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Prime Minister Atal Behari Wi Drawida Munnetra Kashgar TI the Bharatiya Janatha Party
 
 
 

ဗြူးနှီပ္ေဒ္ဓိမ္ပိ ajpayee and the leader of the All India A Tria Jayalitha Jayaram who by pulling out from led ruling coalition brought its downfall

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15 APRIL 1999
"I do not agree with a word of what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.”
-Voltaire
ISSN 0266 - 44 88 Vol. XVIII No. 4 15 APRIL 1999
Published by:
TAMIL TIMES LTD PO Box 121, Sutton,
Surrey SM13TD
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CONTENS
The Balkan Imbroglio O3 Elections - A Mixed Result 04 Bishop Urges Troops Removal 08 Legal Action Against Journal 10 Al Condemns Death Penalty 11 PC Polis Point to Future Trends 12
Violence and Democracy 13 Women's Empowerment 16 Kosovo and Sri Lanka 18 The Fa of the BJP 19 Kosovo - Revealing Lessons 22 Violence Threatens Nepal 24 Muralitharan Crucified 25
Book Review - Crosscurrents 26 JVP and its Pol Potist Past 27 History of Hinduism 29
T
The NatO bOm ing the ethnic A dent SlobОdan a thousand tim lion of the esti themselves in Milosevic's sa) after the Nato grisly attacks burning their h their men-folk
If Nato and th taught a lesso demand Of thO has turned out position has be bian nationalis The Serbian re istic exhortatio their patriotic d Serbia anCd KO;
Almost 30 days destroyed, bsic bridges, oil ref and a whole ht ecological disa petro-chemica river Danube Smoke and ga country and it horror.
The democra Milosevic's re impregnably S of Nis, is quot mbed. The pe democracy in er the authOr They voted f US. Today m Britain, Franc Veran Matic,
leading peac
nating seeds
ntenegro anc
What was Cl Serve a "hum tarian disast
 
 

TAMIL TIMES 3
ardment began ostensibly in the pursuit of protectbanians in Kosovo from repression by Serbian PresiMilosevic. But the airstirkes have made the Situation S WOrse for the Kosovans themsleves. Almost a millated 1,800,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo find heighbouring Countries having become victims of age campaign of ethnic cleansing. It was certainly rStrikes were launched that Milosevic intensified his pon the ethnic Albanians, pillaging, plundering and mes, raping their women, massacring hundreds of nd driving them out of the country.
e western leaders thought that Milosevic could be within a few days and forced to agree to the Nato Isands of Nato troops being inducted into Kosovo, it to be a grave blunder on their part. In fact Milosevic's !come stronger in the context of a rising tide of Sersentiments generated by the "enemy's" aggression. gime has been bombarding the population with jingons calling upon them to rise up to what it claims as uty to join the army and defend the holy homeland of
sovo from enemy aggression.
s of relentless pulverising bombardment of Serbia has les airbases and military installations, railway and river neries, chemical plants, electricity stations, factories ost of facilities essential for the civilian population. An ster is being predicted after Natobomed a combined is, fertilizer and refinery complex on the banks of the n the outskirts of Belgrade sending a cloud of toxic s into the sky. What is humanitarian about bombing a people into the stone age is a mystery wrapped in
c movement that has shown vibrant growth against |ime has been dealt a body blow leaving him almost rong. Zoran Zivkovic, the opposition Mayor of the city !d to have said, "Twenty minutes ago my city was boople who live here are the same people who voted for 996, the same people who protested for 100 days afties tried to deny them their victory in the elections. the same democracy that exists in Europe and the city was bombed by the democratic states of the US, Germany and Canada! is there any sense in this?" ditor-in-chief of Blegrade's banned Radio B92 and a activist, wrote, "Nato's bombs have blasted the germifaemocracy out of the soil of Kosovo, Serbia and Moinsured that they will not sprout again for a longtime."
med and projected as a progressive war launched to nitarian” Cause has turned Out to be the WOrst humaniEurope has faced since the Second World War.

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4 AML TIMES
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ELE
D B S.Jeyaraj
he recently concluded elections to five Provincial councils in Southern Sri Lanka have provided a mixed result. Although at face value the ruling Peoples Alliance(PA) government seems to have made a clean sweep, a closer scrutiny reveals that arriving hastily at such a conclusion would be incorrect.
The PA by virtue of having polled the highest number of votes in each province has come out on top and scored a five nil win. Yet it does not have a clear majority in four out of five Provinces despite earning the bonus of two additional seats in each council. It remains to be seen whether the PA can form viable coalitions with minority parties and conduct stable administrations in the future. Likewise the United National Party(UNP) in spite of being “defeated” now, may be down, but is certainly not out.
Even though the five PC elections were expected to be an index to forthcoming political trends the fractured verdict has negated such a prognosis. The end result of the mini poll indicates that the situation is quite dicey and that neither the PA nor the UNP can afford to take voters for granted in the Parliamentary and Presidential elections scheduled in the future. It has also signalled the emergence of the radical Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna(JVP) as the third force in Sinhala Politics.
Apart from this the very high rate of abstentions from voting as well as the unusually high rate of spoiled votes point to an erosion of faith in the electoral system itself. On another level the results demonstrated the growing alienation between the PA and the minority communities.
The results also manifested the growing decline of veteran Thondaman's clout among the Tamils of Indian origin. This time the Ceylon Workers Congress(CWC) and a motley crew of 22 associations and organizations representing the Up Country Tamils formed a new front called “Inthiya Vamsaavali Makkal Perani' or Indian
Origin Peoples Fror Peoples Front led by Chandrasekharan l front. Thondaman's tered poll symbol of erel). But his erstw tary M. S. Sellasamy action laying claim to the cockerel is emb| pute the “Peran "Mayil'(peacock) is party the National (NUW). So all resu Thondaman domina Peoples front are a NUW results officia fusion the acronym to depict the CWC do in this article also.
Of the five PC p. obtained a clear-cut one Province. This nantly rural North generally known as t the PA, UNP and JV 757(53.39%), 1713 22,695(5.23%) respec 70% of the registered votes. Of these 32, votes. The PA, UNP 12 and 2 seats respect gained the additional polled the highest. member council the joys an absolute maj attributed for the PA's ing in this province is tary success of the g it is a border line p Tamil areas of the n people living in the said to have faced hands of the LTTE. T operations have succ tent of shifting theseb has made the gratef people to vote en-ma is said. PA cabinet Premalal Dissanayak post and take over as minister.
The PA has not b full in the other provi
 

15 APRIL 1999
TIONS
. The Up Country deputy minister P. ept aloof of this CWC has a regishe "Seval' (cockile general secrehas initiated legal the symbol. Since oiled in legal dis” adopted the ymbol of another Jnion of Workers ts concerning the ted Indian origin vailable only as ly. To avoid conNUW will be used minated “Perani”
olls the ruling PA majority in only was the predomiCentral Province he Rajarata. Here VP obtained 231, 07(39.46%) and :tively. 466,482 or 665,416 cast their 408 were spoilt and JVP got 17, vely. The PA also bonus seats as it hus out of a 33 A having 19 enority. One reason creditable showthe alleged milivernment. Since ovince with the orth and east the border areas are insecurity at the e recent military eeded to the exorders away. This l border village se for the PA, it minister Bertie I will resign his Provincial chief
en that successces. In the Uva
Province 462,768 or 68.16% out of the registered figure of 678,990 voted. Of these 39,226 were spoilt votes. The PA, UNP, JVP and NUW got 190,105 (44.88%), 186,293 (43.98%), 20,099 (4.75%) and 19,914 respectively. This entitled the party's to 15, 14,02 and 01 respectively. Even with the additional bonus of 2 the PA tally increased only to 17 in a 34 member council. Since the JVP refused to align with neither the PA nor the UNP the government had to work out a deal with the NUW. But in spite of this alliance the PA has only 18 out of 34 in the council. Deputy Minster Samaraweera Weerawanni is expected to relinquish his present post and take over as Provincial chief minister.
Two Tamils were elected in Uva. Both were from Badulla district. One was Satchithanantham of the CWC contesting as NUWand the other Velayutham of the UNP. Interestingly the sudden death of outgoing UNP chief minister and Uva strongman Percy Samaraweera prior to the polls made Velayutham on the number two on the UNP list. With samaraweera's death it is said that there was a subtle whispering campaign by the PA that a “Tamil” will become UVA chief minister if the UNP won. Thus there was a last minute swing away from the UNP. Interestingly all pre-polls predictions depicted Uva as a safe bet for the UNP. Now the UNP is promising its Sinhala supporters that a "Tamil' will not become Opposition leader in the council. So much for the claim of standing for inter-communal harmony and Estate-Village integration. The Central Province comprising the Kandy. Matale and Nuwara Eliya districts has a substantial concentration of Tamils. In fact the combined strength of Sri Lankan and Indian origin Tamils makes "Tamil' the dominant entity in Nuwara Eliya. In the CP 1.068,887 or 73.57% out of the registered number of 1,452,906 voted. Of these 92, 110 were spoilt votes. The PA, UNP, NUW, UCPF and JVP got 421,629(43.17%), 391,659(40.10%), 95,701 (9.80%), 22,896(2.34%) and 28,984(2.97%) respectively. This party position line up was: PA - 24; UNP - 23; NUW - 06: UCPF- 02; JVP - 01. The reason for the Up Country Peoples Front polling less than the JVP getting one more seat was because it scored more and got both seats in the Nuwara Eliya district as opposed to the JVP that got its seat in Kandy district. Under the PC scheme

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15 APRIL 1999
voting and seat allocation is done on a district basis while the bonus seats are awarded on a provincial basis. With the bonus seats the PA tally went up to 26 in a 58 member council. The PA was therefore compelled to solicit the support of the Tamil parties. Thondaman's grand son Arumugam Thondaman tried to negotiate with the UNP also and demanded two positions in the council's five Board of Ministers including chief minister. But at the same time Chandrasekeran's UCPF threw in its lot with the PA. It was possible for PA and UCPF to form a 30 member administration out of 58 together. So the Thondaman's NUW joined the PA fold.
There are nine Tamil members in the 58 member Central Council. Six of them are elected on the NUW ticket but all belong to CWC. They are messrs. Kan-dasamy Naidu, Radhakrishnan. Nada-rajapillai and Vellaiyan from Nuwara Eliya; Sivagnanam from Matale and Mathiyoogaraja in Kandy. The UNP has only Puthirasigamani former provincial minister elected from Nuwara Eliya. The UCPF also has two from NEliya. They are M. Sivalingam the well known Tamil creative writer and Lawyer Raja-kulendran. Interestingly the latter is of Puloly origin but has been resident in the hill country for long. It is also said that Thondaman adopting the credo “people of Indian origin” upset the district’s Jaffna Tamils who voted en-mas-se for UCPF's Rajakulendran. The PA administration in the CP is quite stable thanks to the NUW and UCPF. It is 34 out of 58 now. Thondaman has sought and obtained the powerful ministerial post of Utilities and Education for his nominee. The UCPF nominee will be deputy chairman of the council (deputy speaker). Cabinet minister Nandimitra Ekanayake will resign and become CP chief minister.
The Sabaragamuwa Province has 1,113,105 registered voters. Of these 798,731 or 71.76% cast their votes. 53,107 were spoilt votes. The PA, UNP, JVP and NUW got 356,543(47.82%), 334,415(44.85%), 32,737(4.39%), and 11,937(1.60%) respectively. On this bas-is the PA, UNP, JVP and NUW tally was 20, 19,02 and 01 respectively. The person elected on the NUW ticket was the CWC's Ramachandran from Ratnapura. Even with the bonus of two the PA could get only 22 out of a 44 member council. With the CWC it now has a slender 23 of 44 in the Council. Deputy minister and veteran Samasa
maajist Athauda S the SLFP will bec here.
The much prest Western Province truly a hung counc 3,217,040 voters ol Of these a record votes. Apart from and NUW, Dines Mahajana Eksath Dr. Wickremabahu Left Front(NLF), a Sri Lanka Muslim also obtained seat 104. The winning as follows:
PA 888,454 vote UNP 879,388 vote
JVP 141,985 vo MEP 65,649 vo NLF 22,976 vo NUW 16,561 vc
SLMC 7,230 vc
With the UNP neck to neck resul having enough se was effectively a “ with the 2 additio PA has only 46 o' NUW and SLMC would only have ple' to the winds M Jayaratne initi “racist” MEP. But did the JVP. It w the UNP to form the JVP with 8 sup too opted to do sc 57 to 47. But both said 'No' to both the moment. The minister Sunil Pr oaths as chief m point as to how li ministration will ! UNP plans to m difficult by plann as chairman(spea as Vice Chairma spectively.
The Western Ganeshan, so Ganeshan actor winning. Being Workers Congre. CWC person to b ticket. The only the WP is Lawy the UNP. Velam MS Sellasamy in

TAMIL TIMES 5
neivaratne now in me chief minister
gious and populous ouncil is well and l. Of its registered ly 2,161,293 voted. 27, 138 were spoilt the PA, UNP, JVP h Gunewardene's Peramuna(MEP) , Karunaratne's New ld MHM Ashraff's Congress(SLMC) in the Council of party position was
:(43.68%): 44 seats (43.23%): 44 seats es(6.98%): 08 seats es(3.23%): 03 seats tes(1.13%): 01 seat tes(0.81%): 01 seat tes (0.36%) 01 seat
and PA registering a t and the NUW not ats the WP council nung” council. Even nal bonus seats the ut of 104. With the joining forces it 48. Puting 'princithe PA Gen Secy D ated talks with the Dinesh refused. So as also possible for an administration if borted it. IF the MEP it would have been JVP and MEP have the IPA and UNP for incumbent PA chief 'mjayanth will take nister. It is a moot ng his minority adunction. Already the ke the PA position ng to elect a JVP”er ker) and an MEP’er (Dep speaker) re
Province saw Mano of the late VP um trade unionist, of the Democratic
he is the only nonelected on the NUW her Tamil elected in r Joseph Charles of a Sellasamy wife of rowly missed being
elected on the UNP ticket. Though there are 95,000 Tamil voters in Colombo district the CWC came a big cropper prompting a frustrated Thondaman to berate Colombo Tamils as 'selfish'. But the NLF that stands for recognition of Tamil right to self determination and a negotiated settlement with the LTTE was able to get its only seat in Colombo largely due to the Tamil vote. Likewise the UNP Sinhala candidates like the Colombo Mayor Karu Jayasuriya also got a sizeable chunk of the Tamil vote(his preferences were a record 250,000 plus). At the same time the large non-turn out particularly in areas like the Colombo West division including Kollupitiya, Bambalapitiya and Wellawatte is also attributed to non-participation by Tamil voters. Also the large number of spoilt votes also has a Tamil component, it is suspected. The Sri Lankan Tamils voted overwhelmingly for Chandrika Kumaratunga in the 1994 Presidential election. But with the on going war the Tamil people have become increasingly disillusioned. The war heaps a great deal of hardship on the Tamil people. The travails of the north eastern Tamils is vicariously experienced by their kinsfolk in the south too. Besides the Tamils in Colombo and the south are also subjected to a lot of harassment in the name of security.
On the other hand the devolution package yet remains a "paper' package without any hope of it materialising. The overall emphasis of the government is the prosecution of the war seems to be the impression in the eyes of the average Tamil. The so called war for peace is now a nightmare and not a dream. The angel of peace Chandrika Kumaratunga is now perceived by some extreme Tamil critics a goddess of war. Sadly the causes of the war or the current constitutional impasse are not realised. Only the consequences of the war are felt. So a UNP that refuses to co-operate in finding a bipartisan solution is the recipient of Tamil votes but not the PA that made a genuine attempt to arrive at one. The alienation of the Tamils has been going on for quite a while. The last Colombo municipal council election saw the strong Tamil swing against the PA.
The same malady afflicts the Indian Tamiltoo. The local authority elections saw the up country vote going in substantial numbers to the UNP. The Sinhala voter base of the PA seems

Page 6
6 AMELTIMES
irreconciled to aligning with the Up country Tamil as opposed to the UNP sinhala voter base. Likewise the average up country Tamil regards the Sinhala constituency of the PA as hostile in contrast with the UNP. Thus the opportunistic alliance between Kumaratunga and Thondaman has not seeped down to the up country masses. The result has been a mutual decline by both parties when contesting on common lists as in the case of the 97 local polls. On the other hand there has been for more than 15 years a "unity” of sorts between the CWC and UNP. Even now Thondaman sits with the government and his MP's are with the opposition in one of the most bizarre arrangements in any political set up. Also the UNP trade union the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union is second in size only to the CWC and has a huge Tamil membership. The 97 local polls saw the UNP performing far better than the PA and CWC in mixed electorates.
Thus it was clear to both the PA and the CWC that contesting jointly amounted to combined “hara kiri”. It was imperative that both should strike out alone. Thondaman after a brief flirtation of unity with his “bete noire' Chaindrasekharan opted out and wooed the other unions. 22 of them joined forces under the umbrella Inthiya Vamsaavali Makkal Perani or Indian origin Peoples Front. The chauvinist appeal was to the “Indian consciousness' dormant within the community. In the process the front antagonized the Sinhalese and alienated the other minorities particularly the Sri Lankan Tamils. The smaller parties that hoped to cash in on the CWC elder brother found that they had been gobbled up by the giant. Plantation community stalwarts from the other unions failed to make the grade. It was a CWC monopoly in the highlands with only Mano Ganeshan of the DWC making it in Colombo. Though the CWC dominated within the “Peacock umbrella' its performance in comparison with the 1993 provincial council was dismal.
Aligning with the UNP, the CWC won 17 seats in the PC election then. This time it won only nine. Also given the voting trends the CWC is facing quite a crisis it seems. Contesting with the PA is tantamount to political suicide. Contesting alone won't help it to win much seats. Judging by the current PC poll the CWC can get two seats in Nuwara Eliya and one national list seat at the most. It cannot hope for seats in
Badulla, Matale, Ka Colombo whereas in it was able to win n of two national list with the UNP.
The reasons for CWC is sheer inef opportunism, blatan gantic corruption. Th tion of up country cheesed off with it. circumstances the Thondaman seems arrangement with th that Thonda will bic opportunity in the presents itself. It is will jump on the UN ditching the PA. Ag whether Ranil Wic) agree to bail out the opportunistic Thond. being a cynical exerc sible. But in any even not have the same b had in earlier politic The current elec strated the weakness thanks to the PA-UN CWC is again able kingmaker role. Butt be the Last Hurrah f patriarch Thondama The Sri Lankan M coming alienated fra and the PA. The Mu the eastern based Asl cally undermined based Fowzie of the P the Muslim Congress Southern areas too í get along with the base. As a result the pressure within SLM contest alone. The S do that in the North cial elections. But last by Kumaratunga w Ashraff to get out of Muslim Congress w alone made the latter lim Congress candic elected.
In the current rou: SLMC contested in separately and with the other districts. It win only in Kalutara. candidates were retur Muslim except Fow lombo won on the PA inces. Thus it seems own self interest the

ndy, Ratnapura or the 1994 elections ne seats inclusive ones by aligning
he decline of the ectiveness, crass nepotism and gie younger generaamils are totally Jnder the present )nly way out for o be a contesting a UNP again. For e his time till the orm of elections 'ery likely that he o bandwagon then in it is to be seen (remasinghe will intrustworthy and man. Still politics ise it may be postThondaman may irgaining clout he al arrangements. tion has demonof the CWC but NP tight fight the to play a limited his again can only or that plantation l. uslims too are bepm Kumaratunga slim Congress of raff is systematiby the Colombo A. Like the CWC, supporters in the ind it dificult to A Sinhala voter re is tremendous Crank and file to LMC did want to Western Provinminute insistence ho bluntly told the cabinet if the anted to contest cave in. The Musates failed to get
ld of elections the Kalutara district he PA jointly in has been able to None of the other ed. Worse still no zie's son in Co
side in all provefinite that in its Muslim Congress
15 APRIL 1999
too has to charter a course separate to that of the IPA in the future.
The Catholic vote too has turned considerably against the PA.The Wayamba election saw the PA goons terrorise the Catholics considerably in a vote rigging exercise. This prompted the Colombo Archbishop to come out with a scathing criticism of the PA government. Tensions exacerbated when the PC elections were originally scheduled for Maundy Thursday. The Catholics observed a day of protest. Saner counsel prevailed and the date was postponed. Still the Catholic vote would have swung very heavily against the PA but for the so-called capture of Madhu Church. Posters with a smiling Chandrika and Mother Mary with Madhu Church in background were pasted all over. This “sacriliegous"incident itself has hurt Tamil catholic sentiment but seems to have won some Sinhala catholic votes at least for the PA. But with tensions arising because of the continuing military occupation of Madhu Church the PA advantage may turn into a liability if and when the Catholic church hierarchy demands a total withdrawal from the Church premises. Already the agitation for such a demand has been launched in Mannar.
This alienation of the minority communities who voted overwhelmingly for Chandrika is clearly felt in the results. The PA has failed to get 50% votes in any Province except the NCP(53%) that has the largest Sinhala Buddhist constituency. In the others with substantial minorities it has got only in the 40% category. The overall percentage is 47% for PA and 43% for UNP. Given the present situation it hardly seems likely that the Tamils and Muslims of the North-East too would vote for PA. In a Presidential election it does not seem that the same Kumaratunga who got 63% in 1994 would get even 50% at first count. This means a second count. Parliamentary elections are likely to reflect the PC pattern. Given the current scenario it looks like the UNP is gaining popularity again. Both parties are retaining their voter bases with the new vote going to the JVP.The minority vote seems to be floating back to the UNP. But whatever the result it seems clear by the current result that neither the PA nor the UNP can hope to have an absolute majority in the next Parliament. Likewise no Presidential candidate seems likely to win at the first count itself. But a more comprehensive

Page 7
15 APRIL 1999
analysis may be possible only after elections to the Southern Provincial Council are held in most likely in June. But such analysis is possible only if the polls are held in a violence and rigging free atmosphere and not in the Wayamba mould.
In that respect the current elections too had its share of violence and rigging in selective venues. But it was not as widespread as it was in Wayamba. The Wayamba situation cannot be held as a standard. Still there is unanimity that though flawed these five elections were not "irretrievably flawed" as Wayamba. Nevertheless Kumaratunga can restore some of her credibility by getting the NWP chief minister Sarath Nawinna to dissolve council and face elections in a comparatively free and fair atmosphere. The current polls have shown that a relatively free poll is possible if and when the ruling party wants it. This is not a new phenomenon in Sri Lanka.
The UNP of yore fixed and rigged pollsblatantly backed up by institutionalised violence. But then there were few or no critics. The few who dared had to contend with the UNP's violent machine. Civil society was in a subdued state. There were no election monitoring mechanisms. Religious leaders were “blind, dumb and deaf". The “free press” was eloquent by its silence either by choice or fear. Now under the Kumaratunga regime everyone feels "ready, able and willing” to practise their freedom of expression to the maximum. Ironically the PA is feeling the cutting edge of this unbridled criticism while the UNP is parading around like paragons of democracy.
Although both sides seem evenly matched now that assessment is based on the premise that the present scenario is a constant. But anything can happen in the near future that may alter the status quo drastically. Dramatic developments on the military front or major shifts on the political front can tilt fortunes of either party overwhelmingly.
The current PC polls were projected as a review of the current government's achievements and a preview of future political trends. The fractured verdict has rendered that impossible. On a national level the PA has not suffered an anti-incumbency swing factor. It has won the councils even if not with viable majorities. On the other hand the UNP has suffered the regional anti-incumbency factor. It was that party
which ruled all cour In that sense, the Ul lost its power and th in these areas.
In terms of elect were 95 in all five PA has got 61, the 1. But the more i these elections is to large number of sp voters. Unfamiliari card procedure and cannot be the reaso that a large numbe ting frustrated with ess itself. It may al Southern voters the ofnomeaningful sig voted with their fee from the polling bo{ and UNP the third was the non-voters deliberately spoilt th percentage of reject than that of the thil all Provinces excep disenchantment wi tem and parties doe for the country.
A notable yet s PC elections is tha velopment affecti Provinces were not Instead the thrust o parties was on large The PC system Indian insistence t pirations by devolv riphery. Ironically til tioning in the area East that needs dev where the need is Sinhala politicians devolution seem in its potential and re ful to the average one is treated to a on the one hand of
Tani
I wish to paylrenew I am sending you a Please send an intrC
enclose a donation οί. . Nam Address.................,
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

TAM TIMES 7
ilsexcept the WP. P can said to have patronage it gives
ral divisions there ouncils. There the JNP 33 and NUW portant factor in note the unusually pilt votes and non y with the voting inclement weather is alone. It appears
of voters are getthe political procso be that to many PR system itself is nificance. So many t by keeping away ths. Next to the PA largest percentage Others may have eir votes. Again the 2d votes was higher 'd force the JVP in t the WP. Growing h the existing sysnot forebode good
ad feature of these treal issues of deng the respective canvassed greatly. fpropaganda by all r or national issues.
was introduced at resolve Tamil asing power to the pehe PC's are not funcs of the North and olution but in areas lot felt greatly. The who never wanted capable of realising ldering it meaningconstituent. Instead pathetic exhibition luplication of work
because of the "Concurrent list of powers between centre and periphery' and on the other an obsession with the trappings of power resulting in colossal extravagance. The PC's are yet to be of relevance to the Sinhala voter.
In spite of flimsy majorities the PA is now in control of several PCs. It is also ruling at the center. Unlike the UNP that was coerced into passing the PC scheme Chandrika Kumaratunga's government is genuinely committed to the concept of greater devolution. It is now up to this government to strengthen the concept of devolution in Sinhala areas by taking effective steps to demonstrate what devolution really is. At the same time it must seriously think of reviving the defunct North - eastern Provincial council again with the widest possible participation of all shades of political opinion in the region. O
ANBIENT BUDSM INTAMINADUL
Municipal workers laying water pipes at Tirumani village near Vellore stumbled on a 3-feet tall statue of the seated Bodhisattva. According to archaeologists, the statue is at least 1,200 years old dating back to the epoque of the Pallavas who had ruled a substantial portion of northern Tamil Nadu and south Andhra. Pallavas, who had elaborate maritime links with south-east Asia, were known to have fostered Buddhism. Interestingly, the village is known as Tiru-mani, or Sri-mani in Sanskrit or Paali, clearly showing the link with the Vajrayana school, the Adamantine Vehicle of Buddhsim. This statue, now at the Vellore Museum, is the second Buddha statue recently discovered in Tamil Nadu. The first one was recently located off the ancient coastal of Poompuhar.
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Page 8
8 TAM TIMES
Bishop Calls for Re
of Troops from Ch
The Bishop of Mannar, Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, has written to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga requesting her to ensure that the armed security forces keep away from the precincts of the Roman Catholic Madhu Church.
The areas surrounding the church had been under LTTE control until last month when the security forces successfully recaptured these areas.
The Bishop has told the President that the recent entry of the Army into to the sacred precincts of the church and its continued presence there was religiously very painful.
The Bishop in his letter said: “The historical Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu, so dear and close to the heart of the Nation as such and to the Catholics in particular has a tradition ancient and sacred of being a Spiritual Abode of Prayer and Meditation. It has served the country, in this capacity for the last 350 years and in a very special manner during the last 100 years. A code of strict discipline had been maintained here by the Church Authorities in order to foster and promote this Spiritual Atmosphere. The common and neutral nature of this Shrine had also been contributing to its serenity and peacefulness. It has always remained a peace Zone and had ever been maintained as out of bounds for any Armed Groups or Forces. Besides, its precincts had since 1990 become a haven of war-refugees and is functioning at the moment as also an Open Relief Centre under the international mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)housing at present over 10,000 refugees in its 400 acre-sacred precincts.
The recent entry of the Sri Lankan Army into these Sacred precincts and its continued presence there in large numbers with its war machineries and weapons using the innocent refugees as its human shield is religiously very painful and humanly untenable. This sad situation had robbed this spiritual home of all its Serenity and Peace. This age old house of Prayer and Meditation had been turned out to be an explosive
location of armed tation, thereby en over 10,000 inno spelling out destr Edifice of the Shri Statue of Our Lad all respects is a v. Therefore, wit nestness that this appeal to you You ident of Sri Lanka in Chief of the Sec your noble dispos spiritual and your mitment to respec their feelings by in the removal of th Forces and all in m the sacred area of consisting of the 4 the four sides of th Meanwhile th kept its promise an store as from 29 N supply to the Ma environs. "This is its inception that th received power si
T
The Tamil lang language of record retariat divisions w persons constitute : population, accord sued by President tunga.
Justice, Constit nic Affairs and N Minister Prof. G. March that this adm would enable Tami transact their busin ment in their langu
Inaugurating th Service at Isipathan Prof. Peiris Said: “( ntal aspirations of to use their own llar ings with the Gove
 

15 APRIL 1999
'onflict and confronangering the lives of 2nt refugees besides ction of the Sacred he and the Venerable 7 of Madhu. This, in ry serious situation. all urgency and earsubject deserves, I Execlency the Presand the Commander urity Forces to prove tion towards things prai-seworthy comminority rights and mediately ordering e Arm-ed Security litary uniforms from the Madhu Shrine .00 acres of land on e Shrine.' e Government has d taken action to reMarch the lectricity dhu church and its the first time since e Madhu church had upply directly pro
vided by the Government,"Vavuniya's Chief Electrical Engineer C. Sabharatnam told newspapers.
Mr. Sabharatnam said The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) installed a powerful generator-KVG 300 at the Madhu church on a directive by Irrigation and Power Minister and Deputy Defence Minister General Anuruddha Ratwatte. At a press conference held in Vavuniya the Minister explained that all these years the church had only a small generator which had gone out of order some years ago. "We will also provide electricity to the area around the Madhu church and to the liberated villages at a cost of Rs. 13 million. Palampiddi, a liberated village, too, was provided with electricity from yesterday', he said.
Rev. Fr. A. P. Devasagayam, Parish Priest, Madhu church told pressmen that there was an outbreak of cholera among the refugees at the church premises and they had been sent to the Government hospital at Madhu. He said: "In all, there were 25 cases of cholera and they were being given prompt treatment. DMO Mannar had been asked to send more doctors to Madhu hospital."
Fr. Devasagayam also said, "People here are now happy as more and more food supplies are arriving. There is also good rapport between the civilians and the troops.”
mito be anguage
of Record
lage is to become a n all divisional secere Tamil speaking t least a fifth of the ng to a directive ishandrika Kumara
tional Affairs, Ethtional Integration . Peiris said on 31 nistrative direction speaking people to is with the Governge. third On The Spot College, Colombo he of the fundamee Tamil people is uage in their dealnment adding that
provision for the satisfaction of their aspiration is embodied in the Government proposals for Constitutional Reform.'
But, he said, it could not be implemented because the new constitution that contains the language provisions and the devolution proposals could not be enacted by Parliament for want of the required two-thirds majority. “Undaunted the President and the Government are taking administrative steps to implement whatever is possible within their power,” the Minister said.
Chapter IV of the Government’s proposals spells out in great detail the position of the Sinhala, Tamil and English languages. Sinhala and Tamil are given the official language status and these two languages and English the

Page 9
15 APRIL 1999
status of national languages.
Sinhala shall be the language of record in the seven provinces where Sinhalese form the majority population and Tamil the language of record where Tamils constitute the majority. But in every divisional secretariat division where the minority Tamil speaking persons or Sinhala speaking persons constitute 20 per cent of the population Tamil or Sinhala, as the case may be, will also be the language of record.
Prof. Peiris said the President had administratively directed the implementation of this provision of the Government's proposals.
“President Chandrika Bandaranalike Kumaratunga is the first Sinhala leader to accept the fact that Tamils have genuine grievances and encourage Government departments and institutions to adopt all possible measures to allevi
Sri Lanka's bloody ethnic conflict running into its 17th year in 1999 tops the list of stories followed avidly by newspaper readers, according to a new survey that puts local news and crime stories in dailies well behind war stories.
The survey, conducted by the University of Colombo for the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, also found that less than 0.2 per-cent of Sri Lankans speak mainly in English, contrary to popular belief that English is widely used.
"The news item most popularly read is "news regarding war' followed by features that tend to highlight positive values or enhance general knowledge," the 1998 survey of newspaper readers said.
It also revealed that most of this island's people are mono-lingual. While the principal language of comm-unication for the majority Sinhalese comunity was Sinhala (86.7 percent), for 12.7 percent it was Tamil, and for 0.2 percent it was English.
The findings of the research team from the university's Department of Sociology are expected to help educationists and policy planners in disseminating knowledge among the people through newspapers and other forms. Of those whose principal language
Readers Relish
ate their hardships Prof. Peiris hin from three Tamil consistently worki of the ethnic con Deputy President said: "Prof. Peiris to build a united Sri Sinhalese, Tamils live as equal partn succeed.'
PLOTE Leader harthan praised Prc to find a just and the ethnic conflict. tional parties to a of the conflict had "Solution to year. been reached,” he relief to a large nu Mr. Sidharthan.
of communication 16.1 percent could 0.9 percent in Tam However, among t 35.4 percent coulc 4.8 percent in Eng This is signific has often been cite ethnic tension betw lese and minority Observed Cul ter Lakshman while we thought was being wic lish is being pro] guage to bridge t Sinhalese and the Out.
Jayakody tolc nificant that min Tamils knew Sin the majority com than the other wa having a knowle Prof Siripala well-known soci ated the survey a University's Sc said it came up issues. "Apart f ple have a thirst that fewer peopl ing in English is
 
 

TAM TIMES 9
the Minister said. elf received praise olitical parties for ; for the resolution ict. TULF senior S. Anandasangari working tirelessly lankanation where nd Muslims could S. We wish him to
)harmalingam Sid'. Peiris' dedication lurable solution to Failure of other napreciate the nature derailed his efforts. -old problems had said. It had brought nber of people, said
was Sinhala, only read in English and il, the survey said. he minority Tamils, read in Sinhala and lish. ant because language d as the cause of the veen majority SinhaTamils. ural Affairs Minisayakody, “All this English ely spoken,". "Engnoted as a link lane gulf between the Tamils," he pointed
IPS that it was sigrity groups like the ala, the language of munity much more, round of Sinhalese ge of Tamil. Hettige, Sri Lanka’s ogist who co-ordinhead of the Colombo iology Department, ith some disturbing m the fact that peor war news, the fact respeaking or readdisturbing thought.
The knowledge of English is not only a way out of the ethnic conflict, but also a necessity in the global context,” he said.
The survey, also aimed at clearing doubts about whether the reading habits matched the high literacy rate amongst the population, covered 10,000 respondents in 3,000 households in seven provinces in Sri Lanka. This excluded the north and the east where fighting between government troops and Tamil rebels made it difficult to seek public responses.
The roots of the ethnic conflict in the island lie in the Sinhala-dominated government's decision to make Sinhala the official language, sparking ethnic tension.
The Colombo University survey is also food for thought for those who believe people are tired of the daily menu of crime provided by the newspapers and that "positive" stories about other issues would be more interesting. Shirani Tilakawardene, a respected woman judge of Sri Lanka's Appeals Court, told a group of journalists discussing the reporting of issues relating to women and children that she believed stories portraying public deeds was more interesting to readers than crime.
Sociologists have also partly blamed the rapid breakdown in social values in Sri Lanka on excessive reporting of crime and suicides by the media, and violence on television.
The survey shows that the newspaper-reading habit is not widespread, as believed, and that the Sunday or weekendpapers were the most popular. Fewer people were reading books, nowa-days.
“Of the population in the seven provinces, just above half (54.7 percent) read newspapers. The habit varies significantly between provinces,” it said. The level of education also positively influences the newspaper-reading habit.
A higher prevalence of the newspaper-reading habit was seen amongst young people between 12 years and up to high school. It dropped among those who had higher qualifications. The survey found that more men read newspapers than women, because men had more time than women who were engaged in domestic activities. This was not so in the case of books, where more women, 40 percent, read than men (37 percent). (Courtesy by IPS, 6.4.99)

Page 10
10 TAMILTIMES
The monthly meeting of the Jaffna Municipal Council which was held recently in Jaffna under tight security presided over by K Raviraj, Deputy Mayor has resolved to declare the areas surrounding two famous Hindu temples as sacred.
A resolution moved by Municipal Councillor S. Kirurairaja (PLOTE) that the areas surrounding Naguleswaram temple at Keerimalai and the Maviddapuram Kandasamy kovil be declared sacred areas was adopted unanimously. Citing the example of the Madhu Church as an example where the areas surrounding it had already been declared sacred he said that by declaring these two areas as sacred places the sanctity of these places of worship could be preserved and no armed group or the armed forces could desecrate the area by their presence with arms.
CouncillorS. Ganendran (TULF) said that the finding of human bones next to Duraiappah Stadium in Jaffna has led to many speculations. The period when the bodies were buried should be ascertained.
The Jaffna town had been under the control of the IPKF, LTTE and the Sri Lankan Security forces. We must therefore find out in which period the bodies had been buried. S. Subathiran (EPRLF) speaking in support of the motion said that from 1990 to 1995 about two thousand people had disappeared in Jaffna. The human skeletons could be found not only near the Duraiappa Stadium but in other parts of the peninsula as well.
A resolution requesting the government to commence exhumation work near the Stadium and to ascertain the period, the human bodies were buried was also unanimously adopted.
Deputy Mayor Raviraj said the reconstruction of the Jaffna Public Library should be started immediately. During the last four years bricks and books had been collected and a library rehabilitation fund too was started. Foreign aid has been received by the government for the rehabilitation of the library. The Jaffna Mayor or the Deputy Mayor should be included in the Committee that maintains this fund, and motion to this effect was also passed.
J
he Canadianjournalist DE process of lau both in the Canadi courts against the T amurasu'publishec publishers and ed Jeyaraj, the paper h rial defamatory of reputation by alleg informant' of the I reau of Investigatio “Thinamurasu” Sri Lanka, but also lar among expatriate The historical ane every week as a se Duraiappah to Gar though a highly pop med by knowledge: writing of contemp sides the normal ne' revels in publishing of past and present alities that are inte according to inforn plete with distortic and in some instanc Some of the "secré slanderous allegatio als.
The latest target allegation is D B S namurasu (March that Jeyaraj had inf editor of the Indian about“One eyed Siv mastermind behind assassination. The p had published an art the basis of the inf by Jeyaraj. It also s was of use to the sp team probing Rajiv leges that Jeyaraj hi formation about Kanagaratn-am alia one time military lea dent in Canada from further claims that Ir “The Hindu', ar changed their atti LTTE following the about Sivarasan by
 

15 APRIL 1999
ournal Faces egal Action
based well known SJeyaraj is in the ching legal action, an and Sri Lankan mil weekly “Thinfrom Colombo, its tor. According to ad published matehis character and ng that he was “an ldian Criminal Bu
1. is not only read in is relatively popuSri Lankan Tamils. :cdotes published rial titled "Alfred nini Dissanayake' ular column is terable critics as a reforary history. Bews items, the paper titbits of “secrets' events and person"esting to read but med circles are rens, exaggerations as plain inventions. :tsʼ tantamount to sagainst individu
of such malicious Jeyaraj. The Thi4-20) has alleged brmed N Ram, the weekly "Frontline" arasan' the alleged he Rajiv Gandhi's aper says that Ram cle in Frontline on ormation supplied ys that the article ecial investigating killing. It also ald obtained the inSivarasan from Raheem - LTTE’S der in Jaffna - resithe early 1990s. It ian national daily, il the Frontline ude towards the information given eyaraj.
The defamatory insinuation against Jeyarajappears to be that he passed information obtained from Raheem to Ram of Frontline which in turn was utilised by the CBI special investigators to bring about Sivarasan's detection and identification. According to sources close to Jeyaraj, allegation by Thinamurasu might have dangerous consequences for him and Raheem. Not only it would undermine the professional integrity of Jeyarajas serious and independent journalist, but also would make him and Raheem vulnerable to accusations of “treachery” and possible reprisals in regard to their personal and physical safety.
According to a non-governmental organization in Canada protecting the rights of individual journalists Jeyaraj had never passed information of any type about Sivarasan to Ram in a personal capacity as alleged by the Thinamurasu. Jeyaraj however had written an
article for Frontline on the topic “Who
Is Sivarasan'?' under his own name af ter Sivarasan committed Suicide in Bangalore when he and his associates were cornered by the Indian police. This again was an English version of an article “Yaar Intha Sivarasan' in Tamil written by Jeyaraj in the Tamil weekly "Senthamarai” edited by him then. The article was basically about Sivarasan's childhood and early past. It had been written on the request of Sivarasan's relatives in Canada who wanted something written about him in the papers so that he would not be "forgotten". Much of the information was supplied by them. The articles had nothing whatsoever about Sivarasan's involvement in Rajiv's killing and in any case was published only after his death.
Jeyaraj is reported to be angry that by twisting and suppressing the real chronology of events, Thinamurasu has now subjected him to what he considers as Scurrilous and dangerous charges. The paper has sought to characterise him by insinuation as an “informant” of the Indian law enforcement agencies. Engaging in open journalistic expres(continued on next page)

Page 11
15 APRIL 1999
n an open letter dated 16 April to Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Amnesty International's Secretary General Pierre Sané has expressed deep concern that the country may be moving towards resuming executions, after 23 years of being a de facto abolitionist country and against an unmistakable international trend towards worldwide abolition.
The AI letter from Pierre Sané’s letter StateS:
“Our organization calls on your government to lead Sri Lankan society away from a course which will not serve our common struggle for justice and human rights - and will not offer real protection to the Sri Lankan people from the threat of criminality.
This appeal is written on behalf of the one million members of Amnesty International worldwide, including throughout Asia, who seek to defend and promote the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and to work on behalf of victims of human rights violations. For decades, we have campaigned for commutation of all death sentences, including some recently passed against Sri Lankan citizens in the Middle East.
Amnesty International is urging that the policy change announced on 13
A Condemns Resto
of Death Pena
March, as part of a President's prerog missions of sente courts, be reconsi below a number o and members of y( ht take into accou decision. In maki we seek to expre: port for the many media, human rig groups who are di pect of a resumpti It is our unders apparent increase nature such as mur bery and drug trat main reason for til cision to reintrodu apparent belief th deter people from lent crimes.
As pointed ou Minister of Justic Affairs in June 1 private member's calling for the res ons, there is no prc alty has any specia ple from resorting A number ofs ntries, including a on on Capital Pur
(Continued from page 10)
sion has been converted into a sinister and secret act by an “informant'. Its allegation that the Hindu and Frontline changed course after learning about the details about Sivarasan from Jeyaraj is again downright distortion as those reading these journals would have known that this development occurred right after the LTTE-IPKF military confrontation began in October 1987,some four years before Rajiv Gandhi's murder.
Sources close to Raheem assert that involving Raheem in this by the editor of the paper who is also the author of the defamatory article, Ramesh, was motivated by the latter's long-standing enmity towards the former. It would seem that during a LTTE-EPRLF(of which Ramesh was a member) skirmish in Jaffna Raheem and another had shot Ramesh in the leg and back
Incidentally, Ramesh is a parlia
mentarian belongi ples Democratic leader of which is who escaped murd serious injuries, held in the Kaluta vited to visit them last year. Questio as to whether Dev trol both of the pa ded and continues EPDP and of its e
A journal in pro-LTTE views Thinamurasu alle and added its owr a traitor and urgin re of enemies who tructing the liberal also been follow cavalcade of abu; Jeyaraj has becom period of years.
 
 
 
 

TAMIL TIMES 11
larger review of the ative of granting reces imposed by the lered. I have set out arguments that you ur government mignt in reviewing this ng this letter public, is international supSri Lankan voices in hts, legal and other smayed at the proson of executions. tanding that a recent in crimes of serious der, rape, armed robficking has been the he government's dece executions, in the at this move would resortingto such vio
t in our letter to the e and Constitutional 995 at the time of a motion in parliament jumption of executiof that the death penil power to deter peo
to violent crimes.
udies indiverse coustudy by a Commissiishment instituted in
ng to the Eelam PeoParty (EPDP), the Douglas Devananda er, but suffering very by LTTE-prisoners a jail after being inon a "mercy-mission' ns have been raised ananda has lost conper which was founto be financed by the litor Ramesh.
anada noted for its has reproduced the ation against Jeyaraj view by calling him ; the people to bewaare delaying and obson struggle. This has d by the customary ive threats to which e accustomed over a O
Sri Lanka in the late 1950s, have failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty has any unique capacity to deter others from committing particular crimes. In 1995, the president of the Supreme Court of South Africa, when it unanimously held that the death penalty was against the country’s constitution, commented that: "It had not been shown that the death sentence would be materially more effective to deter or prevent murder than the alternative sentence of life imprisonment would be." As President Mandela commented at the time: the ruling is in line with “contemporary civilised norms.”
The execution of innocent defendants is an ever-present risk wherever the death penalty is inflicted. In February 1998, an appeal court in the United Kingdom posthumously overturned the conviction of Mahmood Hussein Mattan, a Somali national who was executedin September 1952afteratrial strongly tainted by racism. In February 1994, authorities in Russia executed Andrei Chikatilo for the highly-publicized murders of 52 people. The authorities acknowledged that they had previously executed the “wrong man', Alexander Kravchenko, for one of the murders in their desire “to stop the killings quickly''. Another innocent man suspected by the authorities of the killings committed suicide. On 21 April 1998, the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan posthumously quashed the conviction of a former Uzbek government minister, Vakhobzhan Usmanov, who was executed in 1986 on charges of corruption. A number of countries which retain the death penalty have recently released condemned prisoners who were mistakenly convicted. They include the Philippines, Malaysia, Belize, China, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Malawi, Turkey, the United States of America and Japan. In the latter country, two innocent prisoners were released after each spent 34 years under sentence of death: Akahori Masao in 1989 and Menda Sakae in 1983.
In his response to our letter in 1995, the Minister of Justice & Constitutional Affairs gave assurances that the government had not made a decision to carry out the death penalty in "extreme cases of murder in circumstances which shock the public conscience because of unusual cruelty or for any other reason” as had been urged in the private motion tabled in parliament. The Minister implied that the motion would trigger

Page 12
12 AMİ TAMES
off a public debate and that, pending the outcome of that debate, no sentences would be carried out.
To our knowledge, no public opinion polls have recently been conducted on this issue in Sri Lanka. We have, however, noted several letters to editors of various newspapers calling for the resumption of executions. Our sense is that an in-depth study to increase understanding of the actual situation of criminality in the country, its causes and the means available for combating it may help to increase the public’s understanding of crime prevention and criminal justice and produce more support for anti-crime measures which are genuine and not merely a palliative for public cries for law and order.
The majority of the members of the above-mentioned Commission on Capital Punishment in their report published in June 1959, after careful study, recommended that death sentences not be carried out. Amnesty International is urging the Government of Sri Lanka to consider whether a similar commission should be appointed to study the apparent recent rise in criminality in the country and make recommendations for effective measures which could be taken without resort to the death penalty. In the event you were to appoint such a commission, our organization would urge the commission to recommend total abolition of the death penalty and put before it detailed evidence of the arbitrary, unfair and biased way in which the death penalty is being applied around the world, including in the USA, as set out in the selection of reports enclosed.
The international community has repeatedly expressed its opinion against the death penalty and in favour of its abolition. In 1997, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution calling for a "Suspension of executions'. In 1998, it called on all member states which still use the death penalty to establish a moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty all together. Sri Lanka, we noted, abstained on both occasions.
We believe that the death penalty which is a violation of the fundamental human right to life should be abolished. We oppose the imposition of death sentences in all cases, including for those held responsible of the most heinous crimes. For instance, you may
he elections to ncils are over been declare the Southern Provi tions have been ca likely to be held so these provincial po current public senti reliable indicator ol trends for the presi elections, which w year. The variety of in the media with ri sults prompted this that debate.
The results havi victory for the PA, increased its votes government electio analysts and apolic have argued that thi
recall that when w
welcome justice be to the abd-uction, 1 Krishanthy Kumar; to you to commute imposed by the Hi come before you f granting of pardon. Recently, our o held Sri Lanka as a the protection of h region and worldwi execution, in our blight on Sri Lank seriously undermin fidence in the gov ment to human righ As a head of st edly pledged her c holding human righ to show political le fence of human rig is not possible for to respect human prisoners at the san We will also be ister of Justice and fairs, the Attorney officials on this ma the government ma this regrettable dec

15 APRIL 1999
rovincia Pols licator of the Future
Harim Peiris
five provincial couand the results have ... Nominations for ncial Council elecled and the poll is metime in June. All l results reflect the ment and is the most the future political dential and general sould be held next opinions expressed gard to the poll re
columnist, to join
provided a narrow while the UNP has over the 1997 local ns. The strategists, gists of the UNP e UNP is on a trend
fe wrote to you to ing done in relation 'ape and murder of samy, we appealed the death sentences gh Court once they r consideration for
ganization has uppositive model for uman rights in the le. A resumption of view, would be a a's reputation and e international conrnment's committs and reform. te who has repeatommitment to upS, we call upon you adership in the dents. In our view, it government fully ights and execute e time. writing to the MinConstitutional AfGeneral and other er in the hope that as yet reconsider sion.” O
of increasing its share of the vote and that the difference between the PA and itself has been reduced to about 2.6% of the votes cast or two hundred and six thousand votes in the five provinces. They argue that at the next elections the UNP would sweep to victory, should one extrapolate on a trend line from the 1994 and the 1997 election results.
However a more realistic alternative theory is as follows. The election to the five provincial councils was the best opportunity for the UNP to better the PA and it displayed its inability to do so. After the Wayamba fiasco the Government was unpopular, the election pitted the UNP's new image bearing brightest and best candidates against a decidedly second string PA and with national elections only an year away the UNP could make credible claims to being a future government to solicit the men, money and materials it needed, none of which it seemed to have in short supply. The election was largely free and fair and the UNP was . fairly and squarely beaten.
Nonetheless some analysts claim that the PA performance a poor show, the last gasp of the dying and this thesis deserves to be examined. The socalled poor performance of the PA should be checked against history. The UNP won the 1989 presidential election by a countrywide majority that was much less than the PA's majority from only five provinces. The public having currently elected the PA for thier provincial administration for the next five years is unlikely to have a change of heart and decide on the UNP for the national level next year. Why should they'? What is the UNP going to do between now and then that would make people change their minds about them? The factors that prompted a majority of the populace to remain with the PA are likely to hold good for the next elections as well.
The minority vote is always a deciding factor at national elections and it's worth evaluating the likely scenario. Admittedly ethnic minorities, both

Page 13
15 APRIL 1999
Tamils and Muslims feel betrayed by the absence of a resolution of the national problem, while the humanitarian burden of the war for peace policy is borne largely by the minority populations of the North and East. Howeverminority leaders remain convinced that in the President lies the best prospect for peace. While the PA hasn't delivered peace in six years, the genuine intent exists alongside a credible set of proposals, while the UNP didn't deliver peace for seventeen years and their desire for peace is not apparent by their past actions or their present lack of a coherent policy on the ethnic problem. This writer would also argue that the UNP has a credibility problem. That the UNP's new Chairman Karu Jayasuriya has taken Colombo's middle class by storm and that their love affair with him would endure until and even after the next general election is a foregone conclusion. But then Colombo's middle class anyway historically had no problems with the UNP. Notwithstanding that party's calculated assaults on democracy in this country during its seventeen years in power. The UNP has always left the middle and upper classes free to make money in war if not in peace and was a welcome relief in the 1980's after the disastrous socialist policies of the 1970's. That the UNP has a new and popular figurehead in Karu Jayasuiryais notin doubt, But the Party Leader, the General Secretary, the shadow ministers, the ideas, the policies, the thinking, are all holdovers of the 17 year rule. Is the country ready for another seventeen years of UNP rule? Of politics without principles? Of policies without vision? Of referendums without elections?
Do we want the Sothi Upalis and the Gonawela Sunils of this world ruling the roost if not running the show? The people of all five provinces emphatically answered in the negative.
The South will only reinforce that message and do so more strongly. The UNP needs more years in opposition for it to shed the baggage of its past and presenta credible alternative for the future. Presently all it does is offer a repeat of the past, well camouflaged by its affable new Chairman. A majority of this country has quietly declined a repeat performance of the UNP's 17 year rule, believing instead in the alternative vision laid out and the different journey that was begun in 1994. O
Let us come L it: incontrov accumulate anti-democratic pr and befouled the What cries for rati how and why such By way of preface what Karl Marx w eenth Brumaire of “Men make their o do not make it just do not make it un chosen by themse cumstances directly and transmitted frc At the presider 1982 President J R 52.91% of the valid ident Premadasa p valid votes; in 199. ika Bandaranaike I 62.28% of the vali an unprecedented dorsement, if there this country who s or inclination to res ging of elections t President CBK.
However, riggi lence if necessary h feature of the polit been transmitted ti Did what happene( without her conse will, even as perio is reason to believ if Marx’s dictum q men - and I daresa not make their h please. They do s nces directly trans What precisel stances transmitte answer is partly po not necessarily m should be delighte one to falsify the h way back in 1987 much alive and kic height of his temp
 

TAM TIMES 13
Prof. Carlo Fonseka , .
right out and admit ertible evidence has d that violence and actices besmirched Wayamba Election. onal explanation is things came to pass. it is useful to recall rote in “The EightLouis Bonaparte”: wn history, but they as they please; they nder circumstances lves; but under ciry encountered, given om the past.”
tial election held in Jayewardene polled votes; in 1988 Presolled 50.43% of the 4 President ChandrKumaratunga polled d votes. Given such popular public enis any politician in hould have no need sort to organized rigo retain power, it is
ng elections by violad become a generic ical system that had o her from the past. i in Wayamba occur 2nt and against her dic floods do? There e that it did, because uoted above is valid, y, even women - do istory just as they o, under circumstamitted from the past. y were the circumi from the past? My litical. But that does take it false. And I d to challenge anyypothesis I proposed when JRJ was very cking and was at the oral power. For the
record, let me say that I have hitherto never criticized JRJ after his death; even as I never ceased to do so from 1977 until his death.
As it happened, in 1987 I was invited by the Centre for Society and Religion to speak at a seminar on the theme “Violence and Democracy'. I spoke from a prepared text. Even the mainstream newspaper that has been almost unvaryingly friendly to me, flatly refused to publish the text of my talk. To set the context and theoretical basis of the explanation I am going to offer for the Wayamba fiasco, I will reproduce below an abbreviated and slightly edited version of my talk. Text of 1987 Talk
“During the past decade or so violence has increased in our country and democracy has declined. Is there a relationship between these two phenomena? The thesis of this talk is that violence increased mainly because democracy declined; and democracy declined mainly because of one individual's love of power. More precisely and specifically, democracy declined and violence increased at the rate they did during the past decade mainly because in 1977, Junius Richard Jayewardene at the age of 71 became - as he loves to remind us - the 193rd King or Head of State of Sri Lanka. The decline of democracy in this country since 1977 is most simply explained in terms of JRJ's supreme ambition to live and die as the 193rd King or Head of State of Sri Lanka.
The attainment and retainment of power is the ambition of almost all politicians. So it has been with JRJ and there is nothing intrinsically wrong with that. Indeed, judged by the criterion of convincing attainment and long retainment of power, JRJ must be reckoned the most successful Sri Lankan politician of our time. The price the country has had to pay for his success, however, has been a decline of democracy and an increase of violence. How did that come about? Let us see.

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14 TAMILTIMES
Decline of Democracy
Most people would agree that the decline of democracy in our country during the past decade was signalled above all by two events.
(1) The deprivation of the civic rights of Mrs. Bandaranaike in 1980; and
(2) The fraudulent referendum of 1982 which has now been officially exposed.
Both of these served only one main purpose; namely, to enable JRJ to continue as the 193rd King or Head of State. It was not to keep the Open Economy going. There was no reason to suppose that Mrs. B as President of Sri Lanka with the SLFP in power, would have radically altered the socioeconomic structure created by the UNP after 1977. In truth, that socio-economic structure was really a consolidation of a process that the SLFP itself embarked upon in 1976, after the break up of the United Front Government in 1975. By depriving Mrs. B of her civic rights JRJ eliminated his principal political opponent from the presidential election that was held in 1982. The manoeuvre worked even better than he probably expected because of Mrs B's aim of preventing anybody other than a member of her nuclear family from defeating JRJ. So by one and the same stroke, JRJ converted his principal political opponent into his principal political ally. But that is another story. Referendum
Again, by replacing the general election that was scheduled for 1983 with the referendum held in 1982, JRJ ensured that he could rule until 5 August 1989 with a 5/6 majority in parliament. He ensured that he would continue as undisputed Head of State. Many perceptive commentators have observed that JRJ has acquired virtual dictatorship over the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The technique of acquiring dictatorship over what has been a democracy has been known since Greek times.
As Bertrand Russell has documented in his book titled "Power', the technique has always involved three ingredients: 1. Bribery; 2. Propaganda; and 3. Violence. No one will deny that each of these ingredients has been maximally exploited during the past decade by the ruling powers. Increase of Violence
Having considered the decline of democracy in our country during the
past decade, let u increase of violenc say the fact that vi by leaps and boun the recent past. Th ture about much o past decade is that organized and per ing party. In fact, stitutionalized. Th ment for the perpet alized violence fo was the Jathika S (JSS) - the trade un is now an open sec Ethnic Violence
A large part o during the past deca ture. Since 1983, t of ethnic violence, All available evider principal mischief the increase of eth country in the rece 193rd King or He Lanka.
Most political agree that the ethn dependence began issue. Indeed man Sinhala Only sloga of the rot. As a mi JRJ who in 1944 il proposing that Sinh official language of ever, in moving the his proposal to inc an official languag who started the proc erated an incredibly in this country.
In 1956 when only official langui ple through the Fed strongly. At that po aranaike proposed in the North and Ea lution. This was ir known Bandaranaik Pact. The Regiona exercise in the de which is an essentia At that stage, it w diabolical best to tion of power.
If the B-C Pac mented in 1958, it i the ethnic violence would have escalat apparently willing more in the way of envisaged in the BBC Pact entirely in

15 APRIL 1999
now focus on the e. No one will gainlence has increased is in our country in e most striking feathe violence of the t was systematically betrated by the ruliolence became ine principal instruration of institutionpolitical purposes evaka Sangamaya on of the UNP. That ret.
the violence seen de was ethnic in nahousands have died
especially Tamils. ce indicates that the maker in regard to nic violence in this nt past has been the :ad of State of Sri
observers seem to ic trouble since Inwith the language ly believe that the n was the beginning atter of fact, it was ntroduced a motion ala be made the sole this country. Howmotion, he amended lude Tamil also as e. Thus, it was he cess, which has genamount of violence
Sinhala became the
lge, the Tamil peoeral Party protested int, S W R D BandRegional Councils st as part of the socluded in the well e - Chelvanayagam
Councils were an olution of power, part of democracy. is JRJ who did his revent the devolu
t had been implemost unlikely that of the past decade 'd. JRJ who is now to concede much evolution than was Pact, opposed the the pursuit of his
political ambitions.
Even at present he appears to be loath to democratically devolve power and help end the violence in the country. He evidently fears that given his past history, such an exercise in democracy may pose a threat to his position as 193rd King or Head of State of Sri Lanka. So he permits violence to escalate and uses the pretext of violence as the excuse for imposing further restrictions on democracy.
Thus, the inference seems warranted: the principal cause of the decline of democracy and the consequent increase of violence in Sri Lanka during the past decade or so has been JRJ's love of power. He has given to the world of Sri Lankan politics a despicable and vicious principle: Power by right means if you can; if not by any means power!"
Postscript to the 1987 Talk
To argue the thesis that democracy in Sri Lanka declined at the rate it did during the decade after 1977 because of the chance occurrence of JRJ's coming to power at the age of 71 is not necessarily to profess belief in the omnipotence of chance in human history. Nor is it to subscribe to what is called Cleopatra's Nose theory of history. But at least in the short run the role of chance and the impact of the character of leaders on human history are undeniable. In the short run the application of the principle that JRJ bequeathed to politics has made the post-1977 era very violent.
Appraisal
Let us face it: the majority of people in this country implicitly accepted JRJ's principle. Candidates endorsed by JRJ regained power in the presidential and parliamentary elections held in 1988/89. JRJ himself died in the fullness of years and honoured as an elder statesman. One distinguished historian wrote an eulogistic political biography of him, when JRJ had not yet breathed his last. JRJ virtually spoon-fed his biographers not so much with information about what actually happened during his times, as with material he believed he could persuade them to believe. His biographers obliged and retailed the stuff. They had the historical art to dress up the stuffin a way calculated to impress the converted and the uncritical.
(continued on page 16)

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15 APRIL 1999
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AML TIMES 15
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Page 16
16 AMIL TIMES
(Continued from page 14)
Even now, as then, there are many Sri Lankans of the highest respectability and ethical propriety who show a solid preference for politicians however depraved, provided the politicianspose no threat to the personal privileges and positions the respectables enjoy. No wonder then that JRJ became the role model for the younger generation of politicians in this country. They too yearn for power by right means if possible; if not by any means. What happened in Wayamba and will continue to happen to a greater or lesser degree in elections to come would be variations of application of the principle that JRJ bequeathed to politics.
Conclusion
When I was young the political revolutionary was the ideal of a hero. No longer does that seem to be so. Market forces seem to have effectively banished serious revolutionaries from the political scene, except perhaps in Cuba. Che Guevara was admired by thinking and sensitive people the world over, eventhough they rejected some of his methods. After Che was summarily executed by the Bolivian army in 1967, JeanPaul Satre called him "the most complete man of his age'. Concerning Che's qualities as a man Fidel Castro voiced the common feeling when he said: "If we wish to express what we want the men of future generations to be we must say: "Let them be like Che'
The above digression was a prelude to my conclusion. For some time to come most politicians in Sri Lanka will try to be like JRJ. To be like JRJ is to act on the principle that guided his political life. Those whose political philosophy is the philosophy of JRJ and his UNP, have no ethical right to complain when others act according to the principle JRJ and the UNP systematically practised in and after 1977. I believe that President CBK, for one, has no use for the principle that inspired JRJ's political behaviour. She has the power to urge her followers - as indeed she did after the parliamentary and presidential elections in 1994 - to act in the spirit of democracy. She has the moral stature to tell them: "Do unto your opponents, as they did not do unto you under JRJ'. Easier said than done, admittedly! But then as Spinoza said, "all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare”. O
outh Asian w
greatness thrl
are rarely bor may be born to gre; rarely achieve grea men. The phenome powerful political Presidents or Prim over the dead bodi and fathers is a te indictment of the political power a South Asian region lonial South Asiah nal concentration ( State in the world stan, Khalida Zia ai ladesh, Sirimavo a1 Lanka, Indira in II the wings, they are daughters of male P Ministers. These w State, have rarely ming the violent tre politics or in chalk tive vision and coul riven countries. B Women heads of St ternative vision f Chandrika Banda mained hostages to cal processes that i thrust them to pow
Women, War and the Genc Clearly violent conflict have ope spaces of agency an some women who rectly engaged in vi silenced and dest proposition that w political and gende expected ways an groups and individu gaged in conflict is dangerous. It is th that has made for analysis of conflict
 

15 APR1999
Cat's Eye
omen it seems have st upon them. They n great though they ut families, and they tness without great non of women from lynasties becoming Ministers literally es of their husbands ling reflection and gendered nature of ld violence in the . For while post/coas the highest regiof women heads of - Benazir in Pakind Hassina in Bangnd Chandrika in Sri dia, with Sonia in all widows and/or residents and Prime tomen, as heads of succeeded in stem:nds in South Asian ing out an alternase fortheir conflict y and large, even ate who had an alor peace, such as ranaike have rethe violent politin the first instance
er.
er Status quo politics and armed led up ambiguous i empowerment for have not been diplence even as it has oyed others. The ars disrupt social, hierarchies in unbenefit marginal als not directly enboth obvious and s "dangerousness” the lacuna in our and its effects. The
second reason for this lacuna has much to do with how we conceptualise peace - as a return to the (gender) status quo. Peace we still think constitutes a return to things the way they used to be; the certain certainties of familiar, older, ways of being and doing. But to conceptualise peace thus, is another kind of violence. For women, widows and mothers who have lost ahead of household or seen him "disappear” in the violence, there is no return to the old certainties of the nuclear family, headed by the father, the patriarch. For the war's widows, for those who have lived intimately with war, the changes wrought by sixteen years of armed conflict in Sri Lanka are too deep, too complex, structural and fundamental. They force us to challenge our certain certainties about war and peace. In this context, peace is necessarily a third place divorced from the past; utopia perhaps, somewhere arguably between the old and the existing, the past and the present.
But the argument that sixteen years of armed conflict might have unintended positive consequences is dangerous and disturbing for those of us who believe in and advocate the peaceful resolution of conflicts arising from social injustice. In Sri Lanka social scientists have fought shy of addressing the issue of how social structural transformations wrought by sixteen years of armed conflict might have also brought desirable changes to entrenched social hierarchies and inequalities such as caste and gender among peopleexposed to it. We also fear to analyse or articulate the unintended transformations brought by war, to see positives in violence, lest we be branded: "war-mongers”. We have thus conceded the new spaces of cultural and ideological struggle opened by the conflict to the proponents of violence: the men and women with guns, and their political ideologues and paymasters.

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15 APRIL 1999
Recasting Widowhood
The re-imaging of widowhood by women such as Chandrika Kumaratunga and other women in positions of leadership in the island is but one form of women's ambiguous empowerment in the midst of spiralling political violence and armed conflict in Sri Lanka. There is another, quieter and deeper revolution happening to gender relations elsewhere in the war zones of Sri Lanka. A generation ofyoung war widows who have been displaced are increasingly challenging conventional constructions of widowhood as a negative and polluting condition which bars their participation from many aspects of community life. Consciously or unconsciously, many young Tamil widows are challenging and redefining conceptions of the "good woman” as one who lives within the traditional confines of caste, kin group and village.
Many of these young women who have lost husbands to death, displacement or family fragmentation in the course of armed conflict and flight from bombing and shelling, forced to go out to work and support themselves and their children, increasingly refuse to erase the signs of Sumankali (particularly the auspicious red pottu) they wore when married, and refuse to be socially and culturally marginalized and ostracised because they lack husbands. As they struggle with new gender roles and identities, many of these young widows who refuse to wear the prescribed garb of widowhood appear to break with the ideology of Kannaki (Pattini) the exemplary wife and widow of Tamil mythology and ideology. Rather, they seem to evoke the sign of the devadasi - Kannaki's, alter ego - who transcended conventional gender roles; the professional woman married to immortality for her talent and skill, most familiar to South Asian audiences in the name of the famed dancer and courtesan, Madhavi of the first century Tamil Hindu-Buddhist epic, Sillapaddikaram. Additionally, the fragmentation and reconstitution of families around women in a conflict where men frequently have had to flee to avoid being killed or inducted by armed groups, appears to have provided a space to redefine the patriachal family structure. Finally it seems that the great threat and the greater challenge to the gender status quo derives less from the women heads of state trapped in the culture of violence, or the militant women in their
battle fatigues. It wil the structural chan wrought by conflict & owed women who re red pottus.
Ambivalence
Through the arm suing displacement forced to take on v within their families Some have been e process while others crushing burden of c over time gone thr transformation desp taking on the added b ally male roles (head cipal income general of their men folk a And the shift in won to unexpected emp transparent, unambi guilt. Few have the displaced women Vavuniya who said ( “it is a relief now tha is not with me. He beat me up'. Most language to articul transformation and clearly feel guilty abc new-found confiden
As women have confidence, mobil within their families the backlash agains ing roles and pattern evident in increased against women in pl spaces. This is also i evidence. For histor took on various non roles in situations of flict, war and revo "pushed back into th revolution” as part o day life. Arguably, ( reasons that the ret meant a return to the was the lack of socii a culturally appropri late, legitimate and transformed roles an the midst of conflic cial disruption. Fem must begin to distin kinds of transforma curred by explorin impact. For social tr sustained, there ne transformation; acce macy of women per

TAMIL TEMES 17
l come rather from ges to the family and the young widcfuse to erase their
ed conflict and enwomen have been farious new roles and communities. mpowered in the have felt only the hange, others have )ugh a process of ite the difficulty of burden of traditionof household/printor), due to the loss und displacement. men's roles leading lowerment is not valent, or free of confidence of the in a camp in quite categorically the (her husband) used to drink and women still lack a ate the process of regeneration and but expressing their lC6. gained greaterselfity and authority and communities, t women's changs of mobility is also levels of violence ublic and domestic nkeeping with the ically, women who -traditional gender social stress, conlution, have been he kitchen after the fa return to everyone of the primary urn to peace often gender status quo al recognition and ate idiom to articusupport women's dempowerment in it, trauma, and soinist social science guish between the tions that have ocg their long-term ansformation to be eds to be cultural ptance of the legitiforming their new
roles.
Clearly to sustain the gains made by women in conflict we need to problematise the victim ideology which pervades our thinking about women living in conflict, as well as our understanding of peace. Non-combatant women who have found spaces of empowerment in the conflict need sustained assistance to maintain their newfound mobility and independence in the face of sometimes virulently nationalistassertions of patriarchal culturaltradition and practices during the conflict and in the period of post-war reconstruction. The return to peace should not mean a return to the pre-war gender status quo.
Women Warriors or Doves?
It is often asked why women have not built a strong platform for peace? The question presumes that women are pacific, peace-loving creatures and is based on the assumption that, that women share some sort of essential underlying, nurturing and caring female nature, based on biology, anatomy and finally motherhood. The fact is that women have commonalities and differences that have more to do with the culture they inhabit and create, than with nature. Women combatants in nationalist struggles waged by groups like the LTTE, tend to subordinate their gender identities to the nationalist cause. Suicide bombing is but the extreme version of this phenomenon which might, in Durkheimian terms, be glossed as altruistic suicide, when a woman's gender, individual autonomy and personal agency is completely subsumed in the national cause. The question might well be raised as to whether women would be more given to altruistic suicide than men given their socialization in patriarchal Asian cultures where girl children and women are more often than not taught to put themselves second, and their male folk, family, and community honour first.
Nationalist conflicts also reveal a certain commonality in women's experiences. Women experience particularly gendered forms of violence, such as rape and the fear of rape, body searches and the fear of sexual violence, as well as the Social stigmas which dog women who have been raped and thus contaminated" by enemy men. Moreover the fear of sexual violence limits and inhibits most women's mobility and (continued on next page)

Page 18
18 AMIL TIMES
KOSOVO and Sri La
Jehan Perera
here is the image and the reality; what might have been and the present. Talking to a visiting foreign diplomat, a human rights activist recently described the Sri Lankan north-east as another Kosovo. Clearly concerned about the sufferings of the Tamils in those conflict-torn areas, he inquired whether the Western countries could not intervene in Sri Lanka justas they haddone in Yugoslavia to halt the Yugoslav army's advance into Kosovo. The foreign dipl-omat's answer was revealing. Who is the Milosevic of Sri Lanka, he asked. There was an uneasy silence.
Some years ago, the matter might have been less in doubt. Especially in the aftermath of the 1983 anti-Tamil riots, the Sri Lankan government headed by President Jayewardene might have been seen as fitting into the Milosevic slot. At that time, when India was making threatening noises about intervening militarily in Sri Lanka, senior government ministers publicly made counter-threats. One said that before the Indian army could land in Sri Lanka, the Tamil population in the south would be eliminated by Sinhalese who loved their land. While
the government he Premadasa made no it could not make : the past. Besides its JVP uprising did n world.
But today, the i of the Sri Lankan gov different. The gover Kumaratunga is one on a high risk polit admitted the reality flict that needed a pi is a government that talks, was trapped ( but still managed to of radical political r the teeth of hardlini sition. It is a govern propagating peace schools and has give organisations a free cise it as well as t people that the gove, much further in the
The boot is indee In the eyes of the int. nity, it is not the leat ernment that is in th the LTTE. Its spec have caught the cam
(Continued from page 17) hence their livelihoods, choices and realities.
Despite similarities in women's experience of armed conflict they have reacted differently to nationalist armed violence: some like the women cadres of the LTTE, or the women cadres of the Sri Lanka Army and Air Force, have taken up arms for their respective nationalist struggles, others have become activists for peace, seeking to build alliances across ethnic, cultural and regional borders (Mother's Front, Women for Peace, Women's Coalition for Peace), while many women have been rendered barely functional after suffering the violence of bombing, shelling, loss of family members, family fragmentation, and displacement. At the same time due to the security situation and the fact and perception that men are more likely to be "terrorists', women increasingly have to play a public role dealing with the authorities ranging from meetings with the Government
Agent, to the milita tarian aid agencies ments, plead their ca decisions in public presence or absence who are increasingly disappeared.
As Rajini Thirar singham) who was a LTTE for her fight a vinism wrote: "Wor strong during the wa out as individuals c exposing the atroci tions of human dig in the midst of warp with the militants fo the whole nation. Wo have a triumph. The disappointment an also hope. We hav bit.” Rajini was kill for human rights, fi but other women col began.

15 APRIL 1999
mka
ided by President such crude threats,
clean break with conduct during the ot endear it to the
nternational image 'ernment is entirely hment of President that came to power cal campaign that of an ethnic conolitical solution. It entered into peace once again by War come up with a set 2form proposals in Sinh-alese oppoment that has been education in the n NGOs and peace hand to both criti) conscientise the rnment needs to go cause of peace.
d on the other foot. ornational commuiership of the gove dock but that of tacular deeds that eras of the interna
ry, to the humani. They file docuses and implement and private in the of their men folk disempo-wered or
agama (nee. Rajassassinated by the gainst Tamil chaunen have come out ... They have stood r as small groups, ies and the violality...Women who leaded and argued their families and men’s history does 2 is powerlessness, disillusion. But done it... a little 'd for her struggle r women's rights, tinue the work she O
tional media have not been ones that have been political, democratic or suggestive of flexibility. From the murder of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, to the destruction of the Central Bank in the heart of Colombo, from the mass evacuation of the half million people of Jaffna to the bombing of the sacred Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, theirs have been acts of concentrated violence and coercion. In these decisions, short term gains seem to have figured more than the long term cost.
The US Report
The comparative attitude of the international community to the Sri Lankan government and LTTE can be seen in the most recent (1998) human rights report on Sri Lanka compiled by the United States. The US prepares such human rights reports on most of the countries of the world, which it then uses in determining its policies towards those countries. Most third world countries, where abuses of human rights usually occur, take great offence at this report. The US report is generally viewed as an authoritative document by many foreign embassies in Sri Lanka.
The US human rights report on Sri Lanka covers different aspects of human rights, including political and other extra-judicial killings, disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, arbitrary interference with privacy, use of excessive force and violations of humanitarian law, freedom of speech and press, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of association, freedom of movement, forced or compulsory labour and acceptable conditions of work, among others. Quite a damning mix, it would seem.
The main focus of the US report is clearly enough the state of human rights in Sri Lanka and what the government is doing about them. It might be expected that the Sri Lankan government would be angry and embarrassed by the exposures contained in the report. The general public in Sri Lanka know know quite well what the situation is in their own areas, in places of police detention, during election campaigns and so on, even if they do not know fully what is happening in the north-east theatre of conflict.
What is noteworthy is that the Sri Lankan government was able to take the observations made in the US report in its stride. In fact the government-controlled media even made out that the

Page 19
15 APRIL 1999
US report was complimentary towards the Sri Lankan government's track record. This is despite the fact that the report gives in fair detail the shortcomings and abuses of human rights that are taking place in the country owing to the deficiencies of the government.
Negative Comparison
But there is a reason for the government's relaxed attitude towards the US report. The reason is simply that the LTTE, which is the government's chief opponent, came out so much worse on every subject in the reportin which they too were referred to. To give just one example. Under the subject heading “Freedom of Speech and Press", the report points out that the “Government restricts those rights in practice, often using national security grounds permitted by law.” It says "There are no political restrictions on the establishment of new media entities.” It also goes on to point out, accurately, the existence of censorship on news from the northeast and incidents where journalists were harassed.
Over a page is devoted to describing the shortcomings of the government in relation to freedom of speech and press. But the one short paragraph on the LTTE is totally damning. “The LTTE does not tolerate freedom of expression. It tightly restricts the print and broadcast media in areas under its control. In the past, the LTTE has killed those reporting and publishing on human rights,” states the US report.
This is just one example of the comparative approach adopted by the US human rights report, which makes the LTTE leadership fit into the Milosevic mould. There can hardly be a valid comparison between a democratically elected government, with an independent judiciary and media, and an inaccessible military machine with a reclusive leader who only burst into international consciousness through spectacular suicide bombings outside of the north-east. It is due to this disparity in images that the Sri Lankan government is able to send its army relentlessly into Tamil inhabited territory, most recently at Madhu, without creating the same kind of international outrage that the Yugoslav government has done in sending its army into the Albanian inhabited territories of Kosovo.
With the advance of the Sri Lankan army into the Madhu area approximately 30,000 more people have come
to be liberated, a ment news release prise that the pe cleared area are ul their liberation. food and medicine ple will never be might fall into trol fire or because of operation. Certainl ians of the liberate lic priests of the a be overjoyed at th advance into Mac they were "surpri to observe the ent very precincts oft
t another no Y ment has bit ter of a year BJP was boasting record of sorts by year in office, sor gress governmen" Janata experimen "Now we can tion, Jayalalitha party leaders wer the very same ne! career. On 17 No government was vote margin.
The AIADM and then withdra BJP-led coaliti President K.R. Vajpayee to seek Interestingly winds its Dravid to extend suppo. ment in its hour riposte to the CC which decided to port to topple t came up with an ruption is more munalism.' But Tamil Maanila members, refuse ahead and votec ernment saying both communal
 

TAMIL TIMES 19
ording to governIt comes as no surple of the newly ure of the value of nere will be more pr sure, but the peosure whether they ble because of cross cordon and search , the spiritual guard| people, the Cathoea, did not seem to Sri Lankan army’s nu. They said that ed' and "shocked' y of the army to the he sacred shrine.
Human rights and peace activists should do all they can to put pressure on the government to honour its commitment to search for a peaceful solution instead of pressing on with the unending quest for a military solution. They must also find a way to put pressure on the LTTE to act more politically, and take more substantial political initiatives than mere assertions of a willingness to negotiate. An example of such a political initiative could be to form a political wing on the lines of the IRA in the United Kingdom and the Shanti Bahini in Bangladesh that can humanise the face of Milosevic that has come to be imprinted on the LTTE. O.
ao BP-le V yas Future Uncertain
T N Gopalan
on-Congress governten the dust in a mat..Only last month the that it had created a completing one full nething no non-Concould do since the in the seventies.
consolidate our posior no Jayalalitha," crowing. But it was nesis that aborted its ember the Vajpayee voted out by a one
had first pulled out wn its support to the n following which larayanan directed a vote of confidence. he DMK, throwing to an credentials, chose
to the BJP governf crisis. That was its gress and them Left ake Jayalalitha’s supe BJP. Karunanidhi w formulation, “Corangerous than comven its state ally, the ongress, with three to follow suit. It went gainst the BJP govat it was opposed to m and corruption in
equal measure.
But then it was the Bahujan Samaj Party, with five members, whose decision sealed the fate of the Vajpayee government. It had earlier maintained that it would abstain during the voting, saying that there was little to choose between the Congress and the BJP, both being Manuwadi, meaning conforming to the tenets of Manu, the notorious Hindu law-giver. But it sprang a surprise at the time of voting and later said that it was its own way of teaching the BJP a lesson for splitting it in the UP in order to remain in power.
No tears were shed over the fall of the weak, wobbly, incompetent, and worse, communal, though sneakily. Its so-called achievements, exploding the nuclear bomb and testing the Agni missiles, posed a great danger of militarisation of the country and of the region. The Lahore bus ride, a very sensible step though, did still sound quite hollow in the context of its otherwise aggressive postures. Certainly there was no follow-up exposing the BJP's proclamations as hypocritical.
The way the Sangh Parivaar started flexing their muscle everywhere, culminating in the horrid burning of the Australian missionary Staines and his sons, it looked like India was destined to go through a period ofriots and clashes. They pulled back from the brink

Page 20
20 TAMIL TIMES
in the face of public furore and realising that their government could be in danger. -
Besides the BJP did not have the guts to stand up to the hectoring from a corrupt Jayalalitha, witness the attempt to transfer the corruption cases against her from the special courts to regular courts with a view to indefinitely delaying the trials. After a lot of humming and hawing, Vajpayee did decide to call her bluff, but then on a wrong issue. For the records she demanded the reinstatement of the sacked Naval Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat and the sacking instead of Defence Minister George Fernandes who had dismissed Bhagwat.
Bhagwat had been shown the door for allegedly defying the civilian authority. Later he turned the heat on Fernandes alleging corruption in purchase of arms besides saying that he was hobnobbing with the Myanmarese rebels and the LTTE. While Bhagwat was no angel of integrity and he seemed to have been a highly ambitious and arrogant Admiral, the BJP too refused to come clean on the issue, why it should have chosen to peremptorily
sack him, etc. or e the demand for a into Bhagwat's all
The Congress issue, more becaus to ward off any pos into the Bofors, it
Anyway Jayala into the fray and en demands, precipita
Why the BJP that issue to fight it is still not clear wł chosen to buy peac for a parliamentary Equally not cle: herself went on to over this issue whic relevant to her. W hoped to propitiate per the advice ofSu Possibly unwill elections as an ally hour, many say, ha hitching her wagon member she had e foreigner unfitto lea rious traditions like only signalled her lot more should hav
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Ven tO COuntenan Ce arliamentary probe gations. vent to town on the Sonia was seeking ible further inquiry S claimed. litha gladly pitched lorsed the Congress ing a crisis. nnecessarily chose out with Jayalalitha en they could have with her by opting probe. ris why Jayalalitha upset the apple cart his not very greatly ell she could have Sonia that way as Dramaniam Swamy. ing to face the next of the BJP, whose as passed, she was to Sonia's star. Rexcoriated her as a da nation with gloIndia. Her U-turn desperation. But a ve been at stake for
her to have triggered off a crisis at a crucial stage of her trial in the courts.
If a guilty vedict is returned, she will become disqualified from contesting any elections for six years thereafter. She might have been angry that the Centre would not do much to get the cases quashed somehow or other or bring pressure on Kaurnanidhi to go slow.
At the AIADMK General Council meeting which took place at Chennai, after her "historic" tea-party encounter with Sonia in New Delhi, one got a glimpse of what was working in her mind. She blamed Vajpayee for failing to prosecute Karunanidhi and his family on corruption charges on the basis of the "indisputable evidence" she herself had furnished a year ago, that is immediately after the formation of the government at the Centre. "I'd like to see them all behind bars. But the Centre is not moving, it’s simply not listening." At one level her wanting to take revenge for the humiliation meted out to her combined with her helplessness had provoked her wrath perhaps. Besides she was justly angry that despite her crucial voting strength, she
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original is
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15 APRIL 1999
was unable to lift a finger against Karunanidhi whereas Murasoli Maran and P Chidambaram, between them, in the previous United Front Government, were running amok, hounding her out as also the entire Sasikala clan.
She could not get more of her men into the cabinet, a wavering Vajpayee repeatedly postponing cabinet expansion, unable as he was to cope with the enormous pressure from his allies. He would not even divest Vazhapadi Ramamurthy, the lone ranger, of the lucrative Petroleum ministry and hand it over to the AIADMK. Also by announcing the Sethu Samudram project at an MDMKrally, Vajpayee was depriving her of an opportunity to claim credit for it. Many blame Subramanian Swamy, the one-man demolition squad, for the developments. But she is a person with her own mind and would not have listened to his advice unless it suited her doing so.
For all such explanation, one is still at a loss to understand why Jayalalitha chose to behave the way she did, after all she was taking too may risks in her rage. Well shall we say, it was her overweening arrogance in full play yet again, she was trapped by her own rhetoric or did the suicidal instinct in her came to the fore? Take your pick.
Whatever the case the fall of Vajpayee could only be a pyrrhic victory for her, nothing more than a sadistic satisfaction that she has socked it in the eye of a party which was reluctant to carry out all her bidding, though it had obliged her on some counts.
Says T. Sikamani, a senior Tamil journalist, "What has she gained now, tell me. If anything she has lost whatever clout she had earlier. Vajpayee and company might not have dismissed Karunanidhi nor transferred out all the officials as she desired. Still they were really bending backwards all the time 8 9 KM Now is Sonia going to oblige her the same way? Very unlikely. She is certainly not going to cower before her tantrums as Vajpayee did till recently. Whatever the new formation, her clout will be much less than what it used to be....'
As of now the future shape of things was not clear. With hardly 270 members in a 543-member House ranged against the BJP government, there is no clear sign that any viable stable government could be formed. And Jaya’s own influence over such a government would be very tenuous.
Did not Son Jayalalitha sweat i even granting her ping out to see that consider forminga ment after Vajpay out? There is now dance to the other even snootier, tho ished and suave a sive and arrogant combination will h stituents which ar. towards her.
Already the TM the AHADMK sho in the new gover Left would notallo ment to be dismis not do anything t Jayalalitha's back. could perhaps be with the Congress bly election. If s power, most of he solved. But that is future. Lok Sabha few months away, much of a consol victorious Sonia is oblige Jayalalitha
As for Karuna pickle too. After known here, he sou face and said, "We are common in any of the Vajpayee g tunate. What more But significan about the future of tionship with the would only say, "L executive will di course of action.' contrast to his pri declaration that th any relationship OWI.
Obviously the rattled. He had Vajpayee's defeat bale out the BJP hope that his six decisive, well it ( Mayavathi spoile He had no Moopanar’s TMC motion. It was thc only abstain. "To when there cou AIADMK allian like Moopanar v chunk of the Cong

TAMIL TIMES 21
a Gandhi make
out before finally n audience or stepthe Congress could alternative governe regime is voted ly Sonia is going to ady's tunes. She is gh a lot more polnd much less abra
Besides any new ave quite a few connot well-disposed
IC has declared that uld not find a place ment. Besides the w the DMK governed. And Sonia will o get the cases off Her only solace then a possible alliance in a future Assemhe comes back to er problems will be a bit too far in to the elections could be a yes, but that is mot ation for her. For a seven less likely to than is she now. nidhi he is in a fine the results became ight to put up a brave ll victory and defeat democracy. The fall overnment is unfor
can I say?" ly when asked what his new-found relaBJP, Karunanidhi et's wait and see. Our cide on the future That was in sharp vious day's ringing e DMK never severs t enters into on its
ageing politician is not bargained for He had decided to only under the fond votes would prove id, but only almost.
his trip.
expected even to vote against the ght the TMC would ce the next elections d be a Congresse without someone t'ho could attract a ess vote-bank could
be risky. And what position the Left would adopt, it is difficult to say. An alliance with the BJP doesn't mean much here unless there is going to be a massive sympathy wave for Vajpayee, especially so when we could stand to lose the minority votes,' felt a secondline DMK leader.
It is not as if the TMC is sitting any the prettier. It cannot join a CongressAIADMK alliance. It certainly cannot merge with the Congress when such an alliance is on the cards. It cannot go back to the DMK if it is going to be a DMK-BJP front. A third front with the PMK, the MDMK and the Left could be contemplated, but what impact it would have on the electorate, remains to be seen. But in the context of its declared intention to make a bid for power on its own in the next assembly poll, a break with the DMK could become easier and it can claim to be occupying a moral highground on the issue of secularism and try and checkmate Jayalalitha as much as it can in the near future. But beyond that what? That is still a moot point.
The Pattali Makkal Kadchi(PMK) led by Dr Ramdas, on the other hand, could comfortably negotiate the waters, what with its strong Vanniar vote-back and relatively "flexible" political approach. If Sonia and Jayalalitha reject him, Dr.Ramdas could happily switch. over to the DMK-BJP combine with little qualms and his entry would be prized by that front, assuming such a one is going to be formed.
The MDMK is the worst affected. Vai.Ko. had been loyal to the BJP, but how could he hope to be in the DMK camp now?Jayalalitha would certainly not allow him or Vazhapadi Ramamurthy to come anywhere near her. Even the ebullient Petroleum Minister could continue to cling on to the BJP, Karunanidhi might not mind much. But Vai. Ko’s is a very different case. He should only look forward to a third front for whatever it is worth.
The free-wheeling Swamy, now thriving in the role of Jaya's hatchet man, has nothing much to lose though. He had predicted right after the last Lok Sabha polls, prophetically as it has turned out, "Any ministry that does not include me will be unstable.' And he can chortle to his heart's content now. Whether he becomes a minister or not, it is immaterial. He has reinforced his image as the one-man demolition army. (continued on next page)

Page 22
22 TAMILTIMES
Revealingess On the Kosovo
T N Gopalan
he Kosovo crisis and the NATO air-strikes have sparked off very revealing reactions across the world. Even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, as seen during the first attack on Iraq, the reactions of the various nation-states were dictated more by their selfish interests than by any ethical code.
There was hardly a single country then that would criticise Saddam Hussain on the one hand for the invasion of Kuwait but also denounce the US on the other for its brazen attempt to enforce its own will on the international community and its unbridled hypocrisy. The Muslim countries that expressed solidarity with Iraq, even if notionally, conveniently ignored its crimes against its own citizens or the unwarranted attack on Kuwait.
And even a section of the Left was willing to turn a blind eye to Hussain's own criminal lapses in their eagerness to pillory the US. And of course those who denounced him in hysterical terms were mostly the most wretchedly hypocritical liberals whose hands were stained with the blood of humanity.
For many analysts, especially on the Left, the overwhelming lesson of that period was that the bi-polar world had collapsed. Certainly it was, but how
could one overloc dimension involve Those opposed ony, mostly of the have traditionally t ethical dimension, it has turned out.
Be that as it ma should inform the rent Kosovo crisis, expressed have sp considerations, with continuing miserie, And the issue h cance to many Thi which are grappli struggles and to ti moments themselve fear that lending su action, even an exp pathy for the Kosav ther strengthen the in their own respec made many Third \ nounce the interven
A typical news dian media read as f ting across the politi gly criticised the NA inst Yugoslavia. Th that the action whic tion from the Unite gal and violative o
(Continued from page 21) There should be many others waiting to tap his skills in the future.
The Tamil Nadu angle apart, the country is undergoing yet another round ofpolitical crisis. But it looks like whatever the shape of the new government, a fresh round of Lok Sabha elections would be inevitable before long. In which case a Congress led by Sonia Gandhi could be a clear winner.
To the extent that a communal BJP is shown the door, that is a much better prospect. But it is also a throw-back yet again to the stodgy feudal rule of the Congress. Perhaps what India needs is a consensual government which would devolve greater powers to the states and seek to associate the large masses in
governance.
Only a liberal, if slightly so) form the country saw und later under Gujral could fit such a bill. parties which spoil refusing to sup wi Some accommodat still have left the ini and liberal sections nity might not turn future and the Lef blame themselves broglio. Still it col that India will not by majority commu of combating incre: ist activities.
 
 
 
 

15 APRIL 1999
k the other ethical i?
to the US hegemcommunist variety, ended to ignore the o their own grief as
1, a similar dilemma debate on the curbut again concerns rung from selfish little thought to the of the Kosavans.
as a special signifird World countries ng with separatist he separatist rebel s. It is precisely the pport to the NATO ression of the symans, could only furseparatist problems :tive backyards has World countries detion in Yugoslavia. despatch in the Inollows-"Parties cutcal Spectrum stronATO air-strikes agaley made the point n was without sancd Nations was illef international law
eft-of-centre (even ation like the ones er VPSinghorstill and Deve Gowda But it was the Left d it all last time by th the Congress - ion with it would iative with the Left Such an opportulp again in the near have none but to or the current imld be Some solace be held to ransom halism in the name sing fundamentalO
and the UN Charter. It seemed as if the lost national consensus on foreign policy issues had been found....
There is a growing feeling that the US-led unilateral action whether against Iraq or against Yugoslavia militated against the concept of territorial integrity of sovereign states and eroded confidence in the ability of the UNto keep in check the powerful nations..." Needless to state the unstated fear running through all such reports and analyses is what would happen to Kashmir if one endorses the NATO action in Kosovo. And any sympathy for the refugees streaming out of Kosovo was very muted. "Oh it's pretty bad that such things should happen...But then intervention is no answer...Somehow the parties concerned would have to sort out the issue among themselves... Certainly one can't allow a precedent to be set for intervention in areas affected by internal rebellions.” Such was the thrust of the argument.
Just as few political parties and commentators ever bother to stop and ponderfora moment whether the Kashmiris by and large could indeed be preferring to opt out of the Indian Union and whether they might have very valid reasons to do so, but merely stress India's sovereignty and Pakistan's sponsoring terrorism, so also in the case of Kosovo few persons in or outside the establishment have cared to empathise with the suffering Kosavans.
Mr.Saeed Naqvi, a well-respected columnist, was in the affected region at the time the strikes were taking place and the catastrophe was gradually unfolding. He does bemoan the conflict, hark back to the great traditions of Yugsolavia, but spares few words for those thrown out of their hearths and homes by a vengeful Serbian police and paramilitary forces, and his signing off is quite significant: "In today's context the Americans are the undisputed heroes of every ethnic Albanian. The supreme irony that those who have turned to the Americans as their saviours are today streaming out in their hundreds of thousands as refugees with nowhere to go. For a long time they will remain the symbols of the inability of the world's only superpower to save them, indeed, to have been unintentionally responsible for their plight as homeless, ethnically cleansed, consigned to their fate as the most wretched of the earth.' Surely Naqvi's logic is indisputable and it is indeed a tragedy that a nation

Page 23
15 APRIL 1999
like the US should come to be seen as the saviour by anyone. But it is the other nations which have allowed such a situation to develop by studiously ignoring the Albanians for their own selfish
CaSOS.
As another commentator, this one a rare breed, put it bluntly, hitting out at the hypocrisy of the Indian critics of the NATO action, "The creation of Bangladesh in 1971 by India is the nearest parallel to the NATO's actions. If this leads to a new state of Kosovo, there is no better rear view mirror than the birth of Bangladesh after the brutality of the Pakistani forces, the 10 million refugee-influx and the intervention ordered by Indira Gandhi...” Forget for a moment there are lunatic fringes, including of the left hue too, which even today tend to justify the atrocities unleashed by Pakistan, there was a pretty strong case for intervention by some international force or other in 1971. As perhaps there was in the case of Sri Lanka under Jayawardane and Premadasa.
The national question as frustrated Marxists would concede, for all their erudition and a rational approach, is
very complicated a dried solution. Wł Kashmiris might n( kan Tamils and the rebellion might ha" plications for the V. lar Europe to be ligl case will have to b merits and solution in mind the larger i munities concerne Those who su struggle must take all its faults, the In some checks and b. Indian polity as it years has still a ver eral and secular ol fundamentalist-insp do much greater d miris vith a secula Indian "occupation So also in the ca while highlightin trapped Tamils anc justice meted out host offronts, one c of the fact that P. Kumaratunge did note, was indeed ke
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l there is no cut and it is sauce for the be so for the Lanosavan Ala-banian 2 far too many imry future of a secutly dealt with. Each tackled on its own attempted keeping terests of the com
port the Kashmiri nto account that for lian democracy has lances left, that the as evolved over the large space for liblinion, and that the ired terrorism could Image to the Kashr tradition than the ' itself.
se of Sri Lanka even g the plight of the l the continuing ino them on a whole annot also lose sight resident Chandrika start off on a right en on putting an end
to the fratricidal war, more than any other Sinhalese politician was willing to build bridges to the Tamil community, but had been pushed into another senseless round of bloodletting by an intransigent LTTE dedicated to its separatist course.
Ortake Indonesia where in the islands of Madura and West Kalimantan the Muslims and Christians are flying at each other's throats and apparently some church-inspired rebellion is on. Or the Karen struggle in Myanmar most shamelessly sought to be exploited, even hijacked, by a fundamenatist Chri-stian sect.
But saying all that, one has to acknowledge the colossal human misery and stress the need for finding a way out sooner than later. Unless the man's right to live in peace and harmony is granted the centrality it deserves in any discourse, it would be difficult to arrive at a sensible and generally acceptable solution.
In the case of Yugoslavia itself, first the horrendous things happening since the death of Marshal Tito are a savage commentary on the kind of rule the Communists had provided.
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24 TAMILTIMES
As is happening in the erstwhile Soviet Union too, after decades of Communist rule one could see brutal and barbaric instincts at work in full steam. It is as if the intervening years had never existed and the cave man is still learning to become a civilised being at a painful cost to himself. To think that 1917 promised to usher in a New Man! The failure of the Communist rule to iron out the ethnic differences, or even to reduce the tensions, is indeed tragic. But that apart, the Serbians have been the least tractable of the majority communities anywhere. Reading their literature, and watching them on the TV raising their fists and warning the other communities to fall in line and setting fire to and looting the Kosovan homes, one does experience an involuntary shudder, the Taliban brazenness and fanaticism offering a very close parallel.
At the same time the US and its allies might have their own calculations in sticking their necks out, given their track record from Grenada to Chile to South Africa. Any bloc of nations choosing to strtike out on their own, contemptuously marginalising the United Naions, is suspect and could pose agreater threat to world peace than even chauvinist majorities.
But how does one fault the selfserving actions of such blocs without first raising one's voice against the injustice which triggers off the crisis in the first place? During the days of Jawaharlal Nehru India enjoyed such a moral high ground that it was highly respected despite its weak economy and military capabilities.
If a frail Gandhi, many times dismissed as too idealistic to make sense, could still succeed in restoring sanity in Noakhali, that was because his commitment to basic human values was readily acknowledged.
It has been pointed out that there are 5,000 ethnic groups in the world and the difficulties involved in managing the planet if each one has its own nation-state are mind-boggling. But unless the existing nation-states can make their respective citizens, regardless of their origin or creed, live in harmony and freedom and give them a sense of belonging, rebellions which only spell disaster are inevitable.
But to push the nation-states to adopt such an enlightened position requires clear-eyed, dedicated and an equally enlightened public opinion. O
olitical instabil
P this mountain goes to two-ph and 17. The Maoist ed to be once close of the Chinese c threatened to boyc threat has become o of their entrenched remote villages and Himalayas. The ext be gauged from the date of the United party (UML), Yadu by the Maoists. Gau of parliament in the parliament and bel communist party in come a long way f becoming a ruling pa munist leader Manm the first left prime he continues to lead Sandwitched b{ neighbours India anc had to tread a cautio democracy was rest epic agitations teny Koirala and Ganesh eshta of the Nepali C country has seen sev ernments involving and the Rashtriya (RPP), which consis sidual elements of th hayati rajsystem ong Nepali royalty. Tho premier party in the tions of the people c as a pro-Indian out with political parti Congress, the Sama of former Indian pr ndra Shekhar and th Party. The rise and fè tion governments ha companied by palact manipulation and pc the streets; the UM had to embrace a sir The UML seems special target of the times. Newspaper r Maoists' hand in th
 

15 APRIL 1999
ence Theates
Politics and Society
Ramesh Gopalakrishnan
ty continues to dog :ountry, even as it ase polls on May 3 , who were believto certain sections mmunists, have ott the polls. The minous in the wake upport base in the ough terrain of the nt to the threat can fact that a candiMarxist-Leninist Gautam, was killed tam was a member issolved Nepalese onged the largest Nepal which has rom its origins to rty. After all, comohan Adhikari was minister of Nepal; the UML party. tween two giant i China, Nepal has us path ever since pred following the ars ago led by BP Man Singh Shrongress (NC). The eral coalition govthe NC, the UML rajatantrik Party ts of powerful ree party-less pance promoted by the gh the NC is the ountry, some secontinue to view it it, given its links s like the Indian wadi Janata Party me minister ChaBharatiya Janata of NC-led coali; always been acintrigue, political sible violence on -led government ilar fate recently. o have become a vaoists in recent borts point to the recent macabre
death of eight UML in the Himalayas region. That they were burnt alive has sent shivers down the UML cadre which is too scared to move about, the reports say.
The three main parties, NC, RPP and UML, seem to agree on the roots of Maoist violence in Nepali society. They admit quite tacitly that the democratic institutions in the country had not been able to satisfy the people's expectations. However, they blame each other for the upswing in extremist activity. While the RPP leaders blame the NC and the UML, Adhikari says that some leaders and activists of the erstwhile panchayatiraj system are instigating the Maoists. The Maoist groups are also suspected to be receiving help from radical outfits abroad abroad through the channels provided by various nongovernmental organisations.
The other problem faced by the government of NC leader Girija Prasad Koirala is the possible presence of a large number of criminal elements from across the Indian border during elections. The border states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are known to consist of a large number of private armies and mafia gangs. These gangs, who are in close touch with the political establishment of the two states, have been able to strike at will even in distant New Delhi. Some of the Uttar Pradesh dons have links with the Dubai-based Dawood Ibrahim, who is wanted in connection with the March 12, 1993, serial blasts in Bombay.
Given the kind of money and muscle power these gangs possess, they are feared by the local people during elections when the gangs manage to cast the votes of all and sundry by capturing booths. The Indo-Nepal border, which has several crossings including Raxaul and Gorakhpur, is porous and the criminal elements can be deployed at will to capture booths. The Nepali government hopes to tackle this problem in association with the Indian establishment which itself is currently embroiled in a political crisis.
(continued on next page)

Page 25
15 APRIL 1999
The Media's Crucifica
of Muralitharan
Michael Roberts University of Adelaide
ll representations have a measure of partisanship. It is from a partisan position in the opposite camp that I read the lead article "Straighten Murali or law' and the carefully-chosen pictures that accompanied it on page 25 of the Australian of 25 January 1999. I argue here that the slants etched into this set of representations are pedantic, flawed and misleading. Malcolm Conn's position, moreover, is marked by that form of fundamentalist purism that has been one of the roots of the contretemps from the very beginning (see my essays in Crosscurrents 1998).
I contend further that a number of Australian media persons developed a climate of opinion that was favourable to the type of action taken by Ross Emerson on that fateful day at Adelaide Oval, though it is quite conceivable that he would have taken such a step irrespective of the voices in the background.
Today, the support on air and in print for Emerson's decision alleges that "as long as Law 24.2 remains then ... every umpire has the right, in
fact a duty, to call a they suspect the leg ery” (Conn in Austr reasoning, of cours phasis on personal a try that is at the lea ern individualism. TI ian men on Radio ! tinuous reminders d ary reportage of th losophy (though p this grounding).
Such reasoning oblivious - is this ness? - to the fac poorly drafted and to be proof of guilt law are manifest. statement on this p( however, let me cit ter Roebuck, All Neville Turner as n Given such a d the desire to avoid that took place att cember 1995, the ess of evaluation by ess cleared Murali Kumara Dharmase
(Continued from page 24)
The Maoists, on their part, have made it clear that they want to capture not just booths but entire regions and render them as "liberated zones'. They plan to raise funds from collecting taxes from the "liberated zones' to sustain their guerilla warfare; resort to extortion of the rich, the ministers and the bureaucracy; raise the level of conflict to a civil war and capture power in order to be able to establish independent links with the international community. It is still not clear whether the Maoists have been able to enlarge their area of operation beyond the mountainous and remote regions of the country.
All the three mainline parties have experienced factionalism, fissures and splits during the recent tumultuous years of democratic politics. The bitter
struggle between C hna Prasad Bhatta It’s now the tu named as the prin date for the electi split into two gro Gautam taking aw test against Adhik minister, the Mah treaty with India a out of Nepali inter undergone a split by two former pri Bahadur Thapa an Chand.
The road to K ties, was describe ham, as the path propounded by E mystics. It's now : power-intrigue an

TAMIL TIMES 25
bowler every time itimacy of a delivalian 25 Jan). Such e, caters to the emutonomy in a counding edge of Westhe several AustralAN provided conuring the 23rd Janu2 depth of this phierhaps unaware of
seems remarkably
convenient blindst that Law 24.2 is 2onstrues suspicion These flaws in the If my affirmative pint is not adequate, e Frank Tyson, Pean Border and J. ny authorities. efective rule and in the sort of incident he MCG on 26 DeCC created a procexperts. That procharan in late 1997. na remains under a
| P Koirala and Krisai is well known.
'n of Bhattarai to be e ministerial candions. The UML had ups, with Baumdev ay a faction in proiri signing, as prime akali- Pancheshwar a betrayal and sellSts. The RPP too has into two groups led meministers, Surya d Lokendra Bahadur
thmandu, in the sixd by Patrick Marnowards freedom, as uddhist and Hindu veritable abyss into | political chaos.. O
cloud however. The Sri Lankan authorities recently responded to these ICC concerns by omitting Dharmasena from the team to Australia and from the initial World Cup Squad of thirty selected early in January. That Muralitharan was in the team to Australia, therefore, marked a reliance on the good faith of the ICC and ACB; and the confidence derived from his acceptance by a range of umpires all over the world.
The ICC process necessarily qualifies the discretion of umpires on this issue, without removing their powers altogether. Once this scheme was in place it was a matter of common sense for umpires to realise that any suspicions should be conveyed to the ICC for evaluation through video evidence. The importance of "common sense” has also been underlined by Kim Hughes (in an article in the Australian 28 Jan.1999 that nevertheless presents Emerson in favourable ways).
It is for this reason that Lawry, Botham and Roebuck reacted in such a hostile fashion during the course of the game to Emerson's action. Botham was explicit: Emerson was being “ludicrous” and taking an ego trip. Peter Roebuck put it in a nutshell. To quote him from memory: "the ICC put a system in place and one man has decided to buck the system.” /
In such circumstances it is pedantic and seems disingenuous for Conn to claim that Emerson was merely applying the law as it stands. It is also erroneous for Conn to claim that the ICC process “takes nothing away from the power of umpires to rule on every delivery as they see fit.” If the ICC holds to such a position it has set up a contradiction and is not holding to the common sense interpretation of the situation essayed by Roebuck, Hughes, Botham et al. What we have here, then, is a major difference of interpretation: an emphasis on equity and modernised form by Roebucket all on the one hand and the pedantic literalism and rigidity of Conn and associates on the other.
Conn's misleading reading of the process of arbitration is compounded by a set of three STILL PICTURES of Muralitharan’s action from side-on under the caption: “a legitimate delivery, or not? You can be the judge."
This TYPE OF REPRESENTA
(continued on next page)

Page 26
26 TAM TIMES
TION is truly gross - when presented within a context where one has access to video evidence. Such video evidence, it appears, reveals that the appearance of chucking is "an optical illusion.” It has been video evidence plus a couple of doctors' reports on Murali's peculiar arm that led the ICC committee to deem Murali's action legitimate. That any writer could review the case without reference to these facts is more peculiar than Murali's arm.
That Malcolm Conn should adopt the position displayed in the article under review is not surprising. He revealed his hand in an article in the Australian of the 4th Dec. 1998 which treated Darrell Hair as a hero. “If more umpires around the world had taken a stronger stand sooner," he says, "then bowlers throwing may not be the issue it is today."
Now, on the 25th January 1999, he reiterates his position of moral righteousness. The cricketing world has to be cleansed of all chuckers. Suspicions and visual evidence resting on the power of the human eye are adequate grounds for action in the light of Law 24.2.
I have little doubt that Conn thinks that his position will serve the interests of cricket - as, indeed, Hair and Emerson surely believe. My opposing position is that the pedantic and fundamentalist stance that they have assumed has sullied the field of cricket. Nay, more: it has been extremely damaging. The ACB and the ICC have had to bear the consequences.
The ICC has been everyone's carpet to beat on. In this instance, I claim, the main culprits have been Darrell Hair and Ross Emerson. But they are not alone. From the safety of their offices several Australian media personnel have encouraged firm action in the "trenches'. This was illustrated in the “campaign” from circa January 15" 1999 which claimed that several Australian umpires officiating at the limited-over games had presented concerns over Muralitharan's action to the ICC referee, Pieter Van der Meuwe. This was explicitly denied by the ICC in a statement issued around the 17th January 1999.
So, who started this set of stories? and which mediamen disseminated this rubbish? It is presumably this back
C
SRI LAN
In the mid 70' lassasked an Englis to Sri Lanka whent the grade and play Lankan team’s Aus 96 witnessed man Indeed, it match bodyline series f flashpoints and hea incisive outline Roberts does not h unkind in his analy, sponses. His provoc passes the Australi the match in Sri Lan Cup in the monthst reaches beyond the packing the charact ian popular culture t of its cricketers, un mentators and the COmment.
The anthology
contribution to Sri L merous moments, n( the country was acci ing status. Article cricketing history a tistical record of A Ceylon and Lanka si ground of interactio
ground that led M cally in the same is ian (but page 24) a essay, to suggest tha of Emerson's actic tated.'
I remain wary ( ries. But Coward is I am to make calls such a claim reinfo the degree to which tralian journalists moted an ideologi that has endorsed t action takenby Hai latter have power w so that they face ( pressmen seem to h responsibility.

15 APR1999
VIEW
RosscurRENTs
KA and AUSTRALIA at CRICKET
Vichael Roberts and Alfred James
a seductive Lankan h reporter to be kind ley eventually made d at Lords. The Sri Iralian tour in 1995/ unkind moments. ed the notorious or its plethora of ed exchanges. In an of these episodes esitate to skirt the is of Australian reative review encoman decision to skip ka during the World hat followed, Italso cricketfield in uneristics of Australhrough the practices mpires, sports comoccasional public
records Australia's ankan cricket at nutably in 1981 when orded full Test play:s on Sri Lanka's nd Alf James's staAustralian tours of bstantiate the backn.The whistle-stop
ke Coward, ironisue of the Australs that with Conn's "there was a sense n being premedi
f conspiracy theobetter located than of this sort. What ces in my mindis a number of Ausave actively proal and purist line 2 cleansing line of and Emerson. The th responsibility - onsequences. The |ve power without
O
matches in Colombo are indexed by reports on the matches played by Bradman's and Hassett's teams - including accounts by Fingleton, O'Reilly and Learie Constantine. In this small way this book is yet another epitaph to a leading cricketing character, Sir Donald Bradman.
The book concludes its survey with a celebratory outline of the Sri Lankan cricket team's performance at the World Cup, in part through comments from non-partisan observers such as Peter Roebuck, Mike Selvey, Vijay Lokapally and Henry Blofeld. The latter is affectionately kno-wn in some circles as "the Blo-fly-because he is "a character'. This anthology introduces many a "character' in its passages. But it is also a story of character assassination and character building.
Its prosework is supported by 36 illustrations interspersed within the text. These include cartoons, but are mostly pictures. Perhaps the most interesting of these are those of the Australian cricketers of yesteryear and their wives in Colombo, though the most striking are selections from the World Cup. From aparticular point of view the most significant item in this collection is the reproduction of a single-page leaflet circulated by Tam-il militants who demonstrated at the Oval in London during the incident-full Aust-rralian match against Sri Lanka in 1975. This is but one mark of the several ways in which issues of ethnicity, race and politics are threads that course through the book.
Walla Walla Press and Mobitel (ISBN 0958707944) and is priced at 19.95 Aus/dollars, 168 pages. Postage & Handling within Australia: S6.00; Postage & Handling by air to other sites: S1 2.00; ORDERS: either to “Michael Roberts' l Woodlark Grove, Glenalta, Australia 5052; Inquiries: mroberts(a)camtech.net, au; Or refer to Walla Walla Press Information at wallasales(a)asc.zipworld.com.au ; In Sri Lanka try Mobitel, 5" floor 108, Ramanayake Mw, Colombo 2 - fax: 94 1438 354 tel 330 550

Page 27
15 APRIL 1999
Is the JVP Prepared to I
its Pol Potist Past
Amaradasa Fernando questions the democratic credentials of the JVP which appears to be emerging as a noteworthy force in Sri Lankan politics as evidenced by its performance in the recently held Provincial Council elections.
The JVP seems to change its ideological course with the same ease that one would doff off an out-worn coat. But is this a change of tactics or is this a change of ideology? To those who are unacquainted with politics, particularly the politics of the Left, this new move to embrace democratic politics should be viewed with scepticism and as a sham, knowing its past record. One is reminded of what Hitler told the democratic world when he tore up the Munich Agreement with Chamberlain in 1936. He said with cynicism, that “it was just a piece of paper". We shall come to this later.
Today we find the UNP espousing what has come to be popularly called "gentleman's' politics. (This is of course a tacit admission that they were ungentlemanly, and no one will deny this!) The hallmark of gentleman's politics was Mr. Dudley Senanayake's. We are told that is what Mr. Ranil Wickremesghe is aspiring to, having admitted the UNP, has sinned. Yet he seems to be reluctant to take the next logical step, wear sack cloth and ashes and say, “we are sorry' and seek the forgiveness of the people for the Beeshanaya when he was a Cabinet Minister during Mr. Premadasa's Presidency.
The politics of Mr. J. R. Jayewardene, have gained currency as "Machiavellian'. Both Mr. Premadasa's and Rohana Wijeweera's politics have come to be known as politics of Beeshanaya. By his admission, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe has done one better than the JVP, which has so far not done any self-criticism. Tilvin Silva, the present leader says that we had done (podi podideval), "small small things'. But he is not prepared to disown Rohana Wijeweera who still remains his revered leader, when the whole world knows that he was not second to Pol Pot.
But one may ask, what about the politics of Chandrika Kumaratunga? Keeping aside the economic policies
and the corruption o the PA Government, erest enemies will sa naya prevalent toda the ointment being t tion which has made head in shame and s mand in anguish tha of some meeharak i Cann Ot tUrl ar O un C Beeshanaya and ush{ society which she pr muse of history will its dustbin. She will herself for such a si Let us get on W the JVP. Most people ries, but can one forg said after his releas President JRJ on No At his first public Town Hall, he drop armed struggle. He was for the democr Silva is saying now. This honeymoo went on for some tir JVP became a rec party, contesting th Elections in May 19 a few seats, gaining the students and the though not the wo) who were with the SLFP and the UN Rohana Wijeweera the Presidential Ele now famous "Refel In 1983 came t chestrated by a UN in fairness it must b no direct hand in thi eye to the murder, directed against th who called themsel patriots". They hav ugly heads underd guise of saving the the Buddha Sasan the NLSSP were p a foolish andan un which made the JV while the CP and unfair act by dem of the things the pr in defence of resor cause of the state lowed. Once again

TAMIL TIMES 27
bisown
some sections of not even her bitty there is Beesha. The only fly in e Wayamba elecher hand down her Le made her reprithis was because 1 her party. If she the 17 years of rin a just and civil omises to, then the confine her also to nave to blame only uation. ith the politics of have short memoet what Wijeweera e from prison by vember 11, 1977? appearance at the ped his call for an said that the JVP tic road, as Tilvin
n with democracy me, after which the ognised political e District Council 81. The party won popularity among lumpen proletariat, king class proper, left parties and the P and the CWC. himself contested tion in 1982 in the ændum." he ethnic riots, orP Minister, though e said that JRJ had . He turned a blind mayhem and arson 2 Tamils by those es whom “Sinhala today raised their ferent labels in the Sinhala nation and The JVP, CP and )scribed. This was ustified act by JRJ, P go underground, LSSP fought this cratic means. One ent leadership says ng to arms was beepression that fole JVP thought that
there was no way of throwing out an undemocratic government was by the force of arms. A short cut to power by revolution through terrorism. The Goveynment's repression only gave an alibi to the JVP to get back to its old ways.
Though Wijeweera called himself a Marxist-Leninist, he was basically a fascist and a terrorist as later events showed him to be. There was a serious split in the party over this new turn. The majority of the Central Committee was against this adventurism which they said would end in disaster. Several leading members such as Nandana Marasinghe, Jamis Atugala, Mahinda Pathirana, Nandasena ofKalutara, and Hunugama Simon were murdered by the JVP killer squads headed by Saman Piyasiri Fernando alias Keerthi Wijebahu known as a anadena niladari, commander-in-chief of Deshapremi Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (DJVP). Of the other top leadership of like Kelly Senanayake (publisher of Yukthiya). Sunanda Deshapriya (editor of Yuktiya), Lionel Bopage (then secretary of the JVP), Mahinda Wijesekara (now Deputy Minister, Victor Ivan alias Podi Athula (now editor Ravaya), Bandara Tennakoon, Patrik Fernando, and Nimal Maharage, all principal accused in the CJC trial, all of whom served prison sentences, and many others are alive but remain out of the JVP Only Somawansa Amarasinghe of the old leadership remains. The present leadership of the JVP of Tilvin Silva and Vimal Weeravansa were unknown in 1971. This situation was like when Stalin who by 1948 had got rid of almost the entire Central Committee of Lenin which led the Bolshevik Revolution. Most of them had been murdered.
From 1987-89 the law of Rohana Wijeweera prevailed. His promise of democratic politics made after his release was only a sham. The leopard would not change its spots. The signing of the Indo-Ceylon Accord and coming of the Indian Peace Keeping Force and the proscription of the party gave an alibi to the JVP to return to violence. What happened is history. Hold ups, bank robberies, murder of several MPs, District Ministers such as G. V. S. de Silva, Merril Kariyawasam and Lionel Jayatilleke. There were several audacious attacks on the defence establishments such as the Kotelawala Defence Academy, the Katunayake Air Force Base Camp and Panagoda Army Camp. They were organised by the leader of the Desapremi Janatha Viap

Page 28
28 TAMILTIMES
araya (DJV) Saman Piyasiri Fernando alias Keerthi Wijebahu. There was an unsuccessful grenade attack on the lives of the entire UNP Cabinet meeting in Parliament, where MP Keerthi Abeywickrema was killed, while Minister Lalith Athulathmudali was seriously injured. Intellectuals such as Dr. Stanley Wijesundera, Prof. Patuwathavithane VCsofColombo and Moratuwa universities were murdered. So Were artistes and TV broadcasters such as Thevis Guruge, Chairman of the ITN, an old man of 65, Premakeerthi de Alwis the popular TV announcer, Sagarika Gomes a popular singer and TV personality, who fell at the hands of the JVP kill
CS.
So did Vijaya Kumaratunga. This is admitted in the leaflet produced here - “Why we want Vijaya (to his death)". It is signed by the Commander against the enemies of the Fatherland. Which sometimes called itself DJVP. Thus among those who were brutally killed were student leader Daya Pathirana, whose only crime was to lead the Independent Students' Federation which dared to challenge the JVP Inter University Student's Federation.
They did not spare even Buddhist
monks such as the V atte Saddatissa Ther ber of the SLMP of have forgotten the which was hard to ised the civilian pop could not turn their forces and the polic Sometimes whe have a hartal of a wl ince, the people had tary would request th orders. But the peo more than them. Wh that there shall be no all doors and windo ing television was b lar stoppages of tra. litical opponents oft for no other reason was a UNPer, SLFP the crime of being a dered and his decal on a pole outside hi. Sometimes the d tated head was sen man's wife as a pres ers they were more in killed and hung on l, junctions. Their dea a decent funeral. The
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enerable Kotikawn, who was a memVijaya. Some may JVP barbarism, beat. They terrorulation, when they error on the armed
n they wanted to Iole city or a provto obey. The milie people defy their ble feared the JVP n the DJV ordered light burning, with ws closed. Watchanned. Their reguns and buses. Pohe JVP were killed han that so and so er, SLIMPer or for leftist he was murbitated head stuck s gate. ead man's decapit to the murdered sent! To some othnerciful, they were amp posts at Street i were not allowed graves were to be
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There were 21 thousand prisoners of reported JVP connection who spent a good part of their lives either in jail or in refugee camps. Where are they today? The large majority of them are outside the JVP. Its membership today consists of mostly young people who do not know the heinous crimes of the JVP.The argument of the present leadership is that the DJVP which committed most of the crime were not done by the JVP. But the question posed is how was it that after the arrest and murder of Rohana Wijeweera and General Secretary Gamanayake on 13th November 1988, that Saman Piyasiri Fernando the Anadena Niladari of the DJVP took over the leadership of the JVP and as secretary only a few days after the death of Rohana and Gamanayake'?
The purpose of this article is that the JVP should come out clean denouncing Rohana Wijeweera and what was done under his leadership, the same way as did the Germans of today who have thrown out Hitler and Nazism, lock, stock and barrel. Then perhaps the present day JVP may be entitled to be viewed differently. O
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Page 29
15 APRIL 1999
Book review
Hinduism in Sria
latu Intusamaya Varalaru (History of Hinduism in Sri L. S K Sitrampalam, University of Jaffna Publication, T
1996, pp.558, Price Rs 465.
Reviewed by Professor PShanmugal Department of Ancient History & Archaeology, Univers
The beginnings of the religious history of Sri Lanka is usually traced to the advent of Buddhism. The innumerable Brahmi inscriptions record the activities of Buddhist monks and lay worshippers. The famous Sri Lankan chronicles, the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa also narrate the history of early Buddhism. The numerous archaeological and literary evidences were well utilised for the study of the origin and spread of Buddhism by the several authorities like E W Adikaram, M B Ariyapala, GC Mendis and S Paranavitana.
Hinduism was another religious movement patronised in Sri Lanka. It was the oldest religious order with marked regional differences in India. Though it existed several centuries earlier to Buddhism, its spread to the neighbouring countries has not been well documented. However, the available evidence shows that the tenants of Hinduism were deeply rooted in Sri Lanka even before the introduction of Buddhism. This aspect has been neglected by some historians. In this well researched book, S K Sitrampalam has systematically analysed this shortcoming utilising the latest archaeological material.
The origin and spread of Hinduism in Sri Lanka from the earliest times to 500 AD, the various aspects of Hinduism in Sri Lanka and the deities were studied in the ten chapters. The author has quoted extensively from the Early Brahmi inscriptions and the native Pali literature. He has admirably shown that before the advent of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, there existed native religious practices. The Yaksha and Naga cults, the fertility cult, tree and animal worship were common among the native Sri Lankans. According to him these religious cults were derived from the Hindu religious practices from India.
Some of these cults by the Sri Lankan E Another aspect attention is the seve deities found in the scriptions. These in different Buddhists ous donations. Nar Siva, Maha Siva, Kumara, Mahaser Baladeva, Tuka ( (Padma), and Sri (l edly suggest the ass ism. A long list of lected from Early E is given as an appen as a useful source. S of Kings like Girika Siva also suggest Hindu gods in early In this book the sively quoted the ar rial. The Tamil Brah the coins with the issued by the Kings suggest the popular these evidences ha
Reports sugges north, north-wester inces continue to use illegally supplied fi Nadu. This has set a the Tamil Nadu gov establishments. Hug sene, diesel, petrol a tles of dextrose were Coastal Security Gr cent months. Apart bottles of sodium ch ile water, needles fc tions were washed a Dhanushkodi. On M
 

TAMIL TIMES 29
anka) (Part 1), hirunelvely,
ty of Madras
were later adopted {uddhists. which attracts our ral names of Hindu : Early Brahmi inscriptions found in ites record numernes of monks like Parumaka Siva, la, Visaka, Vinu, Durga), Paduma _akshmi) undoubtociation of HinduHindu names colBrahmi inscriptions lix which will serve similarly the names unda Siva and Muta the existence of Sri Lanka. author has extenchaeological matemi inscriptions and image of Lakshmi during this period ty of Hinduism. All ve been utilised by
the author to suggest that Hinduism was introduced before the advent of Buddhism.
Though Hinduism could have reached Sri Lanka from different regions of India, the author emphasises a greater role for the Dravidian speakers due to its proximity to Sri Lanka. Most of the native cults of Tamilnadu could have reached Sri Lanka earlier than Buddhism. In fact the prehistoric and megalithic materials found in Sri Lanka suggest even earlier contacts with the Dravidian speakers, more particularly with the Tamil country. Some of the popular beliefs in the Sangam works like the worship of the Kadamba tree, offering of sacred food, lighting lamps in front of the deity etc., have been adopted in Sri Lanka. The Velan Veriyadai and other forms of Muruga cult were also accepted in Sri Lanka. These adaptations could easily suggest the direct contact with the Tamil region.
Some of the Saiva temples in Sri Lanka had a very high antiquity. On the basis of Tamil literature and traditions, the author suggests that the Siva temples in Anuradhapura, Tirukonamalai, Tirukketisvaram, and Erakaville were established by the Hindus of the Tamil region probably during the early centuries of the Christian era. The antiquity of the Muruga temple in Katirkama and its association with the Tamil Muruga cult has been well discussed. The association of this temple with Buddhism has been rightly expressed as to the conversion of the devotees of Muruga to Buddhism at a later period.
t that Sri Lanka's
and eastern provdiesel and kerosene om southern Tamil arm bells ringing in ernment and police e quantities of kerond hundreds of botseized by the state's oup police in the rerom these, packs of loride solution, sterr intravenous injecshore at Thondi and arch 7, the Sri Lan
kannavalpersonnelarrested, near Nachikuda in Lankan waters, six Lankans and three persons hailing from Tamil Nadu and seized from them diesel and petrol. This was followed by harassment of Rameswaram fishermen at the hands of the Lankan navy, after which Rameswaram fishermen struck work for a few days.
PERUMAL BACK
EPRLF leader Varadaraja Perumal has returned to India a few weeks ago after a brief stay in Colombo where he was learnt to have been looking for a role in the island's politics. Perumal, whose stay in India is about to reach a decade, is now back at the Ajmer and Chanderi forts of Rajasthan, according to official sources in Delhi.

Page 30
30 TAMILTIMES
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Jaffna Hindu mother Seeks overseas groom with permanent residence for pleasant daughter, 29, graduate teacher in Maldives. Send horoscope, details. M 1102 C/o Tamil Tirnes.
Jaffna Hindu mother Seeks partners for her British born son, 30, Management Accountant and good looking daughter, doctor, 29, Send photo details. IM 11 103 C/o Tamil Tirnes.
Jaffna Hindu parents seek partner for daughter, 33, Canadian Citizen, widow within few months, no encumbran CeS, was medical student Jaffna, in employment now, M 1104 c/o Tamil Tinnes.
Jaffna Hindu Doctor sister seeks educated partner for professional sister, British, 34, Divorcee, no encumbrances, Send details with horoscope. M 1 105 C/o Tamil Times.
CLASSIFIED ADS
новамі:
The Advertisement Manager, Tamil Times Ltd, PO Box 1.21, Sutton, Surrey SM13TD 864 o972 FAxi oist
WEDDING BELLS
We congratulate the following couples on their recent wedding.
Sachchithananthan son of Mr. & Mrs. S. Murugupillai of 39 St. Martins Close, Erith, Kernt DA í8 4DZ and Thusitha daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Thurairajah of 39 Mayville Road, Ilford, Essex, G† 2HU On 3.4.99 at Loxford School Hall, llford, Essex.
Vijayakumar son of the late Mr. R. Thuraiappah and Mrs. Thuraiappah of Atchuvaley South, Sri Lanka and Aruntha daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Amirthalingam of 94 Kempton Road, Eastham, London E6 2LB on 3.4.99 at Tolworth Recreation Centre, Surbiton, Surrey.
Shiam Sundar Son of MrS. P. Pasupathy of 1250 Bridle Towne Circle # 1510, Scarborough, Ont. M1W2V1, Canada and late Mr. Pasupathy and Sri Shanthy daughter of Mr. & Mrs. A. Veluppillai of 3275 Sheppard Ave. E. # 308, Scarborough, Ont. M7T3P1, Canada On 10.04.99 at Sri Ganesha Temple Hall, Richmond Hill, Canada.
Dr. Loshana daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Sivapathasundaram of 1 Percival Road, Hornchurch, ESSe X RMf 1 2AH and Dr. Matthew Son of Mr. & Mrs. James of Marwicks, Cousley Wood, Wadhurst, East Sussex TN56HG with the blessings of H.H. Namananda Giri SWanigal on Monday, the 5th April 99 at Shri Pandurangan- Rukmayee Temple Complex, G.A. Trust, Thennangur, Vandavasi, South India.
 
 
 
 
 
 

OBTUARIES
Mrs. Puvaneswary Canagasabai (81), beloved wife of Mr. S. Canagasabai, Retired Supervisor of Textiles, Sri Lanka, loving daughter of late Mr. & Mrs. Ponnampalam; loving niece of late Sinnapillai Acca of Uduvil Girls' School;
loving nother of Somasegaram (Australia), Gunasegaraт, indradevi,
Renugadevi (all of London), Jeyasegaram, Sandasegaram (both of Australia), Ranjanadevi (London) and Pararajasegaram (USA), loving mother-in-law of Selvathy, PathmaVathy, Narendran, late Jeyarajah, Pakialuxmy, Krishnavali, Velauthan and Maria, loving grandmother of 18 grandchildren - Pamathy, Nalayini, Kajen, Ganen, Subashini, Suganthini, Subothini, Dr. Partheepan, Paranthaman, Kirijah, Jeyandan, Jenetta, Lusan, Sangeetha, Krishan, Prathika, Nandika and Mariana Sophia passed away on 3rd April 1999 in London and was cremated on 7th April 99.
The members of her family express their sincere thanks to all friends and relations, who expressed their sympathy and attended the funeral services. - 110 Deans Lane, Edgware, MiddX. A8 9NR. es: O181 9592681.
Mrs. Maheswary Kanagarat
15APRIL 1999
nam (77) beloved wife of the late Mr. Karthigesu Kanagaratnam (P.H.I.) of Kokuvil East, loving mother of Mahendran (Sri Lanka), Sarojinidevi, Rajendran, Rajini, Kulendran, Raveendran (all of UK) and Puvanendran (Canada); sister of Thedchenamoorthy, late Sivapragasan and Puvaneswary; mother-in-law of Sugirtha, Yogaratnam, Kamalini, Gunasuntharam, Pavalam, Rathy and Jeyanthy; loving grandmother of Pradeepan, Prasanthan, Sanjee van, Dhamayanthy, Nirooshun, Yalini, Nimalan, Kavitha, Mayooran, Soruban, Ruben, Prameela and Bindhuja passed away peacefully on 3rd April 1999 and was cremated at Mortlake Crematorium, Richmond on 10th April.
The members of the family thank all friends and relatives Who attended ihe funeral, sent floral tributes and messages of sympathy and assisted them during the period of great sorrow. - 85 Cole Park Road, Twickenham, Middx. TW1 1HX. Tel 018 1 8922084
Born: 7.12.1920
Djed 17.03.1999 Kanagasingham -
Mrs. Sivapoopathy, wife of late V.
Kanagasingham (Teacher, F'Paramesh wara College, Jaffra), youngest daughter of the lete Mr. & MrS. Muhandiram Mutthiah, sister of the late
Thanabalasuriyar, late Muthubalasuriya, late Dr. i Ratnaballasuriyer taile San
garabalasuriyar, late Shanmugabalasuriyar, late Dr. Saravanabalasuriyar, late Mrs. Somasundaram and late Mrs. Kanapathipillai mother of Dr. Nandhabalan and Dr. Nirmala; mother-in-law of Kalyani and Dr. Subanandan, much loved grandmother of Arjuna, Abirani, Meera and Prasantha, all of UK passed away peacefully
Continued on page 31

Page 31
15 APRIL 1999
Continued from page 30
On 17th March 1999. The remains were crennated
according to Hindu rites in London. On 20th March 1999, - No. 1 Bulmer Gardens, Kenton, Harrow, Middx. HA3 OPA, UK.
Leelavathy (83) wife of late Mr. V. Thillainadarajah of Vannarponnai, passed a way peacefully after a very brief illness in Wella watte, Colombo On 23rd March 1999. She was a religious, caring and an unassuming lady, and lead a peaceful life in the midst of many difficulties. She leaves behind her Children Visvendran (UK), Vis Vakurmar (Colombo), Vimaladevi (UK), Lalithadevi (Matale), Jeyadevi, (Battaramulle), Jeyendran (Saudi Arabia/UK), Jeyakumar (Malaysia) and ThiyakesanSeelan (UK); sons-in-law Linganayagam, Nitsingham and Thamotharampillai; daughters
in-law Suprabha, Arunthavarani, Yogarani and Angela, grand children Shankar, Latha, Aravinth,
Vimalraj, Eric-Nimalraj, VictorSreeraj, Subashini, Sivarubini, Nimal, Thivakaran, Premasorubini, Karrtick, Jegan, Janani and Jayani, key grandsons-in-law Mathew and Bhagavan and key granddaughters-in-law Jyothi, Bianca and Jane, two great grand children Pavan and Alisha.
The funeral took place according to Hindhu rites at Kanate, Colombo on 24th March 1999. Colombo residence: 25/2 Alexandria Road, Colombo 6, Tel: 592076. "The One Who does What should be done, untroubled by results of work, at Once renounces and yet actS, not one who has no rites or work.' (The Bhagavad Gita - meditation verse 1).
x:
She obeyed and followed the above to the end.
The members of the family thank all the relatives and friends who attended the funeral, sent messages of sympathy, floral tributes and assisted them during the period of grief. Contact in UK, son T: Visvendan No. 1, Trubys Garden, Coffee Hall, Milton Keynes MK6 5HA. Tel: 01908 241.147.
Mrs. Annamuththu Kuddippillai (92), beloved wife of the late Ramalingam Kuddippillai of Raja Veethy, Nallur, Jaffna, belo Ved mother of Kidner (Australia), Packiam (Nallur), Kandasamy (Poonakary), and Puvaneswary (Colombo), mother-in-law of Kanagammah (Australia), Shanmuganathan (Nallur), Vadivambihai (Poonakary) and the late Sellachamy (Nallur) passed away peacefully at Nallur on 172.99 (Wednesday) and was cremated at Chemmany on 18.299. She also leaves behind her grand children, great grand children and a great great grand child.
The members of the family thank all friends and relatives WhO attended the funeral, Senf messages of sympathy and assisted them in several ways during the period of bereavement. - K. Kidner, 10 Fairway Drive, Warwick 4370, Oueensland, Australia. Tel: 016 1746 612969.
Mr. Vaithilingam Sivagnana
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

TAM TIMES 31
sundram (Churchill), beloved husband of Nageswary (Lily); loving father of Ranjan, Mohan (Canada), Thayan and Gowri; father-in-law of Renuka, Janaki (Canada), Premini and Ajan Pasupati; loving grandfather of Maathangi, Sangavi and Ranjitha, brother of Dr. Sivapala
Sundram (Melbourne), Gnanalakshmi Vaheisvaran, Yogalakshmi Maniarpilai,
Jeyalakshmi Sivasubramaniam, late Sivapathasundram (Malaysia), late Thangalakshmi Selvarajah, and late Rasalakshmi Naliah, brotherin-law of Pavalakodi SivapalaSundram, Vaheivaran, late Maniarpilai, Sivasubramaniam, late Mahayogeswari (Malaysia), late Selvarajah, and Naliah (Canada) passed away in Sydney on 11th April 1999 and was Cremated On 13th April.
The members of his family thank all relatives and friends who attended the funeral, Sent messages of sympathy and floral tributes and helped them in several ways during the period of bereavement. - 1 Paradise Place, St. Clair, NSM 2759, Australia. E-mail: thayan Gozemail.com.au Te: 61298344179 Fax: 612 9670 1085.
IN MEMORAM
In everloving memory of Mr. Velupillai Nadarajah, formerly Director, Ceylon Schools of Social Work, son of late Mr. &
Mrs. Velupillai of Chetty Street, Nallur, Sri Lanka; sonin-law of the late Mr. K. Muthulingam and Mrs. Muthulingam of Tellipallai, Sri Lanka on the eighth anniversary of his passing away on 04.04.91.
Sadly missed and fondly remembered by his beloved wife Muthu Ambikai; daughter Dr. Sakunthala, SOn Dr. Favin
dran, Son-in-law Dr. Suresh Thayalan; daughter-in-law Meera, grandchildren Arjun, Nisha and Sathya. - 11 Baronia Croft, Highwoods, Colchester, Essex CO45EF.
in Loving Memory of Our
Beloved
Amma Арра Leelawathy Saravanamuttu llankanathan llam kanathan BOrr. 24.08.32 BOrr 31.10.22 Rest 28.04.96 Rest 18.02.94
You are greatly missed forever Andare in the thoughts of All your family and friends.
Fondly remembered and sadly missed by your ever-loving daughter Urmila, son-inlaw Kuha, grand daughters Shobi and Ranji. - 58 Ringwood, South Bretton, Peterborough PE3 9SH. Tel: 01733 262760.
In loving memory of Mr. Visvalingam Sivasubramaniam, Principal Emeritus Skanda Varodaya College, Chunnakam on the third anniversary of his passing away on 26.4.96.
Sadly missed remembered by wife Sironmany, Sivanandarajah, Sivagnanasunderam, Dr. Sivapalan, Sivathasarn, Sivaratnan, Siva
and fondly his beloved Children Dr.
manoharan and SivalOshanadevi; Son-in-law Thavarajah; daughters-in-law Manimehaladevi, Anandhi, Yogeswary, Kamaladevy, Supathiradevi and Devahi; grandchildren Sutharshan, Priyatharshini, Suseenthiran, Suhanthan, Sutharshika,
Suloshan, Suthaharan, Sulakcontinued on page 32

Page 32
32 TAM TIMES
In Memoriam
In cherished memory of Mr. Chinnathampy Rasiah on the fifth anniversary of his passing away on 24.04.94.
Deep in our hearts you will always stay Loved and remembered every day
Greatly loved, deeply missed and always remembered by his sorrowing wife Gunawathy, beloved children Rajan and Rajini; loving daughter-in-law Janaki; son-in-law Lakshman, grandchildren Thabojan, Prashanth and Sulakshan, sistersin-law, nephews and nieces.
O 14 Greenbriar Avenue, Wheelers Hill, Melbourne Vic 3150 Australia.
O3818 Campolindo Drive, Moraga, 94556 California, USA.
Continued from page 31 shan, Arooran, Gajamohana, Gajaharan and Vaishna. - 135A Sudbury Avenue, Wembley Middix. HAO 6AW Tel: Of 81 385 O477.
In loving memory of Mrs. Grace Nagaratnam Rasiah of Varuththalai-Vilan and lavalai, beloved wife of the late Mr. M.A. Rasiah (Former Headmaster) on the second anniversary of her passing away on 5th April 1997.
With fondest thoughts and prayers from her family. - 40 Hillingdon Road, Kingswood, Watford, Herts. WD2 6JG.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
May 1 South London Tamil Welfare Group (SLTWG) Women's Front meets Tel: 0181 542 3285; Feast of St. Joseph.
May 1 6.30pm Tamil Performing Arts Society celebrating 20 years of service preSențS a Children’s Drama FeStival of five plays at Greenford Town Hall, Ruislip Road, Greenford. Admission Free. All Welcome.
May 2 Feast of St. AthanaSius. May 8 Tamil Orphans Trust
presents Variety Performance of Veena by students of Smt Sivatharini Sahadevan, Children's Drama by Tamil Performing Arts Society and Dance by students of Smt Rajani Sureshkumar at Acton Town Hall, London W3. Tel: 0181 908 1101/422 2943, SLTWG Drop In. Tel: 0181542 3285.
May 9 12.30pm SOOT Annual Lunch With Guest Speaker at Acton Town Hall, High Street, Acton, London W3 6.NE. For tickets and defails Tel 0181 904 9227/952 7249.
May 11 Eekathasi. May 12 Pirathosam.
May 14 Amavasai; Feast of St. Matthias. May 15 Karthigai. May 16 6.00pm Shruthi Laya Shangam presents Bharatha Natyam solo by Anandavalli
with live orchestra at Logan Hall, 20 Bedford Way, London
 
 
 
 

15APRIL 1999
Rest 23rd March 1998
Mr. T. Poopalasingam (Shroff), retired Chief Shroff, Bank of Ceylon; Batticaloa, father of late Mr. P. Vijayakumar and fatherin-law of late Mrs. Arunthavarani Vijayakumar on the first anniversary of his passing away on 23rd March 98.
We will never forget.
Remembered with love and affection by your loving wife Thanapakiyarn, sons Jeyakumar, Balakumar;
daughters Vijayarani, Jayarani, lindrani, Kalaivani Kavitha, sons-in-law Sabanathan, Rajan;
daughters-in-law Vathani, Brinda and grand children Niroshan, Niroshini and Klaudia..
In Loving Memory of
Gently with love your memory is kept, Your affection and kindnecs,
You are always in our thoughts And for ever in our hearts.
- 23 Covington Road, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. Tel: 065 22040. Son/Brother Balakumar, 65 Beverley Gardens, Wembley, Middlesex A99RB Tel 0181 904 6432.
Rest 23rd February 1991
Mr. P. Wijayakumar (Wiji), FOrrner Technologist, National Paper Corporation, Valaichenai, husband of late Arunthavarani and son of late Mr. T. Poopalasingam on the eighth anniversary of his passing away on 23rd February 91.
Sadly missed and fondly remembered by his loving Children Niroshan and Niroshini; mother Mrs. T. Poopalasingam; brothers Jeyakumar, Balakumar; sisters Vijayarani, Jayarani, Indrani, Kalaivani, Kavitha; b r o t hi e r s - i n - I a w Sabanathan, Rajan, sisters-in-law Vathani, Brinda and niece Klaudia.
VVC1 OAL Tel 0181 778 O633/767 2229.
May 18 Sathurthi. May 20 Shashti. May 22 SLTWG Drop in. Tel: 0181 542 3285. May 25 Eekathasi. May 27 Pirathosam, Feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury. May 28 Vaikasi Visakam. May 29 Full Moon. May 31 9.00am Festival of Cricket at Norman Park, Bromley Tel: 0181 675.3529/01536
517288, Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
At the Bhavan Centre, 4A CAstletown Road, London V14 9HC). Te: O171 381 308.6/4608.
May 8 5.00pm Talk on 'Prakit Languages of Ancient india' by Prof. Krishna Arjun Wadekar from Pune. All Well
COffe.
May 9 5.00pm talk on 'Some Interesting Episodes from the Upanishads' also by Prof. Wadekar. All welcome.
May 9 6.00pm Mohiniattam and Uontemporary Dance by Priyadar shini Ghosh Shone & Parvati Nair.
May 29 6.30pin Bharatanatyam by Shobana, the popular actress frorn lndia.
May 31 10.00am to 5.00pm Whole day Seminar on Vaastu Sastra by Dr. Prabhat Poddar from India. All Welcorne.

Page 33
15 APRIL 1999
Myuresh - Miruthangam Debut
A very large number of friends and relatives of the Skanthabalan family had gathered at the Broadway Theatre, Barking, Essex to witness and bless twelve year old Myuresh on the day of his graduation conCert.
The Miruthangam unlike Veena, Violin and the Flute is rarely played as a solo instrument and is mainly treated as an indispensable accompaniment for vocal, instrumental and Bharata Natya performances. Therefore whenever a student has a maiden concert on Miruthangam, it is usually in the form of a vocal recital. Inviting a high calibre artiste to perform a vocal recital with a young student on the
Miruthangam is usually a problem faced by
many parents.
But young Myuresh came out with flying Colours as he sat with confidence on the stage with a vocalist, who is one of the best known in the field of South Indian Carnatic Music from Madras. The vocalist is Sri K. Rajasekharan - a scholar of the Madras University and a Diploma holder of the Adayar Kalakshetra. Listening to him to the accompaniment of Myuresh's young fingers on the Miruthangam playing with the ease of a master was indeed a pleaSUfe.
As Smit Pushkalla Gopal said in her speech, Rajasekharan was exhibiting his Guru's style. Therefore listening to Rajasekharan's display of "M.D. Ramanathan style' was indeed a double bonus for the invited audience - watching this great musician accompanying a young artiste on Miruthangam, but carefully guiding the youngster.
Myuresh was trained by Trinco's Muthu Sivarajah - who is Trincomalee's greatest gift to the London Cultural Scene. His talent and ability to impart knowledge and the rapport he has with his students even long after their Arangetram speaks volumes of his exemplary qualities in this imperfect western world of Gurus and Sishyas.
The programme started with a Varnam
(Sarasuda). There W. tions by Saint Thiaga. Pakkala Nilabadi Thaharara) and three Thripura Sundari by P Mayil Vaahana by Pay Kani Nilam Wendurr Barathiyar).
The accompanists 'w
Kothadapani- Violin R.N. Prakash - G K. Sithaparanathan -
Sanguhan with his mé pered the show.
Unlike many other pe lar some Bharata N hang up their cos Arangetram, we would Myuresh in performar Stage. I am sure that shared by his parents Guru himself
Wimal Sockanathan.
Priyanthi' Arange
I have viewed the Vi Arangetram of Selvi
tened to her playing progress she had mac one year is remarkat Varnam, Kirtanam, Pa very pleasing to hear, had from the accom the programme to a h
She played the Rag step from depth to it. Keerthanam, Marnav composed by Myso Set to Adi thalam. Her standard. The Ragan to Keera vani Kand composed by Smt another Clima X alor Swaram.
| Congratulate mys Sivatharini Sahadeve coached Selvi Priya Standard. l an Sure t
 
 

TAMILTIMES 33
re three composijah - (Marugelara,
and Gnanamo amil songs - (Thaye riya Sami Thootan, anasam Sivan and
by Supramaniya
ere Thiu varur Sri L.
Bangalore Sri adam and Sri Morsing. Sri Ravi lifluous voice Com
rformers, in particuatya dancers, Who tumes after their like to see more of CeS On the London this view would be
and of Course his
S Weena
tram
deo cassette of the Priyanthi. I had lislast year and the le during the span of le. Her rendering of lavi and Bhajans are and the support she anists has elevated gh concert level.
a Hindolam step by height, followed by athu Sri Saraswathi, 2r Vasudevacharia, playing was of a high
Thanam Pallavi Set athirupudai thalam, Sivatharini, created g with Ragamalika
udent, the Guru Smit who has untiringly to this high concert latif Selvi Priya con
tinues tot learn in this manner, She will become a good concert artiste.
I also congratulate the parents for taking so much interest in this, Fine Art and placing their daughter under the able guidance of Sivatharini and providing all the facilities to Selvi Priya to learn this unique Divine instrument' the Veena. Selvi Priya should be proud of having such understanding parents who encouraged her to learn this Fine Art. With best wishes,
Tanjor K. P.Sivanandam, Retired Professor & Head, Department of Music, Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts, Annamalai University.
Taminet Decisions
The TamilNet conference recently hosted by the Tamil Nadu government resolved to promote the use of the Tamil phonetic keyboard in computers and also modify the existing UNICODE with a new characte encoding system for Tamil language. Other proposals made by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi include establishment of a Virtual Tamil Varsity software development fund and an agreement with the Londonbased World Tel of technocrat San Pitroda to set up 1,500 internet access centres all over Tamil Nadu in the next three years.
LetWord Books
Shocked by the gains made by the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party in the Indian media and public sphere, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has launched a new publishing house, Left Word, to offer a non-docth aire view of current topics and issues. Spearheaded by party politburo member Prakash Karat, the publishing house will be on the lines of the British New Left Books, Polity and Verso publishing companies, the CPI(M) thus hopes to make a dent in the liberal-democratic mindscape which is being hijacked by the BJP Coinciding with this is the party's attempt to build a social research academy in Kerala, named after the late EMS Namboodiripad.
Vacancy For Solicitors & Legal Secretaries
Lor:g established West London Firm of Solicitors requires 2 recently qualified Solicitors and Legal Secretaries urgently. Please apply with C.V. to Edward de Silva & Company, 1st & 2nd Flo(,rs, 11-13 South FRoad, Southall, Middlesex UB1 1 SZ.
Tel: 0181 571 2299 ref KW.

Page 34
34 TAMILTIMES
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Page 35
15 APRIL 1999
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GATAR 30 A. L
A E5A EA NJ REGUEST
JORDANIAN 2350 : TAK
MAIN AGENTS FOR
BALKAN, GATAR & BA
338 A KING STREET 738O8 LONDONW6 ORR
Travel Insurance plus Hotel Reservations
 
 
 
 

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Fores also cVoice on
GULF AIR, EMIRATES QATAR ARWAYS ROYAL JORDANIAN, KUWAIT AIRWAYS
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RS LC n, London W3 ORQ
74.3g5
ax: 0181-740 4229
Mor All Type of Insurance
ARM Associates
Home Contents & Building Insurance Specialist
32 Abbots Lane, Kenley, Surrey el: 0181-7632221 Fax: 0181-7632220
Home, Motor, Business Insurance
P, SIRINIVASAN
ife Insurance & Pensions Specialist
For a Free comparison quote on Term Assurance, please contact:
இ 0181-763. 2221 BHA
agulated by Personal Investment Authority
for Investment Business only.
http:/www.p-srinivasan-arm.co.uk
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