The other side of Gandhi

Gandhi nearly killed ‘Indian women’ ! Thanks to Hindu Code bill


Following are the excerpts from the international Daily Gaurdian…

George Orwell, in his 1949 essay Reflections on Gandhi, said that “saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent”. If only.

Gandhi despised his own sexual desires, and despised sex in any context except for procreation. He preached that the failure to control carnal urges led to complaints including constipation. He believed that sex was bad for the health of an individual, and that sexual freedom would lead Indians to failure as a people. He sought to consign his nation to what Martin Luther called “the hell of celibacy”. He took his own celibacy vow unilaterally, without consulting his wife.

His view of the female body was warped. As accounted by Rita Banerji, in her book Sex and Power, “he believed menstruation was a manifestation of the distortion of a woman’s soul by her sexuality”.

During Gandhi’s time as a dissident in South Africa, he discovered a male youth had been harassing two of his female followers. Gandhi responded by personally cutting the girls’ hair off, to ensure the “sinner’s eye” was “sterilised”. Gandhi boasted of the incident in his writings, pushing the message to all Indians that women should carry responsibility for sexual attacks upon them. Such a legacy still lingers. In the summer of 2009, colleges in north India reacted to a spate of sexual harassment cases by banning women from wearing jeans, as western-style dress was too “provocative” for the males on campus.

Gandhi believed Indian women who were raped lost their value as human beings. He argued that fathers could be justified in killing daughters who had been sexually assaulted for the sake of family and community honour. He moderated his views towards the end of his life. But the damage was done, and the legacy lingers in every present-day Indian press report of a rape victim who commits suicide out of “shame”. Gandhi also waged a war against contraceptives, labelling Indian women who used them as whores.

Like all men who wage a doomed war with their own sexual desires, Gandhi’s behaviour around females would eventually become very, very odd. He took to sleeping with naked young women, including his own great-niece, in order to “test” his commitment to celibacy. The habit caused shock and outrage among his supporters. God knows how his wife felt.

Gandhi cemented, for another generation, the attitude that women were simply creatures that could bring either pride or shame to the men who owned them. Again, the legacy lingers. India today, according to the World Economic Forum, finds itself towards the very bottom of the gender equality index. Indian social campaigners battle heroically against such patriarchy. They battle dowry deaths. They battle the honour killings of teenage lovers. They battle Aids. They battle female foeticide and the abandonment of new-born girls.

In the words of the Indian writer Khushwant Singh, “nine-tenths of the violence and unhappiness in this country derives from sexual repression”. Gandhi isn’t singularly to blame for India’s deeply problematic attitudes to sex and female sexuality. But he fought, and succeeded, to ensure the country would never experience sexual freedom while his legend persevered. Gandhi’s genius was to realise the great power of non-violent political revolution. But the violence of his thoughts towards women has contributed to countless honour killings and immeasurable suffering.

Remember, there’s no such thing as a saint.

Source: The Gaurdian

“Terrorism” a different meaning

The Present Century witness many “War” not on different nations but within its own Nation. US were the forefather to use the slogan to invade Iraq. No nation could question the US operation because it was fighting against terrorism. Since then many Government took the slogan and interpreted the way they liked. Now many nations are using the same slogan to solve the internal problems.
The War can be viewed as below.
The recent War is between the Government (authorized Terrorist) and the innocent civilian. The civilians are termed in different names according to their country, like in India they are called Naxalites, in Sri Lanka they are called as Tamil or LTTE. Here I would like to say how the Yemen nation is fighting against terrorism.
During the Soviet Union, America wanted to fight soviet, therefore it asked Osama to go to Afghanistan and build his business and fight against Soviet in the name of Islam. As directed he went to Afghanistan and mobilized the Muslims to fight against soviet. During this period, America asked the help of Yemen to fight against Soviet. Yemen agreed and extended its support through sending its troop. After Soviet Union collapsed, the Yemeni nation was asked to put all the soldiers who went to Afghanistan under prison saying they are Al-qaeda. Yemen did the same, however everyone in Yemen knew that these prisoners have nothing to do anything against the common public. Still the Yemeni government did it. But the Government put them for some other reason. Couple of years before some prisoners escaped. Since then the Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Saleh asked every nation to give money because some of the prisoners escaped to America (Actually they say it was the plot done by the government to get money to solve the internal problem between north-south). But none were ready to believe. Recently the FBI in America caught a person who tried to collapse a building by a flight. When he was interrogated he said he was trained in Yemen. America said, Yemen is the latest ground for the al qaeda. Yemen president said Yes! He was trained in Yemen, and belongs to Al-qaeda, and said further that “I have been saying for years that I need money to fight against the Al-qaeda, but no country responded”. After this US organized a conference with 48 countries and agreed to give money to help Yemen to curb Al-quada. Now totally Yemen received 250 million dollars and more help through getting army equipment and other helps from various countries.
With this fund the President is going to silence the people who are fighting for separation. (Ref. EFL-University, Yemeni Friends)
In the name of War on Naxalites(one kind of terrorist, in government terms), India is killing Tribal population.
Sri Lanka puts all civilians into prison and executes saying they are LTTE (terrorist).

CASTE WISE SENSUS, AT ENGLISH AND FOREIGN LANGAUGES UNIVERSITY

The Census is carried for the Permanent staffs alone. It includes Non-teaching and Teaching staffs from our university. The given data is 99% accurate. If anyone requires to know the subcaste's population, mail me. I thought it would be controversial, therefore i have avoided for the time being. However, to say there are 2 Bangi's(They are otherwise called as mehtars, paki, relly) working in our university. one is engaged in Basheer Hostel Toilet and the other in the ladies hostel toilet. The total number of the staffs are approximately 385 till now. There is only one muslim ladies in the campus as a permanent staffs. The Reservation policy of 60 years has not increased the level of the Scavengers or Sweepers in India.
For Madigas, the highest position in the administration they hold is the Section Officer. Then the question should be: who was using the Reservation policy for 60 years?
Here i quote
AP census 2001
" The growth rate of SC population in the decade 1991-2001 at 16.5 per cent
has been higher if compared to the overall growth rate of the state population (14.6 per
cent) as a whole. Among the numerically major SCs, Mala have recorded the highest
growth rate of 29.7 per cent, followed by Madiga (25.5 per cent). On the other hand, Adi
Andhra caste, the fourth largest in the state have recorded a negative growth (-80.5 per
cent). Adi Dravida have also recorded a low growth rate of 4 per cent. Due to the ethnic
affinity, it is likely that a number of Adi Andhra and Adi Dravida have reported
themselves as Mala and/or Madiga, resulting in such a large differential in growth rate."

"Among the major SCs, Adi Andhra have been reported the highest literacy rate
of 69.6 per cent, followed by Adi Dravida (65.4 per cent) and Mala (60 per cent). More
than half of Madigas are illiterate with literacy rate of 47.5 per cent. The female literacy
rate of 43.3 per cent among SC population is lower compared to the total females of the
state (50.4 per cent) as well their male counterparts (63.5 per cent). The highest and
lowest female literacy rate of 63 per cent and 36.9 per cent have been recorded among
Adi Andhra and Madiga."

Therefore for a constructive growth there should be special attention paid not on seeing Dalit as an homogenity group rather seeing it through its own division i.e., sub-Caste. But still they are all Dalits.

ARE WE AWARE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN EFL-U

do any one recognize her? once she was a participant in the Russian department. She was the first girl from her Taluk to reach this premier institute. During her tenth standard she scoured the highest mark in her school. She hails from the scavenging background, her mother and father committed suicide at her early age. She is the third child for her parents, one sister and one brother. Her expenses was met by her grandmother alone by collecting equlaptus leaves in forest. with the less income she could reach till 12th standard on 1998. After these many years she comes to our university under merit. She expelled in her studies even here. Before joining this University she was working as a home-maid for 3 houses for RS. 500 each, Per month. She was happy to study in this university. But still her family situation droved her back and sent her to the same old job.
Like this there are many students who leave everything in their back home and come here with lot of hope. But what really happens is tragic. We all may think that it is a sad story to write here. We all can say that we could do nothing in her situation, but another question we should ask ourselves is at least those students who are studying in this campus should get a good future. Do they really get good education (B.A) is the question? most of the students are getting 'E', 'c' and 'D', which would be like 35% of mark. The SC/ST/OBC are the majority in getting failed. What can they do with this degree? The recent incident was also related to this. Every teacher knew that these students are scoring very less marks and they cannot have a bright future. This issue blew because of failure. But, what have they done is the question we have to ask?
Recently Teachers call a meeting in request of some faculties for discussing about a particular teachers problem. The same faculties did not call a single meeting to discuss, why did one of our students tried to attempt suicide?. If this question was raised long back then there is no need for students to raise this issue after 20 days. And we should understand that this is the 3 semester they have taken. Therefore, teachers are aware of the results awarded to students. Many of the students who were active were also silenced.
Let us hope that one day the teachers will wakeup for a students cause.

Question: Who got independence on 1947?

Recently I had been to the Central Jail to visit one of my friends. The Jail structure and the way police were guarding it arose lot many questions in me. As a result I could get a sense of how Britishers treated “natives” once, for that matter anyone who was ruling. We read lesson after lesson of our “Great” freedom struggle, and the struggle we had for getting independence. But when I saw the jail it told me one thing that yes it was true but there were some grammatical error which is forced on us to believe the independence 1947 struggle. Because, recently Telangana Mass movement is struggling to get a separate state, and the same is the case with Gorkhaland. In Maharashtra Vidharba regional struggle. And there are many more: Nandhigram struggle (Bengal), Naxalite struggle (from Andhra northwards covering the whole east corridor of India), peasant struggle, Caste struggle, and struggle against price rise. Even there are struggles where people are struggling for months together in New Delhi which are not reported. These struggle are not against non-natives, then who is it against? It means everyone of us want to get freed from various clutches, i.e. region, class, caste, BJP, Congress, CPI etc. Every day in news paper a particular Class or socially backward community is struggling for some or the other issue against other Indians.

How many police station, security guards we have in India, and these are not created for non-Indians, it is only to stop or control Indians, from what?
Because it is not we who got independence, it is they who got independence. It is left to the readers to see who “we” is and who is “they”. Therefore let us start this new century’s freedom struggle so that we can also have some more decades and enjoy and the next centuries some other can fight for another freedom struggle.
Who got independence in 1947?
These above struggles we all know very well and still why do we say “We got independence in 1947”. The simple answer is left to each one of us....

“WE HAVE A PROBLEM AND WE GIVE A SOLUTION”

The notice was put across the Campus of English and Foreign Languages University. Inquired, it was informed that the students of B.A put the notice for getting justice on the following issue.
1.To Find out whether student of German department face Caste Discrimination
2.To inquire why majority of the failure of students always belongs to a particular social group.

On the above point they called a meeting and decided to boycott the classes of B.A till the administration forms two different committee to inquire into the matter respectively, at last they succeeded in forming committees.

****

There and letter after letter distributed withing faculties and students on this particular issue. Therefore we would get the facts and post in the coming page.

LESSONS ARE LEARNT BY EXPERIENCE

In recent past Dalits committing sucide in the education institution has arose lot of debate in the way how administration discriminates students. It has become a trend to form solidarity committee after a person committs suicide. HCU was one of those recently got subjected to such an issue. In fact if the administration and the students would have taken the issues related to discrimination seriously, then we could have avoided such incidents. Both of them fail in doing so therefore Students take a drastic steps when we do not support them or try to stop the discrimination met by them at the beginning level. In Hyderabad Central University, after Senthils sucide, the Department changed its rules, which was an outcome of a committee formed to inquire into the issue.

The present issue which aggravated the normality of the atmosphere, in English and Foreign Languages University disturbed the students community a lot in particular the SC/ST/OBC and minority students. Actually the discrimination got blew from the German department where certain students were not allowed to sit in the class. When we analyzed the issue it was found, there were many such students belonging to socially Backward community who lacked in to be promoted to the next semester.

Though the university provides the Remideal Course for the backward students. Still we require a through investigation on why majority of failures are from reserved background. Because, we cannot work like an administrative body which find a temporary solution and washes its hands away. Hence the administration should be pressed to form a Committee with autonomous power, comprising students, faculties and experts from outside to enquire and bring suggestion to the administration. This would be a possible way of reaching to the students.

And since we are a growing University, we could set a role model to other Universities with the help of Vice-Chancellor, Whom for sure will support such an initiative.

In relation to the above reasons we again request students, non-teaching staffs belonging to reserved category and well wishers to demand the administration to form a committee that will enquire the academics of students and implement their suggestion.



check the link for more details on Caste, Suicide
http://insightyv.com/?p=300

Discrimination met by Dalit students

How Caste functions in an academical atmosphere, at the level of teaching.
Across India the question of Caste and its funtion is debated and discussed in various fields, at present let us focus on academics and political arena. Therefore let us understand Caste in the present issue (in the context of English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad). The Indian government had introduced the reservation policy for those who are socially and economically backwardness, the backwardness was debated and discussed. The backwardness is still debated in the educational and other various arenas. It is every important to see on what level those issues are debated, either in bookish or in practical. Before let us see where do the backward students come from?

The majority of the Indian population dwells in the rural population, without schools and sometimes without even electricity. They live under poverty. It becomes an imagination for the partents to admit their sons in english medium. Some times even the sons/daughters go to work to support their family. There are students who go to school for the mid day meal. These are very little problems they face in their every day life. Still students explore in their studies.

To imporve the backwardness the Indian government introduced Government schools in across every state. Every person knows the conditions of those schools. In fact those are schools for name sake in rural areas, where there are no faculties even and in certain places there are no proper buildings to hold classes, when it rains or during the hot sun. Even the facuties will be irrruegular, I still remember a faculty who will be drunk in class (Government Hight School, Kotagiri),

Those people who get educated and come to a higher position also fails in addressing these primary and long term issues. There are still good number of population do not even go to the schools. It lies due to the lack of visibility from the governmental pro gramme to educate or to reform the academic atmosphere. Most students from rural areas are the first generation. Yes, it is surprising that they are first generation even after 60 years of Independence. The surprise does not stop here, because there are crores of people who are not availing this education also still. (Let us ask ourselves. How many Bhangis, mehtars, pakis, sakkiliyars, or any student from Scavenging background? When you count you may get a shocking result.)
It is as important to discuss or see even how their atmosphere is in back home, which is an alienated from their studies. However, still people explore in the results and at recent times there are people who come under open category. It may arise a question immediately, why there are people who do not explore as the others who do. The answer should be directed towards ourselves, why in general category there are people who fail?. Therefore the success of some students cannot be compared or be a deciding factor of the system or the teachers involved in teaching. Even faculty knew that there are different students coming from different background, socially, regionally, economically, to study. The teachers should know that the students coming from such a deprived background is not an optional of their choice. If the teacher is aware of such a background or the history of their backwardness, then the teacher will pay special attention and encourage such students in class. The encouraging happens but at what level, just at the level of comedy (monetary help and providing books) or with sincerity in educating them. Even the success of any teacher lies not at the level of students who are already ‘forward’ in their education but rather those who educate students from the scratch. How many students did this university produce? However, there is a limit even in the involvement of faculty is concerned, which I am aware of. And I am speaking in the level of their involvement not on their limitation above the sky. There are rules framed or governed by the administration to make sure the students involvement in the academics too. I am speaking of those students whose academical involvement was fulfilled, such as their attendance and giving their internal exams.
Every teachers who teach would have knew that certain students are not going to qualify. Before going further I even like to say there can be occasions where students are forced not to qualify in their exams. In the first case the teachers should have involved to teach her and made sure she is prepared to face the exam.
Let us take the statistics of the present exams result. There are many students who are failed. Cant we see some similarity among all those who failed the exam. If we think that they do not study well then I suppose we have to go and read the injustice done to those people historically and get back to read the rest of the article. The similarity is Caste in large.
The Face of Discrimination on Caste lines
According to the Supreme Court order, said students who failed in three subjects should be given a chance and promoted to the next semester. Though the order was these in favour of the students one department was reluctant to follow, and showed the University rules where the students cannot be permitted. The teacher even said if I have the power to allow them in class I would be the first person to do so. Therefore it was said that the faculty will allow if only VC, the supreme authority to decide, involves by permitting them to allow in class. Then came the shock when VC wrote to the faculty to allow, the faculty replied she might resign rather allowing the student in the class. This is where the social context interfere to make us understand the reason for the faculty not involving the students to the class. The faculty is from the Upper Caste and this is the third time the same teacher shows such a discrimination to students who are socially backward. Is this the behavior of the teacher to show such a discrimination towards students who are socially backward? However, I would like to say at this instance that it is not all faculties are treating socially backward students like this. There are many faculties who treat all students equally and educate them. As a result here I am writing because of a faculty who taught and encouraged me.

appeal to end caste discrimination in EFL University, Hyderabad

One fine day, the second day of the semester, Prof. Meenakshi Reddy, the dean of the German studies enters into the third semester class and asks two of the students (OBC) to leave the class on the basis that they have failed in two subjects in the examination of the previous semester. And then she asks two other students(SC/ST) to leave the class by saying that “you might have understood, what I said.” One of the two students asked her to expalin why students who did not take the exams are allowed to sit(today when we were discussing she said that VC asked her orally to accept them to sit in the 4th semester class), and we are asked to get out of the class? She replied that is a different case and yours is a different case. Therefore these 4 students went to VC's office, where he asked them to wait till monday. (5days). On Monday the students went to VC. He said Meenakshi Reddy has taken a decision and therefore you go to her she will tell you what to do. When the students approached Meenakshi Reddy, she said whomever failed should sit in the second semester and will not be allowed to sit in the fourth semester. The students requested/begged her to allow them to sit. She told them that they are not able to cope with the course therefore under her custodianship she can allow them to stay in the hostel and audit the second semester course without any scholarship. The students cried and begged to not do this because they are coming from a humbe backgroud and cannot afford to repeat a year. Her reply was that she can't help it because she is not the authority to decide. The students again went to the VC, and he asked the students to go to Meenakshi Reddy and that he will himself speak to her. The same day they went again to Prof.Meenakshi Reddy. She said she cannot do anything and repeated that she can allow them to sit in the 2nd semester. It was late by then, and the next day they went to VC again and he said he has written a letter to German department asking them to allow the students. When the students went there she said “If Chindambaram (Home Minister) or your Chief Minister of your state asks me to allow also, I cant allow”, and said further that in case such situation arises she might resign rather admitting these students to the class( this was told in the class too). (Later we came to know that she has given a resignation to the VC that if she is asked she would resign) The students asked the department that whether they received the letter and they replied in the negative. We went to Controller of Examination to confirm whether VC's decision has reached them. He said he has already forwarded it to the Department. The studentse went to VC again and he said he cannot do anything, and that he has done whatever he could. This was happening for one week. There was a week end and on monday one of the students attempted suicide in the near by Seetafal mandi railway station. Fortunately she was saved, this was reported in all news channels. Then we went to VC shockingly he called her on mobile and asked to allow them. Then they were allowed.

After this incident the two SC/ST students were been approached by various other faculty and students asking them why did they do this. They all was of the opinion that Meenakshi Reddy is a nice woman in the class.

Meenakshi Reddy had a prior history of caste based discrimination. In 2008 she, in her position as the Head of the Department, had converted the SC/ST reserved seats in the German Certificate of Proficiency Course to General Category. Further she has a history of being rude to SC/ST students approaching her for various reasons.

Later, we some Dalit students went to VC asking an explanation and to seek her resignation for showing discrimination against the students. He begged every one asking not to do any thing as such. He even said that he went to each students who were active in the university room asking them to be flexible in this issue. However, some students felt such discrimination should not be overlooked. Today (29-01-10) we went to ask to assure that such kind of discrimination will not happen in the future. She messaged a group of students and called some faculties. Thereupon some faculty members came into her room and started speaking on her behalf. We demanded that we need to hear the reassurance from Meenakshi Reddy's mouth. However, she consistently refused even though Prof.Rajagopal himself told her the same. From 11am to 1pm, Meenakshi Reddy was adamant that she would word any such reassurance. Then, some 30 students from the BA German barged in and pointing fingers at the students in the chamber, said “we don't know who you are. You have no business to be here. Come out and talk to us and we will show you”. Following this, they pulled the collar of one of the Dalit research scholars present there. We said that we are here to talk to Meenakshi Reddy.

The issue then ended in a scuffle and the administration can now rejoice that they have succesfully silenced the Dalit and other depressed class students by turning a chunk of students against them. Though the Dalit students then sat demanding justice in front of VC's chamber for the next four hours, the VC was adamant that he would not speak to them. Moreover, on his way to the chamber, he also termed it a “non-issue”.

We request all of you readers to react to this issue. Please mobilize whatever resources you can command to react to this discrimination.

Also, the following is a letter we had drafted to present before the administration, which was however thwarted in the course of the day.

The flow of the incident.
Those students failed in two subject have got a very less GPA. However, In recent case the supreme court said students from reserved backgroud should be given a chance. This was given in the earlier semesters, where students failed in 3 subject were allowed to take the next semester.

It is not that only in german department students failed. Students were failed in most other department too but they were allowed on the same day of re-opening.

There were students who did not take the exams but they were allowed to sit in the same German department.

What it really meant when she said that “If Chindambaram (Home Minister) or your Chief Minister of your state asks me to allow also, I cant allow”.






LETTER


The recent incident of a particular female student of II yr Foreign Languages attempting suicide has brought into focus several issues which were hitherto hidden but have now surfaced. Let us recount them:

1)The idea of merit based on a uniform scale:
The reasons which led to the above mentioned incident are as follows: The student had failed in her third semester examination. Following which, the German Department was insistent on not permitting her to continue into the next semester, though similar incidents in every other foreign language department were condoned. In the discussions which followed, the idea of “German efficiency” is constantly being referred to. This is a very convenient argument that at the same time conceals the undemocratic nature of the educational system of the country as a whole, and on the other hand projects this “efficiency” as an ideal to look up to.

The reality is very different though. Firstly, one must agree that the student is a student by virtue of his/her having cleared a set of requirements which include an entrance examination. Therefore, the merit of the said student is also unquestionable. The question then is, “how is that a student who has cleared the entrance examination and (in this particular case, though not necessarily in every case) has cleared her first year examinations, fails to live up to the standards of the university?” The commonsensical answer is that these students belong (as empirically proven in our university) to the Reserved Categories. This answer is often whispered, and never spoken aloud in any open forum. This in itself constitutes a violence, because it denies the option of a discussion and thereby violates the right of the accused (of meritlessness) to defend him/herself.

Once we agree that most of the failed students are from the Reserved Category, it is easy for accusers to say that these students have entered the university only by the merit of fixed seat numbers reserved for them, irrespective of what marks they get. This in itself constitutes an already assumed inferior position of the students. One should then remember that this reservation system contributes to making our nation a truly democratic setup. The reservation system is based on historical truths, that of deprivation and of denied access to public resources which a certain section of the country's population has been historically subjected to. Therefore, the very idea of reservation is based on providing a level ground of competition.

By implementing reservation, the university agrees to the above in theory. But what should we understand from the fact that a student granted admission on these grounds has failed in subsequent exams? It means that in practice, in everyday academic life, the university does not follow the spirit of the Constitution. The very fact that Reserved Category students constitute the chunk of “failures” underscores the fact that, in practice, the reservation policy is violated. To put reservation into practice one should then have a real-egalitarian measure in the case of examination also. This would involve evolving criteria for measurement which takes into account factors like the initial profile of the student matched against the subsequent performances in percentage, a radical refashioning of the syllabus as per the real-life needs and cultural life-worlds of the students, eradication of merit based on examination marks and a juxtaposition of mark vs. background in its stead, abolishing of “failed” category, etc. Once the category of “failed” is abolished, students will be able to continue through the course at a single stretch, while they should also be given the provision of grade improvement exams atleast once in each semester.

By evoking a law uniform to all sections of the society, heedless of their historical backgrounds, by sticking to the letter of law and not its spirit, by treating such failed students in a manner which will humiliate them, which will bring upon self-harming responses from them, the university has failed to live up to the historical compensation which the state promises its depressed citizens.

It should be noted here that those who are invoking law against these students are forgetting their duty, again enjoined by law and reiterated by the Supreme Court in relation to the failed students case in Delhi IIT, that the centre of learning has a constitutional responsibility to ensure that the Reserved Category students are at par with the General Category students. This in effect means that providing equal opportunity is not a gesture of equality but a perpetuation of existing inequalities. What we want is a radical transformation of the idea of merit itself.

On the other hand, a teacher training in this country should correspond to the post-Mandal realities where education has ceased to be the privileged possession of a few. They should take into consideration that a newer demography of students has entered this campus and instead of looking down on them, the university should realize the potential that these students from diverse backgrounds have to offer, if catered to sensitively. These students, hailing from life-worlds hitherto kept off bounds of university, has to offer the society novel ways of p[erception which can revolutionize our very procedures of knowledge formations. It will be a historical blunder and failure on the part of the university if it fails to acknowledge and make use of this variegated experiences of these students and subject them to the obsolete, wornout and fetishized academic practices.

2)The university as family and whimsical justice:
The university administration constantly evokes the idea of students as siblings and the faculty as their parents. This idea in itself is a mask which hides the diverse backgrounds that the students come from, and installs in its place the idea of an imagined equality where each person, regardless of his background, can achieve things equally. This imagination then conceals the real-life hurdles of a large section of students. This is another way of saying that because the university provides the same facility to everyone, they should have the same potential. This leaves out the fact that there are real differences among the students -rural/urban, english medium/regional medium, had TV at home/couldn't afford, had time to have a hobby/had to be a helping hand in the family... In other words, it is saying that we enter the university without memories, like a clean slate -which we did not.

The flip side to this same argument is that the teachers are equal to our parents who can render justice. It is no wonder then that in many cases the university resorts to a method of justice by whims.

Let us take this specific case. All the other departments in the Foreign Languages except the German department allowed the failed students to continue. How is it possible that the university works on such informal arrangement where one unsympathetic faculty member has such enormous control over the fate of the students? The answer is, the university has to formulate a clear cut rule regarding failed students, which nevertheless takes into account the diverse background of the students.

Is there a contradiction between this and point no.1? No. What we demand is a set of democratic ules rather than an option of”sympathetic” interpretation of rules, or a case of sympathetic non-implementation of rules. One should consider such conditions of life that prevail in many of the students from depressed classes which do not allow them the luxury of losing a year and coming back in the next. Instead, we should have a system of automatic entry into the next semester wherein the students can reappear for those subjects in which they have failed even while they continue pursuing their course.

3)Majoritarianism:
While a teacher's aim is to improve and educate the maximum number of students, there is nothing desirable in it if this comes at the price of a depressed minority. The depressed minority here is the Reserved Category. It has come to our notice that some teachers conduct their classes in certain regional languages (no matter how predominant that language is in the national imagination). his is a violation of the very criteria of entry into the university which conducts its entrance examination in English. While we agree that this measure might be useful for the majority of students, it comes with the price of alienating and being unreachable for a section of students who have historically no access, or due to historical political factors, even an unconscious aloofness, to this particular regional language.

4)The importance of “feelings”
The current procedure of teacher assessment in our university is based on a set of objective scores which do not leave scope for the feelings of the students. The teacher assesment need to be revamped to take into consideration those aspects regarding a teacher, his/her teaching and the holistic academic experience that cannot just be expressed in numbers. And equally important is that the assessment should have real implication for the teacher rather than an informal reprimand (at its best). There should be an option to fail the teacher, just as a student can be failed.

In the light of these facts, we demand the following:

1)The University should reach out to the depressed sections of students and reassure them a real-egalitarian treatment in terms of education and way of life within the campus. We believe that an apology tendered to the concerned students is the least and the essential beginning to this process.
2)Remedial training for teachers to enable them to sensitively deal with students of diverse backgrounds. A revamped teacher assessment structure that can take into account the student emotions rather than just “objective judgement”, and an option to fail the teacher.
3) The medium of education should be limited to the specific foreign language being taught , and/or English.
4)The abolishing of failed category, a point-based system which takes into account background; and a stage by stage profiling of student performance in all exams, extracurricular activities which include sports, volunteer activities for various university activities including involvement in political activities; a flagging of the topic based on the relevance to historical situations and division of marks in a subject for the various topics based on this flagging, a minimum of 50% of marks to be allotted to topics which can be related to by the students according to the varied lifeworlds.

PERISHING DEMOCRACY, FLOWERING HYPOCRISY

The word meant an alternation for other modes of Government. And in practical democracy is better than any other modes of Government. Still did Democracy do justice for the whole population. When does the wordy democracy comes into our thought? it usually comes during the local and central election time. How is this difference with other forms of Government? let us take the Dictatorship government, where one person rules the other. According to the understanding of the meaning of Democracy, it means that people rule the country, which is a false understanding. Even if we have to go with the last statement, the literal meaning of democracy is not there, rather the 'Dictatorship' is changed into 'democracy' term were people accept one mans rule and do not have any option. what is happening in Indian government, with the Telengana issue, the majority of the Telenaga population wants a seprate state, same with north east wants to be seprated, Tamil in sri lanka wants to be seprated. To the above demand how does the government react to such issues. one way of reacting is through state sponsored violence, through Rapid Action Force, Parlimentary Force, Central Reserve Force, etc. We have to see these action forces are created by the democratical government to enforce on the general public. In otherway to see, whenever there is a mass movement rising the first this the government will ask the intellingence to check who are those people and putting them in custody with full toarcher. Utleast in India do we have democararcy if we have are we allowed to speak against the government or the state. Even it surprises that the democractic government do not alow the press to function.
Therefore at present the word democracy has leading towards the Dictatorship ruling.

Something always surprises me

The name Hitler reflects various things in our imagination, one of those images is that a gruesome dictator ruthlessly killed jews. as a result we decide upon saying that Hitler is an example of how a leader should not be, and how a ruler should not treated his own people?. These all led from his gruesome approach during his rule. yes, its all true.
But i wonder during his whole regime there where people who complained to the Pope(who was closely associated with Germany) about his activities, were the Pope turned to be a mere spectators. And during the world war second there were countries allies with Germany, which means that they too accepted him, it is the fact that all the developing nation during that period of time knew his way of approach. Apart from this, His gruesome behavior came to light after his defeat in the world war. Before this there were no alarm raised by any country or people against his behaviors. Hitler was not an superman to lead all his crimes under every ones eyes. Therefore he was not a individual to be blamed as "Hitler", rather the whole world especially the near observers where to be blamed, May be the Americans and the Pope of Rome. First before reading this further, let us ask a question why there were no anymore "Hitlers" after Germany's defeat. Hence, what is the qualification to make or compare with the German dictator. Is that the numbers were out numbered in his genocide killing.

What so ever I see many Hitlers across the world alive. Let us see some of the recent incidents below for consideration.


What Happened in the final face of the Sri Lankan war, thousands of civilians were butchered, murdered and raped. Even some Human rights organization says it is a recent Genocide. Was this activities carried alone by Sri Lanka an individual state. The answer is no. Can we call every one involved even by supporting the activities as Hitlers. Then can we call the rulers of the following states as Hitler, India, China, Pakistan, Cuba, Russia, Israel and other countries.
Doesn't the above nations be called as a ruthless government towards civilian population and it is the new approach adopted in the present century to be Hitler is a sophisticated manner(by calling they are democratically elected government)

The Indian Government in the name of eradicating Naxalites they are massacring, and raping innocent Tribal population in States. Further the Indian government in the name of security measures doing the same for decades together in Kashimir and north east. And every politicians and Indian citizines are aware of this.
doesn't the above act of the Indian government qualify to be one of those Hitler regime of the 21st century. In my opinion it is.

What Happened in GAZA, what is happening to the whole Muslim nations and population accross the world.

Given the above atmosphere there are many Hitlers across the world. AND sometimes we ourselves turn to be Hitler.
These facts surprises me but not anylonger.

India is a "Democratic" Country, 26th is to make fool of people

The face of our democracy.
If we all boast that we have achieved in 60 years of under Indian government. Then may be we all belong or in the deep sea of lies spread or created by the ruling Congress, and the opposition Parties of India.

In my view the following were our success....

Let us take a look of the Railway Minister's decision which makes very difficult to book a Tatkal Ticket only in last two days, people start queueing the Railway station before 5.00 a.m in the morning. How can a person from a village reach the destination, where the bus travel starts at 7.00 am and has to travel 20 kilometres? Therefore the lower, and middle class people(who do not have access to transport or internet) who are the majority of the Indian population and suffer the most of such decisions. This awful decision was our success of the Government and we being the mere spectators were our success.

The central i.e the congress government had introduced contractual system. especially Group D employees position to be given to contractual labours. As our Indian government is corrupt how can the government think of handing it over to the Contractors. We all knew that the "Contractors" are better than the Indian state, in harassing men and women. And our so called Communist partes and other labour unions or the Trade Unions of India did not raise a voice over this. Maybe , if the leaders' family or the relatives were working in this field they would have known the "Sweetness" of their job security.

These people basically belong to the SC/ST/OBC and minority of the middle and lower class people. Surprisingly the social movements also neglected the issue.

The government succeeded by making Karnataka High Court Mr. Dinakaran's Issue his personal issue rather than Caste issue. Since our Dalit Activists are busy in Various other issues which includes lobbying for their own personal benefits, they didn't find time to make a Caste issue. And Of Course it is a Caste issue. Why are the Karnataka lawyers so much interested in removing him? If we cant understand or the relavance of this then sure those who call themselves social activists or academicians should hang themselves.

Last, but not the least, our government and we ourselves have reserved the job of manual scavenging and sweeping across India reserved for a particular community
to be continued....

120 Faculty Recruitment at Central University, Hyd

‘Major Hindrance to Democratic Movement among Sri Lankan Tamils has been Removed’

In the following interview Varadaraja Perumal, the former Chief Minister of the north and east in Sri Lanka, speaks to Mainstream editor on the changed scenario in the island state following the killing of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE supremo, on May 18, 2009. Perumal was the CM of the north and east in 1988-90; he is one of the leaders of the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) that had to bear the brunt of Prabhakaran’s ire, and at present resides in India.
Are you convinced that Prabhakaran is no more?
VP: Definitely, there is no doubt about that. The photographs are there for all to see. Then, Karuna was taken to the spot and he identified the body.
Was Karuna the closest to Prabhakaran at one time?
VP: He was the second-in-command in the LTTE till 2004.
I also want to tell you that there is no reason for the Sri Lankan Government to lie about Prabhakaran’s death.
If this is true then would you say that the LTTE has become an orphan today?
VP: This is the end of the LTTE though there are still 500-600 LTTE cadres who are moving around in the eastern province and the deep jungles of Vanni in the north.
Do they have weapons?
VP: They have some weapons.
Do they have any leadership?
VP: They don’t have any leadership. So these LTTE cadres’ operation as armed groups could be for a short period—after all, how would they replenish their weapons?
In this scenario who will give leadership to the Sri Lankan Tamils?
VP: We should not harbour the misconception that the LTTE had been so far giving leadership to the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. In fact the LTTE is a terrorist group which destroyed the Sri Lankan Tamil leadership starting from the killing of Srisabaratnam (TELO) in 1986 followed by the liquidation of Amrithalingam (TULF), Padmanabha (EPRLF), Neelan Thiruchelvam (TULF), Keethes-waran (EPRLF).
More than 10,000 leaders and fighters of the Sri Lankan Tamils, belonging to different organisations other than the Tamil Tigers, were killed by the LTTE since 1986.
The LTTE under Prabhakaran suppressed any intellectual opinion. In fact that LTTE spread terror among the Tamil people—that is, it injected terror in the minds of the Tamil people—wherever they lived.
But how do you explain the groundswell of support for Prabhakaran and the Tamil Tigers among the expatriate Tamils in particulars?
VP: Well, if you consider the Tamil society as such, its members did not view the issues logically or rationally, with deep passion and anti-Sinhala sentiments they supported the LTTE.
As far as the Tamil diaspora is concerned, they are a lost population to the society of Sri Lankan Tamils. Among them vested interest is intertwined with their support to the LTTE. To stay on in their country of residence they need to have refugee status which is ensured if the war in Sri Lanka continues interminably thus making their return to the island state next to impossible.
What will happen now in Sri Lanka?
VP: The killing of the LTTE leadership as a whole, including Velupillai Prabhakaran, has removed the major hindrance to the development of the democratic movement among Tamils—the democratic leaders are now in a position to go and work among their own people without any impediment.
But what is the objective of the Sri Lankan Government? Haven’t there been grave human rights violations in the latest fight-to-the-finish against the LTTE?
VP: The objective of the Sri Lankan Government and human rights violations are no doubt important, but the primary issue is the Tamil question. Till now the Tamil cause was hijacked by the LTTE under a separatist banner.
The majority of the Tamil people know that separation or secession, that is, Eelam, is impossible. But all of them thought that by fighting by the side of the LTTE they would be able to wrest their demands from the Sinhala leaders. However, while fighting for the Tamils the LTTE could not deliver any benefits to the Tamils. Rather, by killing the Tamil leaders, the LTTE prevented any rise of Tamil leaders or organisations not affiliated to the LTTE.
Are you saying Eelam is impossible?
VP: The struggle for separation or secession died many years ago—when the LTTE attacked the TELO and killed the TELO leaders in 1986 the movement for secession had died a premature death.
But won’t the demand for Eelam come up once again in the future?
VP: The point is that the struggle of the Tamil people will continue if the Sri Lankan leaders do not create an environment in which the Tamil people are able to enjoy an autonomous political system.
Would the Tamil struggle be violent or non-violent in the coming days?
VP: In future the struggle will be mostly non-violent. Already the Tamil people have experienced violent struggle in the north and east of the island state. Non-violent struggle alone will create conditions for the Sinhala people to understand and accept the Tamils’ reasonable demands.
You were Chief Minister of the north and east in 1988-90. What was your experience on the question of devolution of power to the Tamil areas?
VP: At that time Premadasa was the President of Sri Lanka. Earlier during the tenure of President Jayawardene, the 13th Amendment was passed and this affectively prevented the devolution process. The 13th Amendment has many lacunae—there is insufficiency of powers in it; moreover it is a bad law and liable to be misinterpreted. At the same time it goes against the spirit of both devolution and the Indo-Sri Lanka accord of 1987. There was no willingness on the part of the Sinhalor leaders to go for devolution then and they used the 13th Amendment to prevent devolution. At that period I was not Chief Minister of the north and east with the powers that the Chief Ministers enojoy in the different States of India—rather, I was a Chief Minister striving for devolution of power.
However, if a President is sincere he can interpret the 13th Amendment such as to carry out devolution. In President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s time a new devolution package was sought to be presented. Opposition leader Ranil Wickrema-singhe accepted a federal structure.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa can also use the 13th Amendment to bring about devolution of power. In fact, under the chairmanship of Minister for Science and Technology Tissa Vitharana an all-party committee has been set up by the President to look into the devolution package.
Do you think there is a possibility of carrying out devolution by President Rajapaksa?
VP: Of course, nothing has been closed.
How do you want the Government of India to play a positive role in this regard?
VP: The relations between the governments of India and Sri Lanka are now quite good. Both the governments should speak to the Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim leaders and bring about some settlement. The leaders of Tamil Nadu must also be involved to substantially contribute to the process.
Do you think that in this new situation following Prabhakaran’s death new avenues to resolve the Tamil problem have opened up?
VP: Yes. Till now the Sinhala leaders had been saying that so long as the LTTE is continuing its violent activities in the north and east it is impossible for us to speak about devolution. Now that pretext has gone.
I personally feel some kind of trust between the Sinhala leaders of Sri Lanka and leaders of Tamil Nadu should be built as soon as possible. That will definitely benefit the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.
How did President Mahinda Rajapaksa carry out this stupendous task of liquidating the LTTE whereas all his predecessors had failed in such an effort? What is your take on that?
VP: President Rajapaksa was driven by singleminded purpose of eliminating the source of LTTE’s terror. As for his immediate predecessor, President Kumaratunga was beset with numerous problems even though she too sincerely wanted peace and solution of the Tamil question.
One more point: the Government of India did not in any way disturb the Sri Lankan military operations against the LTTE.
But the Government of India is worried about the humanitarian problems before the Sri Lankan Tamils today.
VP: The Government of India is doing everything possible to extend humanitarian help to the Sri Lankan Tamils. However, this is a task which must be taken up not just by India but the entire international community. The international community must be generous in providing relief to and rehabilitating the displaced Sri Lankan Tamils.
Do you anticipate some terrorist activities in Sri Lanka after Prabhakaran’s death?
VP: Not for long. If the Sri Lankan state is serious such activities cannot continue for long.
You have known Prabhakaran for a long time. How would you describe him?
VP: He was one of the most ruthless terrorist leaders in the world. But at the same time he was politically a coward.
Kindly explain how.
VP: He was not able to face any political challenge or any critical opinion.
Today happens to be former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s 18th death anniversary. We all know he met his death on May 21, 1991 under orders of Prabhakaran. Now that Prabhakaran has been killed would you say that Rajiv Gandhi’s family has been able to secure justice?
VP: Yes, of course. God has secured justice to the families and friends of Rajiv Gandhi, Padmanabha, Keetheswaran and others who were brutally massacred by Prabhakaran.
I recollect all my memories of Rajiv Gandhi today because he was a person who committed himself personally to deliver political benefits to the Tamil people of Sri Lanka while maintaining his commitment to ensure Sri Lanka’s integrity. I wish Rajiv Gandhi was alive to witness this event of the elimination of the murderer Prabhakaran who brought so much misery to the peoples of Sri Lanka and India.
What lies in the future of the Sri Lankan Tamils?
VP: The Sri Lankan Tamil people would now have to find out those leaders who are capable of fighting for devolution and effectively conducting the devolution movement.

UN becomes battleground for maritime Great Game - paper

UN becomes battleground for maritime Great Game - paper[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 00:26 GMT]

"The strange line-up of the member countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) for or against Sri Lanka at the special session of the body scheduled to take place in Geneva on Tuesday underscores the maritime Great Game unfolding in the Indian Ocean," says former Pakistani diplomat in the Tuesday edition of Deccan Herald, referring to the support by India, China, Russia, and Pakistan among others to a self-congratulatory resolution put forward by the Sri Lanka Government, and the competing resolution advanced by the Swiss Government.

Swiss Resolution on Sri Lanka

Text of Sri Lanka Resolution"The special session is being convened at the request of 17 of the 47 members of the HRC, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Britain. Hovering in the background is the United States. It aims at forcing Sri Lanka to face charges of gross human rights violations in its war against the Tamil insurgents. An HRC recommendation to set up an international commission of inquiry would put Colombo in the docks," the column says.But Sri Lanka has tabled a counter resolution commending Colombo for its victory over terrorism ans soliciting funds for reconstruction, the author notes."India finds itself in the strange company but is justified in estimating that the HRC move against Sri Lanka is a non-starter. "China and Russia will anyhow ensure that the ‘international community’ doesn’t torment Colombo. They have invited Sri Lanka to come close to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. "In essence, Sri Lanka is the theatre where Russia and China are frontally challenging the US’s incremental global strategy to establish NATO presence in the Indian Ocean region," the author says.Full text of the article follows:The strange line-up of the member countries of the United Human Rights Council (HRC) for or against Sri Lanka at the special session of the body scheduled to take place in Geneva on Tuesday underscores the maritime Great Game unfolding in the Indian Ocean.The special session is being convened at the request of 17 of the 47 members of the HRC, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Britain. Hovering in the background is the United States. It aims at forcing Sri Lanka to face charges of gross human rights violations in its war against the Tamil insurgents. An HRC recommendation to set up an international commission of inquiry would put Colombo in the docks. An HRC special session has been called only on 10 previous occasions.But Colombo is not browbeaten. The seasoned poker player has tabled a counter resolution titled “Assistance to Sri Lanka in the promotion and Protection of Human Rights” commending Colombo for its victory over terrorism and soliciting funds for reconstruction. The 12 co-sponsors of the resolution include China, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Egypt, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia. India finds itself in the strange company but is justified in estimating that the HRC move against Sri Lanka is a non-starter. China and Russia will anyhow ensure that the ‘international community’ doesn’t torment Colombo. They have invited Sri Lanka to come close to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. In essence, Sri Lanka is the theatre where Russia and China are frontally challenging the US’s incremental global strategy to establish NATO presence in the Indian Ocean region. The US has succeeded in bringing the NATO upto the Persian Gulf region. The NATO is swiftly expanding its relationship with Pakistan. But it is Sri Lanka that will be the jewel in the NATO’s Indian Ocean crown. Russia and China (and Iran) are determined to frustrate the US geo-strategy. The hard reality, therefore, is that geopolitics is sidetracking Sri Lanka’s Tamil problem. Sri Lanka snubbed Washington by rejecting the US offer to dispatch a naval force to evacuate or provide humanitarian assistance to the Tamil civilians trapped in the war zone. China, Russia and Iran encouraged Colombo to reject the US ‘humanitarian intervention’ in yet another strategically vital region.There is moral muddiness all around. Simply put, a ‘containment strategy’ on the part of the US towards Sri Lanka becomes unworkable. By helping Sri Lanka to withstand the US pressure, China has secured the status of a ‘steadfast ally.’ Apart from arms supplies totalling $100 million, China has overtaken Japan as Sri Lanka’s number one foreign donor. China gave $ 1 billion assistance last year as compared to $ 7.4 million and 1.25 million pounds by the US and UK respectively.India views with unease the Chinese inroads into Sri Lanka as part of a broad move into the Indian Ocean. But India faces acute dilemma. Its capacity to cajole the diehard Sinhalese nationalists to compromise with the Tamils for an enduring settlement suffers so long as China extends such no-holds-barred political backing to the Colombo establishment.But Delhi cannot roll back its substantial political, military and economic support to Sri Lanka, either. The interlocking interests of the two neighbouring countries are self-evident. The lure of Sri Lanka cannot be overestimated. The US would like us to believe that India-China rivalry is the sum total of the geopolitics of Sri Lanka. But this is a dissimulation of the actual great game.It is very obvious that there is a huge geopolitical backdrop of power plays in the Indian Ocean. The US’s naval dominance is declining and it is “leveraging the growing sea power of allies such as India and Japan to balance against China,” to quote Robert Kaplan, well-known strategic thinker and author.China’s ascendance fearedArguably, the US volte face on Colombo’s war (after having been its staunch supporter until recently) stems from the strategic setback it suffered through miscalculation insofar as while American admirals were scared away by Sri Lanka’s civil war, China simply moved in. The West fears China’s ascendance. On China’s part, however, the fuelling station in Hambantota becomes vital for optimally using the series of port facilities it has lined up in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar connecting the southern Chinese province of Yunnan to the world market.The naval presence in Sri Lanka becomes invaluable for China if the planned canal across the Isthmus of Kra in Thailand materialises connecting Indian Ocean with China’s Pacific coast, a project that could dramatically shift the balance of power in Asia in China’s favour. Therefore, no matter what it takes, the West and China (with Russian backing) will compete for gaining the upper hand in Sri Lanka.Having said that, the US also has a need for greater cooperation with China. This in turn creates a compulsion for the US to act as a ‘broker’ between India and China. During his visit to Delhi on May 14, the US Pacific Command chief Admiral Timothy J Keating revealed that he declined an offer recently from a top-ranking Chinese naval official regarding a US-Chinese understanding to split the seas East of Hawaii and West of Hawaii between the two navies, while on his part he said he invited China to join the annual US-India naval exercises codenamed ‘Malabar Exercises,’ but China declined and preferred to remain as an observer.
External Links:
Times:

UN faces fierce clash over call for Sri Lanka war crimes inquiry
DH:

Geopolitics drowns Sri Lanka's Tamils: The great game

Sri Lanka accused of 'ethnic cleansing' of Tamil areas - paper

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 12:43 GMT]"Aid officials, human rights campaigners and politicians claim Tamils have been driven out of areas in the north-east of the country by killings and kidnappings carried out by pro-government militias. They say the government has simultaneously encouraged members of the Sinhalese majority in the south to relocate to the vacated villages," Telegraph, UK, said, adding that according to an aid worker the recent killings in Trincomalee "were part of a strategy to drive out Tamils." Full text of the article follows:Aid officials, human rights campaigners and politicians claim Tamils have been driven out of areas in the north-east of the country by killings and kidnappings carried out by pro-government militias.They say the government has simultaneously encouraged members of the Sinhalese majority in the south to relocate to the vacated villages.One foreign charity worker told the Daily Telegraph the number of Tamils disappearing in and around Trincomalee, 50 miles south of the final conflict zone in Mullaitivu, had been increasing in the last three months.He claimed to have known 15 of the disappeared, three of whom had been found dead. He said all three bodies showed signs of torture, while two were found with their hands tied behind their backs and single bullet wounds in their heads.Another aid worker said the killings were part of a strategy to drive out the Tamils."Eastern province is vulnerable, there's cleansing by the Sinhalese. There will be more problems with land grabbing. The demography changes and the Tamils who are the majority will soon become a minority," he said.He claimed many villagers had moved out after the army declared their land to be part of a 'high security zone' and Sinhalese had been given incentives to move in to provide support services to new military bases.Many Tamils sold their homes and land at below-market prices after members of their families had been killed or had disappeared, he said.One western human rights advocate said Tamils in and around Trincomalee were terrified because they believed the police were either complicit in, or indifferent to, the numbers disappearing or found dead. "There's no investigation. It's a climate of terror and impunity," he said.A local campaigner for the families of the disappeared said the killings were speeding the flight of Tamils from the area. "When there's a killing other Tamils move out. Who goes to the Sinhalese police? You either live under threat or you move out," he said.He said much of the "ethnic cleansing" was being done in the name of economic development in which Tamil villagers were being moved out to make way for new roads, power plants and irrigation schemes, while Sinhalese workers were being drafted in with incentives including free land and housing."Thousands of Sinhalese are coming in, getting government land and government assistance from the south. It's causing huge tensions," he said.He and others fear this model will now be applied to the north where the final army onslaught to defeat the Tamil Tigers left 95 per cent of the buildings demolished or heavily damaged.Since the victory earlier this month, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government has been under pressure to 'win the peace' with a generous devolution package for Tamils in the north.Ministers have said they want to break the identification of the Tamils with the northern and eastern provinces and integrate them into the Sinhalese majority population throughout the country.In Colombo, billboard posters have contrasted the "divided" pre-victory Sri Lanka, with the Tamil north and east shaded red, and the "united" post-war island.Ministers have said billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild the area's roads, buildings, schools, hospitals and water, electricity and communications infrastructure. Community leaders and Tamil politicians fear this will mean a further influx of Sinhalese.R. Sampanthan, the parliamentary leader of the Tamil National Alliance and an MP for Trincomalee said he shared these fears. A new road being constructed from Serubilla, a Sinhalese village in Trincomalee district to Polonaruwa, a Tamil village, was under construction and Sinhalese families were being settled on either side of the road as it snakes further north-east."It's ethnic cleansing, and we're concerned that this is what they will also do in the north," he said.
External Links:
Telegraph:

Sri Lanka accused of 'ethnic cleansing' of Tamil areas

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sri Lanka: Tamil refugees plead for help to find missing relatives

Refugees from Sri Lanka's war with the Tamil Tigers have spoken of their terrifying escape from the 'no-fire zone' and pleaded for help to find missing relatives.

By Dean Nelson in Vavuniya Last Updated: 7:34PM BST 26 May 2009

Civilians stand behind the barbed-wire perimeter fence of the Manik Farm refugee camp located on the outskirts of northern Sri Lankan town of Vavuniy Photo: REUTERS
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph at Vavuniya, where 210,000 people are being held in five camps for "internally displaced people", ragged Tamils said they had come under attack from both sides as the 26-year civil war reached its conclusion last week.
Many clutched a razor wire fence, desperately searching the crowds on the other side for a familiar face as they tried to discover whether their loved ones were still alive and at liberty, or in another of the camps, where the overcrowded conditions and made worse by poor sanitation, inadequate food and severe water shortages.

Related Articles
More than 280,000 Sri Lankan refugees could be held in camps for up to two years
Sri Lanka's government deliberately concealed official casualty figures
Britain and France fail to persuade Sri Lanka to end war
Sri Lanka army 'to stop shelling' Tamil Tiger enclave
Sri Lankan civilians in firing line as military 'annihilates' Tamil Tigers
The refugees are not allowed to leave the camps even if they are not suspected of being Tamil Tiger fighters. While the Colombo government has said that it will clear the camps during the course of the year, it is anxious not to allow separatist fighters to evade their reach by posing as civilians and simply walking free.
Bhuvaneswari, whose son and two daughters are missing, held photographs through the wire. "Nine members of my family are missing, please help me find them," she said. "They've been missing since the mass exodus on April 20th. When the army entered the safe zone and cut the area in two, we were separated. We don't know if they've been killed by the army or what."
At "Zone Four", a camp for recent arrivals, men stripped to the waist were washing themselves in an open drain. One man showed his camp ration card which recorded only two evening meals in six days, while another emaciated elderly man was so weak from an infection that he could not stand or speak and appeared close to death as he lay in a crowded tent.
Many said they had been shelled from their homes in the army's ferocious advance across the north-east of the island, and they had been forced to flee more than a dozen times before reaching the so-called "no-fire zone".
Thangaraja, 59, a carpenter, said that his family had moved 14 times since January as the Tigers retreated into the "no-fire zone" on the north-east coast. He said they had been shelled by the army, shot at by Tamil Tigers to stop them escaping, and lost several relatives in the cross-fire.
"My son and daughter-in-law, my brother-in-law, my cousin, all died in shelling attacks. We built bunkers and kept moving from one place to another. Shells were falling everywhere. Four people died in my family while I was there. We just left their bodies in the bunker and filled them in," he said.
He wants to go back to his home "in freedom", but his main concern is for other missing relatives. "Lots of my relatives have been injured but we don't know where they are. We can't go outside the camp to contact people," he said.
An army spokesman said that up to 6,000 families had been reunited to date, and that they were working to bring separated families together.
But he added: "At the moment we don't know how many families are separated or how many disappeared."
One refugee said that thousands of fleeing civilians were separated from their families when they reached the army check-point, where they were pushed onto buses and taken to different hospitals and camps. Navamani, 43, from Vattuvagal in Mullaitivu district, said she had lost her three children, aged 16,18 and 21, in the chaos.
At Vavuniya's Zone Two, a few miles down the road, a mother and daughter who had been separated for five months had finally found one another, but were not allowed to embrace.
Kandaswamy, 73, was weeping on one side of the razor-wire, and reaching out to her daughter, Laxmi, 45, who has been in detention since fleeing the final battle earlier this month. She needed all the comfort she could get – four of her five children had been killed in shelling, she said.


SLA interrogates Tamil daily editor in Jaffna[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 04:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) civil administration office summoned Monday the editor of a popular Tamil daily in Jaffna for interrogation into a news item related to abduction of children for ransom, published in the front page of the daily, sources in Jaffna said. The daily, however, intimidated by SLA authorities in Palaali head quarters and SLA-backed paramilitaries, had published a refutation of the story published earlier. Abductions of children for ransom similar to such incidents in Batticaloa and Trincomalee continue in Jaffna peninsula.SLA authorities in Jaffna, however, had said that the news about the abductions were false as no one has complained or brought such incidents to their notice.As Jaffna peninsula is known to be one of the dangerous places in the world for journalists and media personnel, the editor being taken in for interrogation, has created fear and anxiety among them.

http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=29455

Indian media, including Teheleka is interested in who is LTTE:

Dear Friends:

The Indian news media is always biased in some or the other news, hence there were a gap between reality and romanticising. Recently some magazines tried to patch the gap "Tehelek". However, they too proved not to fit that frame. Therefore i am collecting news from countries. which talks of the atrocities committed in the war zone and the camps.

Thanks times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6354888.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1
Horror for civilians trapped in Sri Lanka's 'no-fire zone'

Catherine Philp in Colombo
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {
color:#06c;
}
From the air, the battle zone reveals itself one clue at a time — the scorched patches of earth, the blasted palm trees, the burnt-out skeletal houses.
Then the helicopter banks sharp right over the green lagoon and a blaze of white sand appears — to the gasps of the first outsiders to glimpse the beach where the Tamil Tigers made their last stand.
Sri Lanka’s no-fire zone is a scene of such utter devastation it mocks its very name. It is a glimpse of hell unleashed in paradise. A glistening white beach packed with home-made bunkers where civilians huddled to protect themselves from the shells that the government denies launching in the final weeks of the offensive. The craters in the white sand; the charcoal coloured scorch marks and bombed-out dwellings; the abandoned bus, its forlorn white flag still flying, and the human detritus tell a very different story.
Peering down from above, one struggles to imagine the terror of being here in those last days of battle when 100,000 civilians were trapped in this tiny spit of sand between the guns of the Tamil Tigers and the cannons of the Sri Lankan army. No journalists, aid workers or independent observers have had access to the zone until this weekend when a small group of journalists accompanied the United Nations Secretary General on aa flight over the zone.
function slideshowPopUp(url)
{
pictureGalleryPopupPic(url);
return false;
}
Related Links
200,000 Tamil civilians imprisoned in camp
Tigers begged me to broker surrender
US satellites spied on Sri Lankan conflict
Father Amalraj does not have to imagine; he was here in the bunkers, among his flock, until the day before the Tigers announced their surrender. He described the terror of living under the constant shelling as the last battle approached.
"The people were targets for both side," the Roman Catholic priest told The Times inside the barbed wire fences of Manik Farm, one of the camps to which Tamil civilians were sent after they escaped from the no-fire zone.
"There was heavy shelling from the army side. The LTTE shot people. The army were trying to capture us. The people were caught in between in the last moment for the LTTE and the crucial point in the battle for the army. I cannot say which side was crueller."
He and his parishioners fled their village, Poonakary, just below the Jaffna peninsula when government forces overran it last November. They were on the move for months, fleeing ahead of the fighting over and over again until they reached the narrow strip of land on the eastern side of the Nanthikadal Lagoon, north of Mullativu in February, soon after it was designated a no-fire zone" by the Government.
It was anything but. Father Amalraj described how the people in the zone had cowered in improvised bunkers built on the beach for weeks on end to escape the shelling. "The shelling was just like raining," he said. "Within this two square kilometres, there were more than 100,000 people, packed in and shells raining down."
Many were killed. The UN believes that between 8,000 and 10,000 civilians have died in the conflict since the beginning of this year.
Father Amalraj, albeit anecdotally, believes the final tally is far higher. "We cannot say exactly how many died, but it was many, I think about 20,000."
The Sri Lankan government denies inflicting a single civilian death, blaming the shelling on the Tamil Tigers, despite the accounts of witnesses like Father Amalraj who testify that the shells came from the direction of the government front line.

As April turned to May, and the artillery exacted a heavier toll, bodies went unburied.
"We didn’t have the chance to bury our kith and kin," Father Amalraj said. "We left them on the road. The whole crowd is a witness to that," he said, gesturing around to the parishioners gathered in his tent in Manik Farm. "All around, the dead and injured."
Some people were buried. From the air neat rows of freshly dug graves revealed themselves but it was unclear if they contained the bodies of fighters or civilians. Others have been dug but not filled. A crater next to them appears stained red. Elsewhere, on the beach near to civilian shelters, similarly shaped mounds appear in the sand. The Times has passed the photographs to independent experts for analysis.
Some of those who emerged to try and escape were felled by the Tigers’ gunfire. "The LTTE shot people trying to escape," Father Amalraj said. "It was not at random. They shot in the air and then they shot at the people and killed them."
function slideshowPopUp(url)
{
pictureGalleryPopupPic(url);
return false;
}
Related Links
200,000 Tamil civilians imprisoned in camp
Tigers begged me to broker surrender
US satellites spied on Sri Lankan conflict
He named a Tiger commander who gave the orders to shoot at fleeing civilians as Tiramulai. The last person he saw shot before he fled was one of his parishioners, killed while trying to flee the zone on the afternoon of May 16, two days before the Tigers' leader Vellupilai Prabhakaran was killed.
But by then, the shelling was so intense that the remaining civilians decided that they had no option but to try to escape, even at the risk of being shot themselves.
"I said I am going with my people because we are going to die tonight here," he recalled. Most of the remaining civilians believed the same thing. Fifty thousand of them began to make their way towards the causeway out of the zone, rebuilt by government troops on the other side.
"We started coming out and they [the Tigers] fired at us. But they didn’t shoot me, they couldn’t stop me. We knew it was useless to stay. We put our fate with God."
What happened inside the so-called no fire zone will not be the subject of any investigation in Sri Lanka, although the Prime Minister has called for a commission to probe the arming and activities of the Tigers.
At a joint press conference with Mr Ban, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama brushed away questions about the chances of an investigation into war crimes by both sides. Was he entirely confident then that no Sri Lankan forces had committed such crimes? "Absolutely," he replied.
On Tuesday the UN Human Rights Council will meet to decide whether it believes there is cause for an international probe. Britain and the US are among the countries calling for one.
Father Amalraj, meanwhile, searches the tents of Zone Four in the Tamil "welfare camp" at Manik Farm, looking for his lost sheep. Of 4,000 original parishioners, he has no idea how many survived. Which side, in the end, does he blame for the terror and loss of those last few months in the no-fire zone? "As A Tamil, I can’t blame the LTTE for fighting for the Tamil people," he says. "Look at this camp and you can see. They are planning to oppress the Tamil community under the pretext of terrorism. All our efforts have been brought to zero."
Page 2 of 2




Thanks TamilNet

http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=29447
Tamil civilian reported missing in Colombo[TamilNet, Monday, 25 May 2009, 09:34 GMT]


A Tamil civilian residing in Kottawa in Colombo has gone missing since 19 May according to the complaint lodged with the police by his sister. The person reported missing is N. Mohanathas, 46, a resident of Koayil Rod in Kottawa.He had gone missing after he came out of his house in the morning to dispose garbage on the day he went missing.Complaint has also been made to Human Rights Commission and other civil rights organizations.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8065594.stm
Agony in Sri Lanka's refugee camp
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spent Saturday in Sri Lanka pressing for political reconciliation and full humanitarian access for displaced people in camps, following Colombo's declaration of victory over Tamil Tigers rebels.
The BBC's UN correspondent Laura Trevelyan was travelling with Mr Ban and sent this report.

Menik Farm camp houses some 200,000 people
The Menik Farm camp in northern Sri Lanka has a distinctly military air for a place which is housing more than 200,000 people displaced by the fighting.
There is barbed wire everywhere, and camouflage-clad soldiers who are not at all keen on journalists speaking to those inside the camp.
As Mr Ban arrived amid a cloud of dust generated by his helicopter to see for himself the conditions in which people are living, there was an official welcome. Next came a presentation by Sri Lankan officials, about how well run the camp is.
Screening
Yet there is clearly overcrowding here. Greson Brando, from the UN's office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, explained that on one plot of land more than 74,000 people were living in a space designed for half that number.
It was a very sobering visit, very sad and very moving
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
How Sri Lanka's military won
Humanitarian challenge
Winning the peace
Eyewitness: Treating the Tigers
Mr Ban came to press the Sri Lankan government to allow the UN and aid agencies full humanitarian access to the camps and to call for those inside to have freedom of movement.
The Sri Lankan government will not let the mostly Tamil people here leave yet.
They are screening them to make sure they are not a security risk (i.e. Tamil Tigers who might begin to fight again).
The UN says people must be allowed to reunite with their families. Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told me the screening process is on course and when it is over the resettlement will begin.
What about allowing agencies full access to people here, I asked Mr Bogollagama.
"You can see how much humanitarian access people are enjoying," answered. "People here were denied their basic human rights by the LTTE [Tamil Tigers]."
Malnourished patients
Mr Ban was serenaded by well turned out children waving Sri Lankan flags. The camp floor was neatly swept, there were flowers in the gardens. A huge sign welcomed Mr Ban "to our motherland".

Some of the patients in a makeshift hospital were clearly malnourished
Yet there was no disguising the agony here.
Women spoke of walking through water to escape the fighting, being shelled from both sides, by the government and the Tamil Tigers.
In a makeshift hospital Mr Ban saw elderly, malnourished patients lying on cot beds in the open air, drips attached, flies buzzing round their heads. A few looked close to death.
Mr Ban was clearly moved by what he saw, describing himself as saddened and humbled.
He praised the Sri Lankan government for the help it is providing, while saying it lacked capacity - diplomatic code that more can be done.
'Vision of hell'
From the camp we were off by helicopter once again - this time to see the conflict zone itself - by Mullaitivu.

Mr Ban was flown over the area where the rebels made their last stand
We were the first international journalists to see the scene of the final days of the fighting.
The tiny spit of land in north-eastern Sri Lanka could be a beach paradise. Instead it is like a vision of hell.
Houses have been destroyed, buses blown up, palm trees devastated, and there are craters in the beach. On the sand I saw row after row of tents.
People lived in these cramped conditions, allegedly used by the Tamil Tigers as a human shield while the Sri Lankan military closed in.
Mr Ban did not land and look around the conflict zone. As a guest of the Sri Lankan authorities, he was well aware of the risk of being used by the government to portray international support for their military victory.
So he flew over instead, looking from the safety of the sky.
Joint statement
From there, Mr Ban went on to meet President Rajapaksa. UN officials were hoping to underline with him the importance of winning the peace as well as the war, by reaching out to Tamils and giving them rights in a comprehensive political settlement.
"If issues of reconciliation and social inclusion are not dealt with, history could repeat itself," warned Mr Ban.
The two men issued a joint statement after their meeting.
On the situation in the camps, the statement said the government would continue to provide access to humanitarian agencies, which did not acknowledge that it was not quite doing that.
President Rajapaksa says he will begin talks with all parties - including the Tamils - to bring about lasting peace.
Mr Ban in his dogged way has prodded the Sri Lankan government to address the concerns about the camps and work for reconciliation. The test of his influence is whether anything here changes.

srilanka,tamils

Rumors the Sri Lankan military used chemical weapons
Submitted by admin on Wednesday, 8 April 2009No CommentThere have been rumors going around that the Sri Lankan military used chemical weapons yesterday in its battle against the LTTE. We do not have proof one way or the other, but two odd points cast doubts on the government. For the first time ever, pictures of the dead LTTE bodies have unusual burn wounds and skin peeling off in many places. In the past the bodies have never had such wounds. Secondly, the Sri Lankan military has blurred out parts of the dead fighters’ bodies, most commonly the face (but many faces are also left unblured, so they are not trying to hide the person’s identity).



There are no signs of blood in the blured out area, so the only logical conclusion is that they want to hide the oddly peeled and burnt skin, which would be most visible on the exposed face. Below are a few examples of these wounds:


In the photo above, why is his chest blurred out? There is no sign of a bullet wound, but you can see a rash or burn around his neck and the blurred area, plus his skin is peeling off on many places.



Why did the Sri Lankan government blur out the faces in the top row, but not the faces below:


What are they trying to hide by blurring out the faces? There are no signs of bullet wounds there, and they obviously aren’t hiding their identity, because other faces are being shown. It is possible they are trying to cover up signs of peeling and burnt skin, which would be most visible on the exposed faces.

THANKS2EELAMSUN.COM