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TIME
Wol XV1 No.4 ISSN 0286-448815 APR
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Govt-UNP Agreement
GOWIDA GOWT. FALLS
DSAPPEARANCES RISE
o Pols in Retrospec
DLEMMA OF THE INDIAN LEFT
Violence Againsi Wonten
UNP leader Rani Wickramasinghe

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15 APRIL 1997
"I do not agree with a word of what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."
-Voltaire
Tamil.
TIMES
ISSN 0266 - 4488 VOXV1 NO.4 15 APRIL 1997
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CONTENTS
Govt-UNPAgreement O3 Govt Unveils New Constitution O6 Human Rights Commission O7 Violence Against Women O7 Disappearances - New High O8 Soldiers Charged with Murder 09 Jaffna Library Project 10 Navy to be Beefed-Up 11 Tamil Groups North 11 Peace Process-Time for Action 4. Local Pols in Retrospect 7ו Staged fpproach to End Conflict 19 Deve Gowda Govt Falls 24 Dilemma of the Indian Left 27 Fake Photo Trick Boomarangs 28 Readers Forum 29 Classified 30
The P.
The British br opposition Unitec for a negotiated pt
In the backgt cultivated and fos erned the country Warresulting in di leaders of the two cent history. It ma it is not without si lution of the ethni ment, progress a
The fact is tha by the main party the "race, country proach, a solutior Chelvanayakam h ous democracy it ments compelled conflict. To give all unrestandantage allowed to be imp have been spare could have been : and the Oppositic scending partisar each other and a cance. The agree
The Connitnr predicated by the in Governmental gers of Tamil Ee] place with the co, that, if this approa tion be establishe that "concurrence decisions are arri
Not without S the inescapable p Sions also with th the primary proto the agreement be There have been the government : moves being na ments of the LTT negotiations with a useful role in bit ernment ought in facilitation in any
However, the ence on precond the LTTE should on a time frame f LTTE's precondit the north, particl. agree to these pr conditions only r peace through a
The nevy noc and opposition p. and the LTTE oug or without third pé both parties is th: ties until negotiat
 
 
 

TAMIL TIMES 3
-UNPAgreement-What Next
pkered agreement between the ruling Peoples Alliance and the 'National Party has produced renewed interest in the prospect olitical solution to the protracted ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. ound of entrenched majoritarian chauvinsm opportunistically fered primarily by the two main political parties which have gov'since independence leading to the present state of continuing tily death and destruction, the agreement reached between the parties can be regarded as unprecedented in the island's rey be late in the day after so much of death and destruction, but gnificance that now both these parties "recognise that the resoconflict will restore peace in Sri Lanka and lead to the developd prosperity of the country and its people." at previous attempts at solving the conflict have been thwarted of opposition accusing the government of the day of betrayal of and religion". If there had been a common and bipartisan apcould have been found as early as 1958 via the Bandaranaikeact, and the island could have developed into a model prosper) Asia. But at that time, the UNP in coalition with extremist elethe abrogation of that accord which led to the escalation of the other example, the SLFP in the opposition whipped up popular onism to the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of July 1987, if this had been lemented to the full and the conflict resolved, the country could d of a decade of debilitating war and tens of thousands of lives saved in this background, the agreement between the President in Leader which recognises the ethnic conflict as "an issue tranpolitics" and binding themselves not to undermine the efforts of Idopt a bipartisan approach to a solution is of historic signifiment has been well received both locally and iniernationally ent to the bipartisan approach contained in the agreement is provision that "any discussions or decisions between the party ndany other party, group or person, including the Liberation Tiam, aimed at resolving the ethnic conflict" must "have taken ncurrence of the party in opposition." It is therefore imperative ich is to be sustained, a mechanism and channel of communica2d between the President and the Leader of the Opposition so "could be guaranteed before and during discussions and before ved at. ignificance is the specific reference to the LTTE which leads to resumption that both parties to the agreement envisage discuse LTTE "aimed at resolving the ethnic conflict." The LTTE being ganist on one side, its resposine to the new situation created by tween the PA and the UNP is crucial to ending the ongoing war, reports of the prospect of a resumption of negotiations between and the LTTE, though there appears to be no evidence of any de in this direction by either side. However, recent pronounceE would appear to indicate that it would be ready to commence third party mediation/facilitation. Now that a third party has played inging about the agreement between the PA and UNP the govot to dismiss the possible usefulness of third party mediation/ future negotiations with the LTTE. biggest stumbling block for any resumption of talks is the insistitions by both parties, The government's preconditions are that surrender its weapons, at least partially, and that it should agree or commencement and conclusion of political negotiations. The ions include withdrawal of troops from army controlled areas in larly from the Jaffna peninsula. It is unlikely either party would econditions. Knowing that to be the case, insisting on such prenean that the parties to the conflict are still not committed to negotiated solution. ld of optimism generated by the agreement between the ruling arties should not be allowed to be dissipated. The government ht to drop their preconditions and commence negotiations, with rty mediation/facilitation, The only precondition that should bind at each commits itself not to resume Violence and armed hostiliiations are concluded with a peaceful outcome.

Page 4
4 TAML TIMES
Govt and UNP Agree On Bipartisan Appr
Sri Lanka's ruling People's Alliance and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) have agreed to work together in adopting a bipartisan approach to the solution of the protracted ethnic conflict. It has been revealed that the agreement between the leaders of the two parties has been facilitated by the intervention of the British Foreign Minister Mr. Malcolm Rifkind, and efforts by the Under Secretary of State Dr. Liam Fox.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said in a statement on behalf of President Chandrika Kumaratunga and opposition leader Rani Wickramasinghe that the two parties were aiming at a "common approach" to solve the crisis, "The President and the Leader of the Opposition have exchanged letters about a number of arrangements which are intended to develop a common, cross-party approach - a bipartisan approach - towards the resolution of the ethnic conflict in our country"statement said. President Kumaratunga and UNP leader Rani Wickramasinghe exchanged letters in identical form and Content binding themselves to a bipartisan approach. The letters dated 3 April 1997 addressed to each other and signed by the two leaders stated:
"I believe that we both recognise that the resolution of the ethnic conflict will restore peace in Sri Lanka and lead to the development, progress and prosperity of the country and its people. It is an issue transcending partisan politics. The development of a genuine bipartisan-partisan approach to the resolution of the ethnic conflict is vital to the achievement of a permanent solution to the conflict,
"Consequently, would like to suggest the following arrangements between the Peoples Alliance and the United National Party which I intend to put to the appropriate decision making body of my party for ratification:
o the incumbent Head of Government will brief and seek the opinion of the Leader of the United National Party on significant developments relating to the ethnic conflict, both in the strictest confidence, if in Government, the Leader of the United National Party will reciprocate; o the party in opposition will not un
dermine any discus tween the party in other party, group o Liberation Tigers C at resolving the et discussions and C place with the con in opposition;
o against the ba currence, on electi ther party will honc in full."
In a statement leader Rani Wick Foreign Minister K need to restore pe ing importance for eas in our country of our people. It is a nds party politics. T that a great many C spective of political View and believe t made to develop co Wards the resolutic "Against this ba a number of discus Rifkind, the British Foreign and Comr with Dr. Liam Fox, t State, who has vis recent months, ab ence of bipartisan in relation to the Ireland. understa the Opposition ha sions, Dr. Fox's ad has proved to be r
"I believe that tween the parties: important and valu, tential to help us to issue. It deserves by our people and try."
The British in Fox who appears pin behind the ne President and th Would seem to ha way the two parti ernment's devoluti campaign in ther tions. According Uyangoda, politic
 

15 APR1997
ment ach
sions or decisions beGovernment and any person, including the Tamil Eelam, aimed nic conflict, if these ecisions have taken urrence of the party
ckground ofsuch conDn to Government ei1ur all such decisions
With which the UNP ramasinghe agreed, adirgamar said, "The ace is of overwhelmprogress in other arand for the prosperity a need which transcehere can be no doubt fus in Sri Lanka, irrepersuasion, share this hat efforts should be mmon approaches toin of the conflict. ackground, I have had sions with Mr. Malcolm Secretary of State for honwealth Affairs and he Under Secretary of ted Sri Lanka twice in out the British experipartisan approaches roblems of Northern nd that the Leader of s had similar discusfice about this advice host useful, he understanding be
Announced today isan :
ble step with much poresolve a vital national o be welcomed widely he friends of our Coun
ervention via Dr. Liam o have been the kingotiations between the e leader of the UNP e had an impact on the is dealt with the govin proposals during the cently held local eleco university don Dr. J. | commentators in Co
lombo had missed one important aspect of the local election campaign: neither the ruling PA nor the UNP made the government's devolution package an election issue. There perhaps was already animplicit understanding between the two main political parties not to politicise the devolution issue during the election.
Following the PA-UNP agreement, there were speculative reports in the Colombo press about British mediation in talks between the government and the LTTE with a view to resolution of the ethnic conflict. However, a press release from the foreign ministry quoting Kadirgamar said that the British-assisted bipartisan agreement between the PA and the UNP to work towards ending the country's ethnic war was not a prelude to foreign mediation in the matter. “The government was not contemplating mediation or facilitation by any foreign government or third party at this point of time. While acknowledging the help given by the Britishin forging the People's Alliance-UNP understanding, the implementation of this agreement is entirely a national matter." the statement added. The government has consistently expressed willingness to open a dialogue with the LTTE, subject to conditions including a substantial laying down of arms and an agreement to arrive at a settlement within a stipulated time frame," the statement said,
Responding to unconfirmed newspaper reports that Dr. Liam Fox has had talks with the LTTE and that he was going to play a mediation role, the British High Commission in Colombo issued a statement totally denying such reports. The statement said, "The British High Commission is concerned by the speculative nature of Some of the comments in the Sri Lankan and Indian press alleging links between the British Government and the LTTE. There have been allegations that Dr. Fox has spoken to the LTTE or that his visit here was in some way connected with reports of a visit by Lawrence Tilakar to the Vanni.
"In fact Dr. Fox has had no contacts with the LTTE. His initiative was confined to discussions between the two Sri Lankan parties concerned, the People's Alliance and the United National Party, in order to share British experience in dealing with the IRA with them. At no time did Dr. Fox or the British Government have any discussions about this initiative with the LTTE. The British Government reaffirm that acts of terrorism are never justified for political purposes."
AgreementWelcomed
Hopes have risen for renewed peace talks to end Sri Lanka's protracted civil war following agreement by the two main political parties for a bipartisan-partisan approach to negotiations. The fact that the agreement refers to discussions with parties, including the LTTE, has raised the

Page 5
15 APRIL 1997
prospect of a resumption of negotiations with the Tamil Tigers.
"The possibility of such (peace) talks has been clearly indicated in the statement. Such a statement could not have been issued without preparatory Work." Neelan Thiruchelvam, a Member of Parliament belonging to the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), told reporters. He said if talks Were resumed the chances of success were higher than in the past when the ruling party was unsure of opposition support.
Foreign diplomats in Colombo said that there was a strong possibility that the government might be considering several possibilities, one of them being reopening talks with the LTTE in view its inability to subdue the LT TE and bring an end to the war and secondly due to international pressure,
However Foreign Ministry officials said that there were currently no moves to resume talks with the rebels or involve a third party to mediate to end the war. "The agreement among the two parties is on the table, Other than that there is no hidden agenda"one official said.
Some have described the agreement as a landmark political development in the recent history of the island, Since the 1950s, the two parties have vied with each other to portray itself as the better defender of the interests of the majority community, and each has undermined the efforts of the other to arrive at a negotiated settlement of the ethnic crisis,
in London, a Foreign Office press statement quoted deputy Foreign Minister Liam Fox as saying that Britain was glad that they were able to play a part in bringing about the agreement between the two parties and expressing hope that it would prove to be a significant step towards an eventual resolution of the Sri Lankan conflict. "I am delighted that the leaders of these two parties have agreed to adopt a bipartisan approach.l applaud the statesmanship they have shown and wish them Well," Dr. Fox said,
The Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, issued a statement wellcoming the decisions of the two parties and reminding the government that the remarkable achievement did not make the task of bringing peace to the lad easy, but the agreement had the potential to provide a foundation for a just and equitable solution to the ethnic conflict that has brought so much suffering. "There remains a lot of hard Work for the Sri Lanka Government and the Opposition parties in overcoming their differences concerning the devolution package and reaching a bipartisan compromise, including ways of bringing the LTTE to the negotiating table," the Minister said,
"it is commendable that both the government and the opposition have put their country's bé ifierests above those of party politics. The Australian Government
has always been greatl tragic suffering of civi and the Government t peaceful negotiated se an end to the human by the continuing conf the Government, I urg litical parties and con provide their wholehe this agreement and to prosperous and harmc Lanka" the Minister st The agreement ha demonstrating a chang the island's politician: conflict. "I hope it willb an effort to solve this for all,” President Chan told government offici in the capital ColombC Foreign Minister Li mar paid tribute to the Wickramasinghe "for h party politics of the day it was too early to be t the agreement. "In thi problem, only the fooli on the morrow there is beautiful blossoms it added.
The National Peace agreement can be cor jor step forward in the tiated political solution Expressing the hope ti Would not be used to war effort, the NPC no couraging that specifi in the letters of agreer two leaders about ne LTTE. A sustainable a not be achieved outsic In a statement add dent and the UNP lea Hindu Congress has wi ment and called upon manifest their sincerit to solve the problems by declaring a ceasethe process of finding
der Joseph Pararajas that this was a signific both major parties wh the country since ind the non-unification oi t ties that had been the try facing the 21st ( proper solution in sig been advocating the s ter and including the peace process, it is ticipation of the LTTE at a solution, Wickra must be applauded, opposition is joiningh ernment to solve the p appreciate it."Pararaj Rauf Hakeem, Se the Sri Lanka Muslim ( ing applauding the mc

TAMIL TIMES 5
7 concerned by the ians in Sri Lanka elieves that only a ittlement will bring suffering wrought ict. On behalf of | all Sri Lankan pomunity groups to arted support for Nork togetherfora nious future for Sri lid.
as been hailed as e of attitude among s in regard to the e the beginning of problem once and Jrika Kumaratunga als and diplomats
akshman KadirgaUNP leader Ranil aving risen above "But he cautioned oo euphoric about a long history of a sh will expect that going to be some the garden," he
Council said, "The sidered to be masearch for a negoo the ongoing war." hat the agreement Further sustain the ted that it was "enC mention is made ment signed by the gotiations with the nd just peace canle of negotiations." ressed to the Presder, the All Ceylon elcomed the agreethe two leaders to y and commitment of the Tamil people ire and to expedite a political solution. y leadergroup leasingham observed ant move made by o have been ruling ependence. It was hese two major parcause for the counentury without a ht, he said, "I have ettling of this matLTTE in whatever only with the parthat We can arrive masinghe's move le as leader of the ands with the govroblem. We greatly singham added.
cretary General of Xongress, expresslve the two leaders
said, "Ranil has acted like a statesman and would say he has risen above petty politics, We are happy about it. But both leaders not signing a common document indicates that there is a gulf between these two, Hence both leaders must keep the present agreement as their base and go ahead to signing a common declaration."
Douglas Devananda, leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party, said he was pleased with the move by both leaders for having decided to agree on some framework to bring about a solution to the ethnic issue," admire Opposition Leader Rani Wickramasinghe for his attempt to join with the President. He has understood the seriousness of the problem and we Welcome this." Devananda said,
Devananda, himself an avowed opponent and a target of the LTTE, said he welcomed efforts to form a common platform on the ethnic Crisis but added that Tamil-speaking people in Sri Lanka should be differentiated from the LTTE since the Tiger leader Pirabakaran had a separate agenda. "Coming together is important for a lasting political solution. But talking to the LTTE is different," said Devandanda.
M. Sivasithamparam, leader of the TULF, hailing the agreement said, "The past events in handling the ethnic problem have shown that the party which came to power and the party which was in the opposition were unable to reach a consensus among themselves in settling the ethnic issue. Several healthy pacts starting from the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam and the recent Indo-Sri Lanka Accord had failed miserably and they could not fulfil the aspirations of the Tamils. The present agreement reached between the Peoples Alliance and the UNP is a good step towards working out a conflict resolution agenda to solve the ethnic problem."
LTTE Reaction
The Tamil Tigers have not officially responded to the agreement between the UNP and the LTTE. However, their journals published within and outside the country have poured scorr, on the parties to the agreement and others who attach much importance to it as a step towards helping to solve the ethnic question. Denying the speculative stories in newspapers about behind the scene contacts between the government and the TTE, they have warned the people not to be deceived by such reports.
Referring to the parties to the agreement, the Tamil weekly“Eelamurasu" published from Paris describes the UNP and the SLFP as creatures that have been nurtured and nourished in the stinking pond of Sinhalachauvinism; during its 17 years in power, the UNP was engaged in genocidal war of destruction of the Tamil nation; the Chandrika government since it came to power has surpassed the UNP

Page 6
6 TAMIL TIMES
in conducting the war against the Tamil nation; these two parties are not going to negotiate a political solution recognising the Tamil people as a separate nation; therefore when they talk about a political solution, that means imposing Sinhala chauvinist domination upon the Tamils.
The article in the "Eelamurasu" also answers the question it poses: For whose benefit is this agreement reached between such chauvinist parties? Certainly it cannot be for the benefit of the Tamils; these parties have been historically responsible for deepening and escalating the ethnic conflict; they have been competing with each other as to who would better deprive more rights of the Tamils. What are their respective positions on the national question ? No difference whatsoever - they both deny recognition of the Tamils as a nation, their homeland and their right to self determination; what they mean by a "common or bipartisan approach" is to seek a solution that guarantees Sinhala chauvinist domination over the Tamils.
The government of Sri Lanka on 26 March released the draft Substantial sections of the proposed new constitution. The new constitution, still being debated by a parliamentary select committee, would be proposed to the house within the next couple of months, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris told a news conference.
"This reflects the results of the Work done by the select committee during the past 15 months." Peiris said adding that the 18 chapters of the draft new constitution which were being released did not include the chapteron devolution of power to the regions was still under debate by the select committee and was being held back,
The new constitution proposes to abolish executive presidency and a return to Westminster-style parliamentary system and to make Sri Lanka a more federal state. "Another aspect of making democratic government of immediate benefit to the people is the initiative to devolve power to the proposed regional councils," a synopsis of the constitution said. "This empowerment of people at the periphery will enable them to make decisions on issues directly relevant to them without reference to a central authority." the synopsis added.
On proposed regional councils, it said constraints placedon the provincial councils established in 1987 have been removed. They have been made fully competent within the devolved sphere. The central government would have the power to take immediate measures, including the dissolution of a council, if any attempt was
made by a regiona Sever itself from th said.
Peiris said the ruling People's Ali, cil elections strer ment's handat tak forward. Sri Lanka' are expected to ir posals aimed at gr. to minorities and island's north and
The new const a number of new ri tection for human doms. If approved ity in parliament, th be put to the peopl dum.
The release of has resulted in pr with the other poli opposition UNP, st ister Pieris' move, to release them to erations on the dra on at the Parliame tee. The UNP's po. Pieris has violatec Parliamentary Pow The UNP leader, F has also contradi claim that the dra ceived the consens Select Committee. Meanwhile, so Muslim Congress Coalition, aso ind Was not consultec the draft Constituti taken by Surprise MP When asked W about the governr public the draft pr der discussion at lect Committee,
Political analy the government m lated risk by relea draft chapters of show of governm against a Weake ment probably w: local election vic something positi Commented anar thinking of the PA
The ruling Pe ing win in the rece has been seen b as an endorsem peace process thi posals.
"Over the pa the government roots with its p
 
 

15 APRIL 1997
council to secede or ; rest of Sri Lanka, it
ecent victory for the ince at the local counthened the governg the peace process constitutional reforms lude devolution pronting more autonomy nding the war in the aSt.
ution also introduces hts guaranteeing proights and other freeby a two-thirds major2 new constitution will in a national referen
the draft constitution voking a controversy cal parties. The main ongly objected to Minsaying that it is wrong the press while delibft constitution are still ntary Select Commitsition is that professor the provisions of the ers and Privileges Act. tanil Wickramasinghe, cted professor Pieris' aft chapters have resus of the parties at the
urces of the Sri Lanka , a partner of the PA icated that the SLMC before the release of on chapters. "We were " remarked an SLMC hether his party knew ment decision to make
oposals that were un
the Parliamentary se
sts, however, say that ay have taken a calcusing to the public the he constitution. "It is a ent's new strength as ed UNP The governinted to celebrate the ory by demonstrating te to the electorate," alyst with access to the eadership.
Result Point
rt ffor Peace
ples Alliance's sweeptly held local elections o many commentators ht of the government's ugh the devolution pro
two and a half years, as gone to the grassace message, and it
seems that the grassroots have accepted that message," said a Tamil political analyst.
Analysts said the poll results showed huge support for the PA in rural areas, indicating that a large percentage of the population favoured the government and its peace plan to end the ethnic conflict. "Rural voters seem to have grown up. They no longer vote with their stomachs. They are looking at the vote as a means of achieving long-term goals," the Tamil political analyst said.
"One can safely draw the conclusion that, by and large, the (majority) Sinhalese people are in favour of a political settlement," said Murugesu Sivasithamparam, president of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF).
"During the poll, while the PA actively campaigned for the peace package, no one in the UNP spoke against it," he said. "So the PA's victory and the UNP's stand (on the peace plan) shows that by and large, the Sinhalese people support a political settlement of the ethnic problem." The complete rout of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna(MEP), which stood at the election on a platform of total opposition to the government's peace proposals, was also evidence of the people's rejection of extremist politics.
Election in Jaffna 2
Following the victory of the ruling party in last month's local elections in the south of Sri Lanka, there is strong speculation that the government may hold elections in the northern Jaffna peninsula which remained for years the stronghold of the Tamil Tigers until government forces recaptured it at the beginning of last year. "There is a strong possibility that elections (for local bodies) will be held in Jaffna," said a senior government official. Elections were not held in the wartorn Tamil dominated north and east following representations from Tamil political parties which told the government conditions these areas were not conducive for a free and fair poll.
"It is only fair we give the choice of the vote to people of the north and the east, just as we did to people of the rest of the country" the government official said adding that an election would be a good way to bring the people of these areas into mainstream politics and that holding elections in the Jaffna peninsula, if not in the entire Northeast Was a distinct possibility. None of the local bodies in the district are currently functioning.
But a Tamil group, which has already set up an office and started to function said it would lobby the government for more time if it decides to go ahead with local polls there. "The situation immediately is not conducive for a free and fair poll," said Douglas Devananda, leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party.
"More than street lights and garbage

Page 7
15 APRIL 1997
collection, the people of Jaffna need peace and an honourable settlement to this war. Neitherwe, nor the government, can offer them that right now."Devananda told the press. "The government has made no concrete moves yet with the peace plan and we have nothing to go to the people with," Devananda added.
If election is held in Jaffna, the LTTE is bound to oppose and disrupt it and call upon the voters to boycott it. A spokesman for the LTTE in London said on 1 April that, "Calling for elections in the armyoccupied areas of the north and east is a gimmick by the government to mislead the donor countries into thinking that normalcy has returned to Jaffna. How can you hold a free election when the armed forces are intimidating the local Tamil population ? Any election held under these conditions cannot reflect the democratic wishes of the people."
Human Rights Commission Formed
Sri Lanka has set up a permanentnational Human Rights Commission with broadmonitoring and investigative powers. Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris said that the fivemember body would replace the existing Human RightsTask Force (HRTF) to rectify inadequacies in the existing human rights machinery.
"The setting up of the Human Rights Commission is an historic occasion. The protection of human rights is one of the most fundamental concerns of our government," the Minister said adding that the Commission will try to settle disputes before they go to court, advise the government on flaws in existing human rights protection laws and raise community awareness of rights issues and Supervise conditions of those in detention.
Peiris said the composition of the Commission would be a bipartisan exercise and reflect the country's ethnic balance."The composition of the Commission will not be the sole prerogative of the government,” he said. “We readily accepted an opposition suggestion that we should consult the Leader of the Opposition when members of the Commission are appointed. We also want minority groups to be represented in the commission.”
Gerard Peytrignet, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Sri Lanka, said he hoped the new organisation would help improve the human rights situation in the island which has over the years been the subject of severe criticism by local and international human rights bodies.
"The fact that we are present in the country shows the need for strengthening human rights protection," Peytrignet said.
The following a Human Rights Col preme Court Just ratne, heads the C members are A.T. Arjuna Aluvihare, 1 theralingam and resume of each m as follows:
O. S. M. Sene of the Supreme C ratne, after retirem of investigative present heads the tigate malpractices sities.
A.T. Ariyaratne Lanka's largest N ganizations, the S and Winner of the
996.
Professor Aluvi gery at University ( viously held positi cellor of Peradeniy man, University G | Justice T. Su High Court Judge Presidential Com Disappearances ir Provinces,
Javed Yusuf: f
Violence
Women who tr yond the watchful community risk b. male violence, cor report on violence sented by Radhika cial Rapporteur c Women, f the se Woman is consider pared with the com be punished. The p from expulsion fr floggings, stonings The study by ti presented on 4 Ap ons Human Rights trated on violence community,
The communit tion to the human rig are denied certair others outside. Bot nic and religious c Social institution ol nation in work and harasSment in pul part of the brutality, nation against won Meanwhile, the vides a framework Support and socia when state compet Coomaraswamy Case of Women wh

TAMIL TIMES 7
tre the members of the mmission: Retired Sutice, O, S. M. Seneviommission. The other Ariyaratne, Professor former Justice T. SunJaved Yusuf. A brief ember of the HRC is
viratne: Retired judge Xourt. Justice Senevient, headed a number commissions and at Commission to invess in Sri Lanka's univer
: Leader of one of Sri on Governmental OrSarvodaya Movement, Gandhi Peace Prize in
hare:Professor of Surof Peradeniya. He preons of the Vice- Chana University and Chairrants Commission,
ntheralingam; Retired and Chairman of the mission investigating ì the Central and Uva
Presently Sri Lanka's
ambassador to Saudi Arabia. A leading human rights lawyer, he was briefly a member of the National Advisory Group of the Human Rights Task Force and the Civil Rights Movement,
The law to set up the HRC was passed last July in Sri Lanka's Parliament unanimously. The delay in setting up of the Commission had earlier been highlighted by the Amnesty International. The law provides that the Commission members be appointed by the President, on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council. Since, the Constitutional Council is not yet in operation, the President had consulted the Prime Minister, the Speaker of Parliament and the Leader of the Opposition innaming the Commission members.
Following news reports that the Commission would replace the Human Rights Task Force, some members of the Advisory Council of the HRTF have recommended that it be absorbed into the Commission to continue looking into the problems of detainees under the PTA and Emergency Regulations. Their primary Concern Was that the Creation of the Commission does not permit the loss of expertise gained by the HRTF in the course of its activities over the past years,
Against Women and Human Rights
y to live and work begaze of their family or ecoming a target for cluded a U.N. special against Women, preCoomaraswamy, Speon Violence Against Xual behaviour of a ed inappropriate community norms, she can bunishment can range om the community to , and even death. ne Sri Lankan expert, bril to the United NatiCommission, concenagainst Women in the
y is two-faced in relaghts of women, as they rights within it, and in the structures of ethommunities, and the matrimony, discrimieducation, and sexual plic places, can form violence and discrimi
}Թի,
community often prowhich offers women solidarity, especially sation is involved, y report looked into the Io try to improve their
economic capacity by working outside the domestic or immediate community spheres, as in the free trade zones or other areas which make intensive use of poorly-qualified workers. This category of Women tend to be considered as sexually promiscuous by men, and therefore, Sexually available, she said. The sexual harassment of female workers is common in these zones, both in travelling to and from work, and within the workplace itself.
The report accepted that for the majority of women, the community provided the framework for the enjoyment of a social Space. However, it can also be an ambit which determines the restrictions on female sexuality and its regulation. In many cases, the girls and women are victims of violence in their communities as a result of their sexuality or sexual behaviour.
The community also includes the civil Society organisations which were the first to combat violence against Women and discrimination, both from the state and other groups. It also tends to provide the regulating elements which offer support and safety to female victims of violence in their moments of crisis. The community is also where groups work to help Women confront and protest about degrading or discriminating practices, by raising consciousness and mobilising this

Page 8
8 TAMIL TIMES
sector.
The report, while also covering the international situation of rape and sexual violence against women, including harassment, violence against migratory workers, and religious extremism, called upon UN member-states to adopt institutionalised measures providing for the respect for women's rights,
The level of "disappearances" in Sri Lanka has hita new high, Amnesty International Warned as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights examined the country's human rights record.
Coinciding with the Sri Lankan Government's pledge at the Commission that "full rigours of the law will be brought to bear" on the perpetrators of human rights violations, Amnesty International submitted more than 400 cases of "disappearances” to President Chandrika Kumaratunga asking her to bring those responsible to justice.
Since the security forces regained control over the Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka between late 1995 and early 1996, the total number of "disappearances" reported to the organisation has reached 648 - the highest number since 1990.
"That more than 600'disappearances' can occur in one year despite the government's claim that it is addressing the problem is outrageous. This highlights the need for action to be taken now - to prevent these violations from continuing." Amnesty International said.
There is a clear pattern of the security forces resorting to "disappearances" in reprisal for attacks on the security forces by members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In one incident which occurred on 19 July 1996, the day after the LTTE attacked the Mullaitivu army camp, at least 40 young men "disappeared" after they were rounded up by army personnel in Kaithady, and surrounding villages in the Thennamarachchi Division. They were allegedly taken to Navatkuli army camp but when relatives went to make inquiries, they were not given any information. Amnesty International fears that they may have been massacred.
Others"disappeared" after they were taken into custody during round-up operations. One case reported was from Ayam Madduvil North, Chavakachcheri on 19 April 1996. On that day, the army took away dozens of young men who were among scores of civilians who had taken refuge at Madduvil Amman temple, as instructed by the security forces at the start of the military operation code-named "Riviresa 2." At least 20 of them have
never been seen sinc The United Nation Enforced or involunta (UNWGEID) reports ceived 4,774 complai By 1991, this figure ha and had further decl 1995, 36 cases had b at this level, this rep highestrates in the w
"The situation is mid-1980s." Amnesty "Between 1983 and corded 860'disappea nearly all of whom ar for, Now we have 600 Amnesty Internati president to allow int tional observers, inclu to visit Jaffna and ass in enforcing measure "disappearances".
"While the gove Some measures to b appearances', tortur rights violations, there for more vigorous act national said,
"The governmer amending the Preven' and Emergency Reg vide a context for the cur. And it should cor members of the secl sible for such actions
Anti-Govt De in Gel
A high-profile well stration against the ernment of Sri Lanka "Swiss Federation of attended by many tho 17 March in Geneva, incide with sessions sion on Human Right
The overwhelming ticipants in the demon residing in Switzerlar ing European countri Geneva for the occas ranged coaches and strators carried card-b picture of the Tamil Ti karan and placards claiming their suppoi the Liberation Tige (LTTE), and shouting that the LTTE be reco national community a of the Tamils of Sri La
Those who par dressed the gatherin march included Kuma leader of the All Cey and Rev, Fr, Emanuel lic Vicar General of J.
A press release i event by the Federati
 

15 APRIL 1997
e by their relatives. sWorking Group on ry Disappearances that in 1990 it rents from Sri Lanka, d gone down to 410 ned since, During een reported. Even resents one of the orld, reminiscent of the International said, mid-1987, we rerances' in the area, e still unaccounted
in one year." onal is calling on the ernational and nading the UNWGEID, ist the government s to bring an end to
rnment has taken ring an end to 'dis2 and other human is obviously a need on." Amnesty Inter
ht should start by tion of Terrorism Act ulations which prose violations to ocme down heavily on irity forces respon
monstration
eVa
organised demonactions of the gova organised by the Tamil Associations" usands was held on Switzerland to Coof the UN Commis
S,
majority of the parstration were Tamils Id and other adjoines who travelled to sion in specially artrains. The demonoard cut-outs of the ger leader V. Pirabaand banners prot and allegiance to rs of Tami || Eelam slogans demanding gnised by the inters the representative anka. ticipated and adg at the end of the rPonnambalam, the on Tamil Congress , the former Cathoaffna. ssued following the on said, "The dy
onstration march organised by the Swiss Federation of Tamil Associations on 17 March in Geneva highlighted the genocidal attack launched by Sri Lanka on the Tamil people,
"Amongst the panellists at a well attended press conference before the march, were Ms. A, Frankhauser, Member of the Swiss National Parliament and Committee Member of the Socialist Party, Kumar Ponnambalam, General Secretary of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Rev. Father D.J. Emanuel, and Ms, Diedri Macdonald, Human Rights Activist.
"Ms. Frankhauser expressed her solidarity with the Tamil struggle for freedom, She said the actions taken by the Swiss authorities against Nadarajah Muralidharan, the LTTE representative in Switzerland, were a violation of international human rights. In answer to a question about the allegation that Tamils in Switzerland were being "forced' to contribute funds to the LTTE she replied: This is a general charge made against freedom Struggles by those who are opposed to them. The truth is that the allegation against the LTTE is without any foundation.
"Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam said that Tamil youths were being arbitrarily and illegally arrested and gave several specific instances. He added: "That the Sri Lankagovernmentis motivated by malafides and has therefore much to hide from the outside world is shown by the prohibition on media personnel to North-East - except, of course, on conducted tours. "Rev. Father Emanuel said that he belonged to no political party but he was both a victim of and a witness to the genocidal attack launched by Sri Lanka on the Tamil people. He recounted the church bombings and the exodus of thousands of Tamils from their homes that he had witnessed. He said that the oppression of the Tamil people by successive Sinhala governments had started long before the birth of the LTTE. The Liberation Tigers and the armed resistance of the Tami people were the result of decades of oppressive rule. The LTTE was not the cause of Sinhala oppression. It was the result.
"Ms. Diedri McDonald said that foreign aid to Sri Lanka feeds the genocidal War against the Tamil people, Sri Lanka's outside propaganda was very different to the harsh internal reality of military suppression in the Tamil homeland. "Sri Lanka's prohibition and restrictions on the media go far beyond any reasonable demands of national security - they help to hide the rape, torture and extrajudicial killings from the public gaZe'.
"An estimated eight to ten thousand Tamils and supporters of the Tamil Eelam struggle marched from the centre of Geneva through crowded streets to the United Nations Headquarters at the Place de la Nations. The slogans and placards -' ided the following: UN: Condemn Sri

Page 9
5 APRIL 1997
Lanka's Genocidal War on Tamils, Sri Lanka Army: Guit Tamil Homeland, and Foreign Aid to Sri Lanka Feeds war against Tamils. The march ended with a rally before the United Nations. The rally was addressed by Nadarajah Muralidharan, LTTE representative in Switzerland, Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam, and by delegates from Denmark, Germany and London, amongst others."
NGO Statement
As many as 53 Non-Governmental Organisations, including the International Commission of Jurists, the World Council of Churches, the International Human Rights Law Group, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, International Federation of Journalists, he Regional Council on Human Rights in Asia, Pax Christi International, Pax Romana and the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples, in a joint statement called on both parties to the conflict in Sri Lanka to secure a political Solution to the conflict which recognises the right of the Tamil people to determine their political status and the need to ensure full human rights of all persons in Sri Lanka.
The joint statement said, "We are gravely concerned by the continued armed conflict, the violations of humanitarian law and human rights in the island of Sri Lanka and the new military offensive in the Tamil Homeland.
"Long ago in its resolution 1983/16 the Sub-Commission expressed deep concern over the communal violence in the island. Three years later, the Commission, in its resolution 198761 called upon the parties to the conflict 'to respectfully the universally accepted rules of humanitarian law and appealed at the government of Sri Lanka to allow humanitarian activities.
"14 years have elapsed since the first resolution but the violations of humanitarian law and of human rights in Sri Lanka -Tamil Eelam war are worse than ever before. We note in particular that:
1. the civilian Tamil population continues to be a target of military operations, including intensive aerial bombardment, by the Sri Lankan forces: disappearances, extra-judicial killings, rape, torture, arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention;
2. the North-East of the island is still under an embargo of essential food and medicine in violation of humanitarian law; 3. there are more than 825,000 displaced Tamil civilians living under appalling conditions which include acute shortages of water, food and medicine."
The joint statement added that they "consider it imperative that the Tamilpeople chose their own political and national status to end the Sri Lanka-famil Eelam war and to provide meaningful international support to secure the aspirations of the Tamil people we urge the Commis
sion to adopta resolu Government of Sri
military operations a vilian population", anc Cupying forces from t to lift the economic bl and East, and to allo
R Soldiers for M
Eight Sri Lankan trial before a court murder of 25 Tamil Women and children malee a year ago. T charged with the atte civilians who were \ troops went on the ra of Kumarapuram on
Official sources S had apparently shot ( retaliation for the kil by the Tamil Tigers n South of Trincomalee government, which down on human righ curity forces, orderec massacre after Con rights groups and Tan
Arunasalam Pa year-old girl who sur\ Tamil civilians, giving Comalee court on 3A trate that the Soldie| dead and wounded h tified two soldiers inv
Three other witn be called in total, ga hearing which was p 30.
Anura Bandaran estranged brother of F Kumaratunga has ir Ceedings alleging th rights guaranteed un stitution been violate million rupees ($433, tion from the govern arbitrary search of h last month.
Bandaranaike's h on suspicion he wash UNP Member of Pa Punchinilame, wante killing of a ruling Pe Nalanda Ellawala.
"The search was and with political mc naike said. "The susp neverhave come into this is a high securi same compound whe
(Prime Minister
 
 
 

TAML TIMES 9
tion calling upon the Lanka to cease all gainst the Tamil ci"to withdraw the ocheTamii Homeland, lockade in the North Ni humanitarian aid”
soldiers are facing on charges of the civilians, including , in eastern Trincohe soldiers are also mpted murder of 26 Nounded when the mpage in the village ebruary 11, 1996. aid that the soldiers dead the civilians in ling of two soldiers lear Kumarapuram, , the same day. The is seeking to crack ts abuses by its sean inquiry into the plaints by human hil parliamentarians. ramarani, an 18vived a massacre of evidence in a Trinpril, told the MagisrS shot her mother er cousin and idenolved in the killings. esses, out of 120 to lve evidence at the ostponed until April
aike, the politically President Chandrika Instituted legal proat his fundamental der Sri Lanka's cond and is seeking 25 275) as compensament for an alleged is house by police
ouse was searched iding a suspect, the rliament Susantha d by police for the ople's Alliance MP
done with mischief ytivation" Bandaraect (UNPMP) could my house because ty area and in the
remy mother
Sirimawo Bandara
naike) also lives." Police officers from the criminal investigations department had entered his house late on the night of February 12 without a search warrant, Bandaranaike said. His lawyers said since police had searched his house without a warrant Bandaranaike had been subjected to unequal treatment before the law which was an infringement of his constitutional rights.
Commission Finds Former Ministers and Officials Guilty
Two former ministers and three public officials have been found guilty of abuse of power by a Special Presidential Commission which also recommended the suspension of their civic rights.
The Commission comprising which has been probing in commercial deals entered into by the previous United National Party (UNP) government found ex-ministers Wijaypala Mendis and K.D.M.- Chandra Bandara misused their positions to influence decisions that cost the exchequer millions of rupees. The Commission also found R. Paskaralingam, former Secretary to the Treasury, and Ackiel Mohammed, then Secretary to the Ministry of Power and chairman of a privatisation Sub-committee, guilty of using their positions to influence decisions in privatisation of a key state firm and a tender for bus chassis and bodies involving an indian firm.
Paskaratingam left the country shortly after the People's Alliance won parliamentary elections in August 1994. The report of the Commission now goes to parliament for consideration and if the findings and recommendations are approved a Vote, the individuals Concerned will be stripped of their civic rights, depriving them of the right to vote and hold or stand for public office. The Attorney General can also institute criminal proceedings if he decides that there is evidence to support a prosecution.
The Commission said in its interim report published in mid-March that Mr. Bandara, who is deceased, and Mohammed were found guilty of influencing the Divestiture Committee, which was responsible for the privatisation of a plant run by a unit of the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).The report stated that the Nylon 6 plant was sold in the early 1990s for 227.7 million rupees, which represented only one-fifth of its valued price of 1.2 billion rupees, to South Korea's Tongyng Nylon Company Ltd. The CPC had stipulated that only 60 percent of the shares be sold but Mr. Bandara got the Committee to sell 90 percentata fraction of the valued price, resulting in the loss of millions of rupees to the government, the report added.
Two other junior officials who were

Page 10
10 TAM TIMES
also subject to the investigation were not found guilty since they were forced to fall in line with the Minister's decision, the Commission said,
The Commission said Mendis used his position to exchange 76 acres of his own land in the north-central Anuradhapura district with a similar acreage of coconut plantation belonging to the Livestock Development Board (LDB) in Dankutowa, just outside the island's capital, Colombo. It said the exchange led to a commercial loss for the LDB as the market value of the coconut plantation was two million rupees ($34,662) and that of Mendis' farm 988,500 rupees.
The Commission Said it found Paskaralingamguilty ofinfluencinga contract to buy 1,500 bus chassis and body kits from India's Ashok Leyland Ltd (ASOK.BO) costing 43.7 million rupees ($757,365) in early 1990s. It added that Paskaralingam pushed the letter of intent for the contract to be issued to Ashok Leyland without cabinet approval.
Investigations into several other allegations in respect of other deals under the previous regime were continuing, the Commission said.
Police sources in Colombo claimed that a high-ranking LTTE operative belonging to its suicide Squad presently in their custody has revealed information as to the exact location where over one hundred officers of the Sri Lankan security forces and those belonging to the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) are imprisoned by the LTTE Considered as a "prize catch", the 26-year-old suspect, Anthonypillai Anton Nesarajah, also knownas Major Rahu Appa, had reportedly told police that the prisoners are being held under tight security in a bunker in the Periyamadu area in the northwest Mannar district. "On the eastern side of a tank in Periamadu, proceed to a distance of four kilometres at an angle of 45 degrees and you will come across this high security bunker", Nesarajah is said to have told his investigators, adding that the prisoners are manacled and chained and the bunker in which they are held is guarded by about 20 well-armed LTTE cadres. He is also reported to have given details about the LTTE's main ammunition dump situated eight miles in an easterly direction from the Mullaitivu-Nayaru bridge in the Nedunkerny area.
According to the police, Nesarajah who has now been taken to Colombo and held in unidentified location under tightsecurity, was first arrested in Mannar on suspicion and later interrogated in Vavu
niya.
During interrogati leged to have confes. key member of a suic to assassinate Presi and the EPDP leade nda. He had also V Trees, the President's and Devananda's high-rise building int and had also reveal helicopters used to tri ernment politicians a
In the meantime, a ment officials, Presi was said to be plannir heavily guarded resid situated in the heart of Secure location. The dence is protected by guns and bunkers. S neighbourhood have fiC.
Amnesty Internati dated 17 March, has e cerned about the rep Rasamma and her sis at Mayilampaveli Col trict, on 17 March 19 Velan Rasamma her sister, Velan Vasa legedly raped by fol home in Mayilampave district, on 17 March from the Mayilampa portedly forced their around 11pm and to side. There, they rape Both Women mad local police at Eravu. nation was carried ol the local hospital on complaint was made t erations Commande take action. Howevel appears to have bee alleged perpetrators, ternational.
Amnesty Internal Sri Lankan governm ate action against th tors, and to provide Women to ensure tha trators cannot put pi withdraw their compl.
Bolgoda Tri
When the case a of the STF includings intelligence Unit for in ing of bodies in the taken up in Courts on
 
 

15 APRIL 1997
on, Nesarajah is alsed to have been a :ide squad detailed dent Kumaratunga r Douglas Devanaideotaped Temple official residence, residence from a he capital Colombo ed plans to attack ansport senior govnd officials. ccording to governdent Kumaratunga ng to move from her ence, TempleTrees, Colombo to a more Temple Trees resitradar, anti-aircraft everal roads in the been closed to traf
onal, in a statement xpressed deep conorted rape of Velan ter, Velan Vasantha, ony, Batticaloa dis97.
(34), a widow, and antha (28) were alur soldiers at their li Colony, Batticaloa 1997. The soldiers, telli army camp, reway into their home ok the Women outd them repeatedly. e a complaint to the , A medical examiut on the Women at 19 March. A further othelocal Joint Opr who promised to , to date no action n taken against the states Amnesty In
ional has urged the 2nt to take immedie alleged perpetraprotection to these the alleged perpeessure on them to aint to the police.
Collapses
gainst 22 members :enior officers of the volvement in dumpBolgoda Lake was March 13, the judge
commented that the relevant parties were not present in Court and that the absence of representatives of the Attorney General's Department in such a situation was an obstruction of justice. Saying that continuing with the trial in such a case was a Waste of time, he added that he would not sit again in this case.
The Bolgoda case was one which had received a great deal of prominence both locally and abroad since it was a blatant situation of extra-judicial execution of those in state custody. However, ever since the case first broke in mid-1995 and STF officers were found to be involved in the matter, there have been a series of delays in the legal process. The Attorney General's Department may be unable to connect the fact that these persons were in detention in the custody of those STF officers who have been named in the case and the fact that their dead bodies turned up in Bolgoda to the satisfaction of a Court. However, there have been judicial precedents where Courts have foundsenior officers in charge of Units from where detainees have disappeared to be responsible for the disappearance and have imposed exemplary fines on such persons,
When the question of the collapse of the case was raised during the recently held sessions of the UN Human Rights Commission, the Sri Lankan Ambassador Bernard Gunatilleke responded that the Attorney General would be reinstating the proceedings before a Trial-at-Bar in the High Court.
Jaffna Library Rebuilding Project
The government is to spend 700 million rupees ($12 million) in rebuilding the Jaffna Public Library which was set on fire by the security forces on 1 June 1981. In addition to the building which was reduced to rubble, as many as 95,000 valuable books and documents including those regarded as a storehouse of the literature and heritage of the Tamil people were destroyed in the blaze in what was then described as an exercise in cultural incineration.
"The rebuilding of the Jaffna library is symbolic of a new peace, a new understanding and a new harmony among the people of Sri Lanka," President Kumara. tunga said, in launching the project. The rebuilding of the Jaffna library wouldmar the beginning of a lasting bond betweer the people of the north and the south, President Chandrika Kumaratunga said.
In a goodwill gesture, a Reuter report datelined 10 April said that two Sinhalese students handed over to President Kumaratunga a book and a brick each, both of which would go towards the rebuilding of the Tamils' most important intellectual Seat.

Page 11
SAPRIL 1997
MSFVited
※
to Jafna Hospital
The government has requested the Paris-based medical relief NGO, Medicine Sans Frontieres (MSF), which is already operating in Sri Lanka, to deploy team medical personnel in the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Last October, the Health Ministry invited the relief agency to commence working in Jaffna, but the Defence Ministry was reluctant then to give clearance on "security grounds".
MSF's Dr. Guillemmo Bertoletti confirmed the request made by the government. One surgeon and paediatrician would be in the team that would go to Jaffna. The MSF is already active in the Point Pedro government hospital. A serious drug shortage existed in Point Pedro and medicine and other equipment worth approximately Rs.1 million had beenpurchased and handed over to the health authorities, according to Dr. Bertoletti.
The MSF is not permitted to transport medicine and equipment on their own. Everything purchased by the MSF has to be handed over to a certain department handling supplies and then airlifted. Dr. Bertoletti said that it would be easier if the MSF was authorised to transportin the vessel hired by the ICRC as that body is the only humanitarian agency allowed to operate a vessel between Jaffna peninsula and the South.
The navy plans to triple its strength and use more aggressive tactics in the war against the formidable naval wing of Tamil Tiger guerrillas, the Sri Lanka's navy chief said on 4 April. Admiral CecilTissera said the navy needed a fleet three times the size of its current 100-plus vessels to meet the threat from the Sea Tigers naval wing of the LTTE.
"Sri Lanka being an island nation, we should concentrate more on building up the navy"Tissera told reporters. The Sea Tigers have sunk several naval craft using a variety of unorthodox tactics, including underwater suicide Squads.
"The development of the navy will take place in two phases - firstly, the immediate development of our fighting capability with better armament and detection equipment, and secondly, the kong-term expansion of the fleet,"Tissera said. According to him the navy plans to buy multi-purpose vessels to replace its fleet of Chinese Shanghai-class gunboats. "These vessels will have bigger
guns for shore bom pable of meeting th air and underwater
More Dvora-cl. shallow-draft inshor ing craft would b through local prod exchange and ger said. The navy als high-speed hover operations and tro of what could bec Craft, he said.
The governmer lion rupees (US$7. this year, of which 6.7 billion rupees. calendar 1997 will percent of total gov
In recent years, Waterjet-propelled and patrol boats fro has sold an anti-su sel and gunboats a naval buildup bega April 1995 sank two ern port of Trincom gest base, leading| between governme gers.
Cash Relief amnis
Sri Lanka auth 15 April that financ gees in northern w gan issuing food it fort to persuade th homes. "We have from today becaus age them to go ho ment official. Each f 250 rupees ($4.3), pees (85 cents) a di Most of the peo fighting between gi LTTE in the Wanni people are expect (LTTE controlled a Said K. Ganesh, th administrator in the vuniya. Some 15,5 ernment Welfare "Many of them hav to six months. Som can stay on and ha turn to their homes "We cannot acc so we are trying tc ready in the cam homes," he added. there is hardly enol Cook."
The authorities that about 60,000 Crossed to govern niya since last Oc
 
 

TAM TIMES 11
bardment and be caLTTE threat from the he said, Lss fast attack Craft, patrol craft and lande acquired, mostly ction to save foreign erate more jobs, he D planned to buy a : raft for amphibious }p transport, the first me a fleet of hover
thas allocated 44 bil4 million) for defence the navy gets about Defence spending in account for about 22 ernment spending. the navy has acquired attack craft from srael m France, while China bmarine Warfare Vesindlanding craft. The un after the Tigers in gunboats in the eastalee, the navy's bigo the resumption war nt forces and the Ti
to Displaced Stopped
orities announced on ial aid to Tamil refuelfare centres and beems instead in an efem to return to their stopped financial aid e We Want to encourme," said a governamily used to be given and individuals 50 ruay to buy food, he said. ple were displaced by overnment forces and egion last year. "More d from the other side reas) in a few days” e senior government northern town of Wa00Tamils lived in govcentres in Vavuniya. e been staying for up e appear to think they lve not decided to re
ommodate all of them
encourage those alos to return to their "It is so crowded that igh room for people to
claimed in early April displaced Tamils had ment-controlled VaVuober from LTE-held
areas in the Wanni. It said 43,775 of the refugees had been sent to their homes in Jaffna and other parts of the north. A military statement said that almost every day several hundreds of displaced people were crossing over to governmentControlled areas at Thandikulam, near Vavuniya.
In the wake of non-LTTE Tamils parties like the EPDP and PLOTE setting up offices and commencing political work in the Jaffna peninsula, EPDP leader Douglas Devananda was recently named by the government as a co-Chairman of the District Co-ordinating Committee for the districts of Jaffna and Kilinochchi. The other co-Chairman is Gamini Fonseka, the Governor of the North-East Province. This Committee would have the responsibility for co-ordinating civilian administration and economic development in the northern peninsula. The DCCs are statutory bodies originally headed by Government Agents. In the districts of Trincomalee and Batticaloa, A.Thangathurai and Joseph Pararajasingham of the TULF function as Chairman.
Mr. Devandanda had visited Jaffna several times recently under heavy security provided by the security forces, and in mid-March he chaired the inaugural meeting of the newly established DCC in Jaffna. On his return to Colombo, Mr. Devananda said that rehabilitation activities and the day to affairs in Jaffna were improving. He along with other Jaffna MPs belonging to non-LTE parties had discussed a wide range of matters in connection with the rehabilitation and rebuilding of the war-ravaged peninsula. With the assistance government officials there, they had worked out an elaborate programme to be implemented in three different stages.
According to Mr. Devananda, the first stage would cover the immediate problems facing the day to day lives of the people, the second one would be an interim scheme and the third would belong term one for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Jaffna. "We are now mainly concentrating on raising the funds for the rehabilitation and development of the Jaffna peninsula. The allocations from the government as well as from foreign donors are urgently needed."
One of the main reason for the Jaffna people to draw close to the political parties now operating in Jaffna is the reported disappearance of many young persons. Parents or next of kin first go to the army camps or police stations in search of the disappeared persons, but

Page 12
12 AMIL TIMES
when they fail to get a satisfactory response they go to the offices of these political parties which are able to establish contact with and seek information from the security forces operating there.
Predictably the Tamil Tigers are opposed to these parties operating in Jaffna, or for that matter anywhere, and have denounced them as traitors and quislings of the government. A statement from the LTTE on 19 March said, "The Sri Lankan government promotes these Tamil quisling groups - PLOTE, TELO, EPRLF. EPDP and a government-backed splinter group of EROS - internationally as the "true" representatives of the Tamil people...These pro-government Tamil groups were responsible for the murders of many Tamil people though it was impossible to determine the precise number due to the secrecy with which these groups operated. They were also to blame for numerous disappearances at illegal detention centres...... It is well known that these same groups operated during the period of the IPKF presence in Tamil Eelam at which time they collaborated with the occupying army and carried out some of the worst atrocities against the Tamil people. They continue to play the same role today with the occupying Sinhala army"
The re-openin northern Sri Lanka given a new lease war-ravaged Manr putting their lives b report datelined 9,
The report add when the militar Mannar was isolat island as the highv the LTTE. But now the road linking du for its fish and rice (60 miles) to the fish and rice is sen bring in flour, sofi other Commodities luxuries for the tov ple. There is a cons ple rebuild their ho
"Unlike many c used to be a highly Supplied the Coun amount of its fish a said Velupillai Vis government admi "Now, with the roa mistic of regaining
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Address: 101 Wakefield Street, East Ham, London E61NR Telephone: 0181-548 8808
 

15 APRIL 1997
of a key road link in after eight years has f life to the people of ar, who are now busy ck in order, a Reuters spril said.
d that until February, cleared the road, ld from the rest of the ay was controlled by loaded trucks travel sty Mannar - famous - to Vavuniya, 100 km last every day. While from Mannar, trucks drinks, cement and hat until recently were wn's 30,000-odd peotruction boom aspeoΥΘS. , ތ′ ther districts, Mannar productive district. We try with a substantial and rice requirement." hvalingam, a deputy nistrator of Mannar. ld open, we are optisome of that stature."
Vishvalingam told Reuters during a recent visit to Mannar, 240 km (150 miles) north of Colombo.
Government forces captured the highway, which is now reduced to a dirt track in many places, after a lengthy offensive, pushing the LTTE rebels to the north of the road. Signs of economic revival are strong. "As far as transport is considered, the situation has improved tremendously," said Xavier Cruez, a Catholic priest and head of the Mannar Association for Relief and Rehabilitation. "Til the road was opened, Mannar experienced Severe scarcities in just about everything. Whatever that came here had to come by sea and was expensive," he said.
"We're already seeing a drop in prices and the demand for construction material, like cement and steel, is rising" said Colonel Udaya Ariyaratne, Commander of Mannar's armed forces.
Vishvalingam said about 100 tonnes of fresh and dried fish left Mannar daily, bound for markets in Colombo. Nearly half of the district's expected rice production of 32,300 tonnes this year had found markets outside the district, he said.
But the army has been told to limit incoming supplies of many items, fearing they may fall into the hands of rebels who still control large areas to the north and Northeast of Mannar. "Still, there are a
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Page 13
15 APRIL 1997
few LTTE rebels in town. They mingle with civilians and hide from us. We have to ensure that while the town gets its requirements, they don't fall into LTTE hands." Colonel Ariyaratne said.
At the Mannar hospital, the number of patients has doubled since the road opened, "A lot of people out in the villages, who earlier did not seek treatment, now have access to the hospital," said a medical worker from a Western aid agency. But the operation to clear the road has also forced about 80,000 of the district's original residents to cross over to rebel-held areas in the north. "Now we have to consider the plight of those people, too," said Father Cruez. "They have been dislodged from their homes and fields and are living as refugees."
Mystery Surrounds
SSinglelicopte
A Sri Lankan helicopter gunship with two pilots and a technician on board went missing on 19 March about two hours after taking off from a northern military base, according to Defence Ministry officials. It is reported that one pilot and the technician were Russians.
Search operations carried for the missing Russian-built Mi-24 helicopter, which was believed to have gone down off the coast of northeastern Mullaitivu, have proved unsuccessful.
A Defence Ministry spokesman told press that two Mi-24s took off from the Palaly airbase in the northern Jaffna peniinsula at around 0.45 a.m. heading east. At around 12.45 p.m. one was reported to have gone missing. The other helicopter landed at Trincomalee in eastern Sri Lanka.
Mi-24s are part of the air force's attack fleet used in the war against the LTTE. It was not known if the helicopter had been shot down by the Tigers who control large areas of the northeast where the helicopter disappeared. But the Tigers did not claim that they were responsible for the missing helicopter,
Sri Lanka's small air force has already lost six aircraft this year in operations against the Tigers. A Pucara ground attack aircraft exploded over the northeastern Polonnaruwa district on 15 March after the pilot had ejected safely.
Tamil Tigers blew up a Y-12 transport plane at the China Bay air base in Trincomalee in early March while in February an An-32 transport plane crashed while taking off from a base near Colombo, killing three servicemen and wounding 36. In January, a Kfir fighter jet crashed after the pilot had ejected after takeoff from the Katunayake base, just north of Colombo. AY-12 with four people aboard and an unmanned drone, both on reconnaissance missions, went missing the same month.
Th
by
The Finnish Cap shuttles between Trin santhurai has not ta since Thraki, as the its mission in last Se Worse is the plig the ship carries. Am displaced of Jaffna mendous hardship f before they get a pla to Jaffna for Which t clearance, Obtaining is also a difficult proc placed into more har In KKS (Kankesa eds of people, some gent medical treatm time in the waiting li the ship,
Thraki takes thre toTrincomalee, Passé to get a place on th spent at least a mont rity clearance and a Reserving a place o cult task, butlife in tra in Trincomalee is mo The Sunday Tim overcrowded tran Trincomalee town. Til choice but to bear W tions there until the homes, The two cam tory and the camp at grims Rest - house mates each at any g available there are ha persons.
Not only refugee sengers as well are cl in the ship that carrie gers. But priority is gi" many of whom stay in with friends and relat
Trinco Divisional mylum says, “fora d least 500 displaced niya. In addition I ge tions from regular pa to go to Jaffna. We gi\ placed persons."
In addition to the are two Other Smalle taking refugees and p KKS and Trincomale Refugee influx to after the recent Oper than 13,000 refugee in Vavuniya from the u to get back to their h
 

TAMIL TIMES 13
e Struggle for a Seat in the ShipThraki
chistopher Kamalendran, Trincomalee
tain of the ship that comalee and KankeKen a single day off ship is called, began ptember. ht of the passengers ong them were the Niho go through treor months in Trinco ce in the ship to go hey require Security security clearance ess, pushing the disdship. inthural) too, hundrof who require urent, wait for a long st to get a place in
e daysto come back 2ngers lucky enough he ship would have h awaiting the secuplace on the ship. n the ship is a diffiansit refugee camps re difficult.
es team Visited two sit camps in the he inmates have no fith inhuman condiy get back to their ps - the Glass facthe Sangamitha Pilmore than 2000 iniven time, Facilities rdly enough for 1200
s, but regular pasamouring for aberth is only 289 passenvento the displaced lodging houses and ives. Secretary, VVelumay I am receiving at Dersons from Vavu300 more applicassengers who want te priority to the dis
ship Thraki, there chartered vessels assengers between
'.
rincomalee soared ation Edibala. More S who have arrived cleared areas want )mes in Jaffna. Un
able to proceed further south, the only option open to them is to return to Jaffna. Nagendran Devendran, 30, a fisherman from the northern town of Karainagar left Jaffna a year ago. While in Vavuniya, he said his parents, sister and one of his aunts died of malaria due to lack of proper medical treatment.
"It's difficult living in Vavuniya. The only place left for me is Jaffna and I am trying to get back to my native place." Devendran said adding that life in Jaffna was much better than in Vavuniya.
Eagambaranathan Sivalingam, an electric welder on his way back to Jaffna said that even if he got back to Jaffna it was not possible to start his job as there was no electricity. "But it is still better go back to Jaffna and stay there," he said.
Among those awaiting their turn to return to Jaffna are government servants, farmers, fishermen and students. All of them are determined to get back to Jaffna and try to start a new life, although they are not quite sure as to what is in store for them,
(Courtesy of Sunday Times)
Sri Lanka does not expect a rise in its defence spending this year, according to a top finance ministry official. P.B.Jayasundera, deputy Secretary to the Treasury, said military spending should not top the proposed budget of 44 billion rupees ($758.6 million) for 1997.
"The 1997 budget is more a military type of budget, which has fully accommodated the military requirement," he said. "Each plane crash does not mean that we have to add something," JayaSundera said in reference to the country's air force, which has lost six aircraft during military operations this year.
Sri Lanka's defence spending in 1995 was 34 billion rupees, but rose sharply to nearly 46 billion, or about six percent of gross domestic product, last year as the war escalated. Jayasundera said the big increase was largely because previous budget forecasts had been made on the assumption that there would be no escalation in the conflict. "There was a gross underestimation in terms of events," he Said.

Page 14
14 AMIL MES
uccess in any challenging task depends on the adoption of the rightstrategy and importantly on the way its executed. This is an axiom that applies to a wide range of fields from the
PEACEP
IM|EIFI]]|El
operation of business ventures to Wars, Winning the peace is often
By Dr.S. Na
more difficult than achieving military victories in the battle field. If the strategy is wrong, then the method of execution becomes irrelevant for success and inevitably will result in colossal losses. The worst case is when both the strategy and execution are fallacious.
National reconciliation becomes more difficult, when the civilians experience untold suffering as a result of the long duration of the War in which the methods of prosecution include blatant violations of fundamental rights, deliberate harassment of innocent civilians and the imposition of economic hardships on the entire people, Winning the hearts and minds of the people caught in the war is crucial for achieving the peace goal. if the latter is the ultimate aim, as claimed by the proponents of the strategy of 'war for peace', then there is little evidence so far to demonstrate the success of this strategy in terms of convincing the affected people. The wisdom of adopting this strategy has been questioned not only by this writer but by many others in the Tamil Times, since the resumption of hostilities between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan armed forces in April 1995.
The feeling among the Tamils in the North-East that they are living under an occupying force, which happens to comprise almostfully members of the Sinhalese community who cannot communicate with the civilians because of the language barrier, enduring all the harsh punishments of the army as retaliation for any sniper attack by the rebels is not conducive for achieving peace. It is a fact that in the mind of the ordinary soldier, the Tamils are the traditional enemies of the Sinhalese. This perception have got ingrained as a result of the racist rhetoric used by shortsighted politicians over several decades merely to win votes.
Although there has been a desirable change with regard to the attitude towards the Tamils among the new leadership that emerged in 1994, this has neither gone down to lower levels where direct dealings with the public take place nor yielded some tangible benefits to give the neglected people the hope that there will soon be a fair and just political solution to
the ethnic problem. "war for peace" strat doubtin the minos o on its purpose.
Politica Pulture
The alienation of result of the evolutio retaining or regainin means, however imn others and the count of the political proces dence that itis preci tude that has contrib ence of political viole Prof. S.T. Hettige, an and Head of the De ogy, University of Col (published in the Sur 16, 1997) has expla the two parties gaine nately not by advoca mon policies and pol simply promising va efits, such as jobs, p. licences for different funds etc. to their SOUCeS Wee SCaC to fulfil such unreal far as many suppo the politicians in the was found that this ta be effective to win vo gains and to serve of the members of th their leadership, the resorted to large Sc as a means of "cof taining power."
What the Profes observations is tha the past used them a means of coming power. The non-imp legislations and a nounced initially as ments to eliminat against the Tamils part of this strategy to the Official Langt the TULF regarding the law relating to the elections regis age and the failure in Tamil by the Com

15 APRIL 1997
ROCESS:
NGFULACTION
indicates that there is ample room for the Government to demonstrate its sincerity in addressing the grievances of the Tamils.
The Professor
apalasingan
has drawn attention to an important
in this situation, the gy has only hurled the affected people
the minorities is the of the attitude that powerby whatever Ioral or damaging to ry as a whole is part S.There is some evisely thiskind of attiuted to the ascendince in Sri Lanka. AS eminent sociologist partment of SociolOmbo in an interview hday Island of March ined, that until 1977 druling power alterating seriously comitical ideology but by rious personal benromotions, transfers, business purposes, supporters. As ree, it was impossible stic promises, in so ters not so close to ruling party. When it actic would no longer tes for petty personal he personal interest e political parties and main political parties ale political violence ning to power or re
sor has missed in his
both parties had in nority Tamils also as opower or retaining ementation of ratified proved policies proovernment's commit
the discrimination as been an intrinsic he recent complaint ages Commission by non-compliance with he maintenance of er in the Tamil languo issue polling cards missioner of Elections
point hitherto not highlighted by other independent political analysts, namely, "that even if it (LTTE) gains control of the north and east through democratic means, it will still not be in a position to achieve its goals. This is one reason why democracy is anathema to the TTE." It is not unreasonable to conclude that the politicians, while claiming to uphold democratic principles have by their own immoral actions contributed to the erosion of the confidence of the masses in the democratic process. The two unsuccessful uprisings in the south can also be attributed to the frustration of the youths with the political system. There has to be radical change in the political process in Sri Lanka to assure confidence in its fairness among all communities in the different regions.
Lucien Rajakarunanayake, the veteran columnist highly respected for his realistic and forthright comments on po
litical affairs in Sri Lanka wrote (Sunday
Leader of March 16, 1997): "Between them (UNP and the SLFP) the two parties have threatened the safety and civic rights of the citizens and it is time to ask what role these parties have, if any, in a democracy, Are they in what is called the political mainstream for the people or for themselves? The answer is quite simple. Both are there for what they can get out of it. They are in politics for its spoils. For the power, privileges, contracts and other benefits they can get out of politics.
The level of violence in the recent local government elections makes it clear that the leadership of both the UNP and SLFP have no interest in an end to the violence and terror that has been bred in this country, under the cover of a demoCratic mask. It was surprising to read how Rani Wickremesinghe promised to appoint a police commission to inquire into the police when they return to power. The irony of this pledge lies in that it came from the leader of the UNP who keeps accusing this government of only appointing commissions of inquiry, and doing nothing else to solve the problems of the people. Even worse, one realises that this pledge to probe the police comes from the leader and former prime minister of a party which was largely responsible for the wholesale politicisation of the police.

Page 15
15 APRIL 1997
It was the party that gave promotions to police officers the very day after they had been guilty of human rights infringements by the supreme court."
Several citizen groups have mobilised themselves to deal with the menace of political violence. The statement issued by the Coalition against Political Violence on February 13 (published in the TT of 15, March 1997) highlighted the threat to democracy posed by renewed acts of political violence. The Peoples Association for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) in collaboration with the Movement for Free and Fair Elections (MFFE) monitored the March 21st local government elections. Reporting centres were established to report complaints of intimidation, impersonation and other forms of violence, it had over 10,000 observers at the various polling booths and in addition mobile units to monitor the elections.
The Free Media Movement (FMM) wanted the two monitoring groups to disclose early all the information they had gathered about alleged incidents of violence and malpractices to the media. According to the statistics released later by the monitors, of the 2,000 incidents of election-related violence nearly 1,000 were of a serious nature, This included seven killings. The monitors had said "another disturbing feature was the apparent police inaction in more than 90% of the cases"The PAFFREL/MFFE report condemns the political parties for not taking "any meaningful action to demonstrate unequivocally their rejection of violence." This is yet another instance of the contradiction between declaration of intent and actual performance on the ground that has become the salient feature of the country's political culture,
Self-serving politicians
Lisa Marshall, a psychologist at Glasgow's Caledonian University in a three-year research project that involved interviewing 105 long-term offenders in Scottish prisons discovered 50 of them were psychopaths. She questioned all and compared their answers to a widely used list of 20 characteristics of a psychopath (ref. the UK newspaper, "The Independent" of 4 September 1996). Interestingly these include: being selfish; callous; remorseless user of others; pathological liar; lacking in remorse; fails to acceptresponsibility for actions; has high sense of self-worth; has socially deviant lifestyle; needs constant stimulation; is irresponsible; has unrealistic goals; and is promiscuous. According to her, many politicians have the characteristics of psychopaths but without the criminal intent. Had she considered the behaviour of some of our politicians, she probably would have concluded differently
The comment nayake in his colur der of March 9, 19 observed: "Those cal government tod to provincial counc ment, are a new | easy money by hc find such money gi ance in society. The through politics, a come the patrons gery”What he had for those accusto money by hook an tunity for continuir not be missed afte appeal to the vote Chandrika Kumara government electi above concern, Sh said in a public rall your duty to ensur Who have a cleanre should display no c
Many politiciar can by no means chosen for their su and dedication and higher national int that politicians havi to carry arms, in á ried by the securit to them, even whe electorates shows politics in Sri Lank rised. The paranoia Lankan Society is n Sporadic attacks or Tamil rebels. The re related to the ethni proved that "terrori outside the North
Concerted effort
The Special R (Jaffna) released o poses the hidden u machinery continu failure of the Govel criminatory practi crats, who ignore governance to wh claims to be com Warped reasoning V legitimate rights of ues to influence th is an issue whereth the minority in ana a grave crisis and discovered and us deprive the memb benefits." An impc veyed in the report devolution will not State begins to tak ing the confidence North-East." It has that “confidence bil

TAMIL TIMES 15
of Lucien Rajakarunann in the Sunday Lea97 is apt here. He had Who Seek to enterloay, as a stepping stone cils and later to parliabreed that has made »ok and by crook, but ving them little accepty seek the acceptance nd in the process beof violence and thugfailed to add was that med to making easy dby Crook, any opporng this practice would rentering politics. The rs made by President tunga before the local ons substantiates the he is reported to have y in Kolonne: "It is also
2 that only candidates
2cordare elected.They criminal tendencies."
is at the national level pe considered as men perior virtue, wisdom discretion to act in the terests. The very fact e thought it necessary addition to those cary personnel assigned n they go to their own the extent to which la has become militathat has engulfed the ot exclusively from the civilian targets by the cent tragic events, unC conflict, have clearly sts" are present even East.
needed
eport No.8 of UTHR n 7th March 1997, exnethical way the State es to function and the rnment to end the disxes of Some bureauhe principles of good ich the Government mitted. The kind of which has deprived the the minorities contineir thinking. "Where it e law appears to place dvantageous position, a threat to peace are ed as an argument to ers of the minority of yrtant message conis that "efforts towards be fruitful unless the e steps towards gainof the people in the quite rightly stressed uilding must therefore
be an exercise independent of the (devolution) package. In part it involves cleaning the Augean stables that comprise the State machinery."
Although there are peace and civil rights movements in Sri Lanka, they have not bothered to "marshal their energies, coordinate their activities and bring to bear a common voice of the people." It is astonishing that those who worked so enthusiastically toputan end topolitical violence in Sri Lanka had remained indifferent to the abuses of the State machinery and the mistrust that permeated at an alarming rate all sections of the society. In order to have lasting peace in Sri Lanka, mutual trust must prevail between the diverse ethnic, religious and regional groups and all must have trust in the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the government. A drastic change in the way the state machinery functions consistent with the fundamental change in the ideology that hitherto allowed injustices to be perpetrated, both overtly and Covertly, against the minorities is desperately needed in order to give credence to the peace efforts.
Lord Buddha preached to reject those doctrines which when put in practice led to loss and suffering. Those who had lost their lives and of their dear Ones and/or endured untold suffering either in the north or south are mostly the poor people. To ignore the continued suffering of the innocent and impoverished people is unacceptable in a Society that claims to be humane.
Apparently, there is a perception that to condemn the unethical or unjust stand of any group is likely to infuriate some section of the population and therefore it is prudent to remain passive or silent. If this attitude continues even among reasonable citizens, righteousness will remain buried and evil will prevail. The striking paradox in Sri Lanka is that while the country has a very high literacy rate and intellectuals who have received recognition nationally and some even internationally, yet very little has been done outside the political process to avert the kind of man-made disasters that have brought so much misery to the people.
There are no constitutional or other legislative constraints for the government to demonstrate its seriousness in bringing about the much needed changes vita for removing the psychosis of fear and giving hope for peace and Security to the people. Practices that unlawfully penalise the minorities and which have got deeply entrenched in the State apparatus, both civil and military, as a result of their prolonged use over Several decades cannot be condoned by the government,

Page 16
16 AML MES
that is committed to resolving the ethnic conflict in a justmanner, Even here much could be done within the existing legal framework, while the devolution package is taken through the process of making it constitutional. Durable peace in Sri Lanka requires more than the reform of the constitution, although this is essential.
Meaningful Actions
Apermanent Human Rights Commis
sion has been set up recently under the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act. At the inauguration ceremony the Justice Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris is reported to have said: "Protection of human rights is one of the important pledges the People's Alliance gave the people before the 1994 August elections and the setting up of the Human Rights Commission makes that a reality." Until one sees how effectively the Commission functions in bringing to justice the violators of human rights in Sri Lanka, regardless of their positions in the government and society, it is premature to conclude that the pledge has been fulfilled. However, there is some hope for improvement on this front judging from two separate developments taking place in Sri Lanka.
Amidst growing concern at incidents of rape and harassment in the NorthEast, the ICRC in Colombo has initiated a programme that will emphasize the need for compassion and discipline among the government forces. The "law of war" is now being taught in depth. This should have been done years ago. The judges are also getting firm on human rights violators. While welcoming such positive steps, it must be stated that these only touch the tip of the iceberg. Given the complex nature of the problem, great deal remains to be done both Within and outside the political process. The vivid description in the latest special report of UTHR (Jaffna) relating to the happenings in Trincomalee and which have contributed to the mistrust and fear among different communities there, gives an idea of the priorities that need to be established for achieving lasting peace.
It is stated: "Trincomalee is an area where the damage and discriminatory practices of state structures are most deeply entrenched, and have shown no change for the better under the present Government. It would serve the Cause of peace well if the Government would make an effort to understand the situation and make Trincomalee a model of how different communities can realise their common interest of harmonious co-existence." In an exclusive interview published in the March 1997 issue of "Business Today", Foreign Minister Mr. L. Kadirgamar has reiterated the present government's total commitment to the devolution proposals. He emphasized: "we will not be deterred by adverse propaganda, we will
not be deterred by nitely going to putth liament, and in fac the people." Such d how often they are confidence and ho continue to suffer ph without any sign of herself has been in ing to the Sinhales for a political soluti lem through the dev Tamil people despe terim some tangible their suffering.
The ruling Peop victory in the Marc ment elections has dent Kumaratunga country out of the cr fidence. During the PA reiterated its c peace plan, restora democracy, eradic corruption and uplif of the people. The attacked the devo badly defeated at th cannot be any valid stream political par ernment from giving have been yearnin peace without the fe by groups within an fnent.
The Justice and Minister Prof. G. L. F ference on March ters of the draft cons (but not the key cha powers to the regi election victory for liance has strengthe hand at taking the p The general secret sition party (the UN sued on March 29 the select committe Some issues So f which they have dis which still have n Some opposition N the publication of S stitution, while the Committee procee The UNP's uncomp unitary state and t of regions" in chapt ms to be not recon The statement Minister on April 3 dent Chandrika K opposition leader F on their acceptanc tisan) approach tc very encouragin brokered by the Br ruling PA and the work together to e through negotiatio

15 APRIL 1997
threats, we are defiese proposalsto par
when necessary to clarations no matter epeated will not give e to the people, who ysically and mentally ome relief. President the forefront explainpeople the urgency in to the ethnic probolution of powers. The rately need in the inrelief that alleviates
e's Alliance landslide h 21st local governstrengthened Presis hands to steer the sissituation With conlection campaign the ommitment to:- the tion of human rights, ation of bribery and t the living conditions WEP which virulently lution package was is election too. There grounds for any mainy to obstruct the govthe people what they gfor so long to live in lar of being terrorised doutside the govern
Constitutional Affairs oeiris told a news con26, the day 18 chaptitution were released apter on devolution of ons) that “the recent he ruling People's Alned the government's ace process forward." ary of the main oppoNP) in a statement isas said: "Members of e have only agreed on ar. There are issues agreed on and issues ot been discussed." Ps have disapproved ome parts of the conParliamentary Select dings are continuing. romising standon the he "indissoluble union ær 1 just released see>iled,
issued by the Foreign d, on behalf of Presiumaratunga and the lanill Wickremesinghe of a common (biparthe ethnic conflict is . Under an accord tish Government, the UNP have agreed to nd the ethnic conflict is with the Tamils. The
two leaders have exchanged letters in which they "agreed that the head of the government would seek the opinion of opposition leaders on significant developments relating to the ethnic conflict, regardless of the party in power"They have also "agreed that the party in opposition should not undermine any discussions or decisions between the ruling party and any other group, including the UT TE rebels, aimed at ending the conflict." Despite this encouraging development, no one can predict with any certainty how long it will take for the present constitution to be amended and in what form it will emerge. Even from the language used in the agreement, it is clear that a permanent solution is not near. This only signals the ground-breaking step in the peace proceSS,
The Government should seize this mood of the opposition and act immediately on hitherto neglected matters that could help to take the peace process forward. As mentioned earlier, these do not require either constitutional reform or new legislations, What is needed is the will to act. Any hesitation in addressing the basic issues related to the Tamil problem will only help the extremists to sabotage the peace effort. This lesson has been learnt at great cost. The "war for peace" strategy must give Way to an effective strategy for peace without War, Sri Lankans should not be deprived this time too the peace that they have been waiting for since 1994 and which they deserve to have after their harrowing experiences with the protracted war. O

Page 17
15 APRIL 1997
local authorities in seven provinces other than the Tamil dominated North-East has been concluded. The ruling Peoples Alliance has won 194 of these comprising 7 Municipal councils, urban councils and 167 Pradeshiya Sabhas (units based on Assistant Government Agent divisions).
The Chief Opposition Party, the United National Party has won 5 municipal Councils, 11 urban councils and 27 Pradeshiya Sabhas. An Independent group has won a solitary victory in remote Angulanpelessa of the Southern Province,
Compared to the 1991 position where the then ruling UNP had captured 193 local authorities the PA performance this year was almost a complete turnaround, in simplistic percentage terms the PA victory amounts to 81% of the total contested.
The elections themselves were conducted in an atmosphere of violence, terror and intimidation, The Centre for monitoring election violence reported that 731 incidents of violence have been recorded in 30 police divisions covering all areas where elections were scheduled from 5 March to 5 April.
The impressive performance of the PA underscores another norm gaining acceptance in recent times. In Sri Lanka there has been a tendency for people to support the Party in Government during local authority elections. This tendency has been further reinforced by the unabashed use of all State apparatus at it's disposal by the governing party or parties in power in the course of the campaign. The UNP did it earlier and the PA is accused of it now,
In a statement that indicated clearly a change of roles Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe charged the PA with large scale impersonation and vote rigging.The UNP also alleged that the PA did comparatively well in areas where large scale violence prevailed. Independent observers did witness several incidents where UNP polling agents were terrorised and chased off from polling booths and counting stations.
It must be noted that these election campaigns were conducted by both par
238 recently conducted polls to אך
ties with an intensity Seen in local authc was like a General tion where the powe high. This was the massive violence th ing this spectre of formance has been media as a resounc Looking at the pi perspective will cer pression. The PA g 238 local authoritie out of 195 Pradeshi Out of31 Urban Cou 12 Municipal counc
Another way of on the basis of votes Votes were registe of the total votes. T age for local polls around 65%. This hi been adduced in fav ment about vote rig The Governmer votes amounting to 4 2,879,759 got 41.2 ages were compare the 1994 August ele that the PA continu base While the UNF August the PA got 4 had 44.04%.
Constitutional Al Sor GL Peiris went he pointed out that the PA backed inde lombo as well as the partners the Ceylor and Upcountry Peop. be added on to the F the PA percentage votes polled.
A direct compari eral election results ate or accurate for local authority elec held in the North-Ea were held only in 17 Secondly there wa votes in the present 94 Aug polls.
Comparing the p with Aug 94 on the 17 districts alone pr
 

TAMIL TIMES 17
f that was not usually rity polls. The mood or Presidential Elecir stakes are naturally main reason for the is time. Notwithstandviolence the PA perhailed by the Colombo ling victory. ols from a headcount ainly convey that imot 194 or 81%. Out of S; it won 167 or 86% ya sabhas; 20 or 65% ncils; 7 or 59% out of ils. looking at it would be ; garnered. 7,522,477 ed. This was 77.2% he usual voting averhas been generally gh rate of polling has four of the UNP arguging. tobtained 3,418,205 18.97%;The UNP with 5%; These percentd and contrasted with ction results to show ed to retain it's voter had seen a drop. In 8,94% While the UNP
ffairs Minister Profesa step further when the votes gained by pendent group in Copse of it's constituent Workers Congress bles Front should also PAVotes. By this logic went up to 50.9% of
ison With the 94 Genmay not be appropritwo reasons. Firstly tions have not been ustas in 94; Elections districts of the South. s a drop of 372,893 polls as compared to
}resent voting pattern basis of the relevant ovides a different in
sight.The PA got 3,784,926 in the 17 districts; This is devoid of CWC and UPF votes; The PA percentage was 51.47%. So the PA performance in 94 was better in the 17 districts. Likewise the UNP Which got 3,353,532 in August 94 has less now. In that context the better comparison would be with the Presidential polls of November 1994 where Chandrika Kumaratunge scored heavily with 62% The Presidential elections of November 94 saw 6,997,398 votes being polled in the 17 districts in question. The PA gained 4,267,725 votes while the UNP got 2,608,675 votes. Against that result the PA this time has lost 708,458 votes while the UNP has registered again of 271,084 Votes,
The overwhelming victory of Chan
drika Kumaratunge in the Presidential
stakes was due mainly to the massive support of the minorities. Since there were no elections to the North-East it could be surmised that the PA percentage on a national scale would be much higher than at present with Tamil and Muslim support
But then again the most significant aspect of the current local polls was the resurgence of support for the UNP among the minority communities notably the Tamils, The traditional minority vote bank which went over to the PA in 94 has seemingly returned to the UNP this year.
In Colombo the PA backed independents list led by former UNP Mayor Ganeshalingam who did a political long jump. polled only about 90,000 votes white the UNP led by a relative newcomer Karu Jayasuriya got 120,000. This was in spite of an explicit assurance that Ganeshalingam would become Mayor again by the powers that be. Ganeshalingam's perSonal votes were much lower than expected while only one out of 7 CWC nominees got elected, A clear indication that Tamils had either voted for the UNP or opted not to vote for PA.
This was the case in almost all areas in the up-country where sizable concentrations of Tamils are prevalent. The CWC contested five councils on it's symbol of cockerel. The UPF also contested separately as Independents in some. In other PA lists CWC candidates were accommodated, Thondaman's reputation as a Kingmaker who could deliver a bloc vote was seriously damaged when results were announced, The CWC was not able to win any council on it's own; in the WattalaMabola areas the CWC performance was abysmal. Likewise the UPF;CWC candidates on other PA lists also did not fare well. The unkindest cut of all was that large number of Tamils had voted for the UNP which they had spurned in 1994.
In the case of the Muslim community the Swing against the PA was not that severe. Again this was more due to the Muslim Congress and the individualmer

Page 18
18 TAMIL TIMES
its of some candidates rather than an index of support for the PA alone.The Muslim Congress which fielded only one candidate alone in areas where Muslims were concentrated campaigned that all 3 votes should be cast for their nominee alone. This was a device by the Muslim Congress to test the waters and gauge support for a future bid of contesting alone.
28 Muslim Congress Candidates were elected in all with several topping the lists. The running battle between Ministers Ashroff of the Muslim Congress and Fowkie of the SLFP saw the former winning the round in Colombo. Ashroff's nominee Azoor came second in the list ahead of Fowzie's own son who had been blatantly promoted by the Father,
The reasons for the Tamil Vote bank returning to the UNP are quite complex and deserves a more detailed analysis that could be the subject of another article. At the risk of over-simplification it could be said that Chandrika's strategy of "Peace through War" has in practice caused tremendous misery to the Tamil people. The predicament of the People in the traditional Tamil homeland is vicariously experienced by Tamils living in Colombo and the South too.
Moreover the Tamils living in Colombo and in the South have been continuously subjected to humiliating hardship in the name of security. Their basic human rights have beeb violated callously time and again by Security officials. All this has resulted in Tamil opinion shifting away from Chandrika in the past year. SheherSelf did not seem to realise that her image among the Tamils was now a moon on the wane. Many Tamils in Colombo have become quite hostile and expecting them to vote for arenegade UNPer of Cyril Mathew vintage merely because he bore a Tamil name was too much to expect. In the case of the upcountry Tamil they too share along with their SriLankan Tamil counterparts a common vulnerability to the excesses of the security forces who see a tiger behind every tea bush, Apart from this are the particular problems facing them ranging from housing to education. There is rising cost of living without real wages showing a corresponding substantial increase. Also there are problems compounded by privatisation. Despite the Plantation Patriarch Thondaman and the messiah of the intelligentsia Chandrasekeran being Minister and State Minister nothing tangible has been achieved.
The Tamil voting trend indicates that the minorities in the South have very real problems including the fallout from the War for Peace. The groundswell of resentment cannot be contained by the promise of an overall political package alone. The glimmer of the pot of gold at the rainbow end is fading away. Existential realities become painfully important. The harassment undergone by Sri Lankan Tamils
in the name of se be remedied. Up particularly genui to be addressed political patronag The election r positive lessons fo Wickremesinghe election campaigr sition ranks. Possi ment in this electic of the minority vo PA. Although the full support for til package it has a whipped up a chau st it too. This is qu experiences wher tion have been quic ure contemplated power on the ethn Rani however vinists in his fold all out campaign í settlement. This is Tamil opinion and to the UNP's succ at the recent polls, At the same ti tious in not exten principles such as tary state into a L
the other hand th
more positively in then it could possi ter, Memories are o entity has a politic bank for ever and itself is an epheme UNP could be the norities again if it pl Besides what man is that if and when settled current pol undergo a drastic Tamils opting to jc On a national level. The recent agre dent Kumaratunge Wickremesingher of a bi-partisan app nic problem has pr opportunity. Alread Rani has demons stituency in partic large that he will n an amicable settle quired of him is gri participation in the he could share Chandrika any cre as a result of a st bi-partisan approa meaningless with sensus on the func The local poll: were projected as dum... The PA has ! absence of a defin UNP towards the

dm
15 APRIL 1997
urity measures has to Country Tamils have e problems that have effectively. Doling out
alone is no answer. sults also have some r the UNP leader Rani his is the first major he has led from oppoly his biggest achievein could be the wooing e bank away from the JNP has not pledged he proposed political t the same time not vinist campaign againlite contrary to earlier parties in the opposi:k to oppose any measby the government in c question. has curbed the Chauand refrained from an against the envisaged appreciated greatly by s a contributory factor ess vis a vis the Tamilis
ne he has been cauding support to some i transforming the uniInion of regions, lf on he UNP asserts itself favour of Tamil rights bly perform even betshort in politics and no al monopoly of a vote ever, political strength ral phenomenon. The champion of the miays it's cards correctly. y people do not realise the ethnic problem is itical equations would : transformation with bin or support parties
ement between Presiand Opposition leader egarding the adoption roach towards the ethoffered Ranila golden by signing the accord rated to hisTamil conular and the World at ot stand in the way of ment. What is now re}ater involvement and peace efforts whereby equally along with dit that would accrue tisfactory solution. A sh on the modalities is ut a bi-partisan conamentals,
in the initial stages a substitute refereneen dismayed by the te commitment by the Constitutional reform
process. Apart from a consensus at the Parliamentary select committee level, amending entrenched clauses require a two-thirds majority in Parliamentand consequent ratification at a referendum. This made UNP co-operation vital. in the context of perceived UNP non co-operation the PA was toying with a new option described as a "constitutional revolution".
The idea was to conduct a non-binding referendum on the envisaged political package. The ensuing campaign would compel the UNP to adopt a definite position on the issue. The possible loss of support among the minorities as Well as the prospect of losing Supportive international opinion would make the UNP hesitant in opposing it vigorously. Given the success displayed in the 94 Presidential polls and the new voting bloc available in the North the PA Would Cruise through smoothly with a thumping majority at the referendum. Thereafter the UNP could be persuaded to co-operate with the process that had been endorsed by the country at large or threatened with a snap election which would in the Wake of a Successful non-binding referendum provide the PA with a two-thirds majority. This was the original strategy.
Later there was a change of tactics. It was decided to hold local authority elections and test public opinion. The goal however was a voting percentage of 55% in favour of the PA. Since the PA was supposedly stronger in rural areas the date for the polls was fixed to follow the harvest period and precede the drought season. The intensity of the campaign was caused to a certain extent by the desire for a substitute referendum.
As the campaign progressed different developments occurred and changed the originally envisaged direction of the campaign. The question of the political package became marginalised. In the first instance the UNP was careful in avoiding referencesto the package.The party concentrated on other issues for propaganda. Even the parties opposing the package like the JVP MEP and the independent groups backed by Srimani Athulathmudali's DUNLF could only oppose the Package in principle as a mere abstract concept; it could not be attacked on a concrete level as the nitty gritty aspects were not made public. 18 chapters of the draft were released only after the polls.
Surprisingly the PA too did not make much use of the political package in their campaign. Only Chandrika Kumaratunqe and G. Peiris referred in detail to the package. Most PA leaders also avoided speaking about it. On the contrary propaganda centred more around the military successes in the North. Four days before the polls Chandrika jolted everyone with a political gaffe reminiscent of her predecessor DB Wijeytunge when she said
(Continued on next page)

Page 19
5APRIL 1997
PEACE PROCESS THENEED FOR ACOMPLE
BYSTAGE APPROACHT THELANKANTINCCON
By V Ambalavanar*
(Contd. From last issue)
V. STEPS NEEDED TO MOVETOWARDS PEACE
(1) Cease-fire
One of the basic requirements of any peace process is a cease-fire. If it is brought about, Parliamentarians will have a proper environment to sit and discuss a package meant to bring about peace to the country in a calm atmosphere. It is particularly important to ensure that emotional reactions to destruction by violence does not cloud positive and objective analysis by those who are entrusted with the responsibility of doing justice to the job that they have been elected to do. The cease-fire should also be properly monitored by an independent party, preferably aforeign party acceptable to both sides. The Government, the LTTE the official opposition party and other parties and organisations should help to stop the vio
(continued from page 18)
that there was no ethnic problem and only a terrorist problem thereby negating all need for the constitutional reform proceSS,
After the assassination of the young Ratnapura MP Nalanda Ellawela the dimension of violence and counter violence pervaded the campaign in a big way. The question of pros and cons for the political package became irrelevant, it soon became a non-issue. Therefore it has become pointless to refer to the PA victory as a victory for peace and the political package. Neither the PA nor the UNP were stridently articulate either for or against the package in their campaign. It was not an issue for the voters with those Supporting a political settlement voting for the UNP and those opposing the settlement voting for the PA.
What is necessary now is for themajor Sinhala parties to set the acrimoniously bitter election campaign behind them and move positively forward to forge a bi-lateral approach and consensus towards the resolution of the ethnic question. O
lence that is causin tion to the people a A Second factor is the feedback from tect Committee's wo for a peaceful atmo tra emphasis, Ofsp feedback from the p East and even from tion Worked out thro eSS could have muc ion if the people as the facility of studyi package and makir to the Select Comm The Tamils in p that they are free to ing places, have di their views known t tee Without the fea Custody by law enf On Suspicion.
In this process, Tamils and others o East to interact wi North and East are therefore very nec various security ch tween regions to h mittee process in a r the Government cl legal document tha Committee will brin Country and expects the Tamils to make t Government shoulc basic requirements Create the proper also a matter that e mittee itself should ir all sections of the p are provided adequ representations to it a step in the right di
(2)The need to win minds of the Tamil While a cease-fi step to bring about a the country, of equ. provision of the basi of people who have their homes since and the Tamils else

TAMIL TIMES 19
ESTA: DENO |FLICT
g so much of destrucnd their properties. of crucial importance the people to the Serk. Here again a need sphere needs no execial relevance is the eople of the North and other areas. No soluugh the ongoing prochcredibilityasa soluta whole are denied ng the contents of the ng their views known hittee, )articular should feel go to possible meetscussions, and make o the Select Commitr of being taken into orcement authorities
facilities which enable utside the North and th the people of the most desirable. It is essary to revise the ecks within and beelp the Select Commeaningful way. Since aim that the revised t is before the Select g about peace to this ; everyone, especially heir views known, the di take note of these and initiate action to environment. This is ven the Select Comsist on to ensure that eople of this country ate facilities to make t. A cease-fire will be rection.
the hearts and
S
re is a first necessary a calm atmosphere in al importance is the c needs to the Lakhs been displaced from 1994. These people where in the country
who overwhelmingly voted for the present Government especially at the Presidential Elections with the hope that the Government will bring about peace, should not be identified as villains When others who live in more comfortable surroundings oppose the package of the Government and make further action difficult in the peace process. The Government should learn from the experience of Emperor Asoka and make sure that it does not fall into the same trap which the Emperor fell into, despite the correct advice of the Buddhist Clergy. There is no doubt that a vast majority of the Clergy from all our religions will not want the violence and destruction to continue and the basic needs of a section of the people neglected.
(3) importance of re-commencement of peace talks
In the modern world, peace cannot be achieved by violent means. This has been accepted by both parties involved in the violent conflict in Sri Lanka. The earliest peace talks took place on this basis. It should also be noted that negotiations took place in 1994 and 1995 when there was no cessation of hostilities, Under the circumstances if talks without mediation are not considered helpful by the Government and the LTE, the obvious alternative is to have talks facilitated by third party mediators. It is a healthy sign to find about 23 Members of Parliament Who attended a peace conference abroad recently, advocating such an approach. This is also being Suggested by peace groups, human rights organisations and the like. In a recent statement, H E the President has also suggested a similar approach.
As a friendly neighbour and as a country having close links with us in several Spheres, India is the obvious first choice for third party mediation. It is expected that India's concern for the suffering people and the magnanimity of the people of India will soon help to erase any bitter memories of the recent years and pave the way for the Government of India to Come in and play an active and constructive role as a mediator,
However, no third party will like to come in as a mediator if the parties involved in the conflict do not ask for such mediation. If the assistance of an International organisation or another Government is considered helpful, the initiative to get such help should be taken by the Government. Instead of continuing with the costly war, the Government should consider this option seriously, especially at a time when the mediation process could provide very useful feedback to the Select Committee. Such discussion with the help of a third party mediator should also bring the main opposition party directly into the process, thus taking it above party politics. The other parties represented in Parliament as well as the

Page 20
20 TAM TIMES
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Page 21
15 APRIL 1997
rest of the country will have their say through the Select Committee process. In fact the talks aided by the third party mediator could also continue during the stage 2 that was referred to earlier after reaching a suitable position. It could also facilitate the active participation of the militants in the political process through the Regional Councils.
The recent reports of large number of desertions from the armed Services Convey the message that large numbers of persons selected for these services (between 16,000 and 18,000 according to recentreports over the media) do not like to fight the war. It is ironic to find the Government which is committed to bring about peace trying to persuade and even threaten these persons not to engage in peaceful occupations in Sri Lanka and abroad. Some reports of possible conscription have also recently appeared in sections of the media. It is not clear whether the Government is considering such an option seriously.
As the further escalation of the War itself and conscription (if true) are matters of major concern to the public, the Government should consult all Sections of the people even at this late stage. An appropriate step at this juncture is a referendum to find out whether the people really want this damaging warto continue or they would rather prefer fresh efforts towards a negotiated settlement through third party mediation or facilitation. In such a negotiation process the devolution proposals of the Government amended as per suggestions in section 7, could be one of the basic documents. (4) Resettlement, reconstruction and rehabilitation
It is Well known that the North and East of the country have been seriously affected by the violence of the past thirteen and a half years. After the cease-fire, urgent matters that need attention are the resettlement of people, reconstruction and rehabilitation. While discussions on Devolution and related issues continue, the details of resettlement, reconstruction and rehabilitation should be Worked out simultaneously by groups consisting of Government representatives and the local political and administrative machinery including the militant cadres in the respective areas. The participation of all these parties will be facilitated if the amnesty announced by the Government is kept open and the security of everyone is ensured.The rehabilitation should also Cover the rehabilitation of human beings. In this connection we must learn from what has been happening in the world and accept the fact that today's militants could be tomorrow's protectors of the Nation. The attitude of forgetting and forgiving is of crucial importance as preached by all our religions.
VII. COMMENTS MATTERS INTHE
(1) Preliminaryn Normally, whe both parties invol be talking peace ( package. Howeve parties who were violent conflict a nouncement of til 1995, found ther Where the violent To date we are no the August packag militants by the Gc not aware of any the militants on th organisations of th have made some in a position to ex them probably fou the Lakhs of new 1994 Conflict.
Under the cir ments on the pres posals should atte (a) What amer to the August 199: violent conflicts?
(b) What am to make the prese erly reflect what w nal proposals and essary to cater to
Besides the al recognised that the proposals on Dev viewed along with for Constitutional C to (c) below.
(c) What amel all other Constitut Sure that they are C able Constitutiona tion?
Any comments the present propo be viewed in the p ing note of (a) to (
(2) Comments
(a) The words should be change section 1 of chap Package is a lega Such restrictive ter sidered after clos gional and Sub-R tated through a fel Councils themselv necessary becaus substantial sectio tion in the North-Ea Further, any forma Centra Provinc Sabaragamuwa make representatic for some time.
(b) The entire

TAMIL TIMES 21
ONSPECIFIC
PACKAGE
Otes in peace is attempted ved in the conflict wi|| In the basis of a peace r, in our case the two already involved in a t the time of the anhe package in August selves in a situation conflict only escalated. it aware as to whether je has been Sent to the vernment. We are also detailed comments by e package. Even other e North-East who could views known were not )ress views as most of nd themselves among refugees of the post
cumstances any com;ent Consitutional prompt to do two things:- hdments are necessary 5 proposals to stop the
endments are needed 2nt proposals to propere stated in the origiwhat additions are nec(a) above? bove it should also be present Constitutional olution should best be the overall proposals hanges. This brings us
hdments are needed to ional proposals to enompatible with acceptl changes on Devolu
given in this paper on Sals Should therefore, ‘oper perspective, takc) above,
'an indissoluble Union' d to 'a Union' in line 2, er 1. This Devolution a draft of the centre, minology could be cone consultation at Reegional levels is facili2dback from Regional es. This is particularly e consultation with a of the Tamil populasthas nottaken place. |attempt by the North a Council and the Provincial Council to ns has been precluded
sub-para (2), section 2
of chapter 1 should be deleted. This Sub-para is an impediment to free discussion of Devolution and Unit of Devolution by the Regional Councils which is considered necessary to provide the feed-back from the Regions in Stage 2.
(c) First Schedule - Until the Regional Councils express their views formally through the Devolution Commission and Parliament takes a final decision the Regions should be as follows:
South-West Region consisting of the Southern and the Western Provinces, excluding the CapitalTerritory.
Central-West Region consisting of the North-Central and North Western Provinces.
Central Region consisting of the Centra, Sabaragamuwa and Uva Provinces. North-East Region consisting of the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
The rationale behind this has been set out in section 3 of this paper.
(d) The entire chapter 2 should be deleted. It creates further room for divisions and separatist tendencies. The words of wisdom 'One language, two Nations or two languages, one Nation' of our experienced political leaders should be recalled here. When we are grappling with the massive problems already created on an ethnic basis, it is desirable to refrain from introducing matters that could lead to similar problems on the basis of religion. (e) The words 'and not more than six other Ministers'in line 2, sub-para (1), section 14 of chapter 3 should be changed to readas'and such other number of Ministers'. When the number of Ministers is specified in this manner, it does not take into consideration the needs properly. In Regional Councils where there is high workload, more Ministers may be needed. Centre should not treat the Regions as less responsible than the centre when it comes to increasing overheads by appointing more Ministers. We must remember that both the Centre and the Regions are equally answerable to the people who elect the representatives. Moreover, stipulating the number of Ministers goes against the very basics of Devolution.
(f) At the end of sub-para (5) (d), section 20 of chapter 3, a new sub-para (5) (e) should be introduced to read as '(e) the land area of the Region.'This is suggested on the basis that more resources will be needed to develop larger areas.
(g) in line 2, sub-para(1), section 21 of chapter 3, the words "in consultation with the Governor'should be replaced by the words, "with the concurrence of the Chief Minister'. The present wording may have been used to preserve the independence of the Regional Public Service Commission. However, the initial appointment of this Commission with the concurrence of the Chief Minister will help to select suitable officers for appointment to the Regional Councils. While the Public Serv

Page 22
22 TAMIL TIMES
ice Commission at the Centre has been functioning with little independence over a long time it is meaningless to expect independence to be preserved at the Regional level, if the suggested amendment is not made it will convey an impression that from the beginning the Regional Public Service Commissions are being controlled by the centre. This will be an adverse factor against healthy devolution.
(h) At the end of sub-para (4), Section 24 of chapter 3, a new sub-para (5) should be introduced to read as "(5) Any land allocations by the Centre under sub-paras (3) and (4) above shall be subject to the provisions of sub-para (2) above. This is an important amendment. After providing for the relative priorities in land allocations in sub-para (2) the Centre should not have the flexibility to violate such priorities. If it is allowed to violate the pre-specified guidelines, the local people of the Region will feel let down.
(i) Sub-paras (3)(a), (3)(b) of section 25, chapter 37 provide for different ways in which Regional Police Commissioner, and the other members of the Regional Police Commission are to be appointed. Sub-para (b) should be changed to enable the appointment of the other two members of the Regional Police Commission by the Chief Minister in consultation with the Governor in the interest of a healthy functioning of the Regional Police Commission. Hence, the Words "Constitutional Council' in line 2. of this sub-para should be replaced by the words "Chief Minister in consultation With the Governor
(j) Sub-para (4), section 25 of chapter 3 conveys a wrong idea. The offences such as the ones referred to in this sub para should be viewed on the basis that the Regional Police is as concerned as the Central Police about the country's interests. Thus, this sub-para should be completely deleted.
(k) Section 26 of chapter 3 should be completely deleted and details as persection 8 of this paper should be included in section 29 of chapter 3 when it is revised as suggested in this paper.
(1) From the contents of sections 27 and 28 of chapter 3, it would appear that most of the revenue collection is in the hands of the Central Government. Although it may be explained that the Government needs large extents of financial resources to enable priority allocation of funds to the Regions that have been badly affected by violence, from a long term point of view there exists a clear need to suggest amendments. Hence, this has also been included as a subject that needs careful study before amendments are suggested. These could be referred to the Devolution Commission for special consideration.
(m) The matters referred to under section 29 of chapter 3 concerning the
Chief Ministers' Col deleted and provisior the establishment of mission and the Peat details in section 8 c The above does clude all the matters Oned as matters nee is not the intention o the matters that are needing amendment tant matters have be
VIII. IMPLEMENTA
(1) lmportant aspe tion
It has been brou sections that the pac the Government is n package. The several are necessary to brir also been stated in t proper implementatic tance to the Success Section discusses S. issues involved in th feedback and evalua with the package. In ful to note that them feedback work shoul continuing basis du implementation. This Corrective action whi encountered. Evalu that is to be underta suitable phase in t when we will like to k expected benefits ha in order to do the tory manner, it is n state the present (ba is done in sub-sectic
(2) Present situatio
At present, we Presidency which ha cised by the people í for us. The Provinci established underth has been recognise meet the aspiration norities by the pres When the People's AI date from the people vide for maximum de and bring about pea the dream of peace failed to materialise not appear to have a the peace process hancing the intensity lution package cam form, only four mon tion of hostilities agr Seventeen months since 15 July 1995, t Set for the abolition dency.
The losses to th from the War, includ

15 APRIL 1997
nference should be should be made for the Devolution Con:e Secretariat as per if this paper,
not necessarily inthat have been reckding amendments. It f this paper to list all eckoned as matters . Only certain imporen included.
ΓΙΟΝ
cts of implementa
ght out in the earlier :kage announced by оta complete peасе additional steps that ng about peace have hose sections. Since on is of crucial imporof the process, this ome of the relevant emonitoring, review, tion Work connected this regard it is useonitoring, review and d be carried out on a ing formulation and will facilitate speedy anever problems are ation is an exercise aken at the end of a he implementation (now whether all the ave been realised.
above in a satisfacecessary to briefly seline) situation. This on (2) below'.
have an Executive as been widely critias not being suitable al Councils System e unitary framework d as not suitable to s of the national mi2nt governing party. liance sought a man, it promised to provolution, stop the war ace. However, When through direct talks the Government did a properplan to take forward without enof the War: The devoe out in its original ths after the cessaeement broke down. ave already passed he original deadline of Executive Presi
he country resulting ing expenditures on
defence, which were estimated to add up to about Rs. 100 Billion per year when the present Government came to power have shot up to about Rs 150 Billion per year since then. Likewise, the loss of life which was about 5,000 per year when the Government came into office, shot up to about 7,000 per year since then. More than six Lakhs of people from the North and East have lost their homes and become refugees. Over two Lakhs of Students from those areas are struggling to continue their education in pathetic conditions under trees withoutadequate furniture, etc and without even necessities such as exercise books and the like. Even the Schools in the rest of the country have been closing and opening without any set pattern and functioning in a very unsatisfactory manner, The latest major disruption to education has taken place in Vavuniya. Higher education in the North has almost come to a standstill. People throughout the country are living in constant fear that there may be a major attack or bomb blast.
Our country which was said to be marching towards a newly industrialised country status not so long ago seems to be going in the opposite direction. Fall of per capita income, increasing unemployment, increase in the cost of living, fall in the standards of living, etc. are being faced by the people.
The above situation can be changed, only by a truly dedicated peace effort. The counter productive nature of the war for peace strategy became evident several months ago. This strategy has only made the problem more complex. The parties concerned have been advised or urged through papers by Several peace loving people and organisations to stop the war and initiate peace talks through third party mediation because of the realisation of the above. Such widespread efforts are continuing.
(3) Monitoring, review and feedback
When actions are initiated to implement the suggestion made, three groups of activities should be subject to close monitoring review and feedback process. Firstly, all the actions contemplated should be scheduled and prepared in the form of a programme, which should be subject to daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual monitoring as appropriate and adequate feedback provided to the decision makers. Secondly, the benefits and the reduced harmful activities should be identified and made known to the decision makers and the people on a continuing basis.Thirdly, there should be an allertness to possible man made disasters that could upset the peace process. These tasks should be assigned to a Peace Secretariat that would function in a responsible manner with a sense of commitment to peace. During the early stages, this Secretariat should function as an organi

Page 23
15 APRIL 1997
sation whichis primarily designed to handie disasters,
When reference is made to man made disasters, attention needs to be given to ways and means of taking action to prevent disasters. Experts who have handled such situations elsewhere in the World Will be able to advise as to how signals on impending disasters could be identified, monitored and feedback provided. There should be in position a countrywide monitoring arrangement. If disasters occur, they will create disturbances which in turn will put back the peace process. Hence there should also be in position a disastermitigation arrangement.
It has been explained that the Peace Secretariat will be an important organisation in the performance of the above tasks. However, a Secretariat alone cannot be expected to handle the above matters adequately. There should also be in position an organisation which could provide the necessary authority and status to the Secretariat and guide its activities. Key political leaders at the Central and Regional levels and peace workers should form such an organisation. It is also desirable that the organisation functions above party politics.
Reference was made to a Devolution Commission in the package of August 1995. It is most appropriate to arrange the functioning of the Secretariat referred to above, under such a Commission as its supporting Secretariat. Thus the establishment of a Devolution Commission and the supporting Peace Secretariat is strongly suggested as an addition to the Legal Document. The Commission should be headed by the President or the Prime Minister (after the Executive Presidential System is changed). The Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Chief Ministers of the Regions, Members nominated from the Parliament (same number as the number of Chief Ministers) and not more than five Peace Workers appointed by the President should be the other members of the Commission. The administrative head of the Peace Secretariat should function as the Secretary of the Commission.
New institutional arrangements created along with changes should come into existence, only in terms of the new needs. Thus, if a Devolution Commission with heavy responsibilities is set up, there is no need for a separate Chief Ministers' Council. If there is a Devolution Commission of the type suggested in the package of August 1995, it will provide an ideal opportunity to decide on all matters relating to Centre - Region conflicts through healthy consultations. The chances of witnessing the recurrence of the unfortunate experiences of some of the Provincial Councils will be considerably reduced. With these arrangements the provisions of Section 26 of Chapter 3 in the Legal Package should also be amended to pro
vide for an initia
relating to the ne gency in a Region mission and decis tion with it.
The above ar the first instance early appointmer sion in the manne pointment of the C A section of the M gration could be into a Peace Secr spadework. At an could be transfor of the type descri
As regards th ferred to earlier, postponed for the wantages and dis institution building eful study by the regions before af nnatter.
(4) Evaluation
In order to a process, the pres briefly described i The situation that eration of one or tw Councils could b present situation tion that will make dustrialised Count ation. Initial work evaluation Will cle fact that our cour hind other develop Countries of the A
IX. SUMMARY O AND CONCLUDI
(a) This pape of the Work cover the Devolution Pa proach has been a Devolution into th necessary anyway about an attitudin lution and proceec ution is necessary or not there is an
ԱS.
(b) When dec cerning the units C create multi-ethni than the Province
(c) Decisions best made on the between the Cer When viewed in th Work of the Selec reckoned as Stag should be discussi and brought to P Devolution Comm
(d) In Stage 2 an opportunity to controversial matt

TAM TIMES 23
discussion of matters ed for a State of Emerby the Devolution Comions taken in consulta
rangements should, in be made through an t of a Peace Commisr suggested for the apevolution Commission. inistry of National Intemmediately converted etariat to do necessary appropriate stage they med into organisations 2ed. e second chamber rethe decision could be second stage. The adadvantages of further at the centre need carcentre as well as the nality is reached on the
ssist in the evaluation ent situation has been n the previous section. emerges after the opto terms of the Regional e compared with the and a projected situaSri Lanka a Newly inrytocompletean evaluin respect of such an arly bring to focus the try is lagging way being countries especially sian region.
FSUGGESTIONS NG REMARKS
r brings together some ed in earlier papers on ckage. A different apdopted to first bring the epicture as something ..Thus, we should bring al change about devoon the basis that devo"and desirable whether ethnic problem before
isions are made conf devolution, we should units which are larger
܀ about devolution are basis of a consensus tre and the Regions. is manner, the present t Committee could be e 1. In Stage 2, these 2d at the Regional level arliament through the ssion. , the Regions will get discuss in detail all the ers and make their re
spective positions known. Muslims in particular will have further opportunities to get added support to their point of view.
(e) As regards the second chamber referred to earlier, the decision could be postponed for the second stage. The advantages and disadvantages of further institution building at the centre need careful study by the centre as well as the regions before a finality is reached on the matter.
(f) The costs of the war which has been going on for over thirteen and a half years have been brought to focus. We have lost over 60,000 lives, spent Billions and Billions of Rupees, destroyed Billions and Billions of Rupees worth of movable and immovable property in the process. The case of Mahabharatha has been brought in to impress upon all of us that we are going on the path of self destruction by refusing to give and take in negotiations. The case of Emperor Asoka has been mentioned to make uS realise that attempts to beat anyone into submission will only be counter productive. By the quick resolution of all the problems, we will bring to an end the violence that has been contributing to all this destruction.
(g) Through the cease-fire that comes out of the mediation efforts of a mediator acceptable to both parties and proper monitoring by the same mediator, the work of the Select Committee could be carried out in a more credible manner. (h) The discussion and follow-up process through the Select Committee on issues where agreement is reached at joint negotiations involving the Government, the main opposition party and the LTTE with the help of a third party mediator is a very useful method. The two majorpolitical parties should take the ethnic problem above party politics in the above manner in the interest of the people of the country.The LTTE, the other political parties and all other organisations should play their respective roles on the same basis.
(i) As a friendly neighbour and as a country having close links with us in several spheres, India is the obvious first choice for third party mediation. It is expected that India's concern for the suffering people and the magnanimity of the people of India will soon help to erase any bitter memories of the recent years and pave the way for the Government of India to come in and play an active and constructive role as a mediator.
(j) As the further escalation of the war itself and conscription (if true) are matters of major concern to the public, the Government should consult all sections of the people even at this late stage. An appropriate step at this juncture is a referendum to find out whether the people really want this damaging War to continue or they would rather prefer fresh efforts towards a negotiated settlement through third party mediation or facilita

Page 24
24 TAMIL TIMES
tion. In such a negotiation process the devolution proposals of the Government, amended as per suggestions in section 7, could be one of the basic documents.
(k) Basic needs should be provided as a matter of urgency to all the displaced persons and others who have been made refugees.
(1) While discussions on Devolution and related issues continue, the details of resettlement, reconstruction and rehabilitation should be worked out simultaneously groups consisting of Government representatives and the local political and administrative machinery, including the militant cadres in the respective areas and steps taken for early implementation. The rehabilitation should also cover the rehabilitation of human beings. The amnesty offered by the Government should be kept open and the protection of everyone should be ensured.
(m) The suggestions made in this paper concerning the legal document do not cover all relevant matters. However, the other suggestions made in this paper will help to obtain the views of all concerned. (n) The suggestions which have been made in this paper attempt to show a peaceful way to handle a problem which has proved intractable to date. There will be always some delays in the attainment of the full benefits of any peace process. Therefore, all of us should patiently carry out the respective tasks that are expected of us.
(o) in this paper, it has been described as to how the Devolution Commission and its supporting Peace Secretariat should function to implement the solution to the Ethnic Problem.
(p) Some important matters that need to be considered immediately by these organisations have been spelt out.
(q) It has been suggested that these two organisations should, in the first instance, function as a Peace Council and a Peace Secretariat.
(r) Certain matters which were referred to as matters needing detailed study have been discussed in some detail and included as matters for further consideration by the Peace Council and the Peace Secretariat.
(s) There are also matters that have not been touched on here. Implementation of Tamil as an Official Language is a Right that has been denied to the Tamil speaking people. A Government which claims that it is committed to bring peace cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the non-implementation of Tamil as an Official Language. Strict instructions should go to Government organisations to reply in Tamil when they are written to in Tamil if officers fail to do this their extra allowances for the so called proficiency in Tamil should be stopped and action initiated to punish them for wrongfully drawing such allowances.
(t) Finally brief comments are need
he 10-rmonth oC ernment WaS VC Sabha around mr plunging India into ye uncertainty and confu The fall comes in t drawal of support by Congress. However, tional party, the Bhal (BJP), voted against th government.
The UF, a coalitic gether commanded o Lok Sabha, and the ( survived in power thu of the support extend Which has 144 mem house of the Indian P. What will happer and Congress come der a new leader or inevitable given the cu in the Lok Sabha anc
ed about the so-calle At times when peop charged, silence is Government and the there is very little that or for that matter an zen of the country car munications with inter peace, help the suffe funds to help children present pathetic disp often viewed with su authority. This has fill levels and to some the law in particular,
a tiger in every Tam
that they do. It is up to change this and sh
though a recommenc talks with the help o
tion as suggested he
"The author retirec Service in February of service under diff The last position helc retary to the Presia sions with interestec the revision of the ea in April 1996. The au to them. The Views
the author's persona
 

15 APRIL 1997
By T N Gopalan
Deve Gowda govted out in the Lok dnight on 11 April, another period of sion,
he wake of the withhe Indian National he other major naatiya Janata Party e United Front (UF)
n of 13 parties, tonly 177 seats in the Sowda regime had is far only because ed by the Congress bers in the lower arliament.
now? Will the UF together again unare mid-term polls rrent configurations | the respective po
d silence ofTamils. le are emotionally a virtue. When the LTTE are fighting peace lovingTamils f peace loving citido, Harmless Comtions to bring about ring people, raising 's education in their laced state, etc are spicion by those in ered down to many f the guardians of who are looking for and in everything the Government to w the proper way ement of the peace third party mediae.
(Concluded)
from Government f995 after 35 years rent Governments. Was Additional Secnt. Recent discuspersons resulted in lier paper prepared nors thanks are due xpressed here are views,
litical compulsions of the major groupings? All kinds of conjectures are going the rounds, but everyone agrees that the octogenarian President of the Congress, Mr Sitaram Kesri, has unnecessarily plunged the nation into a totally unwarranted period of crisis and confusion by unilaterally withdrawing his party's support to the UF government.
All the same nobody has, at least not as yet, any apprehensions over the survival of democracy - and thus despite the fact that even a fresh round of polls might not result in a decisive mandate for either the Congress or the BJP and with no single party in a position to form a government, the country could be in for a prolonged period of uncertainty, Nobody talks of a constitutional break-down or a military coup. Even at the worst of times, there would still be a modicum of good sense left in the Indian politicians and they would not be so foolish as to allow the boat in which they are riding to capsize as a result of their murderous bickerings, it is generally believed.
Even more important, the secular stream would somehow rally together and ensure that the polity is not held to ransom by antedeluvian ideologues who are itching to convert Mother Bhrat into a vicious communal battleground.
It was such a good sense in fact which drove the United Front parties and the Congress into partnership in June last. For who would have believed that such a wide array of regional parties like the DMK, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Samajvadi party (SP) besides the Janata Dal with a token national presence, all thriving on anti-congressism, could come together, accept the support of the Congress from the outside and seek to form a government? If they had not, it would have been a constitutional impasse, possibly necessitating another round of polls then itself. The UF, a post-election phenomenon, was allowed to garner all the ministeria offices for itself and run the nation and the Congress contented itself to remaining in the background all in an effort to keep the BJP out.
Whatever its greed, opportunism and sheer rottenness these days, the fact remains that the Congress is almost the sole unifying factor in the multi-nationa entity of India - unifying not merely in the

Page 25
15 APRIL 1997
sense it has a national presence but also that it is eminently secular and as a party it tends to rise above narrow parochial considerations. It was that inbuilt spirit of secularism which made Congressmen reconcile themselves to supporting a government composed of many inveterate anti-Congress leaders.
And no one exceptacussed man like HD Deve Gowda could have managed to upset such a wonderful arrangement in such a short period Gowda was a dark horse and he got the job by default. There was no other leader in the UF who would have been found palatable by the Congress at the time. All that was required of the head of the UF was to keep the supporting Congress appropriately placated. Gowda too was doing So in the beginning, doing some fine balancing act among the various UF constituents on the one hand and vis a vis the Congress on the other hand in fact at one time he so willingly let himself be led by the nose by whoever mattered in the scheme of things that he almost became a laughing stock.
But by the time Narasimha Rao made way for Kesri as the Congress President in September, power had gone to his head and he started treating the main supporting party with lordly indifference, if not total contempt Kesri repeatedly hinted that he was not amused by Gowda's antics, but the PM, in his misplaced sense of importance and overweening arrogance, would not take the message. Not even when Kesrimanaged to install himselfasthe Chairman of the Congress Parliamentary Party and declared that the Congress's support could not be taken for granted, it would be issue-based and so on, Gowda would change his behaviour accordingly. Instead he unleashed his hatchet-man, the CB Director Joginder Singh on all his adversaries, potential and actual. A five-year old murder case was revived and Kesri was made to look a suspect through inspired leaks. His assets were investigated and he himself was grilled. Gowda even stopped making courtesy calls on the CPP leader and would not consult the Congress on any major issue. He mistakenly thought that because Congress was in a bad shape and would not dare face the electorate, it would not dare topple his regime either.
Apart from the fact that his Finance Minister presented a budget which was widely welcomed by the industry and journalists and which did not increase the tax burden, the score-card of the Gowda government read absolutely pathetically. It could not or did not fulfil any of the major promises made in the Common Minimum Programme drawn up at the time of the formulation of the UF.
Whether it was economic initiatives aimed at bettering the lot of the deprived sections or devolution of more powers to the states or maximum autonomy to
Kashmir or in blat tional provisions a in Uttar Pradesh c wretchedly comm Thackeray or failin tive inter-state dis of the festering Nc Everywhere C was exposed for W incompetent but di tic politician who nemesis earlier th or acknowledged.
Well there wel eign policy initiativ sumption of dialog the agreement on ters of River Padm the credit should g minister KGujral ister could be comp. ing in the way of hi. this sphere Gow enough sensitivity Nadu and permitte tual carte blanche gime without seeki gotiating table. Tha the UK should bro tween the two maj on the ethnic issu mentary on the wa marginalised in thi. nent.
By and large, at Boidwai acidly rem all but betrayed its from keeping the B Centre, it performs Besides Gowd sel and operated o dant and Informatio unscrupulous and Self from the other has some grievanc babu Naidu was cl das failure to mal Karnataka behave controversy, Karur happy that the Prin do a thing to make interim award of thi Moopanar felt that in the Indian Bank : remains that many efited by the munifi chairman and Mc Gopalakrishnan an gone on the verge ( on many occasion: Moopanar, his loy When the final blo nersprepared to di the records they ma him.
Kesri himself h reports that Gowda dissident Congres: them with offers of torily, without even

TAM TIMES 25
ntly violating constituhd fending off the BJP cosying up to Such a Inal character like Bal to tackle such sensibutes like the Cauvery rth East rebellion.
own the line, Gowda hat he was - a crassy sgustingly opportuniswould meet with his an he himself realised
e Some Welcome fores indeed. Like the reIlue with Pakistan and the sharing of the waa with Bangladesh but o the wizened foreign hough the Prime Minlimented for not standminister. And even in da could not show to the feelings of Tamil id Gujral to give a virto the Chandrika reng to push it to the neta junior minister from Ker an agreement beor Sri Lankan parties e is a sufficient Comy India has let itself be s part of the subconti
ny way, as noted Praful arked, "The Front has early promise. Apart JP out of power at the
no useful function." a kept his own counnly through his confin Minister, Mr Ibrahim, crafty, distancing himJF leaders. Everyone e or other, if Chandraheesed off over Gowce his home State of in the Alamatti dam anidhi was very unhe Minister would not Karnataka honour the tribunal on Cauvery. e was being targeted cam - though the tact MC leaders had ben:ence of the previous opanar nominee M i the bank had almost f bankruptcy. Besides Gowda has slighted lists assert. And so ' came, the UF partph Gowda, though for ntained solidarity with
ad been angered by was cultivating some MPs and was luring ffice and so peremp:onsulting other Sen
ior Congress leaders, called on the President of India, Submitted a letter withdrawing his party's support to the UF and staked his own claim to form a government.
The entire nation was dumbfounded, the stock-markets tumbled and the UF leaders were at their wits end. President Sharma gave ten days to Gowda to prove his majority on the floor of the House.The UF had to come up with some solution within that time.
At one stage the UF did remain firm and said the leadership issue was not negotiable and refused to support a Congress-led government. There were grumblings within the Congress over the precipitate move of Kesri. But hopes of a split in the Congress proved short-lived and the UF realised that the only way out was to replace Gowda with someone more acceptable to the Congress if elections were to be avoided.
Clearly none wanted immediate elections. Apart from the uncertainty of it all, there were wide-spread fears that the BJP would be the gainer in the process. And so in order to avoid the polls, avoid a loss of face all ground and forestalt BJP machinations, Deve Gowda had togo, the other UF leaders realised. Certainly Congress too had climbed down from its earlierposition of forming its own government and seeking the UF support. And so even as the debate was on, the UFfrantically tried to persuade Gowda to step down before the confidence motion was voted upon.
But he would not oblige them. He in fact felt let down and Went on to make a fighting speech in the Lok Sabha, defending his record, claiming innocence, attacking fiercely Kesri who had called him coward and incompetent a couple of days earlier and vowed to rise from the ashes. Nobody was impressed. Not even the BJP to which he had sent feelers immediately after Kesri met the President. Reportedly he suggested to the BJP that it abstain from the voting, save his government. On the floor of the house, after which he would tender his resignation and recommend dissolution and polls. He would remain caretaker prime minister in the interim. Such was his lust for power and sense of hurt. He would bring down the entire House along with him.
The BJP did toy with the idea for some time but finally decided against the option. For it wanted to show up all the other parties as incompetent and unfit to govern the nation and increase the pressure on the president to order dissolution and polls when they would be returned with a lot more seats. (Presently their tally falls well short of 200 and so nowhere near a majority in the 545-member House.)
And so Gowda has been voted out. At the time of writing this piece there were hectic confabulations between the UF and
(Continued on page27)

Page 26
26 TAMILTMES
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Page 27
15 APRIL 1997
T he Left in India still has the time
to go along the path of a historic compromise, said West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu, to his authoritative biographer two months ago. He came up with a separate interview holding the politburo of his party, Communist Party of india (Marxist), for not allowing him or others join, or even tead, the united front government at the centre. When the crucial decision Was taken in May last year, the 83-year-old Basu and 68-year-old party general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet, were outvoted on this point. The politburo clearly viewed the situation in a different light. The CPI(M), they held, could join the government only if it is in a position to command the programmes of such a government! They had in mind the Kerala and West Bengal models, And the CPI(M) ended up outside the government and the CP, its junior partner in the governments of the two states, coolly joined the government. Basu was clearly peeved at this sudden development
Basu's revolt in December Was a clear warning of things to come. Basu and Surjeet are now playing a vital role in the ongoing united front-Congress(I) talks to evolve Some mechanism to accommodate the latter. Of course, Basu would not join a government in which the Congress(I) will be a major partner. However, he is not averse to joining, or even leading, a government with Congress(I) support, Surjeet too recognises the fact that if the CPI(M) has a chance of actually getting to power at the centre, it will be through Basu and now. The choice of getting into the government at the centre gives the party a new face of acceptance and responsibility and a chance to acquire new power bases, reckons Surjeet.
What makes Basu tick 2 Charisma 2 Bengali bhadralok manners? His grasp of the Bengali public sphere ? The veteran Marxist seems to have completely sized up Bengal politics during the last two decades. He has ensured that the CPI(M) remains a predominantly grassroots outfit in the state, pushing, both
(continued from page 25)
the Congress. No one seems to know what will happen now, But the very fact even after the defeat of the Gowda regime, most of the parties are planning to sit together and pass the Finance Bill which only would make Chidambaram's budget effective, shows that there is still some hope. The mainstream secular parties are showing enough care to frustrate the designs of communal forces - however genuine or not their own commitment might be - and if they show equal care to opt for someone who would not be as provincial and petty as Gowda, that would bode Well for the nation. O
Within and outside t for land reforms anc programmes. The si ensures the election candidates from the ment in every electic to challenge Basu which he keeps in hi challenger was the borty of the Revolutic (RSP) who levelled against Basu. Nitin-d ousted from the left years ago. The CP i on Basu. Even the gal is split into two f Somewhat Soft on B: a great Bangla leade by the hardline Mam, ing to oust him from
Educated in Brita leftist, returned to r the CP. After decad CPI when the pa Sino-Soviet schism He was a founder-m which went on to criti war. He was among the media and dub Basu got rid of the st ist ideologues partet in 1967. He was the ter in a coalition gove Throughout the turbul kept his cool, as the and the leftists wenti In between, his part on to support the Co led by Indira Gandhi to a minority after th Soon, he was at the Mrs Gandhi, after V Deshwar, wanted to c gress base in Beng even contest the 1972 the Emergency in th Out and Win the asse left front never lost p Basu's overall st project himself as as former, in the great kananda and Satyaj not just to Bengal bl most recent candid the Communists sh great contributions Chandra Bose. With CPI (M) took severa
 

TAMILMES 27
Bengal and at the national level.
of the Left
dia
he power structure, | health and literacy upport for the party of 30-odd left front state to the parliaon. There is no one within the left front s iron grip. The only burly Nitin Chakraonary Socialist Party corruption charges a was provoked and front cabinet Some s not willing to take Congress() in Benactions - one going asu admiring him as }r, and the other, led ata Bannerjea wantpower. ain, Basu, the young dia and worked for les of toil, he left the rty split over the in the early sixties. ember of the CPI(M) cise the Sino-Indian those targetted by bed "anti-national". igma as the extremcompany with him deputy chief minisernment at that time. ent late sixties, Basu CPI(M) lost power, nto a fratricidal war. y, the CPI(M), went Ingress government when it was reduced e historic 1969 split. receiving end, as vinning the Bangla onsolidate the Conal. Basu could not 2 elections. He spent e jail, only to come mbly elections. The OWerthereafter, rategy has been to sensitive Bengali reradition of Sri Viveit Ray, who belong ut to all of India. His comment is on why ould reevaluate the of Netaji Subhas Basu in power, the initiatives both in
Bengal got rid of its recurrent power crises as Basu successfully wooed Indian companies and even Some multinationals to invest in Bengal. At the political level, Basu repeatedly worked for alliances among non-Congress parties. He also has excellent personal rapport with Congress and BJP leaders. He recently brokered a deal with Bangla Desh for sharing the Ganga waters. And, most importantly, he maintains a cool intellectual side and never lets go a chance to host international dignitaries - Francois Mitterand, Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Yasser Arafat, Gunter Grass, Noam Chomsky and even Jacques Derrida have been in his Calcutta!
The CPI(M)'s problems in coming to terms with wielding power arise from two sources. First one is the party's Kerala lobby. Led by chief minister E KNayanar, this lobby is of the view that the CPI(M) cannot rely on unstable allies over a long time. Neither the Congress nor the united front constituents are trustworthy, according to Nayanar and comrades. The CPI(M) is bound to be dictated by other parties in the ruling arrangement at the centre, they feel. The CPI(M) has another lobby led by young and articulate ideologues like Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury who think that the party has a better chance of pushing its programmes if it stays outside power"as of now". The decision to be part of the united front yet keep off the cabinet had been their idea, after all. This way, they are left with some power but no responsibility. But when a government is about to fall, they end up bearing all the responsibility for such a collapse!
The CPI and CPI(M) have supported several governments at the centre in the past. Both parties lent crucial support to Mrs Gandhi during 1969-71 on the question of implementing socialist policies. In the process, both parties had no option but to lose heavily in terms of power bases. The CPI(M) lost power in Bengal. The the CP continued to latch on to Mrs Gandhi right through the infamous Emergency. The CPI(M) went ahead to lend qualified support to the 1977-79 Janata government led by Morarji Desai. Later, both parties vociferously supported the 1989-90 governmenet led by V P Singh even as the BJP pulled the rugs from under his feet.
The CPI(M)'s current strategy seems to keep a non-Congress, non-BJP front going in the centre. Apart from this, the CPI(M), the premier leftist party in India, has failed to achieve much in terms of expanding its power base outside Kerala, West Bengal and a few pockets in other states. The CPI has lost ground steadily
(Continued on next page)

Page 28
28 TAMIL TIMES
ATTEMPTTOIMPLICI JAYABoOMERANGSON
T N Gopalan
of all those in the mould of Karuna
nidhi and Jayalalitha. Not long ago,
the late Kamaraj described the DMK and the AIADMK as "ore kuttaiyil ooriya iru mattaikal" - meaning in effect that they were birds of the same feather. When it comes to meanness, arrogance, corruption or vindictiveness, there is generally nothing much to choose between Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi, though the latter is any day a little bit more graceful and a little less revolting. And in his latest stint the septuagenarian war-horse takes pains to go out of his way to prove that he has learnt his lessons and has grown quite rnature.
However the incidents last month relating to an explosive photograph showing Jayalalitha “in the company of Rajiv Gandhi's assassins, Dhanu and Sivasasan" rudely shattered all the fond hopes of those who believed Karunanidhi Was a changed man these days and that by proving decisively that under him the state Would be much better off he WOuld forestall any possibility of Jayalalitha's staging a come-back.
Once again he came over as a mean
and vindictive man, very unrepentant to boot. By the same token. Jayalalitha does seem to have scored a signal victory and won some measure of public sympathy.
P oliticians rarely, if ever, learn. Least
The citizens of On 28 March to be Was touted to be a m tograph of recent til and Sivarasan in th lalitha. It was actua Some AIADMK !ea persons as S Thirun Hande. Indian Exp stablemate Dinam bi-Weekly Junior Vika photograph also cla should have been sh While the newspap selves to merely c identifying those fou ing the possible date gering Junior Vikat: many disturbing que dreaded assassins ( former chief minister ation merely accider thing more sinister, Dhanu carry the phc gain access in AlAD ance of their monstr emnly hoped that if DMK leader found i call the past and ex the assassins to Jay in the assassination
The more respe Indian Express did
(continued from page 27)
in the peasant heartland of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. in Bihar, the warring leftwing extremist groups have been the beneficiaries. In Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, non-left forces have captured the power bases. A certain uneasiness in leading the struggles of depressed classes and castes has cost both the CP and the CPI(M) heavily. The CPI(M) shows no signs of taking up caste-related issues or striking compromises with extremist leftist groups and grassroot organisations which have managed to acquire substantial bases. In the urban trade union front too, the BJP has been making steady inroads into left and Congress bastions. The CPI, which managed to get two berths in the union cabinet, is also finding it tough to expand its base when it is inside the government. Its long-time leader Indrajit Gupta is too suave and soft-spoken to be a tough-talking home minister of the entire country. He is known to have put in his papers after he was repeatedly ignored by prime minister HD
Deve Gowda on cr power demands at set of priorities anc ing the ropes. The cialists while in pow to speak of either, C held the top post ir had to quit havi supporter-from-out And another arde Fernandes, never minister for more t The CPI(M) is Cannot work for lor nk, that of keeping out of power. It ha work by which it ca made to the electC in power. In the pro power, it's fine, Tha hope to expand it time being, any cl to have a shot at Basu.cquite rightly, son of Bengal?" H Work for the centr his own standards

15 APRIL 1997
E MK
umil Nadu Woke up onfronted with What st sensationalpho|es - that of Dhanu company of Jayay a group photo of ers including such Vukkarasu and HV ess, its vernacular ani and the Tamil an which carried the med that the picture tSometime in 1990. ers confined themarrying the picture, hd in it and mentionthe Sensation-monn went on to raise tions - hOW come the ame So close to the was such an assocital or was there anydid Sivarasan and otograph around and MK circles in furtherous designs and solonly the other AIAthe photo could replain the proximity of alalitha one more link could be unravelled. ctable Dinamani and not indulge in such
Icial issues. Being in ending to a different Gupta is just learnDerformances of So}r has not been much handra Shekhar has the government, but g antagonised his ide, the Congress(). it Socialist, George |ot a chance to be a an two years.
clearly aware that it | with a negative plahe BJP or Congress to develop a framedeliver the promises ate when the party is ess, if the party loses 's the only way it can power base. For the ef minister can hope e Delhi throne. And els: "why not me, the needs a new frameif he has to keep up Bengal. O
terrifying speculations, but the intention was clear - to implicate Jayalalitha in the assassination.
The lady found next to Jayalalitha and the young man not faraway do have striking resemblance to Dhanu and Sivarasan - those who are familiar With the famous picture of Dhanu, garland in hand and kurta-clad Sivarasan, waiting for Rajiv's arrival in Sriperumbudur would indeed have been tempted to believe that the two found in the group photograph were indeed the Jaffna-duo. But can the press go without checking its authenticity and verifying accuracy of the identity of persons claimed to be in the photograph, particularly in the context of the seriousness of the allegation of a link between the leader of a political party and the alleged assassins of Rajiv Gandhi?
Besides Jayalalitha looks so slim in the picture that one would think twice before dating it to early 1990 - by 1989 she had grown quite obese. Evidently in their zeal to fix her or serve Karunanidhi's ends, the editors did not bother to stop and think even for a moment.
Predictably the Assembly was rocked by the "scandal". While the DMK-men themselves were silent, under instructions from their high commend, the Tamil Maanilla Congress (TMC) MLAs shook with righteous indignation, drew most outrageOus inferences and demanded immediate arrest of Jayalalitha for her role in the conspiracy behind Rajiv's murder.
Karunanidhi himself would not directly comment on the issue but hurled a number of innuendoes at her, Wondering why she should have avoided the Sriperumbudur meeting and why the AIADMKleaders failed to turn up to receive Rajiv Gandhi at the airport during that visit, noting that she had backed the LTTE even after the Padmanabha massacre and so on. To get at the truth he would go in for a thoroughgoing enquiry, he announced.
The protests of the small AlADMK group proved ineffectual. Already that stormy petrel R Thamaraikani had been suspended from the House for the rest of the budget session for making "unsubstantiated allegations" against Arcot Veerasamy, a senior minister and a confidant of the Chief Minister. The suspension too had attracted widespread criticism with the more objective section among the press seriously questioning the impartiality of Speaker Palanivel Rajan and reminding him of the fate of his notorious predecessor Sedapatti R Muthiah.
But Palanivel Rajan was determined to allow the TMC MLAS and the Chief Minister savage Jaya and so he contemptuously brushed aside the objections raised by AIADMK group's leader Thirunavukkarasu who vaguely recalled that the two in the photograph could be advocates from Dharmapuri and that the photograph might have been taken sometime in 1988. Further even if the two Were really Dhanu and Sivarasan, could one not
(Continued on page 29)

Page 29
15 APRIL 1997
interpret it to mean that the Tigers were having a dry run, testing their access to senior Tamil Nadu politicians, he wondered. But he Washeckled and Shouted doWn by the DMK and the TMC benches,
But even as they were lustily cheering the Chief Minister for his "patriotism and responsible approach to such a matter of national importance, “ came a body blow to the DMK's designs from a most unexpected quarter - a Janata Dal member from Dharmaspuri, who had until then been denied an opportunity to make a point, got up and told a stunned house that the two identified as Dhanu and Sivarasan were only lawyers from his area, that they belonged to the AIADMK lawyers' wing and that he knew both of them personally,
The Chair post-haste wound up the discussions on the issue, but no one expressed regrets for having slandered a former Chief Minister or would challenge the Dal members assertions.
The press did appear contrite. The managed to bring themselves to despatch their reporters to Dharmapuri locate the lawyers, Dhakshayini and Nanje Gowda and record their statements to the effect that they had indeed called on Jayalalitha in early 1988 when the photograph was taken. The very next day the two were produced before the press and an ailing Jayalaitha appeared in person, for the first time in two months since She Was rushed to the hospital for treatment for spondyliosis. She was at her hysterical best, threatening to sue the press and finding the hand of the government in the frameup, For once she found many sympathetic ears. There Was not an iota of doubt in anyone's mind that it was the government Which had tried to damn and embarrass Jaya further by planting the photos in and that a foolish Press had willingly obliged, The general surmise was that the picture should have been taken out of the albums recovered from the Poes Garden during the repeated raids a couple of months agO,
In 1989 when her faction fared rather badly in the elections, a dispirited Jaya decided to call it a day but her then confidant Natarajan snatched the letter from her hands and took it away. Tipped of the development. Karunanidhi had held his hand at the time.
There is indeed a qualitative change in the situation now, what with Jaya's name in the mud for her various acts of Commission and COmmission, Stil COming as it does, after the Pudu kotiai byelection in which the DMK's victory margin had come down drastically and with a possible realignment of political forces, an alliance between the AIADMK and Gopaisamy's MDMK, for instance, the photograph incident has only served to revive the sagging morale of the AIADMK.
The return of instability in the Centre has already unnerved the DMK a bit. Was it not after the fall of the V P Singh government that Karunanidhi's OWn Was dis
CONS AND (
The commentary "Sharmans and Deiti and New" (TT, Marc ated, though its tone cal. Ramesh has prov of the ideological adi Dravidian front leader ture the seat of powe nently, Permit me to e this theme,
sense that Ran "Dravidian cadres' so better or worse, the Nadu voters have cof DMK or ADMK for 30 they have turned the old Congress Party (s of Himalayan propor rent policies run cour Mahatma Gandhi) or which include the Cor one variety. Pundits ( obscene, as Dr S Si calling the Tamil Nad give the Devil its due. front leaders who be ters of Tamil Nadu (An and Jayalalitha) duri placed a gun on the manded their allegian leaders played the "c Cording to the stipulat in Britain or USA) an Square. This is becau form appeals well tot Tamils, similar to the p dom and liberty” or "J by American politiciar average American Jo futile exercise to decip for the actions of politi
missed in 1991? Be:
ruption at lower lev edness of Karunanid and of the DMK fun and all round price ris toll on the governm make matters worse to open a new front ally, choosing to att On the i SSue of nonand funds to the panchayats. None C No, 2 and Union Fina ambaram himself h statewide agitation Another Union Minis manian said that the was only temporary-2 With the AIADMK aii upon the TMC cadre the next elections ol the situation is hotti must needs be extre similar gaffes and col ance instead of Witch want to forfeit the pe
 

TAMIL TIMES 29
CONOCLASTS
by G Ramesh entitled, ies of Tamil Nadu Old h 1997) was appreciwas somewhat cyniided a capsule history ustments taken by the 's in Tamil Nadu to caprand to hold it permaXpress a few points on
nesh uses the phrase mewhat derisively. For majority of the Tamil ntinuously elected the years since 1967, and ir backs to the grand tinking with corruption tions, and whose curter to the principles of non-Dravidian parties, mmunists of more than can call it stupidity (or vasegaram is fond of upolitics). But, please None of the Dravidian came the Chief Minisna, Karunanidhi, MGR ng the past 30 years voter's head and dece. The Dravidian front democratic game” aced rules (as it is played id they won it fair and se the Dravidian plathe inner sentiments of latitudes Such as "freeesus lives" trotted out ls, which appeal to the le and Mary. So, it is a dherdeepermeanings cians like Karunanidhi
sides continuing cor'els, the high-handhi's son M K Azhagiri ctionaries in general se, are all taking their ent’s popularity. To the TMC seems set against its electoral ack the government devolution of powers municipalities and ther than the TMC nce Minister P Chid|eld out a threat of at a public meeting, ster, S R Balasubratie-up with the DMK as had been the case ance - and so called is to prepare to fight n their own, Clearly ng up and the DMK mely Cautious, avoid hcentrate on governhunting if it does not ople's goodwill, O
on the basis of atheism or conversion to singular godhead and what not,
When one looks beyond the borders of India, we can be assured that what happened in Tamil Nadu is not an aberration. In the Soviet Union and in China, iconoclasts like Lenin and Mao were transformed into icons by the communist cadres. We should also note that Periyar E V Ramaswamy and his then lieutenant (Thalapathy) V N Annadurai, with their speeches and stage dramas, modelled their Dravidian platform in the early 1940s on a homespun version of communism. Stalin, the name Karunanidhi gave to his son (who is now being promoted to take over the top job from his dad) is an example for this communist honeymoon period of the Dravidian leaders. The red colour in the red and black DMK flag also, believe, is a borrowing from the Communist symbol. Even MGR, after he formed his breakaway ADMK in 1972, espoused his Annaism philosophy as the "best amalgam from democratic, socialist and communist principles". Though many laughed at it as a joke, if he is alive, even MGR may find it amusing that Japan provides a good example of his Annaism philosophy, where the society life is based on an amalgam of "little democracy, little socialism and little communism". One can even postulate that MGR must have received inspiration for his Annaism philosophy from Japan almost a quarter of a century ago, because he had some fascination for Japanese gadgets like the camera (being a movie star, this is not a surprise!) And visited this country to shoot his own production,"Ulagam Sutrum Vaatiban".
Sachi Sri Kantha 5-16-305Tsukimicho, Fukuroi City, Shizuoka 437-01, Japan
Capitalist Society & Schizophrenia
I do not know whether Dr.R.Sivamo-han is a Bachelor of Medicine or a scho-lar of another subject. However, certain assertions relating to mental illness in the article "The Moral Centred Society" (TT15 March 1997) cannot be allowed to remain without comment as there is a likelihood that the nontutored reader might accept the comments as arising from detailed knowledge of the topic,
The statement that ".... Schizophrenia is a psychological sickness one can get in a capitalist society, where he is so thoroughly alienated from his real nature..." is totally wrong.
The prevalence rate of Schizophrenia in any society anywhere in the world is approximately the same and is about eight in a thousand. Therefore it is very likely that some bio-chemical dysfunction contributes very much to the onset of the disorder and not the level of "civilisation" or "sophistication" of the society. When the author refers to ".....long periods of suffering with deep worries, difficulties with concentration and difficulties with rest.....", he/she is probably referring to the condition called Depressive disorder (also known as Depressive illness, Clinical depression or just Depression) and not Schizophrenia.
Dr.R.Thaya-Paran, FRCP
Billericay, Essex, UK

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30 TAMIL TIMES
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WEDDING BELLS
We congratulate the following couples on their recent wedding. Gunaseelan son of Mr. & Mrs. Jayasingam of 99 Landseer Avenue, Manor Park, London E12 6HS. and Geetha daughter of the late Mr. S.D. Balarajah and Mrs. P. Balarajah of21 Haydon Park Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 8JQ on 223.97 at Rutilish Hall, Mostyn Road, London SW19.
Dr. Kannan Athavan son of Mr. & Mrs. Karuna Nithi of 12 Manor Drive, Worcester Park, Surrey KT4 7LG and Dr. Angela Jane daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Roger Smith of 42 The Mount, Curdworth, Warwickshire B76 9HR on 22.3.97 at St. Cuthbert's Church, Shustoke, WarWickShire.
OBTUARIES
Mr. Muthu Ambikaipahar (Ambi), (61), formerly Statistica Officer, C.T.B., Narahenpita Sri Lanka, beloved husband C Thavamani; loving father C Pahalavan, late Anapayan an Lohini; loving brother of Mrs Maheswary Balasingham father-in-law of Rajeswarar uncle of Mrs. Mala Krishnare jah; grandfather of Kriththiha an, Suranutha, Priyankan an Krishnavi, all of London passe away on 28th March 1997 London and was Cremated C 5th April 1997.
The members of the fami wish to thank all friends ar
 
 
 
 

15 APRIL 1997
elatives who attended the uneral, sent messages of sympathy and assisted them in several ways during the period of great sorrow. - 5 Abbeywood Road, Abbey Wood, London SE29ED. Tel: O181 244 9795.
Ganeswary (born 1917), beloved wife of the late Mr. E.S. Ponnudurai of Alaveddy South; daughter of the late Mr. S.A. Kanagaratnam and the late Mrs. Nagapoosani Kanagaratnam of Sandilipay North; sister of Kaneswaran and Kailes waran; loving mother of Dr. Siva Sivakumaran (UK), the late Srikumaran, Jayanthi, Jeyakumaran and Vasanthi, expired peacefully on 02.02.97 and was cremated the next day in Vaddukoddai (where she was resident Since 1983 with her daughter-in-law Rajes Srikumaran. The Anthiesty also was held there On 4th March 1997. -- 3 Savile Close, New Malden, Surrey KT35QG, UK.
Mrs Grace Nagaratnam Rasiah, formerly Varuththalavilan, Tellipallaiand lavalai, passed away peacefully in Colombo on 5th April 1997. Only daughter of late Mr. & Mrs. Suntharam of Siruppidy and Nallur and only sister of late. G.O.D. B. Overseer Kanapathipillai of Karaitivu (E.P.), she is beloved wife of late Mr. M.A. Rasiah (former Headmaster in Ceylon and teacher at Herts Tamil School, Watford), loving amma to Sathianathan (Watford - 01923 662970), Packiarajah (Kaluwanchikudi, E.P.), Bhavani Stella (Dubai - 450729), Uthayashankar (New Malden - 0181949 2888), Nanthini Theresa (Mathagal - lately Batticaloa), Logan Rasiah (Watford — 01 923 463466), and Rangini Emilda (Canada - 905 887 O073); mother-in-law of Rasammah, Anuradha, Devendra (Appu), Fanji, Nagarajah, Catherine
and Daniel; loving appamma andanmamma to Ammu, Sonna, Mathu, Thayalan, Andrew, Dharun, Rajen, Ravi, Uma, Vijay, Anand, Sarene, Jemina, Damian and Dinanna.
The funeral took place on 8th April at Wattala Cemetery. Her family members wish to thank all friends and relatives who attended the funeral and those who sent floral tributes and messages. - 1453 High Road, Leavesden, Watford, Herts WD27AP, UK.
Mr. Pradeep Jeganathan. Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Transkei, South Africa, beloved youngest son of Mr. & Mrs. K. Jeganathan, formerly of Jaffna and presently of Butterworth, Transkei., loving brother of Mythili (Transkei), Janarthana (Sydney, Australia) and Dr. Sanjayan (Cape Town); brother-in-law of Saththianathan, Meera, and Sivajini, uncle of Gajanan, Mayuran and Janani, pasSed away under tragic CircumStances On 31St March 1997-gunned down by car hijackers who fled with his car. The funeral rites were performed by Swami Chaithany Ananda of Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam, Rochester, New York, a close friend of the family, on 5th April.
The members of the family fhank als friends and relatives who attended the funeral, sent messages of sympathy and assisted them in several ways during the period of great sorrow - 8 Kylami Flats, Butterworth, Transkei, South Africa.
For Sale 1992 Bui | HO LSe Mattakkuliya, near beach, 3 bed rooms (one with en-suite B/room), one additional bathroom/wc, one wo, telephone. Please reply E 75 c/o Tamil Times with telephone number.

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15 APRIL 1997
IN MEMORAM
ln everloving memory of Mr. Velupillai Nadarajah, formerly Director, Ceylon School of Social Work, son of the late Mr. & Mrs. Velupillai of Chetty Street, Nallur, Sri Lanka; son-in-law of the late Mr. K. Muthulingam and Mrs. Muthulingam of Tellipalai, Sri Lanka on the sixth anniversary of his passing away on 4.4.91.
Sadly missed and fondly remembered by his beloved wife Muthu Ambikai; daughter Dr. Sakunthala; son Dr. Ravindran, son - in - la w Dr. Su resh Thayalan; daughter-in-law Meera, grandchildren Arjun, Nisha and Sathiya. — 1 1 Baronia Croft, Highwoods, Colchester, Essex CO4 5EF.
In loving memory of Mr. Visvalingam Sivasubramaniam, Principal Emeritus, Skanda Varodaya College, Chunnakam on the first anniversary of his passing away on 26.4.96.
Sadly missed and fondly remembered by his beloved wife Sironmany children Dr. Sivanandarajah, Sivagnanasunderam, Dr. Sivapalan, Sivathasan, Sivaratnan, Sivananoharan and Sivaloshanadevi; Son-inlaw Thavarajah; daughters-inlaw Manimehaladevi, Anandhi, Yogeswary, Kamaladevy, Supathiradevi and Devahi; grandchildren Sutharshan,
Priyatharshini, Suseenthiran, Suhan than, Sutharshika, Suloshan, Suthaharan, Sulakshan, Arooran, Gajamohana, Gajaharan and Vaishna. — 135A Sudbury Avenue, Wembley, Middix. HAO 6AW Tel: 0181 385 O477.
in loving memory of Beloved
Amma Арра Leelawathy Saravanmuttu Elankanathan llankanathan
Born: 24.832 Born: 31.10.22 Rest. 284.96 Rest: 18.2.94
Gently with love your memory is kept In our hearts a silent Sorrow Silent, our tears that fall Your spirit still felt In triumph or disaster Great courage, humour, wit and wisdom . . " Whose generosity knew no bounds You are greatly missed for ever And arein the thoughts of All your family and friends.
Fondly remembered and sadly missed by your ever-loving daughter Urmilia, son-in-law Kuha, grand daughters Shobi and Ranji - 58 Ringwood, South Bretton, Peterborough PE39SH. Tel 01733 262760.
XX
i
In loving memory of Mrs Jeyamani Theresa Nicholas, beloved wife of Albert Arasaratnam Nicholas, former Manager of Oriental Bank, Berhad, who passed away on 28th August
1995.
She was a lady who practised her faith devoutly and this saw her making a pilgrimage to Rome to meet the Pope. For more than 55 years, whatever the weather, she attended early morning dawn Mass and partook of Holy Communion daily except in 1979 when she suffered a stroke which hampered her novernents.
 
 
 
 

TAML TIMES 31
Her walk Of faith rubbedinfo all her children, five sons and three daughters, as well as her eight grandchildren, who preciously cherish the rich spiritual legacy she left behind to always trust in God, pray fervently and read the Bible daily. She was an active member of the Women's Institute and travelled with other members to IndoneSia, Thailand and various parts of Malaysia to meet the needs of the poor and the forsaken. - Jeya Vasa, 31 Jalan Bunga Ros, 4 1 100 Klang, Malaysia.
Tenth Death Anniversary 23.05.97
Mr. S. Sivasambo (Retired Post Master)
Fondly remembered by wife Sivakkolunthu, Children Sridas, Sriharan, Gowri and Sriskanthan, brothers in law Sivakurunathar and SambaSivan, and their families.
In cherished memory of Mr. Chinnathampy Rasiah on the third anniversary of his passing away on 24.04.94.
Deep in our hearts you will always stay Loved and remembered every day.
Greatly loved, deeply missed and always remembered by his sorrowing wife Gunamany, sister Arianayagam; beloved chilldren Rajan and Rajini loving daughter-in-law Janaki; son-inlaw Lakshman; grandchildren
Thabojan, Prashanth and Sulakshan; Sisters-in-law, nephews and nieces. - 14 Greenbriar Avenue, Wheelers Hill, Melbourne Vic 3150, Australia. — 3818 Campolindo Drive, Morga, 94556 California, USA.
In loving memory of Mrs. Mathura ranee Paramananthan, Retired Teacher, Chundikuli Girls' College, Jaff. na on the first anniversary of her passing away on 14th April 1996
Sadly missed and fondly remembered by her loving husband Paramananthan, sons Bahirathan and Uthiran (both of Sri Lanka), beloved sisters Thanes (Colombo), Rajes (UK) and Indirani (Jaffna); their families in Tellippalai, Colombo and UK. - 119 Hawley Road, Dartford, Kent DA 1 1 PEB. Tel: 01322
Mrs Rasamma Sabapathipillai of Velanai, Sri Lanka, beloved wife of the late Naganathan Sabapathipillai, loving mother of the late Parasakthy, Varnakulasingam (Colombo), Sarojini (USA), Kullarajasingam (Canada), and Kulathungam (USA), mother-in-law of the late Rajagopal, the late Padigalingam, Kamaladevi, Sarojinithevi and Manoranjitham, grandmothere of Som a vathi, Sathiavathy, the late Thilagavathi, Sukunavathi, Maheswararan, Vani, Kumareswaran, Vasuki, Jegatheeswaran, Sarweswaran, Raveendiran, Rajen dran, Jey a n t hy, G na n en dra n, Shan thi, Thanendran, Ananthy, Kunthavi, Ananthavi, Pamathy, AthaVan, Senthuran, Murali and Myuran, great grandmother of Kanthan, Priya, Thenuha, Ham san, Sharmiran, Prane e tha, Prashe e tha, Prashoban, Suman, Joe Anne, Michelle, Varan, Tara, Dharan, Neeran, Arthi, Ehan, Aran and Shankari, passed away at the ripe old age of 98 in Harrow, Middx., UK on 124.97 - 3 North Avenue, North Harrow, Middx HA27AE. Tel: O181 723 6176.

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32 TAMIL TIMES
FORTHCOMING EVENTS May 2 Feast of St. Athanasius.
May 3 Krishna Ekathasi; 6, 15pm Kokuvil Hindu College O.S.A. (UK) Presents variety entertainment at Claremont High School Hall, Claremont Avenue, Kenton, Harrow, Middx. Tes: O 181 578 3159/761 O358.
May 4 Pirathosam, May 6 Amavasai. May 7 Karthigai. May 8 Feast of the Ascension
May 10 Chathurthi. May 12 Sashdi. May 18 Ekathasi. May 19 Pirathosam. May 21 Vaikasi Visakam; Full Moon. May 22 Feast of St. Rita. May 25 Holy Trinity, 4.00pm London Tamil Christian Congregation celebrates 25th Anniversary with Special Service of Thanksgiving at Rivercourt Methodist Church, King Street, Hammersmith, London
of Lord Jesus. W6.
Sri Lankan Teacher Wins Award in Seycelles
ჯXXX
Mrs. Yoga Ravindran, Sri Lankan science teacher from Anse Royale School in Seycelles won the prestigious Commonwealth Association of Science Technology and Mathematics Education (CASTME)
Award for her environmentally oriented
project - 'Composting'. The award brings to focus the rapid development of science education and environmental studies in Seycelles. The above picture shows Mrs. Ravindran receiving the award and certificate from Dr. Andrew Salisbury, Chairman, CASTME at an impressive function at its secretariat in London.
Mr. Ravindran, Yoga's husband is the Acting Head of the School of Agriculture in the Seycelles Polytechnic and hails from Nawalapitiya where the family has longstanding educational connections with Kathiresan College,
Mridangam Chakravarti
Umayalpuram Sivaraman
in Jugalbandhi The mridangan maestro who played for the movie “Mridanga Chakravarti” featuring the Tamil star Sival Ganeshan.
Some readers might have enjoyed the first performance of the UK tour at the
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London on 20th.
April.
Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman may be considered the world's most accomplished and versatile mridangam player who is a pioneer in his field. Last year major festivals were held in Delhi and Madras to celebrate his 50 years of service to Indian classical music. He has toured Worldwide, including in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Germany, Holland and Belgium. He has played for most of the top artists in India
and played for All Ceylon and Doordars The first half of Jug to melody, the per scope in the second
Aprogrатеsuch of new directions in in all made possible by er of Samudra Who at overriding reason fort eagerness to make own instrument, no popular. He is sure Sivaranan, who has any audience, is the b Further performanc 6.30, Birmingham Lib berlain Square, B3, 0 May at 8.00, Blue School Lane, Liverpc Sat 10 May at 7.00 College, Union West 911 4072. Edinburgh
Garani ar Blossom
--- The two lovely talent Divani, daughters Nadaraja of Haywar pupils of Guru Myth into promising Bhara their arangetram at Walnut Creek in the packed to capacity audience.
 
 
 
 

15 APRIL 1997
May 25 9.00am to 7.00pm Festival of Cricket at Norman Park, Bromley, Kent. Tel: 0181 930 2323/363 5770.
May 26 9.00am to 7.30pm Tamil Cricket and Netball Festival at Wadham Lodge Sports Centre, Wadham Road, LOndon E17. Tel 0171 4034554.
May 27 Feast of St. Augustine.
May 29 Corpus Christi.
May 31 Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
At Bhawan Centre, 4A Castletown Road, London W14 9HQ. Te: O171 381 3086/ 4608.
May 3 7.00pm London Sivan Temple presents Carnatic Vocal Concert by Smit Charumathi Rarmachandran and Kumari SubhaSri Ramachandran from lndia. Tel 0181 318 9844/690
O401. May 11 6.00pm Carnatic Flute by Master Shashank from
India. May 25 6.00pm Sitar by Shulbendra Rao from lindia.
India Radio, Radio hafn TV. albandhi is devoted cussion having full alf as this is an example dian classical music, (.S. Bhavani Shankranged the tour. The his undertaking is his the mridangam, his e Well known and that Umayalpuram the ability to charm est person to do this. es: Sun. 4 May at rary Theatre, Cham121 236 5622; Fri. 9 Coats Arts Centre, pol, 0151 709 5297; , Oldham 6th Form St., Oldham, 0161 date to be confirmed.
hd Divani to Fame
d sisters Garani and f Gowri and Ravi San Francisco and i Kumar blossoned ha Natya artistes at e Hoffman Theater, Bay Area, which was with an appreciative
The first item 'Sri Vignaraajam Bhaje' & Alarippu' was executed with such meticulous precision that it induced an instant aesthetic sensitivity in the spell bound audience. It paved the way for the most absorbing attractive dance of the evening, Ainthu Sabai Natanam, depicting the dances of Lord Shiva in the five sacred halls in Chidamparam, Madurai, Thirunelvelli, Kutralam and Thiruvaalangadu. ft was made georgeous by the precise backdrop of the five great temples which were timely focused at the rear of the stage to highlight the significance of each dance. The Ardhanarisvara dance in Kutralian, a pose of which appears above and the dance competition between Shiva and Kali in Thiruvaalangadu were a real treat. This dance piece was fabulous, revealing the flawless footwork and their mastery of exquisite expressions.
This was followed by Abirami Stuti" verses from the famous Abirami Andaadi" praising the benevolent graceful mother goddess, which was aptly portrayed by the sisters. The next offering was a "Varnam' composed by Subbudu in Ragam Valaji. The dancers beautifully depicted the feelings of Goddess Devaiyanai on the marriage of her husband to the hunter's daughter Valli. This item was interwoven with difficult jathis and statuesque poses which were as exotic as their enchanting COStr7769S.
Taking the stage next was "Thirumal Paraval' from the ancient epic Silapathikaram with the scintilatingsong "Vada varaiyai Mathakki'. Here the sisters depicted the deeds of Lord Vishnu with great expertise.
The tempo of the arangetram changed with Garani performing a solo rendition of Paapanaasam Sivan's "Naan Oru Vilaiyattu Bommaiya' and Divani's solo of Bharathi's ever popular 'Dhiku Theriyaadhu Kaattil, which were both executed with graceful gestures, excellent footwork, remarkable facial expresions and swift finOvermențS.
The immaculate stage arrangements, the extraordinary fitting costumes, eye catching ornaments and delicate make-up blended with their dynamic performance. Their Guru Jythili Kumar, well known among the maestros has given much of herself in imparting her art and skill to her worthy students. Her Nattuvangam, the reverberating vocal of Asha, pulsating Mirudangam of N. Narayanan and Kan

Page 33
15 APRIL 1997
chira of P. V. Natarajan, stimulating Violin of Shanthi Narayanan and swashbuckling Flute of Dr. P.T. Narasimhan contributed towards the success of the memorable evening. The arangetram marked the recognition of the unflinching encouragement, dedication and persevering efforts of the parents Gowri and Ravi in arranging the recital so efficiently and smoothly.
it was undoubtedly a delightful evening to be remembered. Many in the auditorium wondered, 'Should such young, talented dancers ever give up this hard learned art?' and wished that they should continue in this unfathomable divine art.
Nandakumaran Navaratnam.
Anmeera’s Arangetram in Switzerland
Ten-year-old Anmeera, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Sivanandam of Zurich, Switzerland had her Bharatha Natya Arangetram at the Kirch Gemein De Hall, Zurich On 22nd March 1997. She is a student of Natya Kalaimani Gnanasundari Vasan.
Anmeera started the performance with the traditional Pushpanjali, Alarippu and all the pieces that are essential for a full dance performance. Apart from the usual items like Varnan, Patham, Thilana, Anmeera performed the snake dance 'Nathar Mudi, the Kurathi dance and a dance on 'Our Motherland - Ealam COrnposed by Veeramani Iyer which was well received by the audience. Anmeera excelled in the Navarasa Pathan 'Kannai Kavarum' in Ragamalika when she brought the nine moods in Ramayana so beautifully, for which she received a standing ovation.
Guru Gnanasundari is a Diploma Holder in Bharatha Natyam from the Fine Arts Academy of the Jaffna University with a lot of potential needed for a good teacher. The Chief Guest, Mrs. Moganraj (teacher of Guru Gnanasundari) in her speech praised the-Gugu and her pupil for the wonderful performance. Guest speakers
were Mr. K. Sivana Mr. Kumar G.G. P. Lanka and Mr. N. from Zurich.
Anneera was all Gnanasundari Vasa Ambika Thanothera Sivarajah – Mirdang diah - Violin, Sri S. S Karunakaran - Tabl
Piranavan” Arang
The Mridanga Arat year-old Piranavan, Sucindran of Hampt Kirupakaran took Theatre, Hayes pack appreciative audient Rajkumar Bharathi, a India. He is the great Tamil poet Mahaka athi, and had come only for this occasior The 'Cutcheri' wa; presented in two Se. Sion Contained two li Sion ensemble - with and Morsing and a wonderfully. Kothan accompaniment on COnCert. Piranavan , natural flair for mrida, sense of appreciatio during the 'thani’ co, ing patterns includi Chatusra' and 'trisra “thani" mention Sho novel 'kuraippu' befc and "mukthayam'. G made great effort, teaching and credit g his faithful executio fingers effortlessly Sithamparanathan p, on the 'morsing' wit! carry along his audi mar who had her VOC ly played the Thamb
Piranavan apart fr provided good acco) mar Bharathi. All t tremendous encou Vocalist and it was ré eCe.
Rajkumar sang twc Thodi and Kalyani.
Thanigai Valar“ ane Vunara' with niraval
 
 

TAMIL TIMES 33
dan from Germany, nnambalam from Sri uralidaran, P. Anton
y assisted by Smit — Nattuvangam, Smit m - Vocal, Sri Muthu rn, Smt Komala Kanvaji - Flute and Sri T.
s Mridanga |etrann
getram of fourteenSon Of Mr. & Mrs. K. on and pupil of Guru place at the Beck ed to capacity with an ce. He accompanied popular vocalist from grandson of the great vi Subramania Bhar
from India specially .
s well structured and SSiOnS. The first Sesvelly “Tanis" — percusMridangam, Ghatam | the artistes played lapani provided neat Violin throughout the seems to possess a gam and has a good n of music. His solo ntained very interestng good weaving of ' nadais. In both the ild be made of the 're the final nohara uru Kirupakaran has with his brilliant oes to Pirana van for 1. Prakash rolls his on the ghatam and oduces good sound which he seers to ence. Arrthy Sivakualarangetram recentዘfa. on the 'thanis, also paniment to Rajkule artistes received agement from the pturous for the audi
detailed alapanas of Papanasan Sivan's
Thiagarajah's "Eta and Saram were ren
dered with telling effect. His rendering of 'Chinnanchiru Kiliye' was soulful with scintillating tune in three ragas - Mohanakalyani, Sivaranjani and Kanada. The Concert ended with a lilting Thilana' in Tilang'.
The Chief Guests were Mr. Toby Jessel, M.P., for Twickenham, Chairman indoBritish Parliamentary Group and Mrs. Jessel. The Guests of Honour were Smt Saraswathy Packiyarajah and Dr. & Mrs. Niththyananthan. Compering was excellently done by two of Piranavan's cousins Gajan Sritharan and Ananthhi Nitkunan. Piranavan's little Sister Yalini delivered the vote of thanks.
Overall it was a very delectable Arangetram. Well d'One Pirana Van.
First Sri Lankan Appointed
Mr. T. Kandasamy of South Australia has been appointed a Civil Marriage Celebrant for the whole of Australia. He is the first Sri Lankan to be appointed in Australia. He is also the first Sri Lankan to be appointed a Justice of Peace in South Australia.
He has successfully completed a course in Criminology and is following courts procedures in Magistrates Courts before being called to the Bench.
For Sale Land in Mabole, Wattala, Sri Lanka, 22.4 perches with old house adjoining main Colombo - Negombo Road in Industrial Area. Rs. 100,000 per perch O.N.O. E76 C/o Tamil Times.
Vazhuvoor Style Bharatha Natyam Classes By Mrs. Nandini Suthahar daughter and pupil of well known teacher, Kalabooshanam Mrs. Thiripurasundari Yoganantham. For particulars please contact: "Kalaimanram, 139 Lynton Road, Rayners Lane, Harrow, Middx. HA29NH. Tel 0181422 7031

Page 34
34 TAMIL TIMES
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