The dangers of Tamil chauvinism

Time appears to have stood still for most Tamil Nadu’s politicians who seem completely insulated from the complex ground realities that mark India’s new political landscape. India’s political establishment and civil society are anxiously grappling with the enormity of the horrific new threat to Indian society — terrorism — fast becoming an everyday reality on the streets. But oddly enough, seemingly oblivious of the contradiction, political parties in Tamil Nadu, led by the MDMK and the PMK, have recently plunged into high-pitched activity aimed at garnering support for the LTTE, a deadly terrorist organisation.

These parties have launched a campaign in the State ostensibly to express solidarity with the Sri Lankan Tamils trapped in the war zone in northern Sri Lanka but the timing of this campaign which appears to have materialised overnight, is a dead giveaway. The Sri Lankan army, just two kilometres away from the LTTE’s administrative capital, Kilinochchi, has successfully encircled the Tigers and their leader who are virtually trapped in their bunkers. For the first time in years, the Sri Lankan government appears to be on the brink of a major success in its battle with terrorism. There is now the very real prospect of the capture of the elusive LTTE chief, Velupillai Prabakaran, who is behind the assassination of a former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi.

Tamil Nadu’s politicians clearly have different standards for India and for Sri Lanka. It would appear that they accept that battling terrorism in India and saving Kashmir from Islamist jihadis are important national tasks but not so in Sri Lanka which has been menaced for more than two decades by the LTTE. It was the LTTE which pioneered terrorism in South Asia and produced two generations of suicide bombers who have claimed numerous high-profile victims. For far too long have the legitimate aspirations of the Sri Lankan Tamils been held hostage to the hegemonic ambitions of the LTTE chief Prabakaran who has consistently sabotaged all attempts to find political solutions to the ethnic conflict.

When Pakistani generals and Islamist militants characterise the separatist uprising in Kashmir as a “freedom struggle,” the collective Indian national consciousness is understandably outraged. Politicians in India are rarely exercised over concerns that the human rights of innocent citizens are often trampled upon in police action against terrorists or their perceived accomplices. There is indeed a broad-based political consensus behind the Indian state when it takes strong steps to root out terrorism.

It is therefore all the more incongruous that the political parties in Tamil Nadu, including the ruling DMK and its principal challenger the AIADMK have decided to work themselves into a frenzy over the alleged violation of the “human rights” of the Sri Lankan Tamils in the context of the military action against the LTTE. Evidently, the game plan of the LTTE and its supporters is to rally Tamil chauvinist sentiment and translate that into pressure on New Delhi to signal its disapproval to Colombo, thereby weakening its moral authority in the eyes of the Sri Lankan Tamil community.

There is a strong sense of déjÀ vu, listening to the rhetoric and speeches of leaders in Tamil Nadu, whose understanding of the Sri Lankan political situation is mired in a time-warp, their images of the ethnic conflict drawing primarily from scenes of two decades ago, particularly the flashpoint of 1983, when the Wellikada prison massacre highlighted dramatically the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamil community and brought thousands of refugees to Indian shores. But after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the Indian national psyche recoiled from a continued engagement with the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis.

Since the 1990s, New Delhi’s policy has been to acknowledge the terrorist character of the LTTE and the imperative of a military confrontation with that organisation, while continuing to offer moral encouragement to Colombo to find a political solution that would provide a framework to empower the Tamil community. Meanwhile, India made clear its utter repugnance for the LTTE by banning it not just because it was involved in the murder of Rajiv Gandhi but because it viewed the LTTE as a terrorist movement that would continuously strive to stimulate the secessionist sentiment in Tamil Nadu as long as Sri Lanka continued to have ethnic strife.

The situation in Sri Lanka itself has undergone profound changes since the 1980s, when it was easier to conceptualise purely political solutions and rule out military responses to the violent dimensions of the conflict. At that point in time, it was indeed possible to sideline the militant groups of Sri Lankan Tamil politics by engaging the political interlocutors in the Tamil community such as the urbane leaders of the TULF, notably Appapillai Amirthalingam, who recognised the key to political empowerment lay in the democratic process. But with the ruthless elimination of every credible interlocutor in the Tamil community by the LTTE which insisted that it was the sole representative of the Sri Lankan Tamils, the space for a political solution has narrowed over the years, rendering null and void the several exercises seeking a devolution of power to the Tamil community.

Yet the Thirteenth Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution which was a consequence of the Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement of 1987, envisaging devolution of power to provincial councils has become a touchstone for the resolution of the ethnic conflict. The Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has made it clear that he remains committed to a political solution of this sort. In a meeting with the All Party Representative Conference (APRC) last Saturday, Mr. Rajapaksa emphasised that it was the duty of the Sri Lankan state “to ensure to the Tamil people of the North the same democratic rights as enjoyed by the people in all parts of the country.” He also took care to explain that the military action against the LTTE was against terrorism and not against the Tamil community.

The Sri Lankan President has acquired unprecedented political space for his military campaign against the LTTE. Several factors including the rebellion of the powerful LTTE commander Karuna and the fact that there is now in place an elected provincial council in the Eastern Province have rendered irrelevant many of the points in the earlier Sri Lankan Tamil political platform. That there is a credible and workable political solution now in sight has made it easier for Colombo to launch military operations against the LTTE. It is indeed the sovereign right of Sri Lanka as it is of India to eliminate any terrorist organisation that poses a fundamental threat to its survival as a nation.

The parties in Tamil Nadu which have strong ties to the LTTE such as the MDMK and the PMK are in the forefront of this new campaign which has sprung to life overnight after decades of silence. Their rhetoric is dated and wearily familiar. The MDMK’s Vaiko, brimming with moral indignation, has lashed out at the Centre for allegedly sending military assistance to Sri Lanka which was “unleashing a genocidal attack on the Tamil race”. Likewise the PMK’s leader S. Ramadoss has alleged that “the situation on the island threatens to eliminate the entire Tamil race”.

That the LTTE’s shadow lurks behind this new campaign is evident in the demand of Dr. Ramadoss that the Union government recognise the “Eelam Tamils struggle for their rights.” There is also an implied acceptance of the LTTE’s claim to be the only authentic representative of the Sri Lankan Tamils in the declaration of Dr. Ramadoss that the LTTE is “acting as a fortress for ethnic Tamils.”

As the LTTE has presumably calculated, this binge of competitive chauvinism has compelled Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to up the ante on this issue, adding for good measure, his own dramatic assertion that unless the Centre cooperates in stopping the attacks on the Sri Lankan Tamils, not only would the Sri Lankan Tamils perish but so also would the “Tamils in Tamil Nadu.” The strategic design behind the campaign to “express solidarity” with the Sri Lankan Tamils that is now under way in Tamil Nadu should not be underestimated.

For the last decade or so, New Delhi has successfully resisted the various attempts made by the LTTE and its supporters in Tamil Nadu to force it to intervene in the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis. If New Delhi were to express its disapproval, even implicitly, of Sri Lanka’s sovereign right to recapture its own national territory from the LTTE, it would weaken the moral authority of India’s own actions in regard to its struggle against terrorism and the separatist agitation in Kashmir. This latest campaign in Tamil Nadu masterminded by a desperate LTTE must not be allowed to undermine the sound policy decision upheld by successive Indian governments since 1991 to stay out of Sri Lanka’s internal affairs.


Malini Parthasarathy

http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/14/stories/2008101454490800.htm

தலித் பிரம்மாக்கள்!

''பதினைந்து வருடங்களுக்கு முன்பு இசைஞானி இளையராஜா எனது சிற்ப மையத்துக்கு வந்திருந்தார். அப்போது நான் செதுக்கிக்கொண்டு இருந்த விநாயகர் சிலை யைத் தொட்டுப் பார்க்கலாமா என்று கேட் டார். 'இப்போதுதான் தொட முடியும். கோயில் கருவறைக்குள் சென்றுவிட்டால் பக்தனாகிய உங்களாலும் தொட முடியாது. சிலையைச் செய்த என்னாலும் தொட முடியாது' என்றேன். சிரித்துக்கொண்டார்!''- தனது உளியைப் போலவே சிற்பி ராஜனின் வார்த்தைகளிலும் கூர்மை!

இந்தியாவின் மிகச் சிறந்த சிற்பிகளில் ஒருவர் ராஜன். சுவாமிமலை அருகே திம்மக்குடியில் இருக்கும் 'ராஜன் சிற்ப மையத்'தில் ஏதோ ஒரு தாளகதியில் இசை மீட்டுகின்றன நூற்றுக்கணக்கான உளிகள். தாமரைப்பூ சரஸ்வதி, காசுகளை அள்ளி இறைக்கும் லட்சுமி, ரதி, மன்மதன், திருப்பதி வெங்கடாசலபதி, ஆஞ்சநேயர், விநாயகர், வள்ளி தெய்வானையோடு முருகன், ஊழித்தாண்டவமாடும் நடராசர் என பஞ்சலோக மற்றும் வெண்கல வடிவங்களில் மினி தேவலோகச் சூழல்! இந்தியாவின் சார்பாக லண்டன், ஜெர்மனி, ஆஸ்திரியா, சுவிட்சர்லாந்து சிற்பக் கண்காட்சிகளில் கலந்துகொள்ள மத்திய அரசு தேர்ந்தெடுப்பது இவரைத்தான். பிரான்ஸ் நாட்டுப் பள்ளிகளில் ஒன்பதாம் வகுப்பில் பாடமாக சிற்பி ராஜனின் வாழ்க்கைக் குறிப்பு இடம்பெற்றிருக்கிறது.



இவற்றைத் தாண்டியும் ராஜனுக்கு இருக்கிறது சில தனிச் சிறப்புகள். சுவாமி சிலைகளைத் தெய்வாம்சமாக வடித்துத் தரும் ராஜன், ஒரு பழுத்த நாத்திகவாதி. பெரியார் கொள்கைகளுக்காகத் தன் வாழ்வை அர்ப்பணித்தவர். இவரது சிற்ப மையத்தின் இன்னொரு சிறப்பு தலித் சிற்பிகள்! தாழ்த்தப்பட்டவர்கள் என ஒதுக்கப்படும் தலித்களால் உருவாக்கப்பட்ட எண்ணிலடங்கா கடவுள் சிலைகள் இந்தியாவைத் தாண்டி உலகெங்கிலும் உள்ள முக்கியக் கோயில்களில் அருள்பாலித்துக் கொண்டிருக்கின்றன. புரொஃபஷனல் கலைக்கூடம், லேப்-டாப் மூலம் வாடிக்கையாளர்களுடன் தகவல் பரிமாற்றம் என சிற்பக் கலையை அடுத்த நூற்றாண்டுக்குக் கை பிடித்து அழைத்துச் செல்கிறார் ராஜன். கலவையான உலோக மணம் நாசியைத் தீண்ட அங்கிருந்த வித்தியாசமான 'பறையடிக்கும் விநாயகர்' என்னோடு நின்றிருந்த வின்சென்ட்டின் கேமராவை ஈர்த்தது.

''அனைவருக்கும் பொதுவான கடவுள், தலித் மக்களின் கலாசாரத்தையும் பிரதிபலிக்க வேண்டும் இல்லையா? அதற்காகத்தான் இந்தப் பறையடிக்கும் விநாயகர் சிலை! பதின்மூன்று வயதிலிருந்தே கடவுள் மறுப்பாளனாக இருந்தாலும், எனக்கிருந்த சிற்பக் கலைநயத்தைக் கடவுள் சிலை செய்வதன் மூலம்தான் ஆழமாக வெளிப்படுத்த முடியும் என்று நம்பினேன். வெறும் கல்லை, உலோகத்தை கலைநயம்மிக்க கடவுளர்களாகத் தங்கள் உழைப்பின் மூலம் உருவாக்கித் தரும் மக்களைக் கோயிலின் உள்ளேயே விட மறுப்பது மானுட விரோதம் இல்லையா? பெரியார் தொண்டனாக இதற்கு நான் ஏதாவது செய்ய வேண்டியிருந்தது.

முள்ளை முள்ளால்தானே எடுக்க வேண்டும்? மூலவர் சிலைகளையே தலித்துக்களைக்கொண்டு உருவாக்கி கோயில் கருவறைக்குள் வைக்கத் தீர்மானித்தேன். சிற்பக்கலையில் ஆர்வமுள்ள தலித் இளைஞர்களை ஒன்று திரட்டி அவர்களுக்கு இலவசமாகத் தங்குமிடம், பயிற்சிகள் அளித்து என் சிற்ப மையத்தைக் குருகுலமாகவே மாற்றினேன். எதிர்பார்த்ததை விடவும் இந்த முயற்சிக்குக் கடும் எதிர்ப்புகள். 'சாமி சிலையைக் கீழ்ச் சாதியினர் செய்வதா?' என்று கேள்வி எழுப்பியவர்கள் எல்லாம் அவர்களால் உருவாக்கப்பட்ட கலைநயம்மிக்க கடவுள் சிலைகளைப் பார்த்து அசந்து போனார்கள். ஆரம்ப காலங்களில் கோயில் நிர்வாகிகள் தலித்து களால் உருவாக்கப்பட்ட கடவுள் சிலைகளை வாங்க மறுத்தார்கள். கடைசியில் அவர்களைக் கலை வென்றது. அந்த அளவுக்கு தலித் இளைஞர்களின் சிற்ப நுட்பம் ஒவ்வொரு அங்குலத்திலும் வெளிப்பட்டது.

இந்த நாட்டின் ஆதிக்குடிகள் தலித்துகள். நமக்கான கலையை, நாகரிகத்தை உருவாக்கித் தந்தவர்கள். சாமி சிற்பங்கள் மட்டும் அந்தக் கலைக்குடிகளின் கரங்களிலிருந்து தப்ப முடியுமா? எனது சிற்ப மையத்தில் அவர்களால் உருவாக்கப்பட்ட ஐம்பொன் சிலைகள் நியூ ஜெர்ஸி சிவன் கோயில், க்ளீவ்லேண்டிலுள்ள இந்து மிஷன் கோயில்களை அலங்கரிக்கின்றன. இதே சுவாமிமலைக்கு அருகில் காவிரிக் கரையில் அமைந்துள்ள ஐயப்பன் சிலையை நானும் எனது மாணவர்களும்தான் உருவாக்கினோம். அதன்பிறகு, அந்த ஐயப்பன் சிலைக்கு வெள்ளிக் கவசம் வேண்டுமென கோயில் நிர்வாகத்தினர் கேட்டனர். கவசத்துக்கு அளவெடுக்க வேண்டுமானால் கருவறைக்குச் செல்ல வேண்டும். ஆனால், கோயில் நிர்வாகம் என்னையும் எனது தலித் மாணவர்களையும் கருவறைக்குள் விடாமல் தடுத்தது. கோபப்பட்டு திரும்பிவந்துவிட்டோம். பிறகு, அவர்களே தேடிவந்து அழைத்ததால் அளவெடுத்துக் கவசம் சாத்தினோம்.

அவ்வளவு ஏன்..? காஞ்சி சங்கரமடத்தில் உள்ள காமாட்சி அம்மனின் அவதாரமாகிய மகாமேரு சிலையை உருவாக்கியவர்களும் என் தலித் மாணவர்கள்தான்'' என்கிற ராஜனும், அவரது மாணவர்களும் இதுவரைக்கும் பத்தாயிரத்துக்கும் மேற்பட்ட சாமி சிலைகளை உருவாக்கி உள்ளனர்.

சுவாமிமலையில் இயங்கும் சிற்ப மையத்தை அண்மையில் விற்றுவிட்டார் ராஜன். அதை வாங்கியவர்கள், 'ராஜன் சிற்ப மையம்' என்ற பெயரையே தொடர்ந்து பயன்படுத்திக்கொள்ள ஒரு பெரும் தொகையை ராயல்டியாக வழங்கியுள்ளனர். இப்போது கும்பகோணம் அருகே ஆலங்குடியில் பரந்துவிரிந்த பிரமாண்ட சிற்ப மையத்தை உருவாக்கும் முயற்சியில் இருக்கிறார். ''அங்கும் தலித் இளைஞர்களுக்கே முன்னுரிமை'' எனும் ராஜன் சிற்பக் கலையின் மீதுள்ள ஈடுபாடு காரணமாகத் திருமணமே செய்துகொள்ளவில்லை.

ராஜனின் சீடரான சிற்பி பாண்டுரங்கன், ''ஒளிவுமறைவின்றி சிற்பக் கலையின் ரகசிய நுட்பங்கள் அனைத்தையும் ராஜன் ஐயாதான் எங்களுக்குக் கற்றுக் கொடுத்தார். வருமானம், வெளிநாட்டுக்காரர்களின் பாராட்டுக்கள் பெரிய விஷயமில்லை. உள்ளூரிலேயே சாதியின் பெயரைச் சொல்லி எங்களை ஒதுக்கியவர்கள்கூட இன்று மரியாதையோடு பார்க்கிறார்கள்.'' ஏழரை அடி உயரமும் நானூறு கிலோ எடையும் கொண்ட லட்சுமி சிலையை உயிரோட்டமாகச் செதுக்கி யபடியே பேசுகிறார்.

ஆயிரமாயிரம் ஆண்டுகளாக இறுகி கெட்டிப்பட்டுக் கிடக்கும் சாதி என்னும் கடும்பாறையின் மீது ராஜனின் உளி தொடர்ந்து இயங்கிக்கொண்டு இருக்கிறது!

நன்றி - ஆனந்த விகடன்...

Azhar’s story: A miracle of love

Azharuddin walks to his school today, more than six years later, a little wobbly on his feet, but coherent in his mind and ready to often smile.

A police bullet pierced right through the 10-year-old boy’s forehead, and flew out from the other end, near his neck. But Azharuddin walks to his school across the streets of Ahmedabad today, more than six years later, a little wobbly on his feet, his one hand bent permanently like a spastic, but coherent in his mind and ready to often smile. It is a resplendent miracle of love. To add further shine to the wonder, his mother Shakila Bano also survived a bullet that penetrated her chest, just inches away from her heart.

The year was 2002, nearly two months after the communal massacre that devastated the Muslim residents of the city, following the burning of a train in Godhra. Nearly a hundred thousand men, women and children were in relief camps at that time, their loved ones killed or missing, their homes burnt. An uneasy false peace had descended over the old city where most of the Muslim population of the city lived, but stray incidents of violence and vengeance were reported from time to time, and the air was clogged with rumours and fear.

Suddenly one day in April, 2002, two bodies were discovered on a highway at the outskirts of the city near the village of Ramol. The dead men were identified as activist members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, one of the organisations which were at the forefront of organising the slaughter weeks earlier. It was quickly concluded that this was a revenge killing by the Muslims of the area.

Blind retaliation

In a short while, a convoy of jeeploads of local policemen, in uniform and helmets, drove stormily into the Muslim settlement that happened to fall nearest the place where the killed men had been found. This was the working class colony Mohammed Nagar. As soon as they entered the shanty, they began to fire blindly. Shakila Bano’s home falls close to the road near the entrance to the settlement. She was in her kitchen, kneading flour for the afternoon meal. She suddenly heard the commotion, the echo of bullets and the cry of her 10-year-old son Azhar, who was playing on the road. She came running out with the flour sticking to her hands, to find him lying motionless in a pool of blood around his head. A bullet has penetrated through his skull. She screamed in anguish and anger at the policemen who were driving by in their jeeps. She was silenced by another bullet, which went through her chest. She too fell unconscious.

The uproar outside their home alerted the other residents of the ghetto to rush into their houses and bolt their doors. The rampaging police continued to fire blindly. Zarina Bano was hit on the shoulder, Nanhi Bahen on the hand, and Rubina Bano on the chest. Aged Zuleikha fell dead to another bullet. Mohammed Rafiq, a railway employee, had the misfortune to be returning from work on his bicycle at that very moment. From behind their windows, the other residents saw him plead in terror for his life, showing the unforgiving policemen his identity card, only to be shot dead.

Paramilitary forces of the RAF followed quickly on the heels of the local police. Their officers were shocked by the consequences that they saw of a police run berserk. They assumed Azhar to be dead, but rushed his mother Shakila who was bleeding and unconscious to the hospital. This saved her life.

Azhar’s father Sheikh Imamuddin was at work at that time in the aluminium moulding factory where he was employed. He heard smatterings of news of the horrors of the police rampage and rushed home. By then, other police officials had arrived in the colony. Imam begged them to lend him their ambulance to take his son to the government hospital. They told him that he should take the boy to the cemetery instead, but relented after the father pleaded piteously.

In the hospital emergency ward, the doctors declared the boy dead. The shattered father sat with his head lowered in sorrow on a bench in the hospital corridor, clutching the edge of the stretcher on which his son lay, waiting to move his body to the mortuary. Suddenly he felt violent vibrations in the stretcher. For a moment, he thought it was a replay of the earthquake which had devastated the city of Ahmedabad a year earlier. But instead he raised his head to find that his son, still unconscious, was heaving with convulsions. Imam ran back to the doctors to plead with them to save the life of his son. They dismissed him, believing that the father was crazed by the grief of his son’s death. But he fell to their feet, pressing his head on their shoes. They relented finally, and three young doctors on duty walked with him to the corridor. They too were then stunned by the sight of the convulsions of the boy they had all taken to be dead, and they began running towards him. One doctor even slipped and fell in his haste.

Exemplary compassion

All three doctors were Hindu, and those were dark times when one’s religious faith notoriously clouded even the duty and humanity of many professionals like doctors and lawyers. But Imam testifies that these three young doctors showed him no prejudice, only exemplary compassion. For the next several weeks, Imam barely left the bedside of his son, as the doctors battled for his life. Imam learnt meanwhile of his wife’s miraculous survival in another government hospital, and his relatives tended her to health. Finally the day came when Shakila Bano, and then her son Azhar were both discharged from hospital and returned to their home.

Since the day his son returned home, his father Imam has only one obsession: the care of his son. The boy, for several months, could not rise from his bed, even to go to the toilet. The doctors had prescribed him a rigid (and expensive) regime of medicines and physiotherapy. Imam would work overtime in his aluminium moulding factory, and even after hours he sought any kind of work — head-loading, cleaning, construction labour — anything that would earn him extra money. The family and neighbours knew that the family may go without food, but no money would be spared for the boy’s medicines and treatment. The boy suffered terrible headaches and lapses of memory and even eyesight. But his parents persisted, his mother oblivious of the burning pain that sometimes still rose in her own chest which was also penetrated by a bullet. It was because of his parents’ unwavering love that, over several months, the boy slowly began to rise to his feet.

Imam wished to see the policemen who shot his son through the forehead, and his wife in her chest, punished. “My son was too young even to know who is a Hindu and who is a Muslim”, he lamented. But none were willing even to file his complaint. He stubbornly persisted, and filed a complaint in the magistrate’s court, but he has not heard from the court in these six years.

Instead, the police filed a complaint to justify their firing, with a story that Azhar and his mother were part of a mob that was trying to demolish a tiny temple that stands at the outskirts of their colony. The police FIR claims that the crowd was lobbing bombs at the temple. Nine people of the colony were arrested for this alleged attack on the temple. Unlike those who were arrested for the crimes in the carnage two months earlier — who easily secured bail — these Muslim accused from the colony were refused bail and remained in jail for five years. In the end, however, the court acquitted all of them, as the police was unable to prove their charges. It rankles Imam a lot that not a single policeman has been punished for raining bullets at his son and wife, and other innocent residents of Mohammed Nagar.


Slow progress

Imam himself is completely unlettered, but he was determined that his son should get the best education within his reach. Five years after the bullet entered his son’s skull, he held him by his hand as he stumbled unsteadily, and took him to a neighbouring private English medium school named “Sunflower”, established by a local Muslim entrepreneur. He begged the principal to admit his son, and he relented. Azhar is now 17 years old, but in class VI. He often finds it hard to remember things, and sometimes falls while walking. He is frequently grounded by throbbing pain, and even more so by frightening memories. Imam has warned his family and neighbours to not react when the boy has bouts of great fury and stubbornness. His teachers say that he is doing well in school, and the doctors affirm that the extent of his healing is utterly exceptional.

I believe that it is in the boy’s smiles and unsteady steps that his parents too have found some healing.


HARSH MANDER

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/09/07/stories/2008090750080300.htm

BUSHisms

* I'm a uniter, not a divider.

* One of the great things about books is, sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.

* I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.

* Will the highways on the Internet become more few?

* Reading is the basics for all learning.

* It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it.

* Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.

* I will swear to not, to uphold the laws of the land.

* They misunderestimated me.

* I am mindful of the difference between the executive branch and the legislative branch. I assured all four of these leaders that I know the difference, and that difference is they pass the laws and I execute them.

* I'm going to work with every Cabinet member to set a series of goals for each Cabinet.

* The thing that's important for me is to remember what's the most important thing.

* First, we would not accept a treaty that would not have been ratified, nor a treaty that I thought made sense for the country.

* For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America...And we're going to do something about it.

* It's amazing I won. I was running against peace and prosperity and incumbency.

* As I'm sure you can imagine, it is an unimaginable honor to live here.

* It's my honor to speak to you as the leader of your country. And the great thing about America is you don't have to listen unless you want to.

* I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt.

* Nobody can threaten this country. Oh, they may be able to bomb buildings and obviously disrupt lives.

* We are fully committed to working with both sides to bring the level of terror down to an acceptable level for both.

* Well, you know, I think the American people are sacrificing now. I think they're waiting in airport lines longer than they've ever had before.

* I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to come and witness my hanging.
(at the dedication of his gubernatorial portrait in Austin, Texas)

* I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them.

* This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating.

* There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.

* There's no bigger task than protecting the homeland of our country.

* I had a cordial meeting at the meeting last night. We greeted each other cordially.
(after meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (November 21, 2002))

* The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself.

* I'm an optimist because I believe that I'm right. I'm a person at peace with myself. It was our turn to face a serious threat to peace.

* You're free. And freedom is beautiful. And, you know, it will take time to restore chaos from order- order out of chaos. But we will.

* If it feels good do it. If you've got a problem blame somebody else.

* The best way to get the news is from objective sources, and the most objective sources I have are people on my staff who tell me what's happening in the world

* So, thank you for reminding me about the importance of being a good mom and a great volunteer as well.

* Today I'm going to give you some reasons for you to put me back in office, but perhaps the most important reason of all is so that Laura will be the First Lady for four more years.

* Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.

* That's why I cut the taxes on everybody. I didn't cut them. The Congress cut them. I asked them to cut them.

* I think it's very important for the American president to mean what he says. That's why I understand that the enemy could misread what I say. That's why I try to be as clearly as I can.

* September the 4th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin Towers. It's a day I will never forget.

* Who could have possibly envisioned an erection- an election in Iraq at this point in history?

* Asked why his administration had been unable to locate and arrest Osama Bin Laden: Because he's hiding.

* And there is a new history now that has been done, and that history needs to be included in the process.

* This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. (Short pause) And having said that, all options are on the table. (Laughter)

* Well, we've made the decision to defeat the terrorists abroad so we don't have to face them here at home.

* I can only speak to myself.

* Wow! Brazil is big!
(upon seeing a map of Brazil at a meeting with Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva)

* One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq with the war on terror.

* I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound perch in my lake.

(Revealing his "best moment since he took office in 2001" to a German newspaper reporter, Bild am Sonntag. )
(Note: the largest recorded perch in the U.S. is still under 5 pounds.)

* The best way to defeat the totalitarian of hate is with an ideology of hope- an ideology of hate- excuse me- with an ideology of hope.

* Wisdom and strength, and my family, is what I'd like you to pray for.

* (Speaking to military in Afghanistan) (He) ... said he'd like to be there but "One, I'm too old to be out there, and two, they would notice me."


* I thought an interesting comment was made when somebody said to me, I heard somebody say, where's Mandela? Well, Mandela is dead, because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas.

* Goodbye, from the world's biggest polluter.
(Concluding a private address at the Tokyo G8 summit)

* The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case.

* I think anybody who doesn't think I'm smart enough to handle the job is misunderestimating

* Actually, I- this may sound a little West Texan to you, but I like it. When I'm talking about- when I'm talking about myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are talking about me.

* Dick Cheney and I do not want this nation to be in a recession. We want anybody who can find work to be able to find work.

* The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants.

* The primary component of gasoline is crude oil.

* I would still invade Iraq even if Iraq never existed.

These are actual notes from Doctors patient charts

1. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.

2. On the 2nd day the knee was better and on the 3rd day it disappeared completely.

3. She has had no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.

4. The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1993.

5. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.

6. Discharge status: Alive but without permission.

7. Healthy appearing decrepit 69 year-old male. Mentally alert but forgetful.

8. The patient refused an autopsy.

9. The patient has no past history of suicides.

10. Patient has left his white blood cells at another hospital.

11. Patient's past medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days.

12. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.

13. Between you and me, we ought to be able to get this lady pregnant.

14. Since she can't get pregnant with her husband, I thought you might like to work her up.

15. She is numb from her toes down.

16. While in the ER, she was examined, X-rated and sent home.

17. The skin was moist and dry.

18. Occasional, constant, infrequent headaches.

19. Patient was alert and unresponsive.

20. Rectal exam revealed a normal size thyroid.

21. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.

22. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.

23. Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.

24. Exam of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.

25. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.

26. The patient was to have a bowel re-section. However, he took a job as a lawyer instead.

27. Skin: Somewhat pale but present.

28. The pelvic examination will be done later on the floor.

29. Patient was seen in consultation by Dr. Blank, who felt we should sit on the abdomen and I agree.

30. Large brown stool ambulating in the hall.

31. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

comical medical dictionary

Acute: Opposite of an ugly

Artery: The study of paintings

Bacteria: Back door of a cafeteria

Barium: What doctors do to dead patients

Benign: What you are after you're eight.

Bowel: Letter like A,E,I,O, or U

Cat scan: Searching for a kitty

Cauterize: Made eye contact with her

Cesarean Section: Neighborhood in Rome

Colic: A sheep dog

Concussion: A prisoner's sofa

Congenital: To be friendly

D & C: Where the White House is

Dilate: To live too long

Enema: Not a friend

Fester: Quicker

Fibula: A small lie

GI series: A soldier ball game

Hangnail: A coat hook

Impotent: Distinguished, well known

Jaundice: To include in a group

Kinesthetics: Relationships among relatives

Labor pain: Getting hurt at work

Leper: A wild cat

Malaria: Shopping place

Medical staff: A doctor's cane

Morbid: A higher bid

Nitrates: Cheaper than day rates

Node: Was aware of

Outpatient: A person who fainted

Pelvis: A cousin of Elvis

Post-operative: A letter carrier

Recovery room: A place used for upholstery work.

Rectum: It almost killed him

Rheumatic: Amorous

Secretion: Hiding something

Seizure: A Roman emperor

Serology: Study of English Knighthood

Tablet: A small table

Terminal illness: Getting sick at the airport

Tumor: More than one

Urine: Opposite of you're out

Varicose: Nearby

Vein: Conceited

ISSUES INVOLVED IN SSCP:

FINANCIAL VIABILITY & PROFITABILITY:

The need for infrastructure projects & its benefits are not judged on the basis of their income or profits alone.Such infrastructure projects are an essential pre-requisite for development of a nation's economy.In a developing country like ours ,if need be government has to step in to meet the viability gap.Govn. sources quote that the project will earn operating profit from its very first year .the project will definitely see mammoth profit generation.
It will lead to substantial savings for the shipping companies,exporters & importers ,manufacturers & trade with reduced maritime transportation cost would lead to efficient use of capital.
It will facilitates coastal movement of domestic cargo, leading to greater employment generation in the ports & industries located in thier hinterlands.
Fishermen will be directly benefited due to the potential for development of fishing harbours (bet. nagapattinam & tuticorin) with proper landing & storage facilities.
Transshipment of indian cargo in foreign shores will reduce greatly.IT will lead to considerable savings & earnings of foreign exchanges.

WITH REGARD TO BIOSPHERE RESERVE:
It was feared that the creation of the channel will affect the coral reefs in the Gulf of Mannar & the mangroves, off Vedaranyam on the Indian coast.the coral reefs are the breeding grounds for fish for entire region.
However,the creation if the channel will not have any adverse impact on the biosphere reserves.it does not envisage any dredging in the Gulf of Mannar except in the southern reaches of 'Adams Bridge' for a length of 6KM & width of 300m.therefore ,no dredging is required in the Biosphere reserves or in its vicinity.
the proposed dredging location in Adams Bridge is about 20Kms from the nearest island forming a part of Gulf of mannar marine national park which is more than safe distance from the coral reefs. as channel us at least 20Kms away from the breeding grounds there will be no impact on any of these due to dredging operations.
Scientific evidence through modeling & tracer studies show that there would be no movement of sediments from either the dredging or dumping locations towards the indian or lankan coast. the choice itself minimizes the impact of turbidity levels in dredging locations.

STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE TO INDIA:
THE CHANNEL WILL BECOME AN INVALUABLE ASSET FOR OUR NATIONAL DEFENCE & SECURITY BECAUSE OF QUICKER ACCESS BETWEEN THE COASTS.
IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR INDIA TO SECURE A FORMIDABLE HOLD OVER THE INDIAN OCEAN IN THE FUTURE.INDIAN OCEAN IS THE CORRIDOR THROUGH WHICH 85% OF THE FUTURE OIL WOULD BE PASSING.THE ENERGY NEEDS OF CHINA, JAPAN& SOUTH KOREA
DEPEND ON THIS. HENCE TO ACHIEVE ITS GLOBAL ASPIRATIONS INDIA NEEDS TO PROVE ITSELF A FORMIDABLE POWER IN THE REGION. THIS DEMANDS INDEPENDENT & STEALTH MOVEMENT OF ITS ARMED FORCES. AT PRESENT ,IT IS NOT POSSIBLE AS INDIAN VESSELS HAVE TO CICUMSCRIBE SRILANKA.

ALSO IT IS PERTINENT TO NOTE THAT CHINA HAS ALREADY SET UP A ELECTRONIC LISTENING POST IN COCO ISLAND ,VERY NEAR THE NORTH ANDAMAN ISLANDS.
U.S ALREADY HAS A BASE IN INDIAN OCEAN IN CHAGOS ARCHIPELAGO.
WITH THE PRESENT & FUTURE SUPERPOWERS BREATHING DOWN INDIA'S NECK , IT IS ALL THE MORE IMPERATIVE FOR INDIA TO CONSOLIDATE & DICTATE OVER THE INDIAN OCEAN IN ORDER TO FULFILL ITS ASPIRATION OF BECOMING A GLOBAL PLAYER IN THE WORLD POLITICS.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT IT IS NOT TOO FAR ,WHEN ASIA IS GOING TO WITNESS A BIPOLAR CLOD WAR LIKE STRUGGLE FOR ASIAN SUPREMACY BETWEEN INDIA & CHINA.
ALL THESE MAKE SSCP A STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT AREA FOR INDIA IN ACHIEVING A SUPER POWER STATUS IN THE FUTURE

http://tamilnation.org/intframe/indian_ocean/sethusamudram/index.htm
http://tamilnation.org/forum/sivaram/041006.htm


$$ SRI $$