Speak your language at home: Lee Kuan Yew

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 March 2009, 00:12 GMT]
"My advice is for both parents to speak Mandarin to their children if they can. If one speaks in Mandarin and the other in English, the child will grow up speaking more English than Mandarin", said Lee Kuan Yew, minister mentor and former prime minister of Singapore, Tuesday, at the 30th Anniversary Launch of Singapore's language campaign. "Singapore's multi-racial peoples will never be united if we had used Mandarin as our common language. All non-Chinese, 25% of Singaporeans, will be disadvantaged. The result will be endless strife, as in Sri Lanka, where Singhalese was made the national language and the Tamil-speaking were marginalized", the senior statesman said further.

Lee Kuan Yew's speech has significant relevance to the Tamil diaspora, said Tamil school circles in Europe.

If both parents strictly make it a policy to speak to their children in the mother tongue at home, retention and transmission of language will never suffer, they said.

Ki Pi Aravinthan, involved in Tamil school activities in France, responding to Lee Kuan Yew’s insistence on learning Mandarin than dialectal Chinese, pointed out at the importance of Tamil diaspora children learning 'standard Tamil' rather than colloquial or adulterated Tamil.

"The first generation of the Eezham Tamil diaspora, which migrated to Straits Settlements (today's Malaysia and Singapore) and later to UK, in the 19th and early 20th century, preferred to speak to their children in English. After four or five generations the result today is language loss", said S. Umaipalan, Coordinator of the Rommen campus of the Tamil schools run by TRVS (Tamil Resource and Counselling Centre, Norway.

"The criterion for identity in the case of Tamils is peculiar: it is neither geography, nor religion, nor ethnicity or cultural practices, but solely the language. Only identities based on living classical languages, such as Tamil, Chinese etc have this phenomenon. If language is lost, identity is lost for them", said T. Wijayendran of the management of the Tamil school, Muththamil Arivalayam, Norway.

Full text of the speech by Lee Kuan Yew, at ‘Speak Mandarin’ campaign’s 30th anniversary launch in Singapore on 17 March, 2009, released by the Singapore Government Press Centre:

Thirty years ago, I launched this Speak Mandarin Campaign. Chinese students learn Mandarin in school. Unfortunately, they used to speak dialects among themselves and at home. When I watched interviews on our Chinese TV channel in the 1960s and '70s, I found students and workers speak Mandarin haltingly. They have not used Mandarin often. Mandarin has to be the common language of Chinese Singaporeans, regardless of their dialect groups. If the government had left language habits to evolve undirected, Chinese Singaporeans would be speaking an adulterated Hokkien-Teochew dialect.

To effectively promote Mandarin, we closed down all dialect programs on radio and TV from 1979. Also, I was setting a bad example making speeches in Hokkien in the 1960s and '70s to reach the largest number of Chinese. From 1979, some 30 years ago, I decided to stop speaking in Hokkien and switched to Mandarin. Had I not done this, Hokkien/Teochew will be the predominant common language for the Chinese in Singapore, not Mandarin.

The value of a language is its usefulness, not just in Singapore, but also in the wider world. If you speak Hokkien or Cantonese, you reach some 60 million in Fujian and Taiwan, or about 100 million in Guangdong and Hong Kong. With Mandarin, you can speak to 1,300 million Chinese from all provinces in China. Now, overseas Chinese and foreigners are learning Mandarin, not Chinese dialects. China is setting up 500 Confucius Institutes in different countries to teach Mandarin to many millions of people around the world.

I understand the strong emotional ties to one's mother tongue. However, the trend is clear. In two generations, Mandarin will become our mother tongue.

English is the key language for our people to make a living. It is the second language of all non English-speaking peoples. Multinational companies use English. Internet data banks are mostly in English. PRC Chinese are learning English with great effort. If Mandarin were our first language, Singaporeans would be of little use to China. They do not need more Mandarin speakers to add to their 1.3 billion. English gives us easy access to English-speaking societies and the developed world. Thus, Singaporeans bring value-add to China. If Ms Lim Sau Hoong spoke only fluent Mandarin, she would not bring added value to her work in China. It is because she also speaks and writes fluent English that she has been able to compete in both languages in the advertising sector. That made her a valuable addition to Zhang Yi-mou's team to polish up the dramatic opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in August 2008.

To keep a language alive, you have to speak and read it frequently. The more you use one language, the less you use other languages. So the more languages you learn, the greater the difficulties of retaining them at a high level of fluency. I have learned and used six languages ' English, Malay, Latin, Japanese, Mandarin and Hokkien. English is my master language. My Hokkien has gone rusty, my Mandarin has improved. I have lost my Japanese and Latin, and can no longer make fluent speeches in Malay without preparation. This is called "language loss".

All new countries have multiple dialects and languages in their mixed populations. To become a united nation, the population must speak a common language, so that they can communicate with the government and with one another. Indonesia has hundreds of languages and dialects in their 17,000 islands. Since independence in 1949, they have been teaching and speaking Bahasa Indonesia. In secondary schools and tertiary institutions, they do their lessons only in Bahasa, and not the regional languages and dialects. Bahasa is now the language of government and business in all parts of Indonesia.

Singapore's multi-racial peoples will never be united if we had used Mandarin as our common language. All non-Chinese, 25% of Singaporeans, will be disadvantaged. The result will be endless strife, as in Sri Lanka, where Singhalese was made the national language and the Tamil-speaking were marginalised. We made the right decision to use English as our common language. We also retained the teaching of mother tongues. Even in 1959 when we first became the Government, my colleagues and I could foresee a time when China would open up and become a huge economic power. Their common language is putonghua, not dialects. Our choice of English has enabled our fast growth. Now with China's growing economy, parents and students no longer complain of the burden of learning Chinese, a difficult language without spelling or phonetics. Dialects are being overtaken by Mandarin in the region where Mandarin is taught in all Chinese schools. Mandarin will become the common language of the overseas Chinese.

China wants to collaborate with us because through English, we are able to connect with the West. At the same time, our Mandarin is fluent enough to communicate with PRC Chinese on different topics and subjects.

The Speak Mandarin Campaign and our bilingual education policy have resulted in a growing number of young Singaporeans speaking Mandarin among themselves in schools, ITEs, polytechnics and universities. They also watch Mandarin TV more than English TV.

Quite a few Singaporeans with only "AO" or "O" level passes in Chinese have sent me emails from China to thank me for making Mandarin compulsory for them. With this basic foundation, they have been able to expand their vocabulary and increase their fluency after a few months in China. Singapore Press Holdings distributes a free bilingual newspaper called "Wobao" or "My Paper", which is bilingual in Chinese and English. They have a glossary of translations for the more difficult English and Chinese words and phrases. 250,000 copies of "Wobao" are distributed daily, read by about 500,000. During train or bus rides or at home, you can read it and refresh your recognition of Chinese characters.

School examinations no longer concentrate on mo xie, dictation from memory, or ting xie, listening and writing. They are not needed in real life. With computer programs, you can type the pinyin and the characters will appear. Since 2007, we have allowed the use of digital dictionaries in national examinations.

Singapore's advantage has been that we have a Mandarin-speaking community. We have newspapers, magazines, books, and television programmes in Chinese. We need some 300 Singaporean graduates each year who have Chinese language and culture at a high level, to interact with their China counterparts. The flow of new migrants from China as our citizens and Permanent Residents will help in this process.

English is our dominant language everywhere. Most students will have little difficulty in mastering working-level English. However, if parents speak in English to their children at home, learning Mandarin will be a problem. Research of American-born Chinese disclosed that when these second-generation Chinese try to learn Chinese in college, those who speak English at home found mastering Chinese as difficult as Caucasian-Americans; those whose parents spoke to them in Mandarin easily made the grade. My advice is for both parents to speak Mandarin to their children if they can. If one speaks in Mandarin and the other in English, the child will grow up speaking more English than Mandarin.

And with IT digital dictionaries that can translate from English to Chinese and vice versa and also pronounce the words, learning Chinese has become much easier and more convenient, something I did not have when I started learning Chinese in 1955 at age 32.

UN withheld civilian casualty figures to protect Sri Lankan state - report

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 17:01 GMT]
Publishing two leaked documents by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN, in an exclusive report on Wednesday revealed that the United Nations office had its own estimates of casualty figures. The UN had internal documentation for 9,924 civilian casualties including 2,683 killings and 7,241 injuries since 20 January to 07 March 2009. “Now it appears that unlike in other conflicts from Darfur to Gaza, the UN withheld the Sri Lanka figures, in effect protecting the Sri Lankan government from criticism,” the Inner City Press reported Wednesday. The report comes as the Sri Lankan government was trying to discredit TamilNet figures, fearing that the UN-referred casualty figures were based on TamilNet coverage.

“Between January and 12 February, the reporting network was spread over a broad area. Since most civilians are now in the small No Fire Zone (NFZ), including the reporting network - the information is better. The assumption is that the casualties were greatly under-reported prior to 12 February,” said the UN document which put the total minimum number of documented civilian casualties since 20 January 2009 as of 07 March 2009 in the conflict area of Mullaiththeevu district: 9,924 people including 2,683 deaths and 7,241 injuries.

Between January and February 2009 the combat area was reduced from 100 square km to 45 square km, including the NFZ of 14 square km. As the combat area reduces, the daily average shows an increase in the number of killed (from 33 to 63) and a slight decrease in the number of injured (from 184 to 145). This is due to increased density, the use of heavy weapons which continue to strike the NFZ and inadequate medical treatment.

Two thirds of the documented casualties occurred in the No Fire Zone (NFZ), according to the UN report obtained by the Inner City Press.

Another UN document on the food delivery to the IDPS in Vanni said: “After several weeks of reports of food shortages, it’s highly predicted that mortality could set in as a significant number of the IDP population is reportedly weakened and the likelihood of malnutrition across the same population group could translate into a rapid increase of nutritional and health deterioration.”

“Food stocks are on standby outside the Vanni but delivery of required food to IDPs is restricted by GOSL [Government of Sri Lanka] access. The latest negotiation with the Government allowed 500 MT mixed food commodities to be dispatched, using the sea.”

“We need to send to the NFZ at least 3,000 MT of food per month for a caseload of 200,000 people.”

As Sri Lankan government ministers were engaged in a propaganda campaign against the figures referred by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Weerawansa, an extreme Sinhala nationalist leader aligned with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, had issued a public threat against the UN office in Colombo hinting that the office would be attacked. He had said “people” would be compelled to surround the UN office in large numbers if it persisted with the move, which he described as a UN-led conspiracy to prosecute Sri Lanka over alleged war crimes.

EU Parliament passes significant resolution To save Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 21:43 GMT]
The EU Parliament Thursday passed a resolution, with a large majority, calling for immediate ceasefire between the Sri Lanka Army and Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam in order to allow the civilian population to leave the combat zone. Condemning all acts of violence against civilians in the safe zone and expressing serious concern for the plight of the people in the refugee camps run by the Sri Lankan government, the EU Parliament demanded full and unhindered access to international and national humanitarian organisations, as well as journalists to the combat zone and to the refugee camps.

The EU resolution calling for immediate ceasefire without any conditions and expressing concern not only for the plight of civilians in the safe zone, but also for the inmates of the internment camps run by Colombo are viewed as significant stances by political observers.

“What the Indian parliament couldn’t do has been achieved by the European Parliament. Some of the important demands, the people of Tamil Nadu have been making to the Indian government have at least been heard by the European Parliament,” commented a Chennai based political observer.

The resolution was passed by 358 votes to 232, on average, according to Robert Evans MEP.

Full text of the resolution follows:

P6_TA-PROV(2009)0129

Sri Lanka

European Parliament resolution of 12 March 2009 on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka

The European Parliament,

' having regard to Rules 91 and 90(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas an estimated 170 000 civilians find themselves in an emergency situation, trapped in the battle zone between the Sri Lankan army and the forces of the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) without access to the most basic aid,

B. whereas UN agencies have documented more than 2300 civilian deaths and at least 6500 injuries since late January 2009,

1. Calls for an immediate ceasefire by the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE in order to allow the civilian population to leave the combat zone; condemns all acts of violence and intimidation which are preventing civilians from leaving the conflict area;

2. Condemns the attacks on civilians as documented by the International Crisis Group;

3. Calls on both sides to respect international humanitarian law and to protect and assist the civilian population in the combat zone, as well as in the safe zone;

4. Is concerned about reports of serious overcrowding and poor conditions in the refugee camps established by the Sri Lankan Government;

5. Demands that international and national humanitarian organisations, as well as journalists, be granted full and unhindered access to the combat zone and to the refugee camps;

6. Calls on the Sri Lankan Government to cooperate with countries and aid organisations that are willing and able to evacuate civilians;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, to the Government of Sri Lanka, to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and, for information, to the Commission.

My comments : [Alas Tamilnadu Assembly passed unanimous Resolutions , Tamilnadu sent 40 Members of Parliament as one Block but Indian Parliament ignored Tamils. Thanks for All Nations and Members of Parliament of European Union.

N.Nandhivarman]

US Legislators point out Sri Lanka’s “Red Alert” genocide ranking to Secretary Clinton

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 2009, 02:44 GMT]
A group of 38 United States members of Congress sent a joint letter today to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and to the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Susan Rice, highlighting the humanitarian crisis faced by Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, and expressing concern over conditions in the internment camps, calling for bringing the issue to the UN Security Council, and encouraging active U.S. leadership to bring about a long-delayed political settlement.

The diverse, bipartisan group of 38 Members of Congress was led by Congressman Jim Moran and included chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Congressman McGovern, leading Republican in the House on all human rights issues, Congressman Wolf, and ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia Congressman, Dan Burton.

"We write with great concern regarding the grave humanitarian crisis in northern Sri Lanka. Human rights groups report that up to 200,000 civilians are trapped in the Vanni region, amid fighting between Sri Lankan Government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Most have been cut off from outside food and medical supplies for weeks, and their lives are threatened by the war and their resulting humanitarian needs. Human Rights Watch reports that 2,000 Tamil civilians have been killed since January, and 7,000 civilians have been wounded," the Congressional letter said.

Pointing out that Sri Lanka is currently on "Red Alert" for genocide the letter stated, "While some would dispute the legal definitions of genocide at this time, there can be no doubt that ethnic-based violence is widespread in Sri Lanka, and Tamil noncombatants are deliberately victimized by Sri Lankan Government policies.

"Your active leadership at this critical time can help save thousands of lives and make progress toward a sustainable political solution to end the horrific cycle of violence in the country. We urge you to continue to condemn all attacks against civilians by the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Both sides need to establish humanitarian corridors to allow noncombatants to travel freely and to receive humanitarian assistance. All UN agencies and aid workers, as well as journalists and human rights monitors, need to be granted access to the region, and we hope this can be arranged soon."

While calling for the "internment centers masquerading as 'welfare villages" to be brought under the administration of the United Nations agencies, the letter further said: "We urge continued efforts to press other UN Security Council members to bring Sri Lanka's crisis to the agenda of the Security Council."

A press release issued by “People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL)” welcomed the statement by the legislators and noted that the joint letter stayed clear of demanding any evacuation of Tamils. The widely reported plans for a US-PACOM led evacuation of Tamils to Sri Lanka government controlled areas caused great concern among Tamil Americans and others in the diaspora.

Stopping Sri Lanka’s genocide at ICJ, UN- Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 12:14 GMT]
“Any one or more of the 140 states parties to the Genocide Convention (1) must immediately sue Sri Lanka at the International Court of Justice in The Hague; (2) must demand an Emergency Hearing by the World Court; and (3) must request an Order indicating provisional measures of protection against Sri Lanka to cease and desist from committing all acts of genocide against the 350,000 Tamils in Vanni,” says says Professor Francis Boyle, an expert in international law and a professor at University of Illinois College of Law, outlining the steps for the Tamil diaspora to take to bring Sri Lanka to International Court of Justice (ICJ).

How to Stop Genocide by Sri Lanka Against the Tamils at the International Court of Justice and the U.N. Security Council

On 8 April 1993 and 13 September 1993 the author single-handedly won two World Court Orders on the basis of the 1948 Genocide Convention that were overwhelmingly in favor of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina against the rump Yugoslavia to cease and desist from committing all acts of genocide against the Bosnians.

Today the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) has trapped three hundred and fifty thousand Tamils in a forty square mile area of the Vanni region where it is mercilessly, deliberately, and systematically exterminating them by means of artillery shells, cluster bombs, rockets, jet fighters, tanks, and other weapons of mass and indiscriminate slaughter. The GOSL Defense Minister Rajapaksa has determined that this entire area now inhabited by 350,000 Tamils is nothing more than a free fire-zone in violation of the most fundamental requirements of International Humanitarian Law. The GOSL defense minister has ordered all doctors and medical personnel out of Vanni on pain of being murdered by the GOSL army, including the International Committee of the Red Cross. The GOSL defense minister has also compiled a death list of Tamil civilians to be massacred in Vanni. If the states of the world do not act immediately and effectively to stop GOSL, they will soon be witnessing serial massacres of Tamils along the lines of Srebrenica, Sabra and Shatilla, Rwanda, and Kosovo.

Article I of the 1948 Genocide Convention requires all 140 states parties to immediately act in order "to prevent" this ongoing GOSL genocide against the Tamils. One of the most important steps the 140 contracting states parties to the Genocide Convention must take in order to fulfill their obligation under Article I is to sue Sri Lanka at the International Court of Justice in The Hague (the so-called World Court) for violating the 1948 Genocide Convention on the basis of Article IX thereto: "Disputes between the Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation, application or fulfillment of the present Convention, including those relating to the responsibility of a State for genocide or for any of the other acts enumerated in Article III, shall be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the request of any of the parties to the dispute."

Any one or more of the 140 states parties to the Genocide Convention:

1. must immediately sue Sri Lanka at the International Court of Justice in The Hague;
2. must demand an Emergency Hearing by the World Court; and
3. must request an Order indicating provisional measures of protection against Sri Lanka to cease and desist from committing all acts of genocide against the 350,000 Tamils in Vanni.

Such a World Court Order is the international equivalent to a domestic temporary restraining order and injunction. Once issued by the World Court, this Order would be immediately transmitted to the United Nations Security Council for enforcement under U.N. Charter article 94(2). So far the member states of the United Nations Security Council have failed and refuse to act in order to do anything to stop the GOSL's genocide against the Tamils

1. despite the fact that the situation in Vanni constitutes a "threat to the peace" that requires Security Council action under article 39 of the United Nations Charter and
2. despite the fact that they are all obligated "to prevent" Sri Lanka's genocide against the Tamils under article I of the Genocide Convention. This World Court Order will put the matter on the Agenda of the Security Council and force the Security Council to take action in order "to prevent" the ongoing genocide against the Tamils by Sri Lanka.

Article II of the Genocide Convention defines the international crime of genocide in relevant part as follows:

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group such as:

(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
…

Certainly the Sinhala-Buddhist Sri Lanka and its legal predecessor Ceylon have committed genocide against the Hindu/Christian Tamils that actually started on or about 1948 and has continued apace until today and is now accelerating in Vanni in violation of Genocide Convention Articles II(a), (b), and (c).

For at least the past four decades, the Sinhala-Buddhist Ceylon/Sri Lanka has implemented a systematic and comprehensive military, political, and economic campaign with the intent to destroy in substantial part the different national, ethnical, racial, and religious group constituting the Hindu/Christian Tamils. This Sinhala-Buddhist Ceylon/Sri Lanka campaign has consisted of killing members of the Hindu/Christian Tamils in violation of Genocide Convention Article II(a). This Sinhala-Buddhist Ceylon/Sri Lanka campaign has also caused serious bodily and mental harm to the Hindu/Christian Tamils in violation of Genocide Convention Article II(b). This Sinhala-Buddhist Ceylon/Sri Lanka campaign has also deliberately inflicted on the Hindu/Christian Tamils conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction in substantial part in violation of Article II(c) of the Genocide Convention.

Since 1983 the Sinhala-Buddhist Sri Lanka have exterminated approximately 70,000 Hindu/Christian Tamils. The Sinhala-Buddhist Sri Lanka have now added another 350,000 Hindu/Christian Tamils in Vanni to their genocidal death list. Time is of the essence!

Humanity needs one state party to the Genocide Convention to fulfill its obligation under article I thereof to immediately sue Sri Lanka at the World Court in order to save the 350,000 Tamils in Vanni from extermination. The ghosts of Dachau, Auschwitz, Cambodia, Sabra and Shatilla, Srebrenica, Rwanda, and Kosovo demand no less.

APPLICATION PROCEEDINGS

SUBMITTED BY

THE REPUBLIC OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

v 3- March 1993

To His Excellency, the President, to the Judges of the

International Court of Justice, the undersigned being duly

authorized by the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina:

I have the honor to refer to Article IX of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9 December 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the “Genocide Convention8′). Under the jurisdiction thereby conferred upon the Court, and in accordance with Article 36(1) and Article 40(1) of the Statute of the Court and Article 38 of the Rules of Court, I hereby submit on behalf of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina,an Application instituting proceedings against Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) for violating the Genocide Convention in the following case.

I. STATEMENT OF FACTS

Introduction

1. Not since the end of the Second World War and the revelations of the horrors of Nazi Germany’s “Final Sol~tionh~as~Europe witnessed the utter destruction of a People, for no other reason than they belong to a particular national, ethnical, racial,and religious group as such. The abominable crimes taking place in the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovica at this time can be called by only one name: genocide. Genoc~de is the most evil crime a state or human being can inflict upon another state or human being. The sheer enormity of this crime requires that the nations of the world stand together as one, and with a single voice stop the destruction of the Bosnian People.

2. The nations of the world, reeling from and outraged at the crimes of the Nazis, sought to create laws which would prevent genocide and punish those who would commit genocide. To wit, in 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (78 U.N.T.S.277,adoptedDec. 9, 1948, entered into force Jan.2,1951) . BY

its terms, the contracting parties sought to undertake measures which would end the crime and punish the transgressors. The People and State of Bosnia and Herzegovina have suffered and are now suffering from the effects of genocide imposed upon them by

Leaders of Mauritius voice against genocide in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 2008, 17:48 GMT]
Leaders of both the ruling party as well as the opposition of Mauritius, including the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Rama Sithenen and the Leader of the Opposition Mr. Paul Berenger attended an agitation against the genocide of Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka on Thursday. The focal event of the protest was the march of hundreds of Mauritian Tamils to the Indian High Commission in Mauritius, demanding the Indian government to prevail upon Sri Lanka to effect immediate ceasefire in the island and to commence talks with the LTTE. The agitators also presented a memorandum on their demands to the Foreign Minister of Mauritius and conducted a prayer at the Maariyamman Temple.



The Attorney General and Minister for Human Rights of Mauritius, Mr. Jaya Rama Valayden in his speech condemned the Rajapaksa brothers for the genocide committed on Tamils. Mauritius will not stop merely at protesting, he said.

The protest was organized by the Mauritius Tamil Temples Federation (MTTF), an organization running about 150 koyils (temples) in Mauritius, the Tamil Force an organization of youth for justice and fairness towards Tamils in Mauritius, the Hindu Maha Jana Sangham, the Tamil Union, and the Tamil Eelam Support Committee under the leadership of Ganess Permal.

The MTTF president Mr. Veeran Comaren explained to the Foreign Minister of the need of Mauritius government convincing India to take necessary action.

Former Foreign Minister Mr. Jayan Cuttaree, former leader of the opposition and General Secretary of the MSM party, former Foreign Secretary, Mr. Vijay Makhan and Tamil social activist, Thiruthondar Cheetaen were among the notables who condemned the plight thrust upon the Eezham Tamils.

While the MSM party was in power in 1985, its leader and the then Prime Minister spoke in support of Eezham Tamils at the United Nations.

Today's opposition leader and the party chief of MMM, Mr Paul Berenger has always been supportive to the cause of Eezham Tamils.

Aya Agileshwaren, a native of Jaffna, conducted the prayer at the Maariyamman Temple.

Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, has predominantly been populated by people of Indian origin during colonial times. Tamils and people of European, African and Chinese origins are among the minorities.

Mauritius ranks first among all countries in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to India amounting to a total of nearly 11 billion U.S. dollars.

Indian High Commissioner rebuffs memorandum of Mauritian demonstrators

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 March 2009, 21:45 GMT]
The Indian High Commissioner in Mauritius rebuffed a memorandum of thousands of Mauritian Tamil demonstrators Friday, requesting India to stop the war against Tamils in Sri Lanka. The representatives of the demonstrators were seeking to submit the memorandum in person to the High Commissioner who is a Tamil and they had informed the High Commission of their request five days in advance. On Friday, Third Secretary Ms Menon and the Deputy High Commissioner who received them, turned down their request. Angered at the contempt, the demonstrators chose to burn the memorandum outside the High Commission. The Vice Prime Minister of Mauritius and the Justice Minister were active participants of the emotion-charged demonstration, organized by National Movement Against Genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka, reports Koomaran Chetty from Mauritius.



Mauritius Tamils in large numbers took to the streets of Port Louis highlighting the plight of Tamils in Vanni and supporting Eezham Tamils' right to self-determination.

Despite the downpour of heavy rain, over five thousand Mauritius Tamils participated the demonstration between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m., carrying the Tamil Eelam flag and banners depicting the suffering of their brethren in the Eezham Tamil homeland.

Mauritius Justice Minister Rama Velautham distributed pamphlets calling upon the Sri Lankan state to end the genocide of Eezham Tamils, while the Vice-Prime Minister of Mauritius participated in the rally expressing solidarity with the protesters.

Prominent Mauritius Tamil activists Koomaran Chetty, Veeran Kumaran, Vijayan Murugan, Ganeshan Perumal, former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M.K.Eelaventhan, and several political leaders of Mauritius spoke at the mass rally condemning the ‘genocidal attacks’ by the Sri Lankan state against Eezham Tamils.

Several participants who took part in the protest voiced support for the establishment of the independent state of Tamil Eelam and started to chant slogans in support of the Tigers and the LTTE leader V. Pirapaharan An interesting note on the sidewalks of the event was the Indian High Commission officials greeting the demonstrators by saying 'Namaskaar' and the demonstrators returning it with 'Va'nakkam'.

India's role in the war against Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka, repercussions in Tamil Nadu, unrest related to Tamils in Malaysia, demonstrations in support of Eezham Tamils in South Africa and Mauritius being viewed with enmity by the Indian High Commissions ' all don't augur well for the policies followed by the present Indian establishment, political observers feel.

Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Africa, populated predominantly by the people of Indian origin who migrated in colonial times.

The majority community, which identifies itself as Hindu, largely consists people from northern India.

Tamils are a major identity among the minorities, along with peoples of African, European and Chinese origins.

Mauritius ranks first among all countries in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to India amounting to a total of nearly 11 billion U.S. dollars.

International Court Charges Sudan President With War Crimes
By Lauren Comiteau The Hague 04 March 2009

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir (File)

Judges at the International Criminal Court have issued an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. But they stopped short of charging him with genocide, as prosecutors wanted.

As of this afternoon, President Omar al-Bashir is a wanted man.

Judges found there is enough evidence to arrest him on seven counts, including murder, extermination, rape and torture for crimes committed in Darfur since 2003.

Prosecutors had asked judges in July to also charge President al-Bashir with genocide. They say that as president and commander in chief of the country’s armed forces, he is the one who orchestrated the counter-insurgency campaign that has left some 300,000 people dead and over 2.5 million people displaced. President Al Bashir may be a sitting head of state, but judges say that does not grant him immunity from this court. 

Luis Moreno Ocampo gives a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands, 04 Mar 2009

Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo agreed.

“As soon as al-Bashir travels through international airspace he can be arrested,” he said. “Like Slobodan Milosevic or Charles Taylor, Omar al-Bashir’s destiny is to face justice. It will be in two months or two years, but he will face justice.”

Dozens of protesters outside the court, many of them refugees from Darfur, cheered the decision.

Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo, meanwhile, played down the lack of genocide charges, saying he may appeal that at a later date, and played up the historic moment: the first time this court has issued an arrest warrant for a sitting head of state. It’s now up to Sudanese authorities to arrest him. If they don’t, which is likely, it’s up to the U.N. Security Council to ensure Mr. al-Bashir’s arrest - effective immediately.

Some US Lawmakers Call for ‘Truth Commission’ to Investigate Bush Policies
By Cindy Saine Washington 25 February 2009

Senator Patrick Leahy

Influential Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy has proposed that an independent “truth commission” be established to investigate alleged abuses of power under the Bush administration. President Barack Obama has reacted cautiously to the suggestion, saying he is more interested in looking forward than backwards.  

Several Democratic lawmakers have joined a number of human-rights organizations in calling for an investigation of the Bush administration’s counter-terrorism policies. Controversial policies include certain interrogation techniques used at U.S. detention centers in Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the warrant-less wiretapping of U.S. citizens.

Speaking at Georgetown University earlier this month, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said there was a “dangerous departure from the rule of law” during the Bush administration, and that Congress needs to make sure America gets back on the right track.

“One path to that goal would be a reconciliation process, a truth commission. We could develop and authorize a person, a group of people universally recognized as fair-minded, without any ax to grind [no personal or political interest]. Their straightforward mission would be to find the truth. People would be told to come forward and share their knowledge and experiences, not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments, but to assemble the facts, he said.

Leahy said he envisions the panel modeled after the truth commission in South Africa that investigated the apartheid era, and that immunity from prosecution could be offered to those who cooperate.

“Rather than vengeance, we need a fair-minded pursuit of what actually happened. And sometimes the best way to move forward, is to find out the truth, find out what happened, and we do that to make sure it never happens again,” he said.

Leahy has also made clear that Democratic lawmakers who supported questionable Bush administration policies must also be investigated, which may help to explain why not many Democratic lawmakers have been clamoring for the commission.

A 2008 file photo of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., on Capitol Hill

One notable exception is House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, who has called for a National Commission on Presidential War Powers and Civil Liberties, with subpoena power, much like the 9/11 Commission.  

Elizabeth Goitien of the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy institute, agrees that some sort of truth commission could help U.S. credibility.

“Now in order to do that, the commission would have to be set up correctly, I mean it would have to have real teeth and real powers. It would have to have subpoena power, it would have to get cooperation from the government and there would have to be the force of law behind it to make sure that it got cooperation. And it would have to be thorough and unflinching. But I think if a commission were to be set up the right way and to do a good job, then I think “yes”, it could demonstrate to the rest of the world that we are very serious about accountability,” she said.  

Most Republican lawmakers oppose investigating the Bush administration, saying such a probe could compromise counter-terrorism efforts.

Moderate Republican Senator Arlen Specter rejected the idea of truth commissions, saying if every administration started to examine what the previous administration did, there would be no end to it.

President Barack Obama addresses a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the Capitol in Washington, 24 Feb 2009

President Obama has not endorsed the truth commission. At a nationally-televised prime-time news conference earlier this month, he was asked about Leahy’s proposal, and said he would review it.

“Nobody is above the law, and if there are clear instances of wrongdoing, that people should be prosecuted just like any ordinary citizen. But, that generally speaking, I am more interested in looking forward than I am in looking backwards,” he said.

Mr. Obama may fear an investigation could inflame the kind of partisan divisions he has said he wants to avoid. Also the president will likely need Republican support to deal with the economic crisis and challenges such as health care and foreign policy issues.

But a USA Today/Gallup poll this month found that 62 percent of Americans support either a criminal investigation or an independent panel to look into allegations of torture and other abuses of power during the Bush administration.