Archive for the 'Editorials' Category
Friday, December 29th, 2006
Courtesy: The Island
TULF President V. Anandasangaree has raised objections to the process of the implementation of the North and East de-merger. When he speaks, the world listens. We hold him in high esteem as a true leader and he is the voice of the peace loving democratic Tamils who are under the gun because of their principled stand on the ethnic issue. (more…)
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Friday, November 24th, 2006
TULF leader V.Anandasangaree continues to win awards and earn accolades for the effort he makes to pursue democratic and moderate politics in the face of threats and warnings he receives from enemies of democracy and decency. (more…)
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Sunday, November 5th, 2006
Courtesy:Sunday Observer
The leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), V. Anandasangaree made an important statement after the LTTE put forward a condition that their decision on dates for the next round of peace talks with the Government would depend on the re-opening of the A-9 route which links Jaffna with Kandy.
Anandasangaree said that the Tigers are not interested in finding a solution to the ethnic issue. In his media release, the TULF leader stated it was very unfortunate that the LTTE’s negotiating team that went to Geneva for talks had returned empty handed.
“But this is no surprise to me since I expected this. As often said by me, the LTTE has now proved to the international community that they are not at all interested in finding a solution to the ethnic issue for a variety of reasons,” Anandasangaree said. (more…)
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Friday, October 20th, 2006
Courtesy:Daily News
The LTTE is not at all concerned about peace or a negotiated political settlement. This is a pronouncement by none other than TULF leader V. Anandasangaree and all right-thinking persons would wholeheartedly agree with him. (more…)
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Friday, September 15th, 2006
UNESCO deserves public plaudits for its decision to award the much-coveted Madanjeet Singh prize for the promotion of tolerance and non-violence to TULF President V. Anandasangaree. It will be some consolation for the septuagenarian being pursued by terrorists that the world has at last recognised his selfless dedication to the onerous task of building racial amity and finding a political solution to Sri Lanka’s problem. (more…)
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Friday, September 15th, 2006
சகிப்புத்தன்மையும் அகிம்சையையும் கடைபிடித்து பேணியமைக்காக தமிழர் விடுதலைக் கூட்டணியின் தலைவர் திரு. ஆனந்தசங்கரி அவர்கட்கு மிகவும் கௌரவம் வாய்ந்த “மதன்ஜித் சிங்” விருதை அளிக்க முன்வந்தமைக்கு யுனெஸ்கோ (UNESCO) நிறுவனத்தை நாம் பகிரங்கமாக பாராட்ட வேண்டும். பயங்கரவாதிகளால் அச்சுறுத்தலுக்குள்ளான இந்த எழுபது வயதை தாண்டிய தலைவருக்கு இது ஒரு ஆறுதல் தரும் விடயமே. இலங்கையின் பிரச்சினைக்கு அரசியல் தீர்வு காணவேண்டும் என்ற ஆவலும் இனங்களுக்கிடையே நல்லெண்ணத்தை கட்டியெழுப்ப வேண்டும் என்ற அவரது முயற்சியும் உலக நாடுகளால் அங்கீகரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. அதேநேரத்தில் இந்த விருதானது அவரது சுயநலமற்ற அர்ப்பணிப்பை உலகிற்கு காட்டுவதாக அமைந்துள்ளது.
தமது ஆத்மாவை புலிகளுக்கு விற்காத மிகச் சில அரசியல்வாதிகளில் இவரும் ஒருவராவர். இவரின் அணுகுமுறையானது இனங்களுக்கிடையே சௌஜன்யத்தை ஏற்படுத்துவதில் அரிய பங்காற்றியுள்ளது. இத்தகைய எளிமையான பெரிய மனிதர் பேசும் போது முழு உலகமுமே கேட்கிறது. ஆனாலும் துர்ப்பாக்கியவசமாக அவர்கள் அதிக நாள் உயிரோடிருப்பதில்லை. திரு. ஆனந்தசங்கரி அவர்கள் அடிக்கடி விடுதலைப் புலிகள் மீதும் தீவிரவாத தென்னிலங்கை அரசியல்வாதிகள் மீதும் விடுக்கும் கணைகள் அவரது ஆழ்ந்த அரசியல் அறிவை ஓர் தந்தைக்குரிய பாசத்துடனும் அக்கறையுடனும் வெளிப்படுத்துவது போல் அமைகிறது. பிரபாகரனிடம் நீங்கள் ஏற்கனவே யுத்தத்தில் தோற்றுவிட்டீர்கள் என்று கூறுவதற்கும் அதே சமயம் ஜே.வி.பி யினரிடம் தமது நிலைப்பாட்டை தளர்த்தி இறுதித் தீர்வுக்கு அதிகாரப் பரவலாக்கமே ஒரு வழி என கூறுவதற்கும் அவரிடம் மாத்திரமே தைரியம் உண்டு.
ஒரு பிரச்சினையை அணுகும் பாங்கிலேயே ஒருவரின் இயல்பான தன்மை வெளிப்படுகிறது. தம்மைத் தாமே தலைவர் எனக் கூறும் பலர் பிரச்சினையிலிருந்து விடுபட வேண்டி நொண்டிச்சாக்கினை கூறி தப்பிச் செல்வதும் ஏனையோர் பல்வேறு தேவைகளினதும் வசதிகளினதும் நிமித்தம் தமது கொள்கைகளை அடகு வைப்பதும் நாம் சாதாரண வாழ்வில் காணக்கூடியதே. இத்தகைய வெட்கக் கேடான கோழைத்தனம் பொதுவாக வடக்கு கிழக்கில் மாத்திரமல்ல தெற்கிலும் இரு தடவைகள் ஏற்பட்ட கிளர்ச்சியின் போது குறிப்பாக இரண்டாவதாக (1987-1989) ஏற்பட்ட கிளர்ச்சியின் காலப் பகுதியில் நிலவிய பயங்கரவாதத்திற்கு, மேல் மட்டங்களிலிருந்துகூட பலர் ஆதரவு அளித்தனர். ஒரு சிறு பையனால் கொடுக்கப்பட்ட காகிதத் துண்டு டாக்டர்களையும், வழக்கறிஞர்களையும், பொறியியலாளர்களையும் மற்றும் ஏனைய தொழில்சார் வல்லுனர்களையும் பகல் நேர பகிஷ்கரிப்புக்களில் பங்குபற்ற வைத்தது, பல அப்பாவி மூளைகளை சிதறடித்த “பையன்களை” பல கலைஞர்கள் தாமாகவே பாராட்டிப் பேசினர்.
மொனறாகலைக்கும் பெரகலைக்கும் வேறுபாடு தெரியாதோரும் வறுமைக் கோட்டிற்கும் துணிக்கோட்டிற்கும் வேறுபாடு தெரியாதோரும் ஜே.வி.பி அணியில் சேர்ந்தனர். “அவர்களோடு போராட முடியாவிட்டால் அவர்களோடு சேருங்கள்” என்பதே அவர்களின் தாரக மந்திரமாக இருந்தது. மிகச் சிலரும் அவர்களின் தலைவர்களுமே இத்தகைய நிலைகளை எதிர்க்கும் சக்தி படைத்தவர்களாக இருந்தனர்.
திரு ஆனந்தசங்கரி அவர்கள் பயங்கரவாதிகளின் துப்பாக்கிக் குண்டுகளிலிருந்து தன்னை காப்பாற்றிக் கொள்வது மட்டுமன்றி அவர் ஒரு துரோகி எனக்காட்ட பல்வேறு தரப்பினரால் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்ட அரசியல் பிரச்சாரத்தையும் எதிர்கொள்ள வேண்டியிருந்தார். திரு. நீலன் திருச்செல்வம் கொலையுண்டதற்கு முன்னரும் அவர் மேல் இத்தகைய முத்திரை குத்தப்பட்டது. பின்னர் லக்ஷ்மன் கதிர்காமருக்கும் அதன் பின்னர் கேதீஸ்வரனுக்கும் இதே நிலையே ஏற்பட்டது. திரு ஆனந்தசங்கரி அவர்களும் இத்தைகய பல்வேறு அவமானங்களுக்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்டிருந்தார். எனினும் அவர்கள் தமது முயற்சியில் மிகவும் பரிதாபகரமாக தோற்றுவிட்டார்கள் என்றே கூற வேண்டும். திரு. ஆனந்தசங்கரி அவர்கட்கு கிடைத்த விருதானது பயங்கரவாதத்தை நிராகரித்து இனப்பிரச்சினைக்கு ஒரு அரசியல் தீர்வொன்றை காண்பதில் நம்பிக்கையுடையோருக்கு கிடைத்த வெற்றி என்றே கூற வேண்டும்.
காந்திய வழியிலான அகிம்சையும் சகிப்புத்தன்மையும் பின்பற்றியதற்காகவே திரு ஆனந்தசங்கரி அவர்கட்கு உலகம் இந்த அங்கீகாரத்தை கொடுத்துள்ளது. பாராளுமன்ற அமைச்சர் அனுரா பண்டாரநாயக்கா கூறியது போல அடிப்பட்ட புலி மிகவும் அபாயகரமானது. திரு ஆனந்தசங்கரி அவர்களின் உயிர் எந்த நேரத்திலும் மிக ஆபத்தை எதிர்நோக்கிக் கொண்டுள்ளது. அவருக்கு அளிக்கப்பட வேண்டிய மிக உயரிய கௌரவம் அவர் சுதந்திர மனிதனாக உயிருடன் வாழ உறுதியளிப்பதேயாகும்.
இரண்டு தசாப்தங்களாக புரிந்து வந்த யுத்தத்தை விடுத்து இந்த பிந்திய கட்டத்திலாவது திரு.ஆனந்தசங்கரி அவர்களின் அறிவுபூர்வமான வார்த்தைகளை கேட்பது பிரபாகரனுக்கு மிக உசிதமான செயலாகும். இவ் விருதானது யுத்தத்தினால் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட பகுதிகளில் மீளவும் ஜனநாயகத்தை ஏற்படுத்துவதற்கு இடையறாது பாடுபடும் தமிழர் விடுதலைக் கூட்டணித் தலைவருக்குக் கிடைத்த சர்வதேச அங்கீகாரமாகும்
எமது பாராட்டுக்கள் ஐயா எனக் கூறி வாழ்த்துகிறோம்.
http://www.thenee.com/html/island.html
Posted in About Sangary, Editorials, Media, Tamil, UNESCO Award | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 13th, 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
President Mahinda Rajapakse and UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe have graduated from playing ping-pong to shaking hands in their much advertised pursuit of political reconciliation to help resolve the on-going conflict. Most newspapers yesterday carried a hand out picture of the two leaders beaming from ear to ear and warmly shaking hands. It may have warmed the cockles of the hearts of those who yearn for a coming together of the two main political parties. Hope springs eternal in the human breast!
We have been treated to such goodwill gestures ad nauseam in the past but the much sought after reconciliation looks as distant as a star. The show of unity that politicians put on in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster too marked a false beginning. We hope that the on-going process of bringing the government and the Opposition together won’t end up in a political miscarriage.
However, even if they were to succeed in their endeavours by any chance, their cooperation alone is not going to be a solution to the problem, as we pointed out in these columns on Saturday. With or without their co-operation, devolution has been achieved, as evident from the Provincial Councils (PCs), which the SLFP and the JVP first vehemently opposed but later accepted. True, the present government doesn’t have a two thirds majority in Parliament unlike the UNP government which passed the 13th Amendment, paving the way for the PCs. But, the all powerful donor community, which has got involved in the peace process as never before, is always in a position to tell the UNP or the SLFP to ‘stand and deliver’, should the LTTE agree to eschew violence and negotiate a political solution.
What has really thwarted the peace effort is not so much the lack of co-operation between the two parties, which are amenable to the dictates of the foreign custodians of the peace effort but the intransigence of the LTTE. The absence of consensus among other stake holders too is a road block on the path to peace.
The Wanni Tigers and the Eastern Tigers are fighting each other. The latter is demanding a separate Eastern Province. The democratic Tamils like TULF President V. Anandasangaree ask for federalism with a merged North and East. (more…)
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Saturday, July 8th, 2006
Saturday, 8 July 2006
True to form, the LTTE has rejected the Government’s efforts at forging ahead towards a negotiated settlement. Tamilselvan, the LTTE’s political wing chief, for instance, was quoted saying that the State was making proposals for a settlement which were rejected by the Tamil people decades ago. (more…)
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Thursday, June 22nd, 2006
In a very thought-provoking observation, veteran politician and TULF leader V. Anandasangaree has said that only the present Government could find a solution to the country’s conflict. There is no doubt that the TULF leader has found President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s approach to resolving the issue, highly inspirational.
This is hardly surprising because President Rajapaksa has chosen the advisable course of consulting every significant political party and force in the country for the formulation of a solution.
The concrete proof that this process is taking hold is the All Party Conference mechanism. This will enable the emergence of a broad-based solution to the conflict. We call on the Tamil National Alliance too to be party to this process because nothing could be gained by adopting a destructive attitude to President Rajapaksa’s approach to problem-solving.
All efforts at finding a solution have foundered so far because no meaningful attempt was made by the administrations concerned to consult all significant sections of Lankan opinion. However, the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration is a government that is off the beaten track.
The administration has within its fold almost every significant strand of Southern opinion.
Therefore, the Government is best placed to arrive at that hitherto elusive Southern consensus which most governments of the past strove so hard to find.
If the Government works out a solution that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people, the UNP would also be compelled to throw its weight behind the settlement because it too is for a peaceful settlement that addresses legitimate minority aspirations.
Therefore, the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration is best positioned to resolve our long-festering conflict and we urge it to take the necessary measures to jump start the peace process.
Some thought should be given to Anandasangaree’s suggestion that a broad-based solution, backed by the world community, be put to the Tigers. The latter would find it difficult to reject out of hand such a consensual formula.
Equally thought-provoking is Anandasangaree’s upholding of the Indian model for emulation. Given India’s strong secular foundation, discrimination among citizens on religious and ethnic grounds is out of the question and this is a healthy feature which all democratic states need to adopt.
That a Sikh is today the Prime Minister of India and a Muslim its President, speaks volumes for India’s rich democratic heritage. Such accommodation, tolerance and equality is the basis of ethnic peace.
Anandasangaree’s contention that Lanka is one, united country which cannot be divided, should also be considered.
Left to themselves the communities of Sri Lanka interact amicably and care for each other. It is divisive forces such as the LTTE which have sowed the poison of division among some.
Such thoughts should remind us that the time is ripe for stepped-up people-to-people interaction among the communities. This process too could help in defeating separatism.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2006/06/22/PrintPage.asp?REF=/2006/06/22/main_Editorial.asp
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Saturday, May 6th, 2006
Less than a fortnight after Army Commander Sarath Fonseka survived a murderous terrorist attack within his headquarters, life in Colombo certainly and in many other parts of the country has returned to normal. People have grown immune to the numbers they read in the newspapers, hear on their radios and view on their television screens. Those have become the daily dozen, give or take a few, “other people” who have died or been seriously wounded in the violence. When it is not you or yours, whether the victims are servicemen serving the State, and that means all of us, poor peasants eking out an existence in border villages or innocent civilians caught up in crossfire or mishits, it matters little to the vast majority. They don’t relish what they read and hear, but that does not disturb the even tenor of their lives.
Prabhakaran understands better than most that what causes the kind of waves that best suit him are spectacular strikes in the city center, such as that which on April 25 took ten lives and seriously wounded the army commander. There are those who believe that the Sun God’s intention is to provoke a communal backlash, reminiscent of the horrors of July ‘83, and win over a world where public opinion is strongly against terrorism to once again view the terrorist war he continues to wage as a freedom struggle. Mercifully, the Sinhalese appear to have learnt that lesson and have not played into Prabhakaran’s hands whatever the provocation. Despite the claymore mines that have been claiming military lives with monotonous regularity, the forces too have remained disciplined. Some would opine that the tit for tat strikes beginning with Muttur and followed by a few more in the last few days is a limited retaliatory response intended to ensure armed forces morale and also send a message to the Wanni that the president’s patience is not limitless. But the Tiger leader acts on the premise that we need peace more than he does. His beady eye remains on a separate state and everything he does is focused on that objective. That is something that the friends of peace in Sri Lanka in the outside world must digest and what they do to help us along a tricky road must be based on that perspective.
Meanwhile all else seems to be forgotten with national attention focused on what is happening in the northeast and the efforts to break the deadlock and make Geneva 2 a reality. Whether anything substantial can emerge from such a meeting, when it does eventually take place at a time of the LTTE’s choosing judging by what is happening now, is another matter. Although both the government and the Tigers have reiterated their commitment to the Cease Fire Agreement of February 2002, to all intents and purposes it is non-existent. While there is no full scale war, much more than a shadow war continues to be fought in the northeast and the threat of LTTE terror elsewhere, as demonstrated by what happened on April 25, is ever present. TULF President V. Anandasangaree, a brave man who has stood up to the Tigers and who risks his life every second of the day given the LTTE’s approach to its opponents, has once again gone public with his formula for a settlement. We have today published his “My dear thamby” letter to Prabhakaran where he proposes a federal model similar to India’s and voices confidence that should the LTTE proclaim it was renouncing the separate state demand, he was confident the Sinhalese would accept that formula. That is a fair claim although extremist elements in the south may regard a federal formula as a stepping stone to separation. But they will not be the majority.
While nobody can fault the president for his preoccupation with security matters, it is also necessary that he looks at issues of governance crying for attention. A lot remains wrong in that sphere beginning from the imbroglio in the Constitutional Council that remains unresolved. Rajapakse’s appointment of the Police and Public Service Commissions, however well intentioned, subverts their independence. As we have repeatedly stressed in this column, Mahinda Rajapakse’s greatest strength is his ability to get on well with all sections of the polity. He must use this muscle to resolve the issue. Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara has proposed that Mr. G.P.S. de Silva, a retired chief justice whose reputation is unimpeachable, fills the disputed seat in the Constitutional Council. If the JVP and TNA which claims the right to this nomination cannot accept that, the public can reach no other conclusion but that they do not want a solution. Rajapakse must use the considerable goodwill he enjoys in the political spectrum to make this appointment a reality. That is the only way in which blatant political interference that has sapped the independence of the police, public service and other branches of the government can be prevented.
There are many other matters, including Minister Jeevan Kumaratunga’s continued presence in the cabinet, that needs the president’s immediate attention. If Kumaratunga does not agree to resign he must be removed. We published a reader’s letter titled “Whither Good Governance” Sunday before last which itemized many matters Mahinda Rajapakse must look at if he is serious about good governance. Nobody disputes that the president’s top priority must be to get a credible peace process launched. But other issues facing the country cannot forever be consigned either to the back burner or the limbo of forgotten things.-Sunday Island Editorial
http://srilankanews.wordpress.com/2006/05/06/don-sunday-island-editorialt-forget-good-governance/
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