In an eye opening article appealing to the Tamils who blindly believe that ‘LTTE can do no wrong’ or those who accept their fascist ways and killings, Nirupama Subramaniam has exhorted the Tamils to halt the "community’s slide to darkness". The full text of the article published in the ‘HINDU’ of 04.05.2005 is reproduced. " One day some gun will silence me and it will not be held by an outsider but by the son born in the womb of this very society, from a woman with whom my history is shared," wrote Rajani Thiranagama in 1989, a few months before she was killed in Jaffna, northern.

As those who knew journalist Dharmaretnam Sivaram, or knew of him, mourn his brutal death last week, the words of the 35-year-old doctor, teacher in the medical faculty of Jaffna University and committed human rights campaigner seem prescient not only of her own end, but of all the other victims of the cycle of intolerance, killing, and revenge that is the distinguishing hallmark of Sri Lankan Tamil politics.

Sivaram, or Taraki as he was better known, was abducted and shot dead in Colombo on the night of April 29, clearly, he was killed by forces that disagreed with his political views. He was no ordinary journalist - as a former member of the People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam, he brought to his writings first-hand experience of the Tamil militant movement. In the last decade, he had turned openly in favour of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; his columns in Sri Lankan newspapers and Tamil Net, the web site he began, were windows to the LTTE’s military and political mind. If it is true that Karuna was behind the killing, Tamils are whispering, the LTTE would surely avenge Sivaram’s death. So, they are asking, who is next? But instead of such macabre and cynical speculation, the community would be better served by an open and honest debate on why Tamils are killed by Tamils simply for expressing their political views, and how to stop these relentless murders.

The past is instructive. The seeds of Sivaram’s untimely death were sown early in the militant struggle, with Tamil society’s failure to condemn the very first retributive killings. Thiranagama was among the first of the Tamil intellectuals that the LTTE eliminated. The silent acceptance of her death in Jaffna, especially by the academic community, sent out the message to the killers that whatever they did no one would oppose them. Thiranagama was the political antithesis of Sivaram. The LTTE’s military capabilities were the meat of Sivaram’s columns; for him, the LTTE could do no wrong, at least going by what he said in public. Thiranagama was anti-war in every sense, openly condemning the LTTE’s wrong-doings and failures, just as she condemned the actions of the Sri Lankan military and the Indian Peace Keeping Force. She was shot dead as she cycled back home from the University one evening in September 1989.

It is telling that the first attempt to piece together Thiranagama’s life and death has been made not by a Tamil, but by a Canadian filmmaker. Helene Koldawsky’s "No more Tears Sister," sponsored by the National Film Board of Canada, was screened last week at the Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto (this writer saw it by arrangement in Chennai). The film, based mainly on interviews with members of Thiranagama’s family and on archival material, and narrated by the Sri Lankan-Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje, vividly captures Thiranagama’s transformation from a sympathizer of the tigers’ cause to one of its fiercest critics. Sivaram’s death makes the film all the more important. Following Thiranagama’s killing, Jaffna saw a few protests but they quickly fizzled out when the LTTE began contacting participants individually, asking them to pipe down. As the documentary notes, those were the last spontaneous instances of free expression in northern Sri Lanka. Since then, Tamils have watched without protest as the LTTE eliminated almost every voice of opposition in the community. Worse, so deeply have they internalized the LTTE rule of thumb that dissent gets a bullet in the head that there are always enough voices to justify the killing of a person who breaks ranks.

After its February 2002 cease-fire agreement with the Sri Lankan Government, the LTTE has blatantly taken out every Tamil opponent on whom it can lay hands. Many Tamils, including those in the media, have defended its actions, including the morally reprehensible practice of recruiting child soldiers. When Karuna broke away from the LTTE, and the group vowed to hunt down and kill him, there were those who came up with the pathetic argument that for the sake of Tamil nationalism, the best place for the rebel leader was six feet under. It is no surprise that Karuna chose to hit back in exactly the same way as the LTTE-he was after all a tiger once.

In all this, the Sri Lankan state’ near indifference is frightening. Those under threat from the LTTE have looked to the Government for help and support to survive, but have received little assistance. It is as if this is a family feud between Tamils that no one else but only they can settle. The attitude was exemplified in the Government position that the fighting between the LTTE and the Karuna faction is an "internecine" war that it has no power to stop. In these conditions, Tamils find it easier to say that sanity will return to the community with a permanent solution to the ethnic conflict. This may help to shift part of the blame for what is happening within the Tamil community to the Sri Lankan Government. But it would be suicidal for Sri Lanka’s Tamils to think they can put off the fight against internal repression and terror until after a political solution is found, because any settlement built on the fascistic conditions that prevail in the community today would be akin to building a house without a foundation. If the Tamils want to halt the community’s slide into darkness, the time to tackle the problem is now. It has to be done by condemning Sivaram’s murder in no uncertain terms, and at the same time, by condemning unequivocally the killings of Thiranagama, Yogeswaran, Pathmanabha, Sarojini Yogeswaran, Neelan Thiruchelvam, Mylvagnam Nimalrajan Thambirajah Robert Subathiran, and of all the others. It is not yet too late to do this."

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran has said India was committed to the development of Ceylon north-east through "economic and technical assistance." Mr. Saran, who was on a four - day official visit, made these remarks at a function in the eastern Trincomalee district. The presence of the petroleum joint venture, IOC-Lanka in the eastern district, and Indian assistance to the Trincomalee Technical College were "symbolic and representative of the close and enduring ties that India has with north-eastern Sri Lanka," Mr. Saran said.

His remarks on India’s commitment, mark a significant reiteration of New Delhi’s position. They also come against the backdrop of efforts by the Sri Lankan Government to put in place a joint mechanism with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to work on post-Tsunami reconstruction in the northern and eastern districts, parts of which are under control of the LTTE. According to military estimates, the LTTE holds about 130 km of the total 300 km of Tsunami-affected coastline in the north-east. Later at a function in Kandy to hand over four ambulances as India’s gift to the people of Ceylon central plantation districts, Mr. Saran said steps would be taken to expedite the construction of a 150-bed hospital. The welfare of the plantation workers "has always remained close to our hearts,’’ Mr. Saran said. The hospital, to be constructed at Dikoya, is aimed at serving the plantation workers, who are descendents of indentured labourers brought from India during the British rule. India hoped that the gift of the ambulances to the central districts "will go a long way in providing emergency medical services to needy patients."

Leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) V. Anandasangaree has said that the Tamil media in Ceylon should take responsibility for the death of D. Sivaram, editor of Tamilnet. Expressing his sympathies to Mr. Sivaram’s family, TULF leader said, "He was a good journalist and even good journalists have to meet with untimely and unfortunate deaths like this due to the follies of the Tamil media in Sri Lanka. Tamil media condemns certain actions while encouraging certain actions’’.

For the nine - member team of young archaeologists from Sri Lanka, it was a case of all that they learnt coming true before their eyes. Their university textbooks had told them that South India and Ceylon shared organic historical links. Starting April 20 this year, they had tangible evidence of those ancient connections in a 15-day field visit to various archaeological sites in the country, through a field study, sponsored by the Ford Foundation, New Delhi. This is the first such delegation to visit India. "Archaeology can be source of conflict resolution. It is important that our archaeologists and academics learn from the Indian experience," Sumith Nakandala, Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner for South India, said while introducing the delegation to reporters here in Chennai. The field study was an outreach programme to help the young archaeologists broaden their cultural views, he added.

The team, comprising graduate students from Peredeniya and the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, visited Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Indo-Islamic archaeological sites in Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda, Golconda, Bidar, Gilbarga, Pattadakal, Badami, Hampo, Helibid and Mysore and places such as Madurai, Thanjavur, Darasuram, Gangaikondacholapuram, Chidamparam, Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram. The group drew inspiration from Professor Sudarshan Seneviratne, Archaeology department, Peredeniya University. Dr. Pivatissa Senanayaka from the same department was the team leader. There were exciting discoveries all the way. "The Adhichanallur excavations in Tamil Nadu have unearthed many artifacts that resemble results from Sri Lankan excavations, especially the non-Brahmi scripts from our megalithic burial sites. This showed that our civilizations had the same beginnings," said Mr. Senanayaka.

Mr. Sumith Nakandala also facilitated a meeting with the refugee students who had graduated with the assistance and guidance of OfERR. Mr. Nakandala with his regular interaction with OfERR and Mr. Chandrahasan has gone out of his way to encourage the refugee graduates who will return to their homeland as soon as a permanent solution is found to the ethnic problem. In fact the refugee graduates appreciating the visit of the archaeologists from Ceylon and noting that every one of them had exposed the myths of the stories that are kept alive by the chauvinists in the island who want to keep the ethnic divide going, said that the dialogue and discussions they had with the archaeologists was a peace building exercise. The refugee graduates expressed their confidence in their ability take the message to the camps and disseminate the peace message to the other refugees who have unequivocally expressed their desire to be accepted as stakeholders in the peace process. Mr. Sam Coilpillai, Chairperson of the OfERR Higher Education Committee thanked the archaeologists and Mr. Nakandala for the opportunity given to the refugee students to interact with them. Mr. Murugesu and Mr. Naguleswaran also participated in the discussions.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) continues to use Tamil Nadu as a base for smuggling petrol and diesel, besides drugs, to Sri Lanka. Its insistence on the Sri Lankan Government recognizing the Sea Tigers as a separate unit poses yet another threat to India’s security says the Union Home ministry’s annual report for 2004-05. Notwithstanding the current peace process, the LTTE is yet to give up violence as a means of establishing a separate homeland for Tamils. "It is well known that the intelligence wing of the LTTE maintains exhaustive data on personalities who are opposed to the outfit’s ideology for engineering their assassination, if considered necessary." The LTTE continues to be an "extremely potent, most lethal and well-organized terrorist force in Sri Lanka and has strong connections in Tamil Nadu and certain pockets of Southern India." First declared "an unlawful association" under the unlawful activities (Prevention) Act. 1967 on May 14, 199, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was further notified as an unlawful association. The latest ban was extended for two years from May 14, 2004.

The Union Home Ministry should initiative action as a follow-up of its annual report that had described the continued use of Tamil nadu as a base by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said, the Janata Party president, Subramanian Swamy. Talking to newspersons, Dr. Swamy appreciated the Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, for performing a "patriotic duty" of warning the country of the activities of the LTTE in the annual report for 2004-05. The Home Ministry should now initiate action on its report, like seeking the extradition of LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran. Dr. Swamy urged the UPA Government to carry out the Supreme Court judgement May 12, 1999 in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Dr. Swamy said an alternative front would be formed in the State during the Assembly election to combat the threat to its culture and Hinduism and also to prevent Tamil Nadu from being made a base of the LTTE. The Janata Party would organize public meetings at 15 places in the State after September 15 to create an awakening among the people to protect Hinduism, he added.

Since the end of last, year, the Sri Lankan media have reported off and on about the newly acquired air capability of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. In February 2005, a press report said President Chandrika Kumaratunga had even told the two former American Presidents, George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton, about this in the course of her briefing on the Tsunami disaster and relief work organized by her Government. The Sri Lanka Air Force Chief Air Marshal Donald Perera had briefed the President on the LTTE’s capability from information gained through surveillance by unmanned aerial vehicles some time in November 2003. The surveillance revealed that the Tamil militants had built an airstrip near Iranamadu tank in the Vanni area and a light aircraft was seen there.

A number of reconnaissance missions are reported to have shown a paved 1250-metre-long runway at the site and video footage of at least one light aircraft landing at the airstrip. One more light aircraft was probably based there. Air Marshal Perera had said the two planes spotted on the new airstrip were similar to the Czech-built Zlin Z-143. He also said the Tigers were training their own pilots and were well on the way to establishing a full-fledged air force. The runway length indicates a capability to operate medium – seized aircraft such as Dorniers used by Indian security force and have the capability to lift one section of commando troops (12 to 14 persons) with their load or about 1.2 tonnes of cargo. Basically, the LTTE gaining air capability will mean loss of the Government’s sovereign control of Sri Lankan airspace.

Apart form this, it provides the LTTE capability to strike at a place of its choosing without telegraphing its intentions. Thus even with limited air capability, a commando raid of the type carried out by the LTTE at the Katunayake airport becomes much easier to execute. A light aircraft can evade radar surveillance because of its miniscule signature and low flying capability. Such capabilities of the LTTE is causing sleepless nights to those in charge of security at Temple Trees, the official residence of the Sri Lankan resident. The LTTE appears to have built the airstrip between mid 2003 and end 2002. In this period, the LTTE was vociferously demanding the resumption of the peace process. This is so typical of the LTTE, which has refined the art of doublespeak springing strategic operational surprise even while involved in a peace process.

The LTTE’s record shows that it used every peace pause to acquire more weapons. After the current peace process began, by the first half of 2044 the LTTE had received 11 shiploads of arms. The fact that the LTTE has flouted the spirit of the peace process with total impunity to strengthen its ability to wage war should be a matter of concern for International community. It also highlights the ineffectiveness of the present terms of operation of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, a toothless entity with its capability limited to issuing watered-down statements. The lack of unity among Sri Lankan political parties on the question of talks with the LTTE is delaying the resumption of the peace dialogue. The LTTE has put this delay to good use by augmenting its strike capability. Thus when the peace process is resumed Colombo’s negotiator will face a stronger LTTE in a better bargaining position. The LTTE’s single airstrip and a few light aircraft may not be a major threat to Indian security in the conventional sense. However, India should take a hard look at it two levels-vis-avis its Sri Lanka policy options and the security measures against the LTTE’s offensive terrorist capability, which has been augmented.

As regards the security aspects, proactively India will need to initiate security measures taking into consideration the LTTE’s augmented capability to launch and carry out commando operations using its air capability. Those who consider this alarmist would do well to remember the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi plotted and executed with precision by the very same organization after Indian troops pulled out of Ceylon. Precautionary measures could include tightening surveillance of less used airstrips, deploying intelligence assets for gathering specific information on procurement of aircraft spares, aviation fuel, and training of LTTE pilots in Tamil Nadu and adjoining States. Of course, India should also maintain a continuous surveillance of the activities at the airstrip.

The "whole national problem" in Ceylon and "the drop in the standards of university education" on the island is the "tragic result of monolingualism" practised there after "the switchover to the swabhasha" medium of education, according to Professor K.N.O. Dharmadasa, Editor-in Chief, Sinhala Encyclopaedia. The "swabhasha" policy entailed that Sinhalese students should study in the Sinhala medium and that Tamil students should study in the Tamil medium.

Dr. Dharmadasa, former Professor of Sinhala, in the University of Peradeniya and a Fullbright Fellow, said that after the switch to swabhasha (in the 1950s and 60s), those who managed the educational policy of the island neglected education in the English medium. "Generations of people arose in the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s who were monolingual. This is the worse part. We could have been at least bilingual, in Sinhala and Tamil. That also never happened," he said. Besides, the study of English was neglected. This was "very shortsighted" on the part of those who managed the educational policy at that time. The "good news" now was that some universities were now thinking of changing the medium of instruction to English. "But I have my doubts,’’ he said. For, there was a fear in many quarters that "again, a foolish, short-sighted step will be taken to ignore the swabhasha and go back to English alone, and not take care of Sinhala and Tamil." If that happened, people would have "no identity."

He wanted a balance to be struck between these two extremes. He had a word of praise for India. "You have not forgotten English but you have your identity." Dr. Dharmadasa, 66, is a specialist in Sinhala nationalism and Buddhist revivalism. He came to Chennai to deliver the third Vesak commemoration lecture on May 25. The culture of Ceylon in its entirely-be it religion, language, customs, belief systems, rituals, cuisine or dress is rooted deep in the Indian tradition.

Sri Lanka’s chief cease-fire monitor, Hagrup Haukland, on Thursday 26^th May that the "air assets" with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) threatened Sri Lanka’s domestic security and violated international laws. "It is a trickily one and a serious violation. It threatens not only domestic security, but India has also expressed concern," Mr. Haukland, Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) told the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Sri Lanka. Mr. Haukland said he had seen the airstrip from a helicopter on March 4, 2004-a day after the rebellion by the LTTE’s former eastern regional commander, V. Muralitharan (Col’. Karuna). The airstrip, Mr. Haukland said, threatened not only "national domestic security," but also India had expressed concern" which had regional implications.

The LTTE, he said, had "denied access" to the SLMM "has not been able to visit the spot" To another question on the outcome if the Government were to bomb the airstrip, Mr. Haukland said: "Then it is war. If the bombs fall, we pull out."

The Liberation tigers Wednesday the 25^th of May urged the UN’s Refugee Agency to take steps to ensure the safe passage of Tamil refugees in India seeking repatriation to their homes in Sri Lanka. The matter was discussed when the Head of the LTTE Political Wing, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, met with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative in Sri Lanka, Mr. Rajiv Kapur, in Killinochchi on Wednesday, 25th of May.

"(UNHCR) has an obligation by virtue of its mandate relating to the resettlement of refugees, to interact with the government of India and arrange safe repatriation of the Tamil refuges, many of whom have met with death recently while venturing to cross the sea" Peace secretariat sources quoted Mr. Thamilchelvan as telling Mr. Kapur. Mr. Kapur had replied that, following an earlier letter from Mr. Thamilchelvan, he (Mr. Kapur) had already taken action on the matter and was in touch with UNHCR officials in New Delhi on the matter. Lacking money and logistical and organizational support, many Tamil refugees in southern India are unable to return home. Many are turning to people smugglers who charge extortionate rates, but routinely abandon their passengers on sandbanks in the Palk Strait, or cast them adrift.

In an interaction with foreign journalists based in Delhi on May 30^th, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said India had a "very vital stake" in the unity and integrity of Ceylon and expressed the hoe that the ethnic problem would be resolved peacefully. "We are not indifferent" to what was happening in Ceylon, he said in reply to a question on the "dangerous" problem arising from the LTTE setting up naval and air bases.

It is now apparent that the two brothers Colonel Karuna and Colonel Reggie left the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, (LTTE) the Tamil rebel outfit, because of the pressure exerted by their family members - especially by the eldest sister Perinpamalar. It was the sister who at last advised the two brothers to leave the Tamil rebel organization and to join the democratic main stream in the country. Now it is learnt that Perinpamalar and her husband and three children are targeted by the LTTE and the family is on the run to safeguard their lives. The sister and brother-in-law, in the early days, used to spend their week-ends teaching history, politics and other subjects to the LTTE cadres in the camps located in the uncleared parts in the Batticaloa district. In February 2004, when it became apparent that Prabakaran was not interested in going to the negotiation table for talks with the Sri Lankan Government to bring about a sustainable peace in the country, eldest sister prevailed on the brothers and forced them to leave the rebel organization and join the democratic mainstream.

Accordingly, both brothers left the LTTE and were making plans to organize a democratic political organization to serve the Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese in the North and Eastern provinces. Subsequently when Prabakaran send the Jayanthan force which was organized by Colonel Karuna Amman to attack him on 09 April 2004, it was again the sister prevailed on the brothers and urged them not to fight the cadres dispatched by Parbaharan, who also came from the Eastern province and were recruited and trained by Colonel Karuna and Colonel Reggie. She reminded that fratricidal war will only bring curse through out the lifetime.

According to the wise counseling of the sister it seems the brothers disbanded 6,000 of armed cadres under their commanded and handed over the cadres to their parents left the camps for safe places. Once Colonel Karuna and Colonel Reggie left the LTTE camps for safe places without challenging the LTTE armed forces, Prabaharan send his men behind them.

Nine Ceylon Tamil refugees, including three children and a woman, were reported missing after a boat capsized in the Sri Lankan territorial waters on Monday 16^th May. Informed sources said 16 refugees left the Rameswaram coast in an illegal boat early on Monday morning. When they were near the Talaimannar coast, the boat capsized due to rough weather. There was not enough light when the accident took place. Some swam to the shore. A Sri Lankan Naval Craft, which was on patrol duty along the Mannar coast, found seven refugees in an unconscious condition. They were admitted to Mannar Government Hospital. They had suffered dehydration and exhaustion. Sources told The Hindu that the illegal country boat, used for ferrying the refugees belonged to a Rameswaram fisherman. Anyone venturing into the sea was required to get a token from the Fisheries department. But the boat had not got permission from the department. It is suspected that the refugees belonged camps in Dharmapuri and Tiruchi. The incident brought to light the illegal transport of Ceylon refugees from India to their homeland.

There exists a ‘strong’ net work covering Rameswaram, Tiruchi, Madurai and other cities, where refugee camps are set up, involving agents, fishermen from Ceylon and India. It is sad that many refugees opt for this hazardous journey across the Palk Straits in the belief that the returning refugees would be given Rs. 100 000/- for resettlement. According to informed sources the UNHCR had planted this information among the refugees in the camps. The lure of the promised money has fuelled the hasty return to the island unmindful of the risks involved in the crossing of the Palk Straits in overloaded fishing boats. It may be mentioned that those refugees who went there seeking the promised ‘pot of gold’ of Rs. 100 000/- have been bitterly disappointed for sums far less than the promised amount are being paid to the returning refugees.

The LTTE has refuted Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s claim that it has accepted Sri Lankan sovereignty by agreeing to work with the government in a joint mechanism for post-Tsunami reconstruction in the Tamil speaking North-East Province. In an interview to the Tamil daily Sudar Oli on Wednesday, 18^th May, the leader of the LTTE’s political wing, S.P. Tamilselvan, said his organisation agreed to work with the government only as an emergency measure to tackle the problems created by the natural disaster.

"Cooperation with the government in this emergency situation would not amount to accepting Sri Lankan sovereignty," Tamilselvan clarified. He further said that the LTTE agreed to the joint mechanism only on the condition that it would not come under the Presidential Secretariat, the Prime Minister’s Office or the Sri Lankan parliament. It was agreed that the funds would be under an independent custodian, he said. The World Bank is to be the custodian of the rehabilitation funds. In her speech at the meeting of the Sri Lanka Development Forum in Kandy on Monday, Kumaratunga had said that by agreeing to the joint mechanism, the LTTE had tacitly accepted Lanka’s sovereignty.

On Saturday 14^th May, the visiting Japanese Special envoy, Yasushi Akashi said Sri Lanka was going through "a critical period in its political life." The island-nation’s longest spell of cease-fire has been marred by continued killings, largely attributed to the internal split in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)." We should not be complacent about the state of affairs. A state of no-war does not mean we have peace," Mr. Akashi said. Mr. Akashi struck a note of caution that the country was "still precariously placed in a grey zone, hoping for greater stability for all." On the issue of a joint mechanism between the Government and the LTTE for post-Tsunami reconstruction, Mr. Akashi said a failure to create such a body would be "a major blow" for the Sri Lankans. "The breakdown of negotiations or talks leading to the establishment of a joint mechanism will be a major blow to all concerned, particularly the Sri Lankan people who have every right to expect speedy delivery of aid," Mr. Akashi told a press conference in Colombo.

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