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15AUGUST 1998
Tani
TIMES
ISSN 0266 - 44 88 Vol. XVII No. 8 15 AUGUST 1998
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A Bunch of Hostile States? 03
Probe into Mass Grave O4 Sinhala Commission Report 06 Targetting a Minister O8 Rajiv Murder-Arafat's Warning 09 Peace Council initiative 10 Govt’s New Strategy 12 Cudgel Thy Brains 17 . Tamil Conscience at Stake 20 Sonia's Agitational Stride 21 Jain Report, A Disappointment 23 Lankan Refugees in India 26 Ideology, Class & Gender 28 Readers Forum 30
The tenth sun orporation (SAAR profile occasion, w and Pakistan, takin and Nawaz Sharif
Sharif made it til the modalities of r could not be decid have created are sti turn of the Mayors ably grimaced at th desist from an arm It was clear frol not directly raise t Colombo summit. H Bangladesh prime 1 ambience” and “avo fear of arms race w Gayoom, who usual for "greater vigilanc two leaders who ha
The impasse in following the blasts Pandits (who are H selecting and killing Pradesh, killing more and defence ministe on the line of actual and battles are now daily basis. Apparen the two countries wa war is on. George ti Kashmir would one post if the attacks c Farooq Abdullah ha power in Srinagar, t the Vajpayee-Sharif
While the Indian comprehensive" bas priority. Sharif has m essential for the res already harped on du Talbott, who visited seem to have budge ruins, a far worse S Pakistan expects at 1 etary Fund aid to co The talks betwee Sharif meet again un Africa for the NAM burg would be the pl at Colombo.
As a multilateral tious bilateral issues in Colombo, such i. Asia. In the last fiv hotbed of several ty
 
 

TAMIL TIMES 3
CHOF HOSTILESTATES ENOYNEIGHBOURS)
nit of the South Asian Association of Regional Co) held at Colombo in the third week of July was a high h the heads of states of the region's two big powers, India part. However, with the talks between Atal Bihari Vajpayee oming a cropper, the summit's profile took a nosedive. at the outcome of his talks with Vajpayee was "zero". Even sumption of talks between officials of the two countries d! The sound of the nuclear blasts and the distrust they in the air. Come, August 6 and 9 this year and it was the of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki justifilatest of blasts and made appeals to India and Pakistan to race in the subcontinent. the beginning that the smaller states in the region would le Pokhran and Chagai nuclear blasts issues during the owever, Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga and ninister Sheikh Hasina referred to them as "affecting the dable". Nepal prime minister GP Koirala made it clear that as pervasive in the region and even Maldives president ly toes the Indian line, talked of "new concerns", calling 2'. With the result that only Vajpayee and Sharif were the i nothing to say on the blasts the Indo-Pak talks can be attributed to several reasons: , the Kashmiri militants have stepped up attacks on the indus) in Doda and other places in the Jammu region, at will. They even struck close to Shimla at Himachal than 30 persons. Indian home minister Lal Krishan Advani George Fernandes made personal visits to step up vigil control in Kashmir. A number of cross border encounters taking place between Indian and Pakistani troops on a tly, the weekly hotline link between the defence chiefs of s not resorted to for a while. The threat of a low-intensity lks tough as usual, claiming that the Pakistan-occupied day be liberated. Advani even made an offer to quit his id not stop and the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister d to cut short his London stay to return to the seat of le town which even witnessed a strike in protest against alks at Colombo. delegation in Colombo has been insisting on a "wide and s for talks, Pakistan wants Kashmir to be accorded top ide it clear that an international mediatory effort would be olution of the Kashmir issue, something which he has ing his meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe oth New Delhi and Islamabad last month. Sharif does not 1 from his demand though his country's economy is in tuation than India's. A financial emergency is on and ast part of the US 1.2 billion dollars International Monle to its rescue by next month.
the two countries would have to wait till Vajpayee and er the benign gaze of president Nelson Mandela in South lmmit later this month. It is to be seen whether Johannesform for the breakthrough which had failed to take place
orum, SAARC has had the tradition of avoiding contenetween its member-states. However, as it has happened ues have a direct bearing on the atmosphere in South decades, south Asia has proved that it is as much a s of bleeding conflicts as any other region in the world.

Page 4
4 TAM TIMES
And any multilateral forum will ultimately have to address this issue.
SAARC has had a tough existence in the last decade and a half. The Indo-Lankan standoffs over the Sri Lankan Tamil issue during the early and middle eighties did affect the SAARC functioning asal issues discussed in the multilateral forum did have a relationship with the Tamils issue which was (and perhaps still is) decisive in determining the ties between the two countries. With main and contentious issues being kept out, SAARC became a formal and titular meeting place where the warring states would put on a show of public solidarity, a farcical display of selfdeception. The Indo-Pak nuclear blasts have ripped off this mask and even the combined dramatic efforts of all the players involved could not keep the play going well this time.
Apart from the tensions in the Indo-Pak ties, the twists and turns of ties between India and Bangladesh have been quite apparent. The assumption of office of the Awami League paved the way for the resolution of the Ganga-Padma river water conflict between the two countries manifesting an improvement in relations between the two countries, but tensions seem to be building up following the recent refusal by Bangladesh to hand over Anup Chetia, the chief of United Front for the Liberation of Assam (ULFA), to India. ULFA is ingaged in a violent campaign of secession from India. Chetia was arrested in Dhaka a few months ago for overstaying under forged passports. Though Bangladesh has formally told India long ago that it would not allow its terrority to be used by militant groups operating in the north-eastern Indian states, it has kept Chetia within its fold. The arrested ULFA leader now faces the too-obvious charge of illegal overstay and possesion of foreign currencies.
And as for another member of SAARC, Nepal has witnessed a series of agitations last month against the setting up of an Indian border checkpost within its territory! The relationship between Bhutan and Nepal has long been acerbic because of the savage treatment meted out by the Bhutanese government to people of Nepalese origin living there.
If SAARC wants to become a forum for ensuring peace, and develop
ment in the south A contentious issues
at least an indirect p It is necessary to timeframes within
putes, ethnic confli curity issues in
thrashed out so th social issues can be The samaller regio Lanka, Maldives, may wish and agre opment, but given t manship indulged Pakistan over the blasts, the bleeding mir and the high le tween these two s
The probe by t Commission into til ence of mass grave the northern Sri lank has resulted in the cision to call for the alleged mass grave gation.
This comes aft TSunderalingam m dier at the Welika to obtain more in charge. Soldier Som sentenced to death murder of Jaffna sc Kumaraswamy a claimed during the that 400 Tamil civili buried in a mass g in northern Jaffna.
An HRC offici ance would be obt ing the grave and 1 study on the rema sistance of the A would also be sou The Human Ri discussed the situ the statement mac in the Krishanthi consequent to his and the prelimina conducted by the a press release issu Chairman of the H mission.
The release fu Rights Commissi

15 AUGUST 1998
sian region, these vill have to find ace in its agenda. 'ork out specific which border dists and related sethe region are ut economic and tackled head on. |al states like Sri hutan and Nepal
to such a develhe game of brinkin by India and
recent nuclear problem of Kashvel of distrust betates since inde
pendence, it would be difficult to state whether these two would ever agree
to such an agenda.
At present, despite the much publicised periodic gatherings of the heads of states of its member countries which provide opportunities for group photogrphs which quickly find their way into the front pages of newspapers, SAARC does not give even the appearance of an association of friendly neighbours. In fact it looks more like a bunch of hostile states suspicious and even fearful of each other and whose leaders at least for the duration of their summits engage in the pretence of regional coorporation.
mandorfulProbe Mass Grave in Jaina
he Human Rights he reported existat Chemimani in kan town of Jaffna Commission's deexcavation of the for a full investi
er Commissioner et a convicted solda prison recently formation on the aratne Rajapakse,
for the rape and hoolgirl Krisanthy nd others, had
High Court trial ans were killed and ave at Chemmani
il said UN assistained in excavatnaking a scientific ins, while the asttorney General ght.
ghts Commission tion arising from e by the accused umaraswami case being found guilty y investigations Commission, said ed recently by the Iman Rights Com
her said: "Human in reaffirmed the
need to investigate this matter further and will collect more information, while at the same time contacting the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva and the ICRC with regard to expertise, funding and logistical support.
The HRC is simultaneously contacting the Attorney General and other relevant authorities in Sri Lanka to ensure that investigations are facilitated and that the integrity of evidence is protected, press release added.
In the meantime it is learnt that the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has been granted permission by the Attorney General to take the first convict Somaratne Rajapakse to Jaffna to visit the alleged Chemimani mass grave, according to official sources.
The CID which recorded a statement from Rajapakse on July 23, requested permission from the Commissioner General of Prisons and the Attorney General to take the convict to the site. The CID had also recorded statements from another convict in the same case in connection with the allegation made by Rajapakse. Retired High Court judge, T. Sundaralingam. on behalf of the HRC visited t prison and recorded a statement fro: Rajapakse.
The Human Rights Commissil comprising former Supreme Cou Judge, O. S. M. Seneviratne (Cha: man), Sarvodaya Leader Dr. A.

Page 5
15 AUGUST 1998
Ariyaratne, former Chairman of the University Grants Commission Prof. Arjun Aluvihare, retired HCJudge, T, Sundaralingam and attorney Javed Yusuf, on July 13 initiated investigations into the allegations on an independent capacity.
The Human Rights Commission also revealed that it will further expand its services in the peninsula with additional personnel, where presently their team in Jaffna comprises only one investigator.
Meanwhile, it is reported that the members of the Human Rights Commission will leave for Jaffna soon, with a forensic expert. A number of forensic scientists from the University of Colombo are expected to join this team.
Amnesty International in a statement on 3 August urged the Sri Lankan authorities to seek the assistance of international forensic experts with experience of exhumations of bodies be invited to assist local experts in the exhumations, if the existence of dead bodies at Chemmani is confirmed by the preliminary investigations.
Amnesty International requested the Attorney General of Sri Lanka to allow the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRC) to jointly carry out preliminary investigations of the site at Chemmani, Jaffna with the help of leading forensic experts in the country. Chemmani is alleged to be a place where scores of bodies of people who "disappeared' in mid-1996 have been clandestinely buried.
The investigations arose from detailed statements by members of the security forces recently convicted in connection with a rape, abduction and murder of a school girl, two of her relatives and a neighbour. Their bodies had been recovered from this site. It was at the end of their trial that revelations about many more bodies having been disposed of at this place had been made by one of the members of the security forces.
Amnesty International appealed to the Attorney General to ensure that the CID and HRC investigations were properly conducted. The organization also appealed to the Attorney General to ensure that the investigations of the site, including any exhumation, were impartially and independently
conducted in such dence collected court. It suggest invite internation with specific exp ing and examining the specific type quired at Chemma In a report p Amnesty Interna found reliable ev
that bodies of as I
"disappeared" in been disposed of i used wells and sh Amnesty Inte out that it is the ex forensic experts ar the exhumation of of each other in such as lavatory p. of the most co exhumations to ca zation therefore u this is confirmed investigations, foi experience of exh in such condition sist local experts i Amnesty Inte pealed to the At ensure that, while is sought, all neces to safeguard the containing the m ing by ensuring r curity.
In the meantim activists and Tan have urged the al the area in which grave is reported that any available be tampered with. pressed that pers the security forces of the area might tigation by tampe Vasudeva Nanayal ing to the Lanka S has already writ Minister of Defe: issue at the Parlia tive Committee m issue which sho broadly,” said Mr.
However, the military denied tha would in any way proper conduct of "There is fear amo is unfounded, the in uncovering the

TAM TIMES 5
a way that any eviwas admissible in ed the government al forensic experts erience of excavatg in situ relevant to of exhumation reni, ublished last year, tional said it had idence suggesting many as 600 people the area may have in lavatory pits, disallow graves. rnational pointed perience of leading ound the world that bodies piled on top restricted places, its and wells, is one mplex forms of rry out. The organirges that, if indeed by the preliminary rensic experts with umations of bodies s be invited to asin the exhumations. rnational also aptorney General to forensic expertise sary steps are taken area suspected of ass graves, includound-the-clock se
e, human rights and lil political parties uthorities to secure the alleged mass to be situated so evidence would not Fears have been exonnel belonging to who are in control sabotage the invesring with evidence. kkara, MP belongSama Samaja Party, ten to the Deputy nce to take up the amentary Consultateeting. "This is an uld be discussed . Nanayakkara. spokesman for the ut the security forces interfere with the the investigations. ong the public. This army is interested 2 truth, said Major
General Sarath Munasinghe in an interview with the Uthayan, a Jaffna based Tamil newspaper.
The government will not sweep the alleged Chenmani mass grave issue under the carpet, Justice, Constitutional Affairs, Ethnic Affairs and National Integration Minister and Deputy Finance Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said.
The Attorney General has discussed arrangements for visiting Chen mani with Prof. Chandra siri Niriella, a forensic expert from the Ruhunu University, the Government Analyst and the CID.
The government is committed to investigate the incident, the Minister said. Citing the Krishanthi KumaraSwamy case as an example of the government's determination to seek out the truth and bring those responsible for the crime to justice, Prof. Peiris said,”The AG shifted the court proceedings to Colombo since it was felt that the environment in Jaffna was not conducive and safe. It was a trial at bar without a jury. But the previous regime did not even initiate legal action in such cases, let alone the outcome.'
The area of the suspected mass grave is now cordoned off and is guarded by police, military spokesman Brigadier Sunil Tennakoon said.
SRANKAS ETHNIC (CRSS ANDNATIONAL SECURITY
By Rohan Gunaratna
ISBN 955-8093-00-9: 428 pages with illustrations published by South Asian Network On Conflict Research
Distribution : Wijitha Yapa Bookshop,
2 Galle Road, Colombo 4
Sri Lanka
3, Sri Lanka
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Page 6
6 TAMIL TIMES
A Constitution Ba On "Buddhist ideo
he abrogation of the Indo-Lanka Accord of July 1987, repealing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the de-merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces, apology and payment of compensation by the British Government for committing genocide against the Kandyan Sinhalese, formation of an Independent Development Authority with sufficient funds and powers to develop the Kandyan areas, setting up of a permanent Sinhala Human Rights Commission to protect the Sinhala people, rejection of the present government's devolution proposals, the reassertion that Sri Lanka has been and will always be a unitary state, not Supporting any political party which has an open or secret alliance with the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) of which S Thondaman is the leader, and the enactment of a Constitution based on Buddhist ideology are some the main recommendations contained in the recently released first part of the final report of the Sinhala Commission.
Political analysts regard the recommendations of the Commission as representing an agenda for the continuation of the ongoing ethnic conflict rather than a prescription for peace.
The government should take the findings of the Sinhala Commission report into consideration and act in order to protect the Sinhalese and the Buddhists, Said the Ven. Madihe Panghnaseeha Sangha Nayaka of the Amarapura Nikaya.
The Sinhala Commission presented the first part of its final report to the public 28 July. The report by the Sinhala Commission was presented to the Mahanayake Theras of the three Nikayas at the Dalada Maligawa week earlier,
The report states that the IndoLanka Accord was signed under duress and accompanied by threats. The recommendations also urge the consideration of ways and means of having a new constitution for the coun
try. The Sinhala recommendation the people not t any party in alli because its leade Government to ern and Easter LTTE.
One of the v( Sinhala Commi luwawe Sobitha ' behalf of the Ja which appointe said that the pr tion of powers ernment under Kumaratunga p framework for th separate state of by the Tamil Tig proposals, a mer, the East is calle the Tamils territo third of the coun as a Tamil homel land rights in th ern provinces fir living in the Dist living in the reg the country unc ment will ensure ever get an inch of Sri Lanka. " recipe for the se try and the creat of Eelam, Sobit Rev. Sobitha Of the CWC S daman has bee and use the tw. ties in the cou) ance with him, parties have b Buddhist of thi says that if the are allocated ur north and east, ers also have unit of their O Thondaman op thern and east be handed ove to his LTTE. " LTTE is know

15 AUGUST 1998
Commission, in its , also called upon vote for and reject nce with the CWC, has called upon the and over the North
Provinces to the
cal front-men of the ssion, Ven. Maduhera, who spoke on hika Sangha Sabha l the Commission, oposals for devoluby the present gov'resident Chandrika rovide the perfect e establishment of a Eelam as demanded ers. According to the ger of the North and d for, and this gives rial control over onetry to be established and. The claim to any 2 Northern and Eastst goes to the people rict and next to those ion. The division of er such an arrangethat no Sinhalese will of land in one-third he proposals are a paration of the counon of a separate State a Thera said. added that the leader umyamurthi Thonable to manipulate major political partry. By seeking allithe leaders of these :trayed the Sinhala country. Thondaman Muslims and Tamils ts of their own in the the plantation worksery right to have a in in the upcountry. hly says that the norrn provinces should to Prabhakaran and he true intent of the by all the people, he
said.
The Sinhala Commission has made the following recommendations: 1 (a) calls upon the government to set up an Independent Development Authority with wide powers to develop the areas comprising the former Kandyan Kingdom and rehabilitate the Sinhala people living there, the most disadvantaged people in the country today.
(b) see that the Temples and Devales in these areas have their lands and appurtenances and amenities restored to them and they be quieted in possession thereof and at special Judicial Officers of the status of a District or High Court Judge, be appointed to inquire into and summarily determine all claims to such lands made by Temples and Devales or individuals. Appeals made against orders made by such Special Judicial Officers to be disposed of within a year of such appeals.
2) see that funds be made available by the Government to the Independent Development Authority without delay, to enable it to carry out the task of development and rehabilitation expeditiously.
3) calls upon the British Government to make amends and apologise - to the Sinhala people and pay Substantial compensation for:
(a) breaking a solemn International Treaty (Kandyan Convention) entered into by its predecessor with the representatives of the Sinhala people, to, inter alia, protect the Buddha Sasana 'Religion of Budhoo'.
(b) conducting campaigns of genocide against the Kandyan people, destroying their livelihood and depopulating their villages.
(c) expropriating and grabbing without compensation the ancestral lands of the Kandyan Sinhalese and selling them for nominal prices to foreigners among whom were their own officials.
(d) utilizing the forced labour of the Kandyan people and imposing special taxes on them for the construction of the roads required for the foreign owned plantations.
(e) causing irreparable environmental degradation by large scale clearing of forests in the Kandyan aC2S.
(f) bringing in and settling an alien people (South Indian labour) in the lands expropriated and seized and

Page 7
15 AUGUST 1998
thereby causing severe political problems for the independent Governments of Sri Lanka.
4) Ensure that funds made available by the British Government are paid directly to the Independent Development Authority.
5) call upon the Government to formally abrogate the Indo-Lanka Accord in view of the secret agreement therein, known only to Tamil political parties and unknown to the majority of the people that the merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces was not to be a temporary one but in fact a permanent one, as the provision made to hold a referendum on the face of the Accord was for the purpose of deceiving the vast majority of the people of this country and not to be acted upon. This makes the Accord void ebb ebb initio and of no effect. Besides the Accord was signed under duress and threats.
6) Call upon the Government to repeal the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and the Provincial Councils Act and to rescind forthwith the temporary merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces all of which were steps taken in order to implement the Indo-Lanka Accord.
7) Call upon the Sinhala people to reject and not vote for or Support any party that is in alliance or has a secret or open agreement with any communal party, whose agenda, secret or otherwise, is the creation of a federal or separate state in Sri Lanka.
8) call upon the Sinhala people not to vote for and reject any party that is in alliance with or is secretly or openly supporting the CWC because its leader has called upon the Government to hand over the Northern and Eastern Provinces to the LTTE for ten years as a separate entity and is thereby advocating separatism in this country.
9) Call upon the Sinhala people to shed all differences and unite to safeguard their rights, protect the territorial integrity of our country and ensure a bright and prosperous future for themselves as well as all citizens of Sri Lanka.
10) Call upon the Government not to amend or pass any laws to facilitate or allow persons who failed to get Sri Lankan citizenship under the Srima-Shastri Agreement to obtain such citizenship now.
11) ensure that Article 157A of the
Constitution is sti 12) reiterate a has always been a its strict legal sens to see that it remai 13) declare an whole of Sri Lanki of all its citizens a it shall be recogni sive possession or ethnic communit group.
14) take step there is no divisio for political or ot the basis of ethnic 15) consider w: having a new Cor country. In the ch this country in the may be necessary Constitution. But S must be drawn up the whole people ti egates specially ap purpose alone. I re-establish social mony together wit bility once again in have to design a p in consonance with philosophy on whic governance of our incursions of the alists. This calls for
(a) namely the our political institut place the adversari duced by the British
Veteran EROS
Rajee spent a full
central prison at M local court directe July 24. Shankar ha by Airport Customs charge of possessi rency worth more t Shankar had Severa Indian intelligence,
forward to help hi. about to be charged His release, in any ( nal any respite for Three Lankan Tam Krishnan of Tal Robinson of Jaffna at Pamban shores
taken to the Manda
 

ctly enforced. Sri Lanka is and Unitary State (in 2) and take steps is so for all time. affirm that the is the homeland ld that no part of ed as the excluhabitation of any y or linguistic
to ensure that n of the country ner purposes on ity. ys and means of stitution for the allenges facing 21st Century, it to have a new uch Constitution after consulting hrough their delpointed for that f we desire to peace and harh economic stathis country, we olitical structure Buddhist Social ch was based the country until the western colonitwo basic steps: restructuring of
ions So as to re
al system introwhich has been
TAMIL TIMES 7
the bane of our country, by one where co-operation between the various groups is made the basis for governance in accordance with the principle enunciated by the Buddha in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta. Ananda, so long as the Vajji princes assemble and disperse in harmony and unity, carry out in harmony and unity the affairs of the Vajji country, the furtherance of their welfare and prosperity is to be expected, not their decline;
(b) the adoption of an economic system which will ensure a more equitable distribution of the country's wealth so as to provide at least the basic human needs to every member of our society.
16) see that those Sinhala people who in the recent past have been driven out of the North and East are resettled in their former habitat and restored to their political and civic rights in full.
17) establish a Permanent Sinhala Human Rights Commission to keep a watch and review of all developments affecting the Sinhala people in particular and the nation in general and to take suitable steps in regard to any action tending to adversely affect the Sinhala people and the nation and also to further and advance the cause of the Sinhala people and the nation. Such a Human Rights Commission consisting of three persons may be appointed by the President of the National Joint Committee as persona designata and this could be approved by the National Joint Committee. O
leader Shankar year inside the adras before a his release on
ld been arrested officials on the ng foreign curhan RS 54 lakh. l friends in the Dult IO One Carme n when he was with an offence. ase, did not sigLankan Tamils. ls - Thangaraj, aimannar and - were arrested on July 29 and pam camp.
Rajiv Case Documents to Delhi
Translated documents of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case weighing more than two tonnes were sent by train to Delhi, where the Supreme Court would begin hearing on August 24 into the appeal filed by those convicted. The documents had been translated by a 100-strong team of the Madras High court in just over four months. In the meantime, the Amnesty International has denied reports that it was sending lawyers to defend the 26 accused in the case now facing death sentence. It is also reported that Sri Lankan Tamil expatriates living in western countries have collected a staggering sum of Rs. 13 million to pay for the defence lawyers appearing in the appeal hearing on behalf of the convicted persons.

Page 8
8 TAM TIMES
Why is Minister Ma
Being Targeted
Jehan Perera
lthough the Parliamentary complex is an impressive edifice, the proceedings within it are some
times not edifying. The no-confidence motion against Minister Mangala Samaraweera did little credit to the supreme repository of the "people's sovereignty” that die hard nationalists are loath to see change. The manner of the debate was less than politically or intellectually uplifting for the most part. The subject matter of the debate, and that too for a whole day, was an offense to a country locked in desperate crisis. There are so many issues of greater moment to the country than the use of a credit card by a government minister.
Just two examples will suffice. Since August 1995, the government has been struggling to obtain the concurrence of the opposition to change the constitution so that it can better reflect the political and ethnic realities in the country. Although the government has received international praise for its efforts, there has been no corresponding goodwill to it from the opposition. For over 15 months there has been a convulsive military struggle, to open the road to Jaffna, so much so that it has been called the "highway of death'. These are just two among the host of the pressing problems that the country faces at this time, and which directly affect the well-being of the nation.
Ironically, among all the politicians in parliament, it is Minister Samaraweera who has been in the forefront addressing the most pressing issue in the country. As the Convenor of the government's Sudu Nelum movement he has ensured that a significant amount of grassroots level work has been done by the Sudu Nelum movement to spread the message and ethnic harmony among the masses of people. Within the constraints of the government's "war for peace' strategy, Minister Samaraweera has also given his support to the peace efforts of non-governmental organisations.
The peace cara ern districts, all-is paigns, building O public library and e university and high north and south, h Sudu Nelum's own war hysteria did country, despite the vestments in the w insistent message o movement that ther political solution tc
Shameful Debate
Yet Minister M weera and his cre worth $ 5000 took opposition UNP's ter and his colleagu were Ministers befo in millions of dollar penditures incurrec of $5000 maximul country a day in the PP Devaraj oft the crux of a respo the problem in Pa UNP had gone to "The Minister has penditure. The Min must be accepted,' As anyone who ha ganisation knows, function without a directors, and the government.
The line up of bate, and their c gests that the mo politan mainstreal seems to have bee stead a case of th dog appears to be in the absence of ership within the parliament was qi references to the p ple being a key in points against the UNP members col up into a state of tion over the $500
 

15 AUGUST 1998
an in the southand poster camthe new Jaffna ..changes between school students, ve been some of activities. Perhaps lot overtake the much greater inur, because of the the Sudu Nelum must finally be a the conflict.
Mangala Samaradit card that was precedence in the mind. The Minises, and those who re him, have dealt s. But here the exon a credit card m value, cost the life of Parliament. he CWC explained nsible approach to rliament, but the far to accept it. explained the exister's explanation said Mr Devaraj. worked in an orno institution can basic trust in its ame holds true of
peakers at the dentributions, sugʻerate and cosmowithin the UNP marginalised. Intail wagging the manifesting itself constructive leadrty. The debate in te shameful, with ivate lives of peorument of Scoring pponent. How the d work themselves ighteous indignacredit card, when
they have not been able to satisfactorily resolve even the Wijepala Mendis issue is a mystery.
On the other hand, the reason for taking up the no-confidence motion against Minister Samara weera is hardly a mystery. In today's parliament there are many members who, in the public mind, are believed to have been involved in multi-million dollar rackets and involvement in murders. They would, obviously enough, make a more relevant target for no-confidence motions. But no one has dared to suggest a no-confidence motion against them.
It seems that Minister Samaraweera was singled out for a motion of no-confidence for a special reason. A motion of no-confidence against an individual is a very personal matter. It can evoke a personalised response. This explains why the impeachment motion against President Premadasa in 1991 failed. Many of those who initially agreed to sign the petition got cold feet. They feared personal retribution of a terrible kind.
But with Minister Samaraweera there was no such fear because there is no viciousness that has been seen in him. In Sri Lankan politics today, which has created its black cats and liberation tigers, non-viciousness is a leadership quality that needs to be appreciated and given pride of place.
Taking Stock
Perhaps more than any othe1 prominent politician in the country. Mangala Samaraweera also represents the non-racist openness of a new generation of Sri Lankans to the emerging world of the 21st century. When thinking of a solution to the ethnic conflict, Sri Lankans should be thinking in terms of the future trends in the world, and not in terms of the Mahavamsa of Sinhala nationalists and cadjan fences of Tamil nationalists. KL.
But while time flows on, too many of us in this country are caught in the past. These are the aspects of the Sinhala Commission report that Minister Samaraweera said will be relegated to the "dustbin of history'. Despite the wrath this statement caused among Some groups, he spoke the truth.
There is a movement of human consciousness towards global unity, (continued on next page)

Page 9
15 AUGUST 1998
JAIN COMMISSION RE
Arafat's Repeated War
of Potto Ki Raji
Vinay Kumar
he Final Report of the Jain Commission of Inquiry has devoted one full volume to the depositions of key Government officials, former Prime Ministers, former Foreign Secretaries but only indicated that the possibility of foreign hand behind LTTE in the assassination cannot be ruled out.
The report has raised several questions, touched various aspects but left them vague and unanswered without coming to any conclusion, giving the impression that it has bitten off more than it can chew.
It has suggested further examination of the possibility of CIA- MOSSAD links with the LTTE, the track record of CIA, Rajiv Gandhi's views on refuelling and on regional security system, his utterances against the policy and programmes pursued by the U.S. contrary to India's national interests and the strong probability of Rajiv Gandhi coming back to power and the emergence of India as Third World leader and leader of Non Aligned Movement.
The final report has also found the information furnished by the PLO Chairman, Mr. Yasser Arafat, as “genuine' and left it to the Government to take action it may think proper. According to the Palestine Ambassador
here, the Preside convinced of exis onal plot to assas and also of the po, manifesting itself The Palestine dia was called to ternal Affairs for vember 5, 1997. T been in India foi had warned Rajiv to his life.
"The Ambass Rajiv Gandhi was about who could l There was a ger possible sources c context, Mossad LTTE had been r bassador added th formation availab based on reports r India and from sc Europe, the Pales any specific inf would carry out and how it woul The Ambassado1 had the impressi Gandhi was awal his life, as he hac the Ambassador t similar informatio ume III, Page 90)
(Continued from page 8) of which we too must be a part, even as we value our unique cultures, or we will truly end up in the dustbin. This may explain why, at the grassroots level, the Sinhala Commission report attracts little or no attention. The simple fact is that the people know that the report and its conclusions will not solve their problems.
As the country's main opposition party, the UNP needs to use the aftermath of the debate in Parliament take stock of itself and the Solutions it is offering the people and the country. It has a large number of parliamentar
ians of stature an its leader Ranil W why is their voice Being constru of conflict requir courage and givin Unfortunately, the taking the easy w of contentious iss come up with the of its alternative devolution packag no-confidence mc ter Samaraweera ( dence in its abilit from the chaff.
 
 

TAMIL TIMES 9
nings
nt, Mr. Arafat, was ence of an internatisinate Rajiv Gandhi ssibility of the threat
in South India.
Ambassador to Inthe Ministry of Exdiscussions on Nohe Ambassador has nine years and he Gandhi of the threat
ador said that Shri not specifically told be behind the threat. eral discussion of f danger and in this , the CIA and the mentioned. The Amat although the inle at that time was eceived from within ources in Israel and tinians did not have ormation on who the threat or when d be implemented. also said that he on that Shri Rajiv e of the threats to then mentioned to hat he had received n separately.” (Vol
i intellect, not least ickremesinghe. But
; not heard? ctive in a situation es commitment and g a place to be able. ; UNP Seems to be ay out on a number ues. Its inability to "third instalment' o the government's e and its effort at a tion against Minislo not inspire confiy to sift the wheat O
On the difficulties in cracking international conspiracies, the final report said: "The task to find as to where and when and by whom the conspiracy was hatched and how the conspiracy was to be executed is very difficult, almost impossible to unravel, as neither the conspirators nor their aides would come forward. It is only when their actions and activities come to light at a distant point of time and such persons are apprehended, it may be possible that they may unravel the conspiracy.'
Relying upon the testimony of Mr. G. S. Bajpai, former Secretary (Security), the Commission said that he appeared to be "truthful and straightforward." Further, Mr. Bajpai revealed that what Mr. Arafat actually told Mr. Chandra Shekhar, the then Prime Minister, was that the CIA, Mossad and the LTTE were behind the plot to kill Rajiv Gandhi. It got further support, strength and corroboration as on June 4, 1991, a cypher message was sent by the Cabinet Secretariat from the headquarters to all its field units for identifying and for tasking all such sources who could possibly get any clues on LTTE and other Sri Lankan Tamil groups and their links with the West Asian terrorist groups, and the units were further tasked to find out if any approaches have been made by the LTTE and other Sri Lankan militant groups to major terrorist outfits. (Vol. III, Page 163).
However, Mr. Justice Jain looks peeved over the deposition of Mr. Chandra Shekhar. “From the manner of his deposition, I am constrained to observe that Shri Chandra Shekhar has withheld some information may be on account of foreign relations as stated by him in a different context.” (Vol. III, Page 162)
Coming back to Mr. Arafat's information on the threat to Rajiv Gandhi's life, the report noted that the then Foreign Secretary, Mr. Muchkund Dubey had called the Palestine Ambassador on June 6, 1991 and talked to him in detail regarding Mr. Arafat's warning to Rajiv Gandhi against the plot to assassinate him.
"The Palestine Ambassador had talked to Shri Gandhi towards the end of February in 1991 and again in the middle of April. On each of these two occasions, President Arafat had specific information justifying apprehensions regarding Shri Gandhi's life and

Page 10
10 TAMIL TIMES
had instructed his Ambassador here to talk to Shri Gandhi. Again, one week before the assassination, President Arafat had called the Palestine Ambassador here and had expressed his anxiety over threat to Shri Gandhi's life after seeing him and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi coming so close to the crowds in election meetings.” (Vol. III, Page 12) The Ambassador claimed that during Mr. Gandhi's Prime Ministership, he used to keep him informed from time to time of all such movements and there was a two-way exchange of information. This came to an end after Mr. Gandhi ceased to be the Prime Minister in 1989.
However, when Mr. Dubey asked the Ambassador if he would assist in following some of the leads given by him, he became evasive. "He said that while he would assure us of all possible assistance, he had at present no concrete information and would let us know as soon as he had any concrete evidence.... He kept on repeating that he and his President knew people who were out to destabilise India and make it weak and vulnerable.'
Running through Volume III, Mr. Arafat's apprehension also finds mention in the information given to the Commission by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. She stated that President Arafat had sent messages to Rajiv Gandhi through the Palestine Mission in India, saying that they had learnt of threats to her husband's life.
In the information furnished to the Commission, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi said: "This was reconfirmed to me and my children personally by President Arafat when he met us soon after my husband's funeral. There were several occasions when he received similar information from other quarters. His immediate reaction on getting these warnings would be to show concern about the safety of his family. He would ask my daughter and me to take certain precautions....he was also worried about the safety of our son, who was studying in the U.S. He would ask me to telephone him and urge him also to be extra careful and alert.” (Volume III, Page 63)
The Commission felt that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi has not come out with any specific source or sources of threat divulged to her by her husband or by Mr. Arafat. Also had she been summoned, she would not have thrown more light. O
SINH
PO
EA
new initiative Aီဇုံရွှီးမြုံ Pea and FES was Sinhalese Politicia District in the ex country, to the Ta caloa district in th visit received a gre in the Tamil pres circulation Tamil n akesari and the T front page headlin on the visit. The S met with locally e cians from the Ba The local level ans who went to F to both the ruling and the the main c United National P accordance with t conducting its wo on a strictly bipa had earlier underg ness building wor nic conflict with participated in th tional Peace Del held in January 19 resolution calling f to the war and fo tween the governi The Sinhalese “baptism of fire” ir ing in Tamill-majo in the war zone, mark by one of tl tory meeting sparl sponse. An appea politician that " peace” was ang young Tamil wom the demand “Fir rights, and then peace'. This led t tion to the conclu role was not to t they listened, aI stood, then only their own observ The interactio and Sinhalese po smoothly after t heart among the

15 AUGUST 1998
ALESE AND TAMIL LITICANSMEET STERN SRI LANKA
undertaken by the Ce Council (NPC) o take local elected is from the Matara reme south of the mil-majority Battie east. This 3 day at deal of publicity ... The two largest ewspapers, the Virhinakural carried es and an editorial inhalese politicians ected Tamil polititicaloa district.
Sinhalese politiciBatticaloa belonged People's Alliance ppostion party, the 'arty. This was in he NPC policy of rk with politicians rtican basis. They one several awarekshops on the eththe NPC and had e 1700 strong Na'gates Convention 98 which passed a or an immediate end ir negotiations bement and LTTE.
politicians had a regard to the thinkity areas which are when a careless reLem at an introduced off an angry re1 from a Sinhalese We should live in ily rebutted by a in who retorted with it let us enjoy our we will talk about e Sinhalese delegasion that their main lk, but to listen. If d felt they underwould they make ations.
between the Tamil liticians proceeded is early change of Ltter, who were also
humbled by the difficulties of life, retarded development and military presence they saw in the eastern area due to the war. The relationship building process also took off due to the skilful facilitation role by the resource persons who accompanied the delegation.
A workshop which was one of the activities in the programme began with a stark reminder of the seperateness of the participants where conversations had to be translated back and forth, between Sinhala and Tamil leading to a comment that "This looks and feels as if delegations from two different countries are meeting". The workshop while also acting as a forum for the sharing of difficulties faced by the local level elected politicians in exercising powers that are supposed to be vested in them by the central government, mainly dealt with ways in which local communities can work towards realising the goal of a negotiated peace.
Frustrations that emerged about "endless talk at the top' led to identifying the need to built understanding and consensus at a community level while reinforcing the need for political leadership. As one Tamil politician summed it up, "The PA and UNP should sit together under the Gandhi statue in Batticaloa, say we are willing to talk this thing through and invite the LTTE to join. If national leaders cannot do this, can local level representatives animate this as a beginning?”
A Sinhalese politician drew strength from his own experience of conflict resolution training by the NPC and said that “We who constitute this delegation - PA and UNP - were like snake and mongoose a few months ago. Today we have travelled to the war Zone together and are in dialogue with you. It is a process that can easily be extended to the LTTE as well". One of the highlights of the visit was a simulated "negotiation' carried out by the two sides with respect to a political solution to the conflict. The

Page 11
15 AUGUST 1998
Tamil politicians presented their view of the powers that should vested in the North-East region which would be Tamil dominated and is claimed as the "Tamil Homeland'. After scrutinising the list presented, the Sinhalese politicians objected, and said that according to this list, virtually nothing had been left for the central government. The Tamil politicians accepted this as a legitimate objection, and began to revise their list. The process could not be completed because the workshop had to come to an end, but the point was made, that a combination of sincerity, political will and dialogue can bring about a mutually acceptable compromise.
On the way back to Matara, the Sinhalese politicians discussed the 3 days they had spent in the east. They agreed that what the NPC had put across at the earlier awareness creation workshops had turned out to be the reality. They also felt encouraged that through dialogue a mutual change in positions had been possible. They hoped that what they had shown was possible at the "Microlevel" might also be possible at the "Macro-level" between the government and LTTE.
ANALYSS
(A member of the NPC reflects on a recent visit to Mannar lsland and the Madhu refugee camp in the Mannar District)
Manner town is tranquil at present, unlike last year when LTTE pistol groups operated frequently. The army personnel at checkpoints treat the people courteously. The Mannar road from Medawachchiya has been repaired and the flow of traffic on it is smooth. These are all positive signs that would suggest a consolidation of the government’s military progress.
But the unseen reality is the LTTE presence. It is sometimes felt from a distance, as when they blast the electricity wires and transformers that bring hydro electric power from the national grid to Mannar district for the first time ever a few months ago. The little comfort of lighting at night and power for production is denied to the people for so long as it takes to repair the system.
The LTTE is also widely believed to be present in Mannar town, though not in uniform. It is not a pres
ence to be seen In some parts of: regular army pre forested area, it is LTTE presence. ( are not permitte point, for fear that and whisked acro trolled areas of th
In the main army patrols the side of the road i would provide th to launch attacks. claymore mine w remote control ex number of soldie The relative c tributed to two f Jayasikuru offensi most of the LTTE is the belief that "cleared' area, fa goods and supp smuggled to LTT How long this call tion that will dep strategic design. the conflict at will And the people areas they seem t get on with their whatever resourc which the govern able. But the LTT wish a resumption people in which tl In the "unclea. ation is more path or no economic er opment possible d embargoes that p fertiliser, kerosen lates for children, they may fall inti LTTE. Added to cutback on dry ra in those areas. R.
resa 2 and the Sat
I wish to pay/ren I am sending you a gift Please send an introc
enclose a donation 0
 
 
 

the casual visitor. le island there is no ence. In this large said that there is an overnment vehicles beyond a certain hey will be hijacked is to the LTTE cone mainland. and, although the fannar road by the thick jungle which 2 LTTE with cover A few weeks ago a nich is exploded by loded killing a large S. llm in Mannar is at|ctors. First is the ve that is taking up s energies. Second laving Mannar as a cilitates the flow of ies which can be E controlled areas. n will last is a quesend on the LTTE's They can re-ignite , it seems. e? In the "cleared' o be trying hard to regular lives using :es they have and ment makes availE does not seem to of normalcy for the hey have no part. red” areas the situtic. There is little terprise and develue to the economic event the flow of 2 and even chocoon the grounds that the hands of the their woes, is the ions to the people fugees from Rivejaya operation are
TAM TIMES 11
not eligible for any ration, while those from Riviresa 1 and Jayasikuru areeligible, due to some working of the bureaucratic mind.
At nightfall at around 7:30 pm (old time, as the LTTE has refused to go along with the government's change of time) a solitary lamp dimmed in a shed near the access road to a camp. Three families were spending their last night in the camp. Early the next morning they would set off across the jungles, towards army lines, holding aloft a white flag. They would then "surrender” themselves to the army, and from there would be taken by the army to a refugee camp in a "cleared" area. The reason for their trek through the jungles, and not through the road, is to avoid paying the exit fee exacted by the LTTE.
So it may seem that the government's strategy of bringing more and more territory under its control, while making it more difficult for people to live in the "uncleared' areas, is proving to be successful. But beneath the normalcy in the "cleared" areas, there is a turbulence to be sensed, for everyone knows that where there are Tamils there is also the LTTE. The members of the small Tamil parties know this best. They confine themselves to the town centres, where they tax the people, but dare not go into the villages.
(Courtesy of the NPC News Letter)
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Page 12
12 TAMIL TIMES
Will the Govt eW Strategy W.
D B SJeyaraj
ri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga was interviewed by K.K.. Katyal and V.S. Sambandan of the Indian English daily “The Hindu' on 2 August. She was asked about the stalemate regarding the Constitution reform proposals encompassing the devolution package and its future.'How do you see the way out?” she was asked specifically and the President replied:
"There is a stalemate in one way, but we can find solutions to it. We have the Solutions in hand. The UNP government brought in a new constitution several years ago and they amended their constitution 16 times - their own constitution - in order to stay in power as long as possible and in the process, it is the strangest constitution in the democratic world. I am not being emotional about it. It specifies that not a word of the constitution can be changed without a twothirds majority but on the other hand they had brought in a very innovative, to say the least, electoral system where even if a particular party gets all the votes, the way it is counted, it will not have two-thirds majority in Parliament. We want to change the constitution and bring in this political package for the solution of the ethnic problem. We want to do away with the executive presidency and so many other things and they are not giving us that extra 15 or 16 votes which we need to have a two-thirds majority. We have found now found a slightly, may be slightly, strictly not constitutional, but democratic and not illegal procedure. It is a very complicated thing, because you have to circumvent this arrangement they have put. It is a very tedious way of doing it. The political situation has to be good.
The Hindu: You mean the referendum..?
Kumaratunga: I cannot tell you what it is at the moment. We will have to have several elections before we do that. Several types of elections in
cluding the referel the courts and the as partial as they h I am confident tha this government two years, we wil
Apart from the Kumaratunga alSC ndents of the Reut of India too with also she referred “devious" strateg to circumvent Ul usher in the politi asked specificall mind Chandrika hed it off by sayi right now. It's as UNP's Negative R
Observers of litical scene wou prised at the very evinced by Kuma cooperation of th United National P ing to the Consti majority in Parlian ratification by a n. dum is necessary " als to become law ance along with , little over 135 vC there is a shortfall least 150 votes ni thirds majority in The UNP lead the impression tha ate with the gov pating in the AllSelect Committee cussing proposal reform and devol ter a great deal t the last two-anding in an exercise procrastination, til quite clear that it the government constitutional ref
As a prelude of total oppositic ship advanced til
 
 

15 AUGUST to 't
dum and hope that judges will not be ave been up to now. before the term of s over in the next
be able to do that
"Hindu' exclusive, obliged correspoers and Press Trust interviews. In those cryptically to the y she had in mind NP opposition and cal package. When y what she had in Kumaratunga laugng “I can't tell you tate secret'. Role he Sri Lankan pould hardly be survisible frustration ratunga at the none chief opposition arty(UNP). Accordtution a two-thirds ment and consequent ation- wide referenfor her new propos. The Peoples Alliallies can muster a ites right now. But of 15 votes from at 2cessary for a twoa house of 225. ership initially gave ut it would co-oper'rnment by particiParty Parliamentary which had been disfor constitutional ution of power. Afme wasting during -half years indulgof filibustering and e UNP has made it would vote against 's devolution and orm package. o its announcement n, the UNP leadere concept of what
its leader described as needs-based asymmetrical devolution for the North-Eastern provinces. When the government, placed in a position of having to depend on UNP votes parliament to get its devolution proposals through, expressed its willingness to discuss and accommodate the UNP proposals and incorporate them into their own, the UNP leadership backtracked. In a remarkable Somersault the party that has long ceased to be either "united' or "national' on the ethnic question went back on its previous announcement and came up with counter-proposals which provided for a strong centre with adequate minority participation without addressing the issues of devolution of powers or the extent of the units of devolution.
The UNP which at the behest of India introduced the devolution concept by setting up the Provincial Councils in the late 1980s has now reversed its position stating that sharing power at the centre and not periphery is the answer to the Tamil problem. The Hurdles
In this context Chandrika Kumaratunga's obvious anger and disappointment over the UNP attitude is understandable. In recent times however she has been exploring various ways and means of overcoming the primary hurdle of the UNP's negative opposition with a view to obtaining the required two-thirds majority in Parliament. If that difficulty is overcome she feels that the secondary hurdle of ratification at a referendum too would be possible. Thereafter the tertiary hurdle of implementation can be tackled boldly even facing military opposition from the LTTE. Kumaratunga and her government with some justification feel that if they can obtain the passage of a reasonable devolution package, the international community's support would be forthcoming in good measure which also would act as an instrument of exerting pressure upon the LTTE.
However with the UNP's opposition, getting a Parliamentary twothirds majority is the formidable task at present. So much so, Kumaratunga and her top advisers have been pondering over the problem and seem to have arrived at three possible solutions to overcome the current obstacle.

Page 13

nding. In that situahat the UNP though constrained to re
of the People. So to vote for the new rliament when subn this line of thought situation where the osing can the gov
referendum of this ut across party lines unal passions? Will ns pull their weight h as they would not Parliamentary posiple vote negatively he referendum then e morally bound to stitution reform ef
if the referendum A it is important to entage polled in fa%. A lower margin l issue such as this to serious doubts e mandate has been ... Thirdly given the encies there is no would play ball and
posals even if the
ultative referendum If its conduct in the the UNP cannot be principled position ways say that it has shes of the people in the referendum sides another cumhat even if the UNP second "binding" essary for ratificale may have to face n the same issue od. ird option that may ntious. This idea is ratunga to face reahead. The Presilection after four if the full term is unga would have trs as President in r. When Kumara:ction she would on the platform of olitical package. 7 her manifesto n important rider convert the preto a Constituent lected. If she wins arliament into an
TAMIL TIMES 13
assembly that will then pass the new constitution not with two-thirds but a simple majority. If Kumaratungaregisters an overwhelming vote then she may even dissolve Parliament. The hope is that the party riding the euphoric wave of her victory will then do very well in following Parliamentary hustings too. In such a scenario the PA will also seek a mandate at the Parliamentary elections to transform Parliament into a Constituent assembly. Thus the government will have then a "double' mandate for converting Parliament into an Constitutional assembly. If in the process a twothirds majority is obtained it would be most welcome. But even if there is no two-thirds the hope is that it could be passed with a simple majority by Parliament in its capacity as a Constituent assembly.
The Legal Snag
Although Chandrika Kumaratunga and her think-tank have forged a strategy that seems sound on paper there are two problems both of which have been hinted at by Kumaratunga herself in the interview to the "Hindu'. The first is the legal aspect. She emphasises that the plan in hand is "not illegal procedure". She goes on to say however that her hope is that "the courts and the judges will not be as partial as they have been up to now'. The executive President stating in an interview to an Indian journal that the "judges have been partial' is in itself a statement that is liable to stir up a hornet's nest. Fortunately none of Kumaratunga's detractors have highlighted the issue so far. It is arguable as to whether Kumaratunga was correct or not in her candid comments about the judiciary but her trepidation about how the courts may consider her contemplated constitutionmaking manoeuvres is certainly understandable. Not so long ago, in her eagerness to get through the devolution proposals which she honestly believed would advance the cause of peace in the violence-torn island, but frustrated by the UNP's opposition, Kumaratunga was threatening to carry out a "Constitutional revolution'. This Constitutional revolution was in essence the possible options available to her in this respect and have been referred to earlier. Even as she was talking of the "Constitutional revolution' opposition politicians

Page 14
14 TAMIL TIMES
warned that any such manoeuvre would be challenged in courts.
When J R Jayewardene formulated the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution and enacted the provincial councils law in 1987 following the Indo-Sri Lanka agreement, the direction in which the Courts was likely to proceed was a big question mark. In fact one reason trotted out by Jayewardene for the dilution of devolution in the scheme was that it was necessary to prevent an adverse ruling by the courts. When the measure was challenged before a full bench of the island's Supreme Court, it turned out to be a divided bench with five judges proclaiming its constitutionality and four against. It was not without significance that three of the five Judges ruled favourably were from the Tamil, Burgher and Muslim communities. The other two were from the Sinhalese community. All four judges who ruled negatively were from the Sinhala community. One of them after retirement has openly identified himSelf with the 'Sinhala Commission' which has launched a campaign against the government's devolution proposals and called for the repeal of
the 13th amendme In this backgroun apprehensions as which the judiciary her government's tution-making, if the island's Supre without foundatio
In this case too changes as propos ga will definitely Courts both for pol istic reasons. It is some legal eagles gressive on the eth been pessimistic tunga’s proposed okayed by courts clauses of Jayewar continue to be a s they stipulate very tions under which tution can be chan bold, imaginative a tative approach ins is adopted by the anOeuVeS are Ver proposal of seeking vert Parliament into sembly and then e stitutional reform
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15 AUGUST 1998
to Constitution. , Kumaratunga's o the manner in would respond to 'enario of constihallenged before le Court, are not
any constitutional d by Kumaratunbe challenged in tical and chauvin
learnt that even vho are quite pronic question have
about Kumarastratagems being
The entrenched lene's constitution umbling block as clearly the condihe current constiged. Unless a very ldwidely interpreead of a rigid one Courts, proposed y likely to fail. The a mandate to cona Constituent asnact the new conis especially is a
highly controversial one. Even without ascribing hidden motives to the Judges, it is possible that the Courts may be compelled to rule out the proposed moves on grounds of them being “ultra vires” the Constitution.
For the present it is not necessary to pre-judge the outcome of the legal tangle that is to ensue in the future but Kumaratunga has to overcome other obstacles before that.
This brings us to the second problem referred to in her "Hindu' interview. When describing her plans vaguely the Sri Lankan President says "It is a tedious way of doing it. THE POLITICAL SITUATION HAS TO BE GOOD'. Now what could Kumaratunga mean when she says the political situation has to be good. It can only mean that the political climate should be conducive for the PA to win well at the hustings. In short she wants to win the polls to push through her package in addition to the natural desire of politicians to consolidate and retain power. All her calculations of gaining a mandate to convert Parliament into a constituent assembly etc can come an obvious cropper if she fails in the initial test of
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Page 15
15 AUGUST 1998
winning relevant elections. It is this imperative balanced with present political reality that has impelled Kumaratunga to declare an island-wide emergency and postpone elections to the provincial councils. This action has tarnished her democratic image greatly but from Kumaratunga's perspective it is a "necessary evil" to achieve her overall objective. In that sense her current conduct is more or less a manifestation of the launching of her new strategy to enact a constitutional revolution that ultimately will resolve the ethnic crisis.
Chandrika Kumaratunga was elected on a mandate full of hope and promise. Sadly that promise is yet to be realised while most of her election promises have not been fulfilled. Almost four years have passed now. Positive achievements are not very visible. The promise to abolish the presidency is a non-starter. The cost of living keeps spiralling upwards. Inflation increases in leaps and bounds. The process of privatisation is subject to much criticism. Corruption is rampant and goes on unche
cked. Unemployment prevails. The
“war for peace” grinds on with neither the war ending nor peace being in sight. Despite all the pious intentions of Kumaratunga and Peiris the devolution package for all practical purposes has not seen the light of day yet. Furthermore with the greater part of the term of office being over the anti-incumbency syndrome is seen to be developing among Sri Lankan voters. Of the ten general elections after independence Sri Lankans have exercise their vote to throw "the rascals out' on eight occasions. Some say that the situation is so bad that some government MP's have not sighted their electorates for quite a long time.
Thus it is clear that the IPA is not exactly riding the crest of a popular wave right now. AS Such its capacity to face hustings at this juncture and win well is highly suspect. Facing the average Sinhala voter at present with the further handicap of the political package may be a greater hassle. This situation therefore rules out for the moment two of the three options possible for Kumaratunga to enact her constitutional revolution. A non binding referendum may go awry. Elections to Parliament also may not yield positive results. The issue may not
So much be Sinh devolution pack over other issues lack of suitable j is that people m government in the tions to register basic grievances communal reaso however will be devolution. The o then is for Kuma early presidential Kumaratunga est asset of the Some would say Her charisma is t is perhaps the si mass figure in Sri I now. On a one to test she is way ah val Rani Wickrem all the problems it possesses the abil rivals in preside government hopes popularity. Even in win the Presidency tory is likely to be rent situation. A garner votes is ne government that c. dging peace and only available dev larity in the Sinhal successes on the bi possible glory that for in the current i can hope to bask glory of the milita performs spectac front. Political milk to some extent by tarily or so it seem In that respect the l placed all its bets ( horse. The success eration or reopenin the north is what it the lamentable asp litical fortunes to nothing tangible vement to woo the cept for the dubiou If and when the n captured the PA h as a great triumph translate the ensu votes in the south. culation. Unfortuna progress and pa Jayasikurui has be and niggardly. M

a opposition to the ge but resentment lch as rising prices, bs etc. The danger y vote against the eferendum or electheir protest over nd not because of s. The end result negative vote for ly option available atunga to hold an
lection. emains the greatpeople's alliance. the solitary asset. emendous and she ngle-most popular ankan politics right one political conead of her chief riasinghe. In spite of is felt that she still ty to edge out her tial polls. So the to cash in on her Kumaratunga can her margin of viclow given the curfurther impetus to 'eded. Sadly for a ame to power plean end to war the lice to gain popua South is to utilise attlefield. The only the PA can aspire s indirect glory. It in the reflected ry if and when it ularly in the war :age can be gained succeeding miliS. 'A government has in the Jaya-sikurui of the Wa-nni opg the land route to s hoping for. Thus ct of the PA's polay is that it has y way of achieSinhala voter exvictories of war. rthern highway is opes to project it ver the LTTE and ng euphoria into That's the PA calely for the PA the e of Operation n painfully slow hister Ratwatte's
TAMITIMES 15
unrealistic deadlines come and go in the face of a determined LTTE resilience that has truly astounded most military analysts. The "delay" in the military sphere is affecting the political time-table of the PA. Also its "chickenheartedness' in facing polls before a military victory is becoming very apparent.
PC Elections Postponed
The Provincial council elections to five provinces in the South were scheduled for 28 August this year. Had Jayasikurui been completed by July then the PA would have gone to provincial polls confidently. But in the current situation the PA chickened out shamelessly. The PA feared that a debacle in the provincial polls could have a negative demonstration effect on forthcoming parliamentary and presidential polls. It could also be interpreted as a negative vote for devolution. Also if and when the bureaucracy smelt that the government had lost clout then a massive rebellion was possible. The PA regime would have been like a Parliamentary lame duck session. So the Provincial polls had to be postponed until after Jayasikurui was concluded successfully. Again the hitch was that the safeguarding clauses built into the Provincial Council law prevented postponement on flimsy grounds. Only the invoking of the Public Security ordinance and declaring emergency could pave the way for postponement and that is what happened. Since the imposition of emergency was very necessary for the government to postpone elections under it, the PA went ahead and did just that. In the process the PA in general and Kumaratunga in particu
lar lost much prestige.
The excuses proffered by the government for both declaring emergency and postponing elections were an insult to the collective intelligence of the nation and eroded much of Kumaratunga’s credibility. The essence of the government position was that the troops were on the point of annihilating the LTTE in the Wanni. Holding elections now meant the redeployment of security personnel from the frontline to the South for election duty. As such troops could not be released as to do so would give the LTTE an opportunity to escape impending doom and obtain a fresh

Page 16
16 TAM TIMES
lease of life. At the same time the LTTE had strengthened itself in the South and posed a serious security threat to provincial council candidates in the Sinhala areas. So it was essential that elections be conducted only with adequate security personnel on duty. Therefore it would be difficult to both hold elections and release troops from the battlefront. So as a temporary measure emergency is declared in the whole country and elections postponed. A censorship of news has been in force since 5 June. Contradictory Logic
What tested the credibility of the government's claim was the inherent contradictory logic. If the LTTE was really on the verge of defeat then the rationale for emergency was not valid. But if the LTTE was powerful enough to warrant an island-wide emergency and bring about a postponement of Southern polls then it could certainly not be on the point of annihilation. Thus the war was certainly not at a decisive stage as claimed by Ratwatte. Moreover the past pattern of Ratwatte's pompous deadlines among which his boast of shaking hands with Prabakharan on Independence day was the most hilarious made any of the minister's pronouncements suspect in terms of credibility. Kumaratunga and the government had to take much flak for the controversial decision from most shades of political opinion. Three of the four LSSP members in the PA were against it and Vasudeva Nanayakkara registered his dissent by walking out of the house at voting time. The TULF and PLOTE also voted against emergency being proclaimed.
With the "liability' of Provincial council elections being out of the way temporarily the PA now eagerly awaits the outcome of the Wanni war. Ratwatte in a move that has not been publicised has assured the President and some cabinet colleagues that Jayasikurui will be over successfully by the end of October. Consolidation of the Jaffna-Kandy highway between Vavuniya and Kilinochchi will be ready by December this year. By that promise elections could be possible early next year. The strategy then is to call for an early Presidential election first. But as the Provincial councils elections were also postponed there is a legal hitch in having presidential polls before Provincial polls.
In that case electic
have to be announce
separately if the Pre be held first.
Otherwise Pro' can be held and the stakes. The governi ise to the maximul gained on the milita for Presidential ele extremely well Parli be dissolved and fre Thereafter Parliame constituent assemb new constitution.
Kumaratunga's ( mentioned befores sible theoretically. quite a few snags. there is the judicia the fact that an elec ght on the basis of over the Tamil Tig' itself the seeds of cl tory that rests on appeal is highly su: dangers in this is th tory the dominant in may be that nothir be given to the Tal Army commander h that the devolution redundant if the w Buddhist prelates tc similar views. The c ters that even the made possible th amendment shoul and the provincial (
Another facto) Kumaratunga's stra of Sinhala voter b sumption that the m the LTTE in the Wa euphoric.wave itse wrong. The voterm victory over the Ti simple given the fa Also by now most have a grasp of Struggle conducte positional warfare ends then the LTT out guerrilla campá even more deadlie case the Sinhala v ugh government p vote on the linese Also the voter m with the IPA over curry that the war much.

15 AUGUST 1998
is for both will jointly and held dential poll is to
ncial elections
the Presidential ent will capital
on the success y front and go in tions. If it does ment is likely to h elections held. it will become a y and enact the
urrent strategy as ems quite plauut there may be As stated earlier y. Then there is oral victory soua military victory :rs carries within lauvinism. A vicsuch chauvinist spect. One of the at after such viclood in the South g further should mils. Already the as gone on record
package will be ar is won. Some Io have expressed ry in certain quar'limsy devolution rough the 13th l be taken away :ouncils scrapped.
that may upset egy is the pattern haviour. The aslitary victory over mini will result in a lf may be proved ay not believe that gers could be that 2 of earlier boasts. eople in Sri Lanka he nature of the
by the LTTE. If as prevalent now will go on an all gn that may prove to combat. In that ter may see throopaganda and not pected by the PA. | be so disgusted ssues of rice and sue may not count
The LTTE Factor
Last but not least is the determining factor in Sri Lankan politics, the LTTE. The Tigers are not going to roll over and play dead in order to enable the government to conclude Jayasikurui successfully. The LTTE will continue to resist stoutly and it is anyone's guess whether the security forces will be able to dislodge them from the Wanni in accordance with Ratwatte's deadline. Also if the troops do succeed in capturing the highway then that would mean more troops to consolidate more territory. This again would create ample opportunity for the LTTE to counter attack troop positions and inflict great damage. Vehicle convoys too may be attacked. If this happens then the entire claim of victory by the government would become an empty, hollow boast.
So Kumaratunga as part of her newly launched strategy has declared emergency and postponed elections. The next scene is military victory before the end of the year over the LTTE. Thereafter it is going to be elections where Kumaratunga hopes to ride the crest of a euphoric wave. The important question at present is whether the LTTE will allow her to implement her strategy according to the time tables envisaged or whether the Tigers have a totally different agenda? O
Ouestion for Rani
UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe stated not so long ago at a conference in Ratnapura that he cannot extend any support to the current Political Package of the government since it has been rejected outright by Sinhala and Tamil people and the whole of Sri Lanka, but UNP has pledged its full support to any proposal that will bring peace while protecting the territorial integrity and the sovereignty in Sri Lanka. If he has such a proposal which would attract the support of the Sinhala and Tamil people and the whole Sri Lanka and at the same time protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the island, then why doesn't the UNP leader produce it?
When the Sinhala Commission published its interim report some months ago, Ranil said that he had no problem with it. Now that the same Commission has demanded the abrogation of the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 and the 13th amendment to the Constitution which Ranil and his party promoted, one wonders what his position is !

Page 17
  

Page 18
8 TAM TIMES
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20 TAM TIMES
(Continued from page 7) powers must be exercised in the interests of the masses of the people. If this is done I really have no fear about the future. Gentlemen let us not talk so much of that veto which the Government have reserved to themselves as some of my friends have been doing. To attack the veto of the Sovereign. They are a self-governing people and yet they bear all the inconveniences of this double veto. Let us grow to the full bounds of the new opportunities and it will be time enough to talk of circumscribing the veto that is vested in the Government.”
In his peroration which is full of wise counsels, Gohale ably highlights the approach, the practical approach, worthy of being taken note of by our leaders.
"One word more and I have done. We are most of us in India, Hindus, Mohammedans and Parsees, a somewhat dreamy race. Of course, the Hindus are most so. I do not deny that dreams occasionally are a source of pleasure, even if they effect nothing else. Moreover, I admit the importance of dreams in shaping our aspirations for the future, but in practical matters we have to be practical men and have to remember two things. Life is not writing on cleanslate. We have to take the words existing on the slate and add other words so as to make complete sentences and produce harmonious meaning. Secondly, whatever you may ask for, that is not the same thing as what you will get or will be qualified to get or in practice maintain if you get. Let us therefore not go in pursuit of more idle dreams and neglect the opportunities, which the present offers to us. On the manner in which we, especially the younger section of our countrymen, grow to the height of the new opportunities will depend the future of the country. None of us wants to be satisfied with the things as they are. But first we must prove that we can bear these responsibilities before we can ask for any more. I have often said, and repeat here again, that I do not want any limits, any restrictions on the growth that should be open to our people. I want the people of our country, men and women, to be able to rise to the full height of their stature as men and women of other countries do. But our growth can only be
amil cities a TE of burn
Madurai wa times. The Jaffna that of Alexandri days. Puhar, in Dhanushkodi now Tamil language, t sea produced epi Silappadhikaram our times, Pudu Puhar in his stor) where he traces raja’s cosmic dan odi has been immo temporary writer story Al-Beruni F
And Dhanus Kamban launch Rama to Lanka, is From time to time witnesses death survivors to Ra Rama had prayed
ting off in his jo
through the disch ties. Ladies and you heartily for t you have listene way in which you Life and Time Mehta - Rt Hon V The above Su of thinking enunc should not be co in a specific situa a particular scen in most of the g Even though, finding a lasting nic strife rests both sides, it be ted section of the onsibly in shap both the commu conductive envir solution to be wo cannot contribute create such an el least, refrain fro imprudent word fervently hope th ow the grass to
 

15 AUGUST 1998
IL CONSCIENCE
AT STAKE? . .
Ramesh Gopalakrishnan
hd towns have the
ng and drowning: burnt in ancient Public Library, like l, was burnt in our In earlier era, and
were drowned. For he wrath of fire and 's of the quality of nd Manimekalai. In naipithan wrote of " Sirpiyan Narakam he origin of Natace. And Dhanushkortalized by the conKonangi in his short 'artha Seval Penn. hkodi from where es his protagonist at the receiving end. , the submerged city and sends back the meswaram, where
to Siva before set
urney. The latest of
arge of responsibiliGentlemen, I thank he manner in which l to me and for the have received me.' es of Sir Pheruzesha " S S Sastri) ggestions and time iated by the speaker nsidered valid only tion or applicable to ario, but hold water neral situations. the responsibility of solution to the ethwith the leaders on noves on the educasociety to act respng the thinking of lities and creating a nment for a suitable rked out. Even if we in our small way to vironment, let us, at impairing it by our and deeds. Let us leaders will not allrow under their feet.
deaths came slowly when the fibreglass boat carrying 52 Tamil-speaking persons setting sail from Iluppaikkadawu in northern Sri Lanka across the narrow Palk Straits sank on the night of July 25. Only nine persons had managed to survive, four of them swimming, aiming for the tower light of the Ramanathaswamy temple. The rest went down, to the depths of the submerged town, Dhanushkodi.
Those travelling in the boat included 50 refugees including 30 men, 15 women and five children, including two-year-old babies. There are two versions of the tragedy. One is that the boat developed a crack at the bottom, letting in water. The other version is that a high tide got water into the boat. In any case, the refugees could not get the water out and the boat sank quietly off Arichamunai.
The four who swamy to safety were all youths in their 20s. Four others managed to float and keep shouting till they drew the attention of local fishing crafts. They were Velayudhan, who had lost a leg due to airshelling in 1984, Kandeepan and Vasanthan, both teenaged boys and Pushparaj, a youth. Velayudhan had lost his wife Dayanithi, three-year-old daughter Bhanumalar and 15-year-old nephew Vinoo. Vinoo's body had surfaced near Katchativu and the Indian naval personnel had located it. Another person surfaced, alive, after a three-day-long ordeal in the sea. The refugee, Babu, reached the shores of Pudukkottai district, having lost his family. Death had already struck the next find: the body of a 55-year-old male refugee at Vannichipatnam in Pudukkottai district.
The stretch of the Palk Straits between Talaimannar and Rameswaram is known to be not very deep, containing 18 sandbars or theedais in Tamil. Militants and refugees always choose to cross the sea at this point, as did the legendary Rama hundreds of years ago. The theedais make up the Adam's bridge which is lovingly de

Page 21
15 AUGUST 1998
scribed by Kamban even as Vanaraarchitect Neelan builds it. And the gaps are ideal for the passage of small fibreglass boats, making it difficult for the bigger ships to detect them.
The mishap first evoked disbelief, rather than shock, among the people of Tamil Nadu. Yes, they were shocked by the readiness with which their Lankan counterparts were willing to go to any extent to cross the sea; and to come to an unwelcome land. Yet, the refugees keep crossing. The very next day after the tragedy, 12 refugees arrived by a boat at Rameswaram. The latest one arrived with 23 refugees on board at Rameswaram on August 9.
The mock exercise now began, with Marumalarchi DMK general secretary V Gopalsamy, or Vaiko as he likes to be called, demanding that Prime Minister AB Vajpayee raise this issue at the SAARC Summit at Colombo. No minister answered his demand, though the MDMK is a key Supporting party of the government. Vaiko’s condolences in Parliament were shared by AIADMK and DMK members and there rests the protest story. PMK founder-leader Dr S Ramadoss confined himself to a meek protest, as did many others. Perhaps this meekness would have been able to satisfy their little-tumbling-over consciences.
The month of July, as ever, spells disaster for Tamils, cutting across the sea divide. Three of the four fishermen who had set sail from Rameswaram on July 18 were detained by Lankan naval personnel after their boat sank. The other fishermen seemed to have got drowned. And, the ICRC officials had met the three fishermen at the Jaffna prison on July 25. They are yet to be released. The Lankan navy still resorts to firing at local fishing boats, the latest incident taking place off Nagapattinam coast on August 2, injuring two persons.
Even as the SAARC preparations were on in the second week of July, Lankan naval personnel seized two Indian trawler boats off Mannar and nabbed four Indian fishermen. They were found carrying 1,200 litres of petrol, 120 litres of diesel and 80 litres of lead acid for batteries. Within a week, Colombo announced that three LTTE craft were reaching India after a confrontation with the Lankan naval boats. Later, a naval diving team found the wreckage of one boat and two
SOn A.
ongress is t of progress and only a could protec poor and provide is not hankering a ready to play our tion - those who tunity to run the ( Our duty is to saf of the poor. We wi ation in which the reliefs while the inflation.'
Thus spake M widow of the late l dhi, when she ac volunteers at New she kicked off a rising prices. M joined them for at walk through the tal.
Effused a cor march, "Stride fol matched everyboc hard-boiled of her Turning from Bha
dead bodies sout
Another bullet-ric boat was found off Mandapam.
As expected, raise these issues a rebuffing Gopalas amy had stated th ment and outbreak readins why the ref ring to take risks His contention ha ed by one of the s who had describ state of Mannar di on Tamils should Minister should Gopalasamy. Nool said anything.
Gopalasamy w shock was yet to failed to address, the issue of Lank fishermen from Nagapattinam!

AMEL TIMES 21
ia's Stride TOWards gitational Politics
T.N.Gopalan
he only instrument and development, long-I government the interests of the ocial justice. But it fter power. "We are role in the opposinave got an opporountry must do so. 2guard the interests Il not tolerate a siturich are allowed tax oor are taxed with
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, amented Rajiv Ganldressed her party Delhi on July 28 as rally to protest the ore important she hree kilometre long streets of the capi
respondent on the stride, Sonia outly except the most security personnel. gwan Das road on
h off Katchativu.
ilden empty LTTE Devil's Point near
Vajpayee failed to ut Colombo, coolly amy. Mr Gopalasat aerial bombardof cholera were two ugees were preferand cross the sea. been corroboraturvivors Pushparaj ed the horrifying strict. The attacks top and the Prime ensure this, said le from the cabinet
s shocked. His real come: Vajpayee at Colombo, even un naval firing on Rameswaram and
O
to Tilak Marg, round India Gate before hitting Rajpath and reaching Rashtrapathi Bhavan (the official residence of the President of India). At the end of it, she was drenched in sweat, mumbling, "I'm fine at the moment' with many of her colleagues barely able to talk..."
Sonia's Dandy March (recalling Mahatma Gandhi's famous march to Dandi to protest the salt tax), some jibed, but most agreed that it marked her debut in agitational politics.
Mostly non-communicative, sometimes fumbling, even bumbling, generally tentative, without a firm grasp of the murderous world of Indian politics, reluctantly choosing to don the role of the president to prevent the total collapse of the party with which the family she had married into had been associated for generation, but unable to decide which way to go in order to restore it to power, surrounding herself with a self-serving clique, some of whom are utterly discredited and yet others have no mass base worth mentioning, and yet seeking to reach out to the people and rejuvenate the Congress, she has not proved very exciting as a leader.
Many remained anxious. Those inside the party were worried about their future prospects. And those outside, like the left parties, who are still hoping against hope, that a revitalised Congress could succeed in toppling the BJP-coalition and worsting the alliance in the next polls, were equally disappointed. And the July march seems to have created some fresh hopes in their minds.
Like her wily mother-in-law Indira Gandhi, she too is prepared to reach out to the people, sweat it out, literally, and prepare it for the forthcoming polls - Assembly elections in quite a few states including in New Delhi are slated for November next. They will be the first litmus test for Sonia's charisma.
Sonia's campaign in the 1996 polls could not prevent the Congress's debacle. It lost in as many as 86 of the

Page 22
22 TAMIL TIMES
137 constituencies wherein she had addressed public meetings. There is another interesting break-up - she had campaigned in 56 constituencies held by the Congress in the 11th Lok Sabha and still it lost more than half of them, and she had visited as many 81 constituencies held by other parties and the Congress could wrest only 25 of them. Nothing much to write home about. Still the fact remains but for her campaigning the party perhaps would have fared much worse. She had at least arrested the exodus of panicky congressmen and at last the dispirited cadres had something to cheer about. Such was the assessment then.
Four months down the line, such consolations are not enough to satisfy the Congress workers. She has to be seen delivering the goods. Her marked reluctance to try and mobilise like-minded parties and topple the shaky BJP-coalition has been very irritating to them as also to the left-ofcentre non-communal parties.
If even that was to be explained away as a strategic retreat, letting the coalition discredit itself as much as it could through its numerous omissions and commissions and finally collapse under the weight of its own inner contradictions, the more secular and liberal observers were appalled by the way she was - and she perhaps still is - going about humiliating regional leaders like Sharad Pawar from Maharashtra and promoting her own chosen men with little grassroots support, no doubt a la Mrs.Indira Gandhi.
But Mrs. Gandhi could get away with it all thanks to a fortuitous blend of personal and family charisma, some native wisdom and craftiness and the indescribable weaknesses of an appallingly fragmented opposition. The situation has changed a lot since then.
The Congress's own geographical base has shrunk alarmingly. It has been all but wiped out in the key state of Uttar Pradesh, teetering on the brink in Bihar and Punjab and steadily declined in many other states. Apart from Maharashtra and Some extent in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh everywhere else the organisation is in a shambles. But her tactics in states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are ilustrative of her nai vete and short-sightedness which
could boomerang later.
Maharashtra i the party is defin back trail. The pec up with the BJP-Sh there. In the last L the Congress scor tory there, bagging of the 42 seats at to a tie-up Pawar. Congress leader o aged to forge with ing the backwar Dalits. But all that way of a reward fr slights and rebuke Sonia won't ma of the parliamen could perhaps posi ministerial candida BJP coalition fal leader of the Lok when her favourit upper house of the the Rajya Sabha, Assembly member toral college - the P targeted and the S of them was prom he himself was br to the capital to e Command what w mours that he coul BJP in Sheer frust despite repeated de group.
In Tamil Nad hope for the party ppiah Moopanar, retain most of the ing, she has made mamurthy, a Moo ned-baiter preside Now this latter ha can do nothing to of the party. All th stantly foul-mouth tor and make frie Jayala litha with jumping into her time or Other. Moc off that he seems the idea of return for good and see behind the DMK worth.
“There are fe understands the in especially, practic tics, or knows he well, well enough noted acidly a cor

15 AUGUST 1998
on her sooner than
; one state where tely on the comeple seem to be fed iv.sena government ok Sabha elections 2d a stunning vicas many as 38 out stake there thanks the unquestioned f the region, manparties representd castes and the Pawar is getting by om his president is s at every turn. ke Pawar the leader tary party, which tion him as a prime te if and when the Ls. He is only the Sabha group. And 2 candidate for the Indian parliament, was defeated - the s make up the elec"awar loyalists were tate president, one ptly replaced, and usquely summoned xplain to the High ent wrong. And rud cross over to the ration refuse to die snials by the Pawar
u where the only perhaps is G. Karuwho still seems to Congress followTindivanam K. Rapanar-protege- turht of the state unit. s little support and revive the fortunes at he cando is conhis erstwhile menldly noises towards the fond hope of bandwagon somepanar is so cheesed
to have given up ng to the Congress ns content to troop for whatever it is
w signs that Sonia tricacies of politics, al, grassroots polir party particularly to be its strategist," nmentator when she
became the Congress president. He particularly doubted whether she would be able to appreciate the "forward march of the backward castes' in the Hindi belt.
In the event it was on an issue of the OBCs (the other backward castes) that Sonia had to meet with her first setback as the Congress president. The BJP government, eager to shed its obscurantist image, introduced a bill providing for the reservation of 33 per cent of the seats in the Lok Sabha for women.
The UF government under Inder Kumar Gujral too had tried to introduce one such, but failed following strong opposition from the OBC members. These characters were contending that the reservation would only enable the upper caste, educated women to muscle their way in and thus further strengthen the hold of the ruling elite on the polity, a reasoning partly true, but retrogressive nevertheless in that even a tentative effort to empower the women was being nipped in the bud.
The OBC leaders were demanding that their castes be granted some reservation within the 33 per cent quota. But then the point is there is no reservation for the OBCS in the Lok Sabha at all - only the Dalits, the untouchables, have been guaranteed that privilege constitutionally.
When the BJP sought to reintroduce the bill, again the objections came, much more virulently. And this time the OBC leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav upped the ante further demanding provision for reservation for Muslim women too, a demand which predictably riled the communal BJP no end. There was bedlam in the parliament, all business was stalled and furious allegations were flying thick and fast. For her part Sonia first endorsed the idea of passing the women's reservation bill without any amendment to provide for the OBCs or the minorities, especially so since it was Rajiv Gandhi who had originally committed himself to women's reservation in elections at all levels. But the MPs, the OBCs among them. seemed to have rebelled. Already the Congress had become alienated from the backward castes and the minorities, while the forward castes had drifted away towards the BJP. They were scared that to be seen as op

Page 23
15 AUGUST 1998
posing the demand for reservation for the OBC women could further damage their prospects. Following a closed door meeting the party decided to work for a consensus - a clear admission that it would not strive to get the bill passed as expeditiously as possible. Without the support of the Congress the fate of the bill was sealed and the BJP had to reluctantly shelve it.
Now Sonia's backtracking, while indicative of her failure to grasp the interplay of an array of forces, could also be said to demonstrate her readiness to accept her limitations and play ball according to the rules of democracy, however flawed they might be. And that is some progress and so the faux pas over the bill could be said to have been her baptism of fire.
The dynastic charisma being no more that awe-inspiring, in fact declining rapidly in some parts of the country at least, Sonia has a tough task ahead of her. A coterie of sycophants or committees of technocrats or experts cannot restore credibility to a party which has fallen on terribly bad days and which is held responsible for the multifarious ills afflicting the nation.
When Sonia kicked off the 1998 poll campaign at Sriperumbudur she had observed that though her loss was quite deep and personal and she would have preferred to withdraw into herself, she had changed her mind seeing the India of her Rajiv's dreams increasingly threatened by cynical vested interests and divisive forces. Clearly seeking to dispel the notion that since she was a foreigner she could not voice the aspirations of the people, she said that when she en
tered Mrs. Gandhi's household three
decades ago, she had become part and parcel of india, had come to know it through her mother-in-law's heart, and since her husband's supreme sacrifice her own devotion to India was unswerving and absolute.
"On this hallowed spot', (where her husband had attained his martyr
dom, as she put it), "I pledge to work
with the Congress with your support and serve the nation with hopes renewed and courage of conviction. Every vote of yours for the Congress would be a vote for Rajiv, a vote for a strong and prosperous nation he had dreamt of,' she declared amidst thunderous ovations then.
An Asto
ore than se assassinatio Minister Sriperumbudur in stice Milap Chand on the conspiracy a with none the wise The 17-volume least painted the Tamils at large, in ing to the untime United Front g the-volume final r from an apparently intimidated Jain is round titters it is : more tentative tha exercise, and almos its failure even to si needle of suspicion The terms of ref Commission were to quence ofevents le the facts and circul to, the assassinatic Gandhi at Sriperu whether any perso agencies were resp ceiving, preparing assassination and w any conspiracy in til so, all its ramificatic In regard to the
As it turned ou many takers. But th still change in her endless capers of th thetic inability to pro blance of decent gc
The Delhi march that despite all her still could play a use ing the further grow nal and fascist force way to go still, pitf no one knows wheth end up as yet a mc sion of her mother-in tered only to deceiv beginning has beer such is the fond ho] ingly weakening se India.
 
 

TAMIL TIMES 23
Jain's Final Report
蟹
T N Gopalan
2n years after the of former Prime ajiv Gandhi at umil Nadu, Mr.JuJain's final report ngle is at last out, for it. interim report at DMK, even the ory colours, leady demise of the ) vernment, but eport, emanating sobered and even evoking only all queamish, much n in its previous apologetic about ay which way the
could point to. erence of the Jain y unravel “the seading to, and all mstances relating on of Shri Rajiv mbudur and (b) n or persons or onsible for conand planning the hether there was is behalf and, if ns.”
more important
there were not 2 situation could avour, given the BJP and its pavide even a SemWeaCC. lid seem to show nadequacies, she ul role in checkof the commuShe has a long ls are many and r she would not e negative veraw who too flat. But perhaps a made. At least of the increasular sections in
second limb of the terms of reference, the Commission's findings are truly pathetic and an astonishing disappointment
“In such like international conspiracies, the task to find as to where and when and by whom the conspiracy was hatched and how the conspiracy was to be executed is very difficult, almost impossible to unravel, as neither the conspirators nor their aides would come forward. It is only when their actions and activities come to light at a distant point of time and such persons are apprehended, it may be possible that they may unravel the conspiracy. The conspiracy behind the assassination could have been unravelled if Sivarasan, Subha, Shanmugham, Intelligence Chief Pottu Amman and LTTE supremo V. Prabhakaran had been apprehended!"
Why should it have laboured for so many years, causing enormous drain on the exchequer, only to come out with such a slipshod work which would be laughed out of court in any sane discussion?
If the DMK and the Tamils in general were the Commission's favourite whipping boys in its interim report, its canvas has been expanded in the final report to include the likes of Godman Chandrasamy and a fellow wheeler-dealer Subramanian Swamy, though this time round Jain does not throw caution to winds and is very circumspect in his remarks on his quarries.
Witness this on the godman - "Taking the entire evidence, material and circumstances.....a doubt does arise regarding Shri Chandraswami's complicity and involvement...requires further probe..." A far cry from the tenor of the interim report which could blithely bandy about an intelligence report on Natesan, an LTTE operative, in the following words - "Chief Minister told Natesan that killing of Padmanabha was a necessity and so also of Shri Varadaraja Perumal and that Natesan should ensure that he was taken into confidence before

Page 24
24 TAMIL TIMES
such acts are committed.'
Even Dr. Swamy is only labelled an "unreliable witness" who stubbornly refused to answer many a question from Jain and who thus thwarted the Commission from finding out the truth.
Raising suspicion are some wireless intercepts from Israel meant for Chandrasamy or the other Swamy and a visit to London in 1995 when he could have met the men behind the assassination to cover up the tracks perhaps.
As for Karunanidhi, well, if Jain had come to an "irresistible conclusion' that he and his government had given tacit support to the LTTE which had remorselessly led to the assassination, in his Swan song Jain only laments that the ageing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has not been interrogated.
There are more concrete exonerations too. Earlier on Jain had asked former PM V.P.Singh, almost quaking with righteous indignation, "Search your own soul whether the inadequate alternative security scheme had not resulted in the un intended consequence of the assassination.” The
Chandrashekha came in for a si
TOW CO6CS O 1 accusations mas spewing Cong-) against the V.P. even Narasimha wash. "All the th Office of the PM imagination it c one of them ent tion to be in any the conspiracy Rajiv Gandhi." It does also cion - aired in its foreign hand bel not be ruled ol strengthened. Li a nexus betwee Khalistani group is "no definite c
The way it hands in despair dicrous, though up a brave fron the strength anc theories and lea before the Comm have been reject rial may be insufi
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15 AUGUST 199
r government too milar indictment. He (d to dismissing the le by the once fire
gadfly K.K.Tewari Singh, Shekhar and Rao as so much hogree occupied the high and by no stretch of an be said that any ertained such intenway connected with to assassinate Shri
believe that its suspiinterim report - that a hind the LTTE could It has been further ke the possibility of In the LTTE and the s, but of course there linching evidence".
inally throws up its is pathetic, if not luit also seeks to put t: "I have examined il weaknesses of the ds which have come ission some of which ed and in some mateficient to reach a posi
tive finding, but the evidence and circumstances on some theories examined by the Commission do point Some accusing finger on some agencies, organisations, outfits or individuals. The government may adopt such course of action as it may think fit in respect thereto."
And what does the BJP-led coalition do with such a confused mishmash? Predictably use it to fix its opponents and humour the most truculent ally Jayalalitha. While tabling the final report, Home Minister Lal Kishen Advani also announced the setting up of a Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency
(MDMA) in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to "monitor the movements of all the accused in the assassination case still absconding and bring them to trial' besides looking deeper into the allegations against Chandraswami and his now fallen-out cohort Subramanian Swamy.
The MDMA has also been entrusted with the job of what to do next in regard to Karunanidhi and the Centre has been forced to take such a step "in view of the serious observations by the Commission in its interim re
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Page 25
15 AUGUST 1998
port and the misgivings expressed by it in its final report."
Now while fixing Surbamanian Swamy, a long-time BJP baiter does make eminent sense, the other Swami is at the receiving end less because he is anti-BJP but merely by way of being seen to leave no stone unturned to unearth the truth.
Karunanidhi's is a different case altogether. Nothing might come out of interrogating him, but including him in the net could at least placate Jaya who has been cribbing that the BJP has been going soft on the DMK. In fact former CBI director Vijay Kiran has revealed in his memoirs that once when he and the Special Investigation Team chief D.R.Karthikeyan called on Jayalalitha when she was the Chief Minister and her first query was, "When are you going to arrest Karunanidhi?' The duo had responded by asking whether she had any incriminating material against him in her possession. She could not produce any, Kiran says.
Thus all through she has been trying to fix him and the Jain report has come as a boon for her in her war against the dmk chief. The BJP is only furthering her personal agenda in order to keep their government in tact, it is pointed out.
To cite some instances, the Action Taken Report (ATR), tabled along with the Commission's findings, has conveniently scooped out a couple of sentences in the final report - "Sri Karunanidhi was also not interrogated. On many matters his interrogation was quite relevant." - and clubs them with an observation in the interim report to the effect that he had extended tacit support to the LTTE and seeks to nail Karunanidhi suggesting his interrogation now. And it does not take into account the fact the final report has mentioned in the same breath five others too, Chandrashekhar, T.N. Seshan, Subramanian Swamy, Jayalalitha and Narasimha Rao, have not been interrogated. Why should MK alone be singled out now?
Besides the Commission has refused to read any sinister meaning into the last minute cancellation of a proposed DMK meeting at Sriperumbudur on the fateful May 21 and the allegations to the effect that Karunanidhi's son Stalin had asked his cadres to stay indoors on that day
in anticipation of been dismissed a substantiated. It of the ministers ol its allies that the l including Karuna those to be proc servers in New D. But having s pressures from its sought to wriggle ing that no immed the Tamil Nadu C being contemplate missal. It was for cide on the matter Karunanidhi re bing the ATR as a drawn up to humi latter demanded th tion Report be reg and that he step d cilitate an impartia
Subramnaim know where to hid about ranting that RSS-inspired and him because he is gether an alternati up at the centre.
The Cong-I un seems to be caught the time of writing the party decided ATR, dubbing it po and saying that t contemplated was yond that it would Contrary to expect on the issue of th dismissal of the I and action against apparently wary th its guns on the DM who have come out port would turn h plans of forming a ernment in the nea into difficulties.
And it was the gress, though led by then but reportedl Sonia operating scene, which had t Front government fusal to disassocia DMK. Jayalalitha disappointed by the proach of Sonia. Sh to take a very strid it is an issue affect and using that o peace with the ne

TAMIL TIMES 25
bme incidents have baseless and unas at the instance the AIADMK and JP had decided on idhi in the list of eded against, oblhi assert. uccumbed to the illies, the BJP then but of it all by sayiate action against hief Minister was l, certainly no disthe MDMA to de
acted angrily, dubolitical conspiracy, ur Jaya while the at a First Informastered against him own in order to fal investigation.
Swamy does not e himself, but goes the entire ATR is hat it is out to fix trying to put tove democratic set
der Sonia Gandhi in two minds. At this article, all that was to reject the litically motivated ne MDMA probe not sufficient. Benot commit itself. tions it kept quiet e demand for the )MK government Karunanidhi. It is at if it does train K, the left parties
openly in its Supostile and so its n alternative govfuture could run
very same ConMr. Sitaram Kesri at the behest of rom behind the oppled the United or the latter's ree itself from the hould be mightily wishy-washy aphad expected her nt stand, after all ng her personally, casion to make ' Congress Presi
dent whom she had denounced as a foreigner with vaulting ambitions.
Jaya’s associates had actually been going around saying that the tabling of the final report of the Jain Commission could prove a turning point, Jaya and Sonia would join hands, the BJP government would be toppled, a new formation put in place at New Delhi and Karunanidhi would go soon thereafter. For the moment such calculations have turned out to be a pipe-dream.
Interestingly Justice Jain does a neat somersault over his earlier indictment, though unwitting, of the entire Tamil community. He had said in his interim report, "The assassination of Shri Rajiv Gandhi would not have been possible the way it has materialised without the deep nexus of the LTTE operatives with the Tamils in Tamil Nadu...' That raised a lot of hackles in the state. Now he says, "The expression... was never and could never have been intended to mean that such nexus was with all Tamil-speaking people in Tamil Nadu. All the Tamils in Tamil Nadu may not even be in the know of the activities and operations of the LTTE. The expression was never intended to include all the Tamil-speaking population. Support for Tamil cause is different from having deep nexus with the LTTE operatives in the materialisation of the assassination. By no stretch of imagination such a meaning or Sense can be given to the expression as has been given to it.' That is some atonement.
At the end of the day what purpose has Jain achieved and what new revelation he has come up with? One government has been brought down, paving the way for the ushering in of a blatantly communal and retrograde government and now the DMK government, popularly elected, is sought to be destabilised apart from the fact that the Congress is seeking to make use of it to win back popular support. To recall what this correspondent had written while commenting on the interim report, "One really shudders to think what more unsubstantiated and loonier conclusions he would arrive at given his proclivity to treat most solemnly even the most ridiculous piece of trivia as yet another startling piece of evidence against the evil forces which or who had conspired (continued on next page)

Page 26
26 TAMIL TIMES
Dr V Satkunanayagam
flare up of the ethnic war, thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils have fled Sri Lanka and are living in various countries as migrants or as refugees. They are still continuing to leave Sri Lanka to escape from trauma of the ethnic war. Of these Tamils, over 150,000 are at present in Tamil Nadu. Earlier between 1988 and 1989 25,000 Tamil refugees and a further 54,000 between 1992 and 1994 had been repatriated on a programme organised by the Indian Government and UNHCR.
It is estimated that about 80,000 refugees are living on their own without any assistance from the Indian Government. Some of them are existing on the savings they had brought with them and support from friends and relatives abroad. Some are gainfully employed.
About 72,000 of the refugees are living in camps provided by the Indian Government. These Tamils are from the poorest class and have no one abroad to help them. They did not have the means to get to India otherwise but to undertake in desperation the hazardous crossing in small boats from the North and East of the Island to India. Many have lost their lives in the crossing. Most of them arrive in Dhanushkodi, the nearest point to Sri Lanka. The Indian officials interview them in Rameshwaram and then detain them in the large Mandapam camp which houses nearly 7,000 refugees. From there they
S ince the 1983 racial riots and the
are later distribute spread throughou size of the camps 3,000 residents. T in each camp.
India is not a p Convention on R refugees have no rights in India an ject to any Intern In 1984 the re some Indian profi non-political, selfprovide relief to called the Organ Refugee Rehabilit concerned with educational, empl tional needs of th as with improving tions. It is a regis supported by val Non-Governmen charitable instit Council and expatr has also received Tamil Nadu Chief Fund. OFERR is work by the Jesui Tamil Nadu Volun and other Indian N ternal evaluation mances Of OFERIR team on behalf of tium. The accoun are also subject t Registrar of Soc and Union Home
OFERIR haS Chennai and bran
(Continued from page 25) to take away the life of the very dear Rajiv..." (See Tamil Times, Dec. 1997). Mercifully though the storm of criticism he had invited earlier has apparently sobered him and he has been much more restrained this time.
The verdict in the Rajiv trial sentencing all the 26 accused to death has already been criticised as sweeping and as being based on flimsy evidence. The Jain Commission too has wound up with a whimper. Though there seems to be enough evidence gathered by the Special Investigating Team and placed before the crimi
nal trial to nail thi gers, the larger spiracy as to whe acting as an execl So, who were the foreign - behind these and other r main unanswere swers have b Sivarasan and present, Jains an standing, the pro conspiracy to mu individuals and be established.
 

15 AUGUST 1996
d to the 132 camps ; Tamil Nadu. The varies from 125 to here is a police post
arty to the 1951 UN fugees. The Tamil social or political il they are not subational scrutiny. fugees (along with ssionals) formed a help organisation to themselves. It is isation for Belam ation (OFERR). It is health, nutritional, oyment and recreale refugees as well ; their living conditered charity and is rious International tal Organisations, utions, the British iate Tamil S. OFERIR assistance from the Minister's Refugee also assisted in its t Refugee Services, tary Health Services NGO's. A yearly exof the work and fiis carried out by a the donors consoris and other records o inspection by the ieties, Tamil Nadu
Ministry. its Head Office in ch offices in Trichi,
vengeful Tamil Tiissues of the conher LTTE was only tioner, and if it was
parties - Indian or hat conspiracy. All elated questions red. Perhaps the an2en buried with ompany. For the
MDMAs notwith- .
position of a larger der Rajiv involving gencies remains to
O
Nellai and Erode. Dr Arul Gopalan, a Tamil Nadu writer is the President. Among the 435 very devoted staff, to mention a few names, are Chandrahasan, son of the late Thanthai SJV. Chelvanayagam; Sooriakumari Sinnathamby, Dr Shanthi Rajas underan, Dr Veeravagu Shanmuganathan, Sam Kovitpillai and Rasiah ManikavaSagar.
OFERR has a sister organisationProTEG - Organisation for Protection of Tamils of Eelam from Genocide and other violations of Human Rights. It's mandate is to promote the observance of International Humanitarian Instruments. It has campaigned on behalf of the 1,600 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees held in special camps or sub-jails accused of involvement in militancy but held without charge. In 1995 following representation made by ProTEG to the Human Rights Commission, ail. but 140 of these refugees have been released.
In the 1980's there was widespread sympathy and support in Tamil Nadu for the refugees. This changed radically after the assassination of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991. However the Tamil Nadu Government that came into power in 1996 is considerate and sympathetic towards the refugees. Services by OFERIR
The living conditions in the camps are poor, over-crowded and ill-ventlated. The majority of refugees live in shanties. These structures are usually 3m x 3m x 2.4m in height. Some ci the walls are of corrugated tar sheets or of mud. Some are brick built. The roofing is of corrugated tar sheets There is a door but no windows. It is unbearably hot inside during the summer and cold during the rainy season Some refugees are housed in cyclone
centres and godowns. These lack pn
vacy, "rooms are partitioned off by hanging old sareers, versties and gunny bags. A few live in vacated or donated houses.
The common toilet facilities are unusable in some camps and people go out into the open to relieve ther:- selves. Water supply is mainly from deep bore wells fitted with hard pumps. Few camps have pipe-bor:
water as most of the camps are in re
mote areas. All camps have electricity and are provided with a TV each by the Government.
The camp residents have formed various welfare committees ar. OFERR provides financial assistance

Page 27
15 AUGUST 1998
to them to improve the living conditions:- repair of houses and toilets; construction of common multipurpose huts; building of places of worship; purchase of indoor games and outdoor sports equipment, etc. Nurseries are run in all the camps.
The refugees receive a monthly dole from the Indian government which amounts to Rs480 for a family with 2 children of which RS2O is contributed by the Tamil Nadu Government. This family of 4 can purchase weekly 11 kilos of rice at the subsidised price of 57 paisa for a kilo (Prices in the open market are Rs8-11 for a kilo). Sugar, wheat and kerosine can be bought at controlled prices. It is calculated that for the provision of the minimal calorie requirement for a family of4, Rs2,000 per monthis required. OFERR provides a nutritional supplement to children up to the age of 5 and pregnant and lactating mothers. These supplements are available to convalescing patients and aged residents. Farex is supplied to babies (561 babies were born in 1997). Vitamins, calcium and iron tablets are also provided.
Health conditions in the camps are fragile with the prevalence of communicable diseases such as TB, Typhoid and diarrhoea. OFERR provides medical assistance by conducting clinics which supply medicines and by running a clinical laboratory service. Financial assistance is provided to patie
nts undergoing treatment in hospitals.
Camps in remote areas are far from medical facilities. To meet healthcare needs OFERIR has since 1993 been selecting from the camps' residents suitable candidates and training them as Healthcare workers. Some doctors from the Medical Institute of Tamils
notably Dr Karun from the USA, hav this training and il cal care to the refu There are at p hcare workers attac The aim is to hav worker for every 5C ined Healthcare turned to Sri Lanka ers visit the hou healthcare needs medication and arr; sion of medical tre care. They facilit and child health al health education o Counselling h trained in courses ducted by the Tam cal Seminary. They ling in the preventi ily break-up and ( and are involved relieve stress and t tivate the refugees
There are over school-going age gees. Most of the ( schools along with dren. There are no situated within the of these children d between 10-13 yea perform childcare : tients are out at W Tamil Nadu childr vides assistance v secondary educatio books, textbooks, coaching classes in subjects. Places foi tion have been sec cine, 20 for Engine culture and 20 Poly 1997, 90 students e
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TAM TIMES 27
yan Arulanandam e been involved in n providing medilgees. resent 143 Healtched to the camps. 'e one Healthcare }0 refugees (64 traworkers have re). Healthcare workses and identify provide simple ange for the provi2atment and afterate antenatal care nd are involved in f camp residents. elpers have been designed and conil Nadu Theologiprovide counselon of suicide, famleviant behaviour in programmes to rauma and to mo
22,000 children of among the refuhildren attend the Tamil Nadu chilw only 3 schools camps. A quarter Irop out of school rs to find work or at home when pa'ork (this is so of en). OFERR prowith primary and n, supply of note
admission fees, English and other University educured, 20 for Mediering, 10 for Agritechnic places. In ntered higher edu
cation of which 3 were for Medicine and 7 for Engineering. Cost per student including hostel fees varies between Rs6,000 to Rs 18,000 per annum. OFERR arranges a variety of vocational training:- tailoring and sewing, gem (artificial) cutting, carpentry and masonry, poultry training, typing and computing. English teacher and nursery teacher training are provided. Many camp residents supplement their income in various ways. Some earn by doing semi-skilled work in the vicinity of the camps. There are tailoring units in the regional centres and in some camps. Assistance is provided to widows to start petty shops, bakeries, poultry and rabbit units, mat-making, etc.
There is widespread prevalence of indebtedness to money lenders both inside and outside the camps with interest as high as 120%. This situation is due to many factors - inadequate dole, irregularity of work outside, sudden illness, weddings, funerals, etc. OFERR has had meetings with State officials regarding plans to develop saving strategies.
These refugees are waiting for the day when there will be peace in Sri Lanka and they could return to their homes. In the meantime we, expatriate Sri Lankan Tamils living in other countries who are more fortunate and better off can help our poor brethren in Tamil Nadu. Like all Tamils the refugees value the education of their children. Sponsorship for higher education would be gratefully welcomed. Professionals-doctors, nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, sports teachers, teachers of crafts, etc can visit Tamil Nadu and directly serve the refugees and train volunteers in basic skills to provide serices.
INTERNATIONA
கான அதிர்ஸ்டலாபச்சீட்டு ான ரிக்கட் ஒன்று இலவசம் ROWDE DESNATIONS
SZES & WEIGHTS
KING & CRATING SERVICE LECTION & DELIVERY
85A.
N N Jus
OPEN 7 DAYS AWEEK
FAX 0181-208 1882 15 BURNLEY ROAD NWO

Page 28
28 TAMIL TIMES
BOOK REVIEW
intonic STECSAND
By Selvy Thiruchandran 266 pages, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, PV
Review by Sasanka Perera, Department of Sociology, University of Col
Introduction:
Influential but conservative anthropologists such as Lionel Tiger and Robin Fox have consistently argued that gender roles have essentially been produced as a result of human evolutionary history (Tiger and Fox 1971). What this means is that phenomena closely associated with human evolution would limit humanity's options for change as opposed to those phenomena based on cultural constructs. Anything culturally constructed is relatively more flexible and thus perhaps easier to change. That is, according to the above perspective many of the gender roles in contemporary human Society cannot be changed since such roles are genetically coded and have evolved over millions of years of human history.
On the other hand, many other observers such as Dubisch have pointed out that arguments for biological determinism tend to favour male dominance and social arrangements advantageous to men (Dubisch 1986: 6). Yet others have argued that biologi
cal concepts devised to differentiate
male and female sexuality are themselves culturally constructed. Such arguments also suggest that humanity's preference for biological determinism is perhaps due to the "assumption that male and female are predominantly natural objects rather than predominantly cultural constructions (Ortner and Whitehead 1981, quoted in Dubisch 1986). Thiruchandran's analysis which closely looks at the social construction of gender roles or what Gagnon and Simon (1973) call "sexual scripts' (quoted in Laws & Schwartz 1977) has to be generally located within the parameters of the debates and concerns I have just briefly outlined.
Outline of Parts One to Three:
Thiruchandran's book is an exhaustive account and analysis of the imposition of patriarchal gender ideological positions on the women of
Tamil Nadu. In chandran takes in tively long term : esses of Such im her analysis also and class distinc society in the ar sues. In her o chandran argues book, "women, class difference them at individua tified as also sub tion by common C culturally enforce tions.” (xi). She "these restriction transmitted by a (xi). Ideology, an ing and legitimi: tus of Women in one of the main
According to search was laun two aspects of s where ideology role. According formulation thes the daily life pat (2) major trends films. In the dis she uses a Gran spective. In fact, the book a preoc retical approach the ideas of Ant with a consisten and concern wit and the analysis The book co in four separat Thiruchandran | cal formulations scribes the meth formation collec sive interview caste and class conventional a work technique than not would to a single vill to a single cast sion. Therefore
 
 

5 AUGUST 1998
T Ltd., 1997
ombo
her analysis Thiruto account the reland continuing procpositions. Moreover, takes note of caste ions in Tamil Nadu alysis of gender iswn words, Thiruin the preface of her despite caste and S that exist among l levels, can be idenjected to subordinaulturally defined and 'd patterns of restricfurther explains that s are reinforced and common ideology d its role in formulatsing the gender staTamil Nadu is in fact themes in the book. ) the author the reched to investigate ocial life of women plays a significant to Thiruchandran's two aspects are: (1) terns of women; and and themes in Tamil cussion of ideology cian theoretical perthroughout much of cupation with a theoclearly influenced by nio Gramci, coupled t feminist interest in h the subject matter is clearly visible. nsists of 14 chapters parts. In part one, resents her theoretifor analysis, and deodology used for inion. She uses extenconducted across divisions instead of
thropological field
s which more often restrict a researcher ge and perhaps even or other such divier interview material
offers us a wide spectrum of experience. In part two titled "The Construction of Gender Hierarchy in the Tamil Social Formation.' Thiruchandran is concerned with the historical evolution of gender hierarchy in Tamil society. Through a detailed historical analysis of Tamil society in South India Thiruchandran argues that; the patriarchal hegemony in the social construction of gender roles and the discrimination of women on that basis in Tamil Nadu is nothing new. In fact, she demonstrates that such discriminations have existed over a long period of time and have continued to exist mostly as a result of the continuing hegemony imposed by Brahmanic values on Tamil society. At one point in the preface of her book she makes the point that despite the socio-cultural similarities between Tamils in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna, the kind of gender discrimination obvious in Tamil Nadu did not take place in Jaffna to the same extent perhaps due to the absence of Brahmanic domi
aCC.
Looking closely at the evolution of South Indian social history Thiruchandran attempts to place in context the dynamics that played a part in ascribing a sense of what she calls : otherness' to women. In her analysis she closely looks at concepts such as chastity and its association with practices such as widow seclusion In addition, she also investigates the social constructions of such apparently contradictory dualisms as mother/whore and goddess/witch ir the gendered perception of femal: sexuality.
In part three entitled “Gender anc its Ideological Significations Across Caste and Class” Thiruchandran discusses in four chapters how gende issues and related ideological posltions differ and merge within and be. tween different caste and class for. mations such as Brahmin womer. women in what she terms middle rangi castes and Adi Dravida women. Dè. spite the differences within and be. tween caste and class divisions in th: perception of gender roles, I think sh: makes a strong case to argue that i: respective of such divisions there : a pervasive sense of what one mai: call gender discrimination or gend: suffering among many of the wome she has talked to. The existence perception of such a sense at or :

Page 29
15 AUGUST 1998
level however, does not mean that gender scripts impact upon women uniformly across caste and class lines. For instance, Thiruchandran demonstrates the pervasive existence of restrictive Brahmanical caste duties and the adherence to such values even by women who are nonBrahmin. On the other hand rich upper caste women, particularly if they are professionals may be able to avoid some of these restrictions in the long run which most poor women would not be able to do.
Outline of Part Three:
The discussions in these three parts of the book finally leads to the fourth and final section of the book entitled “Women in the Celluloid Image, Ideological Reconstruction and Representation." This section consists of five chapters. What is presented here is an extensive discussion dealing with the manner in which women are represented in Tamil films, and how through such images persisting patriarchal positions and myths as well as discriminatory gender practices against women are reinforced and reconstructed. In a society such as Tamil Nadu the role the medium of film plays in social change cannot be under emphasised. In the context of such a vast film industry and a large film-going population within which exists a pantheon of male movie heroes some times much more influential than the Hindu pantheon itself, the influence the medium exerts on the general populace for whatever purpose must be immense.
American sociologist, Russel Middleton in his influential paper, “Ethnic Prejudice and Susceptibility to Persuasion' (1960) argued nearly 37 years ago that films can be used to combat ethnic prejudice. Much earlier, during World War Two Hitler's film-makers made powerful movies to inculcate Strong feelings of antSemitism among ordinary Germans. On the other hand, we also know that in Tamil Nadu itself former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran's political base was primarily created through the medium of films where he played the roles of both human hero and god. Therefore the influence of the medium in the construction of images, values and prejudices cannot be under emphasised.
In the analysis of films Thirucha
ndran engages in í otic interpretation some central ideas School. Many of t to the Frankfurt S strated the utility media (164). Thi with a detailed di tory and the politi industry in Tamill ceeds to analyse 1 dividually and to of messages and through this mec strates that some o that keep on repe: cinema have conti of the Furanas (1 onstrates how m produce and repr ing dualisms as th whore and the goc to Dharmic princip who does not.
In addition to messages, values nsmitted through chandran also att context and gauge ence of the movie group of women w specific films. D1 correlations betwe nature of their inf methodologically quite a difficult tas Thiruchandram h! one point. The p images, biases ar that are transmitt through films als forms in the outer whether some of came to the wom or through other ki is difficult to estab that Thiruchand movies alone wol point even withou interviews, since such influence i specificities of Tai tural context.
Nevertheless, s Ses of the woment selves indicate a perhaps of the fut archy in Tamil Nac ous encroachment ues and the repro tive gendered prac riety of social ins the movies, some

TAMIL TiMES 29
ln exercise of semi
and has borrowed from the Frankfurt hose who belonged chool have demon
and power of the ruchandran begins scussion of the hiscs of the Tamil film nadu. Then she pro8 specific films inascertain the kind ideals transmitted lium. She demonf the central themes ating themselves in nued from the time 56). She also demo vies continue to oduce such endurat of the virgin and bd woman adhering les and the bad one
the analysis of the and prejudices trathe movies Thiruempts to place in the extent of influs by interviewing a ho have seen these awing such direct :en movies and the luence however, is
and conceptually sk to achieve which erself observes at roblem is that the ld other messages ed and reproduced ) exist in multiple society. Therefore these influences en through movies nds of socialisation lish. It seems to me ran's analysis of uld have made the t the benefit of the the possibilities of S immense in the mil Nadu socio-cul
ome of the respono the movies themnother dimension, ure of gender hierlu. Despite the seriof Brahmanic valduction of restrictices through a vatitutions including women were quite
critical of their overall position as well as what they saw in the movies. Without overstating the fact, such responses seem to suggest that the kind of messages that are transmitted through movies are not always uncritically and inherently internalised by these women. Perhaps there is no harm in being hopeful about a future of improved gender relations in Tamil Nadu. When that future would be is a more difficult thing to imagine. Conclusion:
In conclusion then, I would suggest that the major contribution of this book is its analysis of the role of ideology in creating gender roles and its impact on the routine lives of women and how these patriarchal gender biases and restrictive scripts for female sexuality are reproduced in the movies. Moreover, in a context typified by Sri Lanka’s current intellectual climate where there is no or very little distinction between pamphleteering and scholarship, which is clearly visible in feminist literature as well, Thiruchandran’s contribution is an example of serious scholarship by a Sri Lankan feminist.
Bibliography
Dubisch, Jill. 1986. "Introduction.' In Jill Dubisch ed., Gender and Power in Rural Greece. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1986. “Culture Enters Through the Kitchen: Women, Food and Social Boundaries in Rural Greece. In, Jill Dubisch ed., Gender and Power in Rural Greece. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Laws, Judith Long & Schwartz, Pepper - 1977. Sexual Scripts: The Social Construction of Female Sexuality. Hindsdale, Illinois: The Dryden Press. Middleton, Russel 1960. “Ethnic Prejudice and susceptibility to Persuasion.' In, American Sociological Review, 25. Ortner, Sherry 1974. “Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?' In M Z Rosaldo & L Lamphere ed. Women, Culture and Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Tiger, Lionel & Fox, Robin 1971. The Imperial Animal. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Page 30
30 TAM TIMES
Readers a
Forum
HARASSMENT & BRIBERY
I am a naturalised British citizen. I went to Sri-Lanka for the first time in 3 years to visit my sick mother, who is in her 70's. The Sri-Lankan police at the airport harassed and robbed my father and myself.
I arrived at Colombo Katunayake international airport at 3.00 am on Monday 4 May 1998 from London by an Air Lanka flight. My father met me at the airport and when we were waiting for our van, a policeman approached us. My father believed he was a sub-inspector. He started threatening my father that he had information from the CID that I was suspected of having links with the Tigers, meaning the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). However, the policeman did not have any details about me nor did he show any interest in checking my papers. The policeman grilled my father for about 5 minutes and told us to follow him to the police station to make inquiries about me. My father explained to him I lived in England and that I was coming to Sri-Lanka for the first time since I left Sri-Lanka 13 years ago and that I was only there a week to see my sick mother.
My father suspected that the policeman was harassing us only to get some money from us but neither my father nor I wanted to give them any money because we had not committed any crime apart from being Tamil. We were directed to driver of our vehicle to drive us to the nearest police station. On the way the sub-inspector again approached, this time on a motorbike with a constable, told our driver to stop the van, and called my father to go behind some nearby trees to be interviewed. His colleague parked his motorbike several metres in front of our van at such an angle that I could not see the number plate. All the time he was standing with his back to us so we would not see his nameplate - they seemed very experienced in that job.
Again the Sub-inspector told my father that he had information from the CID that I was suspected and this
time he told my the police station that they would s ents' home once their inquiries. Th ceptable to my fa mon knowledge who had been tak lice and the milit ing and never fou pleaded with him had no link with only visiting Sri mother.
After 15-20 in spector sent my f hind the trees anc four questions. H slowly. First he a the name of my vi he asked me whe Sinhala; then he a in my luggage. Is ish passport withc I was born in Ba part of Sri Lanka working there. ' took that to be s father explained born in Batticaloa pector told me to He continually th for another 15-20 father agreed to g which he had on ector sent my fath my hand luggage. he demanded to k lars I had on me. ) £10 on me (I real he did not believ ector took the El money. He must as I had come fr have had a lot of him take the mo very tired after th London and anxic this ordeal to m 13 years. My fat was unemployed liceman still asked money, then he from my father a got £10 from me my father. All th us that time.
We have not ctor's name or nu a description of aged, about 5'8" pot-bellied. His ( ing well away fro
 

15 AUGUST 1998
ather to drop me at and go home, and end me to my parthey had finished at was totally unacther as it was comthat many persons en away by the poary had gone missnd again. My father and asserted that I the LTTE and was Lanka to see my
inutes the sub- inther to take me beasked me three or e spoke to me very sked me what was lage in Jaffna. Then :ther I could speak sked what I had got howed him my Britut his asking for it. tticaloa in the east while my father was Ithe sub-inspector suspicious, but my to him why I was 1. Then the sub-insgo back to my van. treatened my father minutes. Finally, my give him 500 rupees him. The sub-inspler to fetch me with When I went to him now how many doltold him I had only y had only £10) but : me. The sub-insp0 and wanted more have presumed that om London, I must money on me. I let ney because I was e long journey from us to get away from eet my mother after her explained that I but the greedy pome to give him more ook the 500 rupees nd let us go. So, he and 500 rupees from 2 money we had on
got the sub-inspember but I can give him. He is middle
in height, fat and olleague was Standmus all the time but
I can say that he was young with a slim build. The incident took place between 3.30 am and 4.30 am.
My father later told me that if we had not given him the money, with the wide range of powers they had, the police could have taken me into custody and put me into the police cells where they would have beaten me to sign a blank paper upon which they could have put whatever they wanted. The police could hold anyone in the police cell for two weeks without any charges. After two weeks you would be taken before a magistrate who could adjourn the case for a month, during which time you would be kept in custody. When such a case finally comes to court, it collapses because of lack of evidence. Another possibility was that the sub-inspector knew that I was there for only one week which provided a stronger leWe One.
While I was in Sri-Lanka I spoke to several people about what happened to me. I understand that what happened to me also happened to many innocent Tamils, and a lot of them lost a lot of money in the same way. In one case the police took not only the money but also the victim's luggage and beat him up as well. I also understand the police take innocent Tamils into cells and release them when the family pays them the money. The police have a wide range of powers under emergency laws and police abuse is also very widespread.
I would also like to mention that one of my cousins now lives in Colombo. When he was living in Jaffna in January 1997, the army took him to a military camp where they kept him for 10 days. While the military held him there, they tortured him. He was hung upside down and severely beat him up; they threatened to burn him. They did not tell his family where he was being held or even whether he was alive or dead. After 10 days the army brought him to his family and got his mother to sign a letter saying he had not been beaten up and that he was well looked after while the army held him.
I have written to both the SriLankan High Commission and the British Home Office regarding this matter and am waiting to hear from them.
S Yogakumar 14 Handsworth Road London N17 6DE

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15 AUGUST 1998
MATRIMONAL Jaffna Hindu parents in
Chennai, South India seek grooms for attractive graduate daughters, ages 29, 24, Computer operators. Send horoscope, details. M 1038 c/o Tarnil Tirnes. Jaffna uncle seeks professional bride for nephew, 29, M. Sc., (Computer Engineering), B.Eng (Electrical & Electronic Engineering), working as Software Development Engineer in UK. Reply with horoscope, details. M 1039 C/O Tamil Tirnes. Jaffna Hindu professional family seeks professional bride with good East/West mix and willing to settle in U.S. for son, 29, M.Sc. from leading American university working in U.S. Please reply in confidenCe With all details. M 1040 C/o Tarnil Tinnes. Jaffna Catholic seeks bride for brother, 42, un married, British citizen, electronic engineer in permanent employment in UK. Send detailS M 104 í C/O famil TimeS.
Jaffna Hindu parents seek professionally qualified bride for graduate son, 26, CIMA finalist, MBA, London Company financial manager, UK citizen. Send horoscope, photo, details. IM 1042 C/o Tamil Tirnes.
OBITUARIES
r. John Jekerajasingam Rasanayagam, (73), formerly
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ist20 words 10. each word 6op charge foi No. 3. wat 17 12% extra). Prepayment esserii ܫܳܢܳܐ
The Advertisement Manager, famil Times Ltd, PO Box 121, i
Sutton, Surrey SM13to
of Inland Revenue in London and Bletchley; beloved husband of the late Mrs. Malkanthi Helen (nee Kotalawela), loving father of Mrs. Devamanohari Pillai; grandfather of Anushka and Shinnoni, father-in-law of Mr. Prabhu Pillai, brother of late Thuraisingam (ST), late Wilfred (Baba), Mrs. Mahes Chellappah, Chinna, Mrs. Viji Inparajasingam and Mrs. Malar Senthilnathan, brotherin-law of Mrs. Lakshmi Navaratnam and Mrs. Mira Amaresekara passed away on 5th August 1998 in Colombo and was Cremated at Kanatte,
IN MEMORAM
Mr. Mayilvaganam Velummayilum J.P., U.M., Attorneyat-Law and former Chairman, Urban Council, Point Pedro, Sri Lanka passed away, on 31.8.98 and the ninth anniversary of his demise falls on 318.98.
Sadly missed and fondly remembered by his loving wife, children Thayanandarajah (UK), Nithianandarajah (New Zealand), Mayilvaganarajah (UK), Chitra (Colombo), Anandarajah, Krishnarajah and Jayanthi (all of Madras); grandsons Cameron, Ewan and Atharson; Son-in-law Kamales waran (Colombo), daughter-in-law Sumitra (UK), Devi (New Zealand), relatives, friends and a host of grateful contituents. - 59 Edgwarebury Gardens, Edgware, Middx. HA88LL.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

TAMILMES 31
In loving memory of Mr. Apputhurai Gunaratnam of
Point Pedro, Sri Lanka formerly Divisional Superintendent of Post Offices, Sri Lanka on the eighth anniversary of his passing away on 28.8.90.
Sadly missed and fondly remembered by his loving wife Rani; children Thirukumaran (Australia), Vasuki (Sri Lanka), Devaki (Australia), Sutharsan (UK), and Saratha Devi (Australia), daughters-in-law, Sonsin-law, grandchildren, sister and in-lawS. - 67B St. AnnS Road, London N15 6N.J. Tel: 0181 802 5601,
Mr. Selvarajah Kiritharan
away on 22nd August 1996.
Your life was so simple,
fame Could never remain unfold. You left us so sudden,
IN MEMORAM Second Death Anniversary of
Engineer, London, who passed
You were courageous and bold, Your deeds of Prominence and
Your memories never forgotten.
Affectionately remembered by your ever loving father, mother, sisters, brother, grandmother, uncles, aunties, in-laws, nephews and nieces.
Mr. & Mrs. Selvarajah, 28, Bridge Water Road, Alperton, Wembley, Middx. Tel 0181 903 1851.
IN MEMORAM
In Loving Memory of Mrs. Kamalavathy
ing away on 16th June 1997.
written in our hearts.
Gnanasoorian (Alaveddy) of Colombo and later of London, UK on the first anniversary of her pass
Through Times Past, Present and Future, Amma, memories of your love shall endure. Your affectionate ways are for ever
Remembered with love and affection and deeply missed by husband
Gnanasoorian, son Jeyaraj, daughters Jeyahini, Shivajini; sons-in-law Harindran, Gunasekaram, grandchildren Sanjiv, Aneesha, Archanna, aunt, uncle, brothers, Sisters and all their
families. - 72 King Edward Road, London E17.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS Sep. 1 Aavani Moolam. Sep. 2 Ekathasi. Sep. 3 Pirathosan, Feast of St. Gregory. Sep. 5 Full Moon; South London Tamil Welfare Group (SLTWG) Women's Front reet Tel 018 545 3313. Sep. 6 5.30pm Tamil Orphans
Trust presents Grand Musical Concert by P. Unnikrishnan - Indian National Award Winner - at Brent Town Hall Forty Lane, Wembley, Middx. Tel: Of 81 908 1101/482 7745/422 3943, Feast of Our Lady of Aiyithiyamalai, Batticaloa. Sep. 6 2.00pm Feast of Our
Continued on page 32

Page 32
32 TAM TIMES
Continued from page 31 Lady of Madhu, organised by Association of Sri Lankan Catholics (UK) at St. Michael and St. Martins Catholic Church, 94 Bath Road, Hounslow, Middx. Tel 0181 979 8955/426 4565, Sep. 8 Feast of the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sep. 9 Sankadakaa Chathurthi. Sep. 11. Karthigai.
Sep. 12 Krishna Jayanthi; SLTWG Drop In. Tel: 0181545 3313. Sep. 13 Avani Sunday (4). Sep. 16 Krishna Ekathasi; Feast of St. Cornelius. Sep. 17 Pirathosam. Sep. 19 Purattashi Sani (1). Sep. 20 Amavasai. Sep. 21 Navarathiri Festival First day, Feast of St. Martin. Sep. 24 Chathurthi, Luxmy poоја.
AUSTRALIAN
NEWSLETTER
Concert by Bombay Sisters: The ‘Abayakaram” organisation presented a Vocal recital by Snts Saroja and Lalitha popularly known as the Bombay Sisters on 13th June 98 at the Sir John Clancy Auditorium of the University of New South Wales. Since the Bombay Sisters have been the stars in the Carnatic music scene in India for a long time, the auditorium was packed with "Rasikas. The accompanists Sri Raghvendra Rao - Violin and Sri Ganesh - Mridangam were also from Tamilnadu. Dr. A. Balasubramaniam, President of Abayakaram' welcomed the audience and pointed out that all the expenses incurred in organising the concert had been borne by anonymous donors and every dollar from the ticket sales would be donated in equal amounts to the Sri Venkateswara and Murugan temples in Sydney. He also announced that the total Collection Was 12000 dollars and thanked the Bombay Sisters, the accompanists and the audience.
Bharata Natya Arangetram: Another Bharata Natya Arangetrarn burst on the Sydney dance scene with the difference that the dancer was a teenage boy, Selvan Seran Sribalan. The Arangetram took place at the Science Theatre of the University of New South Wales on 25th July 98.
Fifteen year old Seran is a student at Homebush Boys' High School in Sydney and had been learning Bharata Natyam from Guru Smt Damayanthi Balaraj fol. lowed by a short training under the Dananjayans of Madras. It was a great day for the proud Guru. Seran stunned the audience With his superb footwork and excellent abhinaya. Sydney audiences who have only seen dances by young girls were extremely appreciative. Almost every item and especially the Varnam in Lathangi Ragam drew tumultuous applause.
Nattuvangam was by Seran's Guru Smit Damayanthi Balaraju, the Vocalist was Smt Mathini Sriskandarajah, who delighted the audience with her melodious singing. She had come all the way from London for the
OCCasion. So did the A Muthu Sivarajah. The were Sri Kopathidas ! Selvi Vathani Varatha Ganeshan Ghajan - G ing in Tamil was Sivagnanasundaran Gnanakaran.
Apart from the Varn, performance was ti Dhasa Avatharam” (th Lord Vishnu). At the mance Seran receive from the audience.
There Were seve including the Principa High School, Mr. Bria Guest, Mr. Sriskan, London, in his keynot plimenting Seran, hop nances of this nature depicting the present of Our Tamil brethren mOtherland.
Father Em Austi
Prof. Dr. S.J. Enrn, of the Diocese of Jaf former Dean of St Seminary was in Aus Witness to the historic in October 95, Dr. Ern, ken Critic of Sri Lanka, addressed a packed Sydney on 26th July; Australian Federa Associations and Wa Ana Pararajasingam C has Written extensi human rights activists the World of the horrifi ed behind ClOSed C Bishop Desmond Tutu to the UN COmniSSior, Geneva, addresse International, been internationalisto a focusing on Third WC several human rights course of his campaig a book titled 'Let my P collection of his speec
 

15 AUGUST 1998
Sep.
Hall, Heathfield
London W4. Tel: 0181 949 4234 (President)/01795 425
574 (Secretary).
Sep. 26 Purattashi Sani (2);
Shashdi.
Sep. 29 Saraswathy Pooja; SLTVVG Navarathiri celebrationS, Tel 0181 5453.313,
Vijayadhasami;
Sep. 30
26 6.00pm Jafna College Alumni (UK) Annual Re-Union at Chiswick Town At
Vidthyarambam, Manamboo, Feast of St Jerome,
Bhawan Centre, 4A Castletown Road, London W14 9HQ. Te: O171 381 3O86/4608. Sep.19 7.30pm Karnatic Flute by Sikkil Sisters. Sep. 21 6.30pm Lecture by Prof. Yogi Ramaiah on "Kriya Yoga. All Welcome. Sep. 26 6.30pm Carnatic Veena by K. Subramaniam.
Terrace,
Mridangist Nathamani other accompanists Warayanadas - Violin, rajan - Veena and Sri Ghatam. The comper
by Selvi Rathika and in English by Sri
am, a highlight of his he interpretation of le ten awatharanS Of end of the perford a standing ovation
al guest speakers I of Homebush Boys' in Greene. The Chief darajah, also from e speech while comled that future perfor
would include items trials and tribulations back at home in Our
manuel in ralia
anuel, Vicar-General fna (1992-97) and a i Lanka's National tralia in July 1998. A : exodus from Jaffna manuel is an outspoS War for Peace'. He | public meeting in 98, organised by the tion of Tamil s presented by Mr. )f the aSSOCiation. He vely and has met in his attempt to tell C war being conductfloorS”. He has met 1, made submissions for Human Rights in Od Pax Christi interviewed by the monthly magazine orld issues, and met organisations in the n. He is the author of eople Go, which is a thes and writings.
Weena Arangetram at Bhavan
Sugi (Rachel) and Sutha (Rebecca) gave a full length Veena recital at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on 5th July 1998, it was their Arangetram day under the guidance of their Guru Smit Sivasakthi Sivanesan. Sugi and Sutha, both twins at birth are the daughters of Mr. & Mrs. Rajendran of Raynes Park. London SW20. They are preparing for their G.C.S.E. at the Sutton High School.
Their performance started with the Sarasijanabha - Varnam followed by Vathapi, Himagri thanaye and Swami Thiyagaraja's Sadinchene. The choice of songs apparently by the Guru Suited the sisters well and they were able to build up a tempo leading to the Ragam Tanam Palawi in Lathangi Ragam and Tisra triputa Thala.
The lighter pieces towards the end Inuvil Veeramani lyer's Kalipaha Valli, Meera Bajar and Bharathi's Chinnan Chiru Kiliye were very popular pieces loved by all and were handled well by Sugi and Sutha.
The parents released an excellent souvenir printed locally. Among the many colourful photos were messages from the Guru, Dr. John Marr, Ram Cumarasamy, Ann Courts (Headmistress of Sutton High School), Veena Professor K. P. Sivanandarn, Rajkumar Bharathi, Bhavan's Executive Director Dr. Nandakumara, Veena prodigy Kalaimamani E. Gayathri and Wimal Sockanathan.
The Sisters were accompanied on the Miruthangam by Bhavan's Balachandar anc on the Gadam by R.N. Prakash. Pretty Yasothara Gnananandha, senior Veena and Vocal student of Smt Sivasakthi and an engineering graduate from imperial University sat between the sisters gracefully and provided the Thambura accompaniment.

Page 33
15 AUGUST 1998
Ramila’s Samarpanam
The Wimbledon Shree Ghanapathy Temple was the venue of a unique occasion on 11th July 1998. It was an achievement every musician would aim for after a long period of training. The violin samarpanam of Chelvi Ramila Rabindra, daughter of Mr. Rabindra and Dr. (Mrs.) Rabindra was one such occasion. Both the parents and the Guru Srinathi Rudrani Balakrishnan have upheld the age-old tradition in presenting Ramila's Samarpanam to Lord Ganesh.
Ramila gave a very satisfying recital on the violin. She was accompanied on the mridhangam by Sri Muthu Sivarajah, on the ghatam by Sri Gananathan and on the muharsing by Sri Sithamparanathan. Smit Anandarani Balendra compered the evening's proceedings. The musical pieces she played were brought out well with perfect rhythm and ease.
The samarpanam concluded well with a well presented vote of thanks by Ramila's Sister Brinta Rabindra.
S.P. Asian Mafia
Asian Mafia iS SAMUDRAS third venture into the experimental expression of Indian Music. Classical singer Rajkumar Bharati, on a return trip to the UK, surprises us all with his spirit of adventure and daringly shares the stage - and songs - with Black American singer Sharon Rose. Sharon has worked with artistes of the Calibre of Jools Holland, Elton John and Tom Jones.
K.S. Bhavani Shanker, Music Director of Samudra, is the instigator of this seeming
ly impossible comb His keen artistic vi enormous potentia between Classical ern popular music.
Asian Mafia's ex Cussion forms an it very different talen Wicked intent. Bava gam, Talwin Singh than A. Sivamanic
A special highlight phonist Mangalore first visit to the UK. also features Shar and Neville Malcoli
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TAMIL TIMES 33
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eptionally strong pertriguing subplot. Three s come together with ni Shanker on Miridanon Tabla and no other n drum kit. is brilliant young saxoK. Anandaram On his The ensemble of eight Varma on keyboard n on bass guitar.
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in the midst of ritualistic Arangetrams performed in and around London by students of various sorts, it was quite adventurous on the part of Sankara Fine Arts to have invited the Scholastic, research oriented, Bharata Nritya artiste Padma Subramanyam of Madras, to perform her own version of Bharata Natyam at the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Hall in South Bank. Padma, daughter of the legendary "Director" Subramanyam, had learned to dance under the expert guidance of Vazhuvur Ramiahpillai, and began teaching the art while she was in her teens. During her forty years or so in her artistic career, Padma had been evolving the art to its original format through her Doctorate thesis on Karanas based on the original Natya Sastra of Bharata. Thus Shebecane a Celebrity.
Padma's performance at Elizabeth Hall on 4th July is an experience that one could dream of: the great expanse of the auditorium, variant steps and body movements, appropriate thala variations and abhinaya sequences, all contributed to the classic art of this scholar. Besides some known pieces taken for exhibition, Padma boldly and successfully used the overture of Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet to illustrate the Ramayana story of Jatayu Moksham. It was a tremendous performance which proved Padma's creativity and understanding of the art. To sustain her artistic capability and research orientation even in her fifties is something to be admired. VN
Sivapatha Sundaram.
Sri Lankan Physician from USA Honoured in
London The following information was inadvertently omitted from the account that appeared under the above heading in last month's issue. The error is regretted.
'Dr. Indrakrishnan previously held a position as a clinical assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of Virginia. He is a 1985 graduate from the faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo and an old boy of Royal College, Colombo, Sri Lanka.'
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34 TAMIL TIMES
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