Page 1
Tamil
vol XVII No.1 ISSN 0266-4488 15 JAMU
Sonia Gandhi - Back or Family Business
Outlook. For Tegs
Asymmetrical Devolution
Making Peace in Sir a la Outcry Against Ragging Kama Sutra & Repressed S
Sonia to the Rescue of Con
evil posing as innocent
BJP-AIADMK Alliance
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

ANNUAL suscello UKisiana.ius:
(AUSTIELETTEOTTI
마 USA,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.Se5 |aliei: Ilie - Falls:5
AB Wajpayee – Innocent Face of Hinduwa
Jayalalitha - ln Unholy Alliance

Page 2
2 TAMIL TIMES
Mé
20 TAPROBAN Sri Lan حساس
Ε “THE RELI 66FFEEEEE;" | AIRLANKA -TOP FIRST APPOINTED AGEN
COLOMBO SEAT S. ஞ் AIRLANKA from £400 F
KUWAIT AIRWAYS
Emirates EMIRATES
The finest
in the sky
836
COLOMBO AIRPORT DUTY FREE PRICES OF EL
For accurate informatio Contact Our Travel Cons London Office - 4,Kingl Te: O17143762
Colombo Office -252 Gall AN EMERGENCYPHONE SERVICE ON
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE Personal effects collected
after 5.00pm SHIPPING KR AR CARGO & Weekends BOMBAY - KUALA LUMP
இலங்கையின் கப்பல் போக்குவரத்து களஞ்சியங்க கிரமமான, நம்பிக்கையான சேவை. * கொழும்புக்கு அர்ப்பணம் மிகுந்த உன்னத சேவை. (18 பெட்டிகளிலிருந்து முழு அளவிலான தனிப்பட்ட பொருள் 20அடி,40அடி முழுவர்த்தக சரக்குகளுக்கு விசேட கட்ட யந்திரம், யந்திரவகைகள், உபகரணங்கள். * சலவை யந் போன்ற வீட்டுப்பாவனை மின்சார உபகரணங்களுக்கு வ உங்கள் பொருள்களுக்கு இலங்கையர் பலரும் விரும்பு 9 உலகளாவிய விமான பொதி
Ze Pീബle
P 2ീegർe Suite 412, 20eleavade 235 High RC شت شse
நீங்கள் தொடர்புகொள்ளவேண்டியவர்கள்: Harry Mahendran Asoka Fernando
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

15 JANUARY 1998
E TRAVEL 20
(a Tours
AIRLANKA S°
It's a taste of Paradise
BLE AGENT 9y LONDON-COLOMBO
5 NON STOPS
AGENT 1992-1997 MONDAY,TUESDAY. THURSDAY "IN THE UK SINCE 1979 SATURDAY & SUNDAY
LE– Jan – Mar 1998 s
from E380 Return ON REQUEST Emirates
The finest :CTRICAL GOODS AVAILABLE FOR OUR CLIENTs in the sky
and reservations and fares ultants: Kamini,llpali or Chris y Street, London W R 5LF 12/3.0171 434 3921 -
Road,Colombo 4.Tel: S8776 厚寸 Y FOR IMMEDIATE TRAVE-0860 439 483
WWEWAAGE
) TO COLOMBO - MADRAS
R - TORONTO - MONTREAL
ருக்கு FROM
DOOR TO DOOR COURIER SERVICE TO தினங்கள்) * தேயிலைப் கள் வரை* கார், மற்றும் (DOCUMENTS ONLY ணம். * மின்சார உற்பத்தி FROM 20
ரம், குளிர்சாதனப்பெட்டி விலக்கு. முதல்தர துரித விடுவிப்பு வசதிகள் அளிக்கப்படுகின்றன. சேவைக்கு எங்களை நாடுங்கள். 9
coAir & Sea cargo
World-Wide destinations o Collecting UK wide O Goods supplied
for export WAT free 20' Containers-E1000 OG Motor cars - 600
SSiness Centre shley House d, Woodgreen,
N22 4HF
-889 8486
889266 OPEN7DAYS AWEEK

Page 3
15 ANUARY 1998
ISSN 0266 - 44 88 Vol. XVI No. 1 15 JANUARY 1998
Published by:
TAMILTIMES LTD PO Box 121, Sutton,
Surrey SM13TD
United Kingdom
Phone: 0181 644 0972 Fax: 0181 24 4557 Email: prajan Ggn.apc.org
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION
UK/India/Sri Lanka.................... £15/US$25 Australia...............................................Aus$45
(Australian Bank cheques only) USA.... ...USS35 Canada...............................CanS40 All other Countries..................... £20. US$35
L
Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the editor or publishers. The publishers assume no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork.
Outlook for 1998 03 Prison Killing inquiry Urged 05 Local Elections in Jaffna 06 Independence Celebrations 07 largeting Tea industry 08 Unions Threaten Strike 08 UNPUrged to Make Common Cause 09 Escaping an icy Death 09 Dispute in LSSP 10 Outcray Against Ragging 11 Kama Sutra and Repressed Sex 12 Asymmetrical Devolution 13 CanWe Make Peace in Sri Lanka ? 16 Constituitional Reform & Aspirations 20 Sonia to the Rescue of India 23 BJP in Indian Politics 25 AIADMK-BJP Alliance 26 Communalisation in Tamil Nadu 28 Classified 30
s Sri Lanka is Golden Jubil from colonial pect for 1998?
Sri Lanka’s Kumaratunga thi turning point fort priority is being costly ethnic war ment’s twin-track as "War for Peace pectations of an e: to the island's p ended in a resur when the LTTEp talks with the G
1995.
In a New Yea ple, the Presiden their differences a ful 1998 - the 50 country's indepel "Independence throwing off the rule. It is the bui. sive political stri scend divisive pol dation of econ through the banis. erty, unemploym necessities.'
The Presid very near a resolu and the resulting in our body politi our steadfast pur tion in tandem w tary strategy.”
Many do not optimism. Politi( people on the str cal and economi in the year ahead an overall deteri Dharmaratnam S political comme Some warnt tinued preoccup peace process w
 
 
 
 

TAMIL TIMES 3
EWS REVIEW
took for 1998
about to celebrate the e of independence rule, what is the pros
'resident Chandrika nks 1998 will be a he island nation. Top given to ending the through the Governstrategy characterised ". The hopes and exarly peace and an end otracted ethnic war
mption of hostilities
ulled out of the peace overnment in April
r message to the peot urged them to end und unite for a peaceth anniversary of the hdence from Britain. is much more than
shackles of foreign ding of a new inclucture that will tranitics...It is the consoliomic independence ment of hunger, povent and lack of basic
2nt also said, "We are tion to ethnic conflict war that has festered c. This is the result of uit of a political Soluith an effective mili
share the President's al analysts - and most et - expect the politisituation to worsen "There is going to be ration in 1998," says varam, avell-known tatOT.
at Government's contion with the elusive ll lead to further ne
glect of issues such as the high cost of living, worsening the problems of ordinary people.
"Some people in the government seem to place their faith in a military solution, others in a military-cum-political solution. But nobody seems to know exactly where they are heading," says former UNP Finance Minister Ronnie de Mel.
The ruling People's Alliance (PA) has completed drafting a new constitution aimed at finally solving the country's divisive ethnic problem.
On the war front, the armed forces are pushing the Tamil Tigers deeper into the jungles while gaining control of more territory. Government troops are battling the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in an effort to open up a land route to the northern Jaffna peninsula with heavy casualties on both sides.
Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte, who shares Kumaratunga's view that the Tigers must be defeated militarily before talking peace, says that the ongoing Seven-monthoperation to retake the strategic highway to the northern Jaffna peninsula will be completed by February 4, the day Sri Lanka won independence from British rule. Very few believe Ratwatte's claim as many such claims in the past have rarely materialised.
The Tamil Tigers are fighting every inch of the way, day after day, night after night. Even if the Government succeeds in retaking the highway, that won't be the end, as the Tigers would continue their fight. Only recently, the Tamil Tiger leader called upon the people to, “We are aware that freedom is not a concession gained from the enemy, but a sacred right which has to be fought by shedding blood and making sacrifices' and committed himself "to struggle until we realise our goal of freedom."

Page 4
4 TAMIL TIMES
President Kumaratunga sees the twin approach of fighting the LTTE and preparing a peace package at the same time, as a way out of the political quagmire.
In the government's favour is the recent announcement by main opposition United National Party (UNP) plan to submit its own peace proposals by the end of January. The UNP spent nearly three years discussing Government proposals in an All-Party Parliamentary Select Committee of MPs. The UNP leader, Ranil Wickremasinghe, is a recent convert to what he describes as "needs-based devolution' for the regions. He sees the prospect of the Northeast of the island inhabited predominantly by Tamil speaking people being granted more devolved legislative and executive powers than other regions.
"The peace package is on the right track with the PA and the UNP getting together at last,” observes Jehan Perera, media director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, a Non Governmental Organisation which is working towards promoting peace in the country. Kumaratunga herself is pleased with developments in the UNP. "I am now gratified to hear that after more than two years of deliberations at the level of the parliamentary select committee, the UNP has at last appointed some kind of a committee to formulate their own proposals...," she told a Colombo newspaper recently.
But she warns that "if the UNP continues to be obstinate, then it would be essential that we seek other ways of implementing our political package that addresses the question of power-sharing between the centre and regions."
In the face of possible UNP opposition, the Government is considering holding a non-binding referendum to seek public support for its peace package. In Parliament, a two-thirds majority vote is required for any constitutional reform to go through.
Government planners feel that with most Sri Lankans yearning for peace, a referendum might successfully pass the Government proposals which are aimed at devolving legislative and executive powers to the regions.
But Ronnie De Mel, a parliamentarian and high-ranking member of the opposition UNP, warns any attempt to force a solution with a referendum could lead to a constitutional and political crisis and possibly a period of political violence in the capital. "This is something
all of us should be said.
Apart from the 1 tween government on the one hand, anc off between the G UNP on the other, worrying factor wit ing for the average
"The people are the cost of living an for example, are f prices in India, Pa desh where ordina clothing, travelli cerned,” De Mel sa He said none of ture schemes, to mo seaports, airports, r tion and tourism, ha while military spen to S730 million cor lion in the late 198 Government m Deputy Finance Lakshman Peiris r saying the econom with inflation and u and the country's pr which is selling of are unviable under schedule.
Government e previous regime's agement has led to the economy right. lot of time putting back on track, afte! riod, before proceec velopment,"one go noted.
However, conti corruption, dubiou cal favouritism ar ernment as well.
On the military senior army field
I wish to pay/rent I am sending you a gi Please send an introd
enclose a donation {
of...... ... Name
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

15 JANUARY 1998
careful about,' he
lilitary conflict beorces and the LTTE the political standvernment and the the economy is a a rising cost of livpeople. sorely affected by | high prices which, ar higher than the kistan and Banglary items of food, g, etc., are conid.
the big infrastrucdernise the nation's pads, energy, irrigawe taken off. Meanding, rose this year npared to $180 mil)s. inisters including Minister Gamini eject this argument ly is now on track nemployment down ivatisation program, f public assets that state control, is on
conomists say the economic mismana delay in putting "We had to spend a , the fundamentals * that disastrous peling with the real devernment economist
nued allegations of s tenders and politi2 dogging this gov
front, according to commanders, they
hope to open a government-controlled road through the LTTE strongholds in the north by February. They plan to open
a new route to the northern town of
Jaffna and use it as the main supplies route for the government, according to one commander involved in the ongoing Operation Jayasikuru (“Victory Assured.") But the operation has been most expensive both in terms of loss of life and military expenditure. While the LTTE has lost territory and many of its cadres, at the same time, it has inflicted unprecedented casualties and loss of military hardware upon the armed , forces.
The received wisdom in Government circles is that a military victory would force the Tamil Tigers to either reopen peace talks with Colombo or accept the political package. However, political columnist Sivaram predicts that the army will open a precarious route to the north "as a cosmetic gesture to keep to the February 4 timetable. But will they be able to control that road, is the question,' he said. In most of the government-held territory, the army controls the roads during the day. But it's no man's land by night. Sivaram also says the rebels will step up attacks in the capital and outside, as pressure mounts on them.
Leader of the Sarvodaya movement and well known social activist A T Ariyaratne says ordinary people are not interested in peace packages or wars. "They have lost faith in all politicians and scholars and their political stances. To them the cost of living is astronomical. They are not interested in constitutional reforms and change."
“I have met people living in villages near where the fighting goes on and they are not emotionally involved or bothered with intellectual exercises. They just want peace," said Ariyaratne.
ARAa Subscription lates
UK/India/Sri Lanka: E15.00/USS25.OO Australia: Aus.$45.00 (Australian Bank cheques only) Canada: CanS40.00
All other Countries: 20.00/US$35.00
subscription on behalf of
deleting whichever is inapplicable w my subscription for one year/two years/three years
|ctory Copy to:
v w w w w w w w w edMy chequeldraft/M.O. in favour of Tamil Times Ltd is to the total value
a p- - - - - - (DLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE) ove aPos Code............e.No........................

Page 5
15 JANUARY 1998
Amnesty Calls for
into PrSO KI
The Sri Lankan government has instituted an inquiry following a call by Amnesty International called upon Sri Lanka's Minister of Justice to order a full and impartial inquiry into the killing of two Tamil and one Muslim detainees on 12 December at Kalutara prison, south of the capital, Colombo.
Muthulingam Dharmalingam and Shanmugarajah Sivanesan, from Jaffna, and Sharif Jehan, a displaced person from Mannar, were among 137 Tamil detainees held at Kalutara prison. The three were reportedly hacked to death in front of Ward D at around 1 pm on 12 December by a group of Sinhalese common criminal prisoners in what appears to have been a premeditated attack.
Prison authorities had last month transferred 223 Tamil detained from a Colombo prison to Kalutara saying the jail in Colombo did not provide sufficient security. A group of Sinhalese prisoners allegedly clubbed to death the three victims and injured seven others after a dispute over food distribution at the prison. Following the incident, police said that most of the Sinhalese pris
oners had been transferred to two sepa
rate jails in the southern province after the riot and additional guards were also sent to the prison.
The attack drew angry reactions from Tamil political parties and the government ordered a high level investigation into the incident. Following preliminary investigations, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, G. L. Peiris, recommended to President Chandrika Kumaratunga to appoint a commission of inquiry and ordered a
special police unit to be set up at the is
prison while another detention centre is repaired and renovated for the detainees to be relocated.
In its letter to Professor G. L. Peiris,
Amnesty International expressed concern for the safety of other detainees who witnessed the killings and are currently under guard by prison staff who may have been involved in the act. Amnesty International urged that all necessary steps be taken to protect these W1 tInCSS eS.
” ” -ܝܚܚܝܚ-ܢ-ܖ-ܗܝ.
AI pointed ou terial inquiry intc detainees who rel ings refused to giv for their lives. To al's knowledge, th not yet been ident
Prison staffar ployed at the pr failed to take me Tamil detainees at ing to some repor involved in the more than an hou
According to staff had opened around 11 am, an in the next two h Tamil detainees ports also indical dieron sentry dut of the prison ign
in Urged
More than 1, egated by comm tricts in the countil Peace Delegates' the BMICH on S resolution calling to the war. Appro delegates were S were Tamil and 1 half were from col of the north-east a 50 disabled sold
and approved the
In addition tc resolution, a widt tives, including women victims c ers and fishermel and peace worke to resolve the co Many of the spea effects of the war A study on th dertaken by the also released at th
 

TAMIL TIMES 5
that during a magisthe killings, several portedly saw the kille evidence out of fear Amnesty Internationose responsible have ified. ld army personnel deison appear to have asures to protect the the time and, accordts, were even actively attack which lasted r, stated AI. some sources, prison the gate to Ward D d ignored pleas made ours by several of the
Io lock the gate. Re
te that an armed soly on the southern side pred pleas for protec
tion from the three detainees while they were hacked to death in front of him. Army personnel and prison staff are also said to have failed to take action against a group of civilians who had gathered outside the prison and were throwing stones and other objects into the prison throughout the attack, AI said.
Amnesty International noted in its letter that some action was taken by the prison authorities to defuse the situation - such as the swift transfer of most of the Sinhalese convicted prisoners to other prisons. Nevertheless, AI urged the government to initiate a review of measures to safeguard the security of political prisoners held in the same prisons as common criminal suspects and convicts, albeit in separate wards.
Fearing for their security, more than 300 Tamils detained at the Kalutara prison began a hunger strike on 13 December demanding that they be transferred from Kalutara to Colombo. Following an assurance from the government of full protection and a speeding processing of their court cases, the detainees ended their hunger strike on 16 December.
mediate End to War
by Peace Convention
700 participants, delunities in all 25 disy, met at the National
Convention held at unday and passed a for an immediate end ximately 1,200 of the inhalese, while 350 50 Muslim. More than flict-affected districts nd bordering districts. ers also participated resolution. . . . .
giving assent to the range of representa
disabled soldiers,
f war, affected farm.
l, community leaders
is spoke on the need
nflict without delay.
cers related the tragic
upon them.
e Cost of the War unMarga Institute was*
e convention. Among
its findings was that the total losses in 1996 amounted to Rs 165 billion or 21.3 percent of GDP, and was more than three times the direct budgetary expenditure on defence. If not for the war, average household incomes would have been higher by 40 percent and government expenditures on health, education and roads could have been at least one third higher. The efforts of the National Peace Convention to bring an end to the ongoing war in Sri Lanka and bring peace through negotiations have received widespread support.
On behalf of the Governing Council, its media director issued the following statement:
"The LTTE welcomed the National Peace Delegates Convention held on January 4, 1998 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall. In a statement, the International Secretariat of the LTTE said that they welcomed "any just and fair solution towards ushering in peace in the is
" **ప్లే "

Page 6
6 TAMIL TIMES
land.”
“Earlier, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe in goodwill messages to the National Peace Delegates Convention had referred to the need to end the war.
"President Kumaratunga pledged that her government would do "everything possible within our power to achieve a political solution with the cooperation of all sections of our society.” The Opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe decried the "war mentality that brings with it hatred and destruction' and said that "there can be no victors in war.'
"In its message to the delegates, the LTTE said that they "applaud your con
tention that the bas ourable peace is th right of all nation their own destin added that "there ency inany talksle tion of a conflict.' "On Sunday 2 peace delegates frc the country met an tion calling for ani war through nego with a "parity of pre-conditions". called for a restruc a manner that c self-government b and communities country."
The local elections set to be held on 29 January will be the first to be held in 15 years in Sri Lanka's war-torn north. The polls are intended to set the stage for the return of civil administration to northern Jaffna and parts of Kilinochchi districts, which are currently under military control.
The country's two main parties, the governing and the opposition, will not be contesting in these elections. Even the moderate Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) which decided to field candidates is out of the contest because its nomination papers had been rejected on technicality by the Commissioner of Elections.
Contesting in the elections are four former armed militant groups, the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO). The battle for the 234 seats of the local bodies will be fought exclusively between these Tamil parties.
The LTTE, which has been battling the government forces, has called upon the people not to participate in the elections and described the Tamil parties taking part as “quislings” and “traitors".
Being the first election to be held since 1983 and in defiance of the powerful LTTE, there is considerable interest as to how the voting public will re
act... Jaffna and Kilin recaptured from LT are still under milita" tions will set the st civilian rule. Some an attempt by the G onstrate that it has S ing a civilian adm areas while at the S the military from u administrative task test as to the hold the people of Jaffn "It is the unfre politics in Jaffna,' political analyst monthly Lanka Gu be interesting to see ness of Tamil peop intervening period "There is no risk-sharing in ac process and allowi to the people of Ja Loganathan, editor press newspaper." unlike the last time ties objected to ele ing that the situat cive, this time som a virtue out of the ernment last year, nations to hold el But Tamil partie SOISC f'ECAS W6C6C S trol and elections
“The goverr marginalise LTTE
 

, 15 JANUARY 1998
for a just and honrecognition of the lities to determine '. The statement hould be transparding to the resolu
) December, 1700 m all 25 districts of approved a resolunmediate end to the iations conducted ignity and without he resolution also uring of the state in ould provide for y all "nationalities
living within the
ochchi, which were TE control last year, y control. The elecage for a return to see the election as overnment to demucceeded in restorinistration in these ame time releasing ndertaking civilian S. Others see it as a the LTTE has over
l. :zing of democratic Dayan Jayatilleke, and editor of the ardian says.”It will how the consciouse has evolved in the
f some degree of vancing the peace g democratic rights ffna,' said Kethesh fThe Weekend Ext is significant that when allTamil par:tions in Jaffna sayon was not conduof them have seen ecessity." The gov|so called for nomi - :tions in the region. backed out saying ll under LTTE convere not possible. ment is trying to olitically, but it will
depend on whether other Tamil parties are able to function in the north and the kind of support they get from the people,” said Loganathan who has written several books on the ethnic crisis.
"The government is trying to defy the Tigers and show they are in control of the situation," said political analyst Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu. "It is a four-cornered fight between former militant forces and I hope it does not turn into an internecine war. A lot will depend on the impartiality of the armed forces in Jaffna. They will have to be fair," he said. He discounted fears that the LTTE would try to disrupt the polls, saying the rebels would also be keen to gauge the mood of the people.
Jayatilleke said it would be difficult for the LTTE to move its fighters from the jungles of the Wanni region and change the security balance in Jaffna. "The Tamil Tigers have to decide whether to commit cadres to disrupt the electoral process in Jaffna and kill candidates," Jayatilleke said. "The military has learnt some lessons and now knows the game better. They just might set a trap for LTTE.”
He said the military, which must provide security for the polls, faced the same dilemma - whether or not to move troops from Wanni where it is embroiled in a seven-month campaign against the LTTE to seize a key highway to Jaffna. "This makes the game very decisive and the stakes high," he said. "But any which way, one would be able to ascertain (after the elections) which of the groups has any semblance of influence in the area.'
Sri Lanka's main opposition party dismissed the government's move to hold elections in northern areas as a political sham. The United National Party (UNP) said in a statement that Jaffna and parts of Kilinochchi district were not ready for elections. "The UNP is totally opposed to the holding of so-called elections to local authorities in the Jaffna peninsula at this time when the law and order situation is such that there is no possibility of a free and fair exercise of the fundamental right to vote," the statement said. "It (the government) hopes to gain political mileage by this charade. But people will not be taken in...'
Amidst accusations that the armed cadres of the EPDP were preventing and intimidating its rivals from campaigning, Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police (IGP) W.B. Rajaguru an

Page 7
15 JANUARY 1998
nounced that he was taking steps to establish a Police station in the Delft island (Nedunthivu) with the assistance of the Navy. The IGP visited Jaffna to assess the situation and consult with his officers there about security arrangements for the polls during the campaign and on the day of the polls. The Delft Police station is to be established before the elections.
The island of Delft is far flung from the peninsula and remains quite isolated. It has its own local government body. The Sri Lankan army and Navy are not present in the island. The heavily armed cadres of the EPDP dominate and control Delft with the consent of the military. Rejecting the accusations of intimidation by its cadres, EPDP leader Douglas Devananda said he will disarm his cadres if the government provided additional troops to Kayts, Delft and Pungudutivu. “We are there to protect these islands from the LTTE. Since we are facing a manpower crisis we are
ready to draw these eering if the gove curity to these isla Officials heade rity Forces Comma Lionel Balagalle, v tives of political p local elections on was announced tha and Police were ta. rity in the outlying peninsula with eff ing day (Saturday, General Balagalle Navy and Army pe into the islands o dutivu. In additio] Posts were also bei island for the con two islands had p. under the control o EPDP with no Poli presence.
The Sri Lankar sion's branch in Ja
Indep
endence Celeb AmidSt Protest
Prince Charles visit to Sri Lanka as Chief Guest at Sri Lanka's 50th anniversary celebration of its independence from colonial rule has provoked opposition from Sinhala-Buddhist extremist sections in the island, and one of the country's leading Buddhist monks has announced that he would boycott the ceremonies associated with the occasion.
The Sri Lankan government has announced its plan of celebrations for the country's 50th Independence Day, which falls on February 4, 1998. The main ceremony will be held in the central mountain city of Kandy, the seat of Sri Lanka's last king, to mark the 50th anniversary.
According to security sources, the capital and the main cities of the island would be placed under tight security to prevent any possible attacks by the Tamil Tigers to disrupt the celebrations. Local and foreign dignitaries will go to Kandy to participate in the celebrations there, which will start on February 3 and end on the 5th. Fifteen foreign ministers from SAARC and Non-Aligned Movement countries are expected to attend Sri Lanka's Inde
pendence jubilee, Foreign Minister I Religious acti three armed servic cultural performan on the occasion. Si tions are expected out the country ex eas of the Northea
In the capital grand exhibition w ruary 5 to 20 to h Sri Lanka has ach pendence in 1948 The governm sum of 300 milli U.S. dollars) for
The Nationa (NJC), which som headed the Sinhal primarily directec tion proposals c stated that it woul missions in Colo boycott the celeb! if Prince Charles cial events. The British brutally ci independence in ing hundreds of S
 
 

TAMIL TIMES 7
cadres forelectionnment provides se„ds,ʼ he said. d by Jaffna's Secunder, Major General ere met representarties contesting the 5 January where it the security forces ing charge of secuIslands of the Jaffna ct from the follow16 January). Major old the meeting that 'sonnel would move Delft and Pungua string of Police ng established in the luct of polls. These eviously remained farmed cadres of the ce or security forces
Elections Commisffna will begin dis
tributing poll cards to voters in the peninsula from January 18. Commission officials at the Jaffna Kachcherisay that people can obtain the cards by presenting their national identity cards at the government post offices in their areas. The cards will be sent to Jaffna under special military escort from Colombo on January 16 Jaffna Kachcheri sources said that about 1200 persons expected to arrive from Colombo for election duties.
Although the number of officials required to handle the local polls under normal circumstances is more than 2000, the system of clustering several polling booths together has helped the government to conduct the elections with less volunteers.
The Sri Lankan Elections Commission has been in dire Straits unable to find Tamil speaking volunteers in the government service to handle the Jaffna polls since nominations were filed for the elections last month.
according to Deputy Lakshman Kiriella. lities, parade of the es and the police and ces will be conducted multaneous celebrato be held throughcept the war-torn arSt. city of Colombo, a ill be held from Febghlight the progress ieved since its inde
ent has allocated a in rupees (5 million he celebrations.
Joint Committee e months ago spearCommission Report against the devoluf the Government, i write to diplomatic mbo asking them to ations on February 4 participated in oficommittee says the Ished movements for 818 and 1848, killinhalese people dur
ing their 152-year colonial rule over Sri
Lanka.
"The Queen, representing the government of Britain, must apologise to Sri Lankans before Prince Charles comes,” Piyanasena Dissanayake, secretary of the NJC, told the press. "If he (Charles) says that he's coming to make this apology, a formal apology, he will be most welcome to do that,' Dissanayake said.
"We can't undo history, and we can't as a nation forget some of the incidents that took place under their regime here in this country. They (the British) should at least have the courtesy to apologise to us for what their grandfathers or great-grandfathers did,' he added.
The Federation of Buddhist Organisation said in a statement that Prince Charles's participation in a ceremony at a place where Sri Lankans were killed was an insult to the nation. The ceremony is due to be held at central hill town of Kandy, the capital of the Kandyan kingdom that the British overran before taking control of Sri Lanka. "Think about the gravity of Prince Charles's visit, after all the harm the British have brought about to the Sinhalese nation and the Buddhist religion," Federation Secretary Puniyawardana Gallage said in the Statement.
"Prince Charles should apologise for all the wrongs done, especially com

Page 8
8 TAM TIMES
ing from a nation that proclaims human rights for all," he added.
The Mahanayake of the Malwatta Chapter, Ven Rambukwelle Sri Vipassi Thera told the press that he would not attend the main function on the grounds that Prince Charles had been invited as the Chief Guest for the function.
However, the Malwatte Mahanayake Thera will attend the Thevava at
the Dalada Maligaw be attended by the P Independence Day.
"I have nothin Charles personally, b him should have tho evance of inviting hi in the context of plur tation of our resour rulers,' he said.
Targeting Tea industry
Even as tea production is reported have to hit a new high during last year, reports from Colombo indicate that the Tamil Tigers are engaged in a deliberate plan to disrupt the production and export of Sri Lankan tea, one of the country's main foreign exchange earners. Reports quoting government intelligence sources said that the Tigers planned to sabotage electricity supplies to tea factories and disrupt plantation fuel supplies.
Sri Lanka's tea production during last year is expected to hit a new high of 270 million kilograms, compared to last year's record of 258 million kilograms, according to Tea Board. The tea output rose by 7 percent in the first ten
months to almost 225 from 211 million kilc period last year. The the increase in the vourable weather col management practice increased use of fert said.
Tea is one of th main export items, percent of its export ka's total tea exports million kilograms.
Therefore it is LTTE, which is enga and-death war with g in the northeast of t consider the tea indu economic target. "T these moves by the disrupting the country will make it difficult to purchase arms to Colombo report said
Unions Threaten S in Plantations
Sri Lanka's powerful plantation unions on 9 January sparked fears of an economic slowdown in 1998 by threatening to launch an indefinite strike over a wage dispute.
Trade unions said about 400,000 workers on Sri Lanka's tea estates would go on strike from February 5 if plantation companies refused to meet their wage demands.
"We plan an indefinite strike from February 5 if the companies don't agree to our demands,' an official of the Ceylon Workers' Congress, the biggest plantation union, told the press.
Industry analysts said the impact on the economy could be high since tea exports was one of the biggest foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka, currently the world's largest tea exporter.
Last year's six p tic product growth cribed to growth in fetched Sri Lanka (USS548,4 millio1 1996. Industry offic was surpassed in O. year's earnings wo since tea prices ha' the global market.
Fourteen trade ing that the daily workers be increa from the current 8 companies have co fer of a 10-rupee hi could hurt their p future of the indus
Recently priva state control, the i
 
 

15 JANUARY 1998
which is due to hce on the eve of
against Prince whoever invited ght about the relfor this function ering and exploies by the British
million kilograms grams in the same main reasons for roduction are faditions, the better of the estates and lizer, the sources
island country's ccounting for 26 carnings. Sri Lanlast year was 244
obvious that the gedina bitter lifeovernment forces he island, should try as a legitimate he reason behind LTTE is aimed at 'seconomy which or the government fight the war," a
Another agency report from Colombo said that the Tigers are infiltrating the tea plantations in the central part of Sri Lanka from the north in a bid to cause massive disruption of work there. They are planning to sabotage electricity supplies to tea factories and disrupt fuel transportation network in the plantations.
According to intelligence reports, at least seven rebel cells led by men of the LTTE's intelligence unit have infiltrated the estate sector in the central tea country from the north. They said that, apart from sabotage activities, Tamil Tigers are also planning to infiltrate the estate sector trade unions and incite the plantation workers to sage strikes on estates in the country.
A number of electricity transformers in central Badulla and Bandarawela towns have been blasted and fuel bowsers in Hatton town were also set alight in the recent weeks. Tea industry officials said production had been affected slightly but if such attacks continued the industry could be jeopardised.
“They (LTTE) want to divert the military’s attention from the north. Unlike in the capital Colombo the plantations cover such a large region that it would be difficult to provide security," said Maxwell Fernando of commodity brokers Sommerville & Co. Ltd.
trike
rcentgross domesas been largely ashe tea sector, which 34 billion rupees ) from exports in ials said that figure tober 1997 and last ld be much higher e remained firm in
nions are demandages of plantation ed to 105 rupees rupees. Plantation ntered with the ofe, saying any more ofitability and the
y. ;ed after decades of lustry has only just
begun showing signs of a turnaround."Demands by plantation trade unions for a 26 percent hike in daily wages of estate workers would cost the industry an additional 2.6 billion rupees a year in basic wages and add about 15 rupees to the cost of production of a kilogram of tea,' the Planters' Association of Ceylon (PAC) said in a statement.
The association's secretary-general, S.K. Seneviratne, said the additional wage burden would seriously hamper the ability of companies to service loans and carried-over losses and continue with replanting and factory development. "This is much more than a simple wage issue," he added, calling for government intervention to arrest the economic ramifications of the move.
"A 15 percent hike is what the companies are expecting, but even that would raise their operating costs by between 6-8 percent," said Avanka Herath, plantations analyst with brokerage Jardine Fleming. "The increase the companies are willing to give is al

Page 9
15 JANUARY 1998
ready ringing alarm bells among the smaller plantation firms," said Nanda Nair, research head at John Keells Stock Brckers. He said the recent increase in tea prices was largely because of production problems in Kenya and Indonesia.'The unions do not seem to appreciate the fact that commodity prices are beyond our control and can fall overnight. Such a sharp increase cannot be cushioned in such an event," Seneviratne said.
Some analysts in Colombo believe that there was still an outside chance the two sides might reach a settlement as both sides are going to be affected if the strike went ahead.
The National Peace Council of Sri Lanka (NPC) has called upon the main opposition United National Party (UNP) join with the Government in a bipartisan approach to the proposed constitutional reform and devolution.
In a press statement issued on 11 December the NPC said, "Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris's readiness to consider the recent UNP proposal regarding asymmetric devolution is a welcome development after months of uncertainty regarding a
bipartisan approa making. In particul the UNP to put for of its proposal for a tion opens the door of the new constit will work in the no the rest of the count
"The National on the UNP to mak tunity for the comm in the country is to cal parties to seek r vantage of the ethn sition taken recentl ership that it must ti sponsibility for its to the devolution C the Gamini Dissan a very positive devo gard.
“By taking colle for their past comm litical institutions trust of other politic nents. This applies ernment and opposit including the LTTE "The value of th tutional restructuril in its ability to r normalcy to the cou of long suffering p ness to provide as north-east, the con devolution can pro Thimpu principles presented as its ba political solution.”
Escaping
ancy Death
British Customs officers found 16 persons on 29 December hiding under the roof of a lorry importing frozen potato chips from France in an attempt to gain illegal entry into the United Kingdom.
The men, 15 from Sri Lanka and
one from Bangladesh, were wedged
into a gap of less than two feet (70 cm) between the ceiling of the refrigeration compartment and stacks of boxes of potato chips.
British Home Office junior minister Mike O'Brien said the detained men were extremely lucky to be alive: “These people could easily have metan icy death. They are extremely lucky to be alive thanks to the vigilance of Customs officers.
"This demonst extraordinary and d that some people a It shows the appall organisers of this ti peration are willing make their disreput
"The internatio trade must be stopp is taking a hard li! gration. That is w Service and the N telligence Service a closely together to tion laws. In doin helping to protect t ple who think that savings to crime t undetected into Br
The British driv interviewed by po being involved in immigrants for fir
 

TAMIL TIMES 9
to constitution , his invitation to ard the mechanics ymmetric devoluo joint authorship ional system that th-east as well as
y. 2ace Council calls use of this opporyn good. The crisis serious for politiarrow political adc conflict. The poby the UNP leadke institutional repast commitments power, including yake manifesto, is lopment in this re
ctive responsibility tments, mature pore able to win the al actors and oppoequally to the govion political forces,
he proposed consting of the state lies estore peace and ntry and to the lives eople. In its readipecial status to the cept of asymmetric vide a bridge to the that the LTTE has sis for a negotiated
ates yet again the angerous measures e prepared to take. ng lengths that the affic in human desto go to in order to able living. al organisers of this d. The Government e on illegal immiy the Immigration tional Criminal Ine now working very phold our immigraso they are also ose misguided peoby paying their life irons they can slip cain.” er of the vehicle was ce on suspicion of afficking for illegal ncial reward.
Exchange Reserve increases
Sri Lanka's foreign exchange reserve reached a record 2.83 billion U.S. dollars by the end of October 1997, up by 22.6 percent from 1996, according to the Central Bank.
The country's foreign exchange reserve is enough to support 5.6 months of imports, the Bank said. Last year Sri Lanka held 2.3 billion dollars in foreign exchange reserve. The Bank attributed the increase to more capital inflows and improvement in the current account of the balance of payments.
Capital inflows were mainly composed of foreign investments, private proceeds and remittances by Sri Lankans abroad. Remittances alone rose from last year's 34 billion Rupees (570 million dollars) to 38 billion Rupees (630 million dollars) by September 1997.
Sri Lanka's trade deficit by the end of October stood at minus 60.7 billion Rupees (1.01 billion dollars), down from minus 62.8 billion Rupees (1.05 billion dollars) of the corresponding period last year. The decline was brought about by a 21.3 percent rise in exports as against a 15 percent increase in imports, the bank said. Exports grew mainly in agricultural and industrial sectors, particularly tea and garments, it added.
Austria to Build Joint-Venture Hospital
Austrian company AME and two Sri Lankan companies, the Shihara Lanka Private Ltd. and the Design Consortium Ltd., have signed a contract to set up a fully equipped hospital near capital city Colombo. The contract was signed recently. Construction of the joint-venture hospital will cost 30 million U.S. dollars. The hospital will be located at Sri Jayawardhanapura Kotte, which is 10 kilometers east of Colombo. It will comprise 200 beds, two surgical wards, an obstetrics ward, a gynecology ward and a paediatrics ward. The hospital will install Sri Lanka's first tele-medical facilities.

Page 10
10 TAMIL TIMES
Port Deal to Go Ahead Amid Protest
In the face of protest by trade unions led by the Ceylon Mercantile Union, Sri Lanka Government is to go ahead with its planned deal to partlyprivatise the Colombo port by March 1998 which according to the government was needed to increase the port's trans-shipment handling capacity.
"Our target is March 1998 to sign the agreement and there after the question of handing over comes,” Mohammed Ashraff, minister of Port Development, Rehabilitation & Reconstruction told a new conference in Colombo. The government plans to give a 30-year lease on the Queen Elizabeth Quay (QEQ) to South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT), a joint venture between P&O Navigations Australia, P&O Containers (PO.L) of Britain and Sri Lanka's John Keells Holding Ltd (JKH.CM) and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).
The QEQ project is being criticised by trade unions who have been holding a series of strikes to protest against the project. The Ceylon Mercantile Union (CMU), whose members make up onethird of the 17,000-strong work-force at Colombo port, says that it would affect the job security of the port workers and result in direct competition within the port between the P&O Consortium and SLPA.
According to Ashraff, the construction will begin by early January 1999 on the $200 million project to expand the capacity of the QEQ from quarter of a million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) to one million TEUs within the next three years. The minister said that the QEQ project on a build, operate, transfer (BOT) basis was needed if Sri Lanka wanted to increase its TEUS handling capacity.
“The Colombo Port is expected to handle over 1.6 million TEUs in 1997 and it could increase this to 1.9 million in 1989 and 2.2 million by 2000," the minister said. "The QEQ project gives us a breathing space to face the challenge, but we need further development if we are to keep the Colombo port south Asia's main trans-shipment hub,' Ashraff said. He said that the govern
ment had already s with Japan's PentaCo Ltd (1893.T) t Pier at the Colom handle the bulk ca handled at QEQ. pee ($13.3 million Will take about nine and would extend tres, Sri Lanka Por1 said.
Truck Exp.
A truck carry ploded premature near Sri Lanka's st Val base located in of Galle, killing th been in the truck. T 2.30 a.m. (2130 C also damaged a line and a couple of hol Police prompt tack by the LTTEp Tissera, who was when the truck exp (500 meters) from reach the navy cal have to pass a poli said the truck stop (90 meters) from and one of the oci der it, seemingly to cal fault. He was s when the truck exp found charred, wł to two different pe to 40 meters from Police said one vi ing a vest laden w The police of bomb seemed to h turely and was po Navy commander ral Tissera was show for the benc dead Soldiers. Po LTTE could have him either at the
President Cha was also schedul two days later launch a new l state-owned Peo curity measures day of the explo; search operation. to the President's

15 JANUARY 1998
gned an agreement Dcean Construction develop the North )o port which will go that is presently "he 820 million ruNorth Pier project months to complete the pier by 35 meAuthority officials
-Bomb lodes
ng explosives exy on 29 December buthern Magalla nahe southern port city ree persons who had he blast occurred at SMT Saturday) and ; of eight to ten shops uses by the roadside. y Said it was an atossibly trying to kill at the naval base loded just 550 yards the naval base. To mp, the truck would ce checkpoint. They ped about 100 yards a police check post cupants crawled unset right a mechanitill under the vehicle loded. His body was ile limbs belonging rsons were found up the site of the blast. tim had been wearith explosives. icer said the vehicle ave gone off premasibly targeted at the Cesil Tissera. Admittending a musical fit of the families of ice officials say the been aiming to get how or at the base. ndrika Kumaratunga d to visit Galle town in 30 December to an scheme by the le's Bank. Tight severe to begin on the on with cordon and in Galle town prior visit.
Dispute
in LSSP Over Cabinet
POrtfoliO
Following the death of LSSP leader Bernard Soysa, who held the portfolio of Minister of Science and Technology in the Peoples Alliance cabinet, a dispute arose as to whether the LSSP should accept a ministerial post in the cabinet. The opposition to acceptance was led by Vasudeva Nanayakkara who had been expressing opposition to many of the Government's policies, particularly in respect of privatisation of nationalised industries.
The LSSP dispute over the acceptance of a cabinet portfolio is not over yet though the politburo decided recently to nominate acting leader Batty Weerakoon for appointment as a minster.
The party's central committee which met thereafter to discuss the decision was split down the middle with 23 members voting to ratify the politburo decision and 12 opposing it. The voting pattern was the same on a second resolution to ratify the nomination of Mr. Weerakoon as a minister.
The radical Vasudeva Nanayakkara said that he still felt the party should not accept a cabinet portfolio, though it should stay on in the government.
Mr. Nanayakkara and several others in the party feel the LSSP should stay out of the cabinet in view of serious policy differences with government leaders on economic issues such as privatisation.
At the politburo meeting after the policy making body decided to accept the portfolio, two names were proposed Mr. Weerakoon and Deputy Minister Athau'da Sene viratne. But Mr. Seneviratne laterstood down in favour of Mr. Weerakoon, though ironically he had supported the acceptance of a portfolio while the acting leader initially opposed it.
"A fight that is not fought with intellectual weapons alone disgusts me. The dead oponent attests only to his own death."
- Elias Canetti

Page 11
15 JANUARY 1998
More than 20 years after a young woman jumped from the second-floor window of her university dormitory unable to cope with cruel “ragging" (hazing) by her seniors, there is murder on Sri Lanka's campuses.
Rupa Ratnaseeli, “who took that death-defying leap, was crippled for life. She now moves around in a wheelchair selling flowers for a living in a southern village.
In November last year, a 21-yearold student was murdered on the Campus. Selvanayagam Varapraga-sam, a first-year engineering student, died after a ragging ritual while another student is at death's door and may be permanently disabled - once again triggering a debate on the issue of banning ragging in Sri Lanka. Some students alleged to have been involved in his ragging and eventual death were taken into custody and are facing trial, and some others are still absconding.
Ragging has become brutal, sadistic, even leading to serious medical problems. Varapragasam, despite being a strongly-built youth, was unable to cope with the 300-odd push-ups that the Senior students demanded. He began coughing up blood and failed to recover after several days in hospital.
Twenty-two-year-old Thusara Kelum Wijetunga, another "fresh" student at the Hardy Technical Education Institute, died on 29 December from injuries Sustained during a brutal ragging. He had been forced by "senior" students to consume excessive quantities of arrack (Sri Lanka's alternative to whisky) and perform a "forward and backward roll". He died when his lungs failed in Kandy General Hospital to which he was admitted in early December in a Critical State.
Police have detained Over 20 students of the Amparai Hardy Institute of Technology for alleged involvement. The students have been remanded by a magistrate in eastern Amparai until January 23.
Plagued by calls for a ban on ragging, the government appointed a high-level committee to study the issue in depth and recommend draft legislation to stamp out the practice. The Committee comprises Professor W D Lakshman, Vice
Chancellor of the University of Co
OU (CRAY AGAINSTIM
NHE NAME (FRA
lombo, Savithri Gu of Law at the Op Deputy Solicitor G "LaWS are us must be the last nent sociologist P who is among a g versity teachers w ban ning ragging Hettige, head of Sociology at the U. Said that the univ evolve ways of Solv of which ragging i. "Universities h. lems faced by st nately, the univer pay much attentior said. But Hettige a leagues are isolat to legislation.
The media, pol lic - shocked by th have in unison Cal ing and criminal p involved. “The vic harm and the torm togain except sadi doubtful that hum to the depths of Lankan undergrac
The Centre fo tute, launches Mo and other legal de tor Project condu review democrati and transparency will be published
The inaugural Commission Rep Appointment Cas cludes comment Lanka's decision the new Commerc Pinto-Jayawarden Marie Caderamer
Copies of this natives. Please fe
Dr. P. Saraval Executive Di Centre for Po 32/3, Flower Sri Lanka.
 
 
 

TAM TIMES 11
|nasekera, Professor en University and a eneral. eful but legislation resort," argues emirofessor S.T. Hettige rowing band of uniho are against laws in the campuses. the Department of niversity of Colombo, tersity system must ving its own problems S only one. ave to address probdents. But unfortusity system does not to the problems," he indhis university coled in their opposition
liticians and the pubhe recent incidents - led for aban on hazrosecution of those tims have done no entors have nothing stic delight... It is very anity has ever sunk
perversion as Sri duates," said a local
newspaper editorial, after the latest ragging incident Outraged public opinion.
Ragging has been a traditional ritual practised by Senior undergraduates on "freshers" in the island's university campuses. However, before the 1970s, ragging was much less painful for freshmen on college campuses. Some of the things they had to do were sing songs, carry the books of seniors, buy them tea in the campus canteen and shave one side of their head.
Dr Lareef Zubair, a former university lecturer, says that students use five types of arguments to support ragging: ragging Socialises and Orients new students from deprived backgrounds; it helps freshmen find mentors; it brings the arrogance and influence down to size so that others can get along with them; it builds student unity; and even abusive ragging - as long as it does not lead to injuries - is good as it toughens the freshmen.
Dr. Diyanath Samarasinghe, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Colombo, says most victims of ragging are "innocent" village girls, though ragging is intended at cutting to size of "swollen-headed and posh Colombo freshmen"
Samarasinghe says that the views on ragging change from time to time, and trying to prevent ragging through laws could be problematic. He suggested that there should be an open discussion with students to prevent the practice of ragging.
POINT, A LEGAL REVIEW
r Policy Alternatives (CPA), an independent public policy instiot Point, a journal which reviews important judgementsof courts velopments. The Legal Review is part of CPA's Democracy Monicted with assistance from the Asia Foundation which seeks to c institutions with a view to facilitating participatory democracy and accountability in public affairs. Two issues of Moot Point in 1998. issue of Moot Point contains articles on the Vijaya Kumaratunga ort, the Jeyaraj Fernandopulle Case, the Shirani Bandaranayake e and the Dissolution of Provincial Councils Case. It also inon Constitutional Interpretation, Public Interest Litigation, Sri to ratify the Optional Protocol on Civil and Political Rights and ial High Court. Contributors include Sanaka Samarasinha, Kishali a, Menique Amerasinghe, Savithri Walatara, Sashi Mendis, Anne pulle, N. Selvakkumaran and Rohan Edrisinha. Legal Review can be obtained from the Centre for Policy Alterel free to contact us for further details at:
auttU.
eCtOr licy Alternatives Road, Colombo 7
Tel: 565304, 565306, 074-714461 Fax: 074-714460 E-mail: cpaQSri lanka.net

Page 12
12 TAMIL TIMES
“Kama Sutra” Arouses Repressed Se
Three Australian Women walked into a cinema in the Sri Lankan capital last month to watch “Kama Sutra” a film based on the fourth century Indian sex manual. Minutes later they were running out of the hall, forced to leave by jeering men in the audience, some of whom had unzipped and were making vulgar gestures.
The uproar led cinema managers to hold three "women's only" shows of Kama Sutra, the first time they took such a stand-sparking a controversy about segregation as a cure to the widespreadmalaise of sexual harassment.
"Why segregation?" asked journalist and film writer, Karuna Perera. “Do men and Women live in tWO different worlds?” In her opinion, segregation is a "temporary"solution and Should not be allowed.
But most feminists are seeing the "women's only" shows as inevitable in a paternalistic society like Sri
Lanka. It is a matt right to be in the ci Last year, cinem towns and cities sh versial "Bandit O male audiences. Th a low-caste woma upper caste men, t her hands. It has S Scenes and the ma tion was very simil lombo. In Mumbai the capital of Utta there were mile-lon Who Wanted to se safety of the specia According to Sl Eva Ranaweera c Women" group, the audience reaction sexually-explicit sce larger "societal C South Asian culture
Though female ity was written abou
"Fly with us once. fly with us always"
COLOMBO SPECIAL
360
CARLTON
WEW ALLOUR WALU
AHAPPYIN
MADRAS
41
UNBEATABLE FARES AVAILABLE TO AL
QUOTATIONS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST FOR
CALL: HARRY VAIHEESAN (VAC
O 1714.
E-mail-info Gcal (EMERGENCY LINE Oe31 54
SUITE 212 PREMIER HOUSE, 77 OX
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

15 JANUARY 1998
(uality
r of a Women's ema, they say. as in many Indian wed the Controueen" to only fee film in Hindi on, who, raped by akes the law into ome very violent e audience reacar to that in Coand in Lucknow, Pradesh state, glines of women e the film in the
shows. i Lankan activist f the "Voice of aggressive male to even mildly -nes is part of the lilemma" facing 2S. and male sexualit in ancient texts,
even celebrated on panels in temples, it is talked about behind closed doors today. As a result, women suffer all kinds of repression and abuse - inCest, wife battering and rape - in the Confines of their home.
in conservative Sri Lanka, men think a woman who ventures alone to the cinema is promiscuous, says Ranaweera.
Till a few years ago, going to the cinema was a family outing, women did not go unaccompanied. With the advent of television and video films, the audiences in movie halls became mostly male, and the films themSelves deteriorated in Standard to soft-porn.
Professor S.T. Hettige, head of the sociology department at the University of Colombo, says that cinemas, in a bid to survive, began offering erotica to attract viewers, who are mainly from urban shanties and slums, too poor to afford TV sets.
The strategy clicked, and business boomed again for cinemas. "To the young, it was also an avenue to get away from the problems of daily life." Hettige thinks.
"Sexual, seduction, steamy love Scenes", promises a film running in
LEISURE
travel Ager
74568
|SK WE ARE BONDED BLE CLIENTS GEGAAGGGR EWYEAR OF ALL OUR WALUABLE CLIENTS
TORONTO SPECIA
229
OTHERWORLDWIDE DESTINATIONS OTEL BOOKINGS ANDTRAVELINSURANCE
GI) or BINIE RAMACHANDRAN
B4 2233
tonleisure.com 2OO, FAX: O 171-287 1577)
FORD STREET, LONDON W1R 1PRB

Page 13
15 JANUARY 1998
The Case. for Asymmetric
IleW0lution
by Neville Jayaweera
he Minister for Constitutional AfT fairs, Prof. G. L. Peiris, is reported to have said that he is now willing to consider a proposal for asymmetrical devolution. That is good news indeed, glad tidings of great joy and very appropriate for the season too! A great pity though that he waited for almost two years before consenting even to consider the merits of this concept.
Basically, the case for asymmetry is that none of the arguments supporting devolution to the predominantly Tamil provinces are valid for any of the other seven provinces.
The case for devolving power to the predominantly Tamil provinces rests on some fairly self-evident arguments. I shall recount them here So that the reader may see straight away that none of them apply to the rest of the country.
The argument
involvement in primarily to pla being afforded have had its us cord of '66 whe nable than now
lm
They are:
1. The felt neec ingly among the T ern themselves an with increasing coI forty years.
2. The motiva their willingness t tions and even to for realising their stubbornly to defet the might of the In
(continued from page 12)
Colombo this week, that has a kissing couple on the poster. Another billboard advertises the "sexual appetite of One Woman who takes on three men in one night"
"Being sexually inactive, they (males) use the cinema as a way of release." Hettige asserts, arguing that the raising of the age of marriage to 28 years for men and 26 years for women has also added to pent-up frustrations.
Veena Jayakody, 3 Ո award-winning Sri Lankan actress, however, has no sympathy with "these perverts", as she calls jeering male audiences. In her opinion, Kama Sutra is an educational film, and women must be able to watch it freely.
"It is shocking that someone's father, brother or husband should behave in a Crude and obscene manner not only at this movie, but also at other'adults' only movies," she adds. "It just goes to show that they are waiting for a chance to reveal their perversions.”
Journalist and film writer Perera
says the answer rity, “so that men sit side-by-side a
Kama Sutra, 10 best movies a film festival, is n Mira Nair. The fill round the World Where the CenS( major cuts in the rector, Nair, dire do.
The film, Pe have focused eq male sexuality, W the rowdy male Perera is a lone segregated mo Veteran film Iranganie Serasi only" shows are Asian WOmen WC to sit with their r movie like Kam need arises, seg essary," she as owners are hap! Kama Sutra W. there was no tr "women only" a

TAMIL TIMES 13
armies is proof of the intensity of conviction that motivates them.
3. The need for living space. Continuously humiliated and traumatized through repeated exposure to violence perpetrated on them by rampaging mobs in the South, and even today constantly exposed to the ordeal of suspicion, search and arbitrary arrest, the Tamils require as a necessary condition of their rehabilitation, some space of
hat devolution is also intended to secure greater people's the South comes across as a promotional line, calculated cate Sinhala opinion into believing that the Tamils are not ome special privileges. Such a disingenuous masking may as during the times of the BC Pact of '59 and the DC Acin the consciousness of the Sinhalayo was much less ameto accepting the hard realities of the ethnic problem,
shared overwhelmamil people to govarticulated by them viction over the past
tion factor, that is, o suffer great privalay down their lives goal. Their ability ld their cause against dian and Sri Lankan
is to beef-up secu
and Women Could hd view the movie." named one of the t the 1996 Toronto lade by India-born h has been shown , but not in India rs are demanding film, which the di:tor has refused to
"era says, should ally on male and feich mighthave kept Ludience quiet. But Voice in opposing eS.
and TV actress, ghe, says"women's very good idea, as ild be embarrassed enfolk and watch a Sutra. "When the gation may be necerts. The Cinema ": all three shows of 'e house full, and ble at all from the dience.(IPS)
their own, where they may dwell secure and pursue life's goals in dignity and without fear. Devolution is the minimum condition for fulfilling that need. 4. The moral argument. A people who display almost all the defining characteristics of nationhood, such as, a separate ethnic identity, a separate language, a distinctive belief system, an intense consciousness of being a unique people and the continuous occupancy of a particular territorial space for over a thousand years, have an unarguable moral right to govern themselves, if they so desire.
5. The argument from history. History teaches us that wherever an ethnic minority has for whatsoever reason, developed a strong desire to set themselves up as a separate polity, they have either broken away and set themselves up as an independent state or have at least secured a large measure of self governance within the larger national corpus. The Tamils of Sri Lanka are not an exception to this rule.
6. The argument from expediency and self- interest. Simply put, the attempt to hold down the Tamil people through military power will only accelerate the impoverishment of the Sinhalayo. It is therefore in the interest of their own survival, for the Sinhalayo speedily to end the self-haemorrhaging that has been going on for years.
The singular merit of the governments proposals, that is in so far as they pertain to the Tamil people, is their sincerity and commitment. That notwithstanding, I believe that the proposals have come twenty five years too late - a classic case of bolting the stable doors

Page 14
14 TAM TIMES
not only after the horses have fled but after the stable itself has collapsed
Non-issue
Be that as it may, where the government's proposals concern the rest of the country, they seem to be addressing a non-issue. If we look again at the arguments that justify devolution to the North and the East we see straight-away that none of them are issued in the other seven provinces. This means that we have to work out a separate set of arguments to justify devolution to the South. We can think of at least a dozen issues which for decades have be-devilled the South which should have a much higher claim on the government's attention and which, devolution far from solving, is only likely to aggravate. The assumption that the insertion of another layer of politicians and bureaucrats into the system will help to solve these problem misses the point that most of them remain unsolved not for lack of more politicians but for lack of resources - financial, technological and human and not least, because of the demoralization wrought through political interference. As far as I am aware, except for the somewhat nebulous claim that devolution to these provinces will provide opportunities for greater peoples' involvement and promote participatory democracy, there has been no rigorously worked out rationale' for country wide devolution.
It is perhaps relevant to recall, that had not the Tamil people put pressure on successive governments, year after year, demanding devolution there would never have been any proposals for devolution, either to the North or to the South. The catalyst for devolution has never been the need to secure peoples involvementorto widenthe democratic base of the country. Rather, the catalyst has always been the ethnic issue, the need somehow to solve the problem of the Tamil people.
The argument that devolution is also intended to secure greater people's involvement in the South comes across as a promotional line, calculated primarily to placate Sinhala opinion into believing that the Tamils are not being afforded some special privileges. Such a disingenuous masking may have had it's uses during the times of the BC Pact of '59 and the DC Accord of '66 when the consciousness of the Sinhalayo was much less amenable than now to accepting the hard realities of the ethnic
problem.
I venture to thi years on, the Sin mature understan the conflict and a a decision on the tion to the Tamil p regardless of whet to the South is a crumb.
I must reiterati been a demand f predominantly Sin from the grass roo mainstream poli South, except perh posal for a Feder ted by some Kandy nineteen thirties. T for more peoples' fore, in the absenc fiable and spontal out of the people, devolution to the S from being an enl a popular deman South then become
However, let u claim that devolut result in greater p and produce more look at this claim as well as on the b
6IlC6.
Theory
Theoretically out devolving po nation cannot eff involvement in th On the other han constitutional prc litical structures generate peoples' constitutional pro neW Structures re objective activity ples” involveme subjective activit filment more thal sions or a new se Worldwide e that peoples' in roots democracy tion of a mature p rather than of leg litical structures, the people have litical conscious able effectively t StructureS.
The level of in mind is more

15 JANUARY 1998
k that thirty to forty alayo have a more ng of the nature of capable of making question of devoluople, for or against, er or not devolution so thrown in as a
that there has never r devolution to the hala provinces either s, or from any of the ical parties in the aps the spurious proted Ceylon submitanchiefs in the early hat was hardly a call , nvolvement. Theree of a clearly identiteous demand rising he principal case for outh disappears. Far ghtened response to i, devolution to the is a costly imposition. s look seriously at the ion to the South will eoples' involvement ; democracy. We can at a theoretical level asis of recent experi
It is correct that withwer to the people a ectively secure their democratic process. d it is also true that visions and new polo not by themselves involvement. Making visions and setting up resent an external or whereas securing peoit is an internal and requiring for its fullconstitutional proviof structures. perience has shown olvement and grass are primarily a funcblitical consciousness al provisions and poThat is to say, unless ttained a mature poess they will not be benefit from the new
:onsciousness I have lan the peoples' will
ingness, once in every five or six years to cast their vote for the candidate of their choice. I have in mind a mature understanding among the people of the issues that concern their well-being and their willingness to embrace the duties and responsibilities that go with their membership in society as much as their readiness to claim its’ rights and privileges.
Sadly what has passed for democracy in Sri Lanka, both at the centre as well as at the periphery, has been the imposition of layer upon layer of politicians upon the shoulders of the people who having cast their votes once in five or six years are either reduced to the status of spectators or keep pestering their elected representatives for individual preferment and special privileges. Consequently far from being actively involved in making mature decisionsthat concerntheir well-being people have been used primarily as stepping stones by upwardly mobile politicians. That is hardly what peoples' involvement means.
People's involvement is best secured neither through constitutional provisions nor via representative structures but through consciousness raising, an activity which requires patient and dedicated work by groups of highly motivated individuals, who are prepared to live among the people for long periods of time, without expecting rewards, either in the form of election to office or in the form of monetary gain.
If the government is seriously bent on promoting peoples' involvement, without which, I agree, there can be no effective democracy, it has fully to reconceptualise its devolution strategy and instead of placing another layer of politicians and bureaucrats on the peoples' shoulders, must go right down to the grass roots and start working from there. However that is not a task for politicians. Rather, it is the province of dedicated NGOs.
Recent experience
Let us use our recent experience from which to look at the claim that devolution is good and desirable for the South, where we have had a substantial dose of it for a whole decade. That is a long enough period of time, a veritable laboratory in fact, from which we may draw data and guidance on the efficacy of devolved governance in the South.
In relation to this experience we can

Page 15
15 JANUARY 1998
ask two sets of questions. One set of questions should address issues the answers to which are quantifiable. They pertainessentially to cost benefits. Are the returns in respect of selected developmental tasks, such as infrastructure development and agricultural output, commensurate with the sharp rise in admin costs? What lessons can we glean from the indicators in the education and health Sectors as well as the small industries sector? Has there been a substantial rise in employment as a result of initiatives taken by the local Provincial Council? All these questions can be answered fairly accurately if the government is truly concerned about making decisions on the basis of hard evidence rather than on the basis of conjecture.
The second set of questions focuses on an area that is even more crucial, namely, testing the peoples' own perceptions of how their Provincial Councils have performed, during the past ten years. I felt that before drafting the devolution proposals for the predominantly Sinhala areas the government should have taken some time asking questions from the people themselves, because after all isn't it for securing "peoples' involvement' that the whole devolution exercise is being undertaken! We would like to know from the people — does provincial governance show more cohesion and greater effectiveness after the 13th Amendment devolution than before? Do the people feel that they have had a greater say in the making of decisions that concern their well-being? Do they feel that the administration has responded to their needs with more understanding? Above all what do the people think about the incidence of corruption and the abuse of office and privilege?
Before embarking on a radical overhaul of the structures of provincial governance, any government that has the long-term interests of the country at heart, should seek answers to these questions in a systematic way and be guided by them, rather than be led by tactical or political considerations only. By “systematic” I do not mean a political instrument such as a referendum which is invariably distorted by propaganda which precedes it, but a series of sample studies carried out by some independent research organizations. One would have thought that Prof. G. L. Peiris, more than anyone else in the government, might have seen the need
for such a proces proposals for ful reforms.
Way out
The case for this - that in the a dent and overwhe lution in the Soutl lution to the Nor until such time a provide us with d volved governan dominantly Sinha the past ten years fied success, it i. devolution to the say for another te the interim period to stagger devolu provinces and in Another interim a resort to more de decentralisation r out devolution.
Some have al ruption, misman ciency are alrea should not adduce tion as a ground ther devolution. I ily. If these evil spread, as indeed devising strategie possibly eradicati ernment's manife case upon their el provide opportun mask of devoluti irremediable and our culture for all folk wisdom adm ladders to jumpin
Prognosis
Lastly, in Sup devolution to the on hold or stagge teen year period, an argument that chauvinistic. Soo of the North anc from the Sri Lank right separation tial measure of d tamount to separ ade of that event, Sinhala South lik and the East will most vibrant sec litically as wel economy. When be in the interest

TAMIL TIMES 15
before formulating damental structural
symmetry is simply bsence of a self-evilming case for devoas there is for devoh and the East, and S systematic studies ata showing that dece in the seven prela provinces during has been an unqualibest to put further e provinces on hold, nor fifteen years. In , one way out may be tion both in terms of terms of functions. trangement may be to legation and greater ather than go for all
gued that since coragement and ineffidy widespread we their likely proliferafor withholding furdisagree most hearts are already widethey are, instead of es for containing and ng them, as the govsto said would be the ection to office, why ities now, under the on, for making them entrenching them in time. As the Sinhala onishes, "why provide g monkeys'?
port of my view that South should be put :red over a ten to fifwould like to adduce will seem downright ner or later, the Tamils the East will wrest an state either an outor at least a substanevolution almost tanation. Within a decor sooner, whether the es it or not, the North emerge as one of the ors of the island, poas in terms of the hathappensit will not of the Sinhala South
to have to confront the newly invigorated and robust Tamil polity as a congeries of fragmented, fractions and debilitated Regions. If the Sinhala polity is to match the newly emerging Tamil polity, it will have to be a fully integrated and dynamic whole, I believe that further devolution in the South will seriously diminish that prospect.
Another spectre is haunting the heartland of Sri Lanka but it is not the spectre of Prabakaran. It is the spectre of the plantation Tamils. Today the attitude of the Sinhala leaders towards the plantation Tamils is no different from what it was towards the problem of the Sri Lankan Tamils in the 60s and 70s - lackadaisical, somnolent and ostrich like, hoping that somehow the problem will go away if ignored sufficiently long. The problem of the Tamils of the North and the East did not go away then and much less will the problem of the plantation Tamils go away now. To the contrary, I make bold to say that unless radical measures are taken now to integrate the plantation Tamils into the Sri Lankan polity in an organic way, the problem will erupt with a ferocity that will make our escapades with Messrs. Wijeweera and Prabakaran look like a teddy bear's picnic. I feel that further devolution in the South will hasten this outcome. If events work out the way I fear they will, it will be curtains for Sri Lanka, our grand denouement
I recall that when I was the Govt. Agent of the Jaffna District I addressed memorandum after memorandum to the governments of the day in Colombo pleading for an early reconciliation with the Tamil people while it was yet possible. That was in the mid 60s.' I might as well have addressed my pleas to mountain of basalt, for all the response I was able to evoke in Colombo. We are still living through the aftermath I believe there is a lesson here for those who have ears to hear
The matters in issue are far too critical to allow of partisan politics. We have to disregard the demands of tactical politics and take the larger view. It seems to me that nothing is really lost by following a step by step approach in respect of further devolution to the seven predominantly Sinhala provinces. To use a homely metaphor, it is rather like adding salt to the curry. Once you put it you cannot recall it, even if it is in excess. It is therefore best to go sip by sip O

Page 16
16 TAM TIMES
Can We Make
in Sri Lanka
Dr. N. Shanmugaratnam
"This is my karma. Otherwise how do you explain my misery of being displaced three times? I am so sick and tired of running for safety, I do not care whether Rama rules or Ravana rules but I want peace and I want the Sinhala and Tamil armies out of my life", a displaced Tamil farmer in Mannar (September 1997)
“They say there are only a few Tigers left yet they seem to suspect every Tamil to be a Tiger", a religious dignitary in the East (December 1997)
"This war is not going to end. I am staying on because I am assigned to this checkpoint. The moment I am ordered to go to the front I will leave and go to my village in Kandy and cultivate the little paddy land we have." - a young, affable soldier in Vavuniya (January 1997), who reminded me of my own 24 year old son and to whom I said putha (son), do what you think is right'.
'General Ratwatte and Major Munasinghe have to get their arithmetic right. If one adds up their figures of Tigers dead and wounded and matches the total against their other claim that there were only five thousand Tigers, even Prabakaran and his bodyguards should not be existing today and the war should have been over. Nobody here believes the official figures and I do not think people in the South believe them either. The outside world doesn't seem to care as to what is going on here. Then, for whom are these numbers meant? You know this simply shows that they (the government) don't care what the public thinks', a retired public servant in Vavuniya (September 1997)
Is it so bad? Well, one's answer would vary according to one's viewpoint and personal experiences. I do not think truth is dead but we have considerable difficulty getting the information to form a total picture of the war-torn North-East. The government has banned any independent on-the-spot reporting on the ongoing 'war for peace'
and it regularly pro which normally sa troops are either ac dating "liberated' a tistics about casua The LTTE issues it as to be expected, ture. These repo claims, including government. Thos the validity of the c by the two parties yond to know the North-East would mation from other ble visit the war-tc The governm even 10 percent of fought. Anyone \ hand knowledge o North-East and rel the fighting capac its logistical backs dismissing this as propaganda. The l sition party, has col government's clai pro-LTTE Tamil tional and Hot S London and the T internet are count ports and statistics challenge the gov ternational journal East and freely re The government challenge. If the p a war for peace a ernment, it is its name of the peac has been forced to permit uncensore ent sources. Its fa
its claim suspect
serious doubt ol freedom of the pr of civilians.
As one who
several parts oft Jaffna on more th sions since midconvinced that th

15 JANUARY 1998
eace o
uces its own reports that the Sri Lankan vancing or consolieas and provide stalties on both sides. daily reports which, give a different picrts contradict the he statistics, of the who want to verify onflicting stories told at war and go beileeper reality in the have to seek inforsources and if possiIrn region. 2nt claims that not the war is left to be who has some first f the situation in the iable information on ity of the LTTE and topping cannot help foolhardy and cheap JNP, the main opposistently rejected the m too. And now the Guardian Internapring published in umil Net News in the ering the official rewith their own. They ernment to allow inists to visit the Northport on the situation. las yet to accept this resent war is actually claimed by the govmoral duty - in the for which it says it continue the war - to i reporting by differilure to do so makes and, moreover, casts its commitment to ss and to the Security
as been able to visit le North-East except in five different occa995, I am reasonably ordinary Tamil peo
ple do not see this war as a war for peace. Tamils do know that it was the LTTE that broke the ceasefire and opened the way for war again, but as to how the war started is no longer a big issue for them. The various operations launched by the government with the aim of marginalising the LTTE have only escalated the war, increased civilian suffering and alienated the Tamil people from the government. The LTTE has suffered major setbacks but it has not been marginalised at all. On the other hand, the losses suffered by the people and the daily hardships they have to endure have shattered their hopes for peace. I also saw for myself the appalling conditions under which people were living in the so called transit camps in Vavuniya. The people in these camps are treated like suspects of a crime. The truth about their situation and the procedure to deal with it have been clearly stated in the report of the US Committee on Refugees (March 1997, page 34):
"The Sri Lankan government induced those now detained in welfare centres to cross into Vavuniya by promising them assistance and not telling them that they would not be allowed to settle in Vavuniya town or travel to Colombo. It was and remains unfair and unnecessary for the government to detain them. It should complete security screening of all the detainees and allow all those who are cleared to move out of the centres to destinations of their choice. They are displaced Sri Lankan citizens, not criminals. The government should treat them accordingly. (my italics)
These detainees felt cheated by the government because they had trusted its words and moved into Vavuniya with the idea of either settling in there or going to Colombo. Perhaps they believed that, since it appeared keen on winning the hearts and minds of the Tamils, the government would assist them to relocate to places of their choice. This was not to be and their experience turned out to be yet another tale of suffering and indignity. "Unfair and unnecessary' would be an appropriate description of many procedures adopted by the government and the treatment of civilians by its military apparatus in the name of security clearance. There are also numerous stories about corruption at all levels of the state's armed forces and police.
When Tamils overwhelmingly

Page 17
15 JANUARY 1998
voted for Chandrika Kumaratunge in 1994 and openly celebrated her victory and affectionately called her their President to the chagrin of the LTTE, they were sending an important message: "we are willing to be a part of a united country if we can live in peace and with dignity'. To these people, the present war is different from the wars they had experienced in the past only in the sense. that it is more intense, more brutal and more widespread. The displacements caused by the various operations and the consequent deprivation, destitution and traumatisation of people are unprecedented. In the words of a displaced person, "true we don't have to pay taxes to the boys now but we have also lost our livelihood and become dependent on relief'. According to a recent (December 1997) report by a group of Christian relief workers, 300,000 out of the 485,000 people in the Wanni are displaced. I was told by officials in Mannar that more than 60 percent of the residents of Mannar district were displaced. Many displaced families in Mannar do not receive even the basic dry ration from the government which in its concern to prevent food supplies reaching the Tigers seems to have overlooked the needs of these victims of the war. Infant and maternity mortality rates have gone up in the uncleared areas. Malaria and waterborne diseases are taking their toll on the old and the young. The numbers of female-headed households and orphans have increased. I have spoken to several traumatised young poor war widows (18-25 years of age) who are mothers of small children and who do not know how to rebuild their lives. The population of nonschool-going children is on the increase too. In the Wanni region, some 40,000 children of school-going age are not attending school. There is an acute shortage of trained teachers and health workers in the North-East outside the Jaffna district. Currently not even a sixth of the 590 SLES (Sri Lanka Education Service) officers assigned to the NorthEast are actually at their posts. The landscape of many parts of the Wanni has been transformed into bunkers, (defence) bunds and security areas. In fact, some of the bunkers have been erected on bunds of irrigation tanks and large quantities of coconut, palmyrah and other trees have been felled to construct bunkers all over the Wanni.
Is it hard to believe that people living in such conditions have difficulty
imagining that the price to be paid f present war is sup day? On the other ple who are dying
anybody else. Of c Lanka is yearning the young Kandyal spoke to in Vavuni like him in the Sri
am reasonably cer Tamil boys and gi
the armed struggle
question, however ing to find peace?
War for Peace' S and the Current
One cannot hel moment of 1994 when the forces of ation were at a pe all communities w lieve in the possibi war and a lasting tional crisis. The peace platform was uniting the countr ally divided it and nite it was to makt of a political soluti rations of the Tam Ms Chandrika Kum ing victory was a people's will to fi tlement that would dark years of brutalisation behi not to be. That m ished in April 199 new project of 'wa unfolding with an Now the governm for peace” to liber the LTTE and uni the LTTE, which u the ceasefire in A war to liberate th Sinhala rule by cre Was 1994 an aberr mal state of affair It would seem finds itself in a p impasse. The LTT the government's The UNP, the m has rejected it toc its leader has co asymmetrical dev to be more appe package to the Ta However, the UN ing to cooperate

TAMIL TIMES 17
sufferings are the r a peace that the osed to bring some and, it is these peoor peace more than Jurse, the whole of or peace including Sinhalese soldier I (a and many others lankan army and, I ain, most of those ls who have joined as a last resort. The is how are we go
trategy mpasse
harking back to the - that conjuncture peace and reconciliak, when people of ere inspired to belity of an end to the solution to the namain plank of the that in the name of y the war had actuthe only way to reupeace on the basis on that met the aspiil speaking people. haratunge's resoundaffirmation of the nd a negotiated setput the war and the violations and hd us. But this was pment of hope van5 and since then the r for peace' has been 2ver increasing fury. ent is making a “war ate the Tamils from te the country! And nilaterally called off )ril 1995, is making Tamil nation from Lting a separate state ution? Is war the norin the North-East? that the government olitical and military E has firmly rejected devolution package. in opposition party, and, more recently, he out in favour of lution which is likely ling than the PA's mil speaking people. does not seem willwith the government
to workout a solution based on asymmetric devolution. It would appear that the intention behind the radical pronouncement of the UNP leader is not to co-operate with but to oppose the PA. I will only be delighted to be proved wrong. The Sinhala extremist fringe has been making the most vociferous opposition to the package thanks to the encouragement it enjoys from the nongovernment mainstream press. To the credit of the PA, it must be said that its popular campaign for the package has made a significant impact among the Sinhalese in the South. Devolution is no more a totally alien and misunderstood matter in the South although government campaigners have avoided associating it in a principled manner with federalism or Tamil national self-determination. That the Sinhalese people by and large favour a political solution is not surprising since they had voted for it already in 1994 and I dare say that they would have given their assent to the original devolution proposals of August 1996 which was more secular and which offered greater regional autonomy. The subsequent whittling down of these proposals to produce the present package was not a response to any mass opposition in the South. It was meant to appease certain groups within and outside the SLFP including the communalist sections of Buddhist clergy.
The present package has not raised any visible widespread enthusiasm among the Tamil people, particularly in the North-East for which it is meant to grant some measure of autonomy on a similar basis as that of the other regions (which are not ethnically defined). The reasons for this are not hard to find. First of all, the Tamil people do not believe that a devolution package that is rejected by the LTTE can ever be implemented in the North-East. Another important factor which operates deeply at a psychological level is their memory that past 'Sinhalese governments' have repeatedly failed to honour pacts and promises concerning their basic rights. But the most important reason is the daily reality of life in the war-torn North-East. The war as experienced by the ordinary masses negates any hope for peace the proposed constitutional reforms may contain. That several hundreds of Tamil youths disappeared in Jaffna during the first year after operation riviresa is in itself a sad and telling indictment on the PA. The Amnesty

Page 18
18 TAMIL TIMES
International Report (November 1997) has documented the horrifying cases of torture and murder of Tamil youths by the Sri Lankan security forces. About 600 persons had disappeared in a period of six months in 1996 after the so called liberation of Jaffna. With such a shameful record of violations in such a short time, the government cannot expect to win the confidence of the Tamil people. I tend to think that these disappearances would not have been that high had the government allowed media people freer access to Jaffna and other parts of the North-East to report on the war situation. I wonder if the goverment is prepared to concede its folly even at this late stage.
The 'war for peace' is the government's answer to what it sees as the intransigence of the LTTE. Its aim is to weaken and if possible annihilate the LTTE and thereby clear the ground for the enforcement of the devolution package. In other words, an irreversible military victory over the LTTE is a necessary condition for the government to enforce its package. However, the ground realities force us to question the wisdom of the choice made by the government. Informed analysts who are critical of General Ratwatte's military approach and operations say that the government cannot win the present war against the LTTE. Even government sources say that an armed force of 300, 000 fighters would be needed to crush the Tigers as a military force. This means that the Sri Lankan military will have to triple its present size. But that is just a quantitative projection. In qualitative terms the growth has to be more than that if any armed force were to defeat the Tigers and force them to lay down arms - a condition on which General Ratwatte insists for any talks between his government and the LTTE. At the current rates of recruitment, desertion and casualties, it does not seem realistic that the government will be able to triple its military capacity in the foreseeable future. One does not have to be a military expert to see this point and I am making it not in favour of a larger military strategy but to illustrate the reductio ad absurdum of the government's approach.
When we move beyond the narrow militarist premises of the "war for peace' project and consider its social and political costs, the prospects turn gloomier. The full cost of the war cannot be quantified in monetary terms but
common sense is er that an increasing d implies increasing c of growth and devel ties. The real cost i defence budget and that death, huma trauma and social di be fully translated i Any military strateg ing a movement lik have a definite time. has proven capacity and to extend it to North-East and bey war means not only of the political solut may want to imple rising human and ec cerous growth of the has already assume portions, and Socia also means the pro gitimacy for the g North-East. Prolong speaking areas by army, which virtua egates to the back. speaking) civil adm help any governme. and minds of the pub military is not multi of a few token Tamil not make it multiet lice force is predo speaking and, acco port, a recent attemp to recruit 500 Tam women in Jaffna w there was only one been excluded fo youths are not willi tary or police at this they are only too ay it entails.
Ironically, the ' helped the LTTE to macy at the expens political parties. A military's capture o celebrated with grea General Ratwatte, til reverted to guerilla active ideological c past two years, thre ing, dramatic milit Tigers have conside image as a fightin, also been publicisi rejecting the gover package (which w to them). The Voice ing the Tamil pec

15 JANUARY 1998
ough to figure out fence expenditure estruction and loss opment opportunis a multiple of the we must not forget h incapacitation, slocation can never nto money values. ly aimed at defeate the LTTE cannot frame as the LTTE to protract the war 'arious parts of the 'ond. A protracted he agonising death on the government ment but also ever onomic losses, cangun culture, which d horrendous prol disintegration. It gressive loss of leovernment in the ed control of Tamil a Sinhala speaking lly replaces or relground the (Tamil ministration, cannot nt to win the hearts lic. The Sri Lankan ethnic; the presence is and Muslims canhnic. Even the poominantly Sinhala rding to a press retby the government il speaking policeas a total failure as applicant. Having r decades, Tamil ng to join the milipoint in time since ware of the hazards
war for peace' has enhance its legitiof the other Tamil fter the Sri Lankan f Jaffna, which was t medieval pomp by he humiliated LTTE warfare and more ampaigning. In the ugh a series of darary operations, the rably regained their g force. They have ng their reasons for nment's devolution is not formally sent of Tigers keep tellple that the LTTE
would take Jaffna back at any cost. LTTE infiltration of Jaffna is growing exponentially and along with it the harassment of civilians by the state's armed forces. People living in the North-East including Jaffna know that the LTTE is very much there whether they like it or not and they have to adapt to the precarious conditions of life under two armies fighting each other with scant concern for civilian lives. They know that the war is not more than 90 per cent finished by any means but it has become more widespread with the dangerous prospect of escalating further and causing them more hardship. In these circumstances, the Tamil people are not naive to believe that Tamil parties which live at the sufferance of the government in Colombo can bring peace, however much they may disapprove of the LTTE's sectarian fratricidal militarism which was responsible for the plight of these parties.
An ethnicised war deepens communalisation and promotes the erosion of trust between the different communities. This is why the peace movement of 1994 said that the war had actually divided the country and an end to it was a precondition for reunification. Today the war has further deepened the insecurity and ethnic consciousness of the people. The hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the North-East cannot forget that their humiliation, deprivation and destitution have everything to do with their ethnicity. Their freedom to move around has been heavily curtailed. At security checkpoints, one is often asked: are you Sinhalese or Tamil? I have faced this question numerous times during my travels from Colombo to the North-East and back and in the North-East. It makes no sense to call yourself a Sri Lankan at a security checkpoint. Such a category does not exist in Sri Lanka's security lexicon at present. There are only Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese and foreigners. "National identity card' is a misnomer because it really serves as an ethnic identity card. The checkpoints are needed because of the war and ethnic identities are checked for security reasons: almost all Tigers are Tamils and therefore all Tamils have to be checked and questioned more thoroughly. This simple circular logic of the procedure generates complex psychological consequences which serve to further deepen the ethnic divide. While security procedures directly serve the

Page 19
15 JANUARY 1998
reinforcement of one's ethnic consciousness in a divisive way, the slogan "one country one people' coined by the government denies our diversity by collapsing all ethnic identities into an amorphous category of 'one people' which has an assimilationistring. Both the war and the official slogan do not allow us to seek unity in diversity and invent a larger common identity.
The government has not taken steps to encourage the creation of multiethnic symbols. Instead, it expects all non-Sinhala Lankans to accept the Lion flag as the national flag. Is it not a contradiction to grant constitutional privilege to Buddhism (the essence of which is universality of the human being, non-violence, compassion and peace) and at the same time have a lion armed with a sword (an aggressive, violent ethnomythical symbol) as the centrepiece of the national flag? Perhaps, Sinhala Buddhist nationalists do not see any such contradiction. But what about the sensitivities of other Lankans? Like the other advocates of a secular state for Sri Lanka, I am opposed to any religion being given a higher status than others in the constitution and I am for a flag which all Lankans can proudly and happily wave without being coerced.
Against the violations and sufferings imposed by the war, what does the government have to show by way of actual positive actions to make the Tamil speaking people feel that the government is really serious about their rights and security as citizens? Not much, disappointingly little compared to the promises given and the expectations raised, I am afraid. Take for instance the language rights of the Tamil speaking people. In the past three years, there has been some talk by the government about implementing Tamil as an official language. There were reports that the President had issued a directive to the bureaucracy to take immediate steps towards that end. It appears that the treasury had said that it did not have the funds to recruit a sufficient number of personnel proficient in Tamil to the various departments to meet the needs of Tamil speaking citizens. If this is true, Tamil speaking Lankans are fully justified in feeling that the government is not sensitive enough to one of their basic rights while it is able to find billions of rupees to implement its military strategy. The PA government had plenty of time and opportunities to win the confidence of the Tamil speak
ing people in the major multiethni and the upcounti have done was to carry out their tr institutions in the this hasyet to hap the government in opportunities it h the Tamil speakin cared about their in our country ist override everythi to the rights of the ple. This again challenge of finc way to end the w
Thinking About One day in Di heart to heart talk ermen on the Ka caloa. It did not tal to take me into co One of them was already married a He told me that he Security reasons army are so com young unmarried risk of being tak counterparts. Ear common nowada well, the young them if they tho come to an end st said that they dic long as the gove did not enter into About one year same question ! Kattankudy with hours discussing tions after they h mosques in whic at prayer were m by suspected LT swer was the sa their legitimate lim-Tamil relati question with so lim friends whe Batticaloa in De swer was the sa be ended witho the LTTE talkin is unthinkable t in the North-Eas ring parties agr ing a compromi of all the non-L even the UNP.
The import

TAMIL TIMES 19
outh, particularly in
areas like Colombo
. The least it could fully enable them to nsactions with state r own language. But ben and by its failure issed one of the first ld to demonstrate to g people that it really ights. The sad reality at military priorities g else when it comes Tamil speaking peoakes us back to the ing the will and the
.
Peace cember 1996, I had a with three young fishlaru beach in Battice much time for them nfidence and open up. 21 years old and was nd a father of a child. got married early for . Round-ups by the mon in that area and men were at greater en than their married ly marriages are more lys for this reason as men told me. I asked ught this war would bon. All three of them not think it would as nment and the LTTE serious negotiations. earlier, I had put the o some Muslims of whom I spent several Tamill-Muslim relaad shown me the two h dozens of Muslims assacred in cold blood TE gunmen. Their anhe but they expressed concerns about Musns. Again I raised the ne oldTamil and Mus1 I happened to be in ember 1997. The anle, i.e. the war cannot t the government and to each other. Peace Tamils and Muslims without the two wareing to talk and find2. This is also the view TE Tamil parties and
mce of Tamil-Muslim
harmony to peace in the North-East cannot be overemphasised. More than 70, 000 Muslims were displaced overnight when they were evicted from their homes in Jaffna and Mannar by the LTTE in 1990. Most of them are still languishing in refugee camps in Puttalam. I am personally aware that several Muslims thrown out of Jaffna are living in other parts of the country with their friends and relatives. Some of them were begging in the streets of Colombo. All these Muslims have made it clear that they will not return to their homes without a guarantee for their security from the LTTE which, in my view, should not only provide and honour that guarantee but also show its repentance and pay compensation to all the evicted families. Jaffna cannot be Jaffna without its Muslim community which has contributed to the culture and economy of the peninsula far in excess of its size. Muslim communities in the East are weary of being dependent on the Sri Lankan army and "Home Guards' for protection. They desire a
permanent end to the prevailing Tamil- .
Muslim tensions in the East. Muslim farmers and land owners displaced from Paduvankarai in Batticaloa want to return to their lands and they too need a security guarantee from the LTTE.
The most important question is how can a sustainable peace process be initiated. I do not think it can be done without facilitation by a third party trusted by the government, LTTE and UNP. I am not the only Lankan who thinks so because I know many Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims who share this view. The chief reason for such a view is that there is need to build a bridge of trust between the two parties who accuse each other of duplicity. A widely held view in Sri Lanka and abroad is that the LTTE cannot be trusted as a peace making partner because it will not settle for anything less than a separate Tamil state and it would use an opportunity for talks as a respite to regroup its forces to continue the war. Indeed this is the dominant view within the PA government. LTTE's past behaviour lends justification to this view. The LTTE says that it would consider a federal alternative to secession but it also says that 'Sinhala governments' cannot be trusted as they have always dishonoured the pacts they signed with the Tamil leadership in the past and that the present government is even worse than the previous ones because it is determined to militarily de

Page 20
20 TAMIL TIMES
feat and politically marginalise the LTTE. Moreover, the Tigers have also been critical of the PA government's handling of the peace talks in 1995. They point at the government's failure to send a high powered delegation which included one or two senior ministers. The same observation has been made by several other sources including some who were involved in the peace talks.
Meaningful peace talks are not feasible in such a state of mutual distrust between the government and the LTTE and as long as the PA and the UNP do not agree to stop playing petty politics at the expense of the future of Lanka. The LTTE has to show convincing signs about its willingness to make peace and honour it and to change into a political organisation that can function according to the rules of a multiparty democracy in the post-conflict era. It ought to understand that failure to do so will serve no constructive purpose but only reinforce its sectarian image and further its international isolation to the detriment of the collective interests of the Tamil people. PA should be prepared to consider asymmetric devolution and power sharing at the centre to create a firm institutional foundation for a united Lanka. UNP should become politically more consistent and show its commitment to peace and asymmetric devolution by extending its active support to efforts towards that end.
All this may sound unattainable but the challenge is to make it all happen and it is worth making yet another try. We need to revive and strengthen the peace movement into a powerful mass campaign that can force the two warring parties accept external assistance to create the necessary initial conditions for trust building and a fair and flexible framework to begin negotiations. The peace movement should also get the UNP to support such a process. Several eminent statesmen and friendly countries have offered to help us make peace and find a lasting solution to the national question. Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Yassar Arafat and countries like Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Norway and Britain have expressed their willingness to assist. However, Sri Lankan government spokespersons have sought to spurn these offers on the ground that ours is an internal problem. They would do well to remember that this internal problem has turned into one of the
Siva Bhaskarad
he PA gover T్స re on 27 Octobe republican constit into force if it we thirds majority in fied by the people The question i posals would crea Sri Lankan natior nationalism and wither? The answ The Tamil nationa proposals because modated the "Thim are outlined below 1. That the S1 recognised as a di 2. That the N provinces of Sri La the historical and land of the Sri Lank 3. That the rig Tamils to Self-de knowledged.
In Sri Lankath the UNP See devo deal with the Tam false hope that it feeling. It is a way cal discontent in 1 inces without und Sri Lanka. In this November 1987 a amendment to the devolved powers cluding the merg inces as one regio still in place. How
bloodiest civil wal
and spilled over b our little island close their eyes to sheer scale of hun losses, the externa tarised internal pro ity of successive g viable solution th outsiders become
domestic affairs. W courage to admit
necessary to decis peace and a feasibl

15 JANUARY 1998
ed Constitutional Reform otMeet Tamil Aspirations
as MBA (UC), Grad. Dip. Economics (UC), CPA, ACMA.
ment tabled its conforms in Parliament r 1997. It is the third ution that will come re passed by a twoParliament and ratiat a referendum.
s whether these prote a sense of an allhalism. Will Sinhala Tamil nationalism er is in the negative. lism has rejected the they have not accombu Principles' which
*i Lankan Tamils be stinct nationality; orthern and Eastern anka be recognised as traditional homecan Tamil People; and ht of the Sri Lankan termination be ac
a PA Government and lution as a device to il nationalism in the will defuse separatist of alleviating politithe North/East provarmining the unity of
context the UNP in dopted the thirteenth Constitution which to eight regions, ined North/East provh. These Councils are ever, this amendment
is in the world today
eyond the bounds of nome. They cannot the fact that it is the man degradation and l effects of this milioblem and the inabilovernments to find a at have made those concerned about Our What is needed is the that external help is ively move towards epolitical solution.O
has failed to stop the war to date thus proving that the concept of devolution is falling short of Tamil aspirations.
Devolution vs Federalism
Devolution is a form of unitary government in which the central government delegates certain limited legislative and executive powers to the regions. The regions so created constitutionally have no separate sovereignty because the sovereignty is undivided and rests solely with the central government. Therefore, the power of the regions can be revoked or partially withdrawn at the will of the central government.
Advanced types of devolution based on the Kilbrandon Commission Report - Minority Report's Proposals in the UK in 1970s have the following features: (Bernard Burrows and Geoffrey Denton, Devolution or Federalism? Options for a United Kingdom, 1980). ... establishment of assemblies for all the regions;
2. the established regional assemblies to have greater legislative and executive powers over a wide range of matterS;
3. the regional assemblies to be represented in the Upper House;
4. the Upper House to ensure that the rights conferred on the regional assemblies and executives are not interfered with by the Parliament or by the National Executive; and
5. the ultimate power of parliament, acting alone, to amend or end the system would remain unaffected.
The countries that devolved powers to their autonomous regions are Spain, Italy, France, China etc.
Federalism on the other hand involves a "Union without unity”, a division of power between the centre and the constituent regions. A federal system has two system of governments - the centre and the regions - both exist on the basis of equality, both act directly on the people within their own spheres of authority and neither has powers to encroach on the authority of the other. The sovereignty in a federal system is divided between the two governments.

Page 21
15 JANUARY 1998
A federal system requires a complete overhaul of the constitutional structure since the consent of all the regions is essential to enact it. A federal system, once established, is difficult to reverse. The amendment to the federal constitution requires the participation of the regions, thus removing the monopoly of the central government in the amendment process.
The countries that claim to be federal are the USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico in America; Ethiopia in Africa; Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, Russia in Europe; and India, Pakistan, Malaysia in Asia.
Constitutional Reforms
A. Minimalist model
The current Sri Lankan exercise in devolution is a minimalist model. The model grants a limited degree of regional self-government with the clear supremacy of the Centre remaining unchallenged. It is imperative to examine some features flowing from the current reforms with those of non-federal countries that have devolved powers to their regions. Of course, it does not mean that the models evolved by these countries suit Sri Lanka.
Prof. G.L. Peiris, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, when headdressed the members of the diplomatic corps at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, January 30, 1996, said, "... You cannot do this unless you change Article 2 and Article 76. ... It means that until you change those two Articles you cannot have devolution in any meaningful, substantial or pragmatic way. The whole thing will be an exercise in futility. That is why we are committed to a departure from Article 2 and Article 76". The PA government which has failed to delete the provisions of Article 76, has in fact transferred these provisions to Article 92 of the proposed Constitution. However, Article 2 - The Republic of Sri Lanka is a unitary state - seems to have been removed. It is noted that the removal of the label “unitary' does not mean anything. It is now justified to identify the proposed devolution as meaningless, minimalist or empty rhetoric. The PA government has taken a complete about turn within two years. Can the Tamils rely on the word of a Sinhalese politician?
The delegation of legislative power of Parliament and Regional Council is spelt out in the following Articles. It
clearly demonstrates gional councils are S tral Parliament. 92 ( 1) Parliament sh in any manner alie, power, and shall not ity with any legislat (2) It shall not be the provisions of pa cle for Parliament t relating to public s empowering the p emergency regulati with such law, (3) It shall not be the provisions of pa cle for Parliament to taining any provisio person or body to legislation for pre, including the powe (a) to appoint a dat or any part thereof, fect or cease to hav, (b) to make by ord part there of applica or to any class of pe (c) to create a legal der or an Act and f sub paras (a) and "Law' includes exi (4) Subject to the pro stitution, any existi, any such provisiona, valid and operative, 137(3)(b) The provi (3) and (4) of Artic mutandis, apply to islative power by R.
The proposals di there are different na Sri Lanka. Let us tak stitution (1978) fo poses with regard t Spanish Constitutio it has devolved po mous regions subst of the Spanish Cons indissoluble unity of the common and in of all Spaniards, a guarantees the righ nationalities andre term "nationalities' Spanish Constitutic to appease the Ba. Galician (later) ! wanted their status being recognised.
The provision o liament in the pro tively shuts the doc

AMIL TIMES 21
that the elected reubordinate to Cen
all not abdicate or late its legislative set up any authorve power.
! contravention of ra (1) of this Arti
make, in any law
ecurity, provision resident to make ons in accordance
contravention of ra (1) of this Artimake any law conn empowering any make subordinate cribed purposes,
r - 2 on which any law shall come into ef. 2 effect; er any law or any ble to any locality 2rsons, and
person, by an oror the purposes of (b) of this para, sting law. visions ofthe Conng law containing saforesaid shall be
sions of paras (2), e 92 shall, mutatis he exercise of leg2gional Councils.
) not recognise that tionalities living in e the Spanish Cono comparison pur) nationalities. The n is not federal but Vers toits autonoantially. Article 2 itution refers to 'the the Spanish nation, livisible fatherland nd recognises and to autonomy of the ions'. Although the S not defined in the n, it has been used que, Catalans and lationalities who as historic entities
a Unicameral Parosals again effecon a federal struc
ture. The Tamils are apprehensive of the centralising tendency from a single legislature elected by the popular vote giving the reins of power to the ethnic Sinhalese majority. It is noted that an advanced type of devolution requires an Upper Chamber to represent the regions. The countries such as Spain, Italy, South Africa, France etc that have devolved powers have bicameral legislatures. For example, South Africa, a highly devolved political system, has its legislative power vested in a bicameral Parliament, comprising a National Assem-. bly and a National Council of Provinces. Members of the National Council of Provinces are represented on the basis of 10 members (6 permanent delegates and 4 special delegates) from each Province. According to the South African Constitution, the National Council of Provinces represents the Provinces to ensure that Provincial interests are taken into account in the national sphere of government. It does this mainly by participating in the national legislative process and by providing national forum for public consideration of issues
affecting the Provinces. There is no in
stitution such as an Upper Chamber in the Sri Lankan proposed Constitution to ensure that regional interests are taken into account.
The proposed Sri Lankan Constitution empowers the President upon being advised by the Prime Minister to assume all or any of the functions of the region by proclamation in circumstances where the regional council is promoting armed rebellion or insurrection or engaging in an intentional violation of certain Articles of the Constitution that constitutes a clear danger to the unity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. In these circumstances the President has power to dissolve the regional council. The proclamation needs to be forthwith laid before Parliament. The proclamation is conclusive for all purposes and not to be questioned in any court (Article 223). The emergency provisions enable the President to intervene in the spheres of the regional governments and even to dismiss the elected regional governments. These provisions arm the central government against the wishes of the regions and could be used to Subvert democracy in the country. These provisions clearly show that the government itself has no faith in devolution guaranteeing a permanent peace. It is worth to note the equivalent provision of the Spanish Constitution. According

Page 22
22 TAM TIMES
to Article 155, the Spanish government will lodge a complaint with the President of an Autonomous Community if the Autonomous Community does not fulfil the obligations imposed by the Constitution or other laws or act in a manner seriously prejudicing the interest of Spain. The government after failing to receive satisfaction from the autonomous community may, following approval granted by an absolute majority of the Senate, adopt the means necessary in order to oblige the latter forcibly to meet said obligations, or in order to protect the above mentioned general interest. The government may also give instructions to all the authorities of the Autonomous regions to implement the above measures. The reader will therefore see that the Spanish Constitution does not contemplate dismissal of a regional government. The South African Constitution too does not.encourage dismissal of a provinial government.
(B) Parliamentary Executive and Power Sharing
The present Sri Lankan Constitution ( 1978) is a dual executive model consisting of an elected President, and a Prime Minister and cabinet drawn from Parliament. The proposed Constitution moves away from the dual executive system to return to the Parliamentary executive system. The President will be elected by one-half majority of the members of Parliament including those not present. The President will only be a ceremonial head of state, yet he will enjoy certain powers under emergency provisions. Under the parliamentary executive system, the Prime Minister and cabinet exercise executive power.
Sri Lankan people have experienced the parliamentary executive and the dual executive systems of government since independence. It is a pity that these systems have not addressed the grievances of the Tamils. The proposed Sri Lankan Constitution intends to deal with devolution of power rather than power sharing. It does not address power sharing at the Centre, thus putting the Central government at the hands of the majority Sinhalese. The Tamils are undergoing so many hardships because the political systems have not accepted the political equality and the effective political participation of the Tamils in all three branches of the Central government. Political equality does not mean equal numerical representation in all levels but it is whereby the Tamils will be allowed
to share power at th and have the right decision of the leg matters relating to fairs and security w to their interest.
(C) Boundaries
The North/East ditional homeland Tamil political parti not accepted any pr ping the boundaries vincial Councils ar. the thirteenth amer stitution. Under th Northern and Eas treated as one Prov merger of the two sought aspiration o ants. The propose remapped the boun province into three (First Schedule): (i) administrative malee and Battical (ii) polling divisi Sammanthurai and (iii) polling divisio)
The successive : have achieved thei by settling the Sinl nies established in The PA governmer self with the First S the same goal by rather than pushing The boundaries of torical and sacrosa exchange of a squa cate the situation.
(D) Fundamental
The proposed troduced a new se rights provisions, basic individual rig great majority of th guaranteeing the b: in their constitutio such rights really e For example, articl Constitution whic shall be subjected inhuman or degr punishment" has n ten breached by th ments. Sri Lanka eral democracy in countries such as sia and Singapore Rights Rating (HF

15 JANUARY 1998
; Centre effectively o veto any law or slature concerning efence, foreign afhere it is prejudicial
rovincesare the traOf the Tamils. The s or the Tamils have pposals for re-mapAt present the Profunctioning under dment of the Conat amendment the lern provinces are incial Council. The brovinces is a longf the Tamil inhabitd Constitution has daries of the Eastern segments as follows
districts of Trinco
)a ons of Kalmunai, Pottuvil n of Amparai
governments to date land grabbing goal hala people in colothe Tamil Regions. it has now armed itchedule to achieve shifting boundaries the people around. a region are of hisnct nature. Even an re mile can compli
Rights
Constitution has inries of fundamental guaranteeing certain hts. The fact that the estates in the world sic individual rights is does not mean that xist and are secured. | 11 of the Sri Lankan states, "No person o torture or to cruel, ading treatment or ) meaning as it is of: Sri Lankan governs classified as a libAsia among the other ndia, Japan, MalaySri Lanka’s Human R) is the worst of all
the liberal democratic countries in Asia. An HRR of 70% or more is considered to be good. Sri Lanka obtained an HRR of 47% as at 1991 compared to 52% at 1986 (Source: Political Systems of the World 1989 and 1996, J Dennis Derby Shire, Ian Derby Shire).
(E) Non-secular Character
Secularism means non-recognition of any state religions. The short lived 1972 Constitution and the present Constitution (1978) elevated Buddhism to the foremost place and spelled out the State's duty to protect and foster Buddhism as well. The proposed Constitution not only makes provisions for the above but also makes the State to consult the “Supreme Council” recognised by the Minister in charge of the subject of Buddha Sasana. These provisions identify Sri Lanka with Buddhism and continue to move further away from the concept of secularism.
Overview
Ethnic nationalism has emerged globally as an important and powerful ideology in recent decades. Today linguistic, racial and religious minorities who suffer at the hands of the numerical majorities are attempting to support for genuine independence. However, because of the lack of support from the international community, they are willing to seek regional autonomy within a federal political system. To defuse national feelings of the ethnic nationalities, some countries have opted to devolve power to their autonomous regions while others have distributed power under a federal system. For example, Spanish devolution has been in place almost for two decades, but it has failed to resolve the separatist tendency. Ethiopia realising the disintegration of its Eriteria in 1992 promulgated a federal constitution in 1994 to unite the other regions. The independence of Eriteria in 1992 might have been avoided had Ethiopia after 1962 accommodated the regional demands under a federal set up. Article 39 Section 1 of the Ethiopian Federal Constitution (1994) says, "Every nation, nationality and people in Ethiopia has an unconditional right. to self-determination, including the right of secession." Ethiopia by enshrining this Article in the federal constitution has succeeded in bringing the Somalis of the Ogaden region to stay within Ethiopia. It is noted that the Somalis had been agitating for an inde

Page 23
15 JANUARY 1998
pendent state or union with Somalia since 1970s. Belgium similarly after a series of constitutional reforms has fimally opted for a federal constitution as recently as 1993 by giving political recognition and status to the different linguistic and cultural communities that exist within the boundaries of Belgium. The proposed Constitution is masquerading in the garb of devolution, when in truth and, in fact it is a unitary constitution with decentralised features. The proposals do not recognise the injustices of the past. Some countries recently in their preamble recognised the injustices of the past. All the constitutions, including the proposed one have been formulated by the respective government political parties without taking into consideration the aspirations of the Tamils. The Tamils have shown their firm commitment firstly to a federal form of government since 1956 and thereafter, and then exercised their right to national self-determination at the 1977 general election thus completely rejecting a unitary form of government. As far as Tamils are concerned, the experiment with devolution is dead since the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution has failed to bring peace. It is the government that is making attempts to keep devolution alive. Even the Spanish model which is seen as a superior model to Sri Lankan one has not resolved the Basque problem.
Former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali argued, "the new danger which will appear in the world in the next ten years is more fragmentation. Rather than 100 or 200 countries, you may have at the end of the century 400 countries, and we will not be able to achieve any kind of economic development, not to mention more disputes on boundaries” (The Times, 21 September 1992).
Pakistan and Ethiopia have been broken in virtue of their inability to bend. To avoid disintegration, the Sri Lankan politicians should think of advocating an alternative choice, preferably a system which has elements of consociationalism and federalism. Arend Lijphart has defined consociational democracy in terms of four basic principles: two primary principles (grand coalition and segmental autonomy) and two secondary principles (proportionality and minority veto)(p277, The Rights of Minority Cultures, edited by Will Kymlicka, 1995}. The component regions of the federation may be formed
Italian-born Ron Gandhi who is n the only person who stop the Hindu nat Janata Party (BJP) i
n yet another twi
Never mind tha tend to discount the Sonia (daughter-inclan), the secular pa the non-Congress against hope tha Mr Rajiv Gandhi swing enough votes thus prevent it from at the Centre.
The BJP which in the 545-member 1996 elections seem itstally to 250 plus i scheduled for Febru could be within as forming a governme or with the help ofi
It is only Sonia spanner in its work remains a politicall Nobody knows wha ing power, though abound.
But then the C everywhere. Many (until the news of campaign for the C serting it in panic. T lar forces including regional parties and are certainly in no pl the BJP in its strong heartland that is.
on a linguistic rathe
cial basis. It will be system that the Tar volve powers to Mu: jects while the Sinha wise to Plantation T
It must be rem Tamils are not a mi one and equal natio
 

TAMIL TIMES 23
NATO RESCUE
FROM HINDUWA
T N GOPALAN
st of irony, it is the lan Catholic, Sonia ow seen as almost could be trusted to ionalist Bharatiya n its tracks.
t the opinion polls ; influence of bahu -law of the Nehru rties, even some of variety still hope t this widow of would be able to against the BJP and coming to power
bagged 193 seats
Lok Sabha in the spoised to improve n the mid-term poll ary-March and thus triking distance of nt either on its own ts allies.
who can throw a s, though she still y unknown entity. at is her vote-pullvarious theories
ong-I is crumbing of its leaders were Sonia's decision to ongress came) deThe so-called secuthe Janata Dal, the the left formations osition to challenge holds, in the Hindi
r than on a provin
possible under this nil region may deslims in certain Subla region does likeamils.
embered that the nority but they are . O
Only the Cong-I with all its faults, however discredited it might otherwise be, could do so. And it could successfully mount such a challenge only if some charismatic figure like Sonia is there to lead the forces.
While no one contests the capacity of Sonia to attract crowds anywhere in the country, especially so in the North, no one knows though how many votes she could swing towards the Cong-I in the current political situation.
From May 1991 when her husband was assassinated to August 1995, she had maintained a discreet silence. She had refused to take up the Presidentship of the Cong-I immediately after the assassination and made plain in various ways her distaste for politics. And thus far neither her son Rahul nor her daughter Priyanka has expressed any inclination to join the Cong-I.
When she expressed her anguish over the lackadaisical pace of the Jain Commission and the apparent non-cooperation of the then Narasimha Rao Government, she was giving vent more to her own personal feelings than making any political statement.
But the point is that she made the statement at a rally in Amethi in UP, a constituency carefully nursed by Rajiv Gandhi, and there was an impressive turnout. A few other meetings she addressed in the country including one in Tamil Nadu, inaugurating some project or other, attracted good crowds, clearly indicating that as the bahu of Mrs Gandhi, herself a darling of the masses, Sonia had her own charisma.
Rajiv Gandhi might have led his party to an overwhelming victory in 1984 in the wake of his mother's assassination. But he had lost out to a motley opposition five years later.
An analysis of the 1991 voting figures seem to indicate that had he remained alive he would still have been

Page 24
24 TAMIL TIMES
unable to steer the Congress back to power even though the National Front disaster had made the people disenchanted with anti-Congressism.
Still he had remained a formidable political figure thanks to the halo of the Nehru clan behind him. And evidently something of it has rubbed off Sonia. Add to it the sympathy factor, one can see why she looks to be popular with the masses, though the real extent of her popularity remains to be seen.
Having seen her mother-in-law, brother-in-law and herown husband die untimely deaths, and two of them assassinated, their private lives under constant scrutiny and financial scandals sullying their images, Sonia would naturally have preferred to retire from public life for good.
But the steady erosion of the CongI vote-bank, first under Rao and then under Kesri, should have made her sit up and reconsider her decision not to have anything to do with politics. After all the party so much nurtured by her family was in dire straits and, unless some rescue operation was undertaken, it was sure to disintegrate completely before long.
Not to mention the fact that she could enjoy a lot of privileges and lead a virtually charmed existence thanks to the clout wielded by the Congress in the polity. She would have to ensure that it is not jeopardised.
She perhaps toyed with the idea of backseat driving and hoped some appeals from her to the electorate could pull off the trick. She had attended the Congress plenary session in Calcutta in August last signalling her desire to remain part of the Congress and perhaps also her concern over the crisis in the
party.
Still she did not want to come out in the open and preferred back-seat driving as happened in the case of Ms Mamata Banerjee, the enfant terrible of West Bengal. When the latter kicked up a row over the injustice meted out to her and threatened to walk out of the Congress unless she was given her due place in the state Cong-I unit, Sonia quietly tried her hand at fence-mending, summoning Mamata to her residence and trying to talk some sense into her. But Mamata, after some wavering, chose to break away and forge an alli
ance with the BJP stayed back if only to take things in her was still not sure.
Meantime midd cluding Mr Rangara lam, son of that V turned-congress Kumaramangalam, Congress and joinil In a way the fi leadership to clinch AADMK in Tamil to have hastened the it had been widely during the crisis spal drawal of the Cong Gujral Governm 40 MP's had expre ness to join the BJP mid-term poll.
In any case th Shankara Aiyer, a fi and who sought to would not have dre Congress but for Ja ing decision to ditch hands with the BJP
And they were there was no one ar ship who could be the masses. Kesri hardly the kind of change the fortune; ing at an alarming time of finally with to Gujral, thus forc nation, Kesri had a take over the leaders embarked on such a in the name of her h security reasons So the last moment fra the Congress Bhav
How such a per the arduous campa length and breadth tion like India and sist from mingling she wants to win t persuade them to V. are still moot point
Though the Le cited about her taki vate they confide tł to defeat the BJP il UP, Madhya Prade the UP especially v est contingent of

15 JANUARY 1998
She might have onia had promised hands, but the bahu
le level leaders inian Kumaramanga:teran communistleader, Mohan started leaving the g the BJP ilure of the Kesri an alliance with the Nadu could be said ir desertion, though umoured that even ked off by the with-I's support to the ent, as many as ssed their willingin order to avoid a
ose like Mr Mani ormer aide of Rajiv bask in his legacy, samt of leaving the yalalitha's Surpristhe Cong-I and join
all leaving because ound in the leaderexpected to attract or Arun Singh are leaders who could s of a party declinpace. Even at the irawing his support ing elections on the ppealed to Sonia to hip. After all he had brinkmanship only usband. Still citing nia had opted out at om a programme in an in New Delhi.
on is going to brave igning through the of such a vast nahow could she dewith the masses if heir confidence and te for the Congress
S.
it is not exactly exng to politics, in priat she is the best bet
such states like the sh and Rajasthan. In 'hich sends the larg35 members to the
Lok Sabha where the Cong-I is almost moribund and the two secular leaders Kanshi Ram and Mulayam Singh Yadav are flying at each other's throat all the time, only Sonia could be expected to reverse the onward march of the Sangh Parivaar (as the BJP and its communal front organisations are called).
The fact remains though right now the BJP has the upper hand. Its prime ministerial candidate, the suave Atal Behari Vajpayee is seen as a moderating influence on a trident-wielding obscurantist crowd, eminently fit to lead the nation at a critical juncture. The BJP is perceived as a disciplined party with a relatively clean image by the middle classes, tired of the united front circus and who are willing to turn a blind eye to its fascist inclinations. That by inducing the criminal elements in the UP into its fold in order to save its government, by joining hands with someone like the notoriously corrupt Jayalalitha, and by openly declaring that it would align itself with anyone who can assure it of a couple of seats, the BJP has lost its USP (unique selling proposition in commercial parlance), does not seem to bother the urban voters who would like stability at any cost.
"What if they are communal? Let them talk of Hindutva to their heart's content. We don't care so long as they do not go on a rampage against the Muslims or create some other serious law and order problems. After all in the states where they are in power, you don't see any great danger to the minorities ... and stability is the need of the hour if our economy is to do well.' a leading industrialist was quoted as saying.
Such men are willing to ignore the long-term implications of the BJP's hard-line stand on issues like Kashmir or the Uniform Civil Code. Or even the transformation the popular discourse could undergo making the Muslims and Dalits feel increasingly uneasy as is happening in Maharashtra where that mad Thackeray's goons are ruling the roost in almost every walk of life.
The only solace of course is that not always the narrow-minded middle classes or the greedy rich succeed in imposing their views on the rest of the country. O

Page 25
15 JANUARY 1998
BJP N INDIAN ELECT EVL TURNS INNOC
N POLITICS
Ramesh Gopalakrishman
t is easy to coalesce the categories intelligentsia and intellectuals; well, the two are not the same. While the modern intelligentsia is at best an articulate representative of a given political class or group jostling for power, the intellectual is someone with the least bit of self-doubt. The confusion between the two categories has resulted in the decimation of thought in Tamil Nadu. And the latest instance is the political situation in which sections of the Tamil intelligentsia are thoroughly confused over the Sudden decision of Dravidian parties to vie with each other to align with the ever-blooming now-winning BJP lotus. And the intellectual is yet to be born - a new species almost
This is the first time that the Bharatiya Janata Party has been getting Dravidian parties, which are generally sworn proponents of secularism, as allies. The intelligentsia, to its credit, foresaw the possibility of AIADMK leader JJayalalitha clinching the alliance deal with the BJP. After all, the alliance only representated the ideological convergence between the Brahmin in Jayalalitha and the Manuvadi BJP Yes, they correctly said, Jayalalitha was the lone chief minister to have supported the Sangh Parivar’s kar seva at Ayodhya resulting in the horrific demolition of the Babri Masjid exactly five Decembers ago.
The shock was yet to come. The Marumalarchi DMK of V Gopalsamy and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) of Dr S Ramadoss, which have sizeable presence in pockets of Tamil Nadu, then decided to go along with the AIADMK-BJP front. Well, the Gopalsamy, who quit the DMK four years ago to work for the 'malarchi' of the Dravidian movement, was now defending the "malarchi' of the BJP lotus; and worse, Dr Ramadoss, the champion of the depressed castes in northern Tamil Nadu, made up with the Manuvadis who are now under the wings of Jayalalitha who once wanted to ban the PMK
Well, the more shocking news to the
intelligentsia is that not happy with the liance. It has been above turn of events ter M Karunanidhi a Murasoli Maran wa options open to for the BJP in case the cured a majority in tions. Now, alas, su been ruled out in th of Jayalalitha and DMK into the BJP. of the BJP's allies Vazhapadi K Rama to politics as a disci Ramasamy and a sv for 35 years. Rama tests that his allian AIADMK The m is that some even aligned with AIADMK-BJP fron Of course, the M trant to the BJP | Rangarajan Kumar, grandfather Subbar of the Justice Party gress. Subbaroyan’s intercaste reform m Tamil Nadu, the ot R Nedunchezhian ( with the AIADMK ance with the BJP) Mohan Kumarama further by joining t marrying a Bengal Mohan joined the ( 60s as part of The C tics, but went on to Gandhi's trusted l timely demise in Rangarajan remain last month. And h aunts, both in theil in horror as he qu the BJP coolly forg estations against til Babri Masjid !
The Tamil inte its brains: what th What's the ration Dalit or leftist leac

TAML TIMES 25
ONS: ENT
the ruling DMK is AIADMK-BJP alsaddened by the ! Yes, chief minisnd DMK ideologue inted to keep their n a "linkage' with BJP-led front Sethe February elecch a possibility has : wake of the entry ther rivals of the led front. The last in Tamil Nadu is murthy, who came ple of Periyar E V vorn Congressman murthy feebly proce is only with the ost interesting fact Dalit groups have the Manu vadi
it. ost well-known enn Tamil Nadu is amangalam, whose byan was a member and later the Conwas one of the first arriages in Modern her being that of V who incidentally is defending the alliSubbaroyan’s son galam went a step le Communists and comrade, Kalyani. ongress in the late PI's infiltration tacbecome Mrs Indira yalists till his una 1974 aircrash. 'd left-of-centre till is two Communist seventies, vatched 2tly moved over to atting his own prote demolition of the
ligentsia is racking hell is goin' on ? ale for Dravidian, rs to align with the
BJP, which is a well-known party of industrialists, traders and urban middle classes mainly concentrated in the north and west of India 2 Is it sheer lust for power? Or, is it a betrayal of their own ideology for short-term electoral gains ? After all, they'd seen the scene of George Fernandes, the veteran socialist, moving over to the BJP-led front three years ago And how to manage the interests of Tamil Nadu's capitalists once the BJP is firmly in saddle at the centre ?
It would be easy to dub this decision of these leaders selectoral opportunism and go for one more round of extreme rhetoric castigating these parties as betrayers. Is that all 2 May be, why not, a deeper process is on.
The intelligentsia, perhaps, is running out of ideas, categories and expressions invented and legitimised for another era. With the implosion of identity politics in the Indian public sphere, the earlier era of across-the-board mobilisation is over. The public sphere is being redefined in terms of new Others, attitudes, ranging from extreme categories of enmity to resentment against domination. Perhaps, this violent categorisation is common throughout south Asia these days, leading to protracted battles in social theatres. Caught as the representative of either one or the other groups, the intelligentsia remains clueless about events which it feels it must interpret.
Violence of thought is the order of the day. A human being is just his caste or community, redefined as the Other. Mobilisation among the lines of identity and kinship breed resistance from groups of privilege, resulting in a circle of resentment and spiritual or ethical death. The intelligentsia gives up its soul and sense of balance. The good and the evil are blurred. The land is no longer the habitats of people but something which divides them eternally. Well, does this all sound too familiar for Lankan expatriates ?!
The intelligentsia has easy questions which it will soon pose to itself: well, didn't Marxism have its final failure as a world faith a decade ago? Is not political nationalism, an extreme form of it, fashionable as an ideology or way of mobilisation ? Is not identity based on kinship a nice basis to mobilise and thwart the hegemony of caste which itself is based on kinship and lifestyle structures ? The answers are difficult to find, but are to be necessarily

Page 26
26 TAMIL TIMES
discovered or invented to avoid the violence of a circular pattern of thought which begins and ends up slamming a person as his community or caste. Isn't the person something more than just that ? Something in excess ? A being in excess of definitions ? A possibility of excess of consciousness, of ethics and culture ? Perhaps, these are the right questions one will have to ask From such answers will flow the need for an intellectual, a person of culture and ethics, a new consciousness who will be born out of the intelligentsia but would be far different from it. Well, that may happen in future and certainly not now. The recent history of Tamil Nadu, alas, has followed the exact opposite course. A decade ago, Marxism failed as a world religion and scores of Marxists mentally left their ideology and moved over to pastures of identity politics. The Dravidian movement being a forerunner in the ways of identity politics attracted them and was born an amalgam of a Dravidianised-Marxism or Marxicised-Dravidianism, made suitable for home conditions. Alas, not only was the Dravidian parties enjoying political power, their arch-rival and enemy, the BJP was using all the means possible to grab hegemony in the Indian public sphere including the horrifying act of demolishing the Babri Masjid. This was the accident of history, that single event, which represented north India for the entire south and beyond.
For the BJP and the Sangh Parivar, the Masjid was articulated as the symbol of the colonising Other, the Mughal Babar, and the demolisher was none other-than-the-poor-Hindu-subalten-villager Such a perfidy of theory was enacted as history, as media history, freezing the mindset of anyone down south. The image, of the demolition, ultimately has now paid off in distant south, even as the intentions and consequences of the real act started getting wiped out from the public sphere and its poor memory. Well, the BJP, for all pragmatic purposes of the media-crazy lot, is the only real “actor” in history
Hence, in their media-craziness, in their obsessive liking for the public sphere, the BJP and their exact ideological opponents, the hitheretoDravidians or hitherto-leftists, have come face to face, even together. Hatred, repulsion, obsession, lust, desire, love, harmony, co-habitation, sex, jealousy, dissonance, discord, disharmony,
separation, violenc narrative circle is at
now ! If anything be vival can be offerec their current cosy re craziness for the pub Of sensation, repeti non-differentiation ness and trivialisatio modern media go a man fascism which
tion alone. The m uni-dimensional (th you, silencing you
that part of you whi to the screen). The differentiation, ob cultureless stereotyp Brahmins in the ca dutva, of Yadavs an of anti-BJP parties i
O.
ayalalitha has : J ance with the B thinkable for a roped in the likes of Pattali Makkal Katch lasamy of the Maru Munnetra Kazhaga Vazhapadi K Ramar ing a splinter Cong Thamizhaka Rajiv front led by her and f "massive' state conv veli.
Even by the oppo of the modern day p rate combination is enon. From the pere Subramaniam Swan fire-spouting Dr F Hindutva champion uncomfortably with the front is sure top esting spectacle in And the way the A Jayalalitha whips th she wants, like a ring stuff the gossip col ing after.
But their antics a mediate concern is th until recently consid Bania party of the
 

and hatred. This east half-complete yond electoral suras the reason for ationship, it is this ic sphere, its codes tion, simultaneity, Df qualities, loudn. In that sense, the little beyond Gerrelied upon sensaodern media are 2 Screen "talks' to and keeping alive ch can "talk back' : glibness of nontiously, promotes es, of Muslims and Se Of BJP's HinDalits in the case n the north and So
15 JANUARY 1998
Sensationalism and repetition are opposite but necessary features of the media. Both nullify all attempts at evaluation which are based on continuity of culture and some form of ethics. However, evaluation does not count any longer in the task of establishment of hegemony in the public sphere. There is no need to evaluate The BJP leaders lie and seek to convince by their lies. They meet their enemies and turn them into friends. Sheer evil magic The media invents the goodness of the BJP, which the latter shall seek to prove and demonstrate with the aid and assistance of its new-found allies like the Dravidian parties. For the BJP, the evil in the public sphere has metamorphosed into innocence and its allies sit ethicless and cultureless under the Shade of this evilturned-innocence to possibly attain a new enlightenment in political horror.O
DMK-BPALANCE
ON A STICKYWCKET
T N GOPALAN
struck up an alliJP, somethingunDravidian leader, Dr Ramadas of the i (PMIK). V Gopalmalarchi Dravida m (MDMK) and nurthy now headress group called Congress into the inally conducted a ention at Tirunel
rtunistic standards Iolitics, the dispaà unique phenomnnially peripatetic ly to the tirelessly amadas, with a
sharing the dais a Dravidian party, 'ovide some interhe days to come. (ADMK supremo em into positions master, will be the Imnists are drool
bart, what is ofime toe-hold the BJP, ared the Brahmin
Hindi-speaking
northerners who are suppressing the south, has gained in the state.
It has at long last become acceptable, respectable. At the Silver Jubilee Convention of the AIADMK at Tirunelveli, BJP President LK Advani was given the pride of place, and speaker after speaker including Ramadas and Gopalasamy, went out of their way to issue a good conduct certificate to the BJP, saying that there was no need to suspect its "secular' credentials, though for the records they warned that they would be forced to revolt if a future BJP government did anything that went against the interests of the minorities.
And this prompted Advani to come out with a categorical declaration that his party stood committed to "genuine secularism' as conceived in the constitution and went on to note that there was nothing unnatural about the AIADMK-BJP alliance, the tie-up between a regional Dravidian Party and a (Hindutva) Nationalist Party.
It was but a natural evolution, the next logical step for the ADMK which had turned into the AIADMK, acquiring a nationalist perspective even in its initial years. One should remember that Jaya had declared on the floor of the house when she was the Chief Minis

Page 27
15 JANUARY 1998
ter, "I represent the latest stage in the evolution of the Dravidian movement.' But she has never made any secret of her devout nature and beliefs in a variety of Hindu religious practices. Her mentor MGR also used to frequent temples and one of his ministers, significantly a Jaya-Supporter, used to expound on scriptures in temples. Still the AIADMK at the time was a bit too shy of flaunting its religious inclinations.
But with Jaya there was no need for any such hypocrisy. Yajnas were performed on her behalf, her high-profile visit to Kumbakonam in 1992 to participate in the Mahamakham Festival in the company of Sasikala - when a stampede caused the death of scores of devotees -the kumkum on her forehead, her tacit encouragement of practices like rolling on the ground within temple premises or eating rice served on the mud floor on her birthdays, all went to show that she was moulding the party after her own image.
On a particularly grisly occasion, a man pretended to be dead, his body was carried through the streets ceremonially and his funeral rites were performed to invoke God's blessings for his leader. The activist was rewarded with a ticket for the Assembly elections in 1996. That God was not particularly kind, as the results showed later, either to the man or his boss is a different story altogether.
In 1991 she had first appealed to the Hindu Munnani to desist from taking out rallies on the Ganesh Chathurthi (the birthday of Lord Vinayaka) and to the Muslim outfits not to organise the Miladunnabi Rally - the two followed in close succession, generated a lot of tension and led to unnecessary violence. The Muslims obliged, but the Hindus would not. Still Jaya allowed the Munnani to take out the rally, attracting a lot of flak. She finally clamped down on them two years later when they indulged in wanton violence.
Anyway in 1992, when speaking at the National Integration Council she had wanted the Kar Seva (by the Sangh Parviaar at Ayodhya) to go on and stressed the need to respect the majority sentiments.
She had brushed aside the apprehensions of antagonising the Muslims as baseless and when she won an Assembly by-election the next year in a constituency dominated by the Muslims, she seemed to feel vindicated. She had won contesting alone, without the
support of the Cong Whatever She d whoever she was wi cible, she should ha on she started treat with disdain which birth of the Tamil (TMC) and her own
But the fault-lin was and still is that that while the Muslin count for much in th should matter when lation had turned ag no significant chan mood since.
It is still not very cided to ditch her Cong-I, despite pa Kesri’s men, In fac conducted by a reput that an AIADMK could change Jaya better, the alliance c seats, it had predict lot of goodwill for S State,
Apparently she c way Congress was the BJP was likely and its goodwill cou herback the myriad her. Possibly evens to dismiss the DME go in for fresh electi But she never to Sonia factor. In fact pressed the Congress on her to give an und would persuade Sor which case she wou. an alliance. But the no such thing and the The rump Congress at its wit’s end, not k to go. But what is ( cern is Jaya’s own f the Congress which in the state - only M. some life into it a events is unlikely in Indications are t led Front is unlikely an impact in spite C raised in the media. ally no following in only pinning its hop a national party wit the government.
Jaya herself is 1 come-back trail, not barrage of scandals buffeting her aroun

TAMIL TIMES 27
eSS. id or did not do, th, she was invinve felt. From then ing the Congress finally led to the Maanila Congress debacle thereafter. le in her thinking she did not realise ns voters might not e State, every vote the general popuainst her. There is ge in the popular
clear why she deong-time ally the thetic pleas from :t an opinion poll dagency did show -Cong-I alliance S fortunes for the :ould bag up to 12 ed. There is still a onia Gandhi in the
alculated that anya dying party and to come to power ld help her get off court cases against he could get them K government and OS, pkinto account the she is said to have team which called dertaking that they nia to campaign in ld be agreeable for Congress could do 2 talks broke down. in the State is now nowing which way of immediate conate and not that of is anyway finished Oopanar can infuse nd such a turn of
the near future. hat the AIADMKto make much of f all the brouhaha The BJP has virtuthe state, and it is pes on its image as h a chance to form
not exactly on the recovered from the which have been d relentlessly. The
lukewarm response the Tirunelveli rally went to show that she still had to make up a lot of distance before catching up with the DMK-TMC combine.
Gopalasamy's MDMK is still a non-starter for all the fire and fury he tries to evoke through his declamations. At best he could hope to win a couple of seats. The PMK with a Solid Vanniar following is the one party which could be expected to bring in the highest number of votes to the Front's kitty, but then its influence is confined to a few seats in the northern and northwestern regions.
Others in the alliance like Subramanaim Swamy or Vazhapadi Ramamurthy do not count for anything, and they could survive only courtesy of the other partners. Still surrounded by the militant Thevars, Jayalalitha has still not been able to win back the confidence of the DalitS. And whatever Muslim votes the AIADMK used to command traditionally have also been lost thanks to the alliance with the BJP. On the other hand the DMK-TMC alliance is sitting pretty, though Moopanar did show some signs of wavering after the Gujral Government fell. And the announcement of Sonia's entry complicated the picture further. But finally things should settle down.
Anyway the DMK regime has no done that badly as to trigger any wave against it. And so this alliance should be able to walk away an overwhelming majority of the 40 seats at stake. Even the most optimistic supporter of Jayalalitha would not grant her more than ten to twelve seats in the current Situation.
But she has done enough damage already. Traditionally the Muslims have been strong allies of the Dravidian movement Muslim League Leader Qaid-e-Millath Mohammed Ismail was a close friend of Periyar EVR and C N Annadurai. This harmony between the non-Brahmin Tamils and the Muslims has now been broken for good.
The riots in Coimbatore in November-sparked off though by the excesses of a fringe Muslim group - in which 20 Muslims perished and Muslim shops were looted and burnt the policemen playing a major role in the outrage and the explosions in three trains on 6 December, on the fifth anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, were a grim pointer to the shape of things to come. It is in this context the alliance with (Continued on next page)

Page 28
28 TAM TIMES
coMMUNALSATION OF SPHERE INTAMILN
Ramesh Gopalakrishnan
he communal nightmare has T dawned on Tamils. The textile city of Coimbatore never had it so bad in recent times. This second biggest city of Tamil Nadu went up in flames earlier this month, with the police egging on a hardcore bunch of Hindu communal elements who unleashed a reign of terror in Muslim pockets mainly as a retaliation for the murder of a traffic constable by Muslim fundamentalists the previous night. At least 20 people perished in police firing, violence and arson which continued unabated for the next three days, culminating in a bomb blast at nearby Udumalpet killing three women passers-by.
News correspondents, bureaucrats, police bosses, political parties and ideologues were stunned to learn that the communalists waited at the government medical college hospital at Coimbatore and targetted the injured persons brought there for treatment. The angry policemen simply appreciated the communalists who coolly lynched four persons, burning one of them with petrol siphoned off from a motorcycle. Such was the cold ferocity of the carnage. Some of the policemen, it has been reported, simply changed into mufti and participated in the violence and looting, even as their wives led a demonstration demanding security for their husbands at work.
In many ways, Coimbatore represented the version of ideal modernity for the Tamils. It had textile, mechanical and agro-based industries, three engineering colleges, a medical college, an agricultural varsity and some top
(Continued from page 27)
the BJP could have serious long-term implications for the polity. And Advani said as much when he claimed shortterm electoral gains were secondary and he was looking for a fusion of northern and southern perspectives, he was of course meaning imposition of the Hindutva on the South. One can only wish that he does not succeed in his designs, at least in Tamil Nadu. O
class arts collges, h of entrepreneurs, peasants, trade bases, and finally, ary ideologues wh a version of Drav totally inimical to sort. Now, all this communalisation
For several ye mainstream partie do anything about ous fundamentali Tamil Nadu. The how to counter the ganda. The Hindu on a brazen hate leader Rama Gopa ings all over Tamil is seen as the fiel Parivar in the State has also been mol ple priests under Viswa Hindu Pa among the organis: the despicable der Masjid at Ayodh 1992.
The Rashtriya (RSS) has a highly-placed adm Chennai who orga under the banner tion called Vigil, the RSS
keeps itself out and dirty-acting, fr fluential lot. The lot of friends in friends are keen to ing the TINA (The factor in favour of elections.
Tamil Nadu h; communal murde) among those kille( Munnani activists dent Rajagopala Hindu Sangam p The RSS and Hil quarters in the he were blasted four too has been losin; Tamil Nadu. Last
 

15 JANUARY 1998
hardworking bunches planters and middle unions with Strong political and litero relentlessly pursue vidianised Marxism 2ommunalism of any is at stake, with the of public sphere.
ars now, none of the S have been able to I the growth of varist Organisations in y have no clue as to communalist propaMunnani has gone campaign, with its lan addressing meetNadu. The Munmani d arm of the Sangh 2. The Sangh Parivar bilising village temthe banner of the rishad which was ations responsible for nolition of the Babri ya on December 6,
Swayamsevak Sangh
bunch of keen mirers in the city of nise public meetings of a front organisaa public forum. So,
of the tough-talking 'ee to mobilise the inBJP has cultivated a the media, and the b oblige it by invokre Is No Alternative) f the BJP in the next
as witnessed several rs in the last decade: are scores of Hindu including its presiun at Madurai and resident Kannuthal. ndu Munnani head’art of Chennai city
years ago. The BJP g some of its cadre in week, one of its dis
trict vice-presidents was killed at Uttamapalayam in Madurai. These fundamentalist organisations have grown faster in the last decade in Tamil Nadu, with some BJP leaders revealing that the majority of the bricks for the brick-laying ceremony (a newspeak word for the demolition act) at Ayodhya came from Tamil Nadu. AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalitha had openly supported the BJP’s “kar seva” charade which preceded the demolition. And Arun Shourie, the Express columnist, addressed his first public meeting at Chennai tacitly Supporting the demolition drive.
The Muslim fundamentalist organisations have also lost a number of their members, including Palani Baba, an acid-tongued speaker who went on to found the militant Jehad Committee. Palani Baba was murdered at Pollachi last year. And the Jehad Committee is now led by the militant Kunangudi R M. Haniffa, none other than the grandson of the soft-spoken Sufi poet-mystic Kunangudi Mastan Saheb! The Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) was founded by Maulvi Zainul Abideen after some Muslim youth were arrested under the dreaded TADA act after the RSS and Hindu Munnani headquarters' blasts. Another fundamentalist organisation, Al Umma was formed a few years ago at Coimbatore by one S A Pasha after his release from detention. All these organisations are full of militant youths who are demanding punishment of those responsible for the demolition, reconstruction of the Babri Masjid and proportional representation in government jobs and educational institutions. While they proclaim from roof-tops that they believe in democracy, they seem not averse to using violent methods to fulfil their ends. There appears to be tremendous ferment among the Muslim youth of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Their participation in these outfits have almost marginalised traditional Muslim-based parties like the Indian Union Muslim League and the Indian National League.
Chief minister M Karunanidhi, after assuming office, tried to clear his promise of release of the TADA detenus under bail. Even this measure is caught in judicial wrangles and the Muslim militant outfits are angry with him. He also has to face up to the Sangh Parivar allegation that his government has been releasing “terrorists'. These outfits,

Page 29
15 JANUARY 1998
which have poured scorn on Jayalalitha for reportedly sending some of her supporters to help the demolition act. The TMMK defied police ban on December 6 in the city this year and more than 5,000 of its cadre courted arrest. In the meantime, unidentified persons detonated bombs in three major trains which had left Chennai city the previous night, At least 10 passengers were killed in the blasts which took place in trains near Tiruchirapalli and Erode in Tamil Nadu and at Thrissur in Kerala. The blasts, it seemed, were intended to go off in a serial manner to create panic and insecurity. They served their purpose and rumour mills worked overtime to Strike terror in the hearts of the Tamil populace.
With the BJP backing the Hindu Munnani with all its might, the DMK regime seems to be in a quandary. The DMK is definitely moving closer to the BJP after its rebuff by the Congress(I) on the Jain Commission interim report issue. Ideologically, the DMK and the BJP are polls apart; at least seemingly so, but the BJP has taken pains to defend the DMK of late. Though Karunanidhi asserts from time to time that DMK cannot support a BJP-led government at the centre, the BJP seems keen to woo the DMK at least after the general elections. After all, the BJP and its allies are inching towards forming a government at the centre after the elections. All this has angered the Muslim youth no end, as they had solidly backed the DMK-TMC alliance in the last elections. On the other hand, Hindu Munnani leader Rama Gopalan has easy access to Jayalalitha and is out to criticise the DMK regime on every possible occasion.
Returning to the Coimbatore violence issue, it must be stated here that the Muslim pocket in the city at Ukkadam and Kottai Medu is almosta ghetto. The Sangh Parivar has long been alleging that the Muslim fundamentalists have been using the "safe houses' "ghetto' as a launching pad for their violent activities. The BJP even alleges that the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence is behind some of the groups, supplying them with the deadly RDX explosive via Kerala. The BJP has certainly driven home its point after the three train blasts, reducing the already-shrinking anti-communal space in the public sphere of Tamil Nadu. Times, indeed, are dangerous for Tamil
-шишижжя
LLSSMSS
A regional office Commission of Sri L Jaffna on 8 January Jaffna Regional offic has now established Trincomalee, Batti Amparai, Vavuniy Kandy, Matara and H The Jaffna Regio clared open by Mr. Member of the HRC was also attended by a member of the H Govt. Agent of Jaff Vaithilingam, other members of the armé sentatives of NGOs
Mr. Sutheraling: people who gathered emony said that huma only men’s rights, importantly childre rights. He pointed ou
Awar
Professor Chr has been awar. “Maamanithar Person) by the le Velupillai Pirabal tion of your patri cause of national
Eliezer, who tralia is the chairp of Tamil Associa is the first person 1 Eelam to have b such a title by the
In his letter ( 1997 addressed to Pirabakaran stat pleasure in conve half of our liberal of the Tamil nati preciation and gra tremendous servi dered over the ye ance of our natio gle. We also sa unique and illustr the academic sph our nation proud.
“Dispite bein Australia, you ha scious of the fact of Tamil Eelam a rare degree ol
Nadu. O

TAMIL TIMES 29
|IS (H0MMISSION []FF[H:INTNT
f the Human Rights anka was opened in 1998, Besides the e, the Commission Regional Offices in caloa, Kalmunai, a, Anuradhapura, adulla. inal Office was deIT Suntheralingam, at a ceremony which Mr Javid Yusuf also RC, the Additional na Mr.Thuraiappah ovt officers, senior 'd forces and repreworking in Jaffna. um addressing the for the opening cern rights do not mean and included more 2n's and women's it the importance of
the members of the armed forces to work in a manner that they do not commit any violations.
Outlining the role of the Commission, Javid Yusuf said that the Commission was conceived of as an independent and impartial body to monitor and implement the protection and promotion of human rights. In exercising the function of monitoring the welfare of detainees, the Commission had the power to visit any place of detention without prior notice. The Commission had a very wide mandate ranging from inquring into complaints relating to infringment of fundamental and promoting awareness among the people concerning human rights.
Mr.S Pathmanathan, President of the Council of NGOs in Jaffna said that the opening of the HRCSL office in Jaffna was a significant step forward, and assured the co-operation of the NGOs of Jaffna in the work of the Commission.
d For
Prof. Eliezer
istie Jeyam Eliezer ded the title of ' (Distinguished ader of the LTTE karan “in recogniotic service to the freedom.' is resident in Auserson of Federation tions in Australia, iving outside Tamil een awarded with
LTTE leader.
lateed 19 October Prof. Eliezer, Mr. ed, “I have great ying to you , on beion movement and on my sincere apteful thanks for the ces you have renars for the furtherLal liberation strugute you for your ial achievements in ere which has done
g a long resident in realways been conthat you are a son nd have displayed patriotism and a
sense of belonging to the Tamil nation, which ahve motivated you to render invaluable service to the cause of national liberation and freedom of our people. Having recognised the reasonableness of our cause, you have given expression to the aspirations of our people and justified our struggle for self determination. You have been a relentless campaigner for justice to the Tamil nation and have been making innumerable representations to the highest levels of Australian Government.
"You have been relentless in your pursuit of the right to self determination for the people of Tamil Eelam so as to ensure that they live with freedom and dignity, You have been campaigning with utmost courage and convication for the attainment of this noble objective. We salute you as a great man and a noble patriot.
"According due recognition and honour to great men of service is part of Tamil culture. In keeping with this rich tradition, I have immense pleasure and pride in conferring on you the title of "MAAMANITHAR', the highest national honour of Tamil Eelam, in recognition of your patriotic service to the cause of national freedom.'

Page 30
su TAMILTIMES
CASSEED ADS
First 20 words 10. Each additional word 60p. charge for Box. No. 3. (Wat 17' 2"o extra) Prepayment essential
The Advertisement Manager. Tani Times Ltd. PO Box 1 21 Sutton, Surrey SM13TD
Phone: 0181-644 0972 Fax 0181-241 4557.
MATRIMIONAL
Jaffna Hindu parents of good social standing seek professionally qualified partner for their son, 29, 6, British Citizen with British University degree and Accountancy qualifications, presently working overseas. Apply in confidence with full details and horoscope. M
OO2 C/O anni imeS.
Aunt seeks suitable partner for niece, single lady doctor in UK from a Jaffna Tamil Christian family, a batchelor professionally qualified, 40-43 years. Christians and Catholics will be accepted. Please give all details in correspondence. M 1003 C/O Tarni! Tinnes.
Jaffna Hindu parents seek professionally qualified partner for pretty daughter, 29, 5'3", with a university degree. Send details to Dr. Subramaniam, 680 Serra Street, Suite # W202, Stanford, CA 94.305, USA. Tel: (650) 497 9373 in USA.
Jaffna Hindu parents living in Colombo seek bride below 30 for son 34, French Citizen, and for daughter 25, living in Colombo, groom over 28. Send horoscope, details. M 1004 c/o Tamil Times.
Mother seeks professionally qualified attractive bride for British born Chartered Accountant son, 31. Send photo, details. M 1005 C/o Tamil Times. Jaffna Hindu parents seek professionally qualified partner for computer engineer son, UK permanent resident, working in London, 28, 5o6". Send horoscope, details. M 1006 C/o
annis firmeS.
OBITUARIES
豹線 錢
Mrs. Nithiyaratnam
Nadaraja (Former Asst. Controller of ES tablishmen tS, Treasury) of 38, Dr. E.A. Cooray Mawatta, Wellawatte, Sri Lanka passed away in USA On 11th November 1997. She is survived by her children Nageswary Sivapragasam (Dr. S. Sivapragasam) USA, Dr. Nagendra Nadaraja (Dr. lra Nadaraja) USA, Rajendra Nadaraja (Vasantha) UK, Dr. Raveedra Nadaraja (Dr. Gowri Nadaraja) USA and grandchildren Dr. Sudarshan Sivapragasam, Niranjan Sivapragasam, Chitranjali Sivapragasam, Nishan Nadaraja, Avvai Rajendra, Enga Rajendra, Eeson Rajendra, Garani Shiranthana Nadaraja, Divani Raveena Nadaraja. Funeral took place on Saturday, 15th November 1997.
The members of her family wish to express their sincere thanks to all friends and relations who attended the funeral and sent messages of sympathy and floral tributes. - 15 Howe Road, Hampton, Virginia 23669, USA. Tel: 757 851 3664.
•
Mrs. Maheswary Thiagarajah, of Karainagar, beloved wife of late Dr. Arumugam Thiagarajah, former Principal, Karainagar Hindu College and former MP for Vaddukoddai, beloved mother of Thiagavathy,
adar- Punithavathy, Mangayatkarasi, aja, beloved wife of late N.
Gnanasampanthan and Venu
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

gopal; mother-in-law of Rasiah, Selva ratnam, Sabaratnam, Mohanadevi and Ninalini and grandmother of Yasotha, Bharathan, Shiamala, Ragavan, Meera, Radha, Abiramy and Sangaran expired 29th December 1997 at Colombo. Cremation took place on 31st December, 1997 at Colombo. Tel 0181 2053839 (UK).
Dr. Parimalasoth Doraisamy (nee Kandasamy)
79.f.7933ー f6.72.799Z Beloved wife of Dr. Anandan
Do rais am y of Prasanthi
Nilayam, loving mother of Day. alan (Wimbledon); loving mother-in-law of Jayanthi, doting grandmother of Sathya, Haran, beloved Sister of Pathmasothi Amirthanandan (Weswyn Garden City), late Kamalasothi Alagesan, Sothisrihari (Harlow); sister-in-law of D. Amirthanandan, D. Vivekanandan (Thondamannar), Ratna Sundaralingam (Chennai), late V. Alagesan and Balasaraswathy Sothisrihari, passed away after a brief illness. Her funeral and cremation took place in Chennai on 17th DeCember 1997 and her ashes were sprinkled in the Chitravati River in Puttaparthi on 24th DeCernber 1997.
Parimalasothi ('Chutta' to her family and intimate friends) will be greatly missed by her close family and vast number of friends and her former patients.
Her family wish to thank all friends and relatives who attended her funeral and for all the help rendered during this time of great grief and to all those who sent messages of sympathy. - 'Rangapuri, 374 Longbanks, Harlow, Essex CM 1 8 7PG. Te 1 : 0 1 279 413303.
15 JANUARY 1998
Santhiapilai Tiburtius
BO 1 1.08.33. Died O2. 12.97.
Mr S. Tiburtius, an old boy of St. Patricks College, Jaffna, chose teaching as his career on graduating from the University of Ceylon with a Science Degree in 1956. He was on the staff of Union College, Tellippalai and American Mission College, Udupiddy before doing the Post Graduate Diploma in Education in 1962. He then served at Vada Hindu Girls College, Point Pedro; Vaideeswara College, Jaffna, Methodist Girls High School, Point Pedro and Puloly Boys English School (Velautham Maha Vidyalayam), Point Pedro, He left for Lesotho in 1978 and having served there for a few months, rhoved to Nigeria. He taught at Baptist High School, Shaki; African Church Grammar School and Mount Olivef Grammar School, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. He retired in 1993 and resided in the UK, before going to his home town, Point Pedro where he died after a brief illness.
He leaves behind his grieving wife Gunam, daughter Thamayanthi, sons Thayalan, and Akilan, Son-in-law Praveen Kumar Roy and grandson Neel Prasad.
The members of his family wish to thank all those who sent messages of Condolence and shared in their grief. - Upper Newick Doctors' Residence, Runwell Hospital, Wickford, Essex.
Visiting Madras? Call Kiruba or Ranee for hassle free Holidaying, Shopping, Temple Tours and Safe return. Expect VIP Welcome. Telephone: Madras 6424050

Page 31
-ܚܫܦܩܦܚܝ
15 JANUARY 1998
31st Day Remembrance of Mrs. Dilani Royce
^* :
Entered earthly life : 22.05. 1969 Called to rest 18.12, 1997
We did not see you close your eyes, We did not see you die, All that we knew was that you were gone, Without a last goodbye. it was a sudden parting, Too bitter to forget, All those who loved you, Are the ones who will never forget.
The happy hours we once enjoyed, How sweet their memory still, But death has left a vacant place, This World Can never fill. Your life was one of a kindly deed, A helping hand for others' needs, Sincere and true in heart and mind Beautiful memory left behind.
Fondly remembered and missed by your ever loving husband, parents, sisters and family.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
February 2 Sashdi; Feast of Feb. 21 SLTWG Women's Presentation of Our Lord Front meeting. Tel: 0181 545
Jesus. 3313.
Feb. 4 Karthikai. Feb. 22 Ekathasi; Feast of St. Feb. 5 Feast of St. Agatha. Polycarp.
Feb., 7 EkathaSi. Feb. 24 PirathoSam. Feb. 8 Pirathosann. Feb. 25 Maha Sivarathiri Ash Feb. 10 Thai Poosan. Wednesday. Feb. 11 Full Moon; Feast of Feb. 26 Amavasai. Our Lady of Lourdes. Feb. 28 SLTWG Drop in. Tel:
Of 81 545 3313. Feb. 14 SLTWG Drop in, Tel:
O181 545 3313.
Feb 14 6.00pm Vembadi Old GCSE and Girls' Association (UK) Annual Advanced Level Tuition General Meeting at St. Nicho- in Pure Mathematics and las Church Hall, Church Lane, Mechanics. Evenings and Tooting, London SW17. For de- Weekends. fails e O181 248 6622. Cal O181 395 6542
Feb. 15 Sankadahara Chathurahi; 3.00pm Holy Mass of the Feast of Sri Lanka organised by
the Association of Sri Lankan MEG, နှီးမြိုမြို့ Catholics at St. Sebastian & St MatematCSS Pancras Catholic Church Hay All Levels. Tutor has post lane. Kingsbury, London NW9. graduate qualifications from
A welcome. For details Tel: London University.
3 422 6126. Phone: 0181 575 1369.
 

I AMIL Í MES 31
IN MEMORAM Tenth Death Anniversary
Dr. P. Pushpanathan, who was a private practitioner at Balangoda and Nla va tkuli attained eternity on 27.1. 1988.
He is fondly remembered by his wife Puvaneswary, daughter Krishnie Vanaja, son Balendra, Son-in-law Keerthikumar, grandchildren Hindusha, Krishanthe, Sanjuram and niece Geetha Kaneshanathan. — 73 Somervell Road, South Harrow, Middx. HA2 8TZ, UK.
e O181 248 O325.
భ•
*x»2.i In loving memory of Mrs. Ganeswary Tharmalingam of Konda vil East On the Fifth Anniversary of her passing away on 21.1.93.
Sadly missed and fondly remembered by her loving husband Tharmalingam, children Brabalini, Bremjit and Ranjit, son-in-law Dr. W.N. Linganandhan, daughters-in-law Dr. Vani Bremjit and Shamini Ranjit; grandhildren Abirami, Sathya, Praneela, Praseetha Prashoban Praveen and Anjana. - 32 Anvil Way, North Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 5SZ. Tel 01245 466363.
in loving memory of Mrs. Sivaga ma sunt har y Sitsa pes an on the Third Anniversary of her passing away on 19th January 1995. You were happy and were loving You were joyful and were kind So loving thoughts and memories Will us of you remind Tears and Sorrow haunted us When you went away But your warm and happy memories Now are here to stay.
Fondly remembered and sadly missed by her loving husband Sitsapesan, son Manoharan, daughter Savitri, daughter-in-law Rebecca, sonin-law Varathan and grandchildren Holly, Daniel and Luxmmi. - 6 Cambria Lodge, 2c Oakhill Road, London SW152OU.
in loving memory of Justice Tellippalai Wanam Rajaratnam, retired Supreme Court Judge and Member of Parliament, Colombo on the Fourth Anniversary of his passing away on 15th January 1994.
"Love and Remembrance Last For Ever'.
Sadly missed and dearly loved by his family.

Page 32
32 TAMIL TIMES
Tamil Performing Arts Society
The Tamil Performing Arts Society staged a festival of drama in London on 8th November, at the Winston Churchill Hall, Ruislip. This drama troupe has now firmly established an excellent reputation for both quality and entertainment, not only in the UK but also by their enthusiastic stagings worldwide. The staging in Ruislip was followed by a performance in Walthamstow the next Saturday. The November performances hailed the Society's 25th Drama Festival, not counting other numerous stagings, having set up production outside Sri Lanka in the early nineties, Such an achievement is highly commendable and full credit goes to K. Balendra, his partner in this endeavour and in life Anantharani and their talented troupe.
The two plays performed entirely by children were acted by students of the Brent Tamil School, London. "Malaikalai Ahattriya Moodak Kilavan", based on an old Chinese folk story and Ayalar Theerppu, based on a Tamil folk tale, were imaginatively scripted by Professor Sivasegaram. Both plays, with a moral, mixed drama with music and dance and were performed with much enjoyment by the children. Their performance was a delight. The uplifting music, directed by Venthan, was another high point of these plays. Space does not permit me to list all their names, but special mention must be made of Shalini Balendra, Saritha Balendra, Arjun Thirunavukkarasu and Dayalini Thanabalasingham.
Turning to the adults, Eppo Varuvaro' was scripted by S.M.A. Ram and based on Beckett's "Waiting for Godot'. It was about waiting; human longing for some meaning to come in to their lives, depicting ignorance, exploitation, greed, despair and endless hope. Readers from Brunel University joined the resident troupe in a polished and thought provoking performance,
'Aafrai Kadaththal" was a One-WOman play movingly performed by Anantharani Balendra. It portrayed women's oppression and exploitation by men and one sat transfixed and moved by the portrayal.
The evening closed with a hilarious short play, "Avasarakkararhal', again with a moral, by Mavai Nithyananthan. It was deftly presented by a talented cast and wound up a most enjoyable evening. All plays were brilliantly directed by K. Balendra and ably assisted by Anantharani. The performances confirmed the saying, 'Sirippatharkkalla Nadaham, Ull Nenjinul Sendru lddip
pathatke Nadaham” ( raise laughs, but to kl with its message). I thought, why is it tha Tamil drama, such a commodity, is sadly pared with our show performing arts? Floc Performing Arts Soci ance - miss them at y
Kavitha’s Pro
South London Tamil has earned the Cred students at Arang Natyam. Earlier, Brin and Jane Rasiah Wel Menaka Raviraj, and Malathi Jeyanayagan dent Arni Balasundrat fourth Candidate is Kavitha Sivasubrana Arangetram at the Q Hall on 16th Novemb disciple.
At the outset, besid movements and ste rasikas would have r freshness in Menaka Nattuvangam which manding. (Friends te her summer holidays
As for the repertic Pushpanjali and Ali Contained some fre; which helped to build for the following Va. "Sakiye intha jalam er anam, a well beaten the life of Krishna exhibit her full abhir Her demonstration (
 
 
 
 

15 JANUARY 1998
'rama is not just to "ock on your hearts was left with one our patronage for rare and valuable acking when comof support for other to see the Tamil ty's next performpur perill
Ravi Sanguhan.
mising Debut
School in Croydon it of promoting four etram in Bharata da Selvarajasingam e presented by Smit her colleague Smt presented her stun. The latest and the he vivacious young niam, who had her een Mary's College er, She is Menaka's
9s Kavitha's sprightly ps, knowledgeable oticed a remarkable 's choreography and was crisp and comI me that she spent in Madras),
ire, after the usual rippu, Jathiswaram h strings of jathis 'he necessary tempo nam. This Varnan, adi’ in SankarabharOve theme based on nthused Kavitha to aya skill and jathis. of Krishna's various
exploits in Sancharibhava modes was picturesque. Vocal support by well known Vidwan Manikkam Yogeswaran was adequate and smooth. Muthu Sivaraja's nridanga lead, Kothandapani's violin support and Gnanavaradan's flute added Colour.
In the second half of the programme Kavitha danced with skilful abhinaya, various moods and actions described in the Padams. But in the song Alai Payuthe the stormy "Wave' is not what is intended. The composition on Goddess Sakthi was danced with appropriate Thandava poses. This is Credited to Smt Madhumathi Prakash of Madras, who helped Kavitha when she visited Madras. Incidentally, we come to learn that young Kavitha has been invited to take part in the Annual Dance Festival, conducted at Mahabalipuram by the Government of Tamil Nadu. A rare gesture which should kindle more interest to Kavitha and other young contenders in London.
S.S.S.
Brilliant Violinist Joins Bhavan's Staff.
v /
. :
Balu Raghuram, talented young violinist has joined the teaching staff of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, the prestigious instituteg of lndian Art and Culture in London W14. Balu is a musician who has already made his mark in India, where he has given solo concerts and accompanied many famous musicians. These include the late Maharajapuram Santanam, Mandolin U. Srinivas, Trichur V. Ramachandran, The Bombay Sisters, The Hyderabad Sisters and T. V. Gopalakrishnan. He is a disciple of Ulsoor S. Chandrashekar and Smit Neela Ramgopal.
Balu's bowing and fingering techniques are very special. On a recent lecture/ demonstration visit to Bristol University, he made an impact with his communication skills in demonstrating his instrument and explanations of South Indian Classical Music. He is acclaimed as the finest violinist in UK and Europe.
His violin concert takes place on 21.2.98 at 7pm at The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 4A Castletown Road, London W14 9HQ.

Page 33
15 JANUARY 1998
Lord Shiva's Dance
it was a great pleasure to witness an excellent exposition of Bharatha Natyan by Subadharshini, daughter of Dr. & Mrs. Somasegaram of Bexley, Kent, UK at the London Sivan Temple in Lewisham during the Annual Temple Festival recently.
Bharatha Natyam is the most cherished and valued heritage from our motherland linking our children to our roots both culturally and religiously. Suba as she is fondly called by family and friends is a gifted student of this art form and should be justly proud of her achievement. Despite her busy academic schedule as a third year Dentistry student she showed her total commitment to the development of the London Sivan Kovil by performing for the third year in succession to a packed and appreciative audience.
Under the able guidance of her Guru Ragini Rajagopal who did the Nattuvangam and the vocal accompaniment of
lssaikkuyil Mathini performance enthra the traditional musi known as Malari p. ing Lord as he start: nied by his devotee This was followed b kondar lindha Veddi of total devotion excellent portrayal Lord Shiva, praisin ing in song and dan divine effect of omnipresent effec patham' performed an incarnation of M Suba to display he both expression a extent.
Our thanks are their initiative and & ing her into this gr particularly in a environment. May blessings for her tc
Rathika Shin
Young Rathika, yo & Mrs. Balasingam the teenagers who Chennai), with her fron the ethnic COn, known TV persona
She graduated in Arts College in 199 won awards for mu Crowned Miss Arts joined Sun TV and тиsical prograт She presented thi gers like Malayasia
Sri Lanka Cricket Tour to UK 1998
v Hampshire at Southampton or Somerset at Taunton or Gloucestershire at Bristol (1 day) depending on outcome of B&H Cup qualifying
tinerary JULY Wedi 8 (approx) Arrive in London. Thu 9 - Sat 11 Practice (venue(s) TBC). Sun 12
matches. Tue 14 – Thu 16
Sat 18 - MOI 20 Wedi 22
Fri 24 - Mon 27 Fri 31 - Mon 3 Aug
AUGUST Ved 5 Fri 7 Sun 9
fupe 11
v Somerset at Taunton (3 days). v Glamorgan at Cardiff (3 days). v Worcestershire (1 day) v Leicestershire at Leicester (4 days) v Middlesex at Lord's (4 days).
v ECB XI at Lakenham (1 day). v Northants at Northampton (1 day) v Northants at Milton Keynes (1 day) v Kent at Canterbury or Lancs. at Ol Trafford or Warwicks at Edgbaston (1 day) depending on outcome of NatWest Trophy qualifying matches.
 

TAMIL TIMES 33
to be popularly known as 'Paattukku Paated the audience with tu Rathika' among South Indian fans. Later played in the temple she produced her own version of 'Paatukformed to the emerg- ku Paattu', With film stars appearing as guest artistes. The quality of these prog
Sriskandarajah, the
his journey accompa
round the courtyard. rammes merited them being broadcast on a Keerthanam 'Adik- "Doordharshan' as well.
kai', creating a feeling In 1996, Rathika moved to Vijay TV'
o the Lord. It was and produced her own music-based prog* the Cosmic Dance of rammes known as "Kareoke Sa Re Ga Ma' his virtues and relat- and "Paaduvor Padalam' and has former e, the magnificent and her own production company - 'Sindhu ord Shiva and his Bhairavi Productions'. April 1997 saw her on all beings. The pioneering new progamme - 'Chithirai in praise of 'Durga, Thiruvizha' produced on location in and ther Parvathi, enabled around Madurai. The programme was r talents and skills in based on different themes and broadcast Id finesse to the full daily for a month and this caught the imagination of the viewing public of Tamil Nadu. in mid and late 97 She interviewed famous stars and directors of the Indian Silver Screen. A picture of her interviewing Kamalhasan appears below.
iue to her parents for nthusiasm in channellaceful and elegant art, redominantly western ord Shiva shower His attain greater heights.
A well-Wisher.
es in Chennai
ungest daughter of Mr. of Sri Lanka is one of fled to Madras (now parents to take refuge flict. Today she is a well lity in South India.
Business Studies from 2. While at College she Sic and dance and was She has clocked up over 200 public College. In 1993, she musical programmes and continues to was picked to host the bring glory to her motherland. le Paattukku Paattu. Rathika is the sister of the popular
programme with sin Veena Teacher, Renuka Shriananda of Vasudevan and came Harrow, Middx, UK.
Triangular Tournament Fri 14 (Reserve day Sri Lanka v South Africa at
Sat 15) Trent Bridge.
Sun 16 (Reserve day
Mon 17) England v Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Tue 18 (Reserve day
Wedi 19) England v South Africa at Edgbaston
Thu 20 (Reserve day
Fri 21) Final at Lord's.
Sat 22 - Mon 24 v Hants at Southampton (3
Thu 27 - Mon 31 CORNHILL TEST MATCH
at The Oval.
Tue 1 Sept. Depart.
N.B. The three and four-day matches against First Class Counties will form part of the 1998 Vodafone Challenge.
Matches in bold italics still subject to final confirmation.
The highlights of the tour are a triangular 1 day tournament which involves England, Sri Lanka and South Africa, along with a Test Match at the Oval in London. This is the first occasion when triangular 1 day internationals of this type are to be played in England and the English Cricket Board is confident it will prove to be a great success. Tickets for both the 1 day international and the Test Match are expected to be in demand. Those wishing to purchase these tickets are advised to do so well in advance and contact the UK Representative Dr. Daya Pandita-Gunawardena, 132 Foxley Lane, Purley, Surrey CR8 3NE. TEL: 0181 660 7404 for further information.

Page 34
34 TAMIL TIMES
J. KULENORAN Beddington insurance
Services (Wimbledon) Ltd
157A Hartfield Road, Wimbledon, London SW 19 3J
Tel: O181-5435181 Fax: 0181-543 O728
O Fast Cars
MOTOR Young drivers
O Convictions, etc.
......::ဲို;ို.့်:ို;့််°::&&&်ငံ့ ဎွိ ဎွိ "... O Contents and Buildings HOUSEHOLD O Commercial and Domestic
Funding
:8ಿ: s: O Business Insurance COMMERCIAL Liability
O indemnity, etc.
Fully Computerised Guaranteed Quotes and instant Cover For Motor Vehicles Payment by instalments Available
NTEPESOLSMEEMM
CLASSES IN INDIAN MUSIC, RDANCE, YOGA, DRAMA as & LANGUAGES
Come & Join Bhavan's Courses & Activities 97/98
THE BHAVANCENTRE: Institute of Indian Art & Culture Classes commence on Sat 13 September 97 DIPLOMA & OPEN CLASS OPTIONS Conducted throughout the Week - weekday & weekends Admission open till end of October for Diploma Classes.
COURSES OFFERED
MUSIC: Bengali, Hindustani & Karnatic Vocal, Hindustani Flute. Harmonium, Sitar, Violin, Tabla, Mridangam & Veena.
DANCE: Bharatanatyam & Kathak. DRAMATIC ART LANGUAGES: Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali & Sanskrit. THE ART & ARCHAEoLoGY OF THE INDIAN SUB-conTINENT. YOGA, MEDTATION & PRANAYAMA. Opon Class Admission throughout the year.
THE BHAVAN IS THE LARGEST INSTITUTE IN THE UK FOR INDIAN PERFORMING ARTS & CULTURE.
Bhavan's Outreach Classes in Indian Dance & Music on Mondays at Alperton Community School, Stanley Avenue, off Ealing Road, Wombley HAO 4JE.
VISIT BHAVAN'S BOOKSHOPFOR INTERESTING COLLECTIONS For more details, ring/write to: Academic Director, The Bhavan Centre, 4A Castletown Road, West Kensington, London W149HQ. Tel: 0171-3813086/381 4608 Fax: 01713818758
 
 
 

15 JANUARY 1998
For All Type of Insurance ARM Associates
Home Contents & Building Insurance Specialist
32 Abbots Lane, Kenley, Surrey Te: O1817632221 Fax: 01817632220
Home, Motor, Business Insurance
P. SRINIVASAN
Life Insurance & Pensions Specialist For a Free comparison quote on Term Assurance, please contact:
Ã
0181-763. 2221 Ella
Regulated by Personal Investment Authority for Investment Business only. http://www.p-srinivasan-arm.co.uk
- H
Nathan & Cheva Solicitors
YOUR SATISFACTION ISOUR HAPPINESS We offer you Prompt and Proper Service in all
Legal Matters. Legal Aid Work also undertaken.
Partners: K. Chelva Nayagan LLB, T. Sri Pathna Nathan,
Formor Advocate of Sri Landka)
169 Tooting High Street, London SW170SY Tel: O181-672 18OO Fax: 0181-672 O105
T.S.T. SKY TRAVEL
' We offer you flights on scheduled airlines at a
fair price
' We specialise in fights to Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia,
Singapore, USA, Canada & Australia
* We will gladly refund the price difference if you can convince us that you could have got the same ticket cheaper elsewhere on the same date of purchase.
Please contact Mr. S. Thiruchelvam
Office Residence 255 Haydons Road, 69 Toynbee Road Wimbledon Wimbledon London SW19 8TY London SW208SH Te: O181-5433318 Te: O181-5425140

Page 35
15 JANUARY 1998
6)he Girst & CBest On
WIST US NOW FOR LATES
2C. GOLD
JEWEERES
Thali Kodi, Necklace sets, Pathakkams, Various types of Ear Studs
WE AREAT YOUR SERVICE SEVEN DAYS AWEEK
23O UPPER TOOTING ROAD, TEL: OB1767 5445
W.
(2x3 2 须 2
ਜ਼ੋਰ
WEAREATOBONDED FOR THE
須 須
Call: Tathmabaskar 119 Tooting High stre Te: O181-6 Internet: http://skywings.co.uk E. Mail: bala(Oskywin
SASERVICE AVAILABLE FOR INDIA, USA, CANADA
ANO MANY MORE DESTINATIONS
ALLMAJOR
T-EDIT CARDS MANAGENT
උතු ARLANKA51.
A.
ROYAL JORDANIAN áU-9J) ás 23 va AGENT FOR BRITISH AIRWAYS, EMIRA GULF AIR, BALKAN, MALAYSIAN & OATAR
نهمهم مممممممممممم.
OOTING BROADWAY
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

TAMIL TIMES 35
Condon
R
WIDE RANGE OF STOCKS ALWAYS AWALABLE
nis SJeweller Gln
雛
Jimmikkies, Panchayuthams, Chains, Bangles EtC. EtC...
WE PERFORM THALI POOJA AS WELL
OOTING, LONDON SW 17 7EW FAV)( CO3-7(67 35753 VN xmi.com/Western
2 須 r r
W. 2, 2
*-உ டாக
ROTECTION OF OUR CENS
须
須 须 un, Shankar or ÇDash INSTANT
et, London SW17 OSY
TICKETING 72 9111 (6 Lines) gs.co.uk Mobile: 0850876921, Fax. 0181-672 0951
We are holding seats THROUGHOUT THE YEAR TO ; COLOMBO is MADRAS SINGAPORE
KUALA LUMPUR AUSTRALIA b USA CANADA
) CS2O Open 7 days a Week Es, from 1930 2130hrs AIRWAY

Page 36
SHIPPING - AIR FRE
UNACCOMPANED BAGGAGE – PEFRSONA WEHICLES, MACHI
To COLOMBO AND OTHER W MMA W AGEWT FOR u Passenger Tickets and Unacci ܠܹ¬
»7 Barded by the Civil Aviation Authori
Please Contact Us For Wari To Colombo And Ot Destinat
GLEN CARRIER
14 Allied Way, off Warple W
74 0181 :Telephone كثير Fax: 018 |\< BONDED W
L LakSiri:Sewa, 253/3 Awis SaWella
APPLE AIR
MAIN AGENT foT COLOMBO .
O
British Airways (ATAR لرلاييېږي//
TEL: O181 563 0364
FAX: O18, 7.48 492
BALKAN 5-HTAX KUWATT 375-HTAX
ULF E39 -- TI MAX
|EMIRATES E475 -- TTNAXX o 377 - TTAX Πε
- N - ON REQUEST R
Main Agents for
( BALKAN, gATAR & BA
338A Kings Stree, (సి)
73808 London W60RR
| ||Travel Insurance plus Hotel Reservations
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

IGHT - TRAVEL
EFFECTS, HOUSEHOLD GOODS ERY ETC.
}RLD WIDE DE STINATIONS AIRLANIKA
Impa nied Baggage ཤོ།
for yourfinancial Euriy
ous Discounted Fares her World Wide
ՕՈՏ
S LIMITED
Way, Acton, London W3 ORQ ) 837.9/O181749 O595 (
| 7.40 4229
WAREHOUSE Road, ColOTO 14 Tel: 57556 그 및 5
TRICO INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING LTD
TRICO SHIPPING SCHEDULE
ELBSLLaa0L0L0LKLaa LLLL aLLLL LLLLLLLOLELDLDLLLLCaSLL0LL 0L ELLLLaLLLLLLL0L LLLLLK aLLLLLLL
Wessel Name closing Date Sailing Arrival
PLUS I Stor 25.D1.8B 30,098. 14.02. Punjab Senator DB. O2.98 13,02.9B 2.02.98 Harijim ColorTıbo 22,02.gE! 27.2.9B. 14.03.B
CANADA AUSTRALIA
Trico Shipping — 685 Lansdownlo Av. Llnil 8, 24-26 Cartrick, Suite 22, Toronto, Ont. MBH 39. Tullarie, Tol Free 1-800-GB5 G190 Wictori 3043 Te: A16536 009 Tel. E31339597 C MLLGGH LLLEaaLaLaL mkL LLLLLL aa aaaL HOeG LL LL GMLL LL king facilities where our customers have lhe extra benefil C :king |Filir good,5 iherriselves Wilh Our assistance ! Coffear a frierily and professicinal serviçre at curTipTitiwa rales. Ont Ar goods are in Lur hands. w.: guarantes a safu am efficiEarl deliwry your destination. We also offer two weeks free demurrage to our ilomers in olur böıdc:d WarehCuse in Colorfibi).
L LELLLLLLLLS LLL LLL LLLLLLLL LLLELLL LLLLLLLLS
FOR HA FLOW COMPAW" IN THE INA Trico International Shipping Ltd nit 4, Building "C"The Business Centre at Wood Green,
Clarendon Rd,London N226XJ Te: 08-8888787 Fax: 0188895445