75 ஆண்டாக மக்களைத் தட்டி எழுப்பும் சங்கொலி: ஈரோட்டில் காலம் காட்டும் கண்ணாடி

75 ஆண்டாக மக்களை தட்டி எழுப்பும் சங்கொலி: 

ஈரோட்டில் காலம் காட்டும் கண்ணாடி

ஈரோடு:ஈரோட்டில், 75 ஆண்டுகளுக்கும் மேலாக, சங்கொலி எழுப்பி வரும் ஆங்கிலேயர்கள் கால மின்சார சங்கு, இப்போதும் நல்ல நிலையில் தன் கடமையை நிறைவேற்றி வருகிறது.

பொதுவாக சங்கு சத்தம் என்றாலே, பலருக்கும் அபசகுணம் என்று தான் நினைத்து வருகின்றனர். சங்கு ஊதினாலே, நினைத்த காரியம் நடக்காது என்ற கெட்ட எண்ணமும் பலரின் மனதில் உள்ளது. ஆனால், 75 ஆண்டுக்கும் மேலாக ஈரோட்டில் எழும் சங்கு ஒலி, இன்றளவும் உழைக்கும் மக்களின் மனதில், உழைக்க வேண்டும் எண்ணத்தை விதைத்து வருகிறது.ஆங்கிலேயர்களின் ஆட்சி காலத்தின் போது, ஆங்கிலேய அதிகாரிகளும், மக்களும் நேரத்தை தெரிந்து கொள்ள, ஊருக்கு பொதுவான இடத்தில் மின்சார சங்கு அமைக்கப்பட்டு, குறிப்பிட்ட நேரத்தில் ஒலி எழுப்பப்பட்டது. ஈரோடு வ.உ.சி. பூங்கா, ஆங்கிலேயர்களால், "பீப்பிள்ஸ் பார்க்' என, அழைக்கப்பட்டது. பூங்காவுக்குள் மின்சார சங்கும் அமைத்தனர்.

அப்போது, காலை, 9 மணி, மாலை, 6 மணிக்கு சங்கு ஒலிக்கப்பட்டது. காலை, 9 மணிக்கு ஒலிக்கப்படும் சங்கொலி, தொழிலாளர்கள் பணிக்கு வர வேண்டிய நேரத்தையும், மாலை, 6 மணிக்கு எழுப்பப்படும் சங்கொலி, பணி நிறைவடைந்த நேரத்தையும் காட்டியது.சங்கொலியை அடிப்படையாக கொண்டே, ஈரோடு பொதுமக்கள் நேரத்தை கணக்கிட்டனர். அறிவியல் முன்னேற்றத்தால், கடிகாரம், கம்ப்யூட்டர் என்று வந்த பின்னும், ஈரோடு மக்களின் காலம் காட்டும் கண்ணாடியாக, இன்றளவும் இந்த சங்கு ஒலித்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது.

வ.உ.சி., பூங்காவில், பத்தாண்டுக்கு முன், சிறிய அளவில் மிருகக்காட்சி சாலை அமைக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது. இங்கு வளர்க்கப்பட்ட விலங்குகளுக்கு, சங்கின் ஒலி அச்சத்தை ஏற்படுத்தியதால், சில ஆண்டுகள் சங்கின் ஒலி நிறுத்தப்பட்டது. விலங்குகள் அனைத்தும் சென்னை, கிண்டி உயிரியல் பூங்காவுக்கு கொண்டு செல்லப்பட்ட பின், சங்கின் பணி மீண்டும் தொடர்ந்தது. இன்று, 75 ஆண்டுகளை கடந்து இதன் பணி வெற்றிகரமாக தொடர்கிறது.

மாநகராட்சி ஊழியர்கள் சிலர் கூறியதாவது:சங்கை இயக்கவும், பராமரிக்கவும், தனி வாட்ச்மேன் ஒருவர் இருந்தார். சங்கை இயக்க மாதம், 15 ரூபாய் அவருக்கு, அலவன்ஸ் வழங்கப்பட்டது. தற்போது, துப்புரவு பணியாளர்கள் யாரோ ஒருவர் இப்பணியை செய்கின்றனர். தற்போது, அதிகாலை 4 மணி, காலை 8, மதியம் 12, இரவு 8 மணிக்கு சங்கொலி எழுப்பப்படுகிறது. ஈரோட்டின் பெரும்பாலான பகுதிக்கு சங்கின் ஒலி கேட்கும்.இவ்வாறு அவர்கள் தெரிவித்தனர்.

ஈரோடு மக்களின் உன்னத தோழனாகவும், நேரம் காட்டும் கருவியாகவும், வ.உ.சி., பூங்கா சங்கு விளங்கி வருகிறது.

அணை (டேம்) 999 திரையிட அனுமதிக்காதீர்: வைகோ எச்சரிக்கை

டேம் 999 திரையிட அனுமதிக்காதீர்: 
வைகோ எச்சரிக்கை

சென்னை, நவ.22: டேம் 999 திரைப்படம் தமிழக திரையரங்குகளில் திரையிடப்படுமானால் அதை தடுத்து நிறுத்த மதிமுக அறப்போரில் ஈடுபடும் என அக்கட்சியின் பொதுச்செயலர் வைகோ அறிவித்துள்ளார்.இதுகுறித்து அவர் வெளியிட்ட அறிக்கை: தென்தமிழ்நாட்டின் எதிர்காலத்தையே படுநாசம் செய்யக்கூடிய விதத்தில், ஐந்து மாவட்டங்களுக்குப் பாசனத்துக்கு நீரும், குடிநீரும் வழங்கி வருகின்ற, பென்னி குக் கட்டிய முல்லைப்பெரியாறு அணையை எப்படியும் உடைத்தே விடுவது என்று கேரள அரசு முடிவு எடுத்து விட்டது. 2006 ஆம் ஆண்டு பிப்ரவரி 27 -ல், இந்தப் பிரச்சினையில் தமிழகத்தின் உரிமையை நிலைநாட்டி உச்சநீதிமன்றம் அளித்த தீர்பபைக் காலில் போட்டு மிதித்து விட்டு, அணையை உடைப்பதற்கும் அதிகாரம் உண்டு என்று கேரளம், சட்டமன்றத்தில் ஒரு சட்டத்தையே நிறைவேற்றியது. தற்போது, அணையை உடைப்பதற்கு, 40 கோடி ரூபாய்களை ஒதுக்கி விட்டது. எந்த நேரத்திலும், தென்பாண்டி மண்டலத்துக்கு அந்த அபாயம் நேரிடலாம்.கேரளம் கட்டுவதற்குத் திட்டமிட்டு உள்ள புதிய அணையில் இருந்து, தமிழ்நாட்டுக்கு ஒரு சொட்டுத் தண்ணீரும் தர வாய்ப்பு இல்லை. ஏனெனில், புதிய அணை, பள்ளத்தில் அமையும்.கேரள அரசின் அக்கிரமப் போக்கை, மத்திய அரசு கண்டுகொள்ளாததுடன், ஊக்குவிக்கும் வகையில், கேரளத்தினர் தயாரித்துக் கொடுத்த ஒரு அணை மசோதாவை நிறைவேற்றுவதற்கும் திட்டமிட்டு விட்டது. கேரளத்தின் சதிகார சக்திகள், ஒரு திரைப்படத்தைத் தயாரித்து வெளியிடுவதற்கு, இவ்வளவு காலமும் ரகசியமாக வைத்திருந்து, படத்தைத் தயாரித்து, வருகின்ற 25 ஆம் தேதி, இந்தியாவிலும், ஐக்கிய அரபு நாடுகளிலும் வெளியிட இருக்கின்றனர். படத்தின் பெயர், டேம் 999.  இந்தத் தலைப்பே விஷமத்தனமானது. முல்லைப்பெரியாறு அணையில் 999 ஆண்டுகளுக்குத் தமிழ்நாட்டுக்குச் சட்டப்படியான உரிமை இருப்பதைக் காட்டுவதற்காகத்தான், இந்தத் தலைப்பை வைத்து உள்ளனர். ஆங்கிலேயர் ஆட்சியில், 100 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு கட்டப்பட்ட அணை, உடைந்து நொறுங்குவது போலவும், பிரளயமாய் வெள்ளம் பாய்வது போலவும், லட்சக்கணக்கான மக்கள், குழந்தைகள், பெண்கள், முதியவர்கள் உட்பட, பரிதாபமாகப் பலியாகி மடிவது போலவும் படத்தின் உச்சகட்டக் காட்சியை அமைத்து உள்ளனர். 1975 இல், சீனாவில், பாங்கியாவோ எனும் அணை உடைந்ததைப் பின்னணி அமைத்து உள்ளனர்.  இந்திய, ஹாலிவுட் நடிகர்களைக் கொண்டு, மலையாளிகள் முதலீடு செய்து, இப்படத்தைத் தயாரித்து உள்ளனர்.அச்சுதானந்தன் முதல்வராக இருந்தபோது, முல்லைப்பெரியாறு அணை உடைவது போலவும், இலட்சக்கணக்கான மக்கள் சாவது போலவும் கிராஃபிக்ஸ் காட்சிகளை வடிவமைத்து, ஐந்து இலட்சம் குறுந்தகடுகளை, கேரளம் முழுமையும் வழங்கினர். முதல்வரின் இணையதளத்திலேயே இந்தப் போலிக் காட்சிகளைக் காண்பித்தனர். அதைத்தான் இப்போது, பிரமாண்டமான திரைப்படக் காட்சியாக அமைத்து வெளியிடுகின்றனர். அரிசி, பால், காய்கறிகள், இறைச்சி உள்ளிட்ட அனைத்து உணவுப் பண்டங்களும் கேரளத்துக்கு அனுப்பி, அவர்களுக்கு எல்லாவிதத்திலும் உதவியாக இருந்து வருகின்ற நம் தமிழ்நாட்டின் தலையில் கல்லைப் போட, என்ன நெஞ்சழுத்தம் அவர்களுக்கு இருக்க வேண்டும்? முல்லைப் பெரியாறு அணை, எத்தகைய நில நடுக்கத்துக்கும் ஈடு கொடுக்கக்கூடிய வலிமையோடு உள்ளது என்பதைத் தமிழகத்துப் பொறியாளர்கள், ஆணித்தரமான ஆதாரங்களோடு குறுந்தட்டாக ஆக்கி உள்ளனர். ஆயினும், நமக்கு உரிமை உள்ள அணையை உடைக்க, நம் வாழ்வில் மண்ணைப் போட, கேரளம் முடிவு செய்து விட்டது. நம்மைச் சீண்டிப் பார்க்கிறார்கள். நம் முகத்திலேயே மிதிக்கவும் துணிந்து விட்டார்கள். கேரள மக்களை நாம் எதிரிகளாகக் கருதியது இல்லை. ஆனால், இப்பிரச்சினையில் தொடக்கத்தில் இருந்தே அங்கு உள்ள அரசியல் கட்சிகளும், சில அக்கறை உள்ள சக்திகளும், ஒன்றிரண்டு பத்திரிகை நிறுவனங்களும், எப்படியும் முல்லைப் பெரியாறு அணையை உடைக்க வேண்டும் என முடிவு செய்து, அந்தச் சதித்திட்டத்தை நிறைவேற்றத் துடிக்கின்றார்கள். இந்தப் படத்தில், புராண காலத்துச் சம்பவங்களையும், மனிதர்களின் உணர்ச்சிப் போராட்டங்களையும் இணைத்து, நம் முல்லைப் பெரியாறு அணை உடைவதால் பெருந்துயர் விளைந்தது என்று சித்தரித்து உள்ளனர். இதனைப் புத்தகமாகவும் வெளியிட்டு உள்ளனர். தமிழ்நாட்டிலும் இந்தப் படம் திரையிடப்படும் என்று விளம்பரம் செய்து உள்ளனர். தமிழ்நாட்டுக்குப் பெருங்கேடு செய்யயும் கேரளத்தின் திட்டத்தை,  எக்காளத்தோடு வெளிப்படுத்தும் இத்திரைப்படத்தை, தமிழ்நாட்டில் திரையிட, தமிழக அரசு அனுமதிக்கக் கூடாது. இந்திய ஒருமைப்பாட்டைப் பாதுகாக்க, கடுகு அளவு அக்கறையேனும் இந்திய அரசுக்கு இருக்குமானால், இந்தியாவில் எங்கும் திரையிட, மத்திய அரசு அனுமதிக்கக்கூடாது. ‘இந்தத் திரைப்படத்தைத் தமிழ்நாட்டில் திரையிட அனுமதிக்காதீர்கள்’ என்று, தென்னிந்தியத் திரைப்பட வர்த்தக சபை, தமிழ்த் திரைப்படத் தயாரிப்பாளர் சங்கம், தென்னிந்தியத் திரைப்பட நடிகர் சங்கம், தமிழ்நாடு திரையரங்கு உரிமையாளர் சங்கம் ஆகிய அமைப்புகளுக்கு, இருகரம் கூப்பி வேண்டுகோள் விடுக்கின்றேன். அவர்களுக்குக் கடிதமும் அனுப்பி உள்ளேன். அனைத்தையும் மீறி, தமிழ்நாட்டுத் திரையரங்குகளில் இப்படம் திரையிடப்படுமானால், அதனை எதிர்த்துத் தடுத்து நிறுத்த, மறுமலர்ச்சி தி.மு.க. அறப்போரில் ஈடுபடும் என எச்சரிக்கின்றேன்.

'டேம் 999' படம் வெளியானால் பொது அமைதி பாதிக்கப்படும்: ராமதாஸ்

First Published : 22 Nov 2011 12:40:10 PM IST

சென்னை,நவ.22: கேரள அரசின் நிதி உதவியுடன் தயாரிக்கப்பட்ட 'டேம் 999' என்ற திரைப்படத்தை இந்தியாவில் வெளியிடத் தடைவிதிக்க வேண்டும் என்று பாமக நிறுவனர் ராமதாஸ் கோரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளார்.இதுகுறித்து அவர் வெளியிட்ட அறிக்கை:கேரளத்தைச் சேர்ந்தவர்கள் அதிக அளவில் பணியாற்றும் ஐக்கிய அரபு அமீரக நாடுகள் ஆகியவற்றின் நிதி உதவியுடன் டேம் 999 என்ற பெயரில் ஆங்கில திரைப்படம் தயாரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இத்திரைப்படம் இந்தியாவில் வெள்ளிக்கிழமை வெளியாக உள்ளது. முல்லைப் பெரியாற்று அணை உடைந்து பேரழிவு ஏற்படுவது போன்ற காட்சிகள் நிறைந்த இப்படம் வெளியானால் தமிழகம், கேரளம் ஆகிய இரு மாநிலங்களிலும் பொது அமைதி பாதிக்கப்படும்.முல்லைப் பெரியாறு அணையின் பாதுகாப்புக்கு எந்தவித அச்சுறுத்தலும் இல்லை என்று பல்வேறு வல்லுநர் குழுக்கள் ஏற்கனவே அறிக்கை அளித்துள்ள நிலையில் எப்படியாவது அந்த அணையை உடைத்துவிட வேண்டும் என்ற எண்ணத்தில்தான் டேம் 999 திரைப்படத்தை கேரள அரசு நிதி உதவி செய்து தயாரித்திருக்கிறது. எனவே இந்த திரைப்படத்தை இந்தியாவில் வெளியிட தடை விதிக்க வேண்டும். இதற்காக மத்திய அரசை தமிழக முதல்வர் ஜெயலலிதா கடுமையாக வலியுறுத்த வேண்டும் என்று ராமதாஸ் தனது அறிக்கையில் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளார்.

Treaties provide absolute immunity against civil suits, Silva asserts

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 November 2011, 04:10 GMT]
Shavendra Silva, currently Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations charged with torture and execution of Sri Lanka's Tamils by two plaintiffs, filed a motion in the District Court of Southern District of New York Friday seeking to dismiss the case against him. Defendant Silva's motion asserts that arguments by plaintiffs reveal "a misconception of nature of immunity," disregard terms of treaties that Silva claims provide "absolute immunity," and ignore federal case law. Judge Paul Oetken is expected to rule on the case based on the legal arguments presented and his judicial discretion, either to allow the case to go forward or to dismiss the case, with or without a hearing on the motion, legal sources in Washington said.

• Motion in support of defendant's earlier Motion to Dismiss

The defendant points out in the motion that despite plaintiffs claims, there are no statutes or past precedents where immunity is stripped because the law suit relates to events that precede Silva's appointment. However, Plaintiffs have pointed out instances where immunity was denied based on the type of actions that occurred -- immunity was stripped from actions that judges deemed to be outside the scope of official diplomatic functions.

SDNY Judge Paul Oetken

Ali Beydoun, lead counsel for plaintiffs

Timothy G. Nelson, defendant's attorney

Shavendra Silva, alleged War Criminal holding UN post

Defendant Silva asserts that the Plaintiffs' claim that diplomatic immunity does not allow defendant to escape liability is a "fundamental misunderstanding," and argues pointing to English case law that "diplomatic immunity is not immunity from legal liability but immunity from law suit."

Further the defendant attaches to the motion three separate bulletins and court filings from the US Government which the defendant claims argue against the plaintiffs claim that grant of immunity will violate peremptory norms of international law.

The defendant sets forth the following arguments within the broad legal framework of absolute immunity:

• Plaintiff's narrow construction of article 31 of Vienna convention has not been supported by case law, and that Second Circuit has established Diplomatic Immunity as absolute
• United States Government has rejected the narrow construction of Article 31 by the plaintiffs that the article provides immunity only for official acts and for certain non-functional activity committed during the mission of the UN official. Defendants also assert that this position is consistent with International Court of Justice's ruling in the Tehran Hostage case.
• Defendant claims that there is no jus cogens law exceptions to Diplomatic Immunity, citing the 2009 District court of District of Columbia Sabbithi case where the "same argument" was rejected by the court.

"While Silva's appointment is one clear example of attempts by Colombo to sanitize its post-war international image by portraying war criminals as diplomats, U.S. case law does not yet provide clear authority to legally recognize egregious-crime-exceptions to immunity for UN diplomats. However, TAG is convinced that, even if Shavendra prevails in his defense of immunity, the case will help move US jurisprudence forward towards a more narrowly tailored restrictive immunity doctrine that does not allow genocidaires to misuse the diplomatic posts to cleanse themselves of past crimes. Otherwise, by supplying immunity to diplomats such as Silva, US law will enable rogue states to turn the UN into a safe-haven for war-criminals," a spokesperson for Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group, commented.

• SDNY Complaint against Silva

• Shavendra's Motion to Dismiss

• Opposing motion to defendants motion to dismiss

The 102-page supporting Motion by the defendant contains 14 pages of legal argument supplemented by 88 pages of "Exhibits" consisting of reproduction of a law review article, a bulletin from the U.S. State Department, and two legal submissions by the U.S. Justice Department to the court for earlier cases that involved issues on Diplomatic Immunity.

Chronology:

21.11.11  Treaties provide absolute immunity against civil s..

14.11.11  "Charming Betsy" not so charming towards defendant..

09.11.11  Shavendra not entitled to immunity, argue attorney..

02.11.11  Shavendra raises immunity defense to escape tortur..

24.09.11  Torture case filed against Sri Lanka's ex-General ..

13.05.11  Kohona admits to sending "Killer SMS"

04.05.11  German Rights Group accuses Dias of war-crimes

24.02.11  Ban and Nambiar confer with generals and officials..

22.02.11  Diaspora legal activists speak to Palaka'ni on ICC..

21.02.11  Kohona could face court over Tamil Tiger deaths - ..

13.02.11  TAG, SCET's legal brief asserts ICC obligated to p..

08.12.10  Dual citizen Kohona falls under ICC jurisdiction o..

06.12.10  Suspect Sri Lanka war-criminal in UN post under US..

26.11.10  UN post confers no absolute immunity from war crim..

21.11.10  New York media alerts UN posting of 'War Criminal'..

30.10.10  Denmark Tamils take legal step to file war-crimes ..

15.09.10  European Court to review Jagath Dias case

27.08.10  Sri Lanka's presumptive war-criminal to take UN jo..

01.08.10  Dias case filed in European Court, German Ambassad..

24.07.10  Tamils sue Germany for accepting alleged war crime..

21.07.10  Tamil Country Councils, TAG announce legal partner..

External Links:

Reuters:		Oetken gets confirmation as SDNY judge
WP:		In a ‘quiet moment,’ gay judge makes history

Reconciliation with Tamils in Sri Lanka – The Myths, The Mysteries, The Mindless and The Misleaders.

Submitted by admin on Mon, 11/21/2011 - 00:01.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj2BMfT8Jz0

Reconciliation with Tamils in Sri Lanka – The Myths, The Mysteries, The Mindless and The Misleaders.

Two men woke up in the morning, one man went straight to work to make life for himself, his family and his nation; he wanted to be an agent of change and charter of the future; the other man got up and wandered in the yonder as to how he can plunder from the former, whom he can fool, what he can misappropriate, whose life I can destroy to get a drink and a meal. Do you get it folks? Rest assured, the first man will never fail and the second man will never succeed. I have summarized the Sri Lankan situation in one simple small sentence. It is two different definitions to life and hence two different life styles. Lock up an eagle in cage and it will bite the bars. Why? Freedom; it is natural and an inborn effect.

If Sri Lanka desires peace and freedom, constitutional changes are the sincere and the path of least resistance to reconciliation. What is written below can be summarized in one sentence. We Tamils are winning and we Tamils have the vantage point, and hence there should not be any talk of reconciliation without constitutional guarantees. The rest is mere coffee table talk. All along they were able intimidate us, now they lost that advantage for we are living in the freer western jurisdiction so Tamil people exercise your freedom of choice; chose to be free. There is nothing more to lose, all you are left with is the ability to think, which no enemy can take it away. Get it?

I may be wrong, but did Mahinda Rajapaksa or any one associated with him is talking about reconciliation. An absolute no and a categorical negative. It is the gofers and catchers who are being paid to say so, I met one of those catchers but we caught him. Then once the international efforts and pressure wane off and Tamils divided, again, the crusade will continue and Mahinda will say I never said anything about reconciliation, it was the Tamils who were talking about reconciliation. Mahinda Aiya, we know too much about your intellect, flow of personality and the modus operandi, simply said it proxy politics. He is talking through the proxies; he is not talking about reconciliation. Mahinda Aiya, you always operate through proxies from murders to money making. It is too obvious.

I admire Mahinda Aiya’s false convictions, courage and audacity to stand by what is wrong instead of what is right. Only criminals believe in such a state of mind. A murderer while being read the verdict of guilty still believes that he is innocent or at least pretend to be innocent. Mahinda Aiya believes in nothing is impossible but we do believe that impossible is nothing, we will see what wins than who wins. Moral justice always wins. It is a war between Mahinda Rajapaksa and morality.

Reconciliation must begin with restitutive justice, that is one must find out if peoples fundamental rights were violated. In Sri Lanka it has been going on since 1950s and that is why we have a huge Diaspora population around the world. One must ask the question why people want to leave this nation of Sri Lanka. It is because there is no justice and hence no civil society. Reconciliation is the cover under which Mahinda Rajapaksa is trying to bury all his criminal activities, murders, massacres, rapes and torture. He is con artist, impostor, swindler, murderer, widow maker, wife killer, staterrorists etc. That investigation has to be done first for one cannot negotiate with a felon and make an agreement and pact with a criminal. The violated must know who the violator; and in any social agreement the criminal is isolated and excluded and sometime confined. In capital markets insider traders are banned for life from the market place. Mahinda Rajapaksa must allow an independent international tribunal to investigate his past 40 years and see if he is guilty of any wrong doing. And then he must be excluded from the civil society and public life, if found guilty. When criminals, drug dealers run the government, invariably there will be violence, deceit, connivance, corruption, murders etc.

Secondly there is more than ample evidence that there are criminals, drug dealers, and suspected murderers in the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa. That is a fact. How can people reconcile with criminals and the like? They are criminals because they have no jurisprudence hence they will never understand equitable justice but they understand summary executions and the like vices. It was all too obvious when Mahinda Rajapaksa told Premachnadra's daughter Hirunika to shut up for he thinks in his mind what happened was justifiable but it needs no justice. He thinks the strongest has the patent to what is right and what he thinks right is the equitable justice. He thinks if people need peace then they must be ready to forgo freedom, he considers himself above the constitution and above God. That is a very serious assumption. I do not know if Mahinda Rajapaksa is stupid like Mahathamuktha or if I am stupid. But let see if I make any sense, please let me know if I am stupid.

Isn’t democracy a government of the people by the people for the people? There is no government in the world without a nation of people. So people in the self interest make government. Then the government represents the aspirations of the people. But the very people can be over the generation imbued in poisonous feeling and hence may not be suitable for electing a just government. The question is which came first, the misguided Sri Lankan population or the monstrous Mahinda Rajapaksa as a leader. If one reads “The social Contract” by Jean Jacques Rousseau, he very clearly argues the contract among all people of the nation must be fair and equitable so that the people can bring forth their best in creativity. But the situation in Sri Lanka is, are the people ready for democracy based on freedom, peace and prosperity or one based on racism and fanaticism?

Let’s talk further; Mahinda Rajapaksa is a lawyer or so he says, G.L Peiries is a professor in law and there are lots lawyers in the government, then they all know that the right of the people are maintained through the application of laws as administered by the judiciary enshrined in the constitution. Then why are all these people talking about reconciliation via media propaganda. The easiest way is to amend the constitution and if there are any problems then people will seek remedy through the judiciary. Simple isn’t it? Oocam Razor principle is the maxim that behind all complicated situations are present a simple solution or behind all complicity there is simplicity. The simple solution to the complicated Sri Lankan dilemma is a constitution acceptable to both majority and the minority. But are the Sri Lankan magnanimous and deeper in understanding to know that in their self interest they must respect the interest of their neighbour? I am not ready to return to Sri Lankan until Sri Lankan people and polity becomes emancipated. We are part of the whole and the whole is not possible even if there is a tiny hole. When I compare the progress I made in Canada and the progress I have contributed to Canada, I now have an obligation to Canada, If there is need I am willing go to the front line, if the need will arise again. This is not based on racism or fanaticism, but based on how they have put people in charge of the nation. The Prime Minister and the Parliament is merely a law making factory and the rest is left to the people and the judiciary.

Criminals are made not born; unfortunately several of them were born in dysfunctional families. That breakdown in the family structure has caused this nation to return to nature. Every Tamil should be very weary and cautious for that family and the institution of marriage were the greatest contribution we made to the humanity that is under threat from the criminal government. When that social fabric breaks down, criminals are made. I hope the Singhalese leaders reflect on my contention and see where they went wrong or were they children of illegitimate parents and dysfunctional families. How else can you explain one child becomes magnanimous and other becomes murderous? Same children, same environment, same community but different behaviour, it must the parents, community and the alma mater Sad indeed. When I read on Sunday observer new paper praising Mahinda Rajapaksa as the greatest leader, I came to the conclusion that a man is willing prostitute his faculty of moral right for money.

Coming back to reconciliation and the role of the government, the parliament enacts the laws, and the executive branch administers the law and the judiciary as the moderator. Is there any problem with it? The people who are talking about reconciliation without constitutional amendments are either pulling wool over our eyes or sending us on wild goose chase. This idea of reconciliation is an eye wash and hogwash; it is to divide, confound, confuse, conquer, disorient and destroy a community of people called Tamils. Let us tread with trepidation. People must understand that in the absence of economic prosperity, parity is impossible and man as an animal will always look for advantage over the other man. A man must be physically, mentally and economically strong to live. That is the nature of the universe to select the best and propagate the strong. Let us not be naïve that the Cyclops will not devour us, if it does offer peace and sanctuary it is for it to consume the weak at a later time, but never in the interest of making the weak strong. Tamils must understand that Trust and faith have their limit and is of no use when not reinforced with raw physical power or unbiased constitutional power. Compassion, care, sympathy and understanding are only applicable when you are down and under, may be when you are equal, but never when you try to get ahead. Tamil worldwide must unite, improve their education and intellect and increase their material wealth. Always remember that man is an economic opportunistic animal ready to even kill for its own survival sake, but sometimes it talks about moral rights, and if it does it is weak. That is all to it, it is never great. No human being is well balanced in its poise. Don't be silly and don't become patsy. Always think man is another animal. One will never go wrong in being conservative and careful. Apathy and kindness are only for the weak. If you remain weak you are okay, but you can be weak only by surrendering your civil rights and liberty. Tamils have a long way to go in emancipating politically. Man is still an animal in nature kept under control by covenants. That is the only way it can be kept under control. It will never be a civic animal with this present hereditary configuration. There are animals with much better genetic configuration than human beings.

The next question is can Mahinda Rajapaksa lead reconciliation? No, his intellect is criminality. He even tells the loved ones of murdered person to calm down and reconcile with the enemy. Let’s go further, in 1991 there were two murders and he is suspected to have some thing to do with it. Who knew about it? The opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe and John Amaratunga. There is no possibility or even remote probabilities of reconciling with Mahinda Rajapaksa, why? Look at his past, how can one negotiate with the criminal? He is not serious and genuine about reconciliation, he is just responding to the current situation, when the situation changes he will go back his natural bahaviour after all he is a human animal. I will do the same, we all do. So then we need a new government in Sri Lanka to talk about reconciliation. What will happen if Tamils do not agree to reconcile? All that has to happen has happened, but the reconciliation is necessary for Mahinda Rajapaksa to survive and to get out from under the war crimes. There is nothing for Tamils in it. Then consider the Diaspora Tamils and 60 million Tamils in South India and the space between Sri Lanka and South Pole. Geographically, demographically and economically we are at vantage point, which Tamil National Alliance does not know and understand. That is why they want to reconcile, there is nothing for them to give us, and in fact they need us. But whatever we do has to be done through constitutional reform. There are few Tamils who have no clue except they received some perks such as sex, food or money.

For 60 years the Tamils kept on asking for their constitutional rights and it was never heeded. Why now? You won the war, at least you claim so, why are you desperate for reconciliation? Because there are allegations that need investigation and International laws have been violated and the Mahinda Rajapaksa is the prime respondent. He cannot escape but reconciliation is a means to get over it. If he can get Diaspora on his side then he can mitigate the outcome. So he thinks. LTTE was the out come of the Tamil frustration over negotiations. You say you won the war then it is your duty to offer concessions so that people can think of reconciliation. To ask the vindicated to reconcile is like asking the wounded soldier to donate blood. LTTE has transformed into new entity, LIFTING TAMIL TALENT EVERYWHERE, now that is what it is. It is socio-economic- political out fit,

Mr.Mahinda Rajapaksa and his educated and enlightened followers, stop your nonsense. You are trying to divide the Diaspora and divide the world community. I will give you one guarantee you will not succeed. We know who is who in Canada, which people are anti-Tamils, some people are against the Tamils, but they are Tamils, and they do not want Tamils to succeed. There is no pro- Singhalese or pro-Mahinda group in Canada. It is anti Tamils not because we are bad but we are hard working and enterprising, look the universities and the industrial heart land of Canada that will tell you all about who we are. We are now gaining political recognition. So go to plan B, that is make some serious and deep amendments to the constitution and bring it to us, let us study and give our feed back. What you need is a free country not only a peaceful country. Peace can be achieved with police state but freedom is only possible in a free nation. I will tell you we have some formidable people on this side who can think shrewder than you. Tamil are no more the pious, fearing, forgiving people. We stand up for our rights, rights identical and similar to yours, nothing more nothing less.

Recently one of your gofers was here and I was invited to meet him, I did not know it was him till I saw him. He wrote an article on Sri Lanka truth and he was lambasting the Tamils whom he came to ask for reconciliation. I offered but did not give $ 2500 for the rehabilitation of the IDPs, he spoke so eloquently about the plight of the IDPs and next day I read this article posted on Lankaweb damaging the Tamils in Canada... So you sent him to go divide the Tamils, isn’t it the motive? Mahinda Aiya, we all know you very well. King of proxies, you know that is your modus operandi. Try to see if you can change your operating system.

So all this talk about reconciliation is to get you off the war crime charges and if you can get the Diaspora divided, not necessarily divide and draw them to your side, you have made a major political coup and a victory, but Aiya, how are you going to silence voice of the Diaspora? It is time for you to plead guilty and step on the electric chair.

The moves are an ambitious and audacious and their success will depends on our failure to up hold universal laws of justice. But we must stand by our faith in the justice system of the world.
No Tamil should ever refuse to negotiate but not negotiate out of fear or deceit. Mahinda Rajapaksa has two third majorities in the parliament, does not matter how he got it, and then he has the means and tools to make constitutional amendments and guarantees. So then he should stop playing with the weak among the meek Tamils and feed them with bread crumbs to do the dirty work. Ignorance is the worst form of poverty, and there is limit ignorance, beyond ignorance it is evolution. Ignorance among the humans can be ameliorated but when that is not suffice it is evolution, then one has to be treated like a work animal. After 60 years of education and training if they are violent then it is definitely evolution, and hence we are dealing with two separate genera, plural of genus. 23 pair of chromosomes may not necessarily mean that we are on the same evolutionary plateau.

The reconciliation offered is like band aid solution to a severe social hemorrhage. There are a few fundamental cultural differences between the two communities. We Tamils cannot and will not ever follow their way of living. They have not shown any viable system in the last 60 years except all they did was to elect the most racist and fanatic of the two parties to power. The two main parties are one monster with two heads. Their only political tool and scapegoats are Tamils. It worked so well for the last 60 years and now they have none so they want to reconcile to see if they can find more palatable way to steal from us. I hope Tamils will be careful in making any investments in Sri Lanka. Why would I invest my hard work in Sri Lanka when I can better return and safety of my capital in other nations? Tamils in Sri Lanka may have to reconcile as an act of prudence, but the Diaspora do not have to. I do not even understand why they want to reconcile with the Diaspora. We are not going to help to invest without substantial concessions and constitutional guarantees. Three things are considered in making any investment, one safety and security of the capital, two growth or appreciation potential and three income or dividend potential. These are the fundamental basics of any investments. Tamils you learned and earned your money in very many hard ways so be prudent, professional and practical with our money. There are world class cities where you can invest your money. You all know what happened to all the British investments in Sri Lanka., so be careful.

I am asking the Pseudo Diaspora Tamil are you acting through your ignorance or through corruption? Why would you go around breaking your community? You are either ignorant or you are inept. So go get a good immersion course on Sri Lankan politics and than come back with your sharp mind, I bet you will begin to see a better picture. If the Singhalese need it they will come to us and we will lay down all the conditions for equitable solution. Majority of Tamils are hard working people, they do not have the time to immerse in the nuts and bolts of the Sri Lankan situation. Trust us that we are at a stronger position to enter into negotiation but let see what they have to offer. Reconciliation is not an offer it is an eye wash and Mahinda Rajapaksa wants to pull wool over our eyes. Let see who wins. It is in your able hands, play is wisely, think of your utopian culture and heritage, you future generations, we are winning why should be reconcile when we can have it all,
Rest assured that we are winning.

Canadian students show solidarity with Tamil cause

Canadian students show

solidarity with Tamil cause

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 November 2011, 03:01 GMT]
The York Federation of Students, the students’ union at York University representing over 50,000 students, unanimously adopted a resolution last week recognizing the ongoing structural genocide of the Eezham Tamil nation and the need to stand in solidarity with the Tamil people in their global struggle for self-determination. The success of enacting such resolutions has been credited to campaigns by Tamil students in educating and explaining the narrative of the Tamil struggle to their peers and allies, student activists said. The move is considered to be a reflection of the broader strategy to resist the discourse that aims to create a climate of fear, criminalization and alienation of Tamil community activism. Such efforts increasingly create a culture of acceptance to the Tamil nationhood and to its national symbols, student activists further said.

The resolution of the York Federation of Students (YFS) is seen as a first of its kind coming from student unions and is of much symbolic significance as the YFS being the largest students’ union in all of Canada.

Adopted at the Annual General Meeting of the YFS, with over 580 members present, the motion passed unanimously with no opposition. The unanimous support for the motion was credited to awareness campaigns surrounding the right to self-determination of the Tamil people, the activists told TamilNet.

The resolution reads as follows:

• YFS Resolution

“Be It Resolved that the York Federation of Students shall endorse the international call to immediately establish an independent, international, and impartial mechanism to ensure truth, accountability and justice in Sri Lanka; and

Be It Further Resolved that the York Federation of Students encourages its members to pressure the Federal Government to unequivocally call for an international war crimes inquiry to establish accountability and true reconciliation; and

Be It Further Resolved that the York Federation of Students encourages its members to stand in solidarity with the Tamil nation in their global struggle for self-determination and freedom; and

Be It Further Resolved that the York Federation of Students calls for an immediate end to the colonialism and genocide of the Tamil nation and an end to the occupation of the Tamil homeland by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and its allied paramilitary groups.”

The Tamil Youth Organization-Canada and the Tamil Students' Associations have led a series of campaigns to educate and explain the narrative of the struggle for self-determination of the Tamil people. The campaigns harness creative and innovative methods to mobilize memberships and educate peers.

York University Tamil Students' Association stage a flash mob at York University to highlight Tamil Remembrance Week

The campaigns organized at York University by the York University Tamil Students Association (YUTSA) are seen as a microcosm of a wider network of unified activism by Canadian Tamil youth. Maintaining consistency and persistence in the conditioning of the national symbols of Tamil Eelam to their identity, YUTSA has increasingly normalized a culture of acceptance to Tamil nationhood at York university.

In the York University Lip-Dub video-a worldwide phenomena highlighting school spirit and diversity organized by the York Federation of Students and York University- the Tamil national flag is used to represent YUTSA. A moment in the video shows the Sri Lankan national flag and the Tamil Eelam national flag next to one another, symbolically reflecting upon a shifting discourse that has begun to accept the nationality of Eezham Tamils.



The Pongku Thamizh rally for Tamil self-determination held in late October saw hundreds of solidarity activists from civil society and grassroots movements across Canada supporting the call for Tamil self-determination.

This shift in discourse has been emerging throughout the spectrum. University Administrations and Members of Parliament, whom once antagonized the national symbols of liberation, have now begun to accept them as the identity of Eezham Tamils. Tamil student organizers hope to provide for a broader strategic understanding amongst the Tamil diaspora to purse a path for liberation, uncompromising of principles and national identity.

Related Articles:
01.11.11   Canadian civil activists vow support to Tamil struggle for n..
23.10.11   Canadian Peace Alliance, unions show solidarity with Tamil N

Rajapakse's media fears spread from TamilNet to Sinhala opponents

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 November 2011, 19:21 GMT]
"The ban on TamilNet is the first instance of what the Free Media Movement believes may soon be a slippery slope of web and internet censorship in Sri Lanka," BBC reported on 20th June 2007 when local reports indicated that access to TamilNet was blocked by unannounced directives to service providers from officials in Colombo. Four years later, Colombo, increasingly alarmed by proliferation of opposing views to the authoritarian trend of the governing Rajapakse family, has banned access to five websites, and initiated new registration procedures for local and foreign websites that intend to carry news on Sri Lanka, local reports said. The ban on TamilNet has continued for the last 4+ years without any protest from the local rights watchdogs, and Sri Lanka has been noted by media watchdogs as one of the worst offenders of media freedom.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed concerns at Sri Lankan government's announcement of an upcoming set of guidelines and code of conduct for journalists and media organizations, and believes these regulations will only increase the government's control of the media.

On general climate of media freedom and dissent, CPJ said, "[Sri Lanka's] President Mahinda Rajapaksa has presided over a dark era of targeted media killings and complete law enforcement failure in addressing the crimes. All nine journalist murders in the past decade have gone unsolved, leaving persistent questions as to whether authorities have been complicit in some of the crimes."

The press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders ranked Sri Lanka 165th last year out of 173 countries in terms of press freedom — by far the lowest democracy on the list. It called Sri Lanka the fourth most dangerous country for journalists, after Iraq, Somalia and Pakistan, New York Times reported in 2009.

"While educated users will have no difficulty in accessing the banned sites through publicly known proxy servers, or through Google, the Government will nevertheless succeed in creating further fear and a chilling effect on journalist already working within a climate of self-censorship," a rights activist in Washington said.

Many journalists fearing death threats at home are increasingly using the new technology to continue reporting from safer shores abroad. Sonali Wickremasinghe, wife of the slain Sri Lanka journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge, is one such journalist who is a resident fellow at the New York University. New York Times in an article titled "From Safety of New York, Reporting on Distant Home" said: The school’s 2010 resident was Sonali Samarasinghe, a Sri Lankan journalist whose husband, also a journalist and an outspoken critic of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was assassinated in 2009. Ms. Samarasinghe immediately fled after she received death threats.

"Classes in digital technology and entrepreneurial journalism helped her prepare for the recent start of her own Web site, Lanka Standard. In its first three months, it had 65,000 visitors, she said, many of them from within Sri Lanka," the paper wrote.

In the meantime, the transatlantic security body OSCE said in a report in July that "access to the Internet should be seen as a fundamental human right and respected as much as freedom of expression.

“Everyone should have a right to participate in the information society and states have a responsibility to ensure citizens' access to the Internet is guaranteed,” the report, presented in Vienna, said.

The 1735 Peter Zenger trial in the US is a remarkable story of a divided Colony, the beginnings of a free press. No case in American history stands as a greater landmark on the road to protection for freedom of the press than the trial of a German immigrant printer named John Peter Zenger. Twelve New York jurors ignored the instructions of the Governors's hand-picked judges and returned a verdict of "Not Guilty" on the charge of publishing "seditious libels."

The trial happened on August 5th, 1735. The framers of US constitution included the "Free speech clause," in the first amendment to read, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

"Some 275 years later in Sri Lanka, Rajapakse government, driven by the need to suppress dissent and to control media outlets to manage messages for consumption by locals, and with ill conceived understanding of the power of technology has "banned" five more websites," Sri Lanka observers in Washington said.

External Links:

NYT:		Violence Silences Voices of Sri Lankan Journalists
IFJ:		Sri Lankan Government Blocks TamilNet.com, as Minister Advocates its Demise
CPJ:		In Sri Lanka, the government silences a Tamil Web site
UMKC:		Trial of Free Press: John Peter Zenger
AFP:		Sri Lanka under fire over Internet censorship
BBC:		Popular Tamil website 'blocked'

People of Maldives cut off face of ‘Sri Lanka Lion’

People of Maldives 

cut off face of ‘Sri Lanka Lion’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 November 2011, 23:47 GMT]
People in the Addu Atoll of Maldives on Friday early hours cut off the face of the Lion statue installed by Sri Lanka last week in the Maradhoo island of the Addu Atoll, to mark Sri Lanka’s participation in the 17th SAARC Summit held in Addu between 10-11 November. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s monument in the Hithadhoo island of Addu Atoll was also set on fire on last Monday. The Islamic Ministry of Maldives on Thursday ordered the relevant government authorities to remove the irreligious SAARC monuments, which it said, breach the nation’s law and religion, reported Maldivian media Haveeru on Friday. In the 1990s SL President Premadasa built a clock tower in Male, with a dome resembling a Buddhist stupa. It was modified later due to public protest.

SL statue in Maradhoo island was doused in crude oil Tuesday night and the head was destroyed Thursday night [Photo courtesy: haveeru.com]

“A group of people have destroyed the Sri Lankan monument erected in Maradhoo for the SAARC Summit that wrapped up in Addu last week,” Haveeru said.

The Sri Lanka monument was given with police protection after it was found doused with crude oil Tuesday night.

According to a police official who was on duty guarding the statue, the defacement must have taken place after Thursday midnight as he had left by that time.

The Pakistani monument destroyed Monday night was allegedly having “worship idols” banned in the Maldives.

Anti-establishment sentiments are normally expressed through the idiom of religion in the Maldives.

But Sri Lanka was playing with the sentiments of Maldivians for a long time.

Roughly from the early centuries of the Christian era to c.12th century CE, Buddhism was a prevailing religion in the islands of Maldives. But the Maldivian Buddhism of Vajrayana (Tantric) affinity was largely different from the Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The maritime culture of Maldives had its own discourse and manifestations of religious expressions. Buddhism was abandoned and Maldivians became a Muslim nation since 12th century CE.

However, the Sinhala-Buddhist revivalists of Sri Lanka, finding Buddhist archaeological monuments in the islands, started claiming since late 19th century that the Maldivian heritage was an extension of that of the Sinhalese.

Maldives or the Dhivehi country was one of the old nations in South Asia. As a unique maritime nation compared to the usual land-oriented nations, Maldives for over two thousand years was independently interacting with several cultures, from the Roman Empire to imperial China. Most of its recorded political and cultural interactions were with South India.

For instance, the Maldivian national hero, Mohammed Thakurufanu, who liberated the country from the short Portuguese rule in the 16th century, got his assistance from the Tamil Muslims in Tamil Nadu. He was staying in a mosque at Bethalai (Veathaa’lai) in Rameswaram to organize his fleet.

Later, when the Muslim-Nayar sultans of Ka’n’nanoor in Kerala (Aazhi Rajas/ Ali Rajas) threatened Maldives, the sultans of Maldives interacted with the Dutch in Colombo and the French in Pondichery.

When the British wanted to sign a protectorate treaty with Maldives in 1885, just because the British thought of signing it through the governor in Colombo, Maldives became a protectorate administered from Colombo. This was cancelled in 1948 when the British declared Ceylon independent, but the British continued the protectorate until 1965.

However, during the time when the Maldives was administered from Colombo, the leverage facilitated Sinhala-Buddhist elite to construct many historical and cultural myths for Maldivians to paint a picture that the Maldivian culture is an off-shoot of Sri Lankan culture and the Maldivians are inferior cousins of the Sinhalese. This was colonialism within colonialism.

Some of the responses in the sentiments that are seen to day in the Maldives are not without background.

The imperialisms operating through oppressive and genocidal states in South Asia should note the resentment of peoples manifesting through various provenance-cum-context idioms.

Rajapaksa-gifted lion statue at Addu [Photo courtesy: haveeru.com]

Related Articles:
17.11.11   China timed SAARC summit to open embassy in Maldives


External Links:

HaveeruOnline:		Maldives police guard controversial SAARC monuments
HaveeruOnline:		Sri Lankan monument in Addu destroyed

Administration of 7 Tamil villages to be brought under Muslim dominated Ea'raavoor UC

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 November 2011, 22:54 GMT]
Colombo government has recently given instructions to Ea'raavoor Urban Council chairman Ali Zahir Mowlana to bring 7 Tamil villages under his administration using the Urban Council, informed sources told reporters in Batticaloa. The villages Aa'rumukaththaan-kudiyiruppu, Tha'lavaay, Chavukkadi, Mayilampaave'li and wards No 1, 4 and 5 in the Ea'raavoor under the Ea'raavoor Chengkaladi Piratheasa Chapai (PS) division are to be brought under the civil administration of Era’voor UC, which is predominantly inhabited by Muslims. Mr. Ali Zahir Mowlana is taking steps to settle Muslim families in the lands belong to Tamil people in these villages, creating division among the Tamil speaking people of the district, civil sources in Ea'raavoor said.

108 Tamil families, who were uprooted from Ward 4 of Ea'raavoor following clashes between Tamils and Muslims in the year of 1985, have been unable to return home.

According to the civil sources in Ea'raavoor, the UC chairman has taken steps to acquire ten pieces of lands that were owned by Tamils to construct of a Technical College despite repeated appeals by a group of uprooted Tamil families to make arrangement for them to resettle in their lands in Wards 4 and 5 in Ea'raavoor to the Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council and Resettlement Deputy Minister.

Affected Tamil families complain that even the Government Agent of the Batticaloa district and the Divisional Secretary have been unable to respond to their appeals.

The SL Police has occupied some lands of Tamil families and the roads that lead to those lands also remain blocked.

Already, some lands of Tamils have been taken over by the Chairman of the Ea'raavoor UC.

Mr. Moulana has constructed a Muslim Mosque and an Arabic School.

China proxies get India's closest coast in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 November 2011, 04:41 GMT]
The closest coastline to Tamil Nadu in Jaffna, a 15 km stretch from Thiruvadi Nilai to KKS has been given to a Malaysian corporate of Chinese connections to install windmills and solar panels to produce electricity and 'sell' it to the people of Jaffna, replacing the coastal people and the proud palmyra palms now stand there. In October 2011, the Malaysian corporate, KLS Energy entered into an agreement with China Machinery and Engineering Corporation to 'develop' wind/solar hybrid power project in Jaffna. The agreement was part of Malaysian Prime Minister's US$ 10 billion economic cooperation initiative with China. In an ingenious plan to steal the entire northern coast of Jaffna for the SL military, corporates and ventures of imperialism, genocidal Colombo not only seals off Eezham Tamils from Tamil Nadu, but also effectively checks Indian ambitions there with proxy Chinese projects.

A Sinhala-Buddhist pilgrim centre, 15 km coastal stretch of China-involved energy farm, SL military and naval bases, cement factory and India-built harbour and airport, shown within the area marked red in the map will seal off the northern coast of Eezham Tamils. The stretch is the closest coastline to Tamil Nadu in the North. [Image courtesy: Google Earth]

The SL military installations, Sinhala ‘pilgrim’ centres, Indian built harbour and airport, cement factory and now the coast leased to China-connected Malaysian corporate, while the coastal villages are uprooted and Eezham Tamils are sealed off in their own land, is a classic example of 'development' genocide, raising questions, who decides what is development and whose development.

‘Development’ treading on Eezham Tamil sovereignty of political decision making is re-enactment of colonialism by imperialists and agent imperialists, commented a development academic in Jaffna.

While the people who were forced to leave their villages 20 years ago are refused entry to their homes in the so-called High Security Zone, the Colombo government has grabbed their lands and has given them to the Malaysian company of Chinese connections, KLS Energy, to clear the lands and establish income generating solar and windmill farms.

The lands are given to KLS Energy on a 20-year-long lease.

But the owners of the land have not been given any notice by colonial Sri Lanka occupying the Tamil country.

The civilians were forced out of their villages in 1992 and 1995 and are yet to return to their lands. They now live as uprooted people elsewhere.

Around 60,000 civilians are still struggling to get back to their lands and are living in the so-called ‘Welfare Centres’ or with their relatives and friends. The Sri Lanka Government Agent in Jaffna has admitted that 51 such welfare centres are still operating in the district.

The corporate undertaking the coastal project is KLS Energy Lanka (Pvt.), a ‘subsidiary’ of Malaysia based KLS Energy that has entered into agreement with China's Machinary Engineering Cooperation specifically for the Jaffna project.

The company also says that the KKS power plant would be built under a “private-public partnership which will build, operate and own the power plant for a concession period of 20 years.”

The Malaysian company, reportedly established in 2006, says the project in Jaffna is their first project and spells out its ambition for future in becoming a “multinational conglomerate”.

It describes the project as the largest of its kind in the region outside of Japan and Korea. The project is scheduled for completion in 2012.

The SL government in Colombo has given 15 km long stretch along the coastal strip, promising a “much bigger Installed Capacity” to the Malaysian company.

This particular stretch is the closest point in Jaffna to Koadikkarai (Point Calimere) in Tamil Nadu.

In order to provide an average capacity of 35 MW of electricity supply to Sri Lanka's “National Grid,” Colombo has provided a large area of the so-called High Security Zone.

The company says it is an “Independent Power Producer” under the “Build-Operate-Own” concept.

“The natural sources of the energy are from the Sun and the Wind. The Sun is only available in day time and the Wind is dependent on weather and season of the country and these factors will affect the Installed Capacity of the Power Plant. As such, a much bigger Installed Capacity is required to ensure sufficient energy supply,” the literature of KLS energy said.

In 2003, Washington-based Global Energy Concepts in their study identified Katpiddi in Puththa'lam, Ambewela, the southern coast from Hambantota to Buthawa, Mannaar Island and Jaffna as potential locations to produce wind energy.

Hambantota was dropped out due to environmental concerns.

“Who is to talk about the environment, cultural choice and development priorities of Eezham Tamils. Very soon we may see another corporate coming and selling us drinking water,” the Jaffna academic said.

The ultimate question is who has given the right to these people to operate in the country of Eezham Tamils and to decide what are the development priorities, while not uttering a word on restoring the political decision making sovereignty of the nation of Eezham Tamils, he further said.

Images of the coastline where Colombo's master-plan will seal off Eezham Tamils

KKS harbour and Palaali Airport along the northern coast occupied by SL military and actively 'developed' by India [Image courtesy: Google Earth]

The extent of limestone quarrying in the strip under discussion near KKS, for the cement factory, now sponsored by India. The quarry threatens delicate groundwater conditions in the peninsula and the factory is a health hazard in a densely populated region [Image courtesy: Google Earth]

The palmyra-lined coastline of Thiruvadi-Nilai [Image courtesy: Google Earth]

The major village Maathakal in the strip under discussion, located at the closest coast to Point Calimere (Koadik-karai) of Tamil Nadu [Image courtesy: Google Earth]

The Saiva sacred site of Keerimalai in the strip [Image courtesy: Google Earth]

The beach of Cheanthaan-ku'lam and the palmyra grove of Koovil. Note the double bund laid by the SL military to demarcate the so-called High Security Zone [Image courtesy: Google Earth]

External Links:

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MALAYSIA SEALS US$10 BILLION DEALS WITH CHINA AT CAEXPO

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