Comrade P.Manirarasan - Kolathur mani arreseted for picketing before Tanjore Air Force base!

More than a 1000 Tamil activists belonging to various political organizations and social movements laid siege to the Tanjore Air Force base Saturday morning violating prohibitive orders. The activists led by Thamil Desiya Pothuvudamai Katchi (Tamil National Communist Party) General Secretary P. Maniarasan and Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam President Kolathur T.S.Mani were protesting against the air-force base at Thanjavur being used by the Indian Army to supply lethal and non-lethal weaponry to Sri Lanka in its genocidal war on the Tamils. 

Speaking to news persons, Maniarasan charged that India's weapon supply to Colombo was routed through the Thanjavur air-force base, from where it would reach the Palali air-force base in Sri Lanka. 

According to media sources in Thanjavur, this attempt to besiege the air force base led to a violent confrontation between the police and the activists. 

More than 1000 activists, including Tamil leaders Kolathur Mani and Maniarasan have been arrested.

244 of the 1000 people arrested in Thanjavur have been remanded to judicial custody and are presently lodged in the Tiruchi Central Prison. Those imprisoned include women and children.

(Source: TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 13:44 GMT)

Erode court refuses bail to Comrades Manirarasan, Kolatur mani and Seeman!

 

Erode (Tamil Nadu) : A court here Tuesday rejected the bail petitions of film director Seeman and Tamil nationalist leaders P. Maniarasan and Kolathur Mani, who have been held for allegedly making inflammatory, secessionist speeches.

Sessions Judge Asokan rejected their bail pleas.

Seeman and Mani were Friday sent to prison on a 14-day remand while Maniarasan was arrested that day under section 505 of the Indian Penal Code (inciting common public and government servants to mutiny) after repeated complaints from Congress leaders alleging they had denigrated late former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's sacrifice and had continued inflammatory, secessionist speeches here a few days ago.

Comrades Maniarasan, Kolathur Mani, Seeman arrested for Speaking in support of LTTE!

ERODE/CHENNAI: As pro-LTTE groups get strident in Tamil Nadu, the state police arrested director Seeman and Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam leader, Kolathur Mani, for their controversial speeches in Erode, publicly hailing outlawed LTTE leader, Prabhakaran.

The sudden swoop-down on the two known LTTE supporters comes a day after a Congress MLA, R.M.Palanichamy lodged a police complaint against Seeman, Kolauthur Mani and the Tamizh Desiya Podhuudamai Katchi leader, Maniarasan, for their speeches at a public meeting in Karungalpalayam in Erode on Sunday.

Seeman, who was arrested over a month ago and let off on bail for his pro-LTTE speeches, was picked up from the shooting spot near Vathlagundu in Dindigul district on Friday noon, while Kolathur Mani was arrested in Mettur. Police later picked up Maniarasan in Chennai.

(Courtesy: Times of India)

The ‘Liberators’ Of Tamil Nadu - Tehelka's story about Thamizh Thesa Pothuvudaimai Katchi!

The onslaught on the LTTE in Sri Lanka and New Delhi’s passivity have given an impetus to separatists in Tamil Nadu, reports PC VINOJ KUMAR

Liberators or Separatists?

Maniarasan is the public voices of Tamil separatism

(Photos: DEEPAK)

TAMIL SEPARATISM is a dead issue. Or is it? The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) dropped its demand for a separate Dravida nation almost half a century ago, in 1963. However, growing protests in Tamil Nadu against Indian military assistance to Colombo in its war against the LTTE have resurrected separatist rhetoric in mainstream politics.

Last month, firebrand politician Vaiko and his deputy M Kannappan made a veiled threat to launch the struggle for a separate Tamil Nadu if the Centre continued to aid Colombo. Both were arrested for making seditious speeches. However, what is little-known to most people is that several Tamil nationalist groups are quietly working at the grassroots level to ultimately realising an independent Tamil state.

According to information available to TEHELKA, there are at least 10 such groups active in the state. Most were formed after the outbreak of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka in the 1980s. Many have flags with the Tamil Nadu map imprinted on them and actively propagate their ideals through literature and cultural programmes. They derive their ideologies from the Dravidian icon Periyar, Tamil literary figures SP Adithanar, and Perunchitharanaar. Periyar, founder of the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK), the DMK’s parent party, was the first to demand a separate Tamil nation in 1938, following widespread protests against the imposition of Hindi in schools. Adithanar, founder of the Tamil daily, Thina Thanthi, proposed a ‘Greater Tamil Nadu’, including Eelam (the area claimed by the LTTE as a Tamil homeland) in Sri Lanka. In the 1970s, Perunchitharanaar, a Tamil poet, took forward the cause of a Tamil nation.

Most present-day Tamil nationalists are former members of the CPM, DK or one of their offshoots. They have a presence in almost all parts of the state, though their total number is estimated to be not more than 10,000. “India is a capitalist, Brahminist, and Hindi-dominant state, where other nationalities do not enjoy equal rights,” says P Maniarasan, general secretary of the Thanjavur-based Thamizh Thesa Pothuvudamai Katchi (TTPK). “Our goal is to establish a sovereign Tamil national republic.”

His group is active in about 20 districts and is mobilising the support of people from different sections. It has separate wings for students, youth and peasants. As a former CPM member, Maniarasan has built his organisation like a communist party, and collects a monthly fee from members. New entrants to the party are required to serve in some wing of the party for a year. They are then absorbed into the party and elevated in the organisation, based on an evaluation of their performance.

THERE IS anger among Tamil nationalists that a 3,000-year-old language has not been made an official language of India while such status has been given to Hindi. They recall the words of the DMK founder, Anna, who spearheaded the anti-Hindi agitations in the 1960s, and argued that if Hindi was made the national language because it was spoken by the majority, then, by the same reasoning, the common crow and not the peacock should have been made the national bird.

“Is it fair that in Parliament an MP can speak in Hindi but not in Tamil?” asks Pudukottai-based Era Paavaanan, a Tamil nationalist and supporter of the LTTE. He was detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in 2002 for his pro- LTTE speech and spent 19 months in jail.

According to Maniarasan, Eelam and Tamil Nadu are two “distinct Tamil nations”. In the 1990s, however, an armed group called the Tamil National Retrieval Troops fought for a Greater Tamil Nadu. Another outfit, the Tamil National Liberation Army, fought for a separate Tamil Nadu in the same period. While cadres of the two groups have been arrested and the outfits are said to be defunct, a top official of the Q Branch of the state police, which deals with separatist outfits, said some cadres from these outfits are out on bail but are under close watch.

Tamil nationalist groups, interestingly, say that they do not subscribe to violence. They claim to believe in democratic methods and are engaged in building a strong cadre base. Says Thiagu, general secretary of the Chennai-based Tamil National Liberation Movement, “We don’t believe in violence but will take our propaganda to the masses and organise them. The strength of the people is mighty and it can shake empires.” He says New Delhi is helping their cause by ignoring Tamil sentiment and denying the state’s rights. He alleges that the Centre has not done justice to the state in water-sharing disputes with Karnataka and Kerala. “In both cases the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Tamil Nadu, but Kerala and Karnataka have not implemented the order. The Centre is a silent spectator to this injustice. If we are denied justice, what’s the point in being a part of India?” argues Thiagu, who joined the Naxalites in 1969. In 1970, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Since his release in 1985, Thiagu has been a Tamil activist.

One major objective of Tamil groups is to retrieve areas allegedly belonging to Tamil Nadu which are now part of other states. In June this year, a conference was held in Erode where resolutions were passed to ‘retrieve’ Munnaar, Devikulam, and Peermedu from Kerala; Chitoor, Puthur, and Nagari from Andhra Pradesh; and Kollegal and Kolar Gold Field from Karnataka. “The Indian state arbitrarily changed the borders of Tamil Nadu during the states reorganisation in 1956. New Delhi even gifted Katchathivu island to Sri Lanka (in 1974), says Thiagu.

While Tamil nationalists believe these factors will ultimately lead to a Tamil nation, others disagree. A commentator on Dravidian politics, Professor AR Venkatachalapthy of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, says Tamil nationalism is a manifestation of a whole range of the economic, cultural, and political grievances of the people of Tamil Nadu. While conceding that India is not functioning as a truly federal state and that the Centre has been vesting more powers in itself, he says that the formation of a Tamil nation will remain a dream. The fact, however, that such ‘dreams’ can spawn militancy should spur the Centre to address the genuine grievances of the people.

| WRITER’S EMAIL: vinoj@tehelka.com | 

| Courtesy: From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 46, Dated Nov 22, 2008 | 

Karunanidhi should own moral responsibility for Dinakaran incident - Comrade P.Maniarasan

Madurai, May 31: The gruesome attack on Tamil daily ‘Dinakaran’, in which three employees of the newspaper were killed, was shameful and reminded me of the excesses of the emergency era, senior journalist Praful Bidwai said today.

Addressing a protest demonstration, held here to press for the arrest of M K Azhagiri, son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, for instigating the May 9 attack, he said the violent attack was deplorable and the State Government should take appropriate steps to restore people's confidence in the system.

Mr Bidwai alleged that the DMK Government was not pursuing the case with the seriousness it required and was attempting to wash its hands off with the CBI inquiry.

Seeking to locate the issue in the larger context of globalisation being thrust on the people by trampling upon constitutionally guaranteed rights and the people's struggle to retrieve their rights, he called upon the civil society to be more vigilant. Even the judiciary would not come to the aid of the people in this struggle, he warned.

Speaking on the occasion Henry Tiphagne, Executive Editor of People's Watch, a rights NGO, said the prime demand of the protest held under the aegis of the Committee of Human Rights Monitors and Protectors, was the arrest of M K Azhagiri and his loyalists, including City Mayor G Thenmozhi.

Mr Tiphagne said further, the bail granted by the High Court to Mr Azhagiri, prime accused in the former minister Tha Kiruttinan murder case, should be cancelled. Since all the incidents on that fateful day were inter-related, all of them should be brought under the ambit of the CBI inquiry, he added.

He also demanded the arrest of District SP, T S Anbu and the range DSP Rajaram on the charge of dereliction of duty and aiding the perpetrators of the violence.

The General Secretary of the Tamil Nationalist Communist Party P Maniyarasan demanded Mr Karunanidhi owning moral responsibility for the incident.

All the speakers, including T Pandiyan of People’s Democratic Liberation Front, pointed out that this incident was a pointer to the dangers posed by the politics of rowdyism and power exercised by extra-constitutional authorities.

Ma.Po.Si. is an inseparable part of Tamil Nadu's history - Comrade P. Maniyarasan

Re-release of Ma.Po.Si.'s books marks the late leader's birth centenary celebrations

TIRUCHI: The services rendered by late Ma. Po. Sivagnanam, popularly known as Ma.Po.Si. during the freedom struggle and later during the demarcation of Tamil Nadu state came in for high praise from representatives of the various sections of the society at a function to mark the birth centenary of the late leader held in the city on Sunday. The celebrations were organised jointly by the Tirukkural Kalvi Maiyam and Tamil Kalai Ilakkiya Peravai. The re-release of books authored by Ma.Po.Si. on various occasions and brought out by Poongodi Pathippagam, marked the celebrations.

A poets' symposium on the life and achievements of Ma.Po.Si. was another highlight, when Tamil scholars Rajavelu Shenbagavalli, Guru Kalyanasundaram and G. Vairachandran presented poems.

The function commenced with `isai arangam', when Kuzhanthai Eagavarasan and Dhanalakshmi Baskaran rendered the Tamil songs composed by Bharathidasan and Perunchithiranar.

The Editor, Tamizhar Kannottam monthly journal, P. Maniyarasan recalled late Ma.Po.Si's contribution for the development of Tamil and Tamil Nadu. He was a leader with a national outlook with regional perception. He was the founder of the `State autonomy' concept, which later became one of the founding principles of the Dravidian parties, and set a trend for developing linguistic affiliation towards Tamil.

Mr. Maniyarasan emphasised the need for inclusion of the life history of Tamil leaders in the order of Ma.Po.Si. in the academic curriculum so as to expose the students of present generation to the past services. Paying glowing tribute to the late leader, he said Ma.Po.Si. had become an inseparable part of the state's history.

Tiruvaiyaru Thanga Kaliyamoorthy spoke on the topic `Ma. Po. Si's contribution to the growth and development of journalism' and Neyveli Balu on `Ma. Po. Si's role in demarcation of state boundaries'.

Literary critic, V. N. Somasundaram inaugurated the celebrations, with the president of the Tirukkural Kalvi Maiyam, S. Muruganandam in the chair.

(Courtesy: The Hindu)

"Feelings do not generate Tamil Nationalism; it is Tamil Nationalism that generates feelings" - Comrade P. Maniarasan

Article about Tamil Nationalism wrtitten by Sabesan, published in  SANGAM.ORG - Ilankai Tamil Sangam, USA, Inc. (Association of Tamils of Sri Lanka in the USA)

The World is Within You

by Sabesan

This is an abridged English transcript of an analysis by S. Sabesan, broadcast on 17.10.05 on the ‘Tamil Voice’ radio program, Melbourne, Australia.

The immense support rendered by the Tamil Diasporas all over the world for the liberation of their homeland is a powerful one. They indeed have a clear and sound understanding of both the importance and urgency of their moral obligation. The scope of this article, however, is not so much to discuss the value or significance of that moral duty, but to highlight the power and potency of the Tamil Diasporas from a different perspective.

In Sri Lanka and the world over, many views have been expressed about the term ‘Tamil Nationalism.’ The subject is hotly debated by the Sinhala chauvinists in the context of the upcoming Presidential Election. By giving a simple explanation for ‘Tamil Nationalism,’ we hope to elucidate the purpose of this article.

‘Nationalism is merely a form of feelings, built upon imaginative concepts, with no underlying criterion of support’ – Such contentious views have long been put forward by anti-nationalists around the world. “Nation is an imagined community,” Benedict Anderson would argue.

We totally disagree with this notion. “A nationality is formed by physical elements such as traditional homeland, the unity of people deriving from their ethnic bonds, its language and economy – Not from mere inner desires or imaginations. The abovementioned physical elements create an inner condition, namely the feelings of ‘Us’ and ‘Ours’.” – so explains P. Maniarasan of Tamil Nadu, South India. In other words, feelings do not generate Tamil Nationalism; it is Tamil Nationalism that generates feelings.  

Though the Eelam Tamils live in all corners of the world, it is Tamil Nationalism that brings us together with similar feelings. And the reason why these feelings are similar for us all is that Tamil Nationalism has been a common structure for all of us.

The same argument will apply to our Tamil Eelam National Leadership. The Tamil Eelam National Leadership is not built in a vacuum. It is formed by all the elements we mentioned before. We are just unable to explain what a unique leadership it is!

We in the Tamil Diasporas, therefore, are a natural part of the Tamil national structure. And we fulfil our national duty spontaneously through the guidance of our national leadership that struggles for the liberation of the Tamil Nation. However, the international Tamil community that has a sound understanding of the importance of its moral duty has failed to grasp one significant point: the magnitude of its power.

As we mentioned at the outset, the diverse support given by the Tamil Diasporas for the liberation of their people has been immense. Through the coordinated efforts of the Tamils world over, combined with the sacrifices made by the ‘Maaveerar’ of Tamil Eelam, the Tamil Nation has been able to face up to many trials and tribulations resolutely.

In October 1995 when the Sri Lankan Government launched the massive military operation named ‘Operation Sunshine,’ 500,000 Tamil people fled the Jaffna peninsula, shivering from the aerial, naval and land operations of the state forces. No government in the world either condemned this action or offered any humanitarian assistance to the refugees. No international media ventured to highlight comprehensively this historic exodus of our suffering people. It was a time of ‘Yaapa Patuna’!

But the Tamil Eelam people world over erupted with passion.  Their dutiful actions with abounding nationalistic feelings – exhibited through the Tamil national structure – was the panacea for our forsaken people.Without depending on international assistance, the Tamil people arduously made their contributions. This was a phenomenal service rendered by the Tamil Diasporas, incognisant of their potency.

The Sri Lankan Government attempted to wipe out Tamil nationalism completely through yet another military operation ‘Victory Assured.’ What was the prime force that was behind the National Leader, who endured the tribulations of the Tamil Nation with the abiding bravery of his cadres and crushed this prolonged military offensive? Was it not the collective power of the Eelam people world over that, in effect, halted the assault?

During the present so-called ‘Peace Time,’ no solution has been found for the problems of the Tamil Nation through peace talks. Not only that – the Tamil Eelam people have not reaped any permanent benefits that this ‘Peace Time’ could possibly have offered. Their life has not returned to normalcy; the Sri Lankan Government is not prepared to implement the proposals for the Interim Self-Governing Authority; and the promised foreign aid has yet to materialise.

But the Tamil Eelam people world over have not been disheartened! Without depending on any foreign country, they have been providing financial aid and professional expertise to rebuild the Tamil Eelam infrastructure for the last 3 ½ years, and continue to do so even now. Many volunteers from the Tamil Diasporas – intellects and skilled people alike – are serving in Tamil Eelam today.  Even though unaware of the full potential of their power, it has been the time when the members of the Tamil Diaspora utilised their energy for the benefit of the Tamil Nation.

Again, last year when the Tsunami hit the Tamil Eelam coastal villages and decimated the people and the nation, members of the Tamil Diaspora extended their helping hand with warmth and fervour. Even when Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court suspended the Post-Tsunami Operations Management Structure, the world Tamils did not recede into inaction. For, the power of their love and affection towards their brethren back home is much greater than the power of the killer waves.

So whether in times of war or peace, or in times of natural disaster, the Tamil Diaspora have not failed to fulfil their moral obligations. When the Tamils world over arise in unison for the sake of Tamil nationalism, they expect no mercy from others. ‘Unity is strength; Power is life’ – this they have proved time and again.

Why then does the world Tamil community, which firmly defends Tamil nationalism, feel dispirited, downcast and doubtful in certain situations?

When the world puts pressure on the LTTE or bans the LTTE in an attempt to coerce the people of Tamil Eelam, the uneasiness caused among Tamils world over is significant. Anxiety and depression at the situation getting complicated will catch us all like an infectious decease. These sorts of pressures and bans are, of course, discomforting. We ought to condemn and oppose them and must work hard to remove them. However, we need not be anxious or afraid.

Dear friends, we wish to reiterate a viewpoint that we have been putting forward for a long time. We believe that the truth and rationale of our notion will help clarify much confusion.

There had been numerous liberation struggles in the history of the world. Many are taking place as we speak, and many more are emerging. In general, the western world has not recognised such liberation struggles in the past or in the present, nor will it do so in the future. But those liberation struggles did not fade away because the western world did not approve of them.

The logical conclusion is this: No oppressed people will commence their liberation struggle only after asking the western world for their approval; and no people will ever abandon their struggle because the western world did not approve it.

History has revealed an undeniable truth. Many struggles have succeeded despite pressure from the western world. Many enslaved countries have gained freedom. When a liberation struggle is strong, energetic and powerful, the world will begin to talk about peace and a ‘solution.’ The victory and defeat of any liberation struggle is dependent on the resurgence, power and leadership of its people, and is not based on the support or opposition of any external forces.

Our power is great. We have proved it beyond doubt time and time again. In fact, the world is not outside us; it is within us. Therefore, let us realise the full potential of our power and use its force in effective and appropriate ways. Fear not!