Anti-Tamil stand taken by Cuba,Bolivia and Nicaragua in UNHCR

Condemning the Anti-Tamil stand taken by Cuba,Bolivia and Nicaragua in UNHCR, Latin American Friendship Association of Tamil nadu wrote a letter to the Latin American scholars and writters. The Letter is as follows:

Dear Comrade,

It is a great shock for the People of Tamil Nadu to find that Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia among other countries have supported the Sri Lanka Government in annihilating the Tamil Population in the Island nation.

I am disheartened and depressed both as a Tamilian and as an admirer and supporter of the Liberation Movements of the Latin American Countries. I have spent more than Twenty-Five years in Translating and writing on and about the heroic Cuban and Nicaraguan Revolutions, the Social-Democratic movements of Chile, Venezuela and Bolivia. I have published more than ten books translated by me and have been instrumental in the publication of several books on the various steps being taken now in Latin America under the guidance of Cuba & Venezuela. We, the friends of Latin America, have been watching the happenings in this part of the world like the formation of the ALBA, BANCO DE SUR & PSUV with great expectations for a socialist transformation of the entire region. My friends – both writers and others used to make fun of me saying that though I have been born in Tamil Nadu, India, my heart and soul are permanently wandering in Cuba and Venezuela. But now, with this act of Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia signing against the right of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, I find that I have no ground to stand…

It is unbelievable that these countries could sign in support of the Sri Lanka Government (henceforth SLG) in this genocide of Tamils. How could Raul Castro, Daniel Ortega and Evo Morales from the Land of Marti, Sandino and Bolivar favour the crushing of a Liberation Movement?

Is this not equivalent to calling the July 26th Movement as a Terrorist outfit?

Is this not something like calling the Sandinista movement a Terrorist outfit?

Will it be proper to call the people of Bolivia who fought the Water Wars in 2001 as Terrorists?

Will it be acceptable to call as Terrorists the Venezuelan people who gathered outside the Presidential Palace in 2002 against the stooges of the U.S. to Save Chavez ?

Have all of us forgotton that Jose Mariategui, the Latin American Marxist thinker declared that “every land will decide upon the nature of the freedom struggle as suited to its soil” ?

How could it be so conveniently concluded that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam be called as Terrorists? How could a Terrorist outfit fight

relentlessly for more than a quarter century? It was an Organisation which had been making all out efforts to strike a balance with the Sri Lankan Government but in vain. Guerilla warfare was their last resort and they were a nightmare for the Sri Lankan Army till recently. Now that India, China and Pakistan have supplied shiploads of arms to the Sri Lankan army, it was possible for them to annihilate the Tamil race from their Homeland. They do it with an eye on the Trincomalee Port for expansion of their trade and for geo political reasons. But why do the Latin American countries support them? Is it because China has now become the provider of Latin America? But this is equivalent to selling eyes to buy Paintings.

WE here in Tamil Nadu celebrated the 80th Birthday of Comrade Fidel by releasing 8 books on Cuba’s achievements in various fields, its contribution in the fields of education, health care and human rights. Now, we, the Friends of Latin America are in the midst of our preparation for the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution and Evaluation of the Consolidation of Latin American Countries under ALBA, Banco de Sur & PSUV, with the release of about 10 books. Now that we have received news of Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia (Brazil abstaining) (Chile and Argentina opposing) signing the Resolution of the U.N. Human Rights Council in support of the genocide of the Tamil Race in Sri Lanka. How could we go ahead with this programme with a sharp poisoned knife stuck in our hearts?

We are struck dumb and rendered disheartened and disillusioned by this act by those countries of Latin America on which we have pinned our hopes for the future – Socialism of the 21st Century. Why do these countries wish for wiping off the Tamils from the Sri Lankan Soil, where they rightfully belong? What are the sources of information for these Latin American Countries to decide against the Tamils and in favour of the Racist Sri Lankan Government in the UN Human Rights Council?

We the Tamil people here in Tamil Nadu are under deep depression and now more than any other time do we feel the absence of Che Guevara the True Internationalist, who laid down his life for the oppressed people of the world.

Amarantha,

Latin American Friendship Association, Tamil nadu, India.

Signed by

Maniyarasan - General Sceretary - TTPK

Writter Kurinji

Writter Kochadai

Thiagu - General Secretary Thamizh Thesiya Viduthalai Iyakkam

K. Venkataraman  - Member of Chief Executive body, TTPK

Writter Aranga Gunasekaran

Writter P. Thirunavukkarasu

Writter A.J. Khan

Writter Amarantha

Writter Natarajan

Writter Paamayan

Dated: 25.05.2009.

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)