Chandre Dharmawardana
“Those in the forefront of the Tamils’ agitation for devolution of power have always been vague, deliberately or unconsciously, in the terminology used in their arguments, and the distinction between provincial autonomy, states’ rights in a federal union, and a separate state have been blurred by a fog of verbiage, and obfuscation K. M. de Silva [1]”
In this essay I will try to give an account of how the “Federalist” politics of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi is seen by me, an outsider who had no real access to the main players, except indirectly. In my reading, it is incorrect to claim that Federalism or Eelam was the clear aim of the 1949 Maradana resolution. Both tendencies existed. The Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) name was deliberate, and satisfied the separatist ginger group of the ITAK, while the “Federal” name in English satisfied the moderate politicians from Colombo-7. Mr. V. Navaratnam is representative of the important separatist group inside the ITAK as he was the early theoretician of the ITAK. He wrote the then well-known book “Ceylon Faces Crisis”, with an Eelam Map distributed in 1957 [2]. A Separatist Postage stamp was designed by Navaratnam in 1956, and issued in 1961 [3]. Continue reading
The recent demise of Ian Pieris brought spontaneous appreciations from the field of cricket, where his prowess in bowling, batting or administration was never in doubt! He is also being credited as the only “gentleman” who resigned from the post of President of Sri Lanka Cricket. It is sad to note that since his departure from Richard Pieris Group as the Deputy Chairman and Managing Director, his pioneering achievements as an industry and a business leader has been forgotten.
