Video: I Fear Any Time A ‘Black July’ Will Repeat And This Time It’s Against Muslims – Ven. Galkande Dhammananda
By Colombo Telegraph -April 14, 2013
 “I think as a monk that the social/political problems that we are facing in our country has to be solved amicably through duologues which we have repeatedly failed from the independence. Now we are again in a beginning of another round of violence. I fear any time a ‘black July’ will repeat and this time it is against Muslims.” Ven. Galkande Dhammananda Thero, a lecturer, Department of history, University of Kelaniya, told Colombo Telegraph.
Ven. Galkande Dhammananda Thero is a lecturer at the Department of history of University of Kelaniya.
We have already published his first video;
Here is the second video “Let us refrain from spreading ideas that create suspicion among people”
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  2013-04-14 Sri Lanka’s annual inflation in April is estimated at 6.3 per cent, a central bank official said, adding it could creep up slightly if the government raised power tariffs. The island nation’s year-on-year inflation rate in March eased to 7.5 per cent from a near-record high of 9.8 per cent a month ago due to the improved supply of vegetables and a high base last year. “If there is no administered price changes, the inflation will be at 6.3 per cent,” Swarna Gunaratne, the central bank’s chief economist, told Reuters. “Even if there is a price hike in electricity tariff, inflation will still be only some points higher than 6.3 per cent,” she said. Sri Lanka is considering raising electricity tariffs later this month, having hiked diesel and gasoline prices twice since December due to the losses of state-run energy firms. |
Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Tamil Nadu In Ferment: Sri Lanka And The Future Of The Tamils
S. Sivathasan
“Youth is the embodiment of revolt and revolt is the very quintessence of youth.” Nehru
What is seen in Tamil Nadu now are the words of Nehru in full flush. The students and the youth have given expression to their depth of feeling in ample measure. An emotional upsurge sparked by the continuing tragedy of Tamils in Sri Lanka has rolled over to spurning the traditional political leadership in Tamil Nadu. Herein lies the significance of the struggle which defines an altogether new political direction in the state. The change in its incipient stage as of now portends great challenges to Delhi. More importantly it has strong implications on Sri Lanka and the future of the Tamils.
The decimation of the Tamils and their plight in Sri Lanka have had an enormous emotive impact in TN. A sea change in their awareness had its beginning with the immolation of Muthukumar in January 2009. The sincerity underlying the sacrifice left its imprint and triggered a movement which has gathered its current dimension. What is heartening to see now is that students have subserved their emotions to sound reason. With redemption of the SL Tamils providing the backdrop, the student movement has signaled the rejection of all political formations that have dominated TN since independence. They have expressed in no uncertain terms trust in their own leadership capability. No longer will they look towards established formations or kow tow to them.
To properly assess the strength of the undercurrents which express themselves in uncontainable forms, the post-independence period of TN needs to be understood. The year 1947 was not a picturesque end of the independence movement. What Nehru saw was that the soul of a nation long suppressed would find utterance. But this did not happen fully in TN. The Rajaji-Kamaraj rule was a golden era in governance and economic advancement. In the years that followed, the Congress was seen as living for itself, the prestige of Nehru notwithstanding. The Congress ceased to be alive to the social needs of the multitude and above all to the linguistic and cultural aspirations of the Tamils.
The Congress in the state has now become a political anachronism. Inertia, corruption and the youth revolt deriving from the anti-Hindi agitation of 1965 resulted in its decline and fall in 1967. The current student movement has now put the seal on its irrecoverable fate. The coming Lok Sabha election is sure to place the imprimatur on its clinical death. A state of comatose for 46 years, complicity in the crime against Tamils, pervasive corruption and thorough disregard of political sensitivity account for this demise. The thinking, values, aspirations and attitudes of the Tamils for a century and more were profoundly influenced by the great poet and nationalist Subramania Bharathy. His nationalist invocations and social stirrings had permeated the Tamils. The Congress however was insensitive to them. They were overwhelmed by the thought that as harbingers of independence the goodwill they earned was inexhaustible.
Coterminous with the decline of the Congress was the growth of the Dravidian movement. It originated in the thirties with Periyar and became a mass movement from early fifties under the leadership of Annadurai. DMK was the name of the organization purporting to embrace all Dravidians but spoke only for the Tamils and was Tamil Nadu based. For political appeal it made Brahmins the hate symbol and scored measureable mileage. It spearheaded social issues, stood for equitable distribution and affirmative action for the under-class. Rightful place for Tamil forcefully articulated by the DMK had enormous resonance with the people. The Congress stood inert in this equation
It was at this juncture that the central government’s policy of thrusting Hindi in Tamil Nadu came about in 1965. The students and the youth took the anti-Hindi agitation to unprecedented heights. TN was shaken to its foundations. The Congress government lost its grip on TN. The Dravidian movement had secured its complete sway. Who effected the change? The students. What were the effects? At the height of the agitation the entire population was involved. The people’s sentiment moved the leaders.
A respected leader and Union Minister C. Subramaniam resigned from the cabinet in 1965 expressing solidarity with the movement. A former Chief Minister, an all India Congress leader and King Maker Kamaraj was defeated in the 1967 election. The foundation was laid for the defeat of the Congress in the state. What is surprising is that though a sea change was taking place in people’s political affiliations, even DMK was not fully aware of it and Annadurai contested the Lok Sabha and not the Legislative Assembly seat.
It is at a similar constellation of circumstances that the current student movement has gathered momentum in TN. Not everything that it portends may be easily visible at this point of time. There is a vital difference however. What ignited the students were not issues closer home but the plight of their compatriots in Sri Lanka. What was exasperating and most unpardonable to them was the complicity of the Congress government and the indifference if not positive collusion of the DMK. Added to all these are the counterfeit somersaults of the ADMK. The significance of the movement has to be seen in their total rejection of all three major parties and their disregard of other parties. Also to be noted is their sincerity and passion which can be discerned only from their statements, facial expression and intonation reflecting determination.
With the Congress vacating political space, the Dravidian formations face the onslaught from the students, the youth and the politically conscious. What started as a movement for social reform in the fifties, morphed into a political party, got bifurcated in the seventies for reasons of corruption is now mired deep in corruption and is without direction. A state that was doped with the Dravidian opium for far too long has awakened. This remarkable upsurge will take more than half a century to run its course while dominating political life. In its wake it will take TN towards new vistas. The path is protracted and over a decade will be needed for full political fallout. Only then is a regime change conceivable ie to move away from the Dravidian Maayai (illusion). As of now the DMK and the ADMK are the obverse and the reverse of the same coin.
A coherent political philosophy is yet to evolve, but a new vibrant political formation with a decisive mandate will make its impact in the counsels of Delhi. In India’s relations to Sri Lanka, Delhi will cease to be hijacked by the Foreign Service but will be driven by the weight and force of TN. The strength of 80 million strong by 2020, the militancy of the youth and the vibrancy of the economy will provide momentum to the State and its power.
What accounts for this change? All three parties had taken a stand inimical to the political future of the Sri Lankan Tamils. Their consistent and continuing antipathy to SL Tamils alienated them from mainstream Tamilian thinking. At the 2011 state election the people showed their wrath against the Congress and the DMK. Having no other alternative the people were constrained to vote for the ADMK. The students draw their strength as much from the pro SL Tamil sentiment as from the explosive anger at their corruption. Antipathy boiling for three decades or more has breached the bounds. India’s vote in the UN Resolution became the occasion.
Antagonism towards all political formations has coalesced around the SL Tamil cause. What has crystallized cannot melt away. The movement is a revolt. It is a watershed in TN’s political progress. The groundswell is the most widespread and potent in 48 years after 1965. It may not translate into votes and seats in 2014 or 2016 but the groundwork is laid for a new forceful political formation to emerge. It will not raise plaintive cries to Delhi, nor will it be indifferent towards SL Tamils. A new equilibrium is in the making and fresh bearings have to be taken therefrom.
Tamil treatment strains India-Sri Lanka ties
Officials in southern Tamil Nadu state want investigation into Sri Lanka's treatment of ethnic Tamils during civil war.
Last Modified: 13 Apr 2013 06:51
  Relations between India's Tamil Nadu state and Sri Lanka are getting worse, with cases of Sri Lankans reportedly facing abuse and harassment in the southern Indian state.The tension stems from the state government's calls to investigate Sri Lanka's treatment of ethnic Tamils during the last years of its civil war. Al Jazeera’s Minelle Fernandez reports from the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
detail.
Video : BBS Monk Gnanasara
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Sri Lankan newspaper attacked for 37th time
- 13 APRIL 2013
- BY FRANCES HARRISON
International journalists attending the Commonwealth heads of government meeting this November in Sri Lanka should take a look at the island’s track record on media freedom first.
Uthayan newspaper, one of the few Tamil media outlets independent of government, has just been attacked for the 37th time in its history. Three gunmen broke into the office at dawn on Saturday, firing at staff, before setting the printing press on fire, ensuring major disruption to circulation. Ten days earlier, Uthayan staff in the northern town of Kilinochchi were injured in another attack. At the time the paper quite reasonably asked for police protection for its head office in Jaffna – a request that was ignored.
The north of Sri Lanka is so overwhelmingly militarized that it is unthinkable that armed men could attack like this unless the Sri Lankan security forces are deliberately turning a blind eye. The military though have implausibly suggested the attack was “an inside job”, deliberately staged to discredit the government. If they are sincere, the authorities in Sri Lanka should have no problem with inviting an independent Commonwealth police team to Jaffna to help them investigate the attack and find the culprits.
To those who follow Sri Lanka, the latest attacks on Uthayan will sound depressingly familiar, especially in the run up to possible provincial elections. Think back to 2000 when the BBC’s stringer in Jaffna, Nimalarajan Mylvaganam was murdered in his home during curfew hours, close to three military checkpoints in the middle of the high security area. Visiting Jaffna afterwards, I asked the army if they’d even questioned the soldiers on duty that night at the checkpoints. It took the family an hour to get the injured to the hospital that night, waving lanterns as they approached each checkpoint on the route to alert the soldiers. How could armed men, firing and letting off grenades, roam about so freely? I never got a straight answer. Delegations from the BBC and media rights groups came and went, demanding action. I learnt first hand what impunity really meant. Nimalarajan’s family lived in fear – not the perpetrators. One night they quietly left for Canada, never to return. Now their entire extended family is in Canada: part of the Tamil exodus that’s slowly de-populated the north.
Just before Nimalarajan was killed there was an attempt on the life of his friend, the then Uthayan editor. The intention then was the same as today - to silence independent journalists in the run up to elections. Uthayan newspaper was already a war veteranthen. Its vintage print machines required hand typesetting and printed on brown paper using a strange, hybrid ink made out of carbon, diesel and oil. The staff and its machines had been displaced by war but continued to print the news, while too often becoming the story themselves.
Over more than a decade of involvement on and off with Sri Lanka, I can reel off a disturbing list of journalists I knew personally who’ve been murdered in broad daylight or beaten senseless and left for dead in a ditch. Many more friends – Sinhala and Tamil - have been forced into exile and would love nothing more than to return home if it were safe.
Sri Lanka is routinely at the bottom of the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index and became notorious in 2009 when a Colombo newspaper editor wrote his own obituary blaming the government in advance of his assassination. His brave successor recently fled the country after numerous threats, including from the country’s powerful defence secretary. Four years after the end of the war, there’s no improvement in press freedom.
The Commonwealth should not be holding its biannual meeting in Sri Lanka – a country that committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2009 - but if it goes ahead, international journalists who cover the event must ensure they use the event to push the boundaries of freedom of expression. For this the Commonwealth should take the following steps:
1. Ensure visas are issued to all international journalists who apply; the Sri Lanka government should not be allowed to pick and chose friendly reporters or those with little knowledge of the island’s conflict.
2. Guarantee journalists receive visas valid for at least a month’s stay so there’s time to travel around the country.
3. Facilitate briefings by media rights groups for international reporters to meet exiled Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim journalists from Sri Lanka before they depart.
4. Guarantee freedom of movement to the north and east, with blocs of seats reserved on flights to Jaffna for visiting reporters.
5. Organise through the British Council (soon to open an office in Jaffna) a facility trip for journalists to visit Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna. Local reporters from the paper could be paired with visiting journalists to accompany them around the island. This would send a strong signal that the government is not behind the current spate of attacks on the paper.
6. Fund the Commonwealth Journalists Association to arrange private meetings between visiting journalists and some of the families of the many murdered and disappeared Sri Lankan reporters.
© JDS
Frances Harrison is a former BBC Correspondent in Sri Lanka and the author of Still Counting the Dead: Survivors of Sri Lanka's Hidden War, published by Portobello Books (UK), House of Anansi (Canada) and Penguin ( India).
Articles by Frances Harrison:
Geneva resolution answerable to arson committed on Tamil press: Jaffna activist
[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 April 2013, 15:37 GMT]
Burning the press of Eezham Tamils in the island has more than three decades of history. The office and machinery of the Jaffna-based Tamil Daily Eezha Naadu was burnt down the very night the Jaffna Public Library was put to ashes in 1981. Arson was once again committed on Eezha Naadu while the IPKF of the New Delhi Establishment was occupying Jaffna. The Washington-New Delhi deception carried out in the name of Geneva resolution, allowing Sri Lanka to escape from genocide indictment and to continue with structural genocide, is answerable to the current attacks and arson committed on the press of Eezham Tamils in the island, said a new generation political activist in Jaffna. Further comments from the activist in Jaffna:
After 2009, capture, or if capture not possible, attack on the press of Eezham Tamils is systematically carried out in Jaffna and Colombo.
Nowadays, not only the genocidal Establishment in Colombo, but also the abetting Establishments in Washington and New Delhi are actively engaged in capturing the media of Eezham Tamils and in buying journalists inside and outside of the island.
Meanwhile, China has agreed to help significantly upgrade Sri Lankan ‘cyber-warfare’ capabilities, The Indian Express reported last month.
The current series of attack and arson on the press of Eezham Tamils that tries to remain independent follows the ‘reconciliation’ preceptor Washington initiating an empty resolution at Geneva and New Delhi watering it down further.
The OHCHR could find itself ‘occupied’ in cataloguing such attacks, as it was destined by the Geneva resolution for the job of only counting ‘the trees’, the political activist in Jaffna said.
Sunday , 14 April 2013
UNP made a request to the government to process activities in originating independent election commission and independent police commission before holding the northern provincial council election.
United National Party parliament member Karu Jayasooriya made this statement at the media briefing held at the party office located at Kirullapona on last 10th.
He said, three years have gone after the war came to an end, but still the people there have not enjoyed the democracy atmosphere.
The continuous attacks against “Udayan” press, and the attacks carried out at the meeting in Jaffna held by Tamil National Alliance has made this transparent.
Government has notified that the northern provincial council election would be held in September and before that elections for central and North West provincial councils will be held.
After the 17th amendment to the constitution was abolished the 18th amendment was implemented, but so far free and fair elections were not held in this country.
Accusations are submitted to the international sector concerning this stance. In addition election observers internally and from foreign have expressed their views regarding election irregularities.
Therefore Election Commissioner has the responsibility to hold the election freely and fairly by originating the necessary background and to win the confidence of all the political parties in this country
He said government has the responsibility is to provide an opportunity for the people living in the northern region to select their representatives by protecting the democracy rights.
Towards this, before holding the northern provincial council election, it is necessary to originate an independent election commission and independent police commission. Requesting time period by the government cannot be permitted at all.
By utilizing reconciliation resources, government is prepared to operate violating election procedures. Election Commissioner has the obligation and accountability to obstruct government officials engaged in election activities.
We have requested the Election Commissioner to hold the future elections freely and fairly to safe guard the reputation.
Sunday , 14 April 2013
Sunday , 14 April 2013
United America has urged Sri Lanka to conduct a credible investigation concerning the "Udayan" office attack.
The attack against the main office of "Udayan" press located at Jaffna, Kasthuriyar Road was denounced by United America, and it has insisted to conduct a credible investigation concerning to this attack incident.
US embassy located in Colombo, its Chief Public Affairs Officer Christopher Reels has expressed his statement condemning over twitter.
He mentioned US is worried about the continuous attacks against the "Udayan" press.
He requested the Sri Lanka officials to protect media freedom, and insisted to hold credible investigation concerning these attacks.
US have expressed condemnation at a situation, some unidentified armed gang intruded the “Udayan” office yesterday, threatened the staff and security officers and scorched the printing machines.
Sunday , 14 April 2013
An unidentified group today (yesterday) morning entered the “Udayan” office printing section has scorched printing machines, printing paper rolls and “Udayan” newspapers.
This has caused approximately two billion rupees loss to the Udayan organization.
Sunday , 14 April 2013
Fire at Jaffna newspaper - an inside job
 2013-04-13 Sri Lankan Army while strongly denying involvement in the attack on the Udayan Printing press, questions whether it was an insider job to gain publicity and international political mileage. The press release by Sri Lanka Army points out that, preliminary investigation revealed that damage caused by the latest attack is not excessive. The Press release further added, only three paper rolls were partially burnt along with few papers, no damage to any printing machines and power supply has been interrupted due to heat. “When power is restored the paper can resume its operations, perhaps today itself,” Sri Lankan Army release said. Sri Lankan Army came up with its press release hours after the alleged attack on Udayan printing press of the Tamil Language regional newspaper published from Jaffna, said,” There is a widespread speculation regarding the attack that has taken place in Jaffna at the Udayan printing press in early hours today (13 April 2013). Some speculate that the Military was involved in either carrying out or supporting this attack.” Sri Lanka Army categorically stated, “We reject such allegations.” The Army pointed out, “It is reiterated that the Sri Lankan Military Forces are duty bound to protect the constitutional rights. The freedom of expression is one of the guaranteed rights. The Military has no requirement to engage in acts against freedom of expression.” “There are a large number of different media institutions in Sri Lanka and anyone following what is published/broadcasted/telecasted would know that criticism on Government as well as Military are very common. Except a handful of media institutions the vast majority are privately owned. In the recent past it is only Udayan which is owned by a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian (who is actively campaigning against the Government and the Military in the north and east) that allegedly faced numerous forms of harassment. This is an interesting phenomenon. “ “There are several other publications in Jaffna and elsewhere (published in all three languages) that level harsh criticism on the Government as well as the Military, but there are no allegations of harassment. Why is it only Udayan?” The Press release pointed out that, “As things appear, it is obvious that the publicity gained by the paper through this alleged attack on its printing press is enormous. The local as well as international political mileage that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), as well as other international pro LTTE organizations propagating the ideology of establishing a separate state in Sri Lanka, gains by way of discrediting the Government and Military is much greater than the physical damage. This publicity will surely be used by them to support their widespread claims that international interference is essential for local reconciliation. Sri Lankan Army pointedly denied, “We refute speculations of any Military involvement on attack on Udayan in Jaffna.” (Asian Tribune) |
ARSON AGAINST UTHAYAN PAPER TARGETS TAMIL VOTE - TNA
April 14, 2013
  The Tamil National Alliance today accused the government of attacking the Jaffna-based Uthayan newspaper in an attempt to silence its political rivals ahead of key local council elections.The TNA said Saturday’s torching of the Uthayan newspaper presses added to a “fear psychosis” among the population in the northern district of Jaffna. “One of the main objectives (of the attack) is silencing the opposition ahead of provincial council elections,” TNA MP Suresh Premachandran told AFP. “There is a fear psychosis in Jaffna, people are living in fear. They are scared to come out for political meetings. They fear there could be violence,” Premachandran said. Three gunmen staged the pre-dawn arson assault on the Uthayan office and printing press in Jaffna which came on the eve of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. The Media Center for National Security (MCNS) had claimed that the attack was an “inside job” to discredit the government as the United States expressed concern for media freedom and urged a credible investigation. The military in a separate statement issued Saturday denied any involvement in the attack. Police said a senior officer was heading an investigation into the assault and that no arrests have been made so far. |
Uthayan attack investigated within 5 hours and Govt has found out it was a inside job! - TNA MP
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| E. Saravanapavan |
Sunday, April 14, 2013
TNA MP and owner of Uthayan newspaper, E. Saravanapavan today rejected accusation claiming the torching of the newspaper’s main office in Jaffna was an ‘inside job’ staged to ‘tarnish the image of the government’.
Three gunmen stormed into the newspaper office this morning, threatened the employees and fired four shots, one narrowly missed a worker’s head.
The assailants opened fire at the computers as well as the printing machines before dousing them with petrol and setting fire, he said.
One of them held an AK-47 assault rifle and he kept watch near the gate, E. Saravanapavan told Ada Derana by telephone.
He stated that the government tells the international community that civil control prevails in Jaffna and that nobody is allowed to carry weapons except military personnel.
Then who came into the newspaper office with firearms, he questioned.
Responding to accusations from the government that the attack was an “inside job,” the Jaffna District MP stated that there are so many crimes that have gone unsolved in the country.
He further said that they have no interest in tarnishing the government’s image in Jaffna, and that the government has already done so on its own.
Saravanapavan stated that the Director General of the MCNS has been fooled and that now he is attempting to fool the masses.
He charged that the entire world knows that the government is lying and asked why the government itself did not know this fact.
Today’s incident is the latest in a series of attacks targeting the Jaffna-based newspaper and its employees and comes just over a week after the Uthayan Killinochchi office was attacked by an armed group.
Saravanapavan stated that continues calls for security for their main office in Jaffna had gone unheard.
“Maybe they thought we will give security after attacking this one too.”
He stated that attacks are being carried out continuously, there is no security in the country and there is no trust. Therefore we will seek the assistance of the international community and Non-Governmental Organizations, he said.
“How can a government, which is unable to protect a media institution, protect the people of the country?” he inquired.
- Ada Derana
The assailants opened fire at the computers as well as the printing machines before dousing them with petrol and setting fire, he said.
One of them held an AK-47 assault rifle and he kept watch near the gate, E. Saravanapavan told Ada Derana by telephone.
He stated that the government tells the international community that civil control prevails in Jaffna and that nobody is allowed to carry weapons except military personnel.
Then who came into the newspaper office with firearms, he questioned.
Responding to accusations from the government that the attack was an “inside job,” the Jaffna District MP stated that there are so many crimes that have gone unsolved in the country.
But when the Uthayan office is attacked at 4.45am, investigations are completed within 5 hours and the director general of the Media Centre for National Security, Lakshman Hulugalla issues a statement at 10.00am claiming the incident was an ‘inside job to tarnish the image of the government,’ he said.“Does Lakshman Hulugalla have no shame at all?” he inquired.
He further said that they have no interest in tarnishing the government’s image in Jaffna, and that the government has already done so on its own.
Saravanapavan stated that the Director General of the MCNS has been fooled and that now he is attempting to fool the masses.
He charged that the entire world knows that the government is lying and asked why the government itself did not know this fact.
The TNA parliamentarian stated that Jaffna Security Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Mahinda Hathurusinghe should take complete responsibility for the attack.In any other country the military commander would resign after such as incident, but not in Sri Lanka, he stressed.
Today’s incident is the latest in a series of attacks targeting the Jaffna-based newspaper and its employees and comes just over a week after the Uthayan Killinochchi office was attacked by an armed group.
Saravanapavan stated that continues calls for security for their main office in Jaffna had gone unheard.
“Maybe they thought we will give security after attacking this one too.”
He stated that attacks are being carried out continuously, there is no security in the country and there is no trust. Therefore we will seek the assistance of the international community and Non-Governmental Organizations, he said.
“How can a government, which is unable to protect a media institution, protect the people of the country?” he inquired.
- Ada Derana
‘Obsession’ with 13th Amendment won’t help, say Tamil politicians
MEERA SRINIVASAN-April 12, 2013
The obsession with the 13th amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution will hardly help the Tamils, politicians and activists in northern Sri Lanka told the Indian parliamentary delegation, which wound up its visit to Sri Lanka on Thursday.
While members of the Indian delegation were rather reluctant to speak to the media here, enquiries with political parties, academics and civil society members who met the delegation revealed that the discussions gave the Indian parliamentarians an opportunity to listen to different perspectives, agendas and concerns in Colombo and in Jaffna.
In Colombo, the parliamentarians met senior members of the government, including Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa. On the interactions, Cabinet Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said: “It is always useful to have delegations come over, for they can assess the situation objectively.
Many in India – both at the Centre and in Tamil Nadu – are not aware of the progress we have made here post-war. The Indian MPs, who met a wide range of leaders and activists, will understand the intentions of the different groups they met,” he said.
In Jaffna, where the MPs spent nearly two days, the emphasis was on the need for transitional administration and for India to shed its “obsession with” the 13th Amendment -- which followed the Indo-Lanka accord of 1987 -- as it was “inadequate”. Civil society groups said starting with a clean slate would work better.
K. Guruparan, lecturer of Law, Jaffna University, said: “We told them that the 13th Amendment in itself had several contradictions and explained how, constitutionally, it would be difficult to implement anything beyond the 13th Amendment.” Mr. Guruparan, and Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) member and lawyer Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, reportedly emphasised that the 13th Amendment was not an adequate starting point in addressing the problems of the Tamils.
TNPF general secretary S. Kajendran said the MPs paid great attention to every word spoken. “We hope that they take our message back to the Indian government. India has to intervene and ensure there is no discrimination based on ethnicity,” he said.
The 13th amendment made to Sri Lanka's Constitution in November 1987, provides for devolution of limited power to provinces. It has been implemented everywhere except in the Tamil-majority North.
On discussions with members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), an umbrella organisation of parties representing Tamils of the Northern Province. President of TNA Suresh Premachandran said: “We told the visiting MPs that the ongoing genocide has to end here. There are serious livelihood issues prompting Tamils to leave the country. We need an interim administration, overseen by India or the United Nations, until there is a final political settlement for the Tamils.”
According to Mr. Guruparan, one of the BJP MPs asked them if the Northern Provincial Council elections would provide a “window of opportunity.” In response, civil society members are said to have prescribed a “transitional administration” model, outside the current Sri Lankan Constitution, as an alternative, where in Tamil representatives have actual powers in realms of education, health and livelihood issues. “In this model, the Sri Lankan government will also have a role and so will representatives of various communities. If the government is willing to engage with this option, we could work out the modalities,” he said.
Douglas Devananda, leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) – currently with the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) – said his party urged the Indian delegation to put pressure on the TNA and enable dialogue. “The President [Mahinda Rajapaksa] had said that a Parliamentary Select Committee would look into political solution and had originally set a time-frame of six months for the exercise. However, the reluctance of the TNA to nominate its members to the Committee has delayed the initiative. We need India to put pressure on them [TNA] to help us have a meaningful dialogue,” he said.
The Indian MPs also met members of the main opposition party, United National Party (UNP), including its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had recently visited India. According to sources with the UNP – which is affiliated to the United National Front (UNF) – Mr. Wickremesinghe underscored the urgent need for democracy and devolution, in addressing problems facing the country.
The five parliamentarians -- Saugata Roy (Trinamool Congress), Sandeep Dikshit (Congress), Anurag Thakur (BJP), Dhananjay Singh (BSP) and Prakash Javadekar (BJP), were for a ‘Track Two political dialogue’, initiative of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
TN government requested to protect heritage site of Eezham Tamils in Chithamparam
[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 April 2013, 00:05 GMT]Eezham Tamil circles in the island and in the diaspora, connected to charities established in Chithamparam by their ancestors, request the Tamil Nadu government, especially the Chief Minister Ms Jayalalithaa, to make legislation to protect the charity enclave at Chithamparam and to promote it as a heritage site of Eezham Tamils, participated by Eezham Tamils in the island and in the diaspora. They cited at the promotion Sri Lanka’s Maha Bodhi Society gets in India, but the dilapidated condition of the Tamil-Saiva heritage site of Eezham Tamils in Tamil Nadu. The Eezham Tamil charities at Chithamparam that record from the times of the Kingdom of Jaffna and that make an enclave around the Gnaanap-pirakaasar Tank are found in almost ruined conditions today. 
The Gnaanappirakaasar ku'lam and the line of some of the Jaffna mutts on one side of its bank at Chithamparam [Photo: Seelan, UK]
For their maintenance, these charities have large tracts of land endowments in different parts of the Tamil country in the island, including in Batticaloa.
Due to policies followed by both the Establishments at Colombo and in New Delhi, the cultural interaction of Eezham Tamils was disrupted after the so-called independence.
The inability of the managements in the island to reach out the charities in Tamil Nadu, and lack of vigilance and control on the part of the society, paved way for the misuse of the endowments, dilapidation of the charities and transfer of power to individuals in India.
Most of the charities were established for the use of the Eezham Tamil pilgrims to Chithamparam. Various villages in the country of Eezham Tamils established Mutts in the names of their villages for the use of the pilgrims.
They were in fact three-courtyard massive buildings. Only the walls and foundations remain in some of them. Some have become slums and one, the most prestigious of them built in the Dutch times, has become a warehouse and bakery.
To the justification of the people and the individuals who founded the charities and to make them meaningful to today’s context of the nation of Eezham Tamils that inherit the heritage, the Tamil Nadu government should take initiative in declaring the enclave as a heritage site, renovate or rebuild the structures, and create a milieu for the Eezham Tamils in the island and in the diaspora to use it and to take pride of their heritage, requested circles connected to the charities.
People having hereditary connections to the charities, now living in the island or in the diaspora didn’t want to reveal their names fearing reprisals from Colombo or from those who now lead the charities to their dilapidation.
The diaspora that spends a lot of money on temple festivals in the island and on pilgrimages to India is either not aware of the existence of such a heritage to protect or doesn’t have an organisation to take the lead, the sources connected to the charities said.
By convening the original trustees in the island and in the diaspora, heritage Saiva institutions such as the Jaffna Saiva Paripalana Sabai that is already connected to some of the charities, and relevant Saiva Mutts in Tamil Nadu, the Tamil Nadu government may take action on the project, but basic protection has to come from a legislation declaring the heritage status of the properties and the enclave, the sources connected to the charities said.
They also requested senior Eezham Tamil citizens like Mr. Ma'ravanpulavu Sachithananthan, living in Tamil Nadu for a long time and knowing the background of the said charities very well, to come forward to draft a model that would preserve the heritage, benefit the current context of the nation of Eezham Tamils and help the TN government in materialising the programme.
Saiva Temples and relevant village associations in the diaspora across the world could make a joint forum to request the Tamil Nadu government and to participate in the heritage site programme, both as a religious venture and as heritage tourism promotion, the sources connected to the charities further said.
One of the Mutts could be converted into a museum of Eezham Tamil heritage in Tamil Nadu.
The contributions of Eezham Tamils in the 19th and early 20th centuries to modern Tamil culture and to the awareness of Tamil as a classical language are well known. Many of the Eezham Tamil scholars and activists of that time viewed Chithamparam as their spiritual and intellectual centre.
The Cheakkizhaar Hall on one end of the tank. The hall was built on the site, where the house of Madduvil K Vetpillai once stood [Photo: Seelan, UK]
Recorded charity endowments of Eezham Tamils at Chithamparam begin from the time of Pararaja Sekaran, the King of Jaffna in the early 16th century. He built the Raasaakka’l-Thampiraan Mutt at Chithamparam and there is a copper plate document to evidence that.
Almost during the same century or in the early 17th century, a Saiva Siddhantha Mutt based at Vara’ni in Jaffna acquired the management rights of the extensive temple complex at Thiru-ma’raik-kaadu (Vedaranyam) near Point Calimere, around 10 associated temples and 3000 Veali (roughly 15,000 acres) land, from a ruler of Tanjavur. The pontiff of the Mutt got the rights after curing the illness of the king. Saint Thaayumaanavar, before taking up asceticism, was working as an accountant to the Vara’ni Mutt at Vedaranyam.
The Vara’ni Mutt later built a Mutt at Chithamparam, the walls of which are only remaining today.
Only this inscription remains to mark the Vara'ni mutt at Chithamparam [Photo: Seelan, UK]
The idol of Thirunelveali Gnaanappirakaasar in a shrine in the Cheakkizhar Temple in Chithamparam, on the banks of the tank built by Gnaanappirakaasar [Photo: Seelan, UK, 2009]
Part of the property of the Mutt was already taken over by the government hospital at Chithamparam. The Mutt of three courtyards that still show impressive architecture of the times including wooden features, has become a warehouse and bakery in the recent years. A Kaarainakar family is connected to the trusteeship. Both the Thiruneveli and Kaarainakar people are enthusiastic in spending money on temples but they lack the necessary outlook in organising or carrying out serious heritage missions, diaspora circles commented.
The front part of the Thirunelveali Gnaanappirakaasar Madam, leading to the first courtyard called Chaaththirak-kaddu. This main part of the 17th century complex is now converted into a warehouse. The second courtyard called Poosaik-kaddu that has the temple of the mutt and the third courtyard called Chamaiyal-kaddu are rented out to tenants. A part of the adjacent lands belonging to the mutt has been given to the government hospital and tenants have claimed another part. [Photo: Seelan, UK, 2009]
Arumuga Navalar, who was a descendant of Gnaanappirakaasa Munivar carried out a number of charities at Chithamparam.
The backside entrance of Gnaanappirakaasar Madam [Photo: Seelan, UK, 2009]
He left the charities to be managed by the line of his students.
A court case in British India in the 1930s ended with the decision that the charity at Chithamparam has to be managed by whoever manages the charity at Jaffna. But the institution in Jaffna becoming an orphan and a junior school under Colombo's take over, made the Madras High Court in the 1950s to form a 5-member Board of Management for the Chithamparam institution with two representatives from Jaffna (Saiva Paripalana Sabai and Hindu Board of Education).
Now, Kunrakkudi Mutt in Tamil Nadu has been given with power of attorney over the Navalar charities, including the house he lived at Chithamparam.
The Jaffna Saiva Paripalana Sabai still manages a charity, Pu’n’niya Naachchi Mutt at Chithamparam, which is perhaps the best-managed among the surviving Jaffna Mutts.
But, even this Mutt had to convert part of its site into a petrol shed and had to convert its traditional architecture of the three courtyard-building into a modern ‘Marriage Hall’ for its maintenance.
The Mutts in the names of the villages Ka’l’liyangkaadu and Vara’ni are in total ruin. Kokkuvil and Changkaanai Mutts are dilapidated.
The Maathakal Mutt, which is also in dilapidated conditions, has recently been brought under the management of a Chithamparam priest through a power of attorney given to him by the trustee in Maathakal. The trustee has stated in the power of attorney that it had become difficult for him to travel to and fro. Ironically, Maathakal is the nearest point in Jaffna to the Tamil Nadu coast, separated barely by 30 km of sea.
The attached PDF of Power of Attorney documents would show the current status of the Maathakal Mutt at Chithamparam for the perusal of the Eezham Tamil diaspora.
Meanwhile, various landed properties in the island given for the maintenance of these charities are not even identifiable today. They were left for appropriation, as the charities became not relevant to the use and context of the descendants of the society that created the charities.
In contrast, the Maha Bodhi Society started in 1891, simultaneously in Colombo and Calcutta, functions as a thriving institution culturally and politically. It has been given with the management rights of important Buddhist sites in India such as Budh Gaya and Sanchi as early as in the British times.
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