Task of real Tamil political leadership: Sivaram in 2003

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2015, 18:39 GMT]
Sivaram Dharmeratnam alias Taraki, the late senior editor of TamilNet, wrote an article in January 2003, explaining the deadlock of the Sri Lankan unitary constitution which cannot provide for a solution within its framework. The international backers were also aware that a federal solution to the ethnic conflict was practically, legally and politically impossible with the Sri Lankan Constitution, he wrote. “Demystifying the realm of Tamil politics and ridding it of the host of canards, half-truths and obfuscations that have plagued for long the national will to struggle for our inalienable rights,” was the key task of the real Tamil political leadership, he wrote in the article.
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Uyangoda revisited on Tamil nationhood, self-determination

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 May 2014, 13:42 GMT]
In a pioneering and incisive article published 35 years ago in a Colombo-based monthly journal Lanka Guardian, Jayadeva Uyangoda, currently a professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Colombo, articulated the Tamil Nationhood and corroborated Tamils right to self-determination based on the Marxists-Leninist principle. His article, condemning the Sinhala Left’s failure to grasp the National question in the island is remarkably applicable in the present context of protracted genocide and military occupation, and displays the resilience of Sinhala chauvinism, which is endemic to the Sri Lankan left, opines a Tamil diaspora student of Anthropology, reproducing the article authored by Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda in the Lanka Guardian of 15 March 1979.
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Media training centre opened in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 October 2013, 13:07 GMT]
Aiming to improve the abilities of Eezham Tamil journalists in Jaffna, a new Media Training Centre, named after former Senior Editor of TamilNet, Maamanithar D Sivaram (Taraki), has been declared opened in Jaffna on Wednesday. The new training centre is situated close to Jaffna Press Club at Raasaavin Thoaddam. Two senior journalists, S. Ratheyan, the former editor of Eezha-murasu, Eezha-Naatham and Namathu Eezhanaadu, and Iya Sachithananthan, who narrowly escaped when the office of the Eezhanaadu newspaper was set to fire by the SL forces in 1982 and who later became its editor, jointly opened the training centre. Journalists and civil society activists from all walks of life were present at the event.
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Hypocrisy at best: US policy towards Syria and Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 June 2013, 13:44 GMT]
US media reported on Wednesday that the CIA has begun shipping of arms to Syrian rebels to counter Bashar al-Assad’s forces. This move comes in spite of strong opposition from UNSC member Russia and warnings by a UN expert that increase in flow of weapons into Syria would only escalate the conflict. Likewise, American diplomat Susan Rice termed UNSC’s inaction on Syria a “stain” on the body. The hypocrisy of assisting Sri Lanka in its genocidal war on the Tamil nation while crying foul over al-Assad’s operations apart, the US through its actions on Syria makes it clear once again that the UNHRC, UNSC are of least concern should the US decide to intervene in a conflict. Given this nature of US foreign policy, till how long then will the Tamil Geneva pundits continue to believe in the impotent resolutions on Sri Lanka in the UNHRC, questions a political analyst in Colombo.
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‘Extra-constitutional interim solution to counter Sinhala militarization must be probed’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 February 2013, 17:33 GMT]
Arguing that while the strategy for Tamils world over should be the restoration of Eezham Tamil sovereignty over their traditional homeland, RM Karthick writes that the Tamil diaspora organizations must arrive at a consensus for an immediate tactic to alleviate the mutilation of the Eezham Tamil nation in the Tamil homeland by the occupying Sinhala military via an interim solution of an intervention of international powers in the island to facilitate the dismantling of the Sinhala military apparatus. Contending that such an interim solution should not give any legitimacy whatsoever to the Sri Lankan constitution, the writer further argues that any interim solution can be successful only on an extra-constitutional basis that has pre-constitutional recognition of the Eezham Tamil nation’s territoriality and historical sovereignty.
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‘Sri Lanka model of COIN sets a dangerous precedent for humanity’

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 October 2012, 18:26 GMT]
After the International Community of Establishments working in tandem with a genocide-intending Sri Lankan state oversaw a brutal military solution over the armed struggle of the Eezham Tamils in May 2009, the ‘Sri Lanka model’ of dealing with insurgencies is now being incorporated into the science of Counterinsurgency (COIN), opines RM Karthick, observing what dangerous ramifications this could have for struggling peoples worldwide in an article published on Sanhati, an Indian online journal, on Wednesday. Outlining internal and external factors in shaping the conflict, using the politico-military analysis of the late TamilNet senior editor ‘Taraki’ Sivaram, the author explains how internationally coordinated measures against the LTTE and the genocidal intent of Sinhala nationalists led to Mu’l’livaaykkaal and the systemic repression of the Eezham Tamils in their homeland that followed.
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Contributions of Sivaram remembered at Memorial Seminar in London

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 May 2012, 02:41 GMT]
Commemorating the life, thoughts and contributions of ‘Taraki’ Sivaram Dharmeratnam, and inviting diverse views on the same, the Sivaram Memorial Seminar conducted in London on Sunday brought together Tamil, Sinhala, Muslim, British and Tamil Nadu journalists, academics and activists to discuss the intellectual legacy of the late senior editor of TamilNet. Referring to personal interactions with Sivaram, his ideological influences, his life as journalist and activist, his political and strategic analysis, the speakers interacted with the audience that included members of different shades of diaspora organizations, mainstream media and solidarity groups. The tightly packed programme included a closed door screening of award winning film-maker Beate Arnestad’s documentary ‘Silenced Voices’ to the seminar attendees.
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Press Freedom Day in Jaffna remembers journalists

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 May 2012, 16:26 GMT]
The journalistic contribution of Sivaram Dharmeratnam (Taraki), especially his writings on the struggle of Eezham Tamils, were remembered by several speakers at a well-attended Press Freedom Day event held in Jaffna on Thursday. The event, organised by Nimalarajan Memorial Foundation (NMF), has also brought out a publication of cartoons by Mr Pious Raja, who passed away in Jaffna after experiencing the genocidal war and incarceration in Vanni. A speaker at the event urged the NMF to compile and translate Tamil articles by late Sivaram into English and vice versa, as his writings continue to be valuable to the Tamil cause. The NMF, in an exemplary way, took up the cause of Tamil female students of Vanni in the Jaffna Univeristy, as there have been several cases of suicides among them. Poverty, trauma and psychological stress have been identified as the factors behind the tragic trend.
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Award winning filmmaker presents documentary on exiled Sinhala, Tamil journalists

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 January 2012, 22:45 GMT]
‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’, a new documentary by Norwegian filmmaker Beate Arnestad, who directed and produced the award winning documentary ‘My Daughter the Terrorist’ in 2007, is to be pre-premiered in Oslo, Norway, on 09 February. The screening of ‘Silenced Voices’, which is about journalists, who contributed to international exposure of the internationally abetted genocidal war without witnesses, will be followed by a debate featuring journalists Bashana Abeywardane, the former chief editor of Hiru weekly, Frances Harrison, the former BBC foreign correspondent to Sri Lanka and Sverre Tom Radøy, a Norwegian journalist. The film features Mr. Bashana Abeywardene, his wife Sharmila Logeswaram, Sonali Wickrematunge and A. Lokeesan, TamilNet wartime correspondent, who was reporting from 2005 to April 2009 from Vanni.
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Hearing in Sivaram assassination case put off for April 25

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 January 2012, 18:44 GMT]
The Colombo High Court on Thursday put off further hearing in the assassination case of TamilNet senior editor Dharmeratnam Sivaram (Taraki) for April 25, 2012. SL State Counsel appearing for the prosecution requested the court to postpone further hearing as he found difficult to proceed with the case in the ‘absence of vital witnesses’. The Sri Lankan high court has postponed the case also on earlier occasions citing the same excuse.
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SLMM tilted balance in favour of Sri Lanka, against LTTE: Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 November 2011, 21:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the peace keeping arm of the Norway facilitated peace process in the island, tilted the balance in favour of the Sri Lankan state and against the LTTE, wrote Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam in 2007, in an unpublished research paper on the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) he submitted to a foundation in the West. The IC could have used the CFA to pursue conflict resolution by maintaining the balance of power between the parties, but to the contrary it had used the CFA as a ‘counterinsurgency’ tool to reinforce the state and weaken the de facto state, so that the state could pursue yet another military solution to the conflict, he further wrote. The unpublished paper that reveals how the very idea of Norway’s peace facilitation was to ‘fail the peace facilitation’ in favour of state, is documented here for historical purposes.
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War and aftermath raise questions over Tamil strategy of engagement with powers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 July 2011, 05:41 GMT]
LTTE and Tamil nationalism were perceived by some powers as getting into the way of their geo-strategic interests. Therefore ‘peace and stability’ means stabilising the Sinhalese regime by crushing LTTE’s military challenge – that was done – and bringing Tamil nationalism to heel, which process is ongoing both in Sri Lanka and among the Tamil diaspora, writes Dr. S. Sathananthan in an article he sent to TamilNet. The power-abetted genocidal war and the aftermath facilitations given to Colombo to complete the genocide into a structural one, raise serious questions among Tamils over the nature of their strategic engagement with some powers.
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Sivaram showed how Sri Lankan state was dependent on oppression of Tamils: Prof. Whitaker

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 May 2010, 17:10 GMT]
Sivaram’s biographer and close friend Professor Mark P. Whitaker said Thursday that Sivaram’s ability as a professional journalist to show convincingly how the Sri Lankan state was dependent upon its oppression of Tamil people, was one of the key reasons why he was targeted and killed exactly five years ago. Professor of Anthropology of the University of South Carolina , Mark P. Whitaker made these observations when delivering a speech at an event in London to commemorate the fifth death anniversary of Sri Lanka ’s top journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram, well-known by his pseudonym as Taraki.
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TamilNet releases Sivaram video footage on Tamil journalism

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 May 2010, 10:55 GMT]
TamilNet has released video clippings from a lecture conducted by late D. Sivaram (Taraki), the well-known political and military analyst and senior editor of TamilNet, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of his assassination, at a remembrance event held in Oslo by the Norwegian Council of Eelam Tamils on Thursday.
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Heroes and rulers, eternal struggle of humanity

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 November 2009, 22:50 GMT]
The roots of the current tragedy of the island lie in the unscrupulous competition between India and USA over the control of the island as a whole. None of the adamantly competing powers wanted to address the national question in the island with justice. In a way, over the death and captivation of Tamils, powers are now wooing and competing for the ‘democratic’ votes of the Sinhalese. The war has metamorphosed the main personalities in the election fray to full-fledged dummies, as they are not as brave or honest as Pirapaharan in resisting the diktats of powers. When viewed against this backdrop, the universal as well as civilisation-perspectives of the struggle under the LTTE of Pirapaharan and the sacrifices made by thousands and thousands of fighters and people could be understood in an altogether different light, sidelining all the accusations on the modus operandi of the struggle.
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Chennai journalists demand Vithyatharan's immediate release

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 February 2009, 19:34 GMT]
Over a hundred journalists held a demonstration in Chennai near the State Guest House on Saturday to condemn the increasing attacks on the media in Sri Lanka and the recent abduction and arrest of well-known Tamil newspaper editor Nadesapillai Vithyatharan. The participants were from the Chennai Press Club, the Madras Union of Journalists, The Madras Reporters' Guild, and 'Journalists against Fascism'.
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'International media abetted death of journalism in Sri Lanka'

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 January 2009, 03:04 GMT]
Following the latest assassination of prominent editor Lasantha Wickramatunge of The Sunday Leader, four notable journalists, have reportedly fled Sri Lanka last week. "Had the international media, which was refused access to the war front and LTTE held territories, boycotted the government news, from the beginning itself as a measure of asserting media rights, the casualty of journalism in the island could have been avoided. But, the international media, especially the popular news agencies, are part of the game and they pay only lip service at every media casualty in the country," says a journalist formerly based in Colombo and now operating in the West.
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Jury discharged in Sivaram murder case, trial put off

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 August 2008, 14:19 GMT]
Colombo High Court Judge A.T.Ratnaike Wednesday discharged the Sinhalese speaking Jury in the murder case of popular military analyst and TamilNet editorial board member Dharmeratnam Sivaram (Taraki) following the submission by the prosecution that whereabouts of one of the key prosecution witnesses was not known, legal sources said.
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Journalists Sivaram, Rajivarman remembered in Nelliyadi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 April 2008, 14:17 GMT]
“We raise our voices aloud demanding freedom of media despite the prevailing dangerous atmosphere. We join our hands with our media friends worldwide, and raise our hands along with them in the demand for the freedom of media,” the North Ceylon Journalists Association (NCJA) said in a message during a lunch offering Sunday to the elders and children in Nelliyadi Paramaananthaa Ashram, Home for the Aged and Children, held in remembrance of late TamilNet Senior Editor "Taraki" Sivaram and Selvarajah Rajivarman, sources in Jaffna said.
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2007: The year in review

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 07:34 GMT]
For the people of the NorthEast, 2007 was a grim year. Sri Lanka’s security forces and allied paramilitaries intensified their campaign of abductions (‘white van’ abductions), torture, and murder of Tamil civilians. Tamil civil society leaders bore the brunt of the counter-insurgency campaign. Jaffna remained an open prison with shortage of essential items, east falling under the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) control with thousands displaced as Colombo concocts colonization schemes to make east a Sinhala majority province.
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