tamilweek.com

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

As part of a joint UN appeal, FAO and partners are calling for US$23.6 million to support over 200 000 people to resettle in the North of Sri Lanka. This emergency response plan aims to promote self sufficiency and prevent further dependency on food aid for some 50 000 rural families.

Nearly 130 000 people have returned to their places of origin in the North of Sri Lanka as of December 2009. Anticipating further accelerated pace of return, resettling families need assistance to resume their livelihoods, boost local agricultural production and related income generating opportunities and improve their food security.

With an estimated 80 percent of the population in the Northern Province reliant on crop cultivation, livestock and fisheries as their primary source of livelihoods, assistance needs to focus on rural livelihoods.

As part of the sector’s response plan, immediate measures need to be taken to address socio-economic and environmental losses, increase food production, ensure food security and improve nutritional levels of resettled IDP farmer and fisher families and conflict-affected people in the North.

“We want to assist the government in reducing poverty level among conflict affected populations by enhancing income generating and employment opportunities”, stressed Patrick Evans, the FAO Representative in Sri Lanka.

Immediate assistance is also needed to re-establish and strengthen institutional capacities to develop crops, livestock and fisheries, the FAO statement said.

As part of ongoing emergency programmes, FAO is providing rice and other field crops such as cowpea, green gram, maize and groundnut, and training to over 6 600 vulnerable families in Jaffna, Vavuniya and Mannar this maha season 2009/10 with funds provided by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).

In addition, with funds provided by the UK Department of International Development, FAO provided ongoing paddy assistance and training to some 11 000 families for cultivation during this maha season.

FAO has also received funds from the Australian Government to provide integrated agriculture and food security assistance for 6 000 newly resettled families in the North during the next Yala season 2010.

by K.T. Kumaran

Song written by Poet Vaali, for the 1966 blockbuster Nadodi starring Makkal Thilagam M.G.R – M.G. Ramachandran speaks of a true spirit of the world, for the betterment of humanity everywhere:

A translation from Tamil

One Language all over the World

Language spoken by hearts in love..
Language spoken without sound..
Language of sphere-less divine….

A bird in varied colors
One lyric many ragas
Nights are alike but seasons differ
Delight is same for the many souls

When separated by sea and sky
Love unites faster than the speed of wind
Souls may be separated into two
But love is just one – named divinity

One sky – one and only moonlight
Years those gone by are in millions
Imparted by love, reciting poetry and delving in arts
The united were in millions

Mass in the millions spoke it yet
Love sprouts swiftly
Be globe trotting, still
Love Google’s to unite

One language all over the world..
Language spoken by hearts in love..
Language spoken without sound..
Language of sphereless divine…. – By Kavignar Vaali – The evergreen lyricist

By Dharman Dharmaratnam
Colombo

Thai Poosam is a significant day for ethnic Tamils living in Malaysia, Mauritius, Reunion and Singapore. This year, it falls on Saturday, January 30. The holiday denotes the full moon of the month of Thai and is dedicated to the God Murukan or Skanda, also known as Seyon in the Sangam-era of Tamil literature.

Thai Poosam 2010, pics by Nomad YC

‘Tai Poosam Cavadee’ is a public holiday in Mauritius and Reunion . It is a holiday in certain states of Malaysia. There were moves to lobby the Singapore Government to make it an official holiday in Singapore in lieu of Wesak which had been declared an ‘Indian holiday’ though largely confined to Sino-Singaporeans influenced by Sri Lankan Buddhist missionary activity. [The Chinese, Malays and Indians in Singapore are entitled to two public holidays each. Two days had already been allocated for the Chinese lunar new year. Deepavali had been designated as one 'Indian holiday'].

Murugan Temple in Verugal, Sri Lanka East-pic by: drs. sarajevo

Thai Pongal is not a noteworthy event for the ethnic Tamils of those lands. It is not observed with the same Jaffna fervour amongst the estate workers of central Sri Lanka either. Is there a reason for this?

I would like to surmise why. Thai Pongal is a harvest festival dedicated to the Sun God. It coincides with the purported shift north in the movement of the sun. This is known as Uttaraayanam and has a special resonance for rural farming communities that have tilled their lands for generations. This is witnessed to this day in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. Each day in the entire month of Maarkali, Tamil farming communities draw decorative kolams using rice flour on their front porch and place a symbolic Pillaiyar [Ganesha as the patron deity of the farmer] at the center of the Kolam. The month long observance concludes with Thai Pongal.

However, the colonial interlude in the history of Tamil Nadu in the 1800s led to a breakdown of the vibrant rural paddy economy, of local authority and local irrigation networks. This resulted in repeated famines. The hunger and destitution forced many landless laborers to move across the seas to Malaya, Mauritius, Reunion and the tea plantations in Sri Lanka in the 1800s. The rural farmer lifestyle with its Vellalar/Mudaliyar-dominated caste feudalism had ended.

Like the God Murukan who moved out of his ‘parental home’ and sought his own ‘individual destiny’ as it were, the descendents of the indentured Tamil migrants who had been detached from their rural roots emphasized Thai Poosam as part of their new and at times more prosperous lives in far off lands. This was an expression of their independent tenacity in the new frontier of Tamil geographic space.

Many of the indentured laborers who moved overseas hailed from the fiercely independent Maravar/Thevar/Kallar/Thondaman caste noted for their devotion to the God Murukan. The Thevar Polygars/Palaiyakarar in Tirunelveli in the deep south of Tamil Nadu and the affiliated Thondamans in Pudukottai in central Tamil Nadu fiercely resisted the brief intrusion of the Delhi Sultanate in the 1300s, the raids of Tippu Sultan in the late 1700s and the onset of British rule in the 1800s. This militarized community formed regiments in the Vijayanagara and Madurai Mahratta Nayak armies. They were deeply religious and patronized Hindu religious institutions.

Thai Poosam therefore is a statement of displacement, independence and a tenacity of spirit, not agrarian conformity. While Ganesha went round his parents, Murukan went round the universe in search of the much sought after ‘Mango’. This holiday is a salute to self-reliance, perhaps even defiance. While this is conjecture on my part, it offers possible insights into the psyche of the 19th century Tamil diaspora.

Joint Civil Society Statement on Election Violence

With the race for the presidency getting increasingly close and uncertain, there has been a considerable increase in tension throughout the country.

This gives rise to the danger that there can be obstructions to the exercise of the franchise on the day of election which needs to be effectively countered as the electoral process is the main source of legitimacy in a democracy. Election monitoring and media organizations have been reporting a sharp increase in election-related violence including several killings accompanied by a flagrant disregard of election laws including abuse of state resources.

The violation of election laws and the practice of violence at election time are not new phenomena and have taken place in previous elections under previous governments as well. However, on this occasion our concern is greater as the Election Commissioner himself has publicly bemoaned his helplessness and has threatened to give up his duties as his orders are being disregarded.

We, the undersigned organizations, believe that the impunity surrounding election-related practices, if further tolerated, will lead to space being created for a total breakdown of law and order as Election Day approaches. We call on the two main presidential candidates to jointly issue a statement for a cessation of violence and restoration of law and order with regard to the current election campaign. The government needs to immediately implement this call.

A further factor that may influence some sections of the electorate not to participate in the elections is the fear that they will become victims of the politics of revenge if they choose to go with the side that does not win. We therefore call on the rival candidates to make a pledge that they will not engage in the politics of revenge after the election, but strictly adhere to the rule of law. This will encourage voters from all communities to participate in the forthcoming elections and be stakeholders in the outcome, as empowered citizens of a real democracy. We trust that the candidates would by immediate actions demonstrate their commitment to the values outlined (which by their words they profess an adherence) and thereby create a path to a peaceful and fair election process as well as the future development of the country

Signed by

Association of War Affected Women
National Peace Council
R.M.B. Senanayake
Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum
Mannar Women for human rights and democracy
Center for Policy Alternative
M.C.M. Iqbal
Smathi Sivamohan
Sunila Abeysekara
Alliance Development trust
Equal Ground
Saradha de Seram
P. Saravanamuttu
Service Civil International
Tony Senevirathna
Visaka Dharmadasa

Blatantly false and misleading coverage of Centre for Policy Alternatives and Social Indicator on website:

Statement by Centre for Policy Alternatives:

It has been brought to our notice that the website titled SF Balakaya hosted at the URL http://www.sfbalakaya.com currently features a blatantly false story involving Social Indicator (SI), the survey research arm of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA).

A story posted on the aforementioned website (accessible at http://www.sfbalakaya.com/story.php?nid=n20100122_04 at the time of writing) claims that SI was contracted to do an opinion poll survey on the presidential election by the United National Party (UNP), and that survey results have been withheld by the Executive Director of CPA, Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu on account of the results showing a victory for President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Social Indicator and CPA categorically deny this report as one without any basis in fact. We have not done and nor were we asked to do any survey on the presidential election by any political party or partisan group.

We remain committed to the highest standards of professionalism in our work and wholeheartedly condemn this attempt at inventing a story for short -term political gain.

We demand a full and immediate retraction of this story by this website, which misleads the public with incorrect information.

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

“Lakbima News” editor Rajpal Abeynayake asks President Rajapakse a serious question “What is the message you give Tamil speaking people”?.

Here is Mahinda’s Insolent answer – “For those who speak Tamil ..(I say..) , now I too speak Tamil. So there is no problem at all”- [http://twitter.com/dbsjeyaraj]

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa speaks at a final political rally for his presidential campaign in Piliyandala January 23, 2010.-Reuters pic.