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Jamii
W0 M No.2 ISSN (256-4488 15 MNU
Peace in Sri La
S. тhondaman.
Human Rights,
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15 JANUARY 1992
AAAAALSLSLSLSLLeSMeSLLLSTTLSqLLSMLLLLLSLSSLSLSSLSLSSLSLSSLSLqqqSqqS .ܥ ܢ ܕܟܢܝܫܒܚܟܓ̣ܓܓܫܡܓܟܓܡܚ•܂ ܚܝܟ̣- ܫܕ ....܀܇ܝ-
CONTENTS
Peace: the Art of the possible. . . . . . . . . . 4.
ISSN 0 Thondaman's Peace Package. . . . . . . . . 5 ANNUAL S
"There must be a public debate'. . . . . . . . 6 UK/India/Sri Lan Australia. . . . . Canada. . . . . . Human Rights, Sovereignty & Devolution. 7 All countrie
itics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 People and Politics Publish Refugees afraid to return to Sri Lanka... 10 TAಖ್ಖ
suTTON, Sufi Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily UNTED those of the editor or the publishers.
Phone: 08
TAMIL REFU
Since July 1983, tens of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamil civilians from the northeast of the island have fled to India because of the continuing armed conflict and the atrocities and excesses committed by the Sri Lankan security forces. At anyone given time, at least as many as 250,000 Tamil civilians have taken refuge in India particularly in Tamil Nadu.
Although the conditions under which the Tamil refugees were living there were not particularly congenial or comforable, at least they have been free from the risk to their personal security. Following the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of July 1987, a substantial number of these refugee families returned to their home areas. However when the Confrontation between the Indian Peace Keeping Force and the LTTE commenced in October 1987, the situation changed and the overwhelming majority of the refugees continued to remain in India. Even during the period of that Confrontation which lasted from October 1987 until December 1989, neither the Indian central government nor the Tamil Nadu state government required the Tamil refugees to return to Sri Lanka. In fact the position adopted by the Indian government was that they would not be asked to go back until they felt safe and Secure to return to their hones.
With the outbreak of the so-called Second Eelam War between government forces and the LTTE in June 1990 followed by intensified military operations which included a sustained campaign of aerial bombardment and the imposition of an economic blockade causing unendurable hardships for the civilian population of the northeast, there was a fresh exodus of tens of thousands of Tamil Civilians to India. Even after the departure of the IPKF in March 1990, India did not require the return of the Tamil refugees to Sri Lanka.
Today an estimated 230,000 Tamil refugees are said to be in India. The fighting between government forces and the LTTE has not abated. It has in fact intensified day by day with the continuation of aerial bombardment. The economic blockade is continuing driving the civilian population to near starvation. According to reputed international human rights organisations like Amnesty International and Asia Watch, thousands of Tani speaking defenceless civilians have 'disappeared" or have been arbitrarily killed in the areas of he northeast where the security forces have regained
 

TAMIL TIMES 3
CONTENTS
From Devolution to Federalism. . . . . . . 11 56-4488
Amnesty International Report (ctd.). . . . 14 BSCRPTION ty port (ctd.)
. . . E1OWUSS20 Greetings from Jaffna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
. . . CanS35 Pure Tamil NationaliSm. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 . . . E15/USS30
21. . .London Tamils support peace efforts ܗܝ d by WES LTD The Sub-Continental Scene. . . . . . . . . .22 X 121 EY SM1 3 TD Th blishers assume no responsibility for return of NGDOM M¦ ການ photographs and artwork. -644 0972
GEES IN INDIA
control. In addition, an estimated 750,000 people have been displaced internally and have become refugees and living in makeshift camps. Latest indications on the military front indicate that the security forces are poised to launch a major offensive in the northern areas, particularly in the Jaffna peninsula. The tragic conSequences for the civilian population from such an offensive is not hard to imagine.
Hence it must be obvious to anybody that this is not the best time, in fact it is the worst time, for the Tamil refugees presently living in India to be required to return to Sri Lanka, that too to the war-torn areas. However, it would seem that the governments of India and Sri Lanka are united in their thinking that they must return, and in fact already one ship had left the Madras harbour on 20 January with approximately 600 Tamils. It is reported that the enforced departure of the rest of these refugees from India will continue in the coming weeks.
There is no doubt that the government of India, which had in the past adopted the view that Sri Lankan Tamil refugees would not be required to return until their safety and security in their home areas could be assured, has undergone a radical change of heart on the question of these refugees. It is widely speculated that this change has occurred following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the alleged involvement of the LTTE in that murder.
Many will share the grief and anger with the government, the various political parties and the people of India at this brutal assassination. However, it must be said that the uninvolved Tamil refugees living in India should not be penalised for a crime for which they were not responsible. Having acted in the best traditions of humanitarian spirit in accommodating hundreds of thousands of refugees at the time of their need, and magnanimously spent vast sums of money upon their maintenance for a number of years, it is hard to imagine that the Indian government could have, in the present circumstances, come to a decision to ensure their enforced departure to Sri Lanka where their safety and security will be gravely imperilled. Hence the government of India is urged to reconsider the matter and not to require the departure of Tamil refugees to Sri Lanka until such time as their safety and security can be assured.

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4 TAWHL TIMES
PEACE: THE OF THE POSSI
- Radhika Coomaraswamy
The proposals made by Minister S. Thondaman have unleashed forces which appear to have a “deja-vu' quality about them. For those with a historical memory, there is a constant flashback to 1958, 1967, 1981 and of course 1987. Proposals put forward to end ethnic strife in this country are like political magnets. On all sides, they bring out our worst fears and suspicions, like the sub-conscious rising to the fore in unrepressed fury.
For those of us interested in democratic process, there has to be concern over this 'instant replay of proposals leading to hysteria, hysteria leading to inflexibility, inflexibility leading to further militarisation and finally we await a lull in the fighting for a new set of proposals to emerge (often more dramatic than the earlier set) and the cycle begins afresh. We must also remember that there are safeguards and that any substantial constitutional amendment with regard to resolution of the ethnic crisis will require a twothird majority in parliament and probably a referendum.
For many people, any peace package is integrally linked to perceptions about the LTTE - a fighting force about which one English commentator after watching a BBC production claimed, "I don't know what they do to the enemy, but they sure as hell scare the life out of me'. Can one compromise with such militancy is a question that is often raised by those opposing a peace package.
But to confuse the LTTE with the search for a political solution is to confound the problem further. Whether the LTTE is defeated or not, whether Prabhakaran lives or dies, the central question remains, “what is the new social contract which will ensure a harmonious sharing of power between the centre and the Tamil periphery? After so many years of bloodshed, can we expect a return to a pre-1983 status quo? To impose such a peace package is to force "a treaty of Versailles' on the Tamil people and it will be only a matter of a generation before another Prabhakaran emerges.
Price of separatism
At the same time, the Tamil people should by now have learnt the costly price of asserting separatism, and any future leadership if it is to bring prosperity to the Tamils must also understand this fundamental truth.
In fact, one may argue that to say no political solution before a military vic
tory is to beg t the LTTE amo! the internati greatly be dete respond to a ge for peace which of the Sinhales those areas. If gathered up t posters in defi surely because one hand, and on the other, h a just peace.
Are we rea backs on the strengthen the showing the world that th and the Sinhal consider a pro peace and a r crisis - especi man is mot a Surely no polit if it wants to country.
We have con ture in our p recognise this ly seize the op the one hand, Sinhalese have rian politics o the need to s with the Tami on the other separatism. In tions lies “the area of negotia either commu learn this less history will fu their respecti permanent di tive genocide,
To see negot of ethnic con possible’ and right is the or communities. Sinhala ethn “hard-core” wh for compromis Their mut tions and feal try to the brin finally learn primordial ar possible.
If negotiati are approach set, then Tho) the sphere of part of the p.

15 JANUARY 1992
ART
BLE
e question. The fate of g its own people and in nal community will imined by its ability to herous and fair proposal also protects the rights and Muslims living in the Jaffna citizen has he courage to put up ance of the LTTE it is Mr. Thondaman, on the the Select Committee, ave given them hopes of
ly going to turn our se opportunities and hand of the LTTE by Jaffna citizen and the e Central Government ese people will not even 2ess which may lead to solution of the present ally when Mr. Thondasking for a ceasefire? y can be so shortsighted retain the unity of the
he to an important juncpolitical history and to juncture is to realisticalportunity for peace. On it is apparent that the | to eschew the majoritaf the 1950s and accept hare substantial power periphery. The Tamils, hand, have to eschew between these two posiart of the possible”, “the tion'. Any leadership of nity which refuses to on at this point of our l the self-destruction of 'e communities, either memberment, or effecor both. ations on the resolution lict as the 'art of the not as an ethnic birthy way forward for both in both the Tamil and groups there is the ) see every opportunity : as an act of betrayal. ally exclusive percephave driven the counof disaster. We have to o turn away from the work toward what is
ns on the peace package with the proper mindlaman's proposals leave emonology' and become cess of negotiation and
Dr. Radhika Cooomaraswamy
compromise. In looking at past negotiations in this regard there appear to be the following five areas of contention:
1. The North-East Merger.
2. The nature of devolved power and the significance of the 'concurrent list as well as 'national policy in this area;
3. Law and Order;
4. Land;
5. Financial autonomy.
In every area there have been many proposals put forward by different groups, and many academic and research articles written by scholars of diverse backgrounds both here and abroad. What is needed is a rational assessment of these proposals and a creative attempt at compromise to ensure that the security and rights of all communities are recognised. The Select Committee will hopefully undertake its task with this sense of responsibility.
No communal boundaries In this regard, can a visit to the North by Mr. Thondaman to gauge what the LTTE, the citizen committees and the people in the Jaffna peninsula are thinking, hurt such a process? He is not asking for a cessation of hostilities only for an appraisal of a negotiating position. In fact, one may genuinely ask, can the Select Committee make any meaningful deliberations without such an input.
Let us in this assessment of peace and war not forget the civilians of all communities. It is true that we must protect the rights of future generations of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims, that is our task, but we also cannot afford to forget the present. Before we drown ourselves in moral self-righteousness, let us think of them who suffer silently. When we empathise with their pain there cannot be any communal boundaries, only a common humanity:-
And therein lies the agony The agony and the horror That after all there was no martyrdom
Only the futility - The futility of dying The end of nothing And the beginning of nothing I weep red tears of blood Your blood. (Anne Ranasinghe, To my Mother)

Page 5
S3"JANUAAy'g2
Thondaman's Peace F
T.S. Subramanian
The spotlight in the protracted Sri Lankan Tamil problem may once again shift to the Tamil heartland if the planned trip of the President of the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) and Minister for Tourism and Rural Industrial Development, S. Thondaman, to Jaffna after January 1 to meet the top leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) materialises.
He has already submitted to the LTTE the final draft of the party's proposals for peace. LTTE leader W. Prabakaran and deputy leader Gopalaswamy Mahendrarajah alias Mahatiya have received copies. Thondaman has received word from another top LTTE leader, A.S. Balasingham, that the organisation is studying the proposals.
A copy has also been given to the Select Committee of the Sri Lankan Parliament set up in November 1991 to find a solution to the Tamil problem.
According to the proposals, autonomy in a real and substantial sense' should be basic to the North-East, where Tamils live. Sinhalese opinion has not been kind to this. The Sinhala Buddhist Association, comprising monks, has already called Thondaman's efforts a "traitorous exercise and it is afraid the proposals will destroy the unity and sovereignty of the country.
Maximum Autonomy
The rub lies also in the LTTE's response. As Thondaman, 79, himself told Frontline in an interview in Colombo on December 22, “The real answer to this is how the LTTE is going to look at it. If they respond to it favourably, I am hopeful we will have a solution to the Tamil problem once and for all. He insisted that what mattered was not the “framework’ of his proposals but the 'substance of devolution of powers' to the North-East.
The document is entitled "Peace and Political Stability in Sri Lanka, a memorandum from the Ceylon Workers' Congress submitted to the Select Committee of Parliament of Sri Lanka to recommend ways and means of achieving peace and political stability in the country.' Without mincing words, it states: "It is the perception of the Ceylon Workers' Congress that aximum autonomy to the people of the North-East Province alone can stem the disintegration of the nation. A commitment from the Central Govenanent and the majority community to share power with the people of North-East Province is imperative for
۔ ۔ ۔
The proposals a provement upon t Agreement becaus a referendum on East and the No) guously state that 'unbifurcated Nort The memorandu the unit for the de the North-Easter portant that whet called Provincial Council or State C ernment or Zona have the full pler the people of the quately realise Autonomy in a r sense should ther consensus emerge the term Instituti used.'
It insists that th Lanka should con tingly to bringing constitutional an enacting necessary the Institution fo North-East Provil salient features a the formation of a sabhas where Mus ity in the North-E safeguard the Sinhalese.
The document stitution for Autol lished for the unbi Province from suc dent may appoint the North-East P changed except wi Institution for would be a Gover who will be appoin with the concur Minister. There v Ministers with the head. The leader which wins more t the Institution fo] the Chief Ministe high court for the
Provir
The document Concurrent List - cial List and the enough. Under t state lands in the the provincial gov administer, contri Selection of famil the case of irriga made by the provi the ethnic balanc the time of Inde

TAM TIMES 5
ackage
re a definite imhe Indo-Sri Lanka they do not talk of the merger of the th. They unambithere shall be an n-East Province.'
um declines to name volution of powers to 1 province. It is imher the instituion is Council or Regional ouncil or State GovCouncil, it should litude of powers for North-East to adetheir aspirations. eal and substantial fore be basic. Till a s on the appellation, on for Autonomy is
e "Government of Sri nmit itself unremitI forth the relevant mendments and to legislation to make r Autonomy of the nce potent.” Its two re the suggestion on union of pradeshiya slims are in a majorlast and the need to interests of the
states that 'an Innomy shall be estabfurcated North-East h date as the Presi... The boundaries of rovince shall not be th the consent of the Autonomy.' There nor for the province, sted by the President rence of its Chief would be a board of Chief Minister at its of the political party han half the seats in Autonomy, will be r. There would be a
province.
Icial List
dispenses with the - it says the ProvinReserved List are he Provincial List, province shall vestin ernment, which will bl and utilise them. es for settlement in tion projects will be incial government on e of the province at pendence. Mahaweli
lands shall be alienated according to
the formula embodied in the draft proposals of 1986. The provincial government shall have the authority to establish a provincial land commission, which would formulate the policy on land use.
On the contentious issue of law and order, it says the provincial government shall establish a provincial police force. The initial recruitment will be for 10,000 personnel, to be completed in three months. There will be a single police force for the entire province, including reserve, volunteer, special and other units. The force shall reflect the province's ethnic ratio.
However, a sub-section entitled "Absorption of LTTE cadres into police and armed forces' is tantalisingly vague. It merely states:
"(a) The police force of the country will consist of (i) national police force; (ii) provincial police force. The national police force shall reflect the national ethnic proportions. The provincial police force shall reflect the provincial ethnic proportions.
"(b) With regard to the recruitment to the armed forces, a similar basis shall be considered for absorption from militant cadres.'
On planning and economic affairs, the document says the provincial government shall have the authority to establish a provincial planning commission which will formulate public and private sector investment programmes. It will also provide incentives for foreign and local investments.
On finance, it says the provincial government shall have full control over provincial public finance and it shall have the power to negotiate foreign aid. It shall have powers to plan, design and implement all irrigation works, drainage projects and schemes for groundwater exploitation. It can establish schools and universities other than those declared by laws of Parliament to be of national importance. Ports and harbours and even provincial television and broadcasting come under the Provincial List.
Reserved Powers
The Reserved List includes defence, foreign affairs, customs, pensions, posts and telecommunications and broadcasting by the Central Government, currency, coinage and foreign exchange, civil aviation, national highways, passports and visas and elections.
On the Muslim question, it proposes that pradeshiya sabhas with a substantial Muslim majority in the Eastern Province may form a union. Though not territorially contiguous, they could be administered by one body to be called the union of pradeshiya
Continued on page 23

Page 6
6 TAM TIMES
There must be a public debate
- S. Thondanan
S. Thondaman, president of the Ceylon Workers' Congress for Tourism and Rural industries Development, seems to be ( a solution to the ethnic problem if he gets a favourable island's Opposition parties and the Liberation Tigers of Tar the CWC proposals. T.S. Subramanian interviewed the 79 plantation workers at his Race Course Avenue residence in by commandos from the Sri Lankan security forces.
O There were reports of your saying that you may go to Jaffna in January 1992 to hold talks with LTTE leaders including V. Prabakaran. Are you going to Jaffna in January?
The invitation was there for me to go to Jaffna on December 10. But I could not. I told them (the LTTE) that I will not come on December 10 for two reasons: the people who are organising this visit want at least 10 days' notice and I have not held consultations with others such as leaders of the Opposition. So I suggested that my visit be rescheduled after Pongal (January 14). I am awaiting their reply and when I get the reply, I will fix the date. O What has the Ceylon Workers' Congress proposed to the LTTE as a solution?
You can have a copy of it. I had earlier given the LTTE a summary of these proposals and they said it was positive and an advance. But they said it was not complete. This is the final copy I sent to the Select Committee (of Parliament). O Have you given copies of this complete proposal to the LTTE
I have already given two copies - one to Prabakaran and the other to Mahatiya (deputy leader of the LTTE). I have given copies to the President (R. Premadasa) and leaders of the Opposition including the Muslim Congress and others. It has become a public document. It has not been published in a detailed form. The real thing has not been reproduced. O What is the reaction of Prabakaran to the proposals?
So far they have said they are studying them. The other day there was a message from (Anton) Balasingham (LTTE's political adviser) that this document sent to both Prabakaran and Mahatiya has been received and that they are studying them closely and that an early reply will come. In a day or two, I may get a response. It is already on the way. O What is the reaction of President Premadasa to your proposals? When he uvas asked at the post-summit (SAARC) press conference whether your efforts to hold talks with the LTTE had his approval, he said any
body uvas uvelcom resolve the Tamil All-Party Confere Select Committee proposals.
The Presidents consider any p Though he is not he is not averse to (of the CWC pro considerit. He doe himself in advanc an open mind. He fact that whatev Tamil question ( through constitu carry out this, y majority in Parlia has to get the su tion. So he is wa That is my under ment. O Hou does the Party view your p. I met Mrs. Siril She is also very solution should be met her when th the LTTE) came. she will consider ( I had fixed an ap but as she fell ill reply on this doc was keen on a sol O One of the L gar, called me up ber 18 and said: tions - being the Minister. He also within the conf
majority Parliam
They are not l advantages. The me). O In what way
As a CWC man proposal accordin As a Governmel restraint; without the Government,
As the CWC freedom and liber my opinion, is fea it is an advantage That is how I w problem of statel Tamils.

CWC) and Minister confident of forging reaction from the ni Eelam (LTTE) to -year-old leader of Colombo, guarded
e to make efforts to problem. He said the nce (APC) and the have to study your
aid he is prepared to roposal for peace. committing himself, it. He has got a copy posal). He wants to s not want to commit e. He wants to keep also recognises the er is agreed on the it has to be done) tional changes. To rou need two-thirds ment. Therefore, he pport of the Opposiiting to see how. . . standing and assess
Sri Lanka Freedom roposals? mavo Bandaranaike. keen that an early brought about. I had e earlier reply (from Therefore, I thought the CWC proposals). ppointment with her I could not get her tument. Earlier, she ution. TTE leaders, Thilafrom Paris on Decemyou have tuvo limitaCWC president and a said you have to work. ines of a Sinhalaent. imitations. They are y are favourable (to
are they favourable?
, I am free to give any g to my conscience. nt man, I will have , the prior approval of I cannot do that. leader, I have the ty to suggest what, in sible. To that extent, to solve the problem. as able to solve the essness of the Indian
15 JANUARY 1992
When one is negotiating, one should not find faults. How to carry forward...That should be your approach and your ambition should be to achieve your objective. O Thilagar said the LTTE cannot accept the unitary Constitution of Sri Lanka but the LTTE is prepared to consider favourably a federal set-up.
When you talk of infrastructure like a federation... We are now concerning ourselves about the substance of devolution. If we can agree on the powers of devolution and substance, it is easy to achieve it rather than the framework. The framework is federal. The substance of the matter you are going to handle (is important). O When I met you on November 15, you said the LTTE wanted full autonomy for the North-Eastern Province.
I have indicated in this package the substance of devolution that will ensure full autonomy; so much so that some people feel this is more than Eelam. Therefore, if what you want is devolution, you are going to have it. If you talk in high-flown definitions, nothing will come out. It will be watered down and there will be nothing in the package. I have concentrated on what is necessary to look after their own affairs. ' * १.६ , O Do you expect a favourable reply from Prabakaran?
It will be unfortunate if I don't get a favourable reply. I am able to do it because I am the president of the CWC. If I had acted as a Minister, I will not dare even suggest this. O. What is the reaction of the APC and the Select Committee to your proposals?
They have been talking for months and years. You cannot mix this with that. This is receiving the attention of the public. Now, it is not for us to compare with the APC or the earlier document. We should get around. The real answer to this is how the LTTE is looking at it. If they respond to it favourably, I am hopeful we will have a solution to the Tamil problem once and for all. O. When the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement is in place, do you think India will approve of your efforts?
They must be happy. The Muslim Congress president Ashraff, says this is a definite step, far ahead of the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement. The Government of India signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement to help the Sri Lankan Tamils. Therefore, it ought to be happy if this agreement comes through on the basis of this formula. All the refugees in India can come back. What else do they want? Therefore, I feel it will be welcomed by India. O Do you think India-Sri Lanka relations will improve now that Continued on page 7

Page 7
15 ANUARY 1992
Human Rights, Sove and DeVolutioII
(Sterferrer lly the Civil Right's Merrer Sri Larka 25...9)
When there is criticism of our human rights record frt II abroad, we hear, all toj often, the sigentiment expressed thal. other countries should mind their own business and that what happers here is solely our own aflair.
Such a viewpoint, though II orally wrong, would have been legally correct some years ago. But today it is legally
Continued from page 6
LE LKLLLS S rrHLLL HLLH zaS HHHLLLLLLLS S LLLL GG bitterness fade I Lilay
I don't think there was bitterness at any time. The two have such a long tradition of friendship that any single incident will mot Cremte bitterness, If some misunderstanding crops up and it is cleared, it will go back to the state of long friendship. O Did you discuss your proposals with Prire Mirister P.W. Na Tras ir The RaIo Luther you rret him in Neu Delhi ir Nauer her?
He is awHTE. cof them. When I was in conversation with him at that til Thee, Jha (Indian High Commissioner in Columbu) was also there, The question of return of Sri Lankan Tamily refugees came up. Jha informed him that when the refugees go back, they will be put up in camps. Rao said, "Why should poor people go back to the camps?" He told me, "You are in touch with the LTTE and why don't you sort it outthe refugees going back to their villages." Therefore, he also wants a solutiom to the problem.
S S L LLL LLL LLLLLLLHLM LLLLLLG LLLL LLaaaaE το μαμή" μrημαSαιξε
The Indian High Commission may have sent it to him. All the embassies are picking it up. O ) Jyro tirik it is prer Leaf Larte fè. relier it?
No; no. There must be a public debate. O There vere reports that FFF LTTE u"ợuld kitỉnup you ifyƯu gọ lọ Jafflu... These are all stories by people who don't want this to go through. This is a ruse by them. I don't attach much importance to this. It is a mischief. O There are reports that the LTTE is infiltra ting the TI riva il plan ta' tiori MIዖ'ዚ፥ዛIያ፡ " " ...
It is a dream, That is the day-dream of some people, O I rear the physical frt filtrailrt of FF LTTE, , ,
Any form, morally or physically. For 50 years, we have survived,
("Frontline', 17.1.92).
wrong as well. It that the doctrin states to longer state trents l'he fl, ffs sujects. The & Wereignty has Way to the conc responsibility. As ly put it:
"Had a wellfrom abrhd Adolf Hitler
about the ni laws, and th they were be "Lt Get IIlar would proba such an initi: phrase of " tBrferencL in of the sover pointing out
heen enacter
with the pro man Constiti bly constitut
Competemt ti that sheither plication Wero meddling fori termantiminal li: he would hi right = an. Secretary-Ge have been if had called on same time to wholesale l: Kulaks in thi
Were ch Llunday on s) liying tyr:Arnt the injustic laws, those dubtless, be sario phrase. El lliw Is it tyränts wou since Hitler' there has bet national law call properly tion, Today, history, how tre:Lits its ow ger H, THtter tleterminatiữ legitimate ci states. and f.
The La få i
The writer th LEH "THE TITI Wolution is al de tional law layin Widuals against cisE PHIWEËT (I WĘer

TAMIL TIMES 7
reignty
is accepted law today e of sovereignty of olds good so far is I drrer : ) concept of national in this respect given ept of international one expert has lucid
meaning delegation called on Chancellor in 1936 tc.) complair, otorious Nuremberg e manner in which ing applied to perse1 Jews, the Fuhrer bly have dismissed Ltive with the classic arı illegitirilate inthe internal affairs ign German State", that these laws had | il full accord Tıçe Wisins of the Gertion, by an assenionally and legally enact them, and they mor their ape the concern of any eigners. A. T.d. in inaw as it then stood, avcı belon perfectly so would Party neral Josef Stali a siTuila T delegation hirl tarud the complain about the iquidation of the == Su Wiet Linion, delegations to call me of the World's s to complain about - of some of their protests too would dismissed with the But in internationstands today, those lid be wrong. Fir s and Stalin's Line -n a change in interso profound that it he called a revolufor the first title in a sovereign state In citizens is no lonfor its own exclusive rn, but a matter of incern for all other Irtir iiIhabiti Tits.”
Sieghart: Rights of Ma 77 kird.
en goes on to explain all product of that retailed code of inter Thag down rights of indithe states which exer.
the In, and so making
these individuals the subjects of legal rights under that law, and no longer the Inere objects of its compassion." (ibid). It is now necessary that both the existence and the Content of this Codě become known more widely, not only by lawyers and politicians, but also by the ordinary citizens for whose protectiun they exist.
The other theme that is often talked and written about in Sri Lanka today is that of various forms of devolution, The All Party Conference is supposed to be trying to reach a consensus on this. The parliamentary Select Committee headed by Mangala Moonesinghe would, presumably, look into possible III1 dels of devolution, JT II nodifications of the Provincial Council system created under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. H.L. de Silva's booklet opposing a federal system and 34Hying that instead, the Provincial Council system must be given a proper chance to work, has been widely reproduced and discussed in the riational press. Dr. G.L. Peiris, Wice Chancellor and Professor of Law of the University of Colombo, on the contrary, argues that federalism can be the only viable Imechanistill for holding together a lation torn as under by cultural, religious and ethnic differences, More recently, discussion hH si centred On H different aspect of the Illide of government - the Executive Presidency wersus the "Westminster' parliamentary model.
The question of securing sundarinental rights has so far mot figured Continued on page 19
TAMILL TIMES
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Page 9
St 15 JANUARY 1992
Campaign Against Peace Proposals
The much publicised proposed visit of cabinet minister S. Thondaman to Jaffna has been abandoned, at least for the time being, amidst a hysterical and vicious campaign orchestrated by extremist Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinist forces in the south of the country against his visit and proposals he has submitted to the all-party parliamentary select committee appointed to find ways and means of resolving the ethnic conflict. The campaign is reminiscent of many such inglorious ones of past years when these same forces prevented any negotiated settlement of the ethnic question and brought the country to its present pass-rocked by continuing violence, death and desruction.
Reincarnations of K.M.P. Rajaratnes, L.H. Mettanandas, N.Q. Diases, and Cyril Mathews of a bygone era jumped on the band wagon of this campaign in the form of Gamini Jayasuriya, Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera, Dr. Nalin de Silva, Rev. Dr. Walpola Rahula and some other leading Buddhist prelates. The 'Sinhala * Arakshaka Sanvidhanaya” (Movement for the Defence of the Sinhalese) under the leadership of Mr. Gamini Jayasursiya has been formed which can claim direct lineage from the Bauddhi Jathika Balavegaya, Sinhala Bala Mandalaya, Eksath Bikku Peramuna, and Maubhima Surakeema Sanvidhanaya of yesteryears. This organisation has been established with the “aim of protecting and safeguarding the just and inherent rights of the Sinhala masses'
Not uncharacteristically, the Sinhala mainstream printed news media, most notably the 'Divayna and the Lankadeepa offered prominence and space for this campaign of denunciation and distortion of Thondaman's proposals. The old and famous SinhalaBuddhist ideologue, Ven. Madihe Pannaseeha Maha Nayaka Thera characterised his proposals as coinciding with the very demands of the LTTE and regarded it as a betrayal of the Sinhala Buddhists. The All Ceylon Buddhist Congress rejected the proposals describing them as a “frankenstein monster'.
"The Most Venerable' Rambukwelle Vipassi Thero, Maha Nayake of the Malwatte Chapter, (speaking at a meeting called by Buddhist Societies at the Kandy Dalada Maligawa to protest over reports that the government was going to permit the construction of a Muslim school on the land which was occupied by a bus depot and at which a
resolution was ado) unto death if the ahead to allocate Muslim school) dec characteristic style Mr. Thondaman u virtually to hand platter to the Tami without saying so should be rejectec wildering to all th who represented on munity should bes East to talk peace
many Sinhala leac These proposals uv, sented in a mann our country and the dire consequences s ly opposed by Buddhists who are to our land”.
If one believed th for peace and non who occupies the the Vice Chancell University, Agg Venerable Profes Rahula Thera did illusions. In a state press he declared, dreadful иvar in c meantime there are talks. I too have bee my proposals. I sin is not an opportune should not forget th holding such peac should see to it that a short-sighted a again. Not only sha talks, but stop all celebrations until t) should first concl. thenshoulduve con celebrations'. The Buddhist prelate of repute is clear: figh kill, defeat the er have talks with t lowed by celebratic indeed!
If anyone wants the ethnic conflict Lanka, the article lished in the Diva December 1991 by of “Jaathika Chir vides it:
Defeating the L time. What must defeat the LTTE ut This is the best tir, into discussions uv, moment in time is raying the countr nism...The object
 

oted to launch a fast
government went he land to build a lared his position in : "The proposals of hich were designed over Eelam on a ls of north and east in so many words totally. It is beat Mr. Thondaman tly a minority com2nt to the North and while there were so ters in the country. hich have been preer most inimical to nation threatening hould be vehementus, the Sinhala - the legitimate heirs
at Buddhism stood -violence, the man exalted position of or of the Kelaniya amaha Panditha ssor Dr. Walpola not have any such ament issued to the Currently there is hur country. In the proposals for peасе an invited to send in cerely feel that this time for talking. We e disaster caused by e talks earlier. We we don't act in such та ити)isе таптет uld we stop holding so all meaningless his war is ended. We ude the war. Only duct talks and have message of this f some international ht and fight, kill and hemy, then we can he vanquished folns. Very Buddhistic
evidence as to why is still raging in Sri e prominently pubayina' of 25 and 27 r Dr. Nalin de Silva ntanaya’ fame pro
TTE is a matter of be done today is to terly and absolutely. ne to do so. To enter ith the LTTE at this tantamount to bety to Tamil chauviive of these proposals
TAM TIMES 9
(Mr. Thondaman's) is to grant Prabhakaran a Tamil state without using the uvord Eelam. In one uvay, these proposals are even one step beyond the demand for Eelam. An Eelam state would have to draw on some financial resources from within the country, while receiving foreign aid; but according to the proposals, the Sri Lankan government would be committed to give some financial support to the Tamil state. The Tamil government would have no reciprocal obligations. The result of these proposals will be the birth of a Tamil state in the north and east and in a short time one would also witness the absorption of Mr. Thondaman's Malainadu (hill country) to this Tamil state. . .
Not only the LTTE but all other parties with the words Tamil or Eelam or both in their names, believe that from way back in history there have been tuvo ethnic groups - Sinhala and Tamil - in Sri Lanka and that north and east have been the traditional homelands of the Tamil people...
“There are no tuvo ethnic groups that have lived in this country for thousands of years. It is only the Sinhala people who have inhabited this island for over a thousand years and who have a traditional and unbroken culture'.
It is generally believed that Mr. Thondaman's peace efforts including his proposals and the proposed visit to Jaffna to talk to the Tiger leaders had the blessings of President Premadasa. However, as the anti-Thondaman campaign went into over-drive and when Lalith Athulathmudali and other UNP rebels dubbed the proposals as those of the President and that Mr. T was only acting as proxy for him, the President began to distance himself from Mr. T's peace efforts by saying that the government would not accept unilateral solutions and that any settlement must receive the approval and consensus of all sections of the people’. He also appears to have persuaded Mr. T to submit the document containing his proposals to the Parliamentary Select Committee. As a consequence, it is now up to this Committee to consider the proposals along with others that may be submitted.
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Page 10
10 , TAM MES
Refugees afraid to return to Sri Lanka
Thousands of Tamils who fled the War at home and settled in India are to be "voluntarily repatriated", writes Julian West in Madras. When Asokan, seven, landed on the shores of southern India, a refugee from Sri Lanka's civil war, he could not read or write, and showed no interest in playing with other children. But he could take apart, oil and reassemble a sub-machine-gun in two minutes - a skill learnt from the Tamil Tiger guerrillas who had drafted him into their "baby brigade”.
"Many of these children were deeply traumatised,' said S.C. Chandrahasan, head of OFERR, a refugee group in Madras. They were insensitive to suffering, and would refer to death and violence quite unemotionally.'
Gradually Asokan, and children like him, have been educated and taught to play games. This month, however, India and Sri Lanka agreed to the 'voluntary' repatriation of up to a third of the 110,000 refugees living in 192 camps in Tamil Nadu state. The war in Sri Lanka between Tamil separatists and the Sinhalese majority has slowed but is far from over, and relief workers now fear for the future of these children.
Yesterday the first ship sailed from Madras for Trincomalee with some 600 Tamils, mostly Sri Lankan government workers and their families. Colombo kept their jobs open, but they have now been given an ultimatum to return or risk dismissal. In Trincomalee they will
be temporarily doned tourist ho under only tenu where Tigers st where masked pa abducted Tami camps.
"These people indiscriminate appearances,’ sai san. “They’re retu situation they le people in Sri La placed by war; foi is also in short st organisations vie with misgiving. pretty grim,' saic former representa the United Natio sioner for Refuge which runs twore island, has refuse the operation be verify whether pe voluntarily.
The repatriatio change of heart t fugees since the Gandhi in Tamil The Indian goverr resisted calls by patriate people. B tion and a rise in withered Indian T: for their cousins. have demanded 220,000 Sri Lanka state.
Indian officials fugees have agre although OFERR 3,000. Confusion cause the first su glish, which is un 15 per cent of the 1
MRUE Favours Discuss on Thondaman's Propos
The Colombo-based Movement for Inter-Racial Justice and has expressed its dismay at the current campaign against the made by cabinet minister S. Thondaman, and has urged Pre and his government to take the initiative in formulating a pc The following is the text of the statement dated 7 January is
"The proposals put forward by Mr. Thondaman for a political solution to the ethnic problem have generated a great deal of discussion and debate. Some of the issues raised are legitimate; negotiations must not merely be a temporary respite from a continuing war; they must necessarily be directed towards a settlement that will enable the Tamil people to take their place with dignity and equality within a united and democratic Sri Lanka. It is however a matter for regret that most reactions have chosen to ignore not
only the current rea society and politics, experiences that all gone through durin
In 1989 the S accepted the mult society and the ni structure that refl agreed to set up as councils, with ones temporarily merg Eastern provinces. ment may have be duress, it did hav,

15 JANUARY 1992
housed in abanels. It is an area us army control, ke at night, and ra-militaries have s from refugee
ed bombings and rrests and disMr. Chandraharning to the same t. Some 700,000 nka are still disld in many camps pply. "Most relief w this operation The situation is
Bill Clarance, a tive in Colombo of ns High Commises. The UNHCR, lief centres on the d to take part in 'cause it cannot ple are returning
n reflects India's owards Tamil remurder of Rajiv Nadu last May. ment had earlier Sri Lanka to reut the assassinaviolent crime has amils' compassion Some politicians
the return of ans living in the
say 30,000 reed to go home, says it is nearer was caused bervey was in Enderstood by only refugees, who are
mostly farmers and fishermen. Many signed the forms in the belief that they would receive hand-outs. Some were threatened with loss of their dole, or told they would be rounded up by police.
Sebamalai Suyambu, 41, nervously twisted the ends of her brown sari as she told of the panic she felt after Indian officials arrived with repatriation forms. "We weren't told we would be sent back,' she said. "They just said we must sign. I have three teenage girls. If we return, I'm afraid the army will molest them, or the Tigers will take them and they’ll die. In Sri Lanka II was so afraid of the army I couldn't sleep. I don't want to return - I'm happy here.'
It is hard to believe anyone could be happy in the cyclone shelter where Mrs. Suyambu lives. Up to 190 people live in a two-storey space no bigger than a large living room. Inside, the air is acrid with the smells of cooking fires and human bodies. Families live in "rooms' partitioned by hangings. The only pristine objects are a black-and-white television, donated by an aid agency, and an altar made by a refugee to commemorate the death of her son, a Tiger. Two small red bulbs and a wreath of fresh jasmine frame a portrait of the young man.
Yet few refugees are willing to exchange even this squalid existence for the terror they left behind. "It was insecurity that made these people leave,' said Mr. Chandrahasan. "In a refugee community, no government should give an ultimatum. The situation is very bleak.'
"The Independent' (London), 21.1.92).
ion ials
Equality (MIRJE) , peace proposals sident Premadasa litical settlement. sued by MIRJE:
lities of Sri Lankan but also the bitter ethnic groups have g the recent past.
ri Lankan state i-ethnicity of our ed for a political cted this fact. It 1stem of provincial uch council for the 'd Northern and Though its agreen obtained under the potential of
resolving the conflict through new political arrangements. That the solution was not allowed to succeed was due to two reasons: the intransigence of the LTTE and the obvious failure of the government to show the Tamil people that power would genuinely be devolved and that the provincial councils could meet their political aspirations.
The attempt may have failed but it did show that the only way out of the impasse was a political structure based om devolution. Since then almost all shades of political opinion have indicated some acceptance of this concept, with debate centering on the precise degree of devolution that was deemed acceptable. The course of developments since 1989 have convinced us that the acceptable degree of devolution must now be a considerable advance on the provincial councils; a federal structure would probably be the most appropriate.
Continued on page 19

Page 11
15 JANUARY 1992
From Devolutio
H.L. de Silva. An Appraisal of the Feder AtETEtive fıOT STII Lika, lhiwela: Sridewi Printers, July 1991. բբ.41C. Suriyakumaran. Devolution in Sri Lanka: Origins and Concepts. Colornbo: CRDS. Monograph series, No. 1, April 1991. pp. 29, The two monographs under review are significant for the current debate on a political solution to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka, They evaluate the existing provincial council system And the potential it offers for a rritore participatory form of governance to resolve the contentious problem of the T orthEE St.
The first monograph has been given considerable publicity recently (see Islard, 10 August 1991, and a fly Nels, 11 August 1991). Its author is distinguished lawyer, H.L. de Silva, who was appointed a President's Counsel under President J. R. Jayewardene. The monograph seeks to evaluate the HLuitability of Earı “un diluted federal systerri af gwerin riment” ir Sri Lanka. In doing su, de Silva is responding tr) the advocacy of federalism as a solution to the Tamil problem by several notable speakers of Tamil origin both Indians and Sri Lankaris) atar academic conference in Madras earlier this year, before the assassination of the for Iller prime Iminister Rajiv Gandhi. He calltions against the acceptance of this "facile idea' and argues that the provincial council system which wäs ir trOduced by the Thirteenth Amendment to the 1978 Cinstitution should be given a fair trial.
As de Silva points out, the constitultional scheme fashioned through the Thirteenth Amendment in September 1987 was not something imposed solely by the Sri Lankan government but the outcome of negotiations and consultations ovet a period of nearly three years between the governments of Sri Lanka and India and 'a number of Tamil parties' (p.3). After late 1984, the discussions were held with the understanding that any solution would have to be within the unit Elry framework of Sri Lanka because of the difficulty posed by the requirement of referendum in the event of a change to federalism. Except for the interim Inerger, the Amendment represented the proposals negotiated from 4 May 1986, to 19 December 1986. While he finds it 'un necessary at this point to go into the cause that led to the breakdown in the administration of the North East Prowincial Council (NEPC) culminating in a unilateral declaration of Independ ence by its former Chief Minister, it
— AITnita
would be clear to: wer thpt th1g NEF short a time for a chances of succes: argues, the dew. should Entut be ab the intransigence ments. In doing 8 ignores the intral Lankan gover IIIThe through on their p devolving prywers councils, especially east, where the Ta given a more wil Accord had placed stantial risk throl NEPC. Yet, they f: police personnel, establish their aut ewer myTe depenc: forces and increa creatures. It is p ments with who gøvernment starte form the intractab cc)-military equatio
O De Silva cuntin old thesis regardi: fear and apprehen: 843נוCommunity wh and deteriorated . and was threatent minority who had privileges and be: the beliefs of : chauvinists contir ideas of those who and interpreters Col
Despite the tr; Lanka and the no biases in the coil that have been post-independence to advocate the II 'higher nationalism tolerance and con the Wi that fede sarily exacerbate ences and rivalrie for secession. H against federalism Nordlinger citing t of partial autonom impetus for der autonomy. And d numerous studies Silva continues t: Lurnitary constituti: small size, scarce ciency and speed nistration, the ne uniform i Organisa

TAMIL TIMES Titi
y H.L. de Silva and C. Suriyakumaran in to Federalism
Shastrii -
any objective obser"Coperated for too inyone to assess its 3 or failure". So he lution Lxperiment indoned because of
of extremist elleo, de Silva blithely sigence of the Sri nt in not following rrnises and swiftly to the provincial that of the orthmil groups who had ling assent to the themselves ut subugh election to the hiled to be given the arms and funds to hority leaving them lent on the Indian singly seen as its recisely th05e ellem the Sri Lankırı d talks who today le part of the politiIli in the rooth-east.
hesis les to advance the ng the deep-seated ions of the majority
position worsened Inder Colonial Tule, d by an aggressive once enjoyed special nefits. Regrettably, Sinhala Buddhist ue to inform the are the custodil ris tliet l-AW.
agic events in Sri w publicly admitted stitutions and laws bromulgated in the period, he continues need for a spirit of in and spirit of a Tity, promise" and holds Tallis In would reces
inter-ethnic differs and pave the way is chief argu TT1 ent | is a quotation from the fear that a grant ly could provide the nands for greateT espite evidence and to the contrary, de make a case for a in due to Sri Lanka's
resources, the effiof centralized a dini2d for a natical Wide tion of administra
tion, the greater cohesion and unity created, as well as for the tradition of unitary government that exists on the Island.
He evinces surprise that there is enthusiasm with the federal system in India despite the imposition of presidential rule in various states. He, however, see Is oblivious to the fact that according te numerous observers, the proble in in India has too often been control and interference exercised by the Centre and its leadership which has led to regional reactions, Incore often than a problem of a misuse of powers by state governments. He looks om the agitation of new ethnic groups for separate Provinces in India and the gover IIIherit's recognition of then in a negative light, rather than as a positive recognition of regional differences and interests. (p. 20)
Federal principle Interestingly, however, de Silva preceeds to argue the federal principle" has already been incorporated into the political syster TL through the Thirteenth Amendment, even though formally the political framework remains a unitary one, De Silva differs with the view of the majority opinion in the Supreme Court (Sri Lanka Law Reports 1987 (2) 312-410) and its interpretation of Wheare's definition of a federal constitution, characterizing it as being unduly narrow and unsound. He agrees with the minority opinion in the case: that the restrictions on the habitual exercise of legislative power by the Parliament on Subject:5 allocated to the provincial cucils Int to the federal principle being in place in Sri Lanka. He feels the exercise of power by the Parliament on provincial matters quite Exceptional“ and irrlpossible' unless the central government Controls mure thăm six []f the eight provinces. Likewise, unlike in Canada, the Governor can refuse assent to provincial statutes only if the Supreme Court determines that a statute is incronsisterht with the Constitution. He views the restrictions on parliamentary pover over provincial councils as being II erely II atters relating to the manner and form" of legislation. He argues that the provincial councils, in effect, legislate over an exclusive field of subjects and that the statutes passed by them, in effect, do not constitute "subordinate legislation'. In his view, the provincial councils can legislate on the concurTent list of Hlubjects also with no restrictions. He also challenges the position of the Supreme
Continued on page 12

Page 12
12 TAMIL TIMES
Continued from page 11
Court which contends that the governor is at all times required to act in accordance with the instructions of the President. (pp.34-38)
Disagreeing with the Supreme Court, he feels that the Thirteenth Amendment changed the constitution to a quasi-federal one and that the constitutional position currently obtaining in Sri Lanka is not substantially different from the federal system in India. Consequently, he feels any demands for a federal structure of government, which could decrease the centralizing features, add further subjects and functions to the provincial list, or confer increased autonomy in financial matters on the provinces are unwarranted by "any demonstrable inadequacies in the content of regional autonomy’ (p.40) and would want to know what powers are being demanded before conceding additional powers. Instead, he argues for the need for constitutional conventions to develop for appropriate central controls as regional autonomy. This clearly is a cautious, pro-centrist point of view. It ignores the fact that the past decades have been precisely the strong centralizing tendencies of the state, especially in the eighties.
Provincial powers
It is the issue of merger coupled with significant provincial powers over certain subjects that proves to be the most difficult to accept for de Silva. It is this that constitutes the crux of the problem and over which the fears of segments of the Sinhalese majority continue to be reflected and represented in de Silva’s arguments. It is perhaps why his views have been given such wide coverage in the media. He seems to have no problem with conceding control over the two most difficult subjects relating to (1) (national") land resources, their development, use, alienation and settlement, (2) powers to maintain law and order in the regions, to the Tamil-majority Northern Province. But he strongly objects to doing so to a merged North-Eastern Province. In his words, the single most intractable “formidable obstacle' (p.26) to the federal system in Sri Lanka is the lines of territorial demarcation for the proposed Tamil state. As he succinctly says, “The solution from the Tamil point of view is itself a problem from the Sinhalese point of view' according to which "...the federal demand is thought to be a cloak for the exclusive possession and appropriation or a significant part of a country's territory’ (p.26). The idea that the whole subject of land, land development, land settlement, land alienation should be a regional subject solely is considered 'anathema' to Sinhalese opinion. He feels that since the only
areas now availab sion and settlemel Province (NP) ani (EP), it is “uncon 74% of Sinhalese to concede control 60% of coastline ti population.
Clearly, the latt significant Muslim population to be region. More imp here the familiar a ity community rais the resources the want to hold wi account the large political, economic which the majori increasingly estab argument has a l similar arguments in the past in ord proportionate cont) seats in Parliame guage, recruitment vices, university ad tively over public As a counter to th and unfairness” ol mand, de Silva pro which would be (p.28) - and that i EP for administra inhabitation by all in proportion to the province - a solutic osed by JR and a Gandhi in the Ba November 1986, b jected by all Tamil p insisted on an amal with the EP. How of the three sub-d their non-contiguou be carried out is no In a particularly ment found in the b doubts about the v lamation made by and EP to be one a under an emergency tradiction of the p Act No.42 of 1987, He bases this argu interpretation of thi cle 154 A (3) intro teenth Amendmen effect of excluding t ulation under whi merger was effect according to him, th referendum to del vinces!
In short, de Sil paradoxical nature devolution that is Lanka when he c Lankans are practi federalism even whi “diehard unitarians problem of 'acute c zophrenia” for fu

for future expanare the Northern Eastern Province cionable' that the pulation be asked f 30% of land and 13% of the Tamil
r. figure omits the and estate Tamil also found in the rtantly, Ne have gument of a majorng questions about minority have or hout taking into areas of national and social life over y community has ished control. The amiliar ring to it, having been made er to establish disol by majority over ut, the official lanto government sermissions, and effecunds and projects. e "evident injustice the minority deposes a new scheme ust and equitable' s to sub-divide the ative purposes for three ethnic groups ir population in the on which was propgreed to by Rajiv galore meeting in ut which was repolitical parties who gamation of the NP the administration ivided units, with is territories would t spelled out.
interesting arguook, de Silva raises alidity of the procJR declaring NP dministrative unit y regulation in conrovincial Councils section 37 (1) (b). ment On a naTTOW } “law' used in Artiluced by the Thirt, which has the he emergency regh the temporary ed. As a result, ere is no need for a nk the two pro
va points to the of the process of underway in Sri oncludes that Sri ing the essence of le professing to be and foresees a onstitutional schiure judges and
15 JANUARY 1992
". In " ..."
lawyers, he has no problems with the existing distribution of powers and functions between the Centre and the provinces, his main cause for concern being the possibility of a merged NEPC claiming control over the subjects ostensibly devolved to the provinces by the Thirteenth Amendment.
In contrast for C. Suriyakumaran the author of the second Monograph under review, this schizophrenia is not a problem for the future but of the present. In his monograph, Devolution in Sri Lanka, he concretely investigates and identifies various provisions which are unsatisfactory and, indeed dysfunctional for the attainment of harmonious participatory and decentralized development.
Suriyakumaran is one of Sri Lanka's senior most civil servants who has wide experience of diverse contexts and international agencies. This experience with public administration and public finance is evident in his analysis. In addition he has been visiting professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science He has also been closely connected to SWRD's ideas on regional devolution and the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact of 1957.
Lucid exposition
The monograph is an amazing piece of clear-thinking and lucid exposition. The dilemma of the unfounded fears of a majority and the need for acceptance of minority needs and interests in a process of "power-sharing are treated in a restrained and balanced fashion. In a complete difference of perspective from the monogaph reviewed earlier it asserts that devolution involves a sharing of governmental power of the provinces or regions with the centre. To quote him: "These powers are entrenched in the constitution, along, with financial resources for them and they may not be varied according to the whims or fancies of either party. The Centre obviously has ineradicable prerogative on certain national policies such as defence external affairs money, ....Simultaneously, under devolution, it has obligations to the periphery to honour and to support the latter's areas of Power and authority, in use of resources, in functions in finance, in development and so on. As he points out, these ideas are not restricted to a multi-ethnic society but are basic to democratic governance and development. To Suriyakumran, the formal nomenclature adopted to describe the division of powers (federal, quasi-federal, union of states, etc.) is not material but a genuine process of devolution is important. He asserts that "...while the politics of devolution has been divisive the principles of devolution are in fact highly integrative' (p.5) When the causes of dissen

Page 13
15 JANUARY 1992
sion and discontentment of social and regional groupings are honestly removed an overriding national identity has a chance to grow. This is an insight which substantially applies to the approach adopted by the Island's sprawling neighbour, India, but one which analysts like de Silva unfortunately continue to miss.
It is Suriyakumaran's view that the devolved structures set up in Sri Lanka "reflect many shortcomings, most of which, it would seem, are the result of inadequate formulation by the Centre. To adequately recognize the needs for identity, security and opportunity for its peoples, devolution needs to adequately resolve issues of territory, language, land, police, judiciary, provincial functions and finance. He considers the Accord and the Thirteenth Amendment a "radical departure from previous patterns with some resemblance to the BC Pact arrangement, but certainly wider than even the latter in scope and content. In his view, it created a provincial system of offices, powers and functionaries with a potential for genuine devolution. The provincial council functions ostensibly include all the critical functions relating to police, planning, housing, roads, irrigation, land, industrial planning, taxation and borrowing. In this his view substantially concurs with de Silvas.
However, he identifies several shortfalls demonstrated by the manner in which provincial councils have functioned in political, administrative and financial terms. In his view, they emerged as badly served institutions alongside the Kachcheri and regional office structure. They suffered from inadequate staff, facilities, and funds. The Central government chose to interpret powers in a restrictive manner over a whole range of subjects which were apparently within the provinces such as law and order, public services, education, transport, planning and development and so on. It also interpreted and used the capping provision over National Policy' on the reserved list of the Centre in generous fashion to effectively cover subjects which were ostensibly provincial ones. Similarly powers in the concurrent list remain ill-defined and were similarly generously construed by the Centre. Important powers relating to land, port and harbours, foreign trade, and foreign finance remained on the reserved list of the Centre. He considers the position of Governor, as presently constituted, possibly a 'serious block to genuine autonomy' but which could be alright if it were rightly interpreted in keeping fully with the spirit and substance of a genuine democratic devolution.
Thus, in Suriyakumaran’s view, provincial councils were from the beginning not destined to function properly or effectively. They could not under
take meaningful ol velopment and soci the arrangements made to date allow administrative rathe “power-sharing’ typ underlying factor ré situation has been the Centre to divest trols it has exercised colonial times.
Muslim n
Totally neglected brought in by the T ment, however, were special needs of the and, by extension, co minority population were provisions for participation in the tral government a dients to enhance in integrity.
He calls for a ne accept, and straight cepts and arrangem participatory develo satisfaction are to b emphasizes, at the h is its characteristic ers between the Ce gions. The process is a performance of fur of fundings from an Centre by the provir there is a need to current system of cised by the Centre a powers over certain administration to th cils. He feels the pro planning and financ provided for the PC teenth Amendment to either reinterpret tively for the Cent them to clearly str the provinces. Such be structured so as ta and progressively di venues for the pro vinces should, morec actively explore and external funding, actual negotiation : for such aid is the Centre. The effort in should be for Centr ance and harmonize needs, not to even "t trict provincial intiat
In relation to the ci the unit of devolutio Suriyakumaran finc sanct about the ex provinces. To deal w fear of an oversize . the advantages of boundaries to create five units in all, whi keeping considerati areas and ethnic mind. Sinhalese maj

r progressive de|al activities, and
that have been for a decentralized 2r than a devolved e of process. The sponsible for this the reluctance of t itself of the contraditionally since
minority
l by the system hirteenth Amendprovisions for the Muslim minority ncentrations of all is. Also neglected effective minority structures of Cens essential ingrelational unity and
ed to understand, en out several conents if the goals of pment and ethnic be attained. As he neart of devolution of sharing of powentre and the renot merely about nctions or a receipt d on behalf of the nces. Consequently do away with the dual control exerund to fullydevolve subjects and their Le provincial counvisions relating to e are inadequately 's under the Thirand there is need them very restricre or to redefine engthen them for provisions should ) allow for assured rect sources of reovinces. The prover, be allowed to manage sources of even while the and authorization prerogative of the all circumstances
al powers to adv
genuine national inconsciously restives. (p. 18) Ontentious issue of n and the merger, ds nothing sacroisting number of rith the Sinhalese NEP, he presents a demarcation of as few as four or ich are drawn out ons of watershed characteristics in ority areas in the
TAM TIMES 13
NEP could be joined to adjoining provinces and a cantonal-type arrangement and sub-committee would perhaps, in his view, serve to protect Muslims rights and entitlements in the merged NEP. Such an arrangement would be appropriate for other minority groups such as the hill-country Tamils too. He also upholds the need to provide the capital city with an autonomous national status of its own, administered to reflect national outlook and features. Such a structure would reap benefits of the larger, regional scale while also safeguarding smaller minority interests.
In addition, to strengthen the integrative intent of devolution, he prescribes measures that need to be taken to enhance national and minority security. He also suggests measures that need to be undertaken to increase the representation and incorporation of minority interests at the Centre. As he says, this is an aspect which has been "amazingly neglected in the whole discussion about the integrative possibilities (or otherwise) of devolution, despite being 'so essential, and obvious.” (p.21)
The monograph is the first of a series to be put out by the newly-established Centre of Regional Development Studies and should constitute essential reading for anyone interested in public affairs on the island. The series producers plan to present carefully researched studies by experts in each field in a concise, readable form and to advocate solutions. If this and the next volume put out in the series (see C. Suriyakumaran, Fiscal Devolution. Colombo: CRCDS Monograph series, No. 2, April 1991. pp.45) are any indication, they promise to more than fulfil their objectives and should be given serious consideration by policymakers in Sri Lanka.
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April 1992.

Page 14
4 TAMIL TIMES
Human R in NOrth
(Continued from last issue)
The Ministry of Defence responded to this query in a statement dated 17 October 1990. According to this statement
"Cordon and search operations were conducted at Wandaramullai Eastern University refugee camp on 05.09.1990 and only the undermentioned 31 persons were taken in for questioning. They have all been released within 24 hours.'
A list containing the names, ages and addresses of 31 people is contained in the Ministry of Defence statement. To Amnesty International's knowledge, none of these 31 people had been seen by the time the Peace Committee and the member of parliament made their inquiries about two weeks after the arrests took place, despite the claim that they had been released. Although the arrests of a further 127 people had been witnessed, no mention at all of the fate or whereabouts of these people is made in the ministry's statement.
The names of hundreds of people reported to have 'disappeared' following round ups in villages have reached Amnesty International. In one incident, over 160 people were reportedly taken into custody from four villages in Batticaloa District: Kokkuvil, Saturukondan, Pannichaiyady and Pillaiyarady, including children and babies, and old men and women. According to reports, armed soldiers in uniform and some in civilian dress, went to these villages at about 5.30pm on 9 September 1990 and ordered all the residents to come out of their homes and gather on the road. Residents were threatened with death if they failed to obey this order. They were then taken towards the Boys Town army camp, Saturukondan. They have not been seen since, to Amnesty International's knowledge. A member of parliament for Batticaloa raised their cases in parliament in September. But by 9 October, when the Batticaloa Peace Committee submitted a list of the detainees to the authorities and requested information, their whereabouts remained unknown. In January 1991 Amnesty International heard from the relative of one family which 'disappeared' in this incident that the family still had not been traced or accounted for.
This particular round up was unusual in that relatively few of those taken were young men. In most lists of people reported to have 'disappeared in the custody of the security forces, the * names of men between the ages of about 14 and 45 tend to predominate. In this case, however, the names of many men and women over 60 years old are given, as well as the names of young mothers and their children.
The list consistently shows that whole families were taken away together from these villages, including mothers with their young children. Three examples are given here. Natkunasingam Sithradevi from Saturukondan, a mother in her twenties, is listed as having 'disappeared' together with her six-year-old son, Natkunasingam Sivatharsan, her three year old daughter, Natkunasingam Sivathasini, and her three or four month old baby son, Natkunasingam Venuraj. Another family which "disappeared' consisted of the father, Moothavan Vairamuthu (aged 55 or 59); his 45 or 56 year old wife, Vairamuthu Poomani; their eight-year-old daughter, Vairamuthu Sharmila; and their f six-year-old son, Vairamuthu Jothivadivel. Similarly, the young Soundrarajah (also reported as Sounthararasa) family were listed as having 'disappeared'. Gopal Soundrarajah, the father, is 26 years old; Soundrarajah Thangeswary, the mother, is 24; their two daughters, Gayanthini and Priya, are two years old and eight months old respectively.
 
 
 

5 JANUARY 1992
International
ights Violations East Sri Lanka
. Elderly people are also listed among those who 'disappeared'. For example, 74-year-old Moothathamby Periyathamby and his 73-year-old wife, Periyathamby Ponnammah (also reported as being 75 and 73 years old respectively) are reported to have "disappeared' from Saturukondan.
Amnesty International has no information about an independent investigation having been carried out into this incident. The Commanding Officer of the Boys Town army camp, Saturukondan, is said to have carried out his own investigations in the company of an independent person nominated by leading human rights activists in the area. The Ministry of Defence claims that the commanding officer and the independent person visited Saturukondan army camp around 2pm on 10 September 1990 and questioned people in the camp as well as villagers outside. The Ministry said they also inspected the ground inside and outside the perimeter of the camp but found no clues at all to indicate that any outsiders had been brought into the camp. It said it later found that about 40 to 60 villagers who were missing from Saturukondan had taken refuge in Batticaloa town.
In other cases, people who have reportedly "disappeared' were abducted from buses. Jude Johnson, a 24-year-old student in Colombo, was travelling to his home in Kalmunai from Colombo on 11 June 1990. The night bus he was travelling on stopped at Amparai when the driver received news of the conflict which had broken out that day. Jude, a member of Sri Lanka's small Burgher community, is reported to have remained on the bus. He was seen being taken away by police. Inquiries made since then have not revealed his whereabouts, to Amnesty International's knowledge.
Others who "disappeared' were reportedly arrested in their homes. John Master, the 45-year-old principal of the Methodist Mission School, Pottuvil, was detained by a police officer on 31 July 1990 at his brother's house in Pottuvil. His brother-in-law is said to be a member of the LTTE. John Master's family have been unable to trace his whereabouts or determine his fate, to Amnesty International's knowledge.
The bodies of some people who were taken away by security forces, and presumably killed in custody, have been found after and identified. For example, Krishnamurthi Coomarasamy, a 54-year-old business man, and his 23-year-old son, Krishnamurthi Ganbendraj, were reportedly taken away by the army and local Muslims in Batticaloa on 9 September 1990. Their bodies were found a week later.
"the troops, after fortifying their position by demolishing private houses, churches, schools and even Government buildings, began taking vendetta on the public, especially the youths, who were refugees at the places of worship and schools. Many hostages were taken from them. A good number of such persons are still unaccounted. Many decomposed bodies were subsequently found dumped in the ditches. Suruvil - a village in the Southern coastal belt of Kayts - where thousands of refugees are still flocked in schools, churches and private houses, is the only village that escaped the wrath of the Armed Forces so far."
Amnesty International has received the names of 74 people who were reportedly killed in Kayts during this period, lthough the actual number killed may be higher. The rganization does not have sufficient information to assess hether all those listed were victims of extrajudicial execu

Page 15
15 JANUARY 1992
tion. In several cases, however, the available information does suggest that the victims were deliberately and unlawfully killed. For example, Marianayagam Elmo Manoranjan was reportedly hiding with other members of his family when passing soldiers found him and shot him dead in front of his relatives. Amnesty International has received two accounts of this killing, which give the victim's age as 14 or 17-yearsold. One young man, Mahalingam Jeyamaran from Karampan East, Kayts, was reportedly taken from the bunker where he was hiding with his cousin. Soldiers slashed his neck with a knife and left him for dead, but he survived to describe what had happened to him.
Some of those rounded up by security forces are known to
have been tortured and killed. Two brothers, Rasendran.
Ponnampalam and Meharasa Ponnampalam from Thangavelayuthapuram, Amparai District, were reportedly rounded up by the STF from the refugee camp at Vinayagapuram Tamil Vidyalayam on 26 September 1990 together with three other men. Meharasa was released; he had been beaten with an axe handle in detention. Rasendran's body was washed up from the sea; he had evidently been stabbed and beaten.
Others who were apparently killed in custody seem to have been singled out as a result of local disputes. For example, one woman in Batticaloa described to a visiting journalist how her husband, a businessman, and her only son were taken away by the army and local Muslims as LTTE suspects in September 1990. The bodies of the two men were found a week later. The woman said that her husband had been involved in a dispute over property with local Muslim businessmen who had now taken over her home, leaving her and her four daughters in a refugee camp.
Muslim home guards have also been cited as responsible for reprisal attacks on displaced Tamil people sheltering in refugee camps, after the LTTE had attacked Muslims in the area. One reported case occurred in August 1990, when tension between the LTTE and the Muslim community was escalating in the east. The security forces appear to have done little to intervene, or to prevent the attack taking place. The LTTE had reportedly knifed two Muslim farmers at Veeracholai. At 9.00am on 12 August 1990, according to a detailed report of the incident compiled from eye-witness accounts, Muslim home guards attacked the Veeramunai refugee camp, surrounding the temple and firing on the thousands of people gathered within. They then broke through the temple gates, and attacked people with reaping knives. Members of the security forces were seen in a vehicle only 300-500 yards away when the attack began. The vehicle was driven away about ten minutes later. A little over an hour after the attack began, STF personnel arrived at the camp and the attackers fled. Two, however, were caught by refugees and handed over to the STF. Most of the other attackers were reportedly identified by refugees. It is not known whether any action has been taken against them. Amnesty International does not know exactly how many people were killed in this attack. The Sun, Colombo, reported on 13 August 1990 that "angry Muslims had killed 21 refugees at Veeramunai and injured 40 after the LTTE had killed five Muslims in the area.
The ordeal was not over for the injured at Veeramunai even after they had been transported to Amparai hospital by the STF. According to reports, although security was provided at the hospital by the STF, one Muslim soldier who was posted at the hospital began to abuse and interfere with the treatment of the patients, and on several days removed patients from the hospital who were never seen again. One patient, Kanthakuddy, reportedly died after this soldier disconnected his saline drip. Another man, Nadarajah, who was at the hospital to look after his wife, was selected by this soldier to be driven offin a van, and was not seen again. The identity of this soldier is known. Amnesty International is not aware of any official action taken to investigate the incident.
On 12 June 1991 around noon, two soldiers were killed and one
c
th)

TAM TIMES 15
3 wounded when the tractor in which they were travelling hit andmine at Kokkadichcholai, Batticaloa District. In retalia, one officer and sixteen soldiers from the local army camp arently went on the rampage in the villages of Mahiladithivu | Muthalaikuda killing dozens of civilians, including women children. Initially, local members of parliament claimed that r 150 civilians were killed. Seventeen villagers from Muthacuda, including a 16-year-old boy called Suthaharan, were ortedly taken to the place of the landmine explosion, made to le around the crater three times and then shot. Their bodies e dumped in the crater and burnt. In Mahiladithivu, an mated 50 villagers were killed, including several women and ldren, one only eight-months-old. Lankapuvath, the state-run ional news agency initially reported that 52 civilians had been ed in crossfire during a clash between the LTTE and the army Kokkadichcholai. President Premadasa, in a letter to one of members of parliament from the area, reportedly expressed ck and sorrow at “the gruesome killing of a large number of ocent civilians' and instituted a preliminary inquiry by three ernment officials. On the basis of the results of their findings, ommission of inquiry was established on 18 June. he army is said to have conducted its own investigations, lding which the commanding officer in charge of Kokkadichlai Army Camp was taken into custody at Batticaloa Army mp and the sixteen soldiers were transferred.
he Commission of Inquiry was due to submit its report within ee weeks. Public hearings were held at the Air Force dquarters at Batticaloa from 29 July till 1 August 1991. ther evidence was due to be heard at the time of writing.
ABUSES COMMITTED BY THE LIBERATION TIGERS OF TAMIL EELAM
man rights abuses are also committed on a large scale by the in armed group opposed to the Sri Lanka government, the TE, which effectively controls large areas of the northeastern vince. The LTTE has long held and administered nearly the ole of the Jaffna peninsula. After the gradual withdrawal of IPKF in the period late 1989 - March 1990, the LTTE took trol of the areas they had vacated. At that time, the anization was having talks with the Sri Lanka government. the ground, Sri Lanka army personnel stationed in the area 'e confined to their barracks and police were operating in a ricted manner. The LTTE during this period resorted to espread arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, torture, appearances' and extrajudicial executions.
fter the outbreak of fighting between the LTTE and the Sri ka security forces in June 1990, the monitoring of the human ts situation in areas controlled by the LTTE became icularly difficult. People fleeing the Jaffna peninsula expressear of reprisals if they were to provide information to esty International about human rights violations by the E. Amnesty International has not visited the areas said to be er control of the LTTE. During its trip to Sri Lanka, Amnesty national had the opportunity however to interview victims uses by the LTTE who were residing in other parts of the try. It has also interviewed people who have left the country. ith reports of government abuses deriving from opposition es, Amnesty International has taken particular care in inizing allegations made by opponents of the LTTE who be seeking to damage the organization.
n the basis of the information gathered, Amnesty Internaal is concerned at consistent reports that LTTE cadres, icularly in the Jaffna area, carry out arrests on various nds, including people's alleged sympathies for rival Tamil ps or cooperation with them, sympathy or cooperation with PKF during their stay in Sri Lanka, suspicion of providing mation to the security forces or refusal to pay contributions e LTTE. Amnesty International has also received informaabout the arrest of people as a result of what appeared to be inal feuds (such as overland or marriage arrangements) and ople critical of the LTTE. A number of people, among them im businessmen, were also detained for ransom.
(To be continued).

Page 16
16 TAMIL TIMES
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Page 17
15 JANUARY 1992
Greetings From Jaff Who is Our next killer?
Christmas is around again; but we in this North-Eastern region of Sri Lanka are unable to get into the joyful mood of Christmas. Perhaps, the first Christmas itself was not joyful! Was it? The sociopolitical environment and the circumstances in which Jesus was born were sad, hurting, fearful, and there was a dreadful uncertainty about the future of the new born Babe of Bethelehem, and the child's parents.
Here, in our North-Eastern region we are facing a similar situation, or even worse. There is an indepth sadness in us and all around us owing to thousands of deaths we have experienced (both Thamils and Sinhalese) during this prolonged brutal and bloody war (from 1983, and it's still continuing...), and the immeasurable losses we have incurred (loss of houses, jobs, education, sources of income etc). The economic blockade to the North by the authorities is very hurting- physically, mentally, and spiritually. We are made to live like beggars surviving on what the mighty and the powerful (who themselves are fattening on aid) throw at us. The way we are treated in this land of ours, and the way we are checked at the sentry points in Vavuniya (the buffer zone between the South and the North) is dehumanizing. The uncertainty of the next moment brings about a hopeless sense of fear and a pathological anxiety - especially when the bombers fly over our houses, and when the shelling is on from all sides of the peninsula.
Who is our next killer?
We live in fear not knowing - who is
our next killer? Is it a Herod - the provincial king? Or, is it a Pilate from the Capital? Or, is it a Caesar - the foreign Emperor? Or, is it one of the local groups aspiring to be a Herod?
Our own have fled in thousands fearing the local Herods and the Pilates, and the economic strangulation of the region! We are reminded of the plight and flight of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus when they had to flee the wrath of Herod.
isolated and Lonely
kings have brought us gifts, and no High Priests have even passed us by A few samaritan agencies are taking care of us - we who have been beaten, robbed and thrown into the ditches - the refugee camps. Yes, we are made refugees in our own land - and often not too far from our own houses United Nations, European Council, and the Aid Consortium are all voices
that we never hear, a to hear. We feel isolate of the world, although an urgent sense of b linked to the Sinhala the South, and to the ity at large. Unfortun munication systems,
postal system are sever the post offices do noth gas stations do not ha the pharmacies do n public and private tr. stranded, the phones do last five years), the lig (no electricity for the l the newspapers don't
cannot even listen to
cause batteries are no brought in.
Our children have with, no sweets to enj this festive season be contraband items. Ou losing their childhood.
We will not have cards, Christmas cal candles, Christmas tree gifts. It will be back to
Tigers Orations may raise the community, and arme which violence plays th have immediate gains, run these could also destructive forces that I defeat the very ideals inspired a movement.
The long drawn T. Lankan Government c solution in sight is extr to the interests of the i. Muslims and the Sinh tinues to cause havoc to a country that ill-affords ment in arms merely to tions of human rights. W Lanka become the bloo some big powers anc dealers who seek pits prosper in their evil anc
Furthermore, the Lib of Tamil Eelam would a lost much of their credib their political ideology b ism hooked to the con justify means, has lost it is only the communal ex Sinhala governments an the Tamil Congress an Party to face up to Sir chauvinism that made til factor. But they, comm struggle, ruled the Tal

TAMIL TIMES 17
2
though we like d from the rest we yearn with elonging to be
Norld Communlately, all comincluding the ed. By the way, ave stamps, the ve gas (petrol), bt have drugs, ansportation is n't ring (for the ghts don't burn ast 18 months), come, and we our radios bet allowed to be
no toys to play oy even during cause these are ur children are
our Christmas kes, Christmas es, or Christmas the first Christ
mas in a manger - in a refugee camp - in a war-torn area.
Will We have Christmas?
Won't Christ be born in this conflict and in this crisis? Our belief is: He will. Nay, He is already there, because "God is already with us - Emmanuel'. Since we are caught up in so many pressing external and internal issues, we are unable to recognize the God who is within us. At least, some of us have begun to recognize this reality and thus we are pretty 'close to Christmas!' We will discover the Messiah - our freedom and our peace - because some of us are trying to search for the meaning of this tremendous suffering. For the time being, our Hope is our Christmas.
God's story and our story This is our story in brief. I am sure you have your own story to tell. Share with us, please. When your story and our story meet, we will discover God's story of salvation, and there we will experience our own story of redemption - freedom.
Until then, I wish you the joy and the peace of experiencing and discovering the Divine in you not only during this festive season, but right through the New Year 1992, and the years ahead.
– Rev. Fr. Anonymous –
Need New Direction
2 passions of a 'd struggle in e key role may but in the long set in motion may eventually that may have
amil Tiger-Sri onflict with no emely harmful sland's Tamils, alese and conthe progress of insane investsupport violaWhy should Sri Idy market for their armsof violence to deadly trade?
eration Tigers appear to have bility, and even ased on Marx2ept that ends ts relevance. It (tremity of the d the failure of ld the Federal hala-Buddhist neTigers a key itted to armed mil roost with
extreme intolerance showing scant respect to the views of others. Sadly, they also make a habit of expressing their reactions and decisions with the trigger and the cyanide.
There was a time the Tigers were most deservedly acclaimed as heroes. The discipline that reigned supreme in their ranks, and their total commitment won for them the love and confidence of the people and thousands in the community opened their hearts and doors to them. Tiger leader Prabhakaran became a living legend and his leadership was inspirational to every Tamil.
He and his militants were seen as fearless champions of the cause with the courage and capacity to fight the very forces that for years had harmed the Tamils and insulted the dignity of a proud but passive community in no small measure.
Doubts have emerged as to the LTTE's political wisdom and their capacity to look after the interests of the Tamil people. Their commitment to “Eelam” is so fundamentalist in character, they seem to be unmindful of the unprecedented hardships heaped upon their own people by their own actions, and more so by the actions of the security forces. - Continued on page 18

Page 18
1 TAMIL TIMES
Continued from page 17
The expulsion of the Muslims from the North is a tragic expression of Tiger intolerance towards a particular community that spoke Tamil but practised Islam as its faith.
This action militates against all decencies towards fellow human beings and even goes against the very principles of human rights which we must uphold at any cost. The Tamils cannot be guilty of human rights violations, if their claim for the protection of their own rights is to be credible.
The Tigers have also given a new meaning and dimension to the word, vassal, having appropriated for themselves the right to a number of administrative and revenue decisions in the districts where they hold sway. Their decisions over the affairs of the people, their properties and their movements cannot be challenged. Those who dare may suffer death by the firing squad and public executions have been reported. In effect, the Tamils in Tigerland have no choice, political or otherwise.
The Tamils missed the golden chance of achieving some form of regional autonomy when India succeeded in wrenching a major concession from the Sri Lankan Government. The Tigers showed that they lacked political acumen and shrewdness when they failed to seize an opportunity to put into political action their ideals for the liberation of the Tamils when an offer to set up a North-East Provincial Council was made. This would have, among other factors, given the regional recognition of traditional homeland as well.
It appears that politically, the Tigers have run out of creative ideas and have become hooked to a dream solution of theirs that they, and they alone, will dominate the political future of the Tamils even if this should mean rule by wielding the arms of terror. If this be so, the Tigers must liberate themselves from this political ideology before they think of liberating the Tamil people.
Also highly worrying is the factor that the Tigers may have been party to certain developments in India, including the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. His assassination has been followed by a chain of events that have certainly not helped the Tamils nor their cause. Fully aware that India has been alienated from the Tamils, the Sri Lankan Government has confirmed massive military operations in the north confident in the belief that the Indian Government would not intervene as in the past. The Tamils need the goodwill and support of the people of India in no small measure and the Tigers have failed to appreciate this fact.
The Tigers get their succour by the denial by the Government of Sri Lanka
of the legitimat and only now so awakening to ti UNP and the S their communa beautiful island tic state. It wa Opposition’s Anu nowledging the governments to the rights of t minorities of Sri A recent Hun port has made t tions: “Sri Lanka government-link and members of of Tamil Eelam
Taraki in his a 15.12.91) on the pure Tamil nati pure-Tamil mov 20th century, Dr cultural identity Tamil culture. F velopment of the Tamil) awarenes
Brahmin classes Madras Presiden
In the absenc movement, the di play a salient r (this was the cas the Vellala (hig espoused the TI against Sinhal. opportunism of not negate the ju to represent.
Taraki sound; quality and con culture of the D to describe it as anthology Pura, collection of 40 relating to war, his point, ignor one of eight an Sankam period other seven dea Tamil life in t naanooru is evi culture of that martial, what co ki draw from t Hindu mytholog the asuras most the Gods were s two major epics their core. It i simplify and eve out of context.
A section o dominate social Nadu today, an patronage. The agate the myt remacy and ju:

15 JANUARY 1992
rights of the Tamils, e Sinhala leaders are 2 truth that it is the LFP that have, with
policies brought a tate into such a chanrefreshing to note ra Bandaranaike ackfailure of successive Lddress themselves to e Tamils and other Lanka.
an Rights Watch rene following observan security personnel, ed vigilante groups, the Liberation Tigers continued in 1991 to
engage in a pattern of gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law, including massacres of hundreds of civilians, torture, abductions and arbitrary arrests'. No wonder that the support for the Tamil cause has been gradually eroded internationally because of the Tigers whose actions are being compared and equated with those of the Sri Lankan security forces. If the Tamils are to regain support, then the Tigers have to change their behaviour and become more flexible both in seeking a solution to the conflict and in their approach to other sections of the community.
Croydon, V. Sivaraman England.
Pure Tamilo
rticle (Tamil Times, TTE's efforts to force onalism refers to the ement of the early avidian linguistic and , and the pre-Aryan He attributes the deDravidian (in reality sto pro-British, non(or castes?) of the су. e of a mass political ominant social classes ole in social change, e in Sri Lanka where h caste) Tamil elite 'amil people’s cause a chauvinism). The the elite classes does 1st causes they appear
s sceptical about the tent of the pre-Aryan ravidians and chooses war-like. He uses the naanooru, which is a 0 poems on themes as evidence to make ng the fact that it is thologies of the early of Tamil, and that the with wider aspects of hat period. If Puradence that the Tamil period was bloody and inclusions would Tarahe fact that much of ty extols war (against ly) and that nearly all layers of demons. The of India have wars at s dangerous to overn more so to generalise
f the Brahmins did
life in what is Tamil d did so under British y managed to propn of Indo-Aryan supstify the caste system
Nationalism
based on the four Varnas, so much so that C. Rajagopalachari claimed, as recently as the 1950s, that Sanskrit was the source of all Indian languages. The challenge to the negative aspects of the Brahminic religion had political dimensions besides those perceived by non-Brahmin elite, and Taraki had chosen to ignore them.
The pure-Tamil approach was somewhat subjective in its approach and ignored the mechanism of language development. It also avoided facing the problems relating to modernisation of Tamil by claiming some form of selfsufficiency in the pure-Tamil tradition, and by persisting in its efforts to preserve the language from corruption by Sanskrit and the threat of Hindi, ignored the more serious threat of Anglicisation. One cannot, neverthelesss, deny that the pure-Tamil movement was responsible for the recognition of the simplicity of the language, the development of the Tamil language on the basis of what formed the core and essence of the language, and the revival of a large number of Tamil words which were supplanted by Sanskrit words under Brahminic influ
eCe.
If the purpose of Taraki's article was to expose the opportunism of the DMK and the LTTE in reviving the images of Puranaanooru to serve their shortsighted schemes, he needs to do it with greater sensitivity and awareness of history.
S. Sivasegaram
London SW20.
Pongal Greetings to Our Readers

Page 19
15 JANUARY 1992
Continued from page 10
* Mr. Thondaman's proposals too are within this discourse of devolution;
being in the nature oftentative propos
als, one is free to argue on their content.
What dismays us, however, is the outright rejection of the notion of a political settlement that underlies most Sinhala reaction to the proposals. It is argued that it is the duty of the state, as the instrument of Sinhala hegemony, to pursue the war against the LTTE with the greatest possible vigour and to defeat them militarily; the present conjuncture of events in Sri Lanka and India is said to be most propitious for the success of such an undertaking. It is also argued that one can talk about political arrangements at that stage; all this means is that in such an eventuality, the Tamil people will have no option but to accept, with seeming gratitude, whatever crumbs of power are thrown to them.
This is also to misunderstand totally the nature of the ethnic conflict, which is a struggle for a degree of political power that would enable the Tamil people to ensure their security and their reproduction as a coherent cultural community in the areas they inhabit. It is only such a political
arrangement that c issue, not the milita group even though it temporary dominar Tamil polity.
We do not agree Thondaman’s proposa apparent rejection of political groupings; we that it is cast within t framework for a re. ethnic conflict. It need only in this light.
The Sinhala people vigilant now; they ) themselves to be misli appeals that seek to p notions of national an mony; they must reme upon the tragic history over the past decade, ti thousands of young liv sions of national ident ism; they must think, lly, that this conflict has under which their chel tic rights have been sn chauvinist appeals do the prospects of a unit and peaceful Sri Lanka distance.
In this context, we f silence of the major p most alarming and om
Continued from page 7 in these debates. It is very important that the human rights factor be given its due place in all these discussions. Whatever the mode of government (the present or a revised Executive Presidency, the old or a revised 'Westminster System'), whatever the model of devolution, certain fundamental rights must be made non negotiable, and must be enforceable throughout the country. There must also be provisions to challenge legislative or administrative acts by the administration of a devolved unit if they transgress fundamental rights. Devolution must mean more, not less, democracy; it must mean enhanced, not weakened, protection of fundamental rights. An aggrieved person may be required to seek his remedy initially within the judicial machinery of the devolved unit, but in the last resort, a remedy must be available at central level, ie. by a Supreme Court or other such body which is drawn from and which serves the whole country.
In order to make this acceptable to the devolved units, it is essential that the central government itself makes its own actions in the area of human rights reviewable. All legislation must be reviewable by the courts to see if it is consistent with the Constitution, not merely as now at the Bill stage. The Government must sign the Optional Protocol to the International Convenant of Civil and Political Rights,
and other like instrum able an individual who
damental rights are appeal to an internation last resort. And, of co damental rights provisi stitution must be ame them into line with C under the Internationa Civil and Political Right
Our duty to do this and repeatedly stressec sentative of our Gov appeared before the Rights Committee this
These steps should b Sri Lankan government of its inhabitants even ethnic problem or ques tion. But it is all the m do it as part of any 'de age'. The Centre must b the devolved units: “Reta control over human righ not incompatible with not an unreasonable lin autonomy. Look, we to our laws and actions su outside our territory.' A will be able to go furthel inhabitants of the devo too, in the last resort, w to an international tı remained dissatisfied through the provincial national system.'
Attempts should be r

TAMIL TIMES 19
resolve this
defeat of one may have won within the
with all Mr.
nor with his ll other Tamil owever believe e only possible lution of the Eo be discussed
eed to be most ust not allow d by chauvinist ly upon mythic religious hegeber and reflect of this country e destruction of s pursuing illuty and patriotlost importantbeen the cover ished democraatched away. If succeed, then ed, democratic recede into the
nd the virtual olitical parties Inous. All poli
tical parties have a duty to stand firm on the necessity of a political solution, though they may disagree on its substance. To waver on this question or to wait opportunistically to see which way the winds of nationalist fervour will blow will be to betray their guiding role. We therefore call upon all political parties and groups to reafirm their commitment to a political solution.
Finally, we come to the role of the government. The President has on numerous occasions expressed his commitment to the notion of a multi-ethnic society; this is very welcome, but he has so far not taken the plunge and announced his own proposals to settle the problem. He calls upon assorted and nebulous groups such as the youth to come forward with their own solutions; he waits for the APC or the Select Committee to come up with consensus decisions. This will not do; consensus on this question is not likely to emerge by such a process, as has been shown by past experience. We believe that the time has now come for the government to take the initiative in formulating a political settlement and offering it for the consideration of the Tamil people; he must also take the necessary steps to restore confidence among the Tamil people in the possibilities of the democratic process.'
ents which enclaims his fun
infringed to al tribunal as a Lurse, the funns in the Coninded to bring ur obligations
Covenant on S.
was forcefully to the reprernment who UN Humam ea.
taken by the or the benefit there was no on of devolu'e essential to olution packable to say to ning ultimate s questions is levolution, is ation of your are making ect to review d the Centre nd say to the ed unit: “You have access unal if you after going urts and the
de to get all
'sides' to the conflict to see the advantages to themselves of this approach. Therefore it should be campaigned for not only among the government, "dissidents' the traditional opposition parties, the sectors of public opinion in the South, but also among the Tamil militants, including the LTTE, and the civilian population in the North and East. The State should offer it as an expression of good faith and a reassurance against the centre acting oppressively; the militants should see it as a vital concession obtained in agreeing to accept a solution less than Eelam. People of all ethnic groups and all political persuasions will welcome it as a guarantee of their fundamental rights against transgression by any government authority, be it central,
provincial or district, present or future.
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Page 21
15 ANUARY 1992
London Tamils Support Pea
The London-based Standing Committee of Tamil Speaking come out strongly in favour of a negotiated political sol conflict in Sri Lanka. Reputed to comprise a cross-section community, SCOT has urged a cessation of hostilities an minister S. Thondaman's recent proposals as positive and for negotiations between the government and the LTTE in th
among all other concerned parties later.
The text of the staternent unanimously adopted recen
follows:
The continued fighting between government forces and the LTTE has brought incalculable hardship, death and destruction to the people of the Ilortheast of Sri Lanka. The indiscriminate bombing, strafing and shelling in the north have not only resulted in the destruction of thousands of properties - homes, shops, schools, hospitals, temples, churches and other priwate and public buildings — but also have left thousands dead and injured.
Thousands of people have 'disappeared' or been arbitrarily killed particularly in eastern Sri Lanka. All transport and communications to the north have been totally disrupted. Normal sucial and economic activity have become a thing of the past. The ban on the transport of goods essential to the life of the community, including food, medicine and fuel, has imposed severe hardship and unendurable suffering to the people.
We recall that soon after the war broke uut we declared that the continuation of the war prised a grave peril to the Tamil speaking perple, and we Elre! Sad to say that we have been windicated.
Since Jurie 1990, Hn estirnated one million people have been displaced from their homes and have become refugees. All internationally accepted norms of human rights and humanitarian law have been flagrantly violated in the conduct of this ongoing "war". It is the defenceless innocent civilian population which has suffered from the ho TTroTs of this conflict.
The "war" which was declared by both sides as a fight to the finish has continued to this day without any sign of abating. Om the contrary, the fighting has intensified day by day with further suffering, loss of life and propLrty On Hn unprELEdented 3rale. Besides, a substantial portion of the meagre resources of the courtry have been wantonly wasted in prosecuting this costly war,
It is in this context that the peace moves made by cabinet minister Hon. Mr. S. Thondaman are to be welcoiled. He has put forward a set of proposals which can be regarded as positive and as forming a basis for negotiations between the government and the LTTE in the first instance, and among all other concerned parties later. Mr. Thordanan has declared his intention
to travel to Jaffng leaders who in tı their willingness t
There is, howev campaign by cert: in the country to efforts. It must be Hre the element: problem in the firs' deny the legitimat speaking people, B and intolerant at they have always E preventing any solution to the eth remained relative recent past, they
back which is unw ous in that they ar flanes of cornrn ha tred by a camp); distorting Mr. T proposals, and th incite the people, mined as the enemi and harmony in th
President Prior tently professed to multi-ethnic and II ty, and repeater readiness to neg
Former DM
and Husban
In its first major a stitution, the Tami vestigation Teal II arristed the form Mrs. Subbulakshit het husband, at th. and charged thern and Disruptive Act Act ("TANDA).
The Jagadeesans of irn volvement in and EPRLF radre I 1990 and charged v El Hsisting and harbo With these arrets been taken into cu police agencies in . brutal killing of P, of the rival Sri Lan outfit EPRLF in M
Wasanthan alias LTTE activist whi October 1991, had to the 'Q' Branch police (handling th

TAMIL TIMES 21
Ce Efforts
People (SCOT) has ution to the ethnic of expatriate Tamil | WBCD fTed Cabinet as forming a basis e first instance, and
tly by SCOT is as
to Illet LHE LITTE Irn have Expressed I discuss the matter. er, a Tchestrated in extremist forces sabotage all peace recalled that these that created the place by seeking to rights of the Tamil y their intransigent titude and actions, Ieen instrumental in negotiated political nic conflict. Having ly dormant in the are Taking a comelcome and dangere again fanning the ural passion and aign of deliberately horidanan's peace ereby mislead and They stand condeas of restoring peace е соuпtту, nada sa has consisbring about a truly multi-religious Sociely announced his tiate and reach a
solution on the basis of "co-operation, conciliation and consensus. He must have the courage of his professed conWictions not to be diverted or pressurised by the nachinations of the eneImies of restoring peace and harmony, and support any constructive peace effort that may bring an end to the horrors of the present "war".
We strongly believe that the present peace efforts offer a realistic opportunity to achieve the peace much desired by the Wast majority of the people. We call upon all those who are concerned With restoring peace with justice to support any constructive effort to bring an end to this war and commence the process of negotiation."
In another resolution, SCOT stated:
1. Calls upon the government to in mediately halt aerial bombardment and strafing;
2. Calls upon the government to forthwith lift the ban on the transport of commodities and supplies essential to the life of the community in the northeast;
3. Calls upon the government and the LTTE to enter into a cease-fire and enter into negotiations to bring an end to the fighting and to evolve a political settlement which recognises people's legitimate aspirations and their individual and collective rights;
4. Calls upOn the warring parties to observe internationally recognised humanitarian and human rights norms in the conduct Lifthe wäT
5. Calls upon the government and the LTTE not to infringe the people's northal human and democratic rights, and release all those who are kept in detention.
TK Minister cd in Custody
iction after its conil Nadu. Special Il
(TANSIT today er DMK Minister, i Jagadeesri Ild ei T Erode residence Idet the Terrorists iWities PTE yeltin
have been accused
the Padmanabha murder case of June Vith wilfully aiding, Luring LTTE cadres, its 29 persons have study by the State !collection. With the admanabha, leader kal Tamil militant a dras. Walsanthkumar, an ) was detained in allegedly confessed if the Tamil Nadu o "El Se till the crea
tion of TANSIT) that he and Gundu Santhan, who committed suicide when trapped in Tiruchi a few months ago, had stayed at the residence of the Jagadeesans for over a month.
Santhan and Wasanthan were allegedly harboured by the former Minister at her Bhawa ni house in September-October 1991 - well after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination and the launching of the drive against the LTTE, Sivuthan, another LTTE activist had also bLLr given shelter by the filler Minister.
Link established Preliminary investigations have reportedly established a "link" between Kandasawami of DK Transports in Mettu, his son Dhanasekar alias Raju, Gundu Santhan and Wasanthan and the for Iner Minister, Kandaswami and Dhama sekar are already under aTTest in connection with the Rajiv Gandhi
. It is alleged that the two militants Were first put up at the house of Mrs. Subbulakshmi Jagade es an's sister,
- The Hindu.

Page 22
22 TAM TIMES
by Suji Segar
år River SWirs into Violence
Ramakrishna Hegde, the former Chief Minister of Karnataka in a review of recent events said that India presents today a most depressing spectacle which makes a person even with robust optimism feel despondent about its future'.
He added: "Two decades of bad politics and short-sighted policies have brought the country to an impasse, a country which once represented the hopes and aspirations of the whole developing world and was expected to become a leader in the comity of nations.'
In the same comment which appeared in India Abroad (10.1.1992) he stated that India which was built during the first two decades after Independence as a strong nation today stands precariously on the brink of disintegration and emphasised: "This is certainly not the India of Mahatma Gandhi's dream, nor the India of Jawaharlal Nehrus vision.”
Last month's violence across the Tamilnadu-Karnataka borders adds much credence to Mr. Hegde's concern. Attack on Tamil settlements in Karnataka followed the call by the state government to defy the ruling by New Delhi that it must allow more Cauvery water to flow into the farmlands of Tamilnadu. A strike action led swirling mobs to attack Tamils in Karnataka and their property. Several people perished in this outrage and according to a report 60,000 Tamils have fled to Tamilnadu and the State of Kerala.
This violent expression of intolerance on the Tamils were countered with attacks on the Kanarese in Tamilnadu and at least a thousand families have fled to Karnataka. Rioters even attacked a Tamilnadu police station where some trucks with Karnataka number plates were parked. On Boxing Day, New Delhi sent 600 paramilitary troops to Karnataka when the situation became explosive.
Commenting on the tragic turn of events, Home Minister, S.B. Chavan described the migration of people between Karnataka and Tamilnadu as serious and added that it was unfortunate that emotions have been whipped up to an extent that the people are feeling insecure and migrating.
Tamilnadu's Chief Minister, Jayalalitha has expressed her reaction to the Indian Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao in no uncertain terms. She told him that there could be no discus
SlOINS Wlti u Wylie i of Karnataka acr Cauvery waters violence against t
Where has Indi Ramakrishna He "Gandhiji sacrifice of communal han there is no place f no untouchables, means, economy i ing every village and self-reliant an on defence.'
Among many qui
to his fellow citi India, he also asks
unknown in the co governments in sé
k Dal'; WiS
The Janata Dal latter 1980s had alternative to the ised the people of informed perspect be the national ag a victim to faction certainly fading.
The realistic po the Dal is rush absorbed as it is internal and pett to be that of a r than a nationwid that promised to the struggle for justice in India w democracy and pl Even though th the Janata Dal i Pradesh may be in the problems beset it, the threa are caused largel among its leade issues that are to al political entity Furthermore, t ernment under t V.P. Singh, despit to live up to the ised for India. The has been accused cies that 'set in r were regressive ment'. It has als even after the G Singh lost the ol nise the party’s s the idealism that hopes and imagi people who were country's failure ideal of a real m at the national le
 
 
 

15 JANUARY 1992
Linsler Bangarappa Iss the table on the ssue in view of the 1e Tamils.
a's dream gone asks de in his comment. his life for the sake mony. In his India r violence, there are ends do not justify ; decentralized mak
community strong d no big expenditure
estions he has posed zens and friends of : “Why has terrorism untry, paralyzed the veral states?”
s Fading sions
which during the visions of a centrist Congress and promIndia "a critical and ive on what ought to enda, has now fallen Lalism. Its visions are
sition towards which hing head-on today with a great deal of y bickerings, appears 2gional entity rather e political movement be at the vanguard of social and economic ith emphasis on true uralism.
he recent break-up of n the State of Uttar a contributory factor
that have come to ts to its very survival by petty differences rs and quarrels om narrow for a nation
he Janata Dal Govhe leadership of Mr. e his charisma, failed visions he had promDal's administration of implementing polinotion processes that for India's developbeen observed that eneral Elections, Mr. portunity to reorgatrategy and rekindle captured the hearts, nation of the Indian concerned about the o evolve for itself the alti-party democracy vel.
Today, the Janata Dal despite events in Uttar Pradesh holds its own in Bihar and has the potential recreate itself as a major force in the neighbouring states as well because there is always a hope for institutions that keep their distances from those that appeal to gut and emotional issues based on narrow sentiments and fundamentalism. In this respect, the Janata Dal has a call that beckons it to national duty. It cannot answer this call with its thumb on the self-destruct button.
Fear is The Key
A small band of extremely violent militants have caused tragic consequences to the ways and lives of people of one of India's magnificent cities. Political violence that spoke the language of liberation has now given way to rampaging crooks, swindlers and common criminals in the great city of Chandigarh in Punjab.
Property owners are being eased out of their possessions and taken over by elements who use "fear as their weapons. They resort to means most despicable. This fear of violence which has become endemic to this city, is also making people to sell off their properties on their own as well at ridiculously low prices and move elsewhere.
There is now a serious law and order problem in Chandigarh and this enables a large number of swindlers to worm themselves into activities that add to the miseries of the law-abiding people of the city. In a recent case, a swindler was known to have built up a record over an year to claim tenancy to a property where he had never even stepped foot. The owner became aware of the claim only when this swindler tried to 'negotiate' purchase of his property offering a tenth of its market price. He was told plainly that the alternative would be his forced occupation as a tenant.
A number of politicians and police personnel are believed to be involved in this racket as well. Certain police officers, in fact a number of them, have picked up disputed prime property at low prices. An Akalai politician and his son, according to The Hindu, are now actively involved in picking up properties 'at shockingly low prices, getting them vacated, and then selling them at the market price'.
In one such case, they bought a four-floor shopping-cum-office complex for Rs. 6 lakhs and now wish to sell it at ten times its value or offer it at Rs.60,000 a month rental.
Reacting to this growing violent militant cancer in Chandigarh a bookseller whose shop was "negotiated' out Continued on page 23

Page 23
15 JANUARY 1992
Closing date for completed grid and coupon to be received is 29
February 1992.
Answers and the name of the winner first all correct entry pulled out of a bag - will be announced in the March 1992 issue.
The winner will receive a prize of £2000 sterling. All entries should be sent to: Tamil Times, P.O. Box 121, Sutton,
Surrey SM13TD, UK.
Across. 1. South-Asian capital of a state bedevilled by violent ethnic problems (7) 7. Scandinavian capitat, home for a number of Tamil refugees (4) 11. A mystic syllable of the most sacred mantra in Hinduism (2) 12. Baby 4-wheelers invented in the mid-19th century (5) 14. The king variety is a product of Jaffna's red soil region (3) 15. Meaty matter popularly used in sandwiches (4)
17. Located (5) 18. This extent of Sri Lanka's communal problems is yet to be appreciated by the world community (8) 19. . . . and not either (3)
21 e Sun-god in Egyptian mythology 22. An endangered member of the deer family facing total extinction in Sri Lanka from jungle warfare (3) 23. Shouts of scorn (5)
器 Adjective that indicates belonging
27. Mother of Virgin Mary whose feast day is observed with special devotion in Canada (4) 28. A layabout's preocuppation (4) 30. A further qualification beyond a degree in arts (2)
31. Obtain (3) 32. Popular public facility from the time of ancient Rome (5) 33. Two-toed sloth of the Amazon jungles (2) 34. When these of some individuals are boosted beyond reason they could cause annoying problems to others (4) 36. Such "elements are thorns anywhere (5) 38. Chemical symbol for sodium (2) 39. Finish (3) 40. West European political movement hooked to violence (3) 41 Father affectionately usually in the US (2)
42. First deputy to a Station Master in the Sri Lankan railways (3) 43. This engineering feat of some 50 years ago created the Senanayake Samudra in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province (3) 44. A Tamil refuge city in Germany (6) 45. One who does this to his farm awaits his fruits in plenty (4)
Down:
1. European port city much loved by children through the stories of Hans Christian Andersen where many displaced Tamils have found a safe horne from threats to their lives in Sri Lanka (10) 2. Muscat is the capital of this Southwest Asian city (4) 3. In action or to produce an effect (7) 4. Mister in short (2) 5. A starting point or something of fundamental importance (5) 6. Exclude (4) 8, Australia's most popular cosmopoitan city where Tamils have also ಟ್ಜnd another home for themselves
6
Popularly, second largest US city 2)
10. Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer (4, 7) 13. In Greek mythology, the river over which Charon ferried the souls of the dead (4) 16. Often referred to as the Wellawatte of North America by Sri Lankans, this city has virtually enshrined human rights as sacred (7) 20. Lower GCE in popular usage (2) 24, Europe's second largest lake on the borders of Finland (5 25. On equal footing (3) 26. Informal note or message (4) 28, Political decisions made in this city preparing Sri Lanka for independence failed to ensure that the interests of the Tamils were protected (6)
332
3.
Continued from page 22
of his hands said: “You see, people like us can stand up for our rights only up to a point. We can take on thugs, but fighting the militants or those considered close to them is certainly not our cup of tea'.
A large number of Punjabi Hindus through sheer fear have moved to townships in the neighbouring city of Haryana and this in turn has caused prices to soar up causing further problems to people who escaped from militant violence in Chandigarh. When a generation of young people have been brought up in violence, law and order has to fail.
YOGA. & CO
For all your legal work and conveyancing Solicitors & Administrators of Oaths
47 Booth Road, Colindale, London NW95JS
Telephone: 081-2050899
Continued from pa sabhas. This sha] Muslim members council and ch pradeshiya sabhas autonomy, it says unbifurcated Nor Pradeshiya Sabhas Muslim majority sh Pradeshiya Sabhas be the unit to whic devolved.'
The union can : and utilise state
pradeshiya sabhas. adds that Muslir Eastern Provinces to state land in a vince.
The CWC is kee be safeguards for th ity in the province. right of the Sinhale Sri Lanka to own in the North-East main unfettered.' I land shall be accort cial ethnic ratio. Sinhalese DIG for th

TAM TIMES 23
UIZ CROSSWORDS - No. 12, Compiled by: Richards
4. 9 O
2 4
2
7 8 9
2 3
4. 35 6 7
9
1 2 3.
4. 5
Tamils in danger of their lives in 35. A gesture of approval or guaranLanka have also found a home in teе (4) slake city of the Alpine region (3) 37. Certainly not narrow (4)
Citadel of Tamil Filmdom' (6) 41. Public Relations, abb. (2)
luiz Crosswords - 10: Solutions.
cross: 1. Adityas. 7. Vach. 11. Soma. 12. Shashti. 13. AM. 14. He. 15. agi. 17. Simla. 19. Anon. 20. Cos. 21. SA. 22. Ganga. 24. Ala. 26. Lo. 28. r. 29.Ay.30. Gowri. 33. Garuda. 36. Ogham. 37. Abuse.38. Pu. 39. DP. ). Danu. 42. ie. 45. Karttikeya.
own: 1. Asuras. 2. Do. 3. Imago. 4. Taming, 5.Ashvins. 6. She 7.Vs. 8. nimsa. 9. CT. 10. Himalaya. 16. Analogue. 17. Scarab. 18. lo. 23. Gigas. 5. Laden. 27. Owh. 30. Gopis. 31. Radha. 32. Imp. 34. Rud. 35. Usage. 41. ma. 43. ET. 44. Pi.
o winner.
ge 5 l be composed of of the provincial i air men of the On the unit of that “within the th-East Province, with a substantial tall form a Union of . This Union shall h authority will be
administer, control lands within the More important, it ns of the Northhall have the right ny part of the pro
n that there should he Sinhalese minorIt affirms that “the se from any part of property anywhere Province shall reAlienation of state ding to the provinhere should be a he province, it says.
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Page 24
24 TAMILTIMES
CASSFED ADS
First 20 words 10. Each additional word 60p.
Charge for Box No. 3.
(vat 17/2% extra),
Prepayment essential
Advertisement Manager, Tani Times Ltd, PO Box 1 21.
Sutton, Surrey SM 3TD Phone: 08-644 0972
MATRMONIAL
Jaffna Hindu parents, seek suitable partner for only daughter, 32, M.Sc., Ph.D., lecturer in Sri Lankan University. Send details. M 547 c/o hamil Times.
Brother seeks groom for attractive sister, 30, Jaffna University physical science graduate. Send horoscope, details. M 548 c/o Tamil Times. Uncle in England seeks doctor or chartered accountant, possible become American citizen for American Citizen niece, Jaffna Tamil, age 24 plus. M549 c/o Tamil Times.
Jaffna Hindu parents seek partner for daughter, 23, British citizen in good employment in London, Send horoscope, details. M 550 cyo Tanni Tinnes.
Jaffna Hindu seeks bride for his part qualified accountant brother, 30, employed in London. Send horoscope, details, M551 c/o
Tari inneS. Jaffna Hindu parents seek professionally qualified bride from good family background for son, 32, tall, handsome, permanent resident in a north European country. Send horoscope, details. M 552 c/o Tamil Times, Jaffna Hindu parents seek professional groom, 32-37, for doctor daughter in London. M 553 C/o Tarnil Times. Jaffna Hindu parents seek qalified partner for B. Comp. Sc. (U.K.) trained daughter, 28, now employed in Melbourne. Write with horoscope to P.O. Box 0110, Singapore 9143. Jaffna Hindu mother, Australian resident, seeks fair, attractive, preferably qualified partner for son, 39, fair, handsome, completed Ph.D. in USA. Send details M 555 co Tanni Tinnes. Hindu Tamil parents, citizens Papua New Guinea, seek attractive, qualified bride, preferably Australian resident, for son, medical doctor, 31, 5' 8", working at Port Moresby, Send horoscope details. M 556 c/o Tamil Times.
WEDDING BELS
We congratulate the following couple on their recent wedding. Dr. Sivabal, son of Dr. & Mrs. K. Sivalloganathan of 18 Eaton Avenue, New Malden, Surrey, U.K., and Sumathi daughter of Mr. & Mrs. N. Nadarajah of 5947 Ladyburn Crescent, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada on 27. 12.91 at South Common Community Centre, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Private Tuition
Pure/Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Physics O/A Level. Homes visited.
Te: O81 864 3227
OBITUAR
Ponnaiyah - Theodora loved husband of Ivy ( father of Priya, Prab/ father-in-law of Arjunan, James Warren (all of peacefully at Hammers London on November 19 illness. Funerałtook plac 1991. Sadly missed by a friends. - 2 Thames Av dlesex UB6 8JN, U.K.
Mrs. Sellam Vaithilingan P. Vaithilingam and belc late Messrs. Visuvalingar, jah, Kandiah (Toront Ganeshanathan (Welling, passed away in Alaveddi, November 1991 after a Taylor Terrace, Tawa, W land.
Sarathadevi wife of th Attorney-at-law and No. mother of Prof. Narendr USA), Subaschandran (, (Solicitor, U.K.), Bhara ham, U.K.) and Sar, nother-in-law of Ruth N nuka Aravindan (Solicito Rajah (U.K.); grandm Ramesh, Mathan, Shyle
 
 
 
 

ES
2 Manoharajah, benee Joseph), loving na and Sulochana, Santhirasenan and U.K.) passed away mith Hospital, West th, 1991, after a brief e on December 2nd li his loved ones and enue, Perivale, Mid
wife of the late Mr. Ved mother of the n and P. V. Nadarao, Canada) and on, New Zealand)
Sri Lanka on 22nd
brief illness - 31 ellington, New Zea
2 late T. Selvadurai, ary Public, Colombo, an (Texas University, Sri Lanka), Aravindan Phy Rajah (Birmingthchandran (U.K.); arendran (USA), Re, U.K.) and Dr. Ranjit other of Sabeetha, sh Kumaran, Nirojan
15 JANUARY 992
and Bipooshan passed away in Chunnakam, Sri Lanka on 5.1.1992 - 125 Kempton Road, East Hlam, London E6 2NF. Tell: 081 552 7486.
Sabapathy Ponnampalam, F.C.M.A. (60) of Kalvalai, Sandilipay, Sri Lanka; Financial director of Flamecraft Ltd., London (formerly Chief Accountant, F.C.D.A., Nigeria, Gazetted Officer of Ministry of Co-operatives and Small lindustries, Sri Lanka); beloved husband of Kamaladevi, father of Sivagananathan, Adagasoundary, Panumathi, Vadivalaghambigai, Vachchiravetkumaran, Linkeshwaran and Narasinkan, father-in-law of M. Rohini, R. Satkunanthan, B. Buvanendra and G. Jeyaraj; grand father of Shamica, Selvi, Rham and Rathi (all of U.K.), brother of Santhiraserkaram (Srilanka) passed away after a heart attack on 17. 12.91, and was Cremated at West London Crematorium on 19. 1291. Sadly missed by all his loved ones and friends. - Flat 3, 280/286 High Street, Willesden, London NW102SY, Tel. 081 451 4023.
IN MEMORAM
in loving memory of Mr. V.T. Ratnam, News Editor, Dinapathy and Journalist, Lake House, Sri Lanka, on the second anniversary of his passing away on 20, 1.90.
Sadly missed and fondly remembered by his wife Maheswari, children Shanthikumar (Australia), Rajkumar, Senthilkumar (both of Toronto) and Suganthy (New Delhi), daughters-in-law Jeya, Vasanthy and Viji; son-inlaw Asokan; mother Mrs. Thambiappah (Kandermadam, Sri Lanka); sisters Maheswari, Thana lux my (Koku vil, Sri Lanka), Sarathadevi (St. Anthony's, Colombo); brothers Balasingham (Hatton, Sri Lanka), Vijeyakumar (Sheraton, Tasmania), Krishnakumar (ROP, Oman) and Shanthakumar (Athena, Toronto) - Apt. 409, 3345. Sheppard Avenue East, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. Tel: (416) 754-2182

Page 25
5 JANUARY 1992
in loving memory of our beloved Dad A. Chelliahpillai
On the second anniversary of his passing
away on 24.01.90.
Though the years may pass without you Memories of you never fade away Your love and kindness showered on tus Shall always be cherished by us.
Mr. A. Chelliahpillai, Merchant, Ratnapura, Sri Lanka was the son of the late Mr. & Mrs. S. Arunachalam (Pungudutivu, Sri Lanka); sonin-law of Mr. & Mrs. Sinniah (Pungudutivu); beloved husband of the late Mrs. Packiam Cheliah; dear father of Mrs. Parameswary Kandiah (Sri Lanka), Mrs. Thanaluxmy Nagendram (Germany), Mrs. Kamalambigai Vasudevan, Mrs. Kamalasany Sivapathan (both of U.K.), Mrs. Masilamany Rajalingam (Sri Lanka), Pushparajalingam (France) and Punniyalingam (U.K.); father-in-law of P. Kandiah, T. Nagendran, S. Wasudewan (Fleet Food & Wines Ltd, U.K.), S. Sivapatham, K. Rajallingam (Pakeerathan Stores, Jaffna), P. Pathminidevy & P Meenakumary, grandfather of Balakrishnan (U.K.), Kalanithy Sabanathan (Bharain), late Arunthavanithy, Karunakaran, Kirupanithy (both of Germany), Thevaginy, Sivaginy, Sivatharshini (all of U.K.), Sivamainthan (Germany), Shayeemainthan, Kunrakkumaran, Koneshakumaran (all of U.K.), Rajapakeerathan (France), Valarmathy, Vanmathy (both of U.K.), Marie, Jegan, Johnson, Shantha (all of France), Shinthiya & Arjun (both of U.K.), great grand father of Birendran, Warendran (both of U.K.), Thanuja, Thatshika (both of Bharain) and Sankeethan (Germany) - 22 Turton Road, Wembley, Middx., U.K.
Mr. Ponnudurai Sivasooriar, Retired Station Master, Sri Lanka. In loving memory on the first anniversary of his passing away on 18.1.91. Your love and kindness shall always be cherished and treasured by us. Sadly missed and fondly remembered by his wife Gnanampal children Mahendrarajah, Jeyendran, Sivanithy, Balendran, Selvanithy and Kulendran, sons-in-law Nagendra and Thirumoolan; daughters-in-law Sarva-Usha, Shanthiny and Usha, grand children Arshetha, Piragath, Anuja, Geevanath, Rathan and Reshmi – 40 Pasquier Road, London E17 6HB. Tel. 08 1 523 3608.
Ат Appre
Dr.Edw Ratnasingam y
For mortals there is only ol and that is death. Death all A sudden death is shatteri ble, devastating — the li "Why? Oh Why?", is the question.
Edward had a heart atta the afternoon, on Wednes 1991, from his home in W Canada. The attack was s He was a Ceylonese diplo) Cairo, Bonn, New Delhi came to Canada in 1962, doctorate from Trinity Col Toronto. For nearly two been Professor of Political don College, York Unive When he was Chairman of Co-ordinated the Internatic ranne. He was also as search was on the United both in Geneva and New Y Permanent Missions of the was published in French.
No matter where he went true Jafina Man. High thi living was his norm. He could speak with authority It was an intellectual repa him. He could mix, as easil generation, as he would W. his constant smile - almos Cat - that spelt a happ disposition. It worked like á people to him. He was a habits. I could go on and Edward was a gentleman. finger tips. We will miss togethers, come Spring, Winter. We will renenber smiling Edward. We will try
Home and family was h. are sometimes inadequat bereaVed. He leaves behi whom he met during his her undergraduate years; h (Mrs. Benoit Saville); his sc graduate student and las his daughter Anne, an ul dent.
He went having become, status he was looking forw
Requiescat lin pace.
Bertha Swarnamani
 
 
 

ation rd ppathurai
を
e sure thing in life, ways leaves a void. g, incomprehensiIt is ad infinitum.
big unanswered
k whilst working in day, 18 December illowdale, Ontario, hort and decisive. mat, and served in and Moscow. He
and obtained his lege, University of decades, he had 'Science at Glen}rsity in Canada. his department, he nal Studies progCholar, whose reNations Missions, ork. His book, "The 2 United Nations,
he was at hearta nking and simple as versatile, and on many subjects. t, just listening to f with the younger th his own. It was ike the Cheshire y and Contented magnet, drawing nan of temperate on. In a nutshell, de was that to his our many getSummer, Fall or your smile. Keep to snile too.
passion. Words to Cornfort the d his wife Carol, ost-graduate and daughter Ranee James, who is a but not the least dergraduate stu
Senior Citizen, a rd fO.
Nallanayagam.
TAMIL TIMES 25
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
February 1st 5.00pm West London Tamil School celebrates Thyagarajah Festival in Alperton High School Hall, Stanley Avenue, Wembley, Middx. All local musicians are expected to take part. Admission Free. Feb. 3 Amavasai.
Feb. 7 Chathurthi.
Feb. 15 6.00pm Brent Asian Academy presents Valentine's Night Dinner & Disco at Alperton High School Annexe, Ealing Road, Alperton, Middx. For details Tel: Nalayini 081 866 3363.
Feb. 17 Full Moon.
Feb. 22 9.30am London Tamil Academy in Collaboration with Brent Careers Office & N.W. London T.E.C. organises Careers Convention in Wembley High School Hall, East Lane, Wembley, Middx. Admission Free. For details Tel: 081 904 3937.
At the Bhavan Centre, 4A Castletown Road, London W14 9HQ. Tel: 071 381 3036/4068 Feb. 8 7.00pm India's Republic Day Celebrations. Cultural Programme. All wellCO2e.
Feb. 15 5.30pm Slide Show on Rajasthan by Dr. Jayant Thakkar. All Welcome.
Feb. 22 5.30pm. A talk on Tirukkural & Modern Life by Dr. S.K. Joishy. All wellCOfe.
Feb. 29 7.00pm Karnatic Vocal by Mrs. Sivasakti Sivanesan.
Tami Kalai Wila
A feast of melodious music, dance and drama was presented by the students and teachers of the London School of Carnatic Music at its annual Kalai Vila held at Riverdale Hall, London SW13 on 3.11.91 under the distinguished patronage of Councillor Jim Dowd, Mayor of Lewisham. Mrs. Saraswathy Packiarajah, the renowned carnatic vocalist was the chief guest.
The packed audience was held in rapt attention to the Poojah dance presented by the students of the school, accompanied by the melodious singing of Vijaya Thavasilingham. She provided the vocal accompaniment for all the subsequent dances and later delighted the audience with rarely heard compositions of carnatic music for over half an hour. She was accompanied by Thiruvarur Kothandapani on Violin, Nathamani Muthu Sivarajah on Miruthangam, Angelo Kumarathasan on Kanjira and Srinivasan on Moharsing.
Most of the children who took part in the items viz performing Bharathanatyam, singing and reciting Tamil songs, playing mirthangam and Veena, acting in Tamil plays were born and brought up in the U.K. and their ability to attain high standards was highly appreciated by the audience. The credit for this achievement should go to the enthusiastic committee led by the President Dr. Jeyanathan and the committed teaching staff. The highlight of the evening was the Nattu Koothu – Eelam Kanda Pandiyan presented by the Kent Tamil Society.
Australasia Tamil Times Subscribers & Readers Contact Address:
Tamil Times Ltd., 2 Chrisalex Place, St. Clair, NSW2759, Australia. Te: O28344179 Fax: 02 670 1085

Page 26
26 TAMILTIMES
Call for Canadian Intervention
The Ontario Senior Tamils Centre at their Annual General Meeting held on 9. 11.91, called upon the Canadian Government to intervene on behalf of their loved Ones left behind in Sri Lanka and (a) Treat the just struggle of the Sri Lankan Tamils for a homeland as on par with the struggle of the Kurds, Palestinians, East Timories and the Croatians. (b) Prevail upon the Government of Sri Lanka to end the armed Conflict and seek a negotiated settlement with the Tamils. (c) Bring economic and diplomatic pressure On the Government of Sri Lanka to lift the economic blockade of the Jaffna peninsula where over a million lives are in peril.
The following were elected to office for 91/92. - President: Fred Balasingham, VicePresident: Mani Pathmarajah, Secretary: Sam Jayatheva, Treasurer: Candiah Kanagalingam, Other Members of Board: Aloy Ratnasingham, Kanagambigai Ragunathan, Ranji Hubert, S. Tharmalingam, C.T. Wijeyarajah, Soloman Rasanayagam and Siva Sivaramalingam, Auditor: V. EeswaraNathan, Editor: A. R. Alexander.
The outgoing committee hosted the Principal Emeritus Skantha Varodaya College, Jaffna, Mr. C. Subramaniam (Orator) at a party held on 23.10.91 at the Oriole C.R.C. when he was on holiday in Toronto.
Arangetram of Three Sisters
Three sisters Sujatha, Ameera and Gunalogie daughters of Mr. & Mrs. Gunasekaram of Edmonton, London E17, had their Bharatha Natya Arangetram at Logan Hall, London WC1 on 79.91 before a large and appreciative audience. A dance arangetram in trio form is a very difficult exercise as there has to be synchronization and skilful coordination to blend a unified presentation and Mrs. Pathmini Gunaseelan, the Guru came out with flying colours. She is the director of the Narthana Kalalaya, and besides being a diploma holder in Bharatha Natyam and Nattuvangam of the prestigious institute 'Bharata Choodamani, Madras, she is a Sangeetha Vidwan of the Carnatic College, Madras. She did the Nattuvangam and was ably assisted by Gana Booshanam Ambika Thamotheran - Vocal, Nathamani Muthu Sivarajah — Mirudangam, Sangeetha Vidwan Kalaivani Indrakumar - Violin, S. Thayaparan - Flute, K. Sithamparanathan - Morsing. Dr. (Mrs.) Manjubhashini Sivanathan was the compere.
The three sisters kept the audience enthralled by their scintilating performance and demonstrated that they had a bright future ahead of them.
Tamil Refuge
Mr. Alan Hedway, Q. Commons, Canada has from the Senior annis the Canadian Parliamen ing the plight of the Canada. They have t applications for refugee early reunion with their f information regarding the their applications be ma early solution be foun difficulty in obtaining en way is also very sympa plight of the Tamils of Si looked upon as an ideal with the Sri Lankan Go the ethnic conflict.
inquiry So Tami Det
The Parliamentary Cor Rights has requested Pt Premadasa to bring b Committee the cases of C detained at the New Ma ombo under the Prevent (ΡΤΑ).
About 205 youth had t security forces in the E and plantation areas at between the military anc 1989. About 20 others prior to that.
These detained yout assistance of Attorney-at bantota District, Mahinda their plight to the atte Premadasa and seek them to be produced b Connittee.
The detainees in a le Rajapakse through the Mrs. Sirimavo Bandara that they had not been involved in any sort of a state security forces. U only four of the detainees before the courts, the let
These detainees at Prison were only a sectic for alleged involvement Sources said the detain detention centre had b
 
 
 

1skNUAY 1992
is in Canada
C., M.P., House of presented a petition Centre of Ontario to f on 21.11.91 regardTamil Refugees in equested that their status be expedited, amilies be facilitated, progress made with de available and an d for the resultant ployment. Mr. Redthetic regarding the i Lanka and is being person to negotiate vernment to resolve
ught on ainees
nnittee for Human esident Ranasinghe efore the Jayalath Iver 200 Tamil youth gazine Prison, ColOrm of Terrorisnin Act
een arrested by the ast, Jafna, Mannar er fighting erupted f the LTTE in June had been arrested
had sought the law and M.P. HamRajapakse to bring ntion of President is intervention for afore the Jayalalith
ter fo Mr. Mahinda Opposition Leader aike have claimed part of the LT TE or ned clash with the to late last month had been produced er has stated. he New Magazine of Tamils detained 7 terrorist activities. es at the Kalutara en visited by the
members of the Jayalath Committee recently after agitation. There are about 300 detainees in Kalutara.
The New Magazine Prison detainees have threatened to launch a fast unto death campaign if the government failed to respond to their request to be brought before the Jayalath Committee.
Several hundreds of Tamil youth including a considerable number of women have been arrested and detained in various parts of the country for alleged involvement in terrorist activities. Some of them have been agitating for better treatment.
The government allowed the ICRC and other such organisations to visit the detainees including those detained in the north-eastern region.
World Thirukkural Conference 1992
Preparations are being made by the World Tamil Maraik Kalagam to hold its twenty fifth Thirukkural Conference as WORLD THIRUKKURAL CONFERENCE. The Conference will be held in Madras for three days in September 1992.
Mr. K.P. Ratnam, President of the Kalagam, Address H-15/11 Kalashetra Colony, Besant Nagar, Madras-600 090, Tel: 416265 requests all those engaged in studies of Thirukkural and those interested in it, to register themselves as delegates to the Conference. The registration fee is US$ 25 and the last day of registration is 1st March 1992. Delegates are requested to send their biodata with the registration fee.
Delegates who propose to read papers at the Conference should send their papers before 1st June 1992 for scrutiny and acceptace,
Donations and suggestions from well wishers and devotees of the Tamil Veda will help to organise the first World Conference on a big scale.
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Page 27
15 JANUARY 1992
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