Page 1
Tamil
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Colombo Train Blast
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2 TAMIL TIMES
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15 AUGUST 1996
I do not agree with a word of what you say, but I'll defend to the death your
right to say it. .
: - voltaire
ISSN 0266-4488
Vol.XV No.8 15 AUGUST 1996
Published by
TAM TIMES LTD P.O. BOX 121 SUTTON, SURREY SM13TD UNITED KINGOOM
Phone: 0181-644 0972 Fax: 0181-241 4557
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION
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Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the editor or publishers
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CONTENTS
Kilinochchi Offensive. . . . . . . . . . 3
Colombo Train Blast. . . . . . . . . . . 4.
The Story of Survival. . . . . . . . . . . 5 Whither Human Rights. . . . . . . . . 6
International Mediation
Discounted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Two Divergent Concepts. . . . . . . . 8
Mullaitivu - A Shattering Blow. .11 Dilly-dallying on Devolution. . . . 12
On the Edge of Vavuniya.... . . . 16
Mothers of Sri Lanka. . . . . . . . . . 2O
Corruption in High Places. . . . . . 25 AIADMK Heading for Split. . . . . . 26 Status of Tamil Today. . . . . . . . . 28
Travails of War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Classified. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Killinq
he military o TELENA “Sa
government LTTE-controlled no chchi and adjoining the displacement of thousand people.
All the inhabita nearby areas have cies including the th mittee of the Red Cr the area. The fightin ment forces and the any supplies of foc supplies to the peopl to be undergoing se Asserting that m including several wo lost their lives due to bombing and shel forces, the LTTE on the international c upon the governme. its aggression whicl short term and long Tamil people and a ganisations to do h dependently.
The LTTE state London headquar present situation wc international interve The military offer after a curfew was il chchi district wher have its headquar nouncement advised shelter in schools a Aid workers in the dreds of thousands move to escape heav fire, and that many abandoned the town Kilinochchi, in no rural town with only of about 50 thousanc gee centre for 200t civilians from Jaf evacuated towards when government peninsuala.
Accurate reports war Zone are hardt the tight censorship journalists visiting
 
 
 
 

AML TIMES 3
ochchi Offensive Displaces
200,000 People
ffensive code-named th Jaya” launched by forces to capture the rthern town of Kilinoareas has resulted in an estimated 200,000
nts of the town and fled and all aid agenhe International Comoss have moved out of gbetween the governLTTE have prevented ld and other essential e and they are reported vere hardships.
ore than 30 civilians, men and children, had ) indiscriminate aerial ling by government 8 August appealed to ommunity to prevail nt of Sri Lanka to stop hit said brought about g term disaster to the llow international orumanitarian work in
ment issued from its ters added that the ould appear to warrant ontion.
lsive began on 26 July
mposed in the Killinoe the LTTE is said to ters. A military anTamil civilians to take nd places of worship.
area confirmed hun
of people are on the y government artillery aid workers had also
. ormal circumstances a 7 a resident population became a virtual refu
o 300 thousand Tamil
fna when they were the end of last year forces captured the
of the situation in the o come by in view of and the prohibition of there. However, mili
tary sources said that nearly three-thousand troops advanced towards Killinochchi from the northern major army base at Elephant Pass located at the neck of the Jaffna peninsula to the north and the mainland to the south and that a second column of troops advanced from around the Mullaitivu army base which they had been sent to relieve after the Tigers overran it killing more than 12-hundred soldiers. The military has now abandoned the Mullaitivu camp which had been totally destroyed.
Following the first day's offensive, it was reported that the troops had advanced ten kilometres facing stiff resistance from the Tigers and had captured the town of Paranthan.
The LTTE said in a statement issued in London on 26 July that more than 2,000 government troops had massed near a northeastern army base at Mullaitivu as they prepared for the offensive. "Troop reinforcements are now consolidating their position in preparation for a major counter- offensive,' and that Israeli-built Kfir jets continued bombing operations in civilian areas, but a military spokesman claimed they were targeting Tiger positions.
The hospital at Killinochchi was hit during an air force bombing run on the town, a representative of a Western aid organiZation confirmed. However, the number of casualties was not immediately known. A statement from the LTTE's London office said "scores of people were killed and tens of thousands fled from the area' when the offensive began with heavy artillery fire and about 100,000 people have been displaced and "Killinochchi is reduced to a ghost town now.'
The army claimed at least 42 rebels were killed and more than 100 wounded following the first day's offensive. A military statement said 17 soldiers were killed and 36 wounded in their advance towards Kilinochchi. But the Voice of Tigers radio said that only five Tigers had been killed in what it described as fierce fighting.
A military communiquesaid Mi-24 helicopter gunships blasted rebel bunkers ahead of the advance along the road to Paranthan and that Tamil Tigers had thrown up a major earth barrier south of the town on the road to Kilinochchi. It said the earthworks extended 400 metres either

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4 TAM TIMES
side of the road. The rebels were peppering troops with mortar fire and the helicopter gunships and air force bombers were trying to strike the mortar positions, the communique saild.
On 1 August the International Committee of the Red Cross said it had pulled out of Kilinochchi which has become a deserted town. ICRC officials said that Killinochchi was virtually deserted after more than 100-thousand tamil civilians fled to escape a heavy government artillery barrage.
A spokesman for the ICRC said moving that it was moving its office to the village of Mallavi to the southwest, where a small hospital was being used to treat injured civilians from Killinochchi.
Aid workers at the scene have been expressing concern that no government food convoys have been allowed into the area for more than two weeks - because of the upsurge in fighting. They say long lines of people are waiting at fresh water pumps and civilians are sharing provisions to survive.
A Reuter report datelined 4 August stated that troops backed by tanks and air support renewed a thrust against Tamil Tigers rebels as authorities braced for a flood of refugees fleeing the fighting, quoting military and aid.
Air force bombers and helicopter gunships pounded rebel positions as troops resumed their advance at dawn from northern Paranthan towards Kilinochchiafter a week-long lull, a military spokesman said. "Troops having advanced about one-anda-half kilometres (one mile) have now come under terrorist resistance,' he said. In the meantime, the LTTE accused the troops of indiscriminate shelling of Kilinochchi, saying nearly 200,000 civilians had fled the town. "For the last nine days the Sri Lankan troops stationed at Elephant Pass and Paranthan have unleashed day and night indiscriminate artillery shelling on heavily populated Kilinochchi town," the LTTE said in a statement issued from London on 4 August. "The disregard of human life was such that the armed forces relentlessly shelled people's homes, the town's hospital and every other place," it said.
Aid officials said they were preparing 35 schools in and around the frontline town of Vavuniya, 70 km (44 miles) south of Kilinochchi, to accommodate the anticipated influx of refugees.
“We estimate almost 200,000 people have been displaced by the latest fighting." said an aid official. "We expect some of them to come to army-held areas and we're planning to send food to the others (in rebel-held areas) today."
The LTTE on Saturday (31 July) allowed 200 shaken and hungry refugees to move south to army-held areas in Vavuniya for the first time in two weeks. The move paved the way for truckloads of food and medicine to reach tens of thousands of reful
geesin the northern\ of which is under LI The LTTE allowex no-man's landon Sat after the Sri Lankan deal between the ar let food convoys rea Some 200 lorries been stranded in Va two weeks since th "The difficulty is th LTTE areas have be of the battle aroun Tamil government from the north tol truckers are using homes. We have to fi together,' he said.
The army claimed Lankan troops kille TigerTigers. Howev count of the battle stated that its cadre 100 troops and destr A Defence Ministr troops were killed, near Paranthan."Du on 4 August, one of were killed and wounded," the mir troops have confirm killed and estimate o injured."
In a statement on said: "More than 1 ( were killed and five S completely destroy forces opened fire ( who broke out of Pal towards Kilinochchi capture it.'
The statement ad ing hadraged througl day near Kilinochchi of killing "scores o shelling and heavy a It said earlier that bombed civilian tar ple.
"More than 100 Sl killed and five Sri La pletely destroyed w opened fire on Sri broke out of Parant wards Kilinochchit capture it," an LTTE The military obje take controll of Kilin a land route betweer via government con LTTE holds most of ephant Pass and Va trol. "Clearing the ephant Pass through niya is a tall order, t jective of the new ca official in Jaffna is 1 But having captu Paranthan within th offensive, it is very have met stiff resist

15 AUGUST 1996
Vanni mainland, most TECOntrol.
the civilians to cross urday 4 August, a day Red Cross brokered a my and the LTTE to
htherefugees. laden with food have vuniya for more than 2 border was closed. ut truck owners in the en scattered because d Kilinochchi,' one official who arrived d reporters. "Some the lorries as their nd them and get them
that on 5 August Sri d at least 203 Tamil 'er the LTTE in its acon Sunday 4 August 's had killed at least oyed five army tanks. y statement said 14 including an officer, e to the confrontation ficer and 13 soldiers 32 soldiers were listry said. "Ground ed 203 terrorists Were ver one hundred were
5 August, the LTTE X0 Sri Lankan troops Sri Lankan army tanks ved when the LTTE on Sri Lankan troops anthan and advanced town in an attempt to
ded that heavy fightnout the previous Sunand accused the army f civilians by intense erial bombardment." air force planes had gets, killing five peo
iLankan troops were nkan army tanks comhen the LTTE forces Lankan troops who han and advanced toown in an attempt to Estatement said. ctive of the offensive ochchi is said to open 1 Jaffna and Colombo rolled Vavuniya. The the area between Elvuniya under its conoad between the ElKilinochchi to Vavubut that is a major obmpaign," an air force eported to have said. red the small town of e first two days of the clear that the forces ance from the Tigers
and even after ten days of the commencement of the offensive, they have not succeeded in capturing Kilinochchi.
57 Killi in amb Bam B
Two powerful bombs which exploded in a crowded commuter train on 24 July killing at least fifty-seven people and injuring about 450 more. The train packed with thousands of passengers going home after work left the Colombo Fort railway station and had just stopped at the suburban Dehiwela station, about ten miles from Fort, when the blasts occurred which reduced two compartments into matchwood. Before the explosions, a third bomb had been removed from a compartment in front of the train after passengers called attention to an unaccompanied bag in the compartment. Passengers briefly evacuated the train while a soldier riding on the train removed the bag containing the bomb, but they reboarded on the mistaken assumption that the threat had been eliminated.
While the police and the government promptly attributed the blame for the blasts, which occurred on the very anniversary day of the outbreak of anti-Tamil violence in July 1983, upon the Tamil Tigers, the LTTE in a statement issued from its London headquarters denied any responsibility stating that it was not their policy to attack civilian targets. They accused the government of trying create national hysteria to justify the continuing war it was conducting in the north and east. "Even though the accusing finger is pointed by the government at the LTTE, there are interested parties within the Sinhala ruling establishment who feel the need to raise chauvinistic hysteria in order to facilitate the military option," the LTTE statement added.
As panic set in among Tamil residents in Colombo and its suburbs fearing a backlash, President Chandrika Kumaratunga, wenton national TV appealed to the people to remain calm and help the government maintain law and order at this nation's hour of grief without playing into the hands of the LTTE which has a hidden agenda of inflaming another Black July and alienating Sri Lanka in the international community.
Following the bomb blasts, the police carried out a series raids in and around Colombo rounding up as many as 27 Tamils whom they described "suspected Tigers".
Security forces detained many hundreds of Tamils arriving from the south in the northern town of Vavuniya for questioning over bombs blasts in Colombo. "This is a preventive action to locate any suspects in the Colombo incident," a police official said in Vavuniya.
United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali condemned the train bombing. "The Secretary-General learned with horror of the loss of a large

Page 5
15 AUGUST 1996
number of lives and of many, many injuries that were caused by an explosion on a crowded train on the outskirts of Colombo in Sri Lanka,” U.N. spokeswoman Sylvana Foa said.
Several countries, including Britain, USA, Germany, and European Union, have condemned the bomb attack as an act of wanton terrorism.
In Moscow the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed serious concern about the bomb attack on the passenger train.'A large-scale act of terrorism committed on July 24- an explosion in a passenger train, as a result of which about 100 innocent Lankan citizens were killed, deserves a strong condemnation," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Andreyev stated. “We proceed from the fact that organisers of such terrorist acts must be punished in accordance with all laws of justice," he emphasised adding that the settlement of the inter-ethnic conflict lies on the way of political talks, first of all on the basis of the programme proposed by the present Lankan government.
Amnesty International stated that it was extremely disturbed by the recent bombings in Sri Lanka which have resulted in the deliberate killing of at least 70 civilians and injury to hundreds of others.
Amnesty International noted the LTTE's denial that it was not involved and its assurance that it does not target civilians. However, Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned LTTE attacks on civilians in the past and has urged that all steps be taken to prevent such abuses.
AI stated that, whoever is responsible for the blast, such deliberate killings of civilians are reprehensible.While recognizing the government’s responsibility to protect people from such attacks, in the light of the wave of human rights abuses that followed the Central Bank bombing in January, Amnesty International appeals to the Government of Sri Lanka to refrain from wholesale arbitrary arrests of Tamil people in the aftermath of the bombing.
Amnesty International appeals, as it has done in the past, to both the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka to avoid deliberate and arbitrary targeting of civilians.
Mullaitivu - A Story of Survival
The fall of the garrison is described as the worst debacle suffered by the Sri Lankan military of the civil war, which began with a nationwide outburst of anti-Tamil riots 13 years ago in July 1983.
Though no official figures of casualties have been released, reliable reports indicate just 30 soldiers were known to have escaped to safety.
When mortar fire from the Tigers shattered the nighttime stillness, a teen-age army sentry emptied both magazines of his assault rifle into the darkness. Then, he shinnied up a coconut tree and watched the Tigers overrun the sprawling army
base.
For more than Dhimikahid in th his perch 50 feet : watched the battle became one of jus from the base's 12 The Tigers have killed 1208 soldiers ers. However, there that the Tigers migl soldiers as captives for details from the they are holding, b so far admitted to c In the first eyew rebel assault on the private told a Sri La Tamil Tiger quickly perimeters before d "The attack came and south of the ci utes the Tigers defenses," Dhamm pital bed in the pura.”Shells were camp,' he said. "... Tigers attacking the in the centre of the
At dawn, he hear ing orders to guerril ing the camp, drivi weapons and ammu littered with about soldiers and rebel Some of the buildin; columns of smoke 1 Dhammika sax civilian clothing m strip the bodies of longings, before lo ers and driving ther As the day pass grew thirsty, but fe covered if he open were still crashing descended in darkn the shore of the Ma discovered two oth caped, but their fli warplanes, helic pounded the rebel lagoon for another military helicopters on the beach, south
Crawling along scrub jungles, the close enough, they ons, raised their Sinhalese, before colleagues.
Military source doned the base on ing it but finding it to salvage, pulling attack from Tiger r who landed by se base found nobod government north official casualty fi The LTTE, in a
 
 

AMTIMES 5
24 hours, Pvt. W.G. | leafy branches.From bove the ground, he age around him and 30 known survivors 0 soldiers. :laimed that they had including many officare those who believe t be holding scores of The ICRC has called LTTE of any soldiers it the Tigers have not ptives being held. itness account of the base, the 19-year-old nkan reporter that the breached the camp's awn on 18 July. from the sea, the north imp, and within minhad penetrated our ka said from his hostown of Anuradhaxploding all over the ( saw a large group of : brigade headquarters camp." d rebel leaders shoutlas who were ransackng away trailers full of nition. "The camp was 200 to 300 bodies of ls," Dhammika said. gs were still ablaze and rose into the sky. w men in fatigues and ove into the camp and their weapons and beading them onto trailn away. (ed, the soldier said he ared he would be dised a coconut. Mortars into the base when he ess and crawled along nthi Kadal lagoon. He ersoldiers who hadesght stalled as military opters and warships ... The three hid in the day, until they spotted landing reinforcements
of the base. he lagoon and through y approached. When hrew away their weapands and shouted in running toward their
s said the army aban26 July after recapturflattened with nothing out under continued bels. They said troops and air to retake the alive, but neither the military have released ll I'CS. statement issued from
London on 27 July said over 100 soldiers were killed on the previous day as they army "made a clumsy and disorganised withdrawal.'
National Park Closed for Tourists
One of the country's biggest tourist attractions has closed its gates to visitors for security reasons. Police say they can no longer guarantee safety in the Yala National Park, a wildlife sanctuary, in south-eastern Sri Lanka. There have been a series of encounters between tourists and suspected Tamil Tigers is believed to be behind the closure.
The virtual absence of police and army patrols in the area means large groups of heavilly-armed Tiger cadres can move around freely, resting before returning to fight in the east.
Their presence has brought them into contact with the many tourists who visit Yala to photograph the park's spectacular wildlife. No tourists have been harmed, but in one the latest incidents, 13 people on safari were stopped by a group dressed in battle fatigues and brandishing automatic weapons. The tourists and their guide are reported to have been briefly detained and questioned at gun point.
A big security operation is now under way in yala to clear the area of Tiger units, according to military sources. But although police say the park may re-open to tourists within a short time, its closure comes as another major set-back to Sri Lanka's beleaguered tourism industry.
Government statistics suggest the number of visitors to the country has dropped by nearly 40-percent in the past year.
Earlier this month, an emergency rescue package for the island's deserted hotels and tourist resorts was announced, along with an ambitious international advertising campaign to reserve the island's negative image abroad.
With little sign of a respite in the escalating war between government forces and the LTTE, many are sceptical about the future of Sri Lanka's tourism industry.
Serious Food Shortages Feared
Drought and security problems may lead to serious food shortages in Sri Lanka, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on 26 July.
A report by the Rome-based agency estimated total rice production in Sri Lanka in 1995/96 would be 26 percent below normal and 11 percent below the last seriously drought-affected crop in 1986/87. It estimated that Sri Lanka would need to import some 600,000 tonnes of rice to make up for the shortfall.
Abdur Rachid, the author of the report, said food shortages might be exacerbated in some areas by fighting between government troops and Tamil Tigers. "There may

Page 6
6 TAM TIMES
be critical food shortages in localised areas because of the security situation,” Rachid told the press
The report said the food situation in the north, where a large number of refugees are receiving food assistance, was expected to become particularly tight. "Movement of food into affected areas is likely to be severely constrained by the recent deterioration in the security situation,' it said.
The FAO report said the main 1995/96 Maha rice crop would be 22 percent less than the average for the preceding five years because of a significant decline in rainfall since last October. It said continuing drought since April had also resulted in highly unfavourable prospects for the Yala rice crop, which it estimated would be 33.
Wither Human Rights 2 s
There is increasing concern among international and local human rights organisations concerning the human rights situation in the context of the intensification of the armed conflict between government forces and the LTTE.
A Reuter report datelined 16 July from Colombo by Nick Macfie states:
A pretty Tamil girl is stopped at a Sri Lankan army checkpoint on the edge of rebel territory. Her boyfriend's name is written in ink on her thigh, possibly in a token of affection between lovers. A female soldier does abody check, in private, and sees the boy's name when she lifts the girl's skirt. The girl is detained on suspi
cion that the boy is a Tamil Tiger rebel.
That was two months ago and she has been detained ever since, according to a veteran American human rights campaigner living and working here.
When a tractor driver makes the reverse trip, from army-controlled Batticaloa to rebel territory, soldiers find 12 pairs of rubber slippers in his possession and believe he is taking them to the rebels. He is detained. That was three months ago. He is still being detained, according to the vice president of the Batticaloa Peace Committee, Father Harry Miller. The owner of the tractor wants it back but it is being held as evidence.
“Why are (the army) afraid of the slippers?" asked Jesuit priest Miller. "What do they think the Tigers will do with them, throw them at them?'
Batticaloa is right in the middle of the war zone and the homeland sought by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the north and east since 1983. The LTTE held the town briefly in 1990. The town is now undergovernment control, as are the main roads out of it. But 100 metres off the roads into the jungle or across a lagoon can be LTTE territory. "The LTTE are increasing in the vicinity,' a senior non-governmental organisation relief worker said. "They are coming close."
Miller, 70, who came to Sri Lanka, then
Ceylon, at the time 1948, is one of the cot human rights campa the peace committee Batticaloa people wit He lists the two ca tions to the rule in th forces which have b conscious since the co People's Alliance gov Chandrika Kumaratu
"It wasn't rare for the security forces to hang them by the roa his garret office abov school. “So there ha ment.”
His objection to Tamil girl was that h all, whereas the men
their clothes. "The ting different treatme the human rights situ The soldiers know tha are being called befor years back that con there.'
Recently parliame proved the setting up mission to handle pub man rights abuses. A Human Rights Task ported abuses by secu in fighting the Tamil, Government comm also probing disappea tal crackdown by the tional Party (UNP) reg wing youth revolt in 1980s. International have said up to 60,00 appeared during thi Kumar, Batticaloa re. retary for the Eelam F ary Liberation Front, a group which now bac also had praise for "Three or four years : came and massacred, is not happening."
Army spokesman Munasinghe said stric forming the police, f of detention orders e not detained unfairly. single complaint in the Reuters. "We are not suspected breach ol brought to our notice be taken.'
But even if the hun improved, Father Mill with the army in Batti their laying anti-pers camp perimeters whi at least one goat but o kill children.
Offer of Talks W
Colombo watchers
 
 
 

15 AUGUST 1996
of independence in ntry's most respected gners. He describes as the voice of the 1 the security forces. ses above as excep2 Sri Lankan armed come human rights ming to power of the ernment of President nga in August 1994. eople working with chop off heads and lside,' Miller said in 2 St Michael's boys' s been an improve
he treatment of the er skirt was lifted at are checked through women dislike getnt,ʼ he said. ʻ...But ation is much better. tpeople of their rank e commissions. Two sciousness was not
nt unanimously apDf a permanent comlic complaints ofhuA separate state-run Force monitors rerity forces involved separatist rebellion. issions of inquiry are rances during abruformer United Naime on a violent left the south in the late uman rights groups ) people died or dis2 period. Ganasha gional district sec'eople's Revolutiononce-militant Tamil ks the government, the armed forces. go, security forces he said. "Now that
Brigadier Sarath :t procedures of inamilies and issuing 1sured people were 'We have not had a recent past," he told perfect, but (if any
human rights) is prompt action will
lan rights scene has r stillhas hisgripes caloa - he objects to nnel mines on their h so far have killed he day he fears may
th Conditions
letected a softening
of the government's position in regard to the prospects of talks with the Tamil Tigers when it recently offered to hold peace talks with the LTTE even after a devastating military defeat at Mullaitivu at the hands of Tigers and a bomb attack on a passenger train for which the government blamed the Tigers.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar said at the press conference on 28 July said the government was prepared to hold peace talks with the LTTE if it would relinquish their goal of an independent state.
They also must renounce the use of violence, lay down arms and set a timetable for talks before the government would consider a political solution to the conflict, Mr. Kadirgamar said.
"But it is clear as far as they (Tigers) are concerned they have only one agenda : a separate state. That is not negotiable." Kadirgamar added.
Kadirgamarinsisted that recent military debacles, including the loss of a key military base, did not influence the government's decision to make the overture.
"The Tigers will never agree to the laying down arms as a precondition for talks, and therefore the government's overture for talks will be a non-starter," a political commentator said.
Disaster for Economy
if War Continues
The expenditure on the north-eastern war this year would be around Rs.47 to 48 billion, Rs.10 billion more than the budgetary allocation of Rs.38 billion, Constitutional Affairs and Justice Minister and Deputy Finance Minister, Prof.G.L.Peiris, said recently.
The defence expenditure represents 6.3 percent of the country's gross Domestic Product (GDP). "It's a huge amount of money for a small country like Sri Lanka," Mr.Peiris said addressing the Industrialists Association of Sri Lanka.
He said the government had only two options when the LTTE unilaterally pulled out of the peace talks on 19 April last year: to continue the low intensity war like in previous years, or to intensify it with the hope of restoring peace quickly. The government chose the latter option and that meant committing additional resources for the purchase of sophisticated armaments and mobilising more men.
The government's decision to intensify the war had yielded results but to convert the gains of war into durable peace, apolitical solution had to be worked out. The government was now engaged in that task, and that had to succeed if the escalated expenditure on the war was to be slashed. If without a political solution, the war was kept alive, the expenditure on the war would continue to remain high with disastrous consequences to the economy and industrial growth. O

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15 AUGUST 1996
UNEXPERTOISCOU INTERNATIONAL MEDI
By Aziz Haniffa
ASHINGTON - A top official with the United High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said here last week that international mediation to resolve the raging ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is a nonviable option and doomed to fail.
Kaiser Zaman, who has been with UNHCR for the past 17 years and worked in Bosnia, Somalia and Sri Lanka, said "Conflict resolution lies mainly with the people, and in the end it will have to be the people themselves trying to come to a certain compromise' that could be the catalyst to the resolution of the war in Sri Lanka. Zaman, who was speaking at a Conference on Development, Social Justice and Peace in South Asia held at Catholic University here, with special emphasis on the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, said no amount of international mediation would work if the people of Sri Lanka refuse to compromise and warned that such outside interference could be counterproductive.
"Is the international community going to go and tell the Sri Lankan government that, if you don't come to the table, we are going to blow you apart?” he asked more than the 100 participants, mostly Tamil expatriates, who were unanimous in their contention that international mediation was the only panacea to the conflict in the island nation. He said the only way international mediation can work in Sri Lanka is if the warring sides “accept that they want to end the war. Then you bring in the negotiator and then the negotiator can set certain terms."
"But both parties must accept the negotiator” he said. “Whether it's an international organisation or an individual of some repute. The mediator would have to be given some authority and his decision in the end must be accepted.” Zaman emphasised that it was imperative that "you prepare the grounds for it,” but said that even in such a case, “there is only one in a million chance perhaps that it will work.'
Zaman's pessimism was shared by Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda, a political scientist with the University of Sri Lanka, currently a visiting scholar on sabbatical at American University here. Uyangoda, who was also a discussant on the panel on "Peace and Reconciliation,' said, “The mere fact that media
tion has worked in ot not necessarily mear in every one.”
"The very questio ently evokes wide a Sinhalese communit is right or wrong, it i He noted that “the di mediation and invc 1988 is still fresh in Similar sentiments the Reverend Paul N of the United Church ern Indiana, whose cl association with chu particularly in Jaffn ited Sri Lanka, sever has convened the U ernmental organis Sri Lanka and been Hill on behalf of T. said, "I believe the s duci ve right now third-party mediatio He said, "One of th in visiting Jaffna," i litical immaturity th the LTTE (Liberatic Eelam) to build a pol military situation.”J. versations with Clin officials and mem "time and time agai "We can bring Sri Lankan govern. bring pressure on th
In contrast, Dr nantham, a pro-Eela one of the organiser stressed repeatedly th diation is the only resolve the confl Arulanantham, me Pediatrician at Sierr Lancaster, Californi visits South India t refugees who have asserted, "I have to times the LTTE has I international mediat
He claimed that making such public its willingness to c tional arrangement can meaningfully according to Arulana declarations "have missed by the gover

AMIL TIMES 7
NTS ATION
her countries, does that it would work
of mediation prespprehension in the y (and) whe- ther it s a reality,” he said. Šbâcle of the Indian lvement in 1987people's minds.” were expressed by Morley Jahn, pastor of Christ in Southhurch has had along rches in Sri Lanka, a, and who has visaltimes. Jahn, who SNGO (non-govlation) Forum on active on Capitol amils in Sri Lanka, ituation is not confor bringing in n.' le things I've sensed s that “there is poat does not enable on Tigers of Tamil itical solution to the ahn said that in conton Administration bers of Congress, n, I hear them say, pressure on the ment but who can e LTTE?” Karunyan Arulam activist who was s of the conference, hat international meoption available to ict in Sri Lanka. dical director and a Medical Group in a, said he regularly o work with Tamil fled Sri Lanka and point out, in recent epeatedly called for ion.' the LTTE, besides pleas, had "declared onsider a constituin which the Tamils share power.” But, lm- tham, the LTTE’s been brusquely disnment and the inter
national community. This is unfortunate because this dismissal serves to foreclose a real opportunity for peace.” “Whether one likes it or not, and however unpalatable it may be,” he observed, "we cannot ignore the reality that many Tamils see the LTTE as the only effective protector of their interests, despite its human rights record and other actions which may have contributed to its negative perceptions.”
"I remain convinced,' Arulanantham added, “that peace will not be possible without international mediation because the dynamics within the country will only promote war." "Currently the Sri Lankan government enjoys international legitimacy,” he said. "This is not available to the Tamils, it is not available to the LTTE. The Constitution of Sri Lanka has concentrated all the powers in the hands of the majority. Sinhala community, which has used these powers to marginalise and brutalise and decimate the Tamil minority community.”
He said a key element of the Sri Lankan government's strategy of "peace through war" is to "eliminate the LTTE, the only viable Tamil opposition. Arulanantham also alleged that Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, “whatever her intentions and hopes might have been, is now trapped by old politics bent oncontrol of Tamils.”“Mrs Kumara tunga, whose statements have been very noble and very moderate,” he added, "has yet been the person who's done the most amount of destruction to the Tamils.”
Donna Hicks, deputy director of the Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution at Harvard University, said, "There needs to be a third party process specifically tailored to the problem in Sri Lanka, not one that might have worked in Northern Ireland or even the one in the Middle East.'
"Each conflict is unique,” she said, "and each conflict requires a special analysis and a special type of intervention and it has to be non-exclusive. It cannot exclude any party or exclude any legitimate voices in the community."
Meanwhile, Arulananthan acknowledged that India cannot be ignored in any international mediation to the conflict in Sri Lanka. "Obviously," he said, “India is a regional superpower and India has an interest in what happens in Sri Lanka.” “Consequently,” he said, India’s “concurrence” is imperative to any mediation process and no solution could be reached without New Delhi's blessing, even though the "last time India came in, it was a mess for the Tamils, it was a mess for the country.” O
(India Abroad, 2.8.96)

Page 8
8 AMTIMES
Peace : The Need for Recor
of Two Divergent Conc
By Nirmalan Dhas
hat Sri Lanka in many ways meets what would be expected of a potential location for an offshore capital base and service centre for South Asia has never been in doubt - unlike the ability of this island's peoples to contain the contradictions that divide them in the interests of its realisation. This was confirmed by the World Bank's Director for its Asia Department when she presented a pleasant projection of the prospects for Sri Lanka - prospects whose realisation, she emphasised, would be possible only within a context where the ongoing war is brought to an end and the task of conflict resolution entrusted to acceptable and non-violent methods. The growing perception of this conflict as one that will stretch out over a few more decades, make a mockery of the projection of such prospects, turning them into dreams that are cruel in their apparently impossible promised.
The urgent need for such an offshore capital base and service centre for the development of South Asia generates its own tensions, and has led to hasty and insufficiently considered initiatives towards ending the fighting. The relationship between interests involved in the actual fighting, those involved in attempts to steer the fighting towards an acceptable end and those who view with some suspicion the possible global implications of the development of the island as a capital and service base to South Asia, are beginning to interact with greater and greater frequency, raising tensions at all levels.
At ground level, the mono personal leadership of the LTTE along with its precarious guidance system has been displaced from the extreme north with its easy maritime access. These functions are now located in a more land bound and central area where it is greatly dependent on peripheral second rung leaders for both security and supplies. This southward movement has been secured through the movement of military men and material to
the northern extrer The peculiar chara that these men an linked to their sup ously. The inheren centrating the maj able troops and ha of the LTTE - thu the south open to til compounded by th unmet need for the training, equippin of tens of thousan of the LTTE to pre that direction.
In addition, the1 dicate that the que the LTTE of acce: been addressed, th val wing of that c move in and cut of north, if deemed thus be seen, a del vails with a loud p catastrophe at any with a thin whispe. alisation depends ( lable factors, who tion may yet brin ently impossible.
The fighting h; dearly, in terms of credibility both ar tion once under its amidst the Tamils cult to understand never be known - cided to abandon turn to fighting. comprehend its rel political solution v ing control of the cisively influence ( ing process regard to power. A likely be that the LTTES would be based on its own understanc and on the conce actions and outloo
But the fighting
 
 

15 AUGUST 1995
mities of the island. cter of this move is d material are now ply lines very tenutinstability of conor portion of availrdware to the north s leaving access to latentity - has been e urgent but as yet rapid recruitment, g and deployment lds of troops south vent its advance in
e is nothing to in2stion of depriving SS to the coast has hus leaving the naIrganisation free to f supply lines to the necessary. As can icate situation preoromise of possible moment, but also r of hope whose reon many uncontrolse happy conjuncg about the appar
as cost the LTTE men, material and mongst the populas control as well as abroad. It is diffi- and probably will why the LTTE depeace talks and ret is harder still to uctance to accepta when it can be gainstate apparatus deof the decision makless of who comes explanation would eeks a Solution that the recognition of ling of the conflict pts underlying its k.
has taken its toll
on the government's morale as well. Clearly, international approval and encouragement has not translated into economic support for the military offensive. It is of course true that international financial institutions are not mandated to finance wars. They would of course consider rehabilitation and reconstruction - after the fighting has been brought to an end. But the failure of donor countries to Offer to foot part of the bill for fighting the LTTE - a fight they all claim to see as being eminently justified and indeed one that is essential to peace in Sri Lanka - has been perhaps the unkindest cut of all. Not surprisingly the government has in its frustration lashed out at potential donors, insisting that all funds now being channelled through NGOs be sent directly to the government itself. Donors who feel they will not be able to, or do not want to, meet the expenses of monitoring aid utilisation, may now be forced to curtail aid flows until the conflict is ended and the focus of expenditure shifted to rehabilitation, reconstruction and development.
This may also indicate a measure of desperation in the government's frantic efforts to find the resources required to pursue the war. Some of these countries have come forward to provide military training alone thus making it abundantly clear that while they consider the pursuit of this war to be in their interests they intend the Sri Lankan people to do the fighting and dying and the Sri Lankan government to foot the bill for the war. Such cynicism does indeed do little to inspire confidence, but the government should be well aware that in politics there are no friends - only interests to be advanced.
Undoubtedly the passionate national pride that has long characterised the Sri Lanka Freedom Party - so absolutely incompatible with the begging bowl - has been sorely wounded. No wonder then the frenzied hurry and strange contortions in a desperate effort to make ends meet - and thus preServe a measure of Sovereignty, political autonomy and dignity through the sale of assets through what is being called privatisation. That the use of the proceeds to meet expenditure means in effect that we are consuming our capital seems to be of no concern to the government our capital seems to be of no concern to the gov

Page 9
15 AUGUST 1996
ernment or of anyone else either. Given this situation it is difficult to see any greater credibility accrue to the government than to the LTTE.
Patterns of property development in Colombo and indications of recreational facilities soon to come indicate that such facilities are soon to be required by the residents of this city. Those currently residing there in have got by very well without these luxuries and their construction indicates quite clearly that we are soon to be cast in the role of hosts to many persons accustomed to such facilities. These people will probably constitute the advanced human resources necessary for the servicing of capital and the conducting of Sophisticated commercial activities. And it is also likely that these persons will not take kindly to a government unable to end the war and maintain peace whatever the contradictions are that it may be faced with. This factorundoubtedly contributes to the pressures acting on the government towards an end to the fighting.
The monopersonal leadership of the LTTE is faced with pressures of a different sort. Isolated and Surrounded in the central areas south of Jaffna with no direct maritime access, it is totally dependent on its second rung leadership for security and supplies. It is becoming apparent that these supplies and security are forthcoming only in keeping with the agenda of these second rung leaders. The result is that there appears to be emerging a collective leadership body just below Mr Pirabhakaran, with the ability to impose a veto on his decisions in favour of their own. Just as Dr Balasingham has played advisor to Mr Prabhakaran, the emerging second rung leadership has its own supportive nexus.
For their part the developed countries of the west appear to have achieved policy consensus on the nature of their response to the LTTE. They are prepared to talk to and recognise those of its elements operating within the recognised legal framework - even to the extent of turning a blind eye to the ultimate destination of monies such elements may collect. At the same time they reserve the right to support the government of Sri Lanka in its responses - military or otherwise - to the military campaign of the LTTE. They have thus set the stage
for the emergence
bate that will ena present its own per posals to the world,
ernment of the eff control on informat cessfully built up c the recent fighting.
But such LTTE re operating within thi cratic framework w censure and be held able for actions th. engage in that are able by the internat The recent censure may be an indicati ment’s displeasure sponse so contrary What is quite clear government has gor effect that it is not sider any proposals: LTTE - the recent m be a knee jerk reacti the government cava its proposed conf states - many in the may well consider forward by the LT cient weightage an Warrant Serious col
The government's curtail, and perhap the activities of an i with an impeccabl three hundred year the field of non vio lution may be anot its displeasure and d the response of the munity. The NGO c cessfully contribute of several complex from current inter and is in fact the known to have beer of conflict resolutic period of time. Obvi a wealth of exper government seeking through methods o. flict resolution wol therefore most unfo action of the gove read as a possible i mitment to violent) with all their attenc struction, as a me; conflict. It could all tion on the part of any foreign medi non-violent resolut
 
 

TAMIL TIMES 9
of a political deble the LTTE tO pectives and prolepriving the govectiveness of the on that it has sucver the course of
lated mechanisms
legal and demoill also be open to morally accountat the LTTE may leemed unacceptional community. of the UN envoy on of the governat this global reto its own policy. is that while the le On record to the prepared to conput forward by the assacres may well on of the LTTE to alierly rejection of ederation of two : developed world this proposal put TE to be of suffid credibility as to nsideration.
recent decision to s totally prohibit, nternational NGO e record of over of experience in lent conflict resoher expression of issatisfaction with international comoncerned has sucd to the resolution conflicts arising national relations only organisation active in the field on for such a long ously it has gained ience which any to resolve conflict i non violent conild welcome. It is rtunate in that this nment can easily ndicator of a commilitary measures, lant death and deuns of ending the so read as a rejeche government of ation towards a on of the ongoing
war - and, in time, even cast it in the now widely detested role of an aggressor against a whole people and oppressor of their legitimate aspirations.
The incident involving this NGO has begun to take on an unnecessarily ugly character, with the Department of Inland Revenue having taken action to freeze their bank accounts. Heavy handed administrative actions of this nature, so common in our neighbourhood, are bound to raise questions in the minds of potential investors. The fear that Sri Lanka will exhibit the same type of administrative interventions in all spheres of life - as for instance is widely expected to be seen in post 1997 Hong Kong-will definitely detract from its ability to realise its pleasing prospects for the future. The words and deeds of foreign ministry once merely seen as exemplary in their impeccable articulation and constructive content, have now acquired an undertone of intolerance with a strong hint of national pride and arrogance - understandable perhaps considering that Sri Lanka alone offers to the world that capital base and service platformessential for the effective deployment of capital in South Asia, but quite obviously inappropriate to out well demonstrated and widely recognised inability to resolve the ongoing conflict ourselves - as well.
The two perspectives of the government and the LTTE display a considerable degree of divergence. The government considers its offer to restructure the Sri Lankan State in order to accommodate ethnic plurality and the devolution of power to be radical. It sees its offer as a magnanimous concession made in the interest of preserving the unity of country. The concept developed by the LTTE is based on the perception of two nations uniting with mutual recognition, respect and dignity in order to better further mutual interests, and is thought by that Organisation to be pragmatic and solidly based in reality.
We then have on the One hand the government approaching what it sees as a need to preserve the unity of Sri Lanka through the restructuring of its state along the lines of a multi-ethnic entity and through the devolution of power to demarcated regions. On the other hand we have the LTTE that sees two nations in conflict the one - under its leadership -

Page 10
10 TAMIL TIMES
seeking to free itself from domination by the other and to redefine relations between these two nations in a manner that permits them to function within the structures of a confederation ofstates. The very notion of parties to these divergent perceptions handling the task of resolving the conflict arising therefrom - a task that demands a reconciliation of these two concepts - without the mediation of a third party skilled in such work, borders on the incredible. The government's apparently firm commitment to repeated attempts along this line runs the risk of being seen as postures adopted in response to internal political considerations and as an indication of a need for the development of much more sophisticated political skills, that permit the adoption of more realistic and credible policies.
Undoubtedly the reconciliation of these two different concepts will entail considerable effort and a great deal of skill. It will also necessitate the creation of a space for dialogue between parties to the conflict and neu
tral parties skilled flict and neutral p task of conflict re. position adopted nations of the wes the potential for th such a space not soil but hopef Sri Lanka and th conflict as well. B ment’s repeated a ity to resolve the c eign intervention, to See Some intere ating such a spa themselves to me government and til find a way to re However, nothing visible despite eng surely being a rig ity of every citize failure to create su logue only serve complexity of a ta take a great deal o and demands an high levels of fru pointment.
The growing ne service base for t
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in the task of conarties skilled in the olution. The policy by the developed appears to hold out e emergence of just only on their own ully also within actual theatre of ased on the governsertions of its abilonflict without forone would expect st on its part in cree for Sri Lankans iliate between their he LTTE in order to solve the conflict. of the sort has been agement in this task ht and responsibiln on this island. Its Ich a Space for diato compound the sk that promises to ftime and patience, ability to tolerate stration and disap
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South Asia, however, has an urgency that cannot be ignored. This undeniable urgency seems to have led to the current predominance of attempts to resolve the conflict through conventional coercive military means - or at any rate to a consensus in this direction at regional level. The far more sophisticated response of the developed nations, however, shows a deeper understanding of the dynamics involved. They even provide for a synergistic relationship with the militarist policies of violent conflictresolution that apparently enjoy much support at regional level. These militaristic policies will play the stick to their carrot of recognition and support in exchange for the LTTE's demilitarisation and democratisation. Put Simply, their policy makes it possible for them to do the talking to the LTTE while we do the fighting and dying - which the implementation of our policies call for. One realises of course that there is no reason why we should continue to bring such calamities upon ourselves. The War For Peace' has long since passed all understanding. Now it appears that the battle for our sanity is on. O
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Page 11
15 AUGUST 1996
he LTTE's attack on the Mullaitivu base has made it quite clear that the PA's massive investmentin Riviresa I, II, III has come to nought. It took Chandrika more than three days after the base was overrun by the Tigers to return from her holiday abroad. The governmentowned Daily News said that the base was being held and that the Deputy Minister of Defence was directing operations to send in reinforcements from Mullaitivu. The army brass according to some sources, were not happy that General Ratwatte, who had flown to Trincomalee was giving instructions to the troops which were trying to fight their way towards the base from Alampil.
When the magnitude of the Mullaitivu débâcle gradually dawned on the Sinhalese people, the General was not in the scene.
He was not in Parliament to make a statement to the house on the matter. This irked many, including government MP’s and ministers. The high handed manner in which the censorship has been used to black out all politically unfavourable fallout of the Mullaitivu débâcle antagonised the press. The statement made by UNP leader on the fall of the base in Parliament was praised in some editorials.
It soon became clear to the PA leadership that its popularity in the south was sliding fast following the débâcle. The UNP was making most of it. The PA leadership that its popularity in the south was sliding fast following the débâcle. The UNP was making most of it. The PA's popularity has suffered greatly in recent times due to the spiralling cost of living which was further and tremendously exacerbated by the unprecedented power crisis. The Mullaitivu débâcle could not have come at a worse time for the government. The TULF and the PLOTE have stopped supporting the PA in Parliament. The EPDP is grumbling.
The Sath Jaya Operation which was launched from the Elephant Pass base towards Kilinochchi was seen by many as a foolish face saving move by the government to offset the calamity of the Mullaitivu disaster. But it is not going to help the PA in the long teT.
On 4 August it was quite apparent as to how the PA leadership was going to react to the crisis.
Addressing a public meeting at Nittambuwa the President said, "We
cannot let a fewj barons denigrate cannot let them h Successful forwa their malicious, f Statements'. The F at the Island anc Warned that some be closed down." pers enjoy is not press but the freed she said.
She made a sta in view of the wau politically sensitiv sentials have to be not go on for long sive war expenditu ening economic m The justificatio edented rise in def not merely the ret sula but the destru capacity to engag tacks. Today the gi ther the complete trol of Jaffna nor, the Mullaitivu dis on his last legs.
Any soundmilit. agree that the total Mullaitivu base, w military sources h the time is unique military bases sin which saw such de have either been e been backed by h port. Nowhere in an organisation, co force primarily, l: without the aid of base of this size equipped conventi ficer corps and spel have been trained academics of Inc now, the US - wipi ryone there in the c while resisting att cial forces and th reinforcements bac
 

TAM TIMES 11
By SD Sivaram, Colombo
urnalists and press he war effort. We nder the military's rd march () with alse and damaging resident lashed out the Divaina and newspapers have to What these newspathe freedom of the om of the wild ass”
tement earlier that effort some of the "e subsidies on esremoved. She canblaming the masre for the belt tight
CaSOS
in for the unprecence spending was aking of the peninction of the LTTE's 2 in large scale atovernment has neiand efective conin the aftermath of aster, Pirabhakaran
ary historian would annihilation of the 'hich, according to ad 1500 troops at ... Attacks on large *e World War Two ath and destruction xtended in time or eavy artillery supmodern times has nsidered a guerrilla lunched an attack artillery fire on a held by a well onal army - the of cial forces of which by the best military ia, England, and ng out almost eveDurse of three days, mpts by elite spe: Navy to send in ked by MI 17 heli
copters, heavy artillery fire, naval bombardment and concentrated air COVCf.
The well defended base standing on almost four square kilometres on the northeastern coast which before 1990 used to be the Mullaitivu town, was overrun by the LTTE in less than eight hours. In the first phase of the attack which began around 1.30 on 17 July the Tigers destroyed the brigade headquarters and its communications tower, overwhelmed the naval unit removing its radar equipment intact and ransacked the large armo- ury of the base. Some well informed defence sources said that the value of the booty which was removed from the base was more than 20 million US dollars.
The LTTE took two 122 MM howitzers with a range of 14 kilometres. It also took over a thousand shells for the howitzers.
The Tigers have been looking for such long range artillery pieces since 1991. The LTTE realised, following the losses it sustained in the Elephant Pass battle that it could not effectively engage the army in battalion sized or larger confrontations without the aid of artillery. Throwing in large numbers into a battle without first softening enemy positions with artillery bombardment can be dangerous - making one's troops cannon fodder to the enemy's artillery. This made them look for long range cannons in the camps which they attacked since then. Now, the two howitzers in the LTTE's hands can introduce a new dimension to conventional type operations which it might undertake against the army in the future.
The collapse of the Mullaitivu base appears to have been due to the following reasons:
(a)By the time the troops in the base realised that their positions were under attack, the Tigers were Swarming inside, knocking out the command structure and communications' nerve centre of the base. This left little rooi'.

Page 12
2 TAMIL TIMES
for the troops to fight back effectively. Next day only a few groups were left. With most defences of the camp swiftly overrun in the first phase of the attack, the troops were exposed to the special assault units of the LTTE, each of which seems to have had a clear idea of the nature of the army's positions in the very interior of the base. The utter confusion in the command structure which had arisen in the first phase of the attack appears to have largely contributed to the massacre of several hundred Soldiers before the first light of dawn.
(b) the physical location of the camp is such that it leaves little room for the troops to regroup and improvise defence by exploiting the advantages of the terrain. In Pooneryn a natural network of sand dunes helped the soldiers who survived the Tiger assault on that base regroup and then effectively repulse several concerted efforts by the LTTE to overwhelm them. The geography of the area in which the Mullaitivu base was located is different. It is flat country interspersed with shrub jungle. Almost seventy percent of the area covered by the base used to be the Mullaitivu town and its immediate environs. Despite the lessons of Pooneryn, it appears that the army had no well defined fall back positions within the base or in the terrain outside.
The acting commanding officer of the base, Major Aliba, managed to maintain contact with the outside world for a while before he was also killed or captured by the Tigers. Others were massacred en masse. Only about forty soldiers escaped the carnage, trekking more than twenty miles to the nearest army camp to the south. Defence sources have confirmed that more than 1400 in the base were killed or are "missing in action'. 120 reinforcement troops were also killed.
The LTTE razed the whole base to the ground before reinforcements could fight their way towards it. The day after reaching the area where the base had stood the army decided to pullout all reinforcements completely. But this was well hidden from the people with the aid of censorship.
The LTTE's attack on Mullaitivu defies conventional western military wisdom. Only those who are uninitiated in military history and science will try to explain themselves out of this by attributing LTTE's success to human waves. The presuppositions which underpinned the claims and beliefs of the government and some
western military a claiming that Pirabl last legs after Rivi grossly overlooked LTTE had systema all its military asse Sula and that whill by the Tigers duri quite exaggerated, the refugees displac the impoverished eastern province wil der the Tigers follo of troops from east up.
In addition to thi of cadre which the L trolled Jaffna, had defence of the pen erations from Pala Pooneryn, Kayts an freed for offensive number thus freed pulled its main force Substantial.
The current posit in the democratic 1 support and oppo "peace package' c. egorised as follows
Supporter
1. Devolve legisl executive powers taining only minir centre which are ac ble for safeguardin the territorial integ ensuring a consiste lomatic, economic , with the rest of the tating a cooperativ lationship betweer thorities.
2. Given (1) abo of powers can on from a practical S non-unitary system proposed in the leg of regions.
3. The contigu North-East prese Tamils to be constit In fairness, it must even among the Si
 

15 AUGUST 1996
nalysts who were hakaran was on his resa I, III and III, the fact that the tically withdrawn ts from the peninlosses Sustained ng Riviresa were ecruitment among ed from Jaffna and hinterlands of the nich had come unowing the transfer to north, had gone
s, a large number TTE, while it concommitted to the insula against opli, Elephant Pass, d Karainagar were 2 operations. The when the LTTE es out of Jaffna was
" ميدي , الأمة." خل
ions of the parties mainstream which se the devolution an be broadly cat
s’ Position
ative, judicial and o the regions, renal powers at the :cepted as inevitag the security and rity of Sri Lanka; nt and unified dipand trade relations world, and faciliand amicable rethe regional au
ve, the devolution ly be meaningful andpoint under a of government, as al draft viz. union
ous areas in the tly inhabited by uted as one region. be Stated here that nhalese supporters
This considerably boosted the manpower available to Prabhakaran for throwing into offensive operations. This was in fact stated by the Tigers in an article on the strategy behind their withdrawal from Jaffna in their official publication. It should have been quite evident from these that the LTTE was in a position indeed to take on a target such as Mullaitivu. The current crisis in the Eelam war above all should be attributed to Prabhakaran's ability to lull all his opponents into a gun-ho, and hence complacent mood, by allowing some of his expatriate followers to “beg” India, as though in sheer desperation, for succour, by waiting until Colonel Ratwatte, who apparently believing that he had achieved the ultimate in the Eelam war, got himself promoted as a full General and then, striking with deadly precision to shatter the very basis of the government’s Eelam war strategy.
as | ۰,۰۰۰, ۰,۰۰۰, ۰.
by Dr.S.Narapalasingam  ݂ ܶ܂
of devolution there is disagreement on this insistence of the Tamils. The Muslims in the contiguous areas in the Eastern Province favour a separate (sub-regional) devolved unit.
Opponents' Position
1. In principle, devolution of powers to the regions to be restricted, as under the system of Provincial Councils (Thirteenth Amendment to the 1978 Constitution), with the centre retaining the legislative, executive, judicial, policing, resource mobilising and allocating (including state land) powers. In particular, the centre should continue to retain controlling powers over all regional bodies and the power to dissolve them, even if some additional powers are devolved to the regions beyond the 13th Amendment. The crucial point is that the regional authorities should be subservient to the national legislature (central government).
2. The unitary character of the constitution as stipulated in Article 2 of the 1978 constitution Should be reta ined. Given the position indicated in (1) Above, this stipulation is impera

Page 13
15 AUGUST 1996
tive.
3. The temporarily merged Northern and Eastern Provinces (under the 1987 Indo-Lanka accord) should be demerged and their boundaries should not be re-delineated, especially for the purpose of changing the existing demographic pattern in the Provinces.
Bases for devolution
The case for extensive devolution of powers and which was acknowledged by the Government via the package of proposals presented on August 3, 1995 rests on the following factors:
(i) To address the long-standing demand of the Tamils for self-government in the North-East that would allow them to have control over their own affairs. Its main aims are to safeguard their distinct ethnic identity and heritage, provide safety and security to the people, develop the North-East region according to the needs of the people there, and in general for the Tamil community to prosper without being subject to any form of discrimination by the highly centralised rule that has by its very nature strong propensity to serve the majority community at the expense of the minorities. (ii) The case for a non-unitary constitution is based on two fundamental factors. First, the kind of self-rule required to achieve the above aims and which is implicitly recognized in the devolution "peace package' can only be possible if Article 2 of the present constitution, which declares that "The Republic of Sri Lanka is a Unitary State' is revoked and replaced by another, as proposed in the legal draft for Sri Lanka to be a "Union of Regions'. Second, from the standpoint of Tamils they have lost all faith in a unitary form of constitution, which bestows absolute power to the majority Sinhalese and which allowed the minority Tamils to be victimised by successive governments since independence, mainly for electoral advantage. This needs some elaboration and is provided below.
The victimisation of Tamils solely on ethnic grounds not only in policy formulation but also in the implementation of approved policies has been the normal practice in the past. Earlier, there were no fair policies and later where there were fair policies there was no fair implementation. Tamils have been "bitten' not once or twice but repeatedly several times under the unitary rule. There is a strong feeling that as long as the Sinhalese
dominated centri overriding powe tO obstructthe fr ment of the aspiu It is the very ur being used even position party to tion of powers. miliar pattern, re of the two mail opposition, ever tempt was made under the district provincial counc teenth Amendm stitution was ma the intervention ( India, facilitated cumstances of th the obstructive ta (iii) The policy in the North-Eas sored colonizatic ceived as a majc to eliminate the Tamils in Sri L: that accompanie region had been the Tamils when broke out in the and many sought Such tragic times fidence was late army dominate moved into the authority of the C ernment. It was residents as an all reinforced by the diers to establish people due to the more importantly the civilians and S The case for a m gion stems from t under the commc ture SO aS tO rem politically and ec portance of terri Tamils gained str consequent upon Sion from ruling sitivity of govern ances and fears a lese hegemony”.
(iv) The Tamil s Self-rule that turn afflicting million sides of the ethni agreeably with Lanka into two quires a political Tamils have une that their aspiratic without the inhib

TAMIL TIMES 13
l governments retain 's, they will continue edom and the fulfilations of the Tamils. itary system, that is now by the main opobstruct the devoluThis had been the faardless of which one parties was in the since the initial atto devolve powers council and later the il system. The Thirent to the 1978 conde possible only by of the Government of by the expedient cir2 time that prevented ctics to kill the move. of settling Sinhalese through State sponin schemes was perir long-term strategy stronghold of the anka and the power it. The North- East considered safe for ever anti-Tamil riots rest of the country refuge there during However, this conshattered when the d by the Sinhalese region to assert the olombo-based Govperceived by many ien force, which was ; inability of the solany rapport with the language barrier and 7 by the callous way uspects were treated. 2rged North-East rehe necessity to unite in language and culin strong and viable onomically. Theimtorial status for the ength over the years
their virtual exclubower and the insenments to their grievrising from "Sinha
truggle for complete ed into a bloody war s of people on both c divide to be ended out dividing Sri separate states, resystem in which the uivocal confidence ons could be fulfilled tions of the Centre.
Arguments of the opponents
(i) Those opposed to the devolution "peace package' fall broadly into two groups. The first are those archetypal chauvinists who do not even recognise that Tamils have any grievances, and who even go further and state that
Sri Lanka is the land of only the
Sinhala-Buddhists. In fact, this group seeks to argue that the Tamils are a favoured community and in fact it is the Sinhala-Buddhists who are discriminated. They think that any devolution of powers even under a unitary constitution threatens the future of the Sinhalese, who unlike the Tamils do not have any common linguistic and cultural links with any ethnic group outside Sri Lanka. The others, who are more realistic accept the diverse character of the population of Sri Lanka and the basic rights of the minorities in the pluralistic Society, favour Some limited devolution but under a unitary constitution. Their conviction is apparently based on the fact that as long as the central government functioning under a unitary constitution has a firm control over the Tamils, there is nothing to fear for the future of the Sinhalese.
(ii) Those opposed to the “peace package' even after it had been diluted in the legal draft, view it as a move to introduce a federal system of government. Even though the inexplicably much maligned and hated word "federal' is not used anywhere in the draft, the contents of the package gives them the same nauseous feeling that they have for any form of federalism. To them, the unitary system is sacrosanct and should not be desecrated regardless of any real need. To them federalism is associated with separatism, as if it constitutes a stepping-stone to separation. They seek to firmly entrench this belief among the Sinhalese population.
(iii) Sri Lanka is too small a country to be divided into several administrative and legislative units. These are too costly and wasteful utilization of the limited financial resources available to a poor country.
There are a host of similar arguments, which imply that there is no ethnic problem but only a straightforward "terrorist' problem. The fact that the Tamil problem has grown over the years into a major crisis dividing the
population of Sri Lanka along ethnic
lines is overlooked. Hence, in their view the required solution is to be

Page 14
14 TAM TIMES
sought not through political accommodation but by the use of military force. This seems to be the view of even the Buddhist Mahanayake Theras of Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters.
The fear of division of the land or the perceived likelihood of it into separate Sinhalese and Tamil States is much more frightening than the division of the people with the attendant discontent, unrest and economic loSS.
The relatively large size of the Sinhalese in the total population of Sri Lanka is often cited as their prerogative to govern the country, implying that the minorities have to accept their rule. Hence, it is for the majority community to decide what kind of contributions the minorities should make to the prosperity of the nation and what they deserve to get in return. This attitude is well depicted in the statement of the previous President, that the minority communities are "like creepers embracing the trunk of a tree', the latter symbolising the majority Sinhalese.
Despite the unprecedented calamity resulting in enormous human and material losses and untold human suffering, which still continues contrary to claims of various sorts of victories, the thinking of some politicians in the South has not changed. For instance, the recent published statement of Ekeeya Sanvidhanaya contains the reported warning of the veteran politician Ronnie de Mel - "if the UNP supported the Devolution package it will not even poll 2000 votes from the South.'
Constitutional obstacles
The Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Reforms has been discussing the legal draft of the devolution package since last September. Over 40 meetings have been held so far with no sign at all of reaching a consensus among the Sinhalese and Tamil political parties in the Government and the Opposition. The main opposition party, the UNP has officially announced after a long silence that it stood for an indivisible Sri Lanka and any proposal (e.g. union of regions as proposed in the devolution package) that threatened the unitary character of the country is unacceptable. The very first hurdle in getting the so-called "peace plan' work
able remains to be
The next one to b sage in Parliamen two-thirds majorit coalition Governm vote majority and t mer, the DUNLF h stand on the "peace the clearance does nally, assuming t have been someho be approved by the referendum.
The UNP Parli Choksy, a constitu suggested a legalist unitary structure ( troduce regional a "co-ordinate powe by the late UNP Dissanayake in th election manifest method of devolu. tended to adopt, if dent of Sri Lanka. is to amend Arti present constitutio that “Parliament sh in any manner alie power, and shall n thority with any leg excluding from its posals to set up regi legislative powers : ticle 2 with referer ment. The UNP has proposal. However is considering it ear is unacceptable to litical parties. It ha Sinhala extremists the concept of a ur negated by subjec State in Article 2 to amended Article 7
Gamini Iriyagoll and questioned the to amend Article 7( with Articles 75 an Constitution, even all the 225 member the assistance of a
Dilly-d:
Since the hostil LTTE and Govern lated after that fa 1995, the Governm that it has been for track approach to The war track is t gers” and compel

15 AUGUST 1996
cleared.
e cleared is its past by the required y. Given that the 2nt has only a onehat one of its partas taken the same plan" as the UNP, not seem easy. Fihat these hurdles w cleared it has to beople at a national
amentarian K.N. tional lawyer has ic way to retain the Article 2) and inuthorities having rs', a phrase used leader Gamini e appendix to his o setting out the tion which he inelected as PresiChoksy's proposal cle 76(1) of the h, which stipulates all not abdicate or nate its legislative lot set up any auislative power', by binding the proonal councils with and qualifying Arice to this amendnot endorsed this , the Government nestly. This device all the Tamil pos been scorned by as they think that itary state will be ting the Unitary the proviso of the O.
e has gone further right of Parliament » (placing it on par 82) in the present with the votes of of Parliament and Referendum.
allying
ties between the ment forces escateful day 19 April ent has maintained ced to take a twosettle the conflict. o weaken the “Tithem to return to
the negotiating table. The peace track has been kept open, as the Government believes firmly that only a political solution can settle the conflict permanently and bring lasting peace. In order to achieve this ultimate goal, it presented the devolution "peace plan' to the people in August 1995. The draft plan (watered down to allay the fears of Sinhalese critics) in the legal form has not even moved a step forward towards the first signboard in the peace track. This lack of progress is not entirely due to the difficulties in clearing the constitutional hurdles. Actually, it seems that these have become convenient means to dilly-dally in the peace track.
The UNP at first declined to give its reaction to the plan, stating that it was not in the legal form for serious consideration. After the legal draft was presented it kept silent for a long time waiting to see the reaction of the pressure groups in the South and the Buddhist clergy or perhaps even expecting that it would be thrown out in due course, in which case it would not be censured by the Sinhalese and Tamil electorates. President Chandrika Kumaratunga seized this stand of the UNP to point out to the Tamil political parties that the latter was the stumbling block in reaching a political Solution based on the devolution "peace package'.
In the mean time, Other unrelated actions put the President and the leader of the UNP on a confrontational course. This resulted in the latter taking up the adamant stand that he would not discuss the devolution package with the President. However, the UNP has not decided yet to boycott the Select Committee meetings contrary to the demand of some of its party members to withdraw. The members may attend meetings perhaps more as observers than as enthusiastic participants. The reported remark of the UNP leader made at the meeting of the 5 Tamil political parties that "the President's confrontational policies had even Silenced those in the UNP who would otherwise have supported the package' is a clear indication that national interests (and the aspirations of the silent majority in the South and North) continue to be overshadowed as before by petty party considerations as between the government and the opposition UNP
The Tamil politicians find them

Page 15
15 AUGUST T1yso
selves now in a bizarre position, where the President tells them to persuade the opposition leader to get the UNP to support the devolution package, while the latter points out to them that there is no unanimity even among all the constituent parties in the Government. He had also questioned the sincerity of the Government, stating that it was trying to put the blame on the UNP and the Tamil parties.
It appears as if the both the Government and the Opposition are keen on distancing the Tamil parties from their political opponent, without realising the consequences of this move to the country as a whole. The lack of seriousness and cooperation to solve the most acute problem that has afflicted in various ways the entire population of the country and polarised them along ethnic lines is clearly evident from their negative attitudes. The bipartisan approach has so far been seen only in two instances, since the present PA Government assumed office. These were when the bills relating to Bribery and Corruption, and Human Rights were approved by Parliament. Unlike the Tamil problem, the politicians were conscious of the inherent danger in playing politics with these two measures as it would have led to political suicide
How a negotiated settlement?
Given all the above complexities and squabbles, a very queer situation has emerged with the Government wanting to educate the people in Jaffna on the contents of the devolution package, as if this alone would help to circumvent the present impasse and the UNP assuring the Tamil parties that the grievances of the Tamils are understood by the party and it "supports a negotiated settlement to the ethnic question'. It is not only the UNP all the main political parties have proclaimed their commitment to settle the conflict through negotiations.
Following a two-day (June 27-28) international conference in Australia on the theme "Peace with Justice', the LTTE spokesman is reported to have said that the militants are "committed to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and respect the views expressed that an early cease-fire and de-escalation of the war is necessary'. The LTTE's demand that all Government forces must first withdraw from the areas described as occupied in order to re-start the peace talks is another matter. Notwithstanding all these pro
nouncements, the stroying many mc The crucial que from the above a whom are the Ta expected to nego common basis' negotiate with the UNP or the Budd ently, there is obvi sition among the senting mainly tl method to devolv norities and share tre... Without a co rameters within devolution should agreed by the neg present approach solution will onl chase. The acco Parliamentary Se therefore, paramo the peace process ing politically th tional issue confr ple of Sri Lanka seriously by some Some international rent suggestion o Australiais fornes ternational facilit tion'), without ri basic positions ol devolutionists hig ginning of this pap will be a meaning is also clear from tutional and other above to a politic the promised "ext powers', as an a ration.
The irony of th gent stand of the ties obstructing t devolution *peac they are strengthe that want to divid citing ethnic hati Tamil people that a fair deal from th ship and creati make the Northfrom Colombo. If attitude, it will ali moderate elemen community fro mainstream. Thi playing politics v Sue Should be a Se cern to all parties mitted to keep til people united th System that recog macy and assure

TAML TIMES 15
war continues deire lives. stion that emanates nalysis is:- " With mil representatives tiate and on what Should they have to
Government or the
hist prelates? Presously no agreed pomain parties reprehe Sinhalese, on a 2 powers to the mipowers at the cennsensus on the pawhich meaningful be examined and otiating parties, the to reach a political y be a wild-goose mplishment of the lect Committee is, unt to the future of . Its role in resolve most crucial naOnting all the peohas not been taken leaders. Even with | mediation (the curf the conference in gotiations under "ination and Observa2conciling first the f the pro- and antihlighted at the beer, any negotiations gless exercise. This the various constiobstacles indicated al Solution based on :ensive devolution of lternative to sepa
he present intransiUNPand other parhe adoption of the 'e package' is that ning the very forces e the country by ined, convincing the they can never get he Sinhalese leaderng conditions that East ungovernable they persist in this enate even the most ts within the Tamil m the Sri Lankan e consequences of vith the national isrious matter of conclaiming to be comhe country and the rough the political nizes "equal legitiS peaceful co-exist
ence of all the communities and their economic and Social advancement.
The choice for all Sri Lankans is straightforward, namely, whether they want to remain in a permanent state of conflict, the economic consequences of which many leaders seem to have not fully grasped, or prosper in a state of peace and tranquillity which requires some sacrifices and compromises with regard to the entrenched positions of the two sides. Peace does not fall from heaven, a price has to be paid to have it. The price, when weighed conscientiously against all the losses that would inevitably result from continued unrest, chaos (fertile ground for corruption to flourish), instability and lack of economic progress is relatively small. Low investment, excessive debt service burden arising from financing unproductive security-related expenditures through public borrowings, rising unemployment and cost of living and falling standard of living will reinforce this vicious circle that will be extremely difficult to break in the future. Under such economic conditions, social upheaval in the South too will become inevitable. In fact, the process of tearing apart the entire social fabric and the catastrophe facing the country does not seem even to worry some Lankan leaders who are content to play party political games for momentary benefit for themselves. O
TAM TIMES
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Page 16
16 TAMIL TIMES
ON THE EDC
IN WAVUN
By Lakshman Gunasekara
“We want peace," insists a local Tamil political party activist, "We want arms," declares an ordinary Tamil citizen in a moment of drunkenness (early in the morning, at that). These conflicting views don’t seem out of place in a provincial town on the edge of a vicious war zone, in a community scarred by decades of tensions, violence and suffering. Vavuniya today seems much like many other provincial towns: people go about their normal lives on busy streets and bazaars flourish. Except for the occasional military vehicle, there is little indication of the war - in the town, that is. But with their homes just a few kilometres from the frontline, and memories of past terrors, the people live on edge.
The rhythmic, staccato clang of the cook's choppers sounds the same whether in Batticaloa, the original home of kotthu roti, in urbane Colombo, or, in border town Vavuniya, I reflect as I sip my hot plain tea in the Kadey on a side street in Rambaikulam. Even at 10pm there is some street life in this residential part of Vavuniya just ten kilometres from the frontline. The blare of Tamil pop competes with the kotthu choppers and the buzz of conversation inside the late night cafe - conversation which halted only briefly for the customers to stare at my sudden appearance and order for tea in simplified English.
The three-part cacophony seems symbolic of the delicate balance of tensions in this oft-battered township on the edge of the northern war zone: there is the socioculturally predominant Tamil community on the one hand, uneasy about the current calm but putting on a brave face of normalcy; there is the Army in all its might, the arbiter of everything in this militarycontrolled border sector; and there are the numerically small Muslim and Sinhala communities - the latter, politically powerful because of the presence of the Army. The range of needs and interests, many of them urgent and desperate, imposes a complex gridlock on life here. On the single night I spend here I am already able to reflect on the many voices I have heard in my day's interviews and on the issues raised by different people.
District Secretary (Government Agent) Kandiah Ganesh is a senior SLAS officer whose self-confidence and authority is essential for the delicate balancing act he must play as chief administrator of a district divided and ruled by two political authorities: the Government and, north of the military frontline, the LTTE. Some 79,000 people live in the "cleared' part of
Vavuniya district whi more remote, thinly p of the "uncleared' art LTTE.
The soft-spoken N hails from Jaffna and school in Pt Pedro Sri Lanka Administri minedly fulfills his dut lation with regular n uncleared areas in the ternational relief ager W31 ZO18.
"I don't directly rel is, to their political w sible for civilian con deal with my local off Grama Niladharis. Bu various social group these officers relate w the LTTE", he says a have to cater to the needs of the populati areas if the Governm sponsibilities to these Nee Various social serv tural support provide programmes, while s eign non-government as the Tiger-controlle tion Organisation (T Children Fund, UNHC Frontiers also provide funding and material the uncleared areas.
In addition to the n uncleared areas in th all materials for and c the people in the othe Vanniregion, Kilinoci pass through Vavuniy ship an importance it war. Because of the main activities are th needs - food, medical rials, agricultural impl plies for some 100,0 Jaffna peninsula and placed in the Vanni I mainly in Killinochc Mankulam, are the p. Mr Ganesh acknow the war, little infrast can take place in un Vanni, but urges tha Kandy-Jaffna trunk r. tained, and also the laithivu road - for the
The war is taking economy of the Vann to maintain irrigation
 
 
 

15 AUGUST 1996
le 44000 live in the pulated countryside as controlled by the
fr Ganesh, 53, who completed his high before joining the tive Service, deterby his district popuonthly visits to the : company of the incies operating in the
ate to the LTTE - that ing which is responrol in those areas, I cials, the AGA's and tI am aware that the s and organisations ith are controlled by ld observes that "we social and economic on in the uncleared ent is to fulfil its re
people".
ds V
'ices and infrastrucd under government everal local and foral organisations such 2d Tamil RehabilitaTRO) and Save the CR and Medicin Sans services or channel s to communities in
2eds of the people of e Vavuniya district, ommunications with r two districts of the chi and Mullaithivu, a, giving this townnever had before the war conditions, the e provision of basic care, housing mateits. Emergency sup00 people from the )thers internally disegion, now residing hi, Mullaithivu and fiority. wledges that, due to ucture development cleared areas of the "at least the main pad should be mainPuliyankulam-Mulfood convoys'. its toll on the basic | region. The failure systems has seen the
gradual decline of agriculture in the uncleared areas. Minor tanks and tube wells have not been repaired since 1990. The drought in the last Maha cultivation season means that the livelihood of the Vanni peasantry is under severe threat. "Earlier, these areas produced food for the rest of the country. Now, we have to supply them with food rations', Mr Ganesh points out. The position of Vavuniya as a key border town on the edge of the war zone means that the District Secretary must liaise with the military and, his responsibilities also include the maintenance of the delicate balance in ethnic community relations and the problems of people arising from the fighting.
One problem is the slow movement of people coming south through the checkpoint at Thandikulam on the Jaffna road about four kilometres north of Vavuniya town. People wishing to travel from the uncleared areas into the cleared must undergo a security procedure. For security reasons all young people in the age range of 15 to 30 years are separated and are kept in a special transit camp nearby for more intensive screening.
Bottleneck "Thandikulam has become a bottleneck", Mr Ganesh says, because the number of young people allowed in for screening and entry to the South is restricted to just 25 persons per day. He suggests that if the Army's screening staff at Thandikulam transit camp is increased, they would be able to process more people per day.
At present several hundred people come from LTTE controlled Omanthai town each day to Nochchimodai, the final point of military control along the Jaffna road some four kilometres north of Thandikulam, in the hope of gaining entry to the South but only 25 are allowed in. Because of the slow process of screening, many youth have to stay two to three days in the transit camp where they are provided with food and accommodation by the Governrhent.
The youth wanting to travel South are mainly students intending to sit examinations, teachers taking up postings, youth going to take up employment in the South or overseas, people seeking medical treatment, or young women travelling South to be married.
Mr Ganesh is full of praise for the military. "Today there is absolute discipline in the forces in their relations with the civilians. The Co-ordinating Officer is very helpful".
But the horrors of the past are remembered by Vavuniya's citizenry. As attorney Xavier Sornabala (retired RAF) reminds me, many Vavuniya families have lost members in atrocities committed either by fascist mobs or by security forces personnel during the silent years under the UNP regime. People's property too has been damaged.
Squadron Leader Somabala (as he still describes himself) is President of the Citi

Page 17
15 AUGUST 1996
zens' Committee, an ad hoc body of concerned citizens formed in 1983 to respond to attacks on civilians. He agrees that the security forces today are well behaved but is unhappy about the arbitrary way the authorities attempt to implement certain security measures such as the clearing of, or take-over of, land for security purposes. Meanwhile, the continuing war means that people live with the worry that this good discipline could crack at any time under the provocation of a Tiger onslaught.
Ironically, for Mr Somabala and other civilian leaders (and even Government officials), the current pressure on civilian life appears to be coming from the former Tamil militant groups now hostile to the LTTE. "They are extorting money. They can kill anybody and get away with it", he declares, while admitting that his own life is on the line when he protests against this type of behaviour.
Mr Somabala, a native of Vavuniya, blames all the former Tamil separatist militant groups currently operating in the town: the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO). He is especially critical of the PLOTE, who, he says, has several Members of Parliament elected from the area but are also responsible for the pressures on the people. . . . .
He claims that living costs are higher than they should be in Vavuniya because of a "tax' imposed on all traders by these ex-militant groups. "Coconuts, which should cost Rs 10 per nut are sold at Rs 15 because of a Rs 5 levy per nut', he says.
People resisting the dictact of the exmilitant groups faced possible beatings, or even assassination, he says. "There is even a secret camp to which people are abducted and tortured", he alleges. "These ex-militants are worse than the LTTE. The people are frightened of them because the authorities do not act on any complaints against them. They seem to be protected because of their political support for the Government'.
So what does the most powerful man in Vavuniya have to say about this?
"There are some complaints and we are looking into them. But it is difficult to find strong evidence of any illegal activity", says Brigadier Nanda Mallawaarachchi, Brigade Commander, Vavuniya and Coordinating Officer.
The ex-militant groups do perform a very vital service in helping prevent LTTE undercover infiltration across the frontlines, points out this urbane and amiable officer sitting in his air-conditioned office in the heart of the massive, well defended base which is the military headquarters for the region. "Since these groups are the ones which directly relate with the people in their political activity, we do hope that the people don't have to complain about them', he observes.
The Brigadier needs to be amiable. Not just the military commander, he is the "Co
ordinating Officer' a the Government in both civilian and mil: is complicated and il addition to runningh mand, he has to rel authorities, communi political parties of all entire gamut of civili Bunk "In addition to ma control along the forv ties (FDL) I also have ment of population : this sensitive front through Vavuniya ti cleared area', points veteran of many a mi eyes gleam with en scribes the overall m the counter-insurgenc ures being impleme mand.
The entire Vavuni, gion south of it is 64-kilometre continu nently manned by his line' as it is popularl continuous line of tr. bunkers, observation posts stretching throl doned fields from K. the east of Kurukkalpudukulam road at Nochchimoc and currently ending to the south and west The Brigadier claim and its surroundings clear' of the LTTE, informants may be ir Hundreds of civil Vavuniya daily travel the frontline while u be checked daily as Thandikulam. "Ever thorised by the Mini our job is to check c and to check the cor age and every vehic course, we allow in take certain items for wise, there is a strict of the militarily sens to the uncleared area
The bunkerline is “quiet” in a war zon "Every day there are confrontations. Just tried to infiltrate the cadres were shot dea Brigadier Mallawa Anuradhapura, keep life in the areas of th area of command. "T working in Vavuniya areas. They work wi Secretaries) of the v civilian administrator dous pressure”.
What about th Thandikulam mentio
The Brigadier is

TAMIL TIMES 17
ppointed directly by Dolombo to oversee tary activity. His job nmense in scope. In is own military comte with the civilian ty organisations and hues and oversee the an life.
erline intaining our line of vard defended localito control the moveand resources inside line area and also o and from the unout the 44-year old litary campaign. His thusiasm as he delilitary situation and y and security meashted under his com
va sector and the renow protected by a ous frontline permatroops. The "bunker y called, comprises a enches, breastworks, points, and command ngh jungle and abanudakachchikudiya to Vavuniya, to l, across the Jaffna lai, to Cheddikulliam at ancient Tantrimalai
of Vavuniya. ns that Vavuniya town are now "absolutely although undercover
place. lians move through ling north or south of p to 50 lorries must they pass through y item has to be austry of Defence and in their authorisation tents of every packle', he explains. "Of dividual civilians to personal use. Othercontrol of the entry itive, "banned' items
at present quiet. But e is a relative thing. small incidents and yesterday, the LTTE bunkerline and two d'. arachchi, a native of sabreast of civilian e Vanni north of his here are 10 NGO's and in the uncleared th the GA's (District arious districts. The s work under tremen
e 'bottleneck' at ned by the GA? firm: "We have ad
equate staff for the screening procedure. At present this procedure requires the limiting of the intake through Thandikulam to 25 youth per a day. In addition we handle up to 1,000 other civilian travellers daily. We have to do a very serious, rigorous screening. That is how we can ensure that the South is relatively free of terrorist attacks", he points out.
And we must do all this with the staff we have. Ideally we should have computers, faxlines, more direct telephone lines, and other modern facilities to do this careful processing. But all we have are a few manual typewriters! But the Army knows to manage with what it has and we are doing our job!"
Strategy Is he overwhelmed by the wide scope of his powers, the extent of his responsibilities which has some political dimensions as well'?
"I count 26 years in the Army and that is enough training to handle anything' declares this father of two who wishes he can spend more time in Colombo with his family.
"Nowhere else in the country do you get such an intensive management of the movement of people and resources', he observes.
Using a detailed map of the sector, the Brigadier explains that the security system involving the static bunkerline is based on a counter-insurgency strategy of security and development' first tried out in Malaysia during the post-World War 2 communist insurgency there. Originally implemented by a previous sector commander, Brigadier Kalupahana, this strategy aims at providing economic and social development incentives to attract people living in the uncleared areas across the frontline and into the cleared area.
But have people actually made the move from LTTE-controlled areas?
The Brigadier is unable to say how many have actually come across, but claims that up to 5,000 refugees now in the Madhu and Pellampiddy refugee camps want to. It is the LTTE which is blocking their movement, he says.
Brigadier Mallawaarachchi wants more political parties to establish themselves in Vavuniya so that the people there would have a better choice of political leaders. Civilian political leaders relating directly with the people will help improve the stability of the entire community, he argues. The checkpoint at Thandikulam is deserted when I visit it in the afternoon. All north-south movement has been temporarily stopped in the aftermath of the battle in Mullaithivu. (Note: My visit to Vavuniya was just before the Sath Jaya offensive. Following the offensive, some 2.000 people who had fled Kilinochchi have come across so far. District Secretary Ganesh told me on the telephone last week.)
The special transit camp for youth is full, however, from previous intakes of travellers from the north. Young men are playing cricket in the afternoon sun when I

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18 TAMIL TIMES
visit. Others are lounging on the mats provided for sleeping in the open halls of accommodation. I talk to some of the camp inmates.
They say they are adequately fed and are not unhappy with the facilities. It is heard to expect them to say much when their army supervisors are listening and they obviously don't want to jeopardise their chances of access to the South. Some of them said they had been there for a whole week. One of the camp supervisors explains that young people end up staying a long time in the transit camp when whoever is sponsoring them in the South is late in coming to Vavuniya to collect them.
Another transit camp, in Veppankulam, where other travellers, including whole families, are being held for processing, is more crowded. The accommodation there is a complex of large, empty warehouses. Again people say they are adequately fed, but also claim that there are diseases spreading among the inmates due to the poor hygiene.
The military officer accompanying us in the visit asks to be shown any sick persons but no-one is forthcoming.
While the travellers from the north may undergo some difficulties, residents of the district are at present relatively comfortable considering that they are living on the edge of a war zone, says attorney D Sittampalam, a one time local politician of the Tamil United Liberation Front. "Nowhere else in the North-East are living conditions as good as they are in Vavuniya, he says.
Mr Sittampalam, a brother of TULF President M Sivasithamparam, is a long time resident of the town and agrees that the security conditions of the people are good. While there are occasional unreasonable detentions, there are no excesses committed by security forces personnel as in the past.
While the people of Vavuniya were originally quite impressed with the Government's devolution package, the subsequent delays in the consultation process and the seeming dilution of its provisions has disillusioned them, he says. He warns that any dilution of the devolution provisions would drive the Tamil people back into the arms of the LTTE.
"Today the people do not want war. But they have no desire to support any solution that does not provide for what they have been fighting and suffering for all these years".
The Vavuniya rest house does not have many travellers staying over, but its bar is busy from morning until night. Even as I breakfast the next day, tipplers are downing their first shot of the day.
Mr SMG Nathan, one of the vice presidents of the TULF, who comes for a chat on the rest house verandah immediately after breakfast, is adamant that the Tamil people no longer want war. He feels the LTTE attack on Mullaithivu is a desperate move to regain some statute after the movement lost face with its abandonment of
Jaffna. But even the a is not likely to conv Tamils that war is ye "We want peace.' as I note down his ol "We want arms Yi
-gard, drunken man, i
sation. He nudges m journalist, Tara Valle ing erect, yells again staggers away mumb Mr Nathan is em obvious direct contra says is the opinion grily dismisses the with me that many harbour an appr unexpressed) of the ro played in compelling lution of power.
A Sinhala farmer village” we visita litt about the need for a his case, against viol LTTE. Farmer U BK Vavuniya but today Kudakachchikodiya i zone with marauding to slaughtering innoc his family (wife, da rowly escaped a mas We heard that the ing out of the jungle into the forest behin burnt down our hous Today the bunkerli and they live just ir protection had meant The minor tank whi their farmland is ou and now their f Mr Kulasuriya make guard while his daug a schooljust 75 met
Senior Superint Vavuniya, Gamini d "Providing security f tough job and, in a w alties. But the job m be done to the besto SSP de Silva is pro tingent which shares FDL along with the trained and commit hours of dangerous du der how we survive does anyone grumble tional junior officers' lice units in the FDL
How do the Tamil war from this side of Militar My last interview Colombo, is with the PLOTE, who is base their office in town a there radio their cor arrived. Obviously Nagalingam Manikk around in the poorly fice.
He arrives in a clo with an escort of "bo

15 AUGUST 1996
ssault on Mulaithivu ince the bulk of the t an option.
Mr Nathan stresses servations. pu write that!” A hagnterrupts our convercompanion, British hte and, barely stand"We want arms' and ling angrily. barrassed about this diction about what he of the Tamil. He anirunkard, but agrees Tamils probably do eciation (even if ble armed struggle has movestoward a devo
in a remote "border le later is as emphatic rmed protection - in ent incursions by the ulasuriya is native of finds his village of s on the edge of a war ethnic rebels prone ent villagers. He and Lughter and son) narsacre four years ago. Tigers were advance so we all ran back hd the village. They e,' he recalls. ne has been extended side it. But military the loss of livelihood. ch supplied water to tside the bunkerline ields are fallow. s his living as a home hter of 4 years attends es inside the FDL. endent of Police, le Silva, is a realist: or all the villages is a ar, there will be casuust be done and will four ability." pud of his police conin the manning of the Army. “My men are ed. They have long ity. Sometimes I wonthe strain. But rarely '. I have some excepwho supervise the po's' ex-militants view the
the frontline? y Chief
before I depart for military chief of the i in Vavuniya. I go to nd wait until the staff nmander that I have Military Commander adasan does not hang defended PLOTE of
ud of dust in his jeep s' toting T56 assault
rifles.
The PLOTE officers I am chatting with all speak in Sinhala so I politely ask Commander Manikkadasan, should we do the interview in Sinhala or English? He immediately puts me to shame by asking: why not in Tamil: I sheepishly confess that I did begin learning Tamil once but never completed the course.
He lets mesquirm a little more and then proceeds to conduct the interview in a combination of relatively good Sinhala and English.
Mr Manikkdasan, 38, who is also Deputy Leader of PLOTE, is a native of Jaffna, but his mother is a Sinhalese from Moratuwa. His father dies in Jaffna during an aerial bombing raid.
Today he is proud of the security role played by his fighters in ensuring that Vavuniya is free of LTTE infiltration. He is also conscious of the need for inter-ethnic amity in the Vavuniya district which has a patchwork of Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim settlements.
The PLOTE deputy leader is also generally satisfied with the treatment of civilians by the security forces, although he says that there is some harassment of villagers in the countryside.
What about the complaints by civilians of harassment by ex-militant groups, including PLOTE? Extortion?
Certainly not, says Mr Manikkadasan. Perhaps some other groups are doing it, he hints. Perhaps some secret Tiger infiltrators are demanding money from civilians. PLOTE has only occasionally asked businesspeople for voluntary contributions for specific functions such as a literary festival held recently, he explains.
Mr Manikkadasan says that Tamil villagers living in the uncleared areas might be willing to come over the frontline if they are convinced about adequate facilities for farming.
For this purpose the Government should make an effort to develop irrigation systems in the district. He complained that irrigation water channelled north from the Mahaveli scheme during the last government had stopped at Anuradhapura, although its supply had originally been promised as far as Vavuniya.
He said the Tamil people were keen to have a political settlement of the ethnic conflict but the Government and the Sinhala political leadership in general were dragging their feet over the devolution proposals. He claimed that the ordinary Sinhala people were just as tired of the war as were the Tamil people.
The PLOTE, he said, was getting tired of the Government's prevarication. "We have now abstained from supporting the Government in Parliament. This is the first step,' he declared, broadly hinting of a threat of full withdrawal of support for the fragile PA coalition. With this threat hanging in the air, the Military Commander set off again in a cloud of dust. I hit the road too, getting away from the edge." O (Courtesy of “The Sunday Observer')

Page 19
5 AUGUST 1996
pulls the curtains apart to see the weather outside and mumbles to herself while getting ready to go to work. The clear blue sky is decorated with wandering soft white clouds moving in slow motion. The street is nearly empty as it is only about seven in the morning, but would be noisy and crowded in no time. The mannext door is playing reggae music, loud as usual. Devika puts the audio tape on and goes to the bathroom. Within a few seconds, devotional songs fill the house with calm rhythmic tones.
She gets ready and goes down to make some tea. Her children are asleep in their rooms, next to hers. They were playing games with their friends until
t’s going to be a hot day Devika 6
That w
bad news. pened for the last Lanka.
She puts the lett and goes upstairs. is still going on, sh of Gods and Godde why this madnes Lanka'
Could she wait f have taken the pl Lanka and are play.
by Rajes Bala
late last night and they are going to wake up late. Their cat, Josie is wandering around the room and licking her feet as is usual in the morning. The black cat is very beautiful and moves as elegantly as a well bred young lady. The cat mews at Devika.
Cat wants her food, but the boys wont be awake until late: "Okay Josie, come down, I'll feed you". Devika strokes the velvety body of the cat. She turns the radio on in the kitchen to listen to the seven o'clock news. Devika always listened to the world service in the morning before she went to work.
Another news bulletin about Sri Lanka; the Mullaithivu attack. The news reader is going on about the number of deaths in the attack. Devika stops opening the tin of cat food to absorb the news of the attack. "Nearly a thousand young men had been killed according to various sources and the Sri Lankan government is looking for terrorists and are fighting back with naval, air and the armed forces.”
The news goes from Sri Lanka to Rwanda, Burundi and so on, to give details of the third world mania for killing games. For the radio broadcaster these bulletins are just more incidents. For Devika ? Her imaginings of the scenario are too much to contemplate. What a tragedy Losing her appetite, now she couldn't be bothered with a cup of tea. She turns the Radio off and gets ready to go to work. There is a knock at the door and the post man drops the letters. Bills, bills and more bills, a neverending flow of bills; the water, electricity, gas and the telephone. Sometimes they all come at once, like a heavy flu with head and body aches. With those bills there are two blue airmails. Suddenly Devika feels numb in her heart. She dreads airmails as they usually bring
innocent people.
Devika goes to room and says "By later" although he eleven years oldbu She kisses him gel angelic face for a "how many childré died in Sri Lanka mothers have lost th is it going to stop stop it? is in there dare to challang Where has all the
She shuts her sor hurries to the street her up to the corne There is an upro she can hear. The every second as screaming as loud an old Oak tree v going to cut down is a danger to the metic product whic mals). The infan! scream in their litt spokesperson sayir. of that tree will da of many birds who and there are two living in that tree v tiful to look at. The dressed in "bunny the rabbits who a pants of the bush tree. Some five-ye banner saying 'sav mals in it”.
There are local re of the TV reporter This old Oak tree is the last few days a ing broadcasted on ing the campaign
 
 

as all that had hapfifteen years in Sri
ers in her work bag The devotional song e turns to the statues sses and asks: "Why, s of killing in Sri
or an answer? Men ace of Gods in Sri ing "war' games with
|Subramaniam
her little son Ravi’s te darling ... see you is fast asleep. He is t for he is her “baby'. htly and watches his while, and mutters, en like this one have today, how many heir loved ones, when and who is going to anyone who would e the government? spirituality gone?” 's bedroom door and . Josie the cat follows r of the road. ar in the next street, noise is increasing some children are as possible to protect which the council is as they think the tree shop (which sell cosh often tested on ani- army screech and le voices, their Small g that the destruction Image the way of life use the tree to perch, varieties of squirrels which are most beaure are a few children "outfits to symbolise e some of the occues that surround the arolds are holding a e our tree and the ani
porters as well as one s to cover the issue. in national focus for is the protest is benational TV portrayto save the tree as a
TAMIL TIMES 19
"people's issue and affecting the local community. The animal rights campaigners who are against testing on animals are there too with their placards with sentimental slogans to save the animals throughout the world, and protesting against any cruelty to animals.There were the ecologists as well, going on about the destruction of natures greenfields and rain forests by greedy men in the world. ' Look at what we have got now; our cities and towns are polluted with dirty air, look our streetsthey are scattered with cars and lorries, this is all based in man's greed, they exploit everything 9 and everybody." NIKA "What a world - cats,birds, squirrels, . . . . . . . rabbits and an old Oak tree have the right to exist in the world but there is no right for ordinary people in Sri Lanka to live in peace because they belong to the wrong ethnic group', Devika mutters to herself sadly. The girl from the corner house is just coming out to the street. An Indian young beauty in her twenties with a seductive smile, slim figure, a simple blue outfit which complements her golden skin colour and flowing long black hair. She walks in the style of a well trained fashion model who knows how to make other people turn and admire her elegance and charm. Devika had said 'hello' now and then to that young lady; other than that she has nothing much to say as they both always seem to be in a hurry.
Every time Devika looks at the young lady, she thinks of her nieces back home. Her cousin's daughter Savitri was almost like another girl who is just passing by. One of the most beautiful girls in that village. Devika closes her eyes as she refuses to let the thoughts about Savitri to come to her any further as those memories are too painful.
A mother with two small children from the white house mear the main road is behind her. Devika says good morning to the mother as usual - they meet every morning at the same spot.There has been nothing except "good morning up until now.
"It's going to be a hot day” the woman said, looking up into the blue sky.
"Mmm” Devika. : The mother of two may have been from Ireland as her English accent was not same as Devika's English friends.
"You are Sri Lankan, aren't you ?", she is asking, keeping her stare on Devika.
"Yes ..... but how do you know?" Devika is surprised.
“Well... my husband was listening to

Page 20
20 TAM TIMES
the early morning news and he mentioned you came from Sri Lanka.”
Devika still couldn't work out how he had known.
"Oh, you're wondering how he knew, aren't you. Mrs Patel from the corner shop told him you're from Sri Lanka, when Sri Lanka won the Cricket World Cup."
Devika smiles politely, partly about the world cup, and partly because she was about to be asked about the early morning news. "Oh yes, some of my country men are good at the cricket field, and some are good at the killing field too." She wanted to honestly say to the WOTI.
"The radio said that thousands of people are dying in your country; do you still have family there"? They have reached the bus stop now.
Davika can't answer. As the bus comes to a halt, she gets on. She waves to the mother, who waits for another bus. The bus is very crowded, people awaiting their turn to get in, some muttering about the lateness of the bus, others patiently followed others.
Her mind is still with the question from the mother of two. "How many are being killed?
"It's a bloody murder.” A fat man with a huge stomach trying to move into the back of the bus yells at the driver. Devika placesherself between a young lady who is plastered with heavy make-up, heavily soaked in a nauseating perfume and a thin lady who is coughing intermittently with a slight wheezing.
Davika's bus journey usually takes about twenty minutes and she will read something to pass the time. She fishes through her handbag and instead of finding the air mail letters she sees a note, which is about a Tamil woman who needs Devika's help.
A Social Worker phoned Devika yesterday and asked her to meet with her today to do a translation for a Tamil woman refugee who is in England and has to see a psychiatrist. The refugee woman came to London four months ago, lives alone and had a baby about two months ago and is having post-natal depression. She cannot communicate well as her English is not good. The Social Service is considering isolating the child from her as the mother is not in an appropriate medical condition to care for the child.
A Tamil refugee! That's the identity for about 500,000 Sri Lankan Tamils abroad; no name, no status, no qualification, no address is needed except the word" refugee'l.
Devika puts the note back into her handbag as the bus stops at the tube station. She runs down to the platform as she doesn't want to miss the train.
Within a few minutes packed with people li tin.
She takes the airn soon as she finds a Both letters are from ( her Sister another frc friend Geeta's letter opened first:
"Dear Devika, plea no one here to turn to rested by the police a they thought he was ol rorists. As you know had anything to do wi you know, in Colomb to do anything; if you enough for you to get a him a few days ago; w I located his whereabo where is being kept. N are expecting me to pa his release.You knowl yer frQm our village. l ing in Colombo. I c wants his fees as wel be paid as a bribe to release of innocents Sri Lanka is big busine ask for money at the army takes money at th lawyer will ask mone tween; the politicians from any means whetl arms deal or from fore hungry. Renting a hou for a Tamil in Colomb to day struggle here, p Devika's eyes are Geeta's life is being de ful political situation in last fifteen years. Geet in Eastern province ve the trouble started in S teacher husband and h two girls. When the SI forces systematically tured the Tamil youth eas, Geeta lost her eld. student from a Chris rested, tortured and hl found in a field days a Then the army came terrorists’. When the
IIncil........
Devika can still hea Tamil women who wo this brutal communal v Geeta', Devika says to The other letter is f. ter, which described "round up' by the arm ple have died or disap and how many have eit by or joined the Tamil the government in the "Dear sister, the lif like a living hell - the the poor in Sri Lanka,

15 AUGUST 1996
the trains will be ke sardines in the
ail letters out as lace to sit down. olombo, one from m her friend. Her vhich Devika has
se help me, I have , my son was arfew days ago, as Ie of the Tamiltermy family never th politics, yet, as o your don't have are a Tamil that is rrested. They took ith great difficulty uts and now know ow of course they y lot of money for Wurugiah the lawHe is now practisontacted him; he I as Rs.20,000 to the Inspector for on. Everything in ss. The police will police station, the le checkpoints, the y to act as go-bewill earn money her that is from an ign aid to feed the ise is a nightmare D, existing is a day lease help me". filled with tears. stroyed by the awSri Lanka for the a was living back ry happily before ri Lanka, with her er three boys and i Lankan security arrested and tors in the Tamil arer son. A brilliant tian college, ars mutilated body fter his arrest. to look for "Tamil y couldn't find
r the screams of re the victims of iolence. "Oh poor herself silently. om Devika’s sisthe most recent "; how many peobeared as a result, her been recruited militants to fight r village.
; here at home is e is no future for fou can run away
abroad only if you have money or if you have some one abroad to help you, otherwise the young ones have no jobs to be occupy them, the government recruits Sinhala boys to go yo the battlefield to be massacred; poor Tamil boys have no future, therefore they are letting them into the war as a way of 'living'. Some of them are the same age as your little son, what else can they do? Stay home and be arrested or killed by the army? The recent sad thing was that our niece Premalatha has gone with the Tamil militant after her father and a brother was taken away by the army, as you know there is very little chance that they are alive. I wonder in our country if there is anyone left to fight for peace, freedom,justice and humanity at all".
米米水米米 "I am going to go early today” Devika tells her colleague Caroline Simpson. Caroline used to work for one of the international organisations and she was in Afghanistan helping women and children. She got injured by a Russian missile and nearly lost her life. Now she is working for this women's organisation and has some knowledge of the Sri Lankan situation. Caroline looks at Devika who is busy organising the names of women who go for advice. Their work involves helping women with varying problems, from domestic violence to pregnancy testing.
"Are you OK?' asks Caroline. Devika is nearly in tears thinking about what is happening in Sri Lanka.
“How can Ibe OK, Caroline? Will you be happy when you hear that your countrymen are killing each other in their thousands?'
Samantha Johnson - the receptionistwalks in and says, "It's a shame, a damn bloody shame!"
Caroline and Devika look at each other with a question in their eyes.
"It is a shame that your people are killing like this in your country... you see I booked a holiday to go to Sri Lanka, and now I can't go, why can't your people behave themselves properly like other human beings?"
How simple a question for Samantha -but giving an answer doesn't seem to be easy.
The telephone is ringing. One of Devika's son is on the phone and she can hear her little fellow Ravi wailing away very loudly in the background.
“What is the matter?", Devika is panicking as she hears her son crying. She always worries about them when they are at home alone during the holiday, although son Segar is about fourteen and very sensible.
"Mother the cat has been hit by a car, I think we ought to take him to the Vet....

Page 21
5 AUGUST 1996
can I take some money from the kitty?” "Of course darling, you take some
money but make sure Ravi is OK, and
calm him down a bit, otherwise he will
be crying all the way to the Vet.”
“Yes mother.'
She puts the phone down.The children
love their cat and the little fellow wouldn't even eat if the cat is not at home as he is very fond of that animal.
"Some of the Tamil fighters are the same age as your little son', the words from her sister's letter echo in Devika's head
The poor children of Sri Lanka have been denied their right to be children, the poor Tamil boys are in the battlefield, some poor Sinhalese boys are at the beaches to sell sex to the foreign paedophile who has no hesitation or moral restraint against exploiting innocent lives for their perverted sexual desires!
The country is bleeding to death and politicians and religious leaders pontificate about the "greatness” of their history, nation, language and religion! What hypocrisy? Don't they have conscience ግ
These questions often come to Devika's mind but no one will give her an aSW.
"Are you OK'? Caroline asks Devika again when they are alone. Devika tells her she has to go and help a Tamil refugee in north London.
Devika would rather not to talk about the news. Caroline often asks Devika about Sri Lanka and the political situation. Some of Caroline questions are too complicated to answer, such as “why are these troops killing the Tamils in a frenziedway', or sometimes she will read of the attack by the Tamil militants on the Sinhala villagers and woask 'why the Tamil militants are killing the innocent women and children'?
Caroline may not understand when Devika explains that Sinhala dominated governments regardless of their party political point of view want to continue the war to stay in power and do not allow the Tamils to live with equal rights in Sri Lanka. The governments that have ruled the country are mainly responsible for all this violence, not just the militants.
本冰冰米水
When Devika reaches the Tamil woman refugee's place, the Social worker is awaiting her at the estate. A massive concrete jungle with over a thousand families from all over the world. Unemployed, refugees, drug users, criminals, people with mental disorders all put in one complex of several blocks! A hell of a life to experience.
The estate looks very untidy and littered with all kind of rubbish, like a slum in Colombo. Children are playing loud
and rough, young staring at passers t women with provo ing with one and t The weather is ho burning the skin, th atmosphere stuffy. with a paper.
The social work Devika, the details Her name is Luxm Lux my left Sri l band and child in will reach UK ar country in Afric "agent” sent her a land and the husb; as directed by the nal say in these m relatives in Londo has been trying to could speak Tamil couldn't find any Devika is here.
They walked to scattered with rub needles and used c ces and urine. Dev "What is the ma "Oh, those thin erly in a Council social worker repli When they rea Devika feels giddy as she hasn't had day.They knock on and it is opened ré thin young woma dull expression, ul baby in her arm.
“Hello Luxmy, ll one who can help Luxmy looks at Devika asks, “Hic within a second mother has burst it ing uncontrollably Devika puts h mother.
*Please don't le away from me...”.
"No, I wont let situation get bette little baby from th well covered with "Can I remove t hot...the baby is sv Devika to the moth exchanges a glan tels: you see, thi how to cope with
"I don't want m my husband woul care for the baby p nervously.
"Not to worry, cold in this weath Devika says get baby comfortable.

TAMIL TIMES 21
hen are standing and y. A group of young cative outfit are flirte other.
t, the heat practically : humidity makes the Devika fans her face
r gives more notes to of that young mother. y Sundaram.
anka with her hushe hope that family d stopped in some a on the way. The id child first to Engind had to saty back gent who has the fiitters. Luxmy has no h. The social worker find someone who in the block but she one yet. That's why
the stairs which are bish including dirty ondoms, smelly faeika feels nauseated. tter with the lift'? gs never work propestate, do they," the ed. ch the fourth floor as well as nauseous
anything to eat all | the door a few times :luctantly. There is a n with sunken eyes, lcombed hair, with a
have brought someγou.
Devika. w are you,' in Tamil, that Tamil refugee to tears and is weep
er arm around the
t them take my child she sobs. hem if I can help the r". Devika takes the : mother. The baby is a soft blanket. he blanket...it's very 'eating heavily," says er. The social worker ce with Devika that s mother has no idea
baby.” y baby to catch cold, lnot like me if I don't operly.” Luxmy says
he baby won't catch T." tly while making the
“I lost everyone in one shell blast in Jaffna, now my husband is in Africa, I'm here, they are going to take my baby away." Luxmy's body is trembling with pain when she cries.
Devika spends two or three hours with Luxmy, as she has to go with her to the psychiatrist and bring herback to the flat. "We must find some one who can speak Tamil in this block”, Devika persists, as she thinks Luxmy needs constant support as well as good observation.
"There is a Muslim family upstairs, I don't know whether they are from Sri Lanka”, the social worker says, and they go to the tenth floor to look for the family and by this time Devika has nearly fainted with tiredness and hunger as well as worry about her children at home. The Muslim family is from Sri Lanka, "I hope they are not from the north' prays Devika, as a few years ago the minority Muslims from the north were driven out as they were alleged to be a "security risk” for the Tamil struggle! Since then if Devika meets any Muslim in London, they have not been hesitant to express their anger at wahat was done to them. Who wouldn't be angry? If people lived in an area for generations and was forced to leave because of their ethnic origin any normal person will feel humiliated and discriminated against .
Mrs Karim is a kindlady from Kandy . - the midland of Sri Lanka and she lives with her two sons and a daughter in London. The children are students at the nearby college. Mrs Karimlost her husband in a car accident and she couldn't afford to pay the mortgage and so she moved to a Council house recently. She told them,'At least we are safe in this country, whether there is financial hardship or not, I feel really sorry for people, particularly the mothers, who are losing their loved ones.'
She gives them home made 'vadai and sambol'. Devika observes Mrs Karim's gentle manners and Devika can tell that she is a woman with a genuine sympathy for others. Mrs Karim sits in front of her visitors to listen to what they have to say.
Devika explains to her about Luxmy on the fourth floor and asks her whether she could help the young mother. "Of course my dear, after all we all are Sri Lankans. We should help each other, I'll definitely go down and do whatever I can , and I'll tell you something else, my seventeen year old daughter is fond of children, she would be more than happy to help Luxmy.” Mrs Karim says happily.
“You Sri Lankan people are very kind....you came all the way to north London to help and this Muslim lady is going to help the mother. I think your

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22 TAM TIMES
people are very kind', smiles the social worker when they are coming to the bus stop. Devika does not say much.
Sri Lanka, shaped like a teardrop, in the Indian ocean, is possesssed with the most splendid natural beauty on earth. But today the beautiful landscape is decorated with the decaying bodies of the next generation, demolished modern buildings and ancient temples, the rivers carry headless corpses, swaying from the lamp posts are so called "traitors', femininity is facing constant abuse from all sections, mothers with no children, women with no husbands, the land in some places bare and ruined, the price of a piece of bread is going up every day to meet the cost of the war which brings nothing but destruction!
“Are we all kind to each other, What are we doing to each other and why are we letting these mindless politicians and religious fanatics destroy our young ones; the politicians children will never go the battle front, why do we allow our children to die for them to enjoy the luxury of life?. Isn't it enough for us to see other parts of the world which have been destroyed in no time like Bosnia, Rwanda, or Russia who, like us, are trying to be superior to each other because of ones race, colour, religion or language? We breath the same air, drink the same water, walk on the same grass, look at the same blue sky but we behave like savages to please the politicians and religious fanatics!” She would like to ask sixteen million Sri Lankan people if she had the chance.
率水率本本 "How can I help Geeta?" She is thinking, while she is in the tube train on the way back home. She will send money to help Geeta. "Giving money won't solve any problems, but to do campaign work with others who have the same problems as her may create some awareness about the increasingly dangerous situation for Tamils in Colombo'. She thinks of her Sinhala friend Thilaka Ratwatte who had lost her brother during the terror unleashed in the late 1980s when the previous Government was in power.
More recently several mass graves have been found in the mainly Sinhala southern area, It has been reported that these graves contained the bodies of Sinhalese youth who "disappeared" during the previous regime. Thilaka’s brother was a journalist and did nothesitate to write about the human rights violations in Sri Lanka. One night at about 11 pm policemen in plain clothes came and took him for 'questioning' - then he "disappeared' from the face of the earth without a trace. Thilaka frantically tried to find about her brother's whereabouts with no success; the police denied any knowledge of seeing or taking away
Thilaka's brother. Th Sinhalese progressiv paigned for human rig When Devika reach is in a zombie mood with the Vet with int to the car accident.
Little Ravi is in te onto the settee, moani sophical, saying that meaning and it ends had a happy life and pleasure to all of us il Cat gave pleasure house? Devika wonde The cat brought ha birds to show off her
Ravi won't stop we i Devika wants to di out how to help Geet Thilaka while stroking is weeping.Thilaka i Lankan politicians as Devika about your f there over a thousand killed and the milita with bombing innoce Tamil areas. Who is carnage, savagery, ba Thilaka’s questions but none knows the gives her some contac Devika to get in touch 率冰冰米特 A few days go by a with the Vet, under obs ing an intravenous in lost so much blood dit Ravi is coming to ter. situation, just as any hu in hope for the best. D ing to meet with peo her to secure the relea "There are over seve youths who have bee lombo,” one said. Mullaitivu is still inp sive in Kilinochchi has enormous damage to t of the area. No one h scale of the death, di placement as the gov any independent report ZO8.
率率求率拉
A friend of Devika an event which is ol memorate the 1983. lombo against the Tam sponsored Sinhala ra millionsofrupees wor erty was damaged a were burned alive in f eign touristsin Colom of Tamils went th sufferings. Even Tami ers were killed insidel ons!
This evening's com

15 AUGUST 1996
it was the end of a e man who camghts in Sri Lanka. es home the house as the cat is still ernal injuries due
ars and crawling ng Segaris philo"every life has a one day, Josie cat she gave so much
this house.' to people in the
S. lf dead mice and ove for boys! eping. al Thilaka to find a. Devika phones
her little son who,
s angry with Sri
usual. "I am sorry . riend, I hear that
soldiers have been ry has gone mad nt civilians in the going to stop this rbarisim”?
are like Devika's answer. Thilaka :ts in Colombo for
with. 米
nd the cat is still ervation after havfusion as she has le to the accident. ms with the tragic uman learns to live evika is busy try
ple who can help
se of Geeta’s son. :n hundred Tamil in arrested in Co
The "war' in rogress; an offen; begun causinging he civilian people as any idea of the
struction and dis
ernment won't let ers to go the “war”
帐
asks her to go to
ganised to comJuly riots in Coils bygovernment cist mobs, when th of Tamil's propnd many Tamils ront horrified forbo and thousands rough untold l political prisonhigh security pris
memorative event
in London is on a grand scale, portraying the past with graphic posters, reports, discussions and debates. Devika is here alone, not many people say hello to each other; although they are all Sri Lankan Tamils there is no obvious brotherhood (or sisterhood)- unless one belongs to a certain Tamil area in Sri Lanka. The children in the hall are wearing their best dresses, and the women are wearing “Peetamparam or Kanchipuram or Banglore or Kashmere” silk sarees, which poor Tamils back home can only dream about. Children are collecting money for 'refugee children' in Sri Lanka, women are preparing delicious food for men engaged in the action of self promotion, men with expensive suits and nicely trimmed moustaches (some are dyed to cover the greying) who are on the platform chanting the ancient glory of the Tamils and explaining why we must continue the war. Suddenly Devika feels the surrealism of the picture.
She remembers what Geeta has written. Politics is a business for some people.
The attacks and the carnage, the suffering of mothers like Geeta, to fight for the rights of Tamils, girls like Savitri, who has chosen(?) to be a suicide bomb, her young body blasted along with her "enemies'(2) and her mother couldn't even bury her body' - all these issues have no meaning in this absurd setting. None of the rich women at this event would be a match to Geeta, or Savitri, or Premalatha, or the Tamil refugee in the Council house.
Devika walks out of the meeting with a question in her mind: “Is it our situation that has given to some people the opportunity to organise social events, to get to wear expensive outfits, eat delicious meals and gather and meet their kith and kin, and friends to maintain a heritage that can survive here in London Do they really want peace and justice in Sri Lanka - of course Devika knows none of these people will ever go back home giving up their comfortable lives in the West. So it is easy for them to talk about the "war, as if they are watching an Indian commercial film, with very lit. tle feeling. She goes home disappointed On the way home she can hear the celebrational activites around the old Oak tree which is 'saved' by the people who fought for their rights. The tree is decorated with yellow ribbons by children from all over the street, parents are having a party to celebrate their chil dren's victory.
本来冰冰冰 There was a call from Colombo, Sega says. She phones a friend to find out the recent news. Geeta is waiting there, expecting Devika's call. Geeta can't speak,

Page 23
15 AUGUST 1996
her voice is cracking, "my son... my son ..." she won't complete the sentence. Her friend comes on the line.
"Sorry Devika..... they found Geeta's son's body....."; there are pauses at both ends.
Devika's throat is blocked with a lump of some sort and she has no words to comforther friend.
“By the way...", her friend continues, "your sister said your niece Premalatha was one of the fighters who died in the "war" with the Sri Lankan army in Mullaitivu”.
Devika puts the phone down.Tears falling like a river on her cheek.
Ravi starts to scream suddenly as he sees Segar was coming with his head down and a sad face from the Vet.
"My cat... my ing . Devika cudd Segar does not ha words.
They all sit toget little Josie is deac Segar.
“The Vet had tr said.
There is a long them, then she te] cousin Premalath Lanka'. She can't of the carnage.
The children loc ing to rememberth met when they we "Do you remem red doll from me?
G. Ramesh
n many ways, Afghan civil war of fers a more confusing scenario to Indian observers than Sri Lanka during the last two decades. India's whatever little involvement in Afghanistan proved futile. The civil confliction Afghanistan has more visible and invisible backers; the conflict is more protracted; and the consequences far more unpredictable for the subcontinent.
In late 1979, when Soviet troops went into Afghanistan, Mrs Indira Gandhi, about to be elected as Prime Minister, was stunned. She could not let down her trusted Soviet friends, but did not like the possible chaos the Soviet occupation would lead to. The occupation, she came to realise, was not like the 1969 disaster in Czechoslovakia which India managed to support without guilt. Afghanistan was nearer home and events there could mean a lot of chaos in the northern and western borders of the subcontinent. -
For once, Mrs Gandhi's doubts were vindicated. The Soviets vacated Afghanistan in the late 80's, but Afghanistan remained deeply in conflict, with Pakistan and Iran pitching in India's attempt to support Dr Najibullah ended poorly and J N Dixit, the then Indian Ambassador in Kabul, was destined to do a more direct-military intervention in Sri Lanka before going on to retire as the country's Foreign Secretary.
In the meantime, Punjab and Kashmire, in India's western and northern
borders, saw unp Immediately ther ion collapsed and Asian Republics flicts. The Kashm tensified, and sc from the militant trying to give a Kashmir where th had been Islamic tempt to forge am jab, had, however, However, India i dangerous rise of vinism, renderi Kashmir conflict
ever.
What should Ir in Afghanistan? tion came from th Minister Gulbud met visiting Indi battered Kabul a ing India for its on his assumptic Hekmatyar mai Hezb-i-Islami p. complaining abo the Soviet-suppo with Dr Najibul phase of the Af should not repea supporting puppe Hekmatyar did swer to a specific journalists about port so far for pr
 

AMIL TIMES 23
oor cat” Ravi is cryes her son tenderly, fe to say anything in
her, crying:"The poor isn't it?'" Ravi asks
ed very hard Segar
pause between all of ls the children,"your a is dead too in Sri tell them the details
k at their mother, tryeir cousin whom they re little. ber a girl who had a "She asks them.
Premalatha like any other Sri Lankan Tamil or Sinhala young woman could have been a good mother, or a teacher, or a writer or a actress, or a dancer but her life has been destroyed by the political violence in Sri Lanka.
All those young who died this week could have been able and wonderful citizens of our future, but what a waste, what a waste
They are silent. The children may not remember anything about Sri Lanka, just like the children in the hall who were trying to commemorate the deaths back home. She cries for the children and the mothers of Sri Lanka, her children cry with her without any real understanding of what is going on in Sri Lanka. O
recedented violence.
eafter, the Soviet Unsome of the Central witnessed civil conir conflict in India inores of mujahideens Islamic world were hardcore identity to Le mainstream culture Sufism. A similar atilitant identity in Punfailed beyond a point. self now witnesses a Hindu/National chaung resolution of the more intractable than
dia do, rather not do, Answers to this ques2 country's new Prime din Hekmatyar who an journalists at warst week. While thankmessage of greetings n as Prime Minister, le it clear that his arty was justified in ut India’s support for rted regimes ending lah during the first han civil war. India t its past mistakes of tregimes, he asserted. not give any directanquestion from Indian hisparty's covert supo-Pakistani groups in
Kashmir.
Hekmatyar, who graduated from being a powerful warlord to the official post after years of bloody fighting, forms the political triumvirate in Afghanistan, along with theologian-professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, the President, and military wizard Ahmed Shah Masood, the Defence Minister. Masood was once Hekmatyar's competitor on the anti-Communist US-backed front. Hekmatyar had fought the other two bitterly for years. However, Hekmatyar joined the other two amonth ago against the powerful Taliban militia which is seeking to capture Kabul. The Taliban militia is rumoured to be backed by the Pakistani military establishment which once armed Hekmatyar to the teeth following the US decision to fight Sovietbacked regimes at Kabul.
Hekmatyar said the Afghan government was willing for a dialogue with the Taliban provided the latter agreed to avoid attacking Kabul. The Taliban must also accept cease-fire and gradual demilitarisation of important Afghan cities and towns. The indications are that he regards Pakistan as a crucial neighbour while India is, only, a major country in the region. Hence, the willingness to go along with Pakistan to a point of dialogue with Taliban. Also, Afghanistan needs food aid from both Pakistan and Iran in the short run.
Hekmatyar is pressing the United Nations' new peace envoy, Dr Norbert Holl to announce a peace formula without seeking to ascertain the alreadyknown positions of the various Afghan tribal factions. It is not clear to Indian observers whether this would work. A direct war between the Afghan regime and Taliban for Kabul would spell further doom. O

Page 24
24
TAMIL TIMES
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Page 25
15 AUGUST 1996
T N Gopalan
hen Pamulapurti Venkata Narasimha Rao decided to hitch an alliance with the AIADMK led by Ms Jayalalitha Jayaram many eyebrows were raised. "It is suicidal. She is so totally discredited that when she sinks, she'll pull down Rao too along with her,' felt many COmmentatOS.
But some cynics wondered then, "what is all the fuss about? They are but natural allies, both so horribly corrupt and completely unscrupulous.” As it has turned out, they both are undergoing remarkably similar experiences in the post-election scenario. Scandalous corruption charges hurled against them are coming to a head, they both are being arraigned in the courts, challenge to their leadership is mounting and both are desperately clinging to their offices. Inevitably both the Indian National Congress and the AIADMK are hurtling downhill fast. But it looks like it will be the Congress President who will go down in disgrace first. The man hailed as a scholar among rogues is being portrayed as a rogue of the first order, fit to adorn the rogues gallery anywhere in the world.
Named as a co-accused in a hundred thousand dollar cheating case (along with his childhood friend Chandraswamy) and summoned before a magistrate in New Delhi, Rao is waging a desperate rearguard battle to save not only his party presidentship but his very political career itself.
There are enough disgruntled ellements in the Congress who would like to see Rao step down, including Karunakaran from Kerala, Sharad Pawar from Maharashtra and Rajesh Pilot from Rajesthan.
Shrewdly exploiting the differences among his detractors within the Congress and by distributing such favours that he still could, he has managed to stave off all the challenges to his leadership thus far.
A London-based Non-Resident Indian (NRI), Lakhubhai Pathak, paid the notorious godman Chandraswamy
US dollars 100,00 to clinch a contra pulp and newsprin State Trading Co COntaCt ever course was the mo
Narasimha Rao ternal Affairs Mini ures in the Scan leges the former há that his work woul had met the Swam hattan hotel in Ne ber 1983. The two together for some coming out Pathak Rao by the godma by Pathak that Rao ter said, “Pathakji, sab kuch bata diy, ho jayega.” (Swam rything and your V He turned heavi back the money godman. But Chai wily and powerful from London. The Investigation (CBI ming and hawing, tantly on Patnak's c ing Swamy for a b but the conman m out. The ascensic friend from And things brighter for For nearly fivey was on a roll, ped with impunity anc Welcome whereve The glitterati actu fore his imposin Delhi, seeking all
But the roll cam early this year whe of State for Home lot, rebelling again the arrest of the promptly stripped Home Affairs por Rao. But the Swam bles had just begu turn of the courts monish the CBI fo of the various
 

AM MES 25
0 way back in 1985 |ct to supply paper t to the State-owned rporation. But the laterialised nor of ney returned. who was then Exister at the time figbecause Pathak alld held out the hope d be done. The NRI i-Rao duo at a Manew York in Decem) had been closeted time and on their was introduced to n. And it is claimed during this encounSwamiji ne mujhko a hal. Aapka kaam iji has told me evevork will be dome.) an and earth to get he had paid the hdraswamy was too for the pickle-king Central Bureau of ), after a lot of humstarted acting hesiomplaint, even jailriefperiod in 1988, hanaged to wriggle on of his boyhood hra Pradesh made * Chandraswamy. 2ars Chandraswamy idling his influence receiving a royal r he went in India. ally queued up beg ashram in New kinds of favours. e to a grinding halt in the then Minister Affairs, Rajesh PiSt his boSS, Ordered godman. Pilot was of his prestigious tfolio by then PM i’s (and Rao’s) trouin. It was then the to step in and adr its inept handling charges against
Chandraswamy, and finally he was remanded to jail pending the hearing of the case against him, and the various attempts by the godman to be released on bail have been rejected by the Court.
In a recent interview the former Prime Minister claimed that there Was no special relationship between him and Chandraswamy. "I know so many people, you get to know so many of them when you are in public life and since he happens to be from Andhra Pradesh, there could be a bit more familiarity, nothing more to it. In fact I have made it a rule not to have any special relationship with anyone in my life, he said.
But the clout the dubious Swami commanded in the Rao establishment was legendary. He was one of the few who could drive his car right up to the portico of the Prime Minister's residence and he had never had to undergo the usual security drill. Besides what was the provocation for the sudden sidelining of Mr Pilot when the latter initiated action against the Swami'
The lingking of Rao's name is not limited to the alleged payment by Pathak to the Swamy. The Rs 33 crore urea Scam in which Rao's son Prabhakar Rao is seen as a key-mover and commented on in thcSc Columns only last month was perhaps the most outrageous of it all in that not a single grain of the fertiliser has reached the Indian shores months after the payment of the entire amount in advance. But Rao is certain to have played a key role in what is known as the Jharkhand Mukthi Morchia case. There was a Sudden Surge in the bank accounts of these four MP's from this regional party from Bihar in June 1993. A total of Rs 3 crore had been paid to the four. Within days thcreafter it so happened that the four JMM MPs voted in support of the then minority Rao government against a noconfidence motion in parliament. The MPs are predictably hard put to convincingly explain the accretion of so much money and the matter is before the courts now. Many observers also find a surprising coincidence between the payments to the JMM MP's and the controversial hawala payments to Indian politicians. Though Rao does not figure in the diaries of the conduits, one of the accused did talk about paying Rao directly. The JMM could prove a crucial missing link in the hawala case and thus Seal Rao's fate.
Narasimha Rao himself claimed af

Page 26
26 TAMIL TIMES
ter the New Delhi High Court turned down his petition seeking the quashing of the summons issued to him, "I am innocent, Iam in no way connected with the case. In fact I was not even present in New York on the dates Lakhubhai Pathak was supposed to have met me. I am committed to the rule of law and let the law take its Own course.'
Interestingly the thieves seem to have fallen out. Chandraswamy's Counsel is nowadays gunning for the then Prime Minister. When Pathak named Rao in his submission before the Magistrate and the CBI objected to the dragging of Rao's name on the ground that it had not figured in the original complaint of Pathak, Swami's counsel flared up and remarked acidly, "The whole truth should come out. Why should Rao's name not come on the record? In fact the objection of the prosecution should be put on record to expose how the country's prime investigating agency is functioning.'
If his track-reco by, the conman, Sv beans and get his e into trouble out of
Apart from the cases, there is yet sword hanging ab Again when he w fairs Minister, thi Gandhi, he is alleg key role in fabrica gesting that Aje V P Singh, held St Kitts, a Caribb
The CBI initia when Mr Singh Minister, but pre about it when Rac Minister in 1991. U the courts, the Cl up the investigati unwilling to in strongly, it is sa Vijaya Rama Rac other Rao, retirin tor and an officer
its worst ever electoral débâcle, but she is unfazed and stiil arrogance personified. There is no trace whatsoever of any sense of remorse in her and it looks like she would go to any lengths to retain her supremacy in the party.
And the cumulative impact of former Chief Minister Jayalalitha's queenly ways (a laLewis Carroll's) is that the AIADMK is head- . ing for a vertical split. . . . . . . By the time this article appears in print, the dissidents led by former minister S Kannarpan will have convened a rival general Council of the party, deposed Jaya from the general secretaryship of the party and put in place a collective leadership.
As one of her critics wryly put it - "We must hand it to her. She is perhaps all set to achieve what Karunanidhi himself could not all these years - destroy the AIADMK completely..." When this correspondent, commelting on the expulsion of Mr S Thiru- navukkarasu and his supporters from the party six years ago (when the AIADMK was still in opposition), had compared her with the offingheads- Queen of Alice in Wonderland, Jaya- lalitha had complained to the editor rather bitterly, "How could he
S he might have led her party to
write like this'
mad...'
But then this tir
witnessing the e
Jayalalitha inevit Carroll yet again, ate imagery will by.
Jaya’s actions defeat in May dos tional explanation unstable, thorough would so willingl party into such a tional course of been to consolidat base and prepare tles ahead.
And to think th AIADMK presen around her confid: it an even more lu Since 10 May w sults were out, he rebels have been
 
 

15 AUGUST 1996
ird is anything to go wamy could spill the :rstwhile partner too
sheer pique.
JMM and Pathak another Damocles' Dve the head of Rao. as the External Afs time under Rajiv led to have played a ting documents sugya Singh, son of secret accounts in ean island. ted action in 1990 himself was Prime dictably forgot all became the Prime Jnder pressure from BI once again took Ons. Even now it is Implicate Rao too id. However, with ), an acolyte of the gas the CBI Direcfrom Punjab is tak
He's calling me
ne round too, those xpulsion binge of
ably reach out for A more appropripe difficult to come
since the crushing seem to defy any rah. Only a mentally nly insecure, person y plunge his or her
deep crisis - a raaction would have e and regroup one's oneself for the bat
at the tussle in the tly seems to centre ante Sasikala makes Idicrous tableau.
hen the election rer courtiers- turnedsedulously advising
ing over, the St Kitts forgery case too could lead to some trouble for Rao.
The United Front too is pleased with Rao's problems. Surviving as it does on the backing of 136 Congress MP's, it would only please the Front partners to find that party in turmoil, thus preventing it from asserting itself on any issue and dictate terms to the Front Government.
In fact there are reports to the effect that the Maharashtra Congress strongman Sharad Pawar is inclined to join the Government which development, in turn, could provide greater stability to the Gowda regime and even enable it to do without the support of the demanding CPM and CPI. A change in the Congress leadership could expedite such a process.
Also the rebels are hoping to woo back those who had quit earlier like Mr GKMoopanar, Madhavrao Scindia and Arjun Singh and revitalise the party. The picture could become clearer in the near future. O
her, nay pleading with her in the most passionate voice possible, to throw Sasikala out of her Poes Garden
household and issue a public apology
of Sorts for all the commissions and Omissions of the AIADMK regime in an attempt to regain the confidence of the public. After all the elections for the panchayats are only a few months away and yet another débâcle could prove disaStrous for the party.
But she simply would not listen. She would not accept that Sasikala is the most discredited person in her Court, though ironically she does not hold any position in the party. The media is awash with reports of Chengiz Khan-type loot of the people's wealth and investigations by the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department are ferreting outskeletons by the dozen with every passing day.
Still Jaya does not seem to care one whit or share the concern of her colleagues. She is desperately clinging on to her sister-like confidante. "Love me, love my dog,' is her motto, whatever situation she might find herself in. Anyone questioning her association with Sasikala is rudely rebuffed and unceremoniously thrown out.

Page 27
15 AUGUST 1996
In all the interviews she has given to the press - condescending to talk to the media itself is some kind of departure from her earlier ways - she has stoutly defended Sasikala and refuted all allegations against her as motivated and malicious.
In fact with every interview, Sasikala is constantly raised to ever higher pedestals. The last one heard from Jaya was this: “She has taken care of me like a mother, she has stood by me through all the hours of crisis. Would those who want me to distance myself from Sasikala throw out their own wives from their respective households if someone from the party makes such a demand!'
Ironically again it was the 73-year old SD Somasundaram, considered closest both to her and the Sasikala clan, who sparked the current round of squabbles.
SDS, as he is popularly known, hails from Thanjavur district as do Sasikala and her husband, Natarajan, and they all belong to the Kallar community, a powerful intermediate caste of the delta region.
In fact he had revolted against MGR himself, protesting the rising clout of Jayalalitha in the party in 1984, come to grief but was subsequently rehabilitated when he returned in Sack cloth and ashes. He went on to become the most ardent champion of Jayalalitha in the post-MGR scenario and was the most unabashed courtier in her durbar. A picture of SDS, perched precariously on a ladder attached to a van of Jayalalitha during an election campaign, is an enduring image and is endlessly commented upon in the local press.
Why such a person took it upon himself to dash off a missive to her suggesting that she distance herself from Sasikalais stillamootpoint. But it was Jaya who mentioned the letter in one of her interviews even though she would not comment on the contents of the letter.
Subsequently SDS was arrested for his role in the assault on DMK lawyer K M Vijayan two years ago had challenged the Jaya regime’s reservation policies.
While she has made as many as six trips to the Madras Central Jail to call on her dear friend, Sasikala and console her, she has studiously ignored SDS except for a brief cursory meeting on one occasion.
It was when he continued to be in jail that SDS was peremptorily expelled from the party. He called it an
inhuman act and a Jayalalitha knows too as to why I'm here.' However, t to come out in pl two have fallen Ou All his statemen ing with self-pity - happen to me, a lo I, a senior leader, a this what is going ordinary cadres ar But the two ot nappan and CA1 pelled along witl anti-party activiti vocal. Actually it w had been silently r an attempt to chall ship. After the exp held press confer Jaya herself and ig clan.
"She alone is r humiliating drub seen in public wea ing party colours. party founded by She has always b she never listened she owns up to he bows out graceful future if she cont the helm of affairs
It is not clear h port the rebels enjo All the earlier r against MGR or come to nought. I rebels enjoy any and there is not a figure among th whether these me could rescue them On the other ha resentment agains ian ways, and til surely prefer a mc more sensible lea Meantime Sasik are still in priso bail. Jaya’s foste1 arrest for Fera ( Regulations Act) JJ TV company.
Mrs Indrakuma assistant have be nection with a Rs distribution offrt School uniform to many cases the cl. the intended bene others they were I though payments She has now said

TAM TIMES 27
dded significantly, and everyone else spending my time o this day, he is yet blic as to why the t. ts thus far are OOZ"How could all this yal foot-soldier? If m to be treated like to be the fate of the d so on.' er leaders S Kananganayakam exSDS for alleged es have been more as Kannappan who nobilising cadres in enge Jaya’s leaderulsion the two have
'nces hitting out at .
noring the Sasikala
esponsible for the bing. We can't be ring dhoties, carrySo discredited the MGR has become... een dictatorial and to us... It is but fair r responsibility and ly. The party has no inues to remain at ,” they have said,
ow much of a supby in the AIADMK. bellions, whether Jayalalitha, have Besides none of the clean image either single charismatic em. It is doubtful n sans a mass base from the morass.
ind there is general t Jaya’s authoritarhe workers would re responsive and a dership. ala and her husband , unable to obtain -son is also facing Foreign Exchange violations by the
i and her personal en arrested in con16 crore scam in the 'e saris, dhotis and poorer sections. In Dthes never reached ficiaries and in yet ever procured at all had been effected. that all her actions
as the social welfare minister had the endorsement and prior approval of her boss, Jaya.
A probe by the Vigilance and AntiCorruption department into the illegal wealth amassed by Jayalalitha is on. The Income Tax Department is demanding that she pay up Rs 5 crores by way of arrears for the last five years. But the Jaya caravans goes on, unmindful of the barkings from any զuarter.
The Cauvery Issue Even as the Jaya charade is being acted out on the political stage, a tragedy is slowly unfolding in the once prosperous Cauvery delta regions.
The short-term Kuruvai has proved a near total disaster and the future of the longer term samba, the very life-line of the delta region, remains uncertain. All because the neighbouring Karnataka, the upper riparian state, is not letting any water into the Tamil Nadu reservoirs.
There has been a large-scale exodus of landless labourers tourban centres in search of jobs. Times were when hundreds and thousands of them from various parts of the state would flock to Thanjavur and Trichy districts during agricultural operations.
There has not been much of a rain in the catchment areas of Karnataka during the South West monsoon. But the details regarding the storage positions in the various reservoirs are not clear. There is just no transparency and both the governments are known to fudge their respective figures.
To complicate matters further the chairman of the Cauvery Tribunal has resigned for unspecified reasons and its hearings have come to a grinding halt.
Surprisingly no-one, Karunanidhi or Deve Gowda or Karnataka, Chief Minister J H Patel, is striking any hawkish posture. Since they all want the United Front government to survive they would not like to precipitate matters by any fiery rhetoric. They seem to be inclined for a settlement outside the Tribunal.
Karunanidhi has mellowed a lot. The delta farmers, weary and frustrated, also support resumption of dialogue. Only Jaya keeps screaming, but not many care.
But then the point is the canals still run dry. Sowing for samba is delayed. Both farmers and labourers are apprehensive. If the samba too fails, there could be starvation deaths in the traditional rice bowl of Tamil Nadu. O

Page 28
28 TAMIL TIMES
STATUS OFTAMILTODAY - CLAS POPULAR, MASS ORMARGINA
G.Ramesh
Caldwell saw Tamil as a unique language with classical and popular levels of existence. But it is only now that the TamilNadu government is pressing for classical recognition for this language from the current Delhi dispensation. Tamil might be considered a classical language in some universities of the West, but in India, that status is reserved for Sanskrit, mostly because of political reasons. Even Arabic/Persian comes only after Sanskrit. That Tamil and Arabic have popular existence has gone against their claim for classical statues, while the reverse should have been the case!
Today, the situation seems to have changed, or is it? In Delhi, Harvard educated PChidambaram laces his budget speech with quotes from Tiruvalluvar, and the sound of Tamil enchants north Indian Members of Parliament. The ruling DMK wants Tamil to be made an official language also at the central level. There are now eight Tamil ministers in Delhi, the highest ever since 1947. The seven languages in which Union Information Minister, CM Ibrahim is conversant includes Tamil.
Yet, the reality is that Tamil is getting poorer by the day in Tamil Nadu, where the ability to utter a full sentence in English is a sure way of getting public recognition. English clearly is more than a language in India, especially so in Tamil Nadu. What it signifies is a kind of status, power and manners, the peremptory manner of a manner-born. Thus, Tamil Nadu's insipid and farcical public sphere is a compound/complex one, full of silly English and mass-Tamil. Filmsongs and magazines in mass-Tamil end themselves with English catchphrases. Rural Amma-Appas want their kids to be taught everything in English and certainly not in poor Tamil. Urban mum/dads including some Dravidian politicians (some of them participants in anti-Hindu agitations) are against even Tamil language being taught to their children. For them, mass-level Tamil spoken on the small screen is enough; they prefer France or German for their kids roaring to go abroad. Some want their kids to learn Hindi for professional needs. Very few Tamils in Tamil Nadu actually learn other south Asian languages, unless they are forced to migrate to other Indian States.
Administration of Tamil Nadu is mostly English, including orders issued to use more Tamil in officialdom. Judges
t is more than a century after Father
including scholars of T dicts in English. The m and all higher educati Banking, big business tors conduct their inte affairs in English. Cor ware courses spread En roots level. The Engli siderably more objecti and the Tamil media d eral, emotional and giv sensationalism. Tamil readers and media pe point to be seen wearin uttering an occasional sound sophisticated. It if they cannot different and three L's in Tamil derived from Sanskrit. Suave ministers use tional vocabulary in th sembly to baffle unsusp ticians. Even good present their interesting like World Tamil Con lish. Convent-educated gles inoffices and sens home - in English. A named by his enthusi Vallvill Ori, one c patron-chieftains of went abroad and chan Ore, which is nothing eral!
This battling incong fore on 10 July last. Th Minister K Anbazhag those running matricu switch their medium of English to Tamil. A away, a tenth standard triculation School was for daring to speak to Tamil. The punishmen one leg in hot sun for a with the express sanct Christian boy's parent kid to speak only ir Anbazhagan wears a poor old man caught in Uncle Rip (Van Winkle upina strange land hav ades!
This all-pervasive fa whatever signified by Tamil Nadu become th country to elect a conve head of its government if Tamil is the milk-gi Hindi once the poisor then English is certain Auntie for those who in Throughout history, nessed the dominance O

15 AUGUST 1996
SCAL, 2P
amil deliver veredium of science on is all English. and industry secrnal and external mputers and softglish at the grasssh media is conve and academic lecidedly periphen to silliness and -speaking news:rsons make it a g suit and tie and English phrase to does not matter iate the three N’s , or the three S's
English constitue Tamil Nadu aspectingrural poliTamil linguists gpapers in places ferences in Enggirls write adjinitive poems back \n acquaintance astic father after of the seven the sangam era, ged his name to but general min
ruity came to the at day, Education gam was telling lation schools to instruction from few kilometres boy of a city mabeing punished his classmate in t, of standing on 1 hour, was given ion of the Tamil S who want their English And pathetic look, a a time-warp. An :) who has woken ing slept for dec
d for English, or English, has seen e first state in the ent dropout as the ... Of the tongues, ving Mother and -giving Demon, lly the seductive matter here now.
Tamil has witf other languages
and linguistic traditions, but managed to emerge victorious by retaining its classical and popular levels of existence. Tamil has contributed decisively to Sanskritic poetry, as is evident from George L Hart's study of Dravidian elements present in Kalidasa's poetry. The five-fold tinai classification since Tamil sangam poetry is unique, observed the late A K Ramanujan. Tamil linguistic and grammatological tradition since Tolkappiyam is not a mere copy of Sanskrit's Paniniyam, but parallels and reworks it. Tamil literature is a field wherein several dialects, local and alien cults, religions and traditions co-exist. Prakritic, Chinese, Arabic and European scholars down the ages found in Tamil a fertile new ground for cross cultural work. All this might well become a thing of the past, if Tamils fail to grasp and work out the rightful place of their language in the modern and post-modern eras. The current indications are that it is just not happening. Unlike Sanskrit or English, the Tamil language exists in field of diglossia – simultaneously in classical and popular modes. Unfortunately, in its classical mode, Tamil is treated like an artefact (while it is not), making it difficult for Tamils to adopt words from other languages for newer concepts and fields for the growth of their language.
The Tamil mass version, however, has "grown' mainly due to the spread of print and film media. Tamils are currently borrowing their daily vocabulary heavily from English, mainly because there are no Tamil equivalents for several new words in currency at the modern private and public spheres. The shift from mass to genuine popular versions can occur only if there is creative flux all around. This flux does mot exist now because of lack of creative activity in Tamil on the part of that generation of elites who know both English and Tamil well. This includes the elites, who are more interested in consolidating their contacts abroad. They have simply abdicated their responsibility.
Thus, the purists who wield enormous power within the Tamil officialdom are caught within a time-warp. They are interested in evolving a standardised state language, which would be buffeted by an undeveloping mass version. Thus, the standardised state version and the undeveloping mass version are destroying Tamil's dialects and also the possibility of the emergence of a genuine modern Tamil in its classical and popular modes.
There is very little by way of creativity among scholars in using Tamil to grasp how a modern field of knowledge, say computers, can be adopted to Tamil. To speak of an example, all Tamil computer keyboards are mechanical replicas of the Tamil typewriter. It has taken 15 years for this to be corrected by a Tamil teacher working in Singapore. As

Page 29
15 AUGUST 1996
TRAVAILS OF W.
Andhakaraya (Darkness) By Nimal S. Sara Printers and Publishers, Colombo,
he Sinhala reader who is necessarily set on his own social and cultural background had hitherto been treated with an overdose of familliar characters lodged in Sinhala fiction. Leading the Sinhala reader to formally unfamiliar ground with his collection of short stores. Nimal Sedera introduces local Tamil characters to him. These fictional compositions woven against the background of current ethnic violence are rare, and Andhakaraya is unique. Its ability to penetrate communal, ethnic and religious barriers and to reach the bottom-most layer of humanism in touching emotions of compassion exuding from a Sinhalese deeply disciplined in Buddhist way of life is one's lifetime realisation.
Set against the atrocities and violence in 1983, 1986 and 1987, Sedera has developed fascinating stories savouring forbearance and humanism interlaced with horrendous acts of inhumanity unleased by the Sinhalese, Tamils and the IPKF. Events in the eighties saw the ethnic conflict in the country deepening into a new dimension nailing itself into the political and social fabric that compelled each community to search for new grounds of reconciliation.
The moving tale of woes twined in “The Darkness” is based on the real life experience under the IPKF that forced people into submission. It portrays the warming of an Indian soldier to tender humble appeal of an innocent young girl to spare her family from death. The au
thor succeeds in n the humanism exis derous soldier but
acter reacted to the by him. The fathert saved because of t mother thanked Go kept quiet reflectin maneness and soft soldier who saved
and merit should ir sentiment which al mote inter-human 1
Crea “The Shock' sho tivity in expressing In fact, the events o on the majority Sir the shooting spree later, was a shame too, because in each were innocent civil Instead of the a naturally evoked ir subtle convictionar tells how such inhu finally to rest with self.
Silva, a baker in his wife who runs : of her mother-in-la They adopt a Tam killed by Tamil rac identity. The coupl for good. In tenuou: devotional adoptio mocks at the wife's
(Continued from page 28)
a teacher of the Tamil alphabet, he quickly realised that only consonants and vowels need to be put in the keyboard. There is no need to put combining elements of the 247 letter-forms. Any Tamil word can be punched by combining the necessary vowels and consonants the right way.
In general, Tamil scholars including the majority of the purists are aware of the language's classical heritage. However, they are by and large uncaring of contemporary literary trends across the world. On the other hand, those practising modern Tamil literature are mired deeply within contemporary social and political problems, tending to ignore the eternal cultural value of the cosmic language-forms in the classics, myths, legends and folktales of Tamil land. With the result that what is written by many
talented writers en nalese!
Hence, Tamil ha from its modern litt who should be livil of the language-fo to this in literature ginal trends of mo in poetry, by Subr in prose, by sh Pudumaipithan anc are being carried f of litterateurs wh modern and post-I guage.
However, there a or litterateurs sen guage today. Mod not have a Noam ( speare, a Tolkappi whom it surely de thus, has marginal

ܥܒܚܝ
TAML TIMES 29
AR
dera, Rs.50.
ot only bringing out tent even in a muralso how each charare sympathy shown hought that they were he daughter and the d while the daughter g that it was the huness of heart of the them, and the credit variably go to him a one could help proelations.
itivity ws the author’s creadeep human feelings. f 1983 were a shame halese and similarly at the Sri Mahabodhi on the Tamil psyche l instance the victims ians. nger each massacre the other. Sedera in ld clever composition man acts bring shame the perpetrator him
Jaffna is joined by away from the wrath w for being childless. il boy. He was later ists under a mistaken e in grief leave Jaffna sinterpretation of the n of a child, Sedera belief that the child
ds up as mere jour
s failed to gain much erateurs and linguists ng at the cutting edge rm. Rare exceptions are found in the marlernism inaugurated, amania Bharati and, ort story writers Mouni. These trends orward by a handful
) are worried about
nodern forms of lan
e only a few linguists sitive to Tamil lanern Tamil, alas, does 'homsky or a Shaker oran Ilango Adigal serves Tamil Nadu, sed modern Tamil.O
is God's gift to them. Here the foster-parents' failure to appreciate and acknowledge the human and benevolent gesture of the Tamil doctor who found a baby for them was emphasised. Instead, they thanked God reflectively, unable to realise how could a God’s gift be so easily destroyed by marauding atheists who had no respect or love for God. That is the theme of "Blood Relations' which was enthusiastically written into a short story where both love and hatred transcend racism.
The people whether in the North or South do not want war which makes themselves the victims. War always brings misery to them. When his house in Colombo was burnt down by vandals, Gnanaratnam left for Jaffna only to find that his house had been burnt down by the IPKF. The author emphatically and sympathetically cries in "Black Smoke" for the innocent who suffers in common wherever the lives. Eventually what remains at the botton is the bare human being with pangs of hunger and strained emotions hurting him to the core. That's how it goes to portray the poor Jaffna Tamil forced to live in traumatic conditions who finally ends up in Tamil Nadu still yearning to return to Sri Lanka, his motherland.
Tragedy
"Battle Field" depicts the tragedy as well as the comedy of the poor Sinhala soldier fighting the ethnic war in the north. He leaves the south not out of love for the country but out of love for life the sustenance of which needs money. In him and his family the desire to live and not to sacrifice life was always in command. At the front, he shoots himself in the arm and saves his life from death SO that he could live back at home. The writer while showing scorn and throwing sarcasm over the very idea of war brings out the dilemma of the poor living in the south who are caught in between the desire to live and commission to die at the call to serve in the army.
Nimal Sedera, a well-known fiction writer has developed sufficient moral courage and intellectual maturity to use the medium of literary fiction to portray the tale of trepidations and travails of war perpetuated by interested parties on either side of the ethnic divide. Andhakaraya (The Darkness) is a collection of short stories that reflects the true sentiments of a person seeking peace passionately. These stories should be translated into Tamiland English to convey the deepest emotions of a Buddhist who is also a Sinhalese, towards his fellow human beings suffering under political and military pressure of a war.
Reviewed by EMG Edirisinghe (Courtesy of "The Sunday Observer")

Page 30
30 AMIL TIMES
CLASSIFIED ADS
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The Advertisement Manager Tamil Times Ltd. PO Box 121, Sutton, Surrey SM13TD
phone: 0181-644 0972 Fax: 0181-241,4557.
MATRIMIONAL
Jaffna Hindu parents seek professional, ambitious, outgoing bride, 25+, for Master's qualified engineerson, 32, employed in US, horoscope immaterial. Details, photo please. M. 855 c/o amil Times.
Jaffna Hindu sister residing in Australia seeks educated partner, 36-45, for doctor sister, 36, New Zealand permanent resident working in Colombo. Send horoscope, details. M862 C/O Tamil Times.
Jaffna parent seeks partner below 36 for engineer son, disabled but very independent, self employed in Canada. Religion immaterial. M 863 C/o Tamil Times.
Brother seeks bride for engineer, early 40s, securely employed in London. Widows welcome. Religion immaterial. M 864 C/O Tamil Times.
Jaffna Hindu parents seek professional groom, 30-35, in UK employment for daughter, London University Ph.D. student. Send horoscope, details. M 865 C/o Tamil Times.
Jaffna Hindu professional father seeks doctor in UK, for slim, fair daughter, postgraduate holding substantive job. State sector UK. Horoscope immaterial. correspondence treated strictly confidentially. M 866 C/o Tarmil Tirones.
Jaffna Hindu aunt seeks partner for accountant nephew, British citizen, 39. Please telephone 0171 624 5108.
OBITUARIES
Mrs. Parameswary Navarat
pensioner formerly of Kaddudai; loving mother of the late Mr. Ramachandran, Mrs. Nagapooshani Suntharalingann, Mrs. Mithiladevi Vivekananthan, Mrs. Nirmaladevi Balasingam (Australia), Mrs. Vikrneswary (Ruby) Jeyagandhinathan (Australia), Mr. Ramakrishnan (Canada), Mrs. Sivayoki Kugaverl (Kaddudai) and Mr. Ramkumaran (Australia); step mother of the late Mrs. Seethadevi Ponniah, Sister of the late Mr. Karthigesapillai (formerly of Ipoh, Malaysia) passed away on 1907.96 in Perth, Western Australia and was Cremated On 22.07.96 - Ramkumaran, 50 Crossland Way, Kardinya, Western AuStralia 6163. Tel: 3323978.
Kandaval - retired Chief architect P. W. D., Colombo, Sri Lanka - beloved son of late Vela uthampillai and late Meenambal Velauthampillai of Karampan, Kayts, beloved husband of Jeyapooshani; loving father of Wignesh (architect); fath er - in - la W of Gowri Narayani; grandfather of Ganesh Ramana, Rathini and Prasanthi; brother of late Dr. Thiagarajah, late Kumaraswamy, Mrs. Thevaky Sabaratnam, Poopal, late Mrs. Kamala Can agarat na m, la te Gnaneswaran, Mrs. Rajeswary Arulanandan, Mahade van (architect); brother-in-law of Mr. C. Canagaratnam, Professor K. Arulanandan, late Mrs. Manonmani Poopal, Mrs. Ranee Mahade van, Mrs. Kularanjitham illagunathan, Mrs. Mano
nam (77), beloved wife of the Dharmarajah and Balabaskar
late Mr. Navaratnam, Malayan
an, passed away peacefully on
 
 
 
 

15 AUGUST 1996
18 July, 1996 in Los Angeles, California.
He is very much missed by his loved ones, relatives and friends who are praying for his soul to rest in peace.
The members of the family thank all friends and relatives' for their messages of sympathy and support during the period of grief.
Dr. N.T. Sampanthan (80), formerly of Co-operative Hospital, Moolai, Sri Lanka, beloved husband of Saratha; loving father of Subaschandran and Nagalingam (both of Colombo) passed away at his son's residence at 312 Thimbirigasyaya Road, Colombo 5 On 2nd August 1996. The cremation took place at Kanate on 4th August in the presence of a very large gathering of friends and relatives.
information given by K. Jeganathan, Kyalami Flats, Butterworth 4960, South Africa. Tel: 474 6101 15.
Mr. Arulnandhy Thavendran, Consultant Chartered ACCOUntant of 14 Palm Grove, ColOmbo 3 beloved husband of Ranee, loving father of Anjali and Ravi; Son of late Mr. & Mrs. K.S. Arulinandhy; son-in-law of late Mr. N.A. Rajaratnam and Mrs. Rajaratnam; brother of late Mahendrarajah, late Kamala, late Mangalam, Manie,
Pu ve endran, The vi and Chithra; brother-in-law of late Jeyaranee, late Thiruvathavoorar, Mahadeva, Kiruha, Sarojini, Sunthari and Alvapillai passed away in Las Vegas, USA on 14.7, 1996. The funeral took place in Lancaster, California on 17.7.96.
IN MEMORAM
In loving memory of Mr. Apputhurai Gunaratnam of Point Pedro, Sri Lanka, formerly Divisional Superintendent of Post Offices, Sri Lanka on the sixth anniversary of his passing away on 28.8.90.
Sadly missed and fondly remembered by his loving wife Rani; children Thirukumaran (Australia), Vasuki (Sri Lanka), Devaki (Australia), Sutharsan (UK) and Saratha Devi (Australia); daughter-in-law, sons-inlaw, grand children, sister and in-laws. - 67B St. Ann's Road, London N15 6N.J. Tel: 0181 8O256O1.
Mr. Mayilvaganam Velummayilum, J.P., U.M., Attorneyat-law and former Chairman, Urban Council, Point Pedro, Sri Lanka passed away on 31.8.89 and the seventh anniversary of his denise falls on 31.8.96.
Sadly missed by his loving wife, children Thayanandarajah (UK), Nithiyanandarajah (New Zealand), Mayilvaganarajah (UK), Chitra, Anandarajah, Krishnarajah and Jayanthi (all of Sri Lanka); grandson Cameron; in-laws, relatives, friends and a host of grateful constituents. 59 Edgwarebury Gardens, Edgware, Middx. HA8 8LL.

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15 AUGUST 1996
In loving memory of Mrs. Mankay Sivasampu on the sixth anniverary of her passing away On 28.90.
Sadly missed and fondly remembered by her two sons. - 15 Wolsey Road, Chessington,
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
August 30 Swami Nithyananda Giri of Tapovanam, Tamil Nadu visits Sri Raja Rajeswari Amman Temple, Stoneleigh, Surrey For details Tel: 0181 393 8147.
September 1 Aawani Sunday 3
Sept. 3 Kaarthikai, Sept. 4 Krishna Jayanthi. Sept. 7 Raja Rajeswari Amman Temple presents Cultural Evening 1996 in aid of Building Fund – Live Music, Villu Pattu, Tamil Drama, Bharatha Natyam & Veena Recital. Tel: O181 3938.147. Sept. 8 Ekathasi, Aavani Sunday 4. Sept. 8 6.00pm Tamil Performing Arts Society presents Tamil
Surrey KT9 1XG.
Drama Festival 1996 with New
CANADIAN NEWS LETTER is
Weather: A sunny and warm summer with temperatures of 23 to 27 degrees and occasional thunderstorms towards evening or overnight. Canadian Tamils are having a field day picnicking. Senior Tamils' Centre of Ontario: Twelve of the Seniors along with fellow Canadians participated in a 10 day WELLNESS CAMP at Corburg from 3rd to 12th July.
They enjoyed their stay at this get-away lodge far away from the city's madding Crowds.
A hundred of the Seniors had a pleasant experience when they visited the world's highest hydraulic cruise in Peterborough on 10th August. The Seniors' annual visit to the Shakespeare village is scheduled for 10th September when they will see "The Merchant of Venice'.
Canadian Ceylon Tamils Chamber of Commerce had its annual trade exhibition at the Metro East Trade Centre, Pickering on 10th and 11th August. It would be recalled that the Chamber conducted a workshop on the use of computers in small businesses with particular reference to inventory control, in spring this year.
Sixth World Tamil due to be held for thi 24th August at the M tion Centre. Profess Shanmugathas and Lanka and ProfessO niam and Dr. R. Jal Nadu, South India at uished visitors to the Bharatha Natyam da mileswar and play Chakkarawathy are in the festival.
The Tamil Eelam So its annual general n Mr. M. Duraiswamy dent. The following bearers elected.
Vice-President: S.
ary: R. Gunanathan, Rohini Uthaykumar, manathan, Director Sivanathan, V. Pt Sathamathy Arunth Nadarasa K. Kulanc
Changes to Rent Government has re paper on changes Landlord Tenant La proposals are acces many of tenants' leg who are now tenar rental buildings threatened. When a Control will be lifted charge the new ten Wants – the marke only restraining fact
Scholarship Awar Deepa Thayalak Suresh Sriskanda Secondary have w Horizons Program. The scholarship e. awards of 500 do schooling and 20 versity.
 
 
 
 
 
 

TAM TIMES 31
Productions Directed by K. Balendra at Secombe Theatre, 2heam Road, Sutton, Surrey. For Tickets Telephone: 0181 '59 4335/470 7883/240 0211.
Festival 1996 with New Productions Directed by K. Balendra at Waltham Forest Theatre, Winns Terrace, London E17. Fortickets Tel 01814594335/
Sept. 10 Prathosam. Sept. 12 Amavasai.
Sept. 14 Feast of Exaltation o
the Holy Cross.
Sept. 15 Aavani Sunday 5. Sept. 16 Vinayaga Chathurthi.
Sept. 18 Sasti.
Sept. 21 Purattashi Sani 1;
Feast of St. Mathew. Sept. 23 Ekathasi. Sept. 24 Pirathosam. Sept. 26 Full Moon.
Sept. 27 Feast of St. Vincent
de Paul.
Sept. 28 Purattashi Sani 2.
47O 7883/240 O21 1. Sept. 30 Feast of St. Jerome.
At Bhawan Centre, 4A Castletown Road, London W14 9HQ. Te: O 171 381 3086 4608. Sept. 1 7.00pm Asian Music Circuit presents Vishwamohan & Salil Bhatt on Veena. Sept. 5 7.00pm Krishna Janmashtami. Bajan, Puja & Prasad. All Welcome. Sept. 20 7.30pm Asian Music Circle presents Light Classical Vocal by Sipra Bose. Sept. 22 6.30pm Manipuri
Sept. 28 Tamil Performing Arts Dance by Darbhana Jhaveri & Society presents Tamil Drama Latasana Devi.
Cultural Festival is ee days commencing etro Toronto Convenors K. Sivathamby, A. A. Sivarajah from Sri r M. P. BallaSubramaarthanan from Tamil e some of the distingfestival. Tamil Nadu Incer Ms. Jayaledohuback singer Theepan expected to take part
ciety of Canada held eeting in July when was reelected presiare the other office
Sittampalam, SecretAsst. Secretary: Ms. Treasurer: S. Paths: S. Rajaratnam, S. vanachandran, Ms. vashanmugan, K.C. han and J. F. Xavier.
Control: The Ontario leased a discussion o Rent Control and v. if the government fed, it will take away Il rights. Many Tamils s in apartments and will be financially 9nant moves out, rent and the landlord Can nt what ever rent he
force remaining the r.
s: Two young Tamils, marasingham and jah of West View in the Canada Trust e Awards for 1996. itles then to annual trs during secondary dollars at the Uni
Nelson Mandela To Open Saiva Conference
The fifth World Saiva Conference is to be held from 20th to 23rd September 1996 in Durban organised by the South African Branch of the World Saiva Council. It is due to be ceremoniously opened at the Durban University Hall by the South African President, His Excellency Dr. Nelson Mandela.
Over 100 overseas delegates including the heads of South Indian Saiva Mutts and Saiva Siddhanta Professors are attending the conference. Swami Siva Nandhi, Dr. S. Sivathasan, Mr. V. R. Ramanathan and Mr. K. Ranganathan are attending the conference as seminar speakers from the UK.
Lisa's Bharata Natya Arangetram
Lisa Thiruvalam's Bharata Natya Arangetram, at the Ashcroft Theatre in Croydon on Sunday 4th August, was a debut for Guru Priyadharshana Yogarajah as well. Lisa was the first student to be presented in an Arangetram by Guru Dharshana's PranaValaya school of dancing and the young dancer earned her Guru and herself a much deserved chorus of approval and applause,

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32 AMIL TIMES
The start bode well for the rest to follow. Lisa, starting with Ganesha Vandhanam, wasted no time in displaying her confidence and agility. The movements were deft and executed with suppleness and grace. The padam Mathurashtakam, with music composed by Sri Yogeswaran the vocalist, was enchanting. Lisa danced the padam Adi Kondar majestically with an admirable spring in her movements. The Thamil Varnan, nallaa sakurnam nokki Selladi, is a rarely performed piece and can be described as a padavarnam due to the Scope given for bhava and Lisa took the opportunity to demonstrate her abhinaya skills splendidly.
Sri Yogeswaran is a gifted vocalist whose enchanting singing raised the quality of the evening's performance. Excellent support was provided by a youthful and talented group of musicians with Sri Kirupakaran on the mirudangam, Sri Kothandapani on the violin, Sri Gnanavaradan on the flute and Sri Sithamparanathan on the morsing.
Guru Dharshana, a sangeeta vidwan, had received her own tutelage from the doyen of dancers, Smt. Balasundari Prarthalingam and from Smt. Subathra Sivadasan. The entire repertoire was choreographed by Dharshana with freshness and versatility. The purists may have been surprised at times, but so they should and full marks to you Dharshana for presenting Lisa, your first arangetram student, with such panache and style. It was a pleasure to see a young dancer perform not only to a high standard but also with much evident enjoyment.
Ravi Sanguhan.
Karthiga's Vina Arangetram
it was a great pleasure to be present at the Vina Arangetram at Lewisham Theatre, Catford on 3rd August 1996 when Smt Sivasakthi Sivanesan presented her disciple Karthiga daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gengatharan. To attain the standard to ascend the stage for an arangetram or debut, not only requires talent but also devotion, dedication and very hard work from both sisya and guru and support from the pupil's parents. We had ample evidence of the results of following this demanding discipline.
The programme started with a Varnam, Sarasijanabha followed by Varavalabha Ramana. The beautiful Dikshitar kirtana Panchashatpitarupini was followed by the first of Tyagaraja's Pancharatna kritis, a demanding piece to show the skills of the vina player. By now Karthiga was having problems with her new vina, the heat of the
lights constantly alter strings. In circumstan unnerved a seasoned iga remained calm continued to play Ma and the lyrical kirtan Sri P. Kanagasabap Karthiga's parents speech before the int.
The Paridanannich Pallavi, Kurjaran Sott Ragamalika Sri Chak, fully executed by Kat val. The lively and co the Thilana with the and the ghattam b. rivalling each other b| evening to a close. Si the Miridangam, Sri R. tam and Karthiga's Tambura gave her e
fert.
The distinguished ( Vedavali congratulate Sivasakthi on the per Webb of Sydenham John Marr expresse attending the arangett was compered by K Jayanthy who made Malaysia expressly fo
Kamalasal President's
Mr. K.C. Kamalasaba for of the Sri Lankar Department was appc Citor General from 1 recently took his oa Counsel. Mr. Kamala liant student and pas Cate with first class Ceylon Law Colleg Master of Laws in
Colombo Universitya
 
 

15 AUGUST 1996
ng the tuning of the xes that would have professional, Karthand Collected and nava Sadha Janani | Parvati Nayakane. athy, guru to both made an inspiring rval.
te, Ragam Tanam ara Kumara and the a Raja were beauti'higa after the internplicated rhythms of vina, the mridangam oth supporting and ought the wonderful FM. Balachandar On N. Prakash on Ghaousin Harri on the cellent accompani
Shief Guest Prof. R. id Karthiga and Smit formance. Ms. Mary figh School and Dr.
id their pleasure at . am. The programme
arthiga's aunt Smt the journey from r the performance.
Wendy Marr.
bayson - s Counsel
yson, Deputy Solici
Attorney General's inted Additional SoliSt March 1996 and hs as a President's Sabayson was a brilsed out as an advo
honours from the . He obtained his Public Law at the ld later the Master of
Laws in International Business Law at Kings College, London. His first appointment was as a State Counsel in the Attorney General's Department on 1st August 1974 and it was through hard work and dedicated service that he has risen to the present high position. He has appeared for the state in several important cases including those connected with the extradition of Manik Sandrasagara and Benwell. He had advised successive governments in Sri Lanka on the most complicated legal issues. He was a visiting lecturer and examiner in the Sri Lanka Law College and a visiting lecturer in the University of Colombo.
He is an inspiration and guide to everyone in the Attorney General's Department. His methodical and meticulous application to his duties and his resourcefulness set the standard for those in the department.
Mr. Kamalasabayson is a great debater and orator who won gold medals in the Law College and hails from a distinguished legal family in Trincomalee. His brother the late Mr. Kamalanathan was a leading criminal lawyer and Mr. Kamalabaskaran, the well known social worker of Surrey, UK is another brother.
Emeritus Principal Feted
dதிபர் ஒடுவன் i îl III)6)|li
Mr. P. Kanagasabapathy, Emeritus Principal, Mahajana College, Telipalai, Jaffna was feted by members of several Old Students' Associations, friends and well wishers at a well attended dinner held at
Rutish School Hall, Watery Lane, London SW20 on 20th July 1996. He was draped in a golden shawl" and blessed by Bhrama Shri Naganatha Kurrukkal of the London Murugan Temple and by Mr. A. Vairavamoorthy on behalf of Mahajana Old Students.
The others who spoke on this occasion were W. Thayalan and N.Sri Gengatharan, President and Secretary of Mahajana

Page 33
15 AUGUST 1996
IMMIGRATION, ASYLUM, NATIC
Rengan N. Devarajan Also:
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Eason’s Miruthanga Arangetra
The Miruthanga Arangetram of twelve year old Eason son of Mr. ham of Vinters Park, Maidstone on 20th July at Thurrock Civic H different from other Miruthanga Arangetrams in the recent past. Th the privilege of enjoying two very good recitals - a veena and a V Eason's Arangetram was divided into two parts. During accompanied a veena recital by Smt Malini Thanabalasingam an accompanied the well known vocalist Smt Ambika Thamotheram.
The veena recital consisted of Varnam, Kriti and Ragan Karaharapriya Raga and Kanda Triputa Tala followed by the Than Eason displayed his talents as a full fledged percussion artiste.
in the second half, the songs were in varied Talas. The high Gopalakrishna Bharathiyar in Shanmugapriya Ragam - Thanthai concluded with the Thillana in Sangeera Desathi Talam followe Kandachappu Talam. Eason's Guru Sri Muthu Sivaraja was beam, When the audience applauded the young artiste.
The Chief Guest Sangeetha Vithushi Smt Katpaham Swaminath congratulated the parents Sarada and Kumarasingam for their dec
The other accompanying artistes were Sri S. Visakan - Ganji Gadam, Sri K. Sithamparanathan - Morsing, Smt Kalaivanilindraku Gayathri Nathan - Thambura.
O.S.A. (UK), K. Yogeswaran, T. Puthir- san, P. Rajanayag asingham, J. Jeyakumar, Sri Vasanthama- nakam Skanda Var la Yasokkumar representing Puttur Sri he was a student a Somaskand College of which he was A book of ten ar Principal for a few years, E.K. Rajagopal, ContributionS of M A. Tarcisius, Mangayatkarasi Aminthaling- the Canadian Tami am, K. Selvagunachandran, N. Sri Sabe- gavallo" was launche
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

TAM L TIMES 33
- TENANT ISSUES IOUSING AL ISSUES ION ADVICE NJURY CLAIMS
XIGl 2LE
NALITY & CRIMINAL SOLICTORS ܠ
and Mrs. Kumarasingall, Grays, Essex was is time the guests had жcal
the first half Eason di affer the interVal he
Thanafn Pallavi in Avarthanan in which
light was the Kriti by hai'. The programme by a Thiruppugal in ng with justified pride
'n blessed Eason and ication to the art.
a, Sri Gananathan - nar - Violin and Selvi
m representing Chundaya College of which ld G. Natkunam. cles selected from the Kanagasabapathy to Journal, "Tamilar Tha
On this OCCasion.
The Search - A Dance Drama
Samudra, a South Indian Performing Arts Organisation in the UK is presenting a Dance Drama - The Search - based on a popular Malayalam poem, "The Poothappattu' by Kerala's best known poet Etasseri Govinda Menon. The story has the simplicity and directness of a fairy tale and has an inner depth of meaning. It is about the redeeming of a young child from the clutches of a wicked Pootham (demon) through the pure and devoted love of his nother. The demon abducts him. On his way to school, the mother goes in search of her son and redeems him by overcoming the wicked charms of the demon.
Thanuja Shanker, one of the finest young Bharatha Natyam dancers based in UK, a product of the Dhananjayans School of Dancing, Madras will portray the simple story in a Dance Drama, for the Milap Festival Trust at the Blue Arts Centre, School Lane, Liverpool on 20th October 1996 and at the Old Bull Arts Centre, Barnet, Herts on 26th October 1996. For further information please telephone 0151 427 4920.

Page 34
34 TAM TIMES
Annual Dinner of Tamil Lawyers' Associ
The Annual Dinner of the Tamil Lawyers' Association was held r Park Marriott Hotel.
Mr. Martin Mears, the President of the Law Society was the representative gathering of the Tamil Lawyers currently practisit spouses took part in this annual event. Picture shows the Presia with officials of the Tamil Lawyers' Association.
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