ARET
YOU SEEM to lament sponse of the internation to what is happening to Sri Lanka is ‘subdued, 1 or muted' (Editorial, June 1990). Can you ex better when you contil brief for the LTTE2
The LTTE and its sup fail to frequently claim the 'sole representatives and that 'all Tigers are Tamils are Tigers' U many outside Sri Lanka to have taken this claim the detriment of the ent munity. And that is w Tigers were recently al massacred defenceless lians in the eastern p Independent' and "The leading dailies publishe carried news reports in 13 August 1990 with headlines: “TAMILS KI LIMIS IN SRI LANKA” KILL 116 MUSLIMS
With such headlines that these 'sole represe minate members of the munity just because they rent point of view, gun di of Parliament in fron embassies in Colombo (as Mr. Sam Thambimuttu who were killed in front dian High Commission), political rivals even in for in the case of the rece EPRLF leaders in Madra not be surprised that opinion is not only 's' responsive or muted', become somewhat hostill community is paying t their lives for the action representatives”.
Besides, today the Tan is in the pitiable plight o leader with stature and make even a statemer the atrocities committed or to make an appeal or people to foreign govern Amirthallingam, the TUl could have performed executed as a "traitor. reme Commander of t sentatives” remains ur hiding without even heard by the people.
No wonder that th Minister of Defence, Rar arrogantly claimed at conference: "The Tamil this country is now lea leaders have been killec warfare. What we fin LTTE without leadersh

15 AUGUST 1990
MLS & GERS”
chat the recommunity he Tamils in n-responsive amil Times, ect anything le to hold a
orters do not hat they are of the people, amils and all nfortunately, would appear to be true to 'e Tamil comly, when the eged to have
Muslim civil
Irovince, "The Times, both in the UK, he editions of the following LL 350 MUSand “TAMILS
plus reports ntatives' eliir own com7 hold a diffewn Members t of foreign in the case of and his wife of the Canaand kill their eign lands (as nt killing of s), one should international bdued, nonout also has
e. The Tamil
e price with of their 'sole
il community not having a ecognition to ; denouncing against them behalf of the nents. Mr. A. F leader, who is task, was And the Sup'sole repreerground in ing seen or
Sri Lankan an Wijeratne, recent press ommunity in arless. All its n internecine today is the We will wipe
them out. In future, we ourselves will
have to give leadership to the Tamils
and that we will do'. The LTTE and the
rich expatriate Tamils who continue to
support it are responsible for bringing
the Tamil community to this plight.
S.T. Nadesan
Harrow,
Middlesex,
U.K.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIHIII|||||||||IIIHF
Skanda Varodaya College
Old Students Association (U.K. Branch)
Annual Reunion Lunch, A.G.M., & Variety Entertainment
at Lola Jones Hall Tooting Leisure Centre Greaves Place, off Garratt Lane Tooting, London SW17 ONE
on Sunday, 23rd September 1990 at 12.30 p.m.
Chief Guest: Emeritus Principal, Mr. C. Subramanian
Tickets: Adults £4, Children under 12 £1
For tickets and information please telephone: 081-681 2052,081-692 0823, 0892824661
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Page 23
SAUGUST 1990
Book Review
An Invaluable Data-base
ETHNIC CONFLCT AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SRI LANKA: AN ANNOTATED BILIOGRAPHY
Kumar Rupesinghe & Bertha Verstappет
Published by the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, by Hans Zell Publishers (London, Munich, New York), 1989, pp. xiv + 565, price not mentioned.
Which is the best place to look for systematically organised, comprehensive research material on the persisting ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka? India? No; Sri Lanka? No. It is, surprisingly, Oslo, which has no more than a tiny Tamil population of 8000. This is because of an important database project undertaken by the International Peace Research Institute of Oslo under the competent and committed guidance of Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe, a well known Sri Lankan socially active scholar. This database has collected more than 5000 documents on the various dimensions of the island's ethnic conflict since it erupted in its ugliest form in 1983. The bibliography under review is a part of the data base project and inspite of its hefty (565 + pages) and exhaustive (2311 entries) appearance, covers much less than half of the wealth of material collected.
The bibliography has been organised under some fifteen subjects that range widely - covering political participation. Tamil and Sinhala nationalisms, violence and militarization of the Tamil and Sinhala communities as well as the Sri Lankan State, issues related to refugees, human rights and citizenship, and international aspects involving India and other extenal factors. In selecting entries under each of these subjects, their relevance to the main focus of ethnic conflict has been carefully kept in mind. And yet, the sources tapped go even beyond the narrow definition of Tamil-Sinhala ethnic conflict. For instance, the bibliography contains more than fifty ; very valuable entries on the Sinhala insurgency (JVP) movement that has torn the peace and order in the island nation apart and is posing a more serious challenge today than the ethnic conflict. Similarly, Sri Lankan armed forces carry more than 50 references and the Indian Peace Keeping Force more than a hundred.
The annotations are of very high quality. They are crisp, sharp and yet informative. The expert handling of
the annotations hanced the value A careful perusal a particular them ideas and also si unfolding of the ethnic tragedy. ' sources presentec keep a balanced specific events. Th lished document those aspects th mained inaccessil the Sri Lanka v faceted index - geographical at 1 liography make particular item ea
The compilatio without limitatio vered in the volul 1988. This is to violence on the et there has been vi question in Sri I though of much tude. Even the r conflict lie deep int ical and post-colo and political deve liography does not of economic and even for the peri focussed otherwise ing aspect is that aware of these gap able explanation these entries. It w better if the compe sources and mater
Political Kilir
ern Sri Lank and report by London: Internal 120pp.
The apparent calm political scene foll sion of the JVP by tion of its leaders drawal of the IPK events in Eastern the attention of th the third world exc major disaster and ing since news va precious than the tions. It is theref concerned indivic rights organizatio. vigilance irrespecti in third world evel no's work is, the contribution and sl encouraged in ev However, the criti tributions is also in accuracy of the inf
 
 

ve considerably enif this bibliography. F the annotations on helps develop basic ne insight into the ecific events of the he diversity of the helps the reader to erspective on those inclusion of unpub:
further introduce t have so far ree to the majority of atchers. The triple ubject, author and
he end of the bib
he search for any iу.
is, however, not Ls. The period cohe is between 1983concentrate on the hnic issue but then lence on the ethnic anka even earlier, ess serious magnibots of the present o Sri Lanka’s histornial socio-economic lopments. The bibcover these aspects social developments bd on which it has . The only redeemut the authors are s and have a reason
for the exclusion of .
ould also have been ndium could include lals available in par
ngs in South: a compilation Eduardo Marino. ional Alert 1989,
in the Sri Lankan wing the suppresne ruthless liquidahip and the withis deceptive. The urope have shifted media away from pt in the event of a this is not surprisue is always more plight of poor nae important that als and human s maintain their 2 of media interest Es. Eduardo Mariefore, a welcome h work should be ry possible way. ism of such conportant to ensure mation compiled.
TAM TIMES 23
liamentary debates in India and Sri
Lanka as well as feature articles published in newspapers of these two and other countries. It is interesting to note here that such newspaper articles that. have, reappeared in journals or books have however, been covered for annotations. The authors are aware of
the fact that only English language
material with some exceptions of the Sinhala and Tamil material available
in translated annotations has been explored in this bibliography.
While talking of the gaps and short. comings, one must be objectively conscious of the resource and space con
straints within which such a database.
project has to be carried out. One in fact will have to launch a series of such annotated bibliographies to put all the
relevant material in annotated form at one place. This the present volume could not have done in one go.
Nonetheless, the bibliography is of immense value. It acquaints us with the vast research material that lies
scattered. The authors promise to transfer this data base as a whole to
institutions in Sri Lanka. Perhaps they could also think of transferring it to
willing host institutions in other coun
tries for wider dissemination and easy aCCeSS.
S.D. Muni
Orders to: Bowker-Saur Ltd c/o Butterworths, Burough Green, Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 8PHI, England
Prepaid orders supplied post free
The compilation of data on political killings in Sri Lanka can never be complete since an attempt is always made to cover up and to distort information. But the long list of confirmed killings is sufficient to indicate the staggering scale of the continuing tragedy. This, however, cannot be the sole aim of the study. There is a need to understand and to explain the social, political and economic background and to seek a way forward and out of this morass. My criticism concerns mainly the presentation of the socio-political background.
The author has depended heavily on a handful of sources to explain the background and, despite their apparent diversity, the bias inherent in the sources is inevitably carried into the study when large chunks of material are quoted without critical appraisal of the source. The source most heavily quoted from is 'Violence in Sri Lanka: Conceptual Issues' in "Ethical Dilemmas of Development in Asia” by Godfrey Gunatilleke et al (1983). The quotations from this article (Part 2, pp8-9) suggest that the abortive coup of 1962 involved Christian and Hindu interests and was non-political in
Continued On Page 26

Page 24
24; TAM TIMES
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15 AUGUST 1990
We welcome you to our newly opened Sri Lankan cum indian Mini Super Market. A spacious convenient store brings several new facilities to Sri Lankans & Indians in the United Kingdom and living overseas Variety of Sri Lankan & Indian foods available retail & wholesale k Fresh vegetables and frozen sea foods at low prices (Squid, Prawns, Shark, Crab, and different kinds of fish)
sk Original Indian stainless steel utensis s (Kudam, Kuthuvilakku, Paneersembu, di, Puttu, Thosai, Appam, Vladdai and all kimds of pots)
k Electrical appliances & fancy goods (National & Sanyo Rice cookers of varying capacities, Prestige products, fans, wall clocks, rain lamps) it Religious items-Pictures of Luxmi, Murugan, Ganapathy, Siva, Saraswathy and frames; Sandalwood powder, Kungumam, Holy Ash, Incense, Joss Sticks, Oil lamp wicks, Saffron
Large selection of Tamil audio cassettes - new & old releases & devotional
(Echo, Pyramid, Bharat, Eagle, Gold productions) h Large selection of Tamil, Hindi compact discs (Oriental, AVM, Lahari, EMI, T)
Old and new Tamil video films available for overseas sales only. Classified films on hire
285 High Street North, Manor Park, London E26SL Te: O81471 5742
Open Monday to Saturday 9.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. Sunday 9.00am, to 6.00 p.m. Mail orders welcome
T.S.T. SKY TRAVEL
* We offer you flights on scheduled airlines at a
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* We will gladly refund the price difference if you can convince us that you could have got the same ticket cheaper elsewhere on the same date of purchase.
Please contact Mr. S. Thiruchelvam
Office Residence 255 Haydons Road, 69 Toynbee Road Wimbledon Wimbledon London SW198TY London SW20 8SH Tel: O1-5433318 Te: O1-5425140
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For All Legal Services And Conveyancing Legal Aid Work Undertaken 109 Bell Street, Marylebone London NW16TL Telephone: 071-723 3018 Mariampilai Philomin, LL.B, MBIM

Page 25
15 AUGUST 1990
CLASSIFIED ADS
First 20 words 210. Each additional Word 60
harge for Box No. 2 (Vat 15% extra) Prepayment essentia The Advertisement Manager, Tamil Times Ltd, PO Box 121,
utton, Surrey SMI 3TD Phone: 081-644 0972
MATRIMONAL
Jaffna Tamil parents seek professionally qualified groom for working daughter, 29, British citizen. Reply with full details to M 412 C/o Tamil Times. Jaffna Hindu brothers seek attractive, good natured, educated bride under 32 for tall, young, handsome, International Design Consultant, running own freelance establishment in States. Religion no bar. Horoscope, details to M 413 C/o Tanni Tinnes.
Jaffna Catholic seeks partner for sister, 39, pretty, looks much younger, typist, innocent divorcee, no children. M414 C/o Tamil Times. Jaffna Tamil Hindu sister seeks fair, attractive bride under 28 for accountant brother, 33. Details with photograph to M 415 c/o Tamil Times. Jaffna Tamil lawyer seeks good looking bride under 40 years. Divorcees without encumbrances considered. M 416 C/o Tamil Times. Groom sought for Sri Lankan Tamil lady, 42, single with no ties, British citizen, nurse living near London. Details to M 417 C/o Tamil
innes. Jaffna Hindu, USA settled brother, Ph.D.,' engineer seeks groom for sister, 33, science graduate teaching in Colombo. Reply with horoscope. M 418 c/o Tamil Times.
Jaffna Hindu Tamil seeks groom for niece, 37, in good employment, British and Australian citizen. Horoscope, details to M 419 c/o
arril lineS.
Jaffna Hindu Brothers seek groom for good looking sister, 34, accounts clerk in London, innocent divorcee, excellent character. M420 CVO, Tarni! Tirres.
öአነ
བ།ན་བཟང་
WEDDING BELLS
We congratulate the following couples on their recent marriages.
Henry son of the late Mr V.S. Brainerd and Mrs P. Brainerd of 4 Edirigoda Road, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka and Vathsala daughter of the late Dr. P. Nadarajah (Zambia) and Mrs. S. Nadarajah of 7 Clavering Avenue, Barnes, London SW13 9DX On 18890 at Shree Ganapathy Temple, London SW19.
Anton (Joanes) son of the late Mr. S. Singarayer and Mrs. U. Singarayer, Singarayer Wallawu, Myliddy, Sri Lanka and Lingishiya (Jothy) daughter of Mr. & Mrs. S. Sivasothy, 263/2 Kandy Road, Jaffna, Sri Lanka on 228.90 at St. Josephs Catholic Church, High Road, Wembley, Middx., U.K.
Dr. Ravi son of Dr. & Mrs. T. Ratnavel of 20 Langley Way, Watford, U.K. and Pamidaughfer of Mr. & Mrs. C. Kathiresan of 299 Torbay Road, Harrow, U.K. on 24.8.90 at the BaterSea Town Hall, London SW11.
OBTU
Mrs. Sivam Mahend late C. Mahendran o Mother of Nirmala,
Mother-in-Law of Vi Mailvaganan (U.K.), Grandmother of Rosh Ravi, Mahen, Mithran away in Canada on 2
Dr. K. Sathiamoorthy er, Brixton Prison, U. valli Sathiamoorthy ( Sutton Hospital, U.K. Waseekaran and Anal 15.890 under tragic c accident, while on holic all was in Malaysia Sprucedale Gardens, SM 16 9LB, U.K. Tel: C
Mankayarkarasy Siva Wife of Cheliah Siva PWD), Mother of Brem, mar (both of U.K.); Sist (U.K.), Sivasubramania Samuel (U.K.) and S. passed away in U.K. Cremation took place ( 15 Wolsey Way, Che 081-3978279.
IN MEM(
Second Anniversary of Mr. K.C. Kumarasuriy Sadly missed and fond loving wife Yoges, Ch. Ganga and Subathra, S Daughters-in-Law Ano Children Dharini, Sainic - 133 South Lane, New
 
 
 

RIES
in beloved wife of the Ceylon Theatres Ltd., Shanthini, Kumuthini; ulanandarajah (U.K.), hitsabesan (Canada); ni, Shankar, Ramesh, rid Lakshman. Passed .7.90.
Senior Medical Offic& Dr. (Mrs) Tharmalee Dharmalingham), beloved parents of dan passed away on rcumstances in a Car ay in Malaysia. FunerOn 20.8., 90. — 16 Wallington, Surrey 31-669.8341.
sampu (57), beloved sampu (Formerly of akumar and Suriyakuer of Hari Nagaratnam m (Sri Lanka), lindra vakumar (Sri Lanka) on 2nd August 1990. on 8th August 1990 - sington, Surrey. Tel:
ORIAM
the passing away of r on 23rd July 1988. remembered by his dren Brindha, Mano, n-in-Law Sivadasan, a and Manel, Grand , Arjuna and Rajesh Malden, Surrey, U.K.
f
TAMIL TIMES 25
v. Joseph A. Mariathasan. B.sc, FPRI. Plant Manager — Rubber Metal Technik, Ipoh, Malaysia. (Formerly Head of Designs, Tyre Corporation, Sri-Lanka.) Born: 16 May, 1938 Died: 17 August 1989
No one knows the heart ache As I try to carry on alone, I often think of the years together And secret tears still flow. God called you home so early Because you loved HIM very dearly. The family chain is broken now, But sweet memories will live forever. In life, you never left me for awhile How can you be gone forever? ァ Fondly remembered on his first death anniversary by his loving wife Logi, and children, Sanjeev, Rajeev and Gajeev. - 57 Cassis Drive, Rexdale, Ontario M9V 4Z4, Canada.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
September 16.30 p.m. Aid for Children of Tamils presents a Variety Performance at Hounslow Manor School, Prince Regents Road, Hounslow, Middx. For information: Tel: 08-42.35946.
Sept. 26.30 p.m. London School of Carnatic Music presents "An evening of Carnatic Music', performed by young artistes at Riverdale Hall, Lewisham Centre, London SE13. For tickets and information: Tel: 081-690 O401. Sept. 8 7.00 p.m. Central-Vembadi Joint Dinner & Social at Alperton High School Annexe, Ealing Road, Wembley, Middx., in aid of Restoration Fund. For tickets & information: Tel: 081 -543 8210, 081-642 5598, O81-689 4538. Sept. 15 7.00 p.m. Chundikuli-St John's Past Pupils' Association A.G.M. & Dinner at Wood House, Sixth Form College, Wood House Road, London N12. For tickets and information: Tel: O81-468 7869, 081-363 2129 & 0727 59614. Sept. 23 12.30 p.m. Skanda Varodaya College Old Students’ Association, U.K. Branch Reunion Lunch, A.G.M. & Variety Entertainment at Lola Jones Hall, Tooting Leisure Centre, Greaves Place off Garratt Lane. For tickets & information Tel: 081-681 2052,081-692 0823 & 0892824661. Sept. 28 7.45 p.m. Hindustani Flute by Raghunaith Seth. Sept. 30 6.45 p.m. Bharata Natyam by Kumari Nina with live music. s Both above events at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 4A Castletown Road, London W14 9HQ Tel 07-38 i 3036-4608.

Page 26
26 TAMIL TIMES
Continued From Page 23
approach. The coup was not motivated by Tamil Hindu interests in any way although it came 4 years after the violence of 1958 (and not two years after as stated in the text). The importance of the take-over of schools in late 1960 by the SLFP government to the Catholic Church, closely linked with, the UNP at that time, is totally ignored. There was no explicit involvement of the UNP in the coup, but there was little doubt in the minds of the people about the "non-political nature of the coup. The quoted sections also fail to explain why facts about the "attempted coup of 1966 are obscure, and this failure raises some doubts in the context of the authors' attempt to equate the scales of electoral violence in 1970 and 1977, especially since, both during the electoral violence of 1977 and during the anti-Tamil violence which followed in its wake, the forces of law and order idly stood by, and the government explicitly stated its intention not to declare a state of emergency to protect the victims.
It is also easy to quote in hindsight Lord Avebury that the government overreacted to the 'amateur insurrection' of 1971, while no notice is taken of the fact that it was not just the UF government butallparliamentary political parties were in a state of panic until well after the situation was brought under control. The question of 'overreaction' has to be seen in the context of the fact that the government was in fact taken by surprise by the attack on police stations. What was sad about the insurgency was that it only made the government more dependent on the armed forces and led to a sharp increase in the military budget. An important factor which led to the isolation of the JVP was its rejection of the importance of the working class and its dependence on the youth instead. Also, the 'Self-criticism' by the JVP in 1977 quoted in the report was made during the period in which the JVP leadership was, for special reasons, under the influence of Bala Tampoe's Trotskyist group and does not constitute a political explanation of the behaviour of the JVP before or after 1971. The review also has failed to mention the brief period of political honeymoon between the UNP and the JVP leadership folllowing the release of the leader of the JVP, and the encouragement given by the UNP government to the JVP to attack the SLFP and the parliamentary left, including the NSSP.
I also find that the report readily accepts the view that blames militant Buddhism for the communal conflict and fails to recognize the fact that the communal conflict is essentially linguo-ethnic and that the Roman Catholic Church in Sri Lanka which chose to ignore the national question right up to 1977 became increasingly divided on ethnic lines after the violence of 1977
ஐ
The two teams that took Mahajana College Old
A.G.M. in the form of an C programme started with a
and Skanda Varodaya Co. lunch and drinks were ser games like Carom, Chess a kept all the invitees busy proceeding were wound u.
Bharata Natya Ar
The Arangetram of 16. daughter of Mr & Mrs S East Ham, London E6, Broadway Theatre, To Essex at 6.30 p.m. on Sa is a disciple of Mrs Vijayan the well known dancer a The chief guest is Prof. Cambridge University a honour are Her Worship Mayoress of Newham & A
and subsequent event Sinhala-Buddhism
smokescreen whose
long been on the de attempt to attach ex ance to it merely helps from more fundament
The political situati considerably at least fo the publication of the recommendations in need to be reviewed recent events. The dif studies face arise ou judge apolitically issu tensely political and solutions.
S
 
 

15 AUGUST 1990
Mahajana Open Day
part in the cricket match.
Students' Association in U.K. organised their annual reunion and pen day on 29.7.90 at Manor Park, New Malden, Surrey. The day's very enjoyable cricket match between the Old Students' Cricket team ege Old Students' team, in which the latter were winners. Barbecue red and a sports meet for children and ladies was organised. Indoor nd card games and outdoor games like Soccer, Tennis and Rounders and entertained and the park was a hive of activity. The day's at 9 p.m. after dinner, the A.G.M. and a few musical items.
angetram
year-old Aruntha Amirthalingam of akes place at the yn Hall, Barking, urday, 8.9.90. She bigai Indra Kumar, nd choreographer. Sita Narasimhan of ld the guests of Mrs Sally Murray, tr. Murray.
s in the north. is a political usefulness has line and every cessive importdivert attention ul issues.
bn has changed r the JVP, since report and the ihe report also in the light of iculty that such
of a desire to is which are inequire political
Sivasegaram
Free Tami Tuition
Mrs Varatha Shanmuganathan of 9 Wolseley Road, Wealdstone, Harrow, Middx., HA35RZ a highly qualified and experienced teacher in U.K., wishes to help through free postal tuition, those interested in the study of Tamil, leading to the G.C.S.E. examination in Tamil. Those interested, please write to her enclosing a stamped self addressed envelope.
Jana's Great Day
The Bharatha Natya Arangetram of Selvi Janandhana Kaladhini, 16-year-old daughter of Dr. & Mrs. Jeganmohan of Bromley, Kent takes place at the Great Hall, Bromley Civic Centre, Rochester Avenue, Bromley on 1.9.90 at 7 p.m.
Jana had shown great enthusiasm for Bharatha Natyam at the tender age of 6, and came under the tutelage of her aunt and exponent of this dance form, Mrs. Sivasakthy Sivanesan, when she was 10 years old. She was later a student of Mrs. Sudharshini Ramachandra, a graduate of the hallowed Institute of Kalashetra. Jana has within a period of 2% years of intensive training attained a high standard of excellence in this most exquisite and ancient dance form inspite of her academic involvements. She is being accompanied by a galaxy of leading artistes at her Arangetram. Besides her famous Guru at Nattuvangam, Mrs. Sivasakthy Sivanesan and Mrs. Priyatharshana Yogarajah will be the Vocal accompanists, Adayar Krishnamoorthy of Kalashetra, renowned Guru of several miruthangists would be at the Miruthangan. The enchanting violinist Sri Gothandapani and Rupavahini fame Sundaralaxmy on the Veena will lendable support. A grand show of melody, rhythm and dance is assured.

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15 AUGUST 1990
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