THE CAR IMPORTERS OF FRENCH INDIA

UPDATING IDEAS FOR DRAVIDA PERAVAI WEBSITE

கலைஞர் கவிதை ஒன்றில் சொல்வார், கட்டிய நாய் அல்ல நான் எட்டிய மாத்திரம் பாய்வதற்கு என்பார். என்னையும் எட்டிய மாத்திரம் பாயும் நாயாக சிலர் நினைக்கும் உலகில் உடன்பிறந்தே கொல்லும் வியாதியாக ஒற்றுமையின்மையே தமிழர் குருதியில் கலந்துள்ள நிலையில் என் கடன் பணி செய்து கிடப்பதே, என்று என் பாதையில் நடக்க எங்கள் இணைய தளம் புதுப்பிக்க என்னுள் தோன்றிய சில வடிவங்களை வரிசைகளை படமாக இணைத்து அனுப்புகிறேன். உங்கள் கருத்துக்கள் வரவேற்கப்படுகின்றன ,

APPEAL AGAINST DEPORTATION OF EALAM REFUGEES

APPEAL AGAINST DEPORTATION OF EALAM REFUGEES

At the party headquarters of Dravida Peravai various Human right activists met on 18,12,2000 and sent a Joint Memorandum To National Humans Rights Commission of India, which is given in verbatim here:

Ealam refugees came to India in three stages. After the ethnic holocaust in the year 1983 nearly 1,20,000 refugees came feeing from the clutches of Srilankan hoodlums. Particularly in between 24 th June 1983 to 29 th July 1989 the total number of refugees arrived here from Srilanka amounts to 1.34.053. Thereafter in the aftermath of 1987 accord between India and Srilanka particularly between 24 th December 1987 and 31 st August 1989, 25, 585 refugees were sent back to Srilanka. Most of them preferred to go to Western countries than to Srilanka. In the second phase after the 20 th January 1992 around 54,188 refugees were sent back. Now as on 31 st May 2000, the Ealam refugees in India number to 66464. They are kept under 129 special camps.

We, the signatories to the memorandum urge the National Human Rights Commission to study the conditions of these refugees and order for remedial measures. The Indian Government deals with refugees at both political and administrative levels. The result is that refugees are treated under the law applicable to aliens. In the case of refugees protection, the Constitution of India guarantees certain fundamental rights, which are applicable to all non citizens, namely, the right to equality (article 14), the right to life and personal liberty (article 21) and the freedom to practice and propagate their own religion (article 25). Any violation of these rights can be remedied through recourse to judiciary as the Indian Supreme Court has held that refugees or asylum seekers cannot be discriminated against because of their non citizens status.

The National Human Rights Commission, we are aware has functioned effectively as a watch dog for protection of Refugees. The Commission has approached the Supreme Court of India under article 32 of the Constitution and obtained protection to Chakma refugees from the Chittagong hill areas of Bangladesh when their life and security was threatened by local politicians and youth leaders in the State of Arunachal Pradesh. Relief was granted by the Supreme Court on the basis of the rights of aliens under article 14 and 21.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Ahamadi speaking for the court in the National Human rights Commission vs. State of arunachal Pradesh (1996 SCC 742) said that the state is bound to protect the life and liberty of every human being. He pointed out that the rights of the refugees under the constitution of India were confirmed by article 21, which also included the right to non-refoulement . In case of Khy Htoon and others vs State of Manipur, The Imphal Bench of the Guahati High Court ruled that refugees have fundamental rights under article 10, 21 and 22 of the Indian Constitution. Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer considers article 14 which provides equal protection of law, as being applicable to all persons, not merely citizens.

India's refugee policy is further governed by certain administrative regulations. The standard of human treatment set by these administrative regulations flows from the ethos that persons displaced from their homes need both protection and economic sustenance. The administrative experiences of the government department responsible for rehabilitation and the laws adjudicated at the time of the partition have contributed towards a refugee policy for India. In India refugees are registered under the 1939 Registration Act, which is applicable to all foreigners entering the country. Under the 1946 Foreigners act The Government of India is empowered to regulate the entry, presence and departure of aliens in India, though the word alien itself is no where defined. Entry is also governed by the Passport act of 1967.

Entry can be restricted if a person does not have a valid passport or visa to individuals who can enter Indian borders without a valid visa or any other document though the government can exempt persons when it so deserves. These procedures are linked at this stage to illegal migrants, the exemption provision is applicable to refugees. It should be noted that refugees in developing countries unlike those in the West (barring those from former Yugoslavia) usually descend in large numbers. Under these circumstances refugee determination becomes an administrative task to oversee the relief and rehabilitation process rather than to supervise who stays or does not stay.

As mentioned previously the Government of India determines the refugee status and has no specific legislation to deal with refugees. Professor Saxena of Jawaharlal Nehru university maintains that despite this lacunae, India does apply in practice certain articles of the 1951 U.N Refugee Convention. These include Article 7 as India provides refugees the same treatment to all aliens, Article 3 as India fully applies a policy of non discrimination, Article 3 a as no penalty is imposed on illegal entry, article 4 as religious freedom is guaranteed, Article 16 as free access to Court is provided, Article 17 &!8 as work permits have no meaning and refugees do work, thus complying with these articles on wage earning rights, article 21 as freedom oh housing is allowed and refugees need not stay in camps, for freedom of movement is guaranteed to all aliens, except in certain areas where special permits are required not only for aliens but also for all Indians and article 27 and 28 as identity and travel cards are issued to refugees.

However many activists have contested the assertions of Professor Saxena. They point out that the majority of Srilankan Tamils and almost all of the Jammu and Chakma refugees were forced to live inside camps. Severe restrictions were imposed on their freedom of movement. In addition, asylum seekers from Burma were arrested and jailed and during 1995-1997 approximately 5000 Chin refugees from Burma were pushed back over the border. They also point out that since the government does not issue residence permits to all the refugees they are unable to open bank accounts, rent houses and set up a business. Moreover Indian educational institutions do not admit refugees. as a result young refugees are unable to pursue their academic careers.

To conclude though India is not a party to 1951 UN Convention on Refugees or its protocol, its domestic laws have not been found to be in conflict with international laws. While it can be justifiably proud of having followed a pragramme of humane treatment to refugees, there is still an absence of uniform treatment of different refugee groups with respect to refugees rights resulting in discrimination in terms of assistance and opportunities. To protect refugees by means of activists approach has its own limitations. Thus there is a need for enactment of national law to provide for refugees in a systematical manner.

HENCE WE THE SIGNATORIES TO THIS MEMORANDUM URGE THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION TO MONITOR THE POSITION OF SRILANKAN TAMIL REFUGEES KEPT IN 129 CAMPS.

Physical Security : Indian Courts have decided in a number of cases that the Constitutional protection of life and liberty must be provided to refugees. In the case of Louis de Readt [1991 -3 SCC 554] and Khudiram [ Nos 1994 Supp.(1) SCC 615] the Supreme court held that article 21 of the Constitution of India which protects the life and liberty of Indian citizens is extended to all including aliens. Below are some of the most important decisions of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court of India in the case of National Human Rights Commission vs State of Arunachal Pradesh restrained the forcible expulsion of Chakma refugees from the state [Civil WP No 720/95 : 1996 {1] Supreme 295 ]. The Supreme Court in its interim order on November 2, 1995 directed the State Government to ensure that Chakmas situated in its territory are not ousted by any coercive action not in accordance with the law. The Court directed the State Government to ensure that the life and personal liberty of each and every Chakma residing within the State should be protected. Any attempt to forcibly evict or drive them out of the state by organized groups should be repelled by using para-miltary or police force and if additional forces are required, then the state should take necessary steps. The Court also decided that the Chakmas shall not be evicted from their homes except in accordance with the law, the application for their citizenship should be forwarded and processed expeditiously and pending the decision on these applications, they shall not be evicted.

WE THE SIGNATORIES OF THE MEMORANDUM POINT OUT THAT NOW FORCIBLE EXPULSION OF TAMIL REFUGEES HAS COME TO LIGHT. THE FORCIBLE DEPORTATION OF MR.EALAVENDHAN, to the country wherefrom he expects danger to his personal security marks a new phase in India's refugee policy which warrants the intervention of National Human Rights Commission.

Non-Refoulement and the Right to Refugee Status

In number of cases Indian Courts have protected the rights of refugees where there are substantial grounds to believe that their life would be in danger. There are cases where the Courts have ordered the life of refugees who are in danger to be safeguarded and have allowed them to be granted refugee status by the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees.

In Zothansangpuri vs State of Manipur (Civil Rule 981 of 1989) the Guwahati-Imphal bench of the Guwahati High Court ruled that the refugees have the right not to be deported if their life was in danger. In Dr.Malvika Karlekar vs Union of india (Criminal 583 of 1989) in Writ Petition, The Supreme Court held that authorities should consider whether refugee status should be granted and until the decision was made, the petitioner should not be deported. In Boghi vs union of India (civil Rule 981 of 1989) the Gauhati High Court not only ordered the temporary release of a Burmese man from detention but approved his stay for 2 months so that he could apply for UNHCR for refugee status ( Civil rule No 1847/89 Gauhati High Court). The case of U.Myat Kayvew vs State of Manipur ( Civil rule 516 of 1991) has contributed substantially to India's refugee policy. It involved eight Burmese people aged 12 to 58 who were detained in Manipur central jail in Imphal for illegal entry. The people had participated in the Democracy Movement had voluntarily surrendered to Indian authorities and were taken into custody. The cases were registered under section 14 of the Foreigners Act for illegal entry into India. They petitioned for their release, however to enable them to seek refugee status with UNHCR in New Delhi. The Gauhati High Court under article 21 ruled that asylum seekers who enter India, even if illegally should be permitted to apraoch the office of the Un High Commissioner to seek refugee status.

Right to Basic Amenities:

In Digvijay Mote vs Government of India [Writ Appeal No 354 of 1994]The High Court of Karnataka considering the rights of 150 Srilankan refugee children ordered the State to make necessary arrangements to provide basic amenities to the refugee children in the camp on humanitarian grounds. In Majid Ahmed Abdul Majid Mohd.Jad Al-Hak vs Union of India [ Crl. WP No 60 of 1997] the court held that basic amenities like food and medical care must be provided while in detention. In the case of Gurunathan and others (WP Nos 6708 of 1992] The Madras high Court on March 27, 1994 stayed the repatriation process as it was not voluntary. It held that when there is an international organization to ascertain the volanteriness of the consent it is not for the court to decide whether the consent was voluntary or not. It also directed the Government to transmit this order in Tamil to the camps as well as an order that refugees will not be sent back against their will.

Right to Leave

The court has upheld a refugees right to leave the country. In Nuang Maung Mye Nyant vs Government of India (CWP No 5120/94) and Shar aung vs Government of India (WP No 110 of 1998) the courst ruled that even those refugees against whom cases were pending for illegal entry should be provided exit permits to enable them leave the country for 3 rd country resettlement.

We point out that this right has been denied to Mr.Ealavendan though no case of illegal entry was pending against him.

Certain vested interests in this country wants to wipe out Tamil linguistic identity and ethnicity and are unleashing a campaign of hatred against Tamils. As part of their campaign of hatred against Tamils, these forces do not want fellow Indians to be concerned over the genocide in Srilanka or to treat Tamil refugees on par with Tibetan and other refugees as per our constitution. Tamil refugees should be confined to special camps and forcibly deported, whereas others may get preferential treatment, these forces argue. We bring to your notice that a fear psychosis is being created amidst Srilankan refugees that they can be deported to the land from where they fled for fear of life. Please ensure that none is deported to the land from where they escaped from the jaws of death. Also probe the manner in which Mr.Ealavendan was deported as some reports say in media that bypassing a duly elected State Government the deportation had taken place.

This memorandum drafted by Dravida Peravai was signed by Dravida Peravai General Secretary N.Nandhivarman, P.Sankaran Vice President Pondicherry PMK, Professor M.L.Thangappa of Thamizh Valarchi Nadavadikkai Kuzhu, N.M.Thamizhmani of Senthamizhar Iyakkam and others. It was sent to National Human rights Commission Chief Justice J.S.varma on 18,12.2000

“COOLIE” FROM FRENCH INDIA TO CARIBBEAN

Dravida Peravai General Secretary N.Nandhivarman, impressed by documentaries taken by Suresh Kumar Pillai of Trikkan Image systems on the travails of migrant labour wrote in  The New Indian Express-weekend (11.06.2005)

“COOLIE” FROM FRENCH INDIA TO CARIBBEAN 

 “Jahaji Bhai” is a documentary film with an Urdu title, which means brothers of the ship. These are not sailors of the same boat as the English idiom indicates but literally are slaves taken away in the same ship. These are bonded labour taken 167 years ago in ships to erstwhile colonies of the Caribbean region. Suresh Kumar Pillai had tried to capture their miseries in this documentary on a totally forgotten peoples. Why did people from India go to Caribbean’s? The historical necessity arrives with the abolition of slavery in the nation ruled by white colored people. After the black race got reprieve from slavery, to work in the sugar plantations Indians from Chota Nagpur areas, mostly tribal people were lured into.

 The first ship left Calcutta in February 1838 and reached Guyana on May 5 th 1838. There were 420 hill coolies, as they were called, out of which 50 are women and 10 children. Many succumbed to diseases in mid way and those who reached there had either to perish under stress and strain within the 5-year contract period or to be killed for so called violations. In fact many ships went missing and no one was there to shed a single drop of tear. If an Indian coolie absented for 7 days he was fined $24 dollars, which is equivalent to 6 months wages. These Indians lost their roots and culture. While liberated Negro slaves climbed in the social ladder, Indians filled that vacuum at the rock bottom of society. They were induced to become addicts to alcoholism. With few women around polyandry became the order of the day. Africans joined Europeans to suppress the brown race. Picturing their everyday lives and showing lot of documentary proof with regard to their plight from various sources, Suresh Kumar Pillai in this documentary records an unknown chapter on Indian migration. Ravi Dev, Leader of the Roar Guyana Movement speaks for his fellow brethren and a 103 old man tries hard to recollect his fellow passengers of the ship that carried them from India, all shown in the documentary.

 While British India stopped labour supply due to awareness and campaigns, French India provided a fertile ground for hunting neo-slaves. Suresh Kumar Pillai had shot another documentary on these pathetic brethren. “ Songs of Malabaris” is a film on coolie migration from Pondicherry and its enclaves towards Caribbean sugar plantations. All South Indians are called as Malabaris or Madrasis it must be remembered. The French recruited the labourers mainly from Pondicherry, Karaikal, Chandranagore and Mahe and between 1854 and 1920 around 50,000 Indian labourers were taken to Guadeloupe and Martinique to work as coolies. It should be stressed that only Mahakavi Bharathiar immortalized the woes of the sugar plantation labourers in his poem”karumbu thottathile”. No one else bothered about our unfortunate kinsmen.  

The Indian labourers in French colonies had to face stiff resistance from the Africans because the Indians had to work for paltry pittance, which freed Africans refused to comply. Thus Indians occupied the lowest of the low position in the French Caribbean society and called as “Cooli Malabarise”or “Chappa Coolies”. Indian coolies were never allowed to practice their religious faiths or to speak their native tongues on the plantations .The labourers had to be French in every sense. This was in sharp contrast to other Dutch colony of Suriname or British colony of Trinidad and Guyana where the Indians had some amount of freedom to retain their language and culture. The film looks at the history of migration of Indians to French West Indies and their struggle to retain their religion and culture against the French policy of assimilation.  

Suresh Kumar Pillai holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication along with fifteen years journalistic experience in print and electronic media. “Once More Removed”, a documentary film on 19th century migration of an Indian family from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to Caribbean for HBO Documentaries USA is another memorable documentary. “The Song of Malabaries” for Nederland based OHM media network was telecast on Nederland National Television Channel in June 2004. Mr.Pillai also researched, wrote, shot, produced and directed a three 50 minutes documentary series Jahaji Bhai on the Indian communities in Guyana and Trinidad under own banner Trikkan Image Systems. The film was widely circulated and telecast in several TV stations in Caribbean and India 2003  

With documentaries like these screened in Dutch and French televisions to his credit Suresh Kumar Pillai has set his eyes on a sleepy village called Arikkamedu in the suburbs of Pondicherry. Arilkamedu, the site of archeological excavations, which had established Pondicherry’s connections with Roman Empire in pre-Christian era, had caught his imagination and Pillai rented a house and is living for 6 months and more to collect artifacts for his film. In that process he wants to set up a site museum there. Mr.K.K.Chakravarthy Secretary to Union Government and Director General National Museum New Delhi recently in a meeting of scholars convened by Department of Arts and Culture Government of Pondicherry expressed the desire for landscaping and recreating the past to draw tourists to our museums. Professor Kishore K.Basa Director of Indra Gandhi Rastriya Manav Sangrahalaya Bhopal stressed the need to promote archaeological tourism. And Mr.Pillai’s dream to start a private museum to promote Arikamedu falls under the categories advised by these scholarly bureaucrats.  

While working on his current dream project Mr. Suresh Kumar Pillai had done right thing to draw our attention towards the descendants of those survived Indian indentured migrants today who form a significant ethnic minority in the larger Black Caribbean world known variously as East Indians, Indo-Caribbean, West Indian Indians. The people of Indian origin spread across several island nations such as Trinidad &Tobago, Jamaica, Grenada, Barbados, and St. Vincent, St. Lucia and in South American countries like Guyana and Surinam. “The extraordinary cultural fusion that took place in the New World, a grand meeting place of four great civilizations - Amerindians, Indians, Africans and Europeans gave birth to some unique social, cultural and religious practices which are traditional in its content but western in its formal expressions” says Suresh Kumar Pillai in his introductory note on the film. Film after film he has set noble tasks and the awareness he generates by such documentaries reach abroad, but he is concerned more in awakening the sleepy village of Arikkamedu which has become his home now.

FIJI INDIAN PLIGHT : INDIAN DIASPORA STORIES

FIJI INDIAN PLIGHT

INDIA SHOULD SEEK UNITED NATIONS INTERVENTION TO SEND PEACE KEEPING FORCE TO FIJI TO PROTECT INDIAN LIVES, PROPERTY AND TO RESTORE DEMOCRACY

Dravida Peravai launched a campaign on 1.6.2000

After launching the campaign in a Memorandum to Union External Affairs Minister and Union Defense Minister , Dravida Peravai said:

Our party yesterday organized state level campaign in the Pondicherry enclave of the Union Territory of Pondicherry to draw the attention on the urgent need to exert diplomatic and other pressure on the current illegal and unconstitutional government by coup and coup within coup to secure the release of the duly elected Prime Minister of Fiji Mr. Mahendra Pal Choudry and fellow Parliamentarians and to ensure proper protection to the properties and lives of the people of Indian origin, whom it seems are fleeing to Australia and New Zealand as they did when the coup of Colonel Rabuka in 1987. our party through these 10 meetings had demanded India to take up this issue to United Nations, an institution created at the collective will of the nations of the democratic era, which cannot remain a silent spectator to the hijacking of the democracy by gun trotting groups.

Mahakavi Bharathiar, the only poet who penned a poem on the plight of Indian women in the year 1916-17 had narrated how on promising jobs Britishers took Indians as contract labour to Fiji and treated them worse than the animals. They were slaves working in sugarcane fields, the poet lamented. As a befitting tribute to this great poet, our campaign to highlight Fiji crisis started from his memorial. We have to note that certain vested interests here are trying to twist this as a fight between indigenous communities and Indian settlers, who have usurped. According to Mr.S.K.Bhutani, a  retired Indian diplomat the "land titles are coming up for review and renewal very soon and the indigenous Fijians who own land want to ensure a better deal for themselves. The lands are owned by the Fijians while those of Indian origin cultivate them. Vast tracts are under sugarcane and with Indian hands" [ The Hindu dated 1.2.2000 page 14]

This makes the position clear. From the time Bharathi penned his poem, people of Indian origin by sheer hard work without ownership yet remaining as tenants of lands belonging to Fiji's indigenous people, have risen in life economically. As per the Constitution of Fiji Article 51:The House of representatives has proportionate electoral representation for Fijians, Indians and Rotumans. English, Fijian and Hindustani have equal status [Art;4(1)] So as per this constitution Mr.Mahendra Pal Choudry was chosen by the people to be the Prime Minister. 

The Indian stand calling for restoration of this duly elected Government is the right step. We should also use diplomatic and other pressure to ensure that the 1997-98 Constitution should not be replaced by another which may disenfranchise people of Indian origin and upset the applecart.

We are not as one or two critics of our party say protecting Indian interests at the cost of indigenous peoples interest. We want Indian origin people to be equal citizens and not made second class citizens in the land of their living.

While Burma refugees came, India helplessly have to bear them. when plantation labour were driven out of Ceylon, our Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri went out of his way to accept them as stateless people by signing a pact with Srimavo Bandaranaike. Both morally and politically India buckled under during  the Kenyan (1968), Ugandan (1972) and other crisis, including human rights violations by Americans, to convey the impression that Indians can be badly treated anywhere by anyone in the world with impunity and without remorse writes political commentator Rajiv  Dhavan [ The Hindu 2.6.2000]. In our campaign yesterday much before we could read Dhavan's article, we took the same stand. We know that when Ugandan Chief Idi Amin wanted to marry a rich Gujarati girl, her family had to abandon all properties and run back to India. In Pondicherry also we have a sugar mill which was shifted from Uganda due to these anti-Indian tirades,

When globe had shrunk into a village, while settlers from Europe and Africa get amalgamated and are rulers of the destiny of America, if people of Indian origin could be made second class citizens and driven back by a tiny island of Fiji, what is the purpose in India claiming to be a nuclear super power, if it cannot verbally threaten Fiji. From May 19 till yesterday, the day when India dispatched an emissary the delayed response and silence of all with the exception of Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala is condemnable. Let Government hereafter be quick to defend people of Indian origin.

TENTH DEGREE- TAMIZHAN CANAL

Environmentalists are not anti developmental people. Dravida Peravai had mooted many developmental plans, discussed it with Planning Commission Member Dr.S.B.Gupta and met the Union Minister for State of External Affairs Digvijay Singh to urge for the TENTH DEGREE CANAL PROJECT. This was published in center page of Dinamani in al edition coverage with New Delhi dateline.

 TENTH DEGREE- TAMIZHAN CANAL

 August 15 th 2003, from Pondicherry Dravida Peravai wrote a letter to the Lt.Governor of Andaman and Nicibar Mr.N.N.Jha on the need to dig a canal in Thailand connecting Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Siam. It also urged that such Indo-Thailand joint venture be named as Thamizhan Calvaay. (Daily Thanthi 15.08.2003). Then Dinamani dated 28.08.2003 stated that a memorandum for construction of a " New Canal for benefiting Chennai and Tuticorin Harbor’s” had been handed over to the Union Minister of State for External Affairs Mr.Digvijay Singh. Mr.Singh lauded this project which will reduce 1500 nautical miles to reach South China Seas. Then Dravida Peravai sent Memorandums to Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Thailand Prime Minister Thakashin Shinawatra on 3.11.2003. The contents of that memorandum are given here.

 Dear Respected Prime Ministers

You may be aware that the Suez Canal (1869) and Panama Canal (1915), Sethusamudram Canal (1860) and the Tenth degree canal have been mooted to create short navigational routes to bring prosperity to respective regions and countries. The French initiative to build Siene-Norde Canal is an example for the keen interest evinced by developed countries to promote trade and overall development. Since the recent visit of The Indian Prime Minister had given tremendous boos to the cooperation between India and Thailand, Dravida Peravai is bringing to your knowledge certain historical facts with the humble request to you both to take an active interest for the construction of the Tenth Degree Canal, which can bring prosperity to Andaman and Nicobar islands of India and Thailand apart from boosting bilateral trade.

You must go back to the pages of history to know that Thailand then known as Siam is an enemy country of the British and an ally of the Japan during the World War II. On the conclusion of the Second World War one of the last secretive acts performed by the colonial Government of India was the signing of a Peace Treaty with Siam [Thailand]. A Peace Treaty between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of India on one hand and the Kingdom of Siam on the other on January 1, 1946 at the Government House Singapore. The signatories were for the Britain Mr. Moberly Dening, political adviser of Lord Louis Mount batten for the Government of India M, S.Aney AND for Siam Prince Viwat Anajai Jaiyant, Lt.General Phya Abhai Songramm and Nai Serm Vinichayakul. This treaty contains 24 articles. Out of this Article 7 assumes great importance in context of this letter.

Article 7: Siam undertakes to construct NO CANAL linking the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Siam [i.e. across the Kra of Isthmus] without British consent. [Keesing’s Contemporary Archives 1946-47 Vol VI p 7695]. This article had done great havoc to Indian shipping costing our nation billions of extra money by way of fuel imports, in view of shelving of the Tenth Degree Canal by imposing a condition in the Peace Treaty. It has also blocked the economic prosperity of Thailand and held up the development process by half a century and more.

Hence Dravida Peravai urges the Government of India and Government of Thailand to look into the unfavorable condition imposed by a colonial rule that too at the threshold of a defeat in World War II. It is in the interests of India and Thailand that a Canal be cut across the Isthmus of Kra where Isthmus narrows to just 75 miles and to develop this canal vigorously so that a detour of 1500 nautical miles down the Malayan coast via Straits of Malacca and up the Gulf of Thailand in the South China Sea is avoided.

The proposed tenth degree canal will be an extension of the tenth degree channel of Andaman Nicobar islands. The opening of Tenth Degree canal will save millions of tons of fuel for world shipping. Tenth Degree Canal will reduce the importance of Panama and Suez Canals. Tenth Degree Canal would develop Andaman and Nicobar islands and bring prosperity to its economy. The opening of this canal will also benefit Indian Ports like Haldia, Paradip, Vizag, Chennai and Tuticorin.

There are more than 138 minor and intermediary ports under the control of various state governments in India. If Indian Government creates a National Seaway Authority and permits private sector vessels to transport cargo and passengers connecting all Indian ports, these 138 minor and intermediary ports which are inoperable will be busting with activity.................So continues the memorandum.

It must be noted that Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee spoke about "Sagarmala" scheme which is nothing but National Seaway mooted by Dravida Peravai before Planning Commission and other forums.

The future will evaluate all and we have submitted about our activities for future to decide. Tamils must understand that Anna the visionary had left a legacy and it will always remain looking forward for the human upward march towards rational progress.
  N.Nandhivarman General Secretary 

ACCOSTING THE SEA COAST

The New Indian Express of 4.06.2005. 

We reproduce it here because it shows in past decade we continue to focus on Green Issues.

ACCOSTING THE SEA COAST 

n.nandhivarman

Nowadays seas frighten the fisher folk. For centuries fisher folk had established unassailable bond of love with seas, but in post tsunami phase every change in the sea causes nightmare. The sea recedes and people become panicky. Waves enter villages lashing out the beaches. People run hither thither for safety. Kanyakumari to Cuddalore almost for a week people of the coast spent sleepless nights and anxious days. This scenario had wakened up the social thinkers and scientists to look for solutions to coastal erosion. Changes due to continental drift are inevitable. Here too if we look at the projections made by scientists, the future world map of 100 million years and 250 million years show changes in India’s position but India always remain attached to the Asian continent. This should be viewed with consolation, because in past India was an island nation separated from Asia.

 “Our planet is a tri-axial ellipsoid, moving around the Sun in an elliptical orbit at 30 kilometers per second and rotating around its axis at 1,666 kilometers per hour which is faster than speed of sound. Such high speed rotation has resulted in polar areas being compressed towards the center and equatorial areas being bulged out” says Professor Vishal Sharma. Apart from these changes the coast of Tamil Nadu had undergone variations in the past but the present causes more concern. As per a study by the School of Earth Sciences of Bharathidasan University “Before 1.5 million years ago Sea extended up to Madurai. Around 90,000 years before Chennai, Pondicherry and Vedranyam were encircled by seas. Since sea level subsided 65,000 years ago India and Ceylon got connected. When sea level rose by 27,000 years ago both parted and when it fell by 17,000 years before joined again to part again". And amidst panic reaction to such studies, if we look at the map of coastal changes in Tamil Nadu, one could know that the coast instead of moving inwards had extended seawards. This is enough to give us fresh hope for survival braving the fury of Nature.

 VARYING TAMIL NADU COAST

The sea erosion of coast is not an India specific problem. "More than 80 percent of the world shorelines are eroding at the rates varying from centimeters to meters per year." says Orrin.H.Pelkey, Professor of Geology and Director of the Program for the study of Developed Shorelines in the Duke University, North Carolina, USA. He had authored two books and one of its titles has a message to all of us. “Living by the Rules of the Sea" is his book and it is high time we learn to live by the rules of the seas. 

A walk in the beach and breathing its salubrious breeze is world wide habit. But how many of those who visit beaches is aware on how beaches are formed? People are worried about erosion. But it is a fact that without erosion beaches could not be formed. "Without the process of erosion, we would not have beaches, dumes, barrier beaches and the highly productive bays and estuaries that owe their existence to the presence of barrier beaches" opines Jim O'Connell, the Coastal Processes Specialist of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Well erosion might have helped beach formation, but it is sending alarm bells from Kanyakumari to Chennai and beyond. Let us look for some scholarly opinion in this regard. After a close study at the Pitchavaram forests near Chidambaram, M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation reveals that "in between 1930 and 1970, the seashore had eroded by 550 meters. Between 1970 and 1992 the rate of erosion was about 12 meters." The writing on the wall is clear. In past Sirkazhi was a coastal town, which now is interior by kms. The Harbour of Choza Empire, Poompuhar is now beneath the seas. At present warning from Pitchavaram must awaken us. 

Apart from facing Nature's onslaughts with preventive measures, human errors too needs to be corrected. Sand is the food for beaches, and it is needless to say that our rivers are not supplying that food to the beaches. Human exploitation and drying of rivers depletes sand supply to beaches. Interlinking of rivers as often advised by our President A.P.J.Abdul Kalama will not only solve water crisis but will save dying beaches. 

Sea level rise is primarily due to the thermal expansion of the sea water and melting of the glaciers and ice caps. Artic Climate Impact assessment by 250 scientists says that “global warming is heating the Artic almost twice as fast as rest of the planet” United Nations sponsored Inter Governmental panel on climate change will be bringing out its fourth assessment by 2007. Changing Winds and currents in the Indian Ocean in 1990’s contributed to the global warming says a NASA study in the Geophysical Research Letters. The recent lashing of waves of Tamil Nadu coast was triggered by a storm near Australia, scientists say.

The National Hurricane Center of USA reports that “hurricanes release heat energy at the rate of 50 trillion to 200 trillion watts. This is equivalent to 10 mega ton nuclear bomb exploding about every 20 minutes.” But we in India are in one way lucky. Our coast will not be hit by hurricanes. Our cyclones are less intense. Storms that hit continental America have almost the full width of Atlantic Ocean to gain strength, since our cyclones emanate from Bay of Bengal there is neither room nor time for them to grow, and this natural phenomenon helps us in one way.

 Global warming also causes rise in sea level inundating coastal areas. We must know that most of the ice sheet rests on land that's below sea level. At a point called the "grounding line" it starts floating, thus displacing its own weight in water. And as it turns out, the line may not move much because the flow of the ice streams seems to be restrained by friction against rocks at the bottom and sides rather than the ice shelf. So if the ice shelf melts, the flow of the streams should not change appreciably. And since the volume added to the ocean depends on how much ice moves from land to water -- as determined by the grounding line -- the upshot seems to be relative stability. "The ice streams do not appear to be susceptible to the kind of unstable retreat once envisaged," says Bentley. "Their flow is largely insensitive to the presence of the ice shelf so the grounding line would remain the same."  Instead of possibly collapsing in 100 years, as was considered possible 10 years ago, Bentley says the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is more likely to collapse -- if at all -- in perhaps 5,000 years at the soonest. By this scientific prediction it becomes evident that sea level rise by global warming too will not cause more harm in near future, if we are well prepared for it with preventive measures. If governments have plans for beach nourishment with vegetation, which is the cheapest preventive measure, it will go a long way in arresting coastal erosion. Our survival instincts will save us in planet Earth, but let us strive to survive with forethought.

Courtesy: The New Indian Express-week end 4.06.2005

THE ENVIRO HISTORY OF PONDICHERRY

THE ENVIRO HISTORY OF PONDICHERRY

N.Nandhivarman

Tamils lack sense of history. This inherent ingredient of the Tamil people is responsible for lack of recorded history at the time when every country woke up to construct its history on facts. We have to mainly depend on the literary evidences to write our history. The epic Silapathigaram gave us an insight into the landmass that is lost in the Indian Ocean.

Now we have other sources to confirm our literary references. With the knowledge explosion, thanks to the internet revolution, we get lot of information. To understand the past history of the Tamils inclusive of Pondicherry and to foresee its future we have to know about continental drifts and the theory of plate tectonics.

"The theory of continental drift that the continents move relative to one another was proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1910. It was not until 1945 that Arthur Holmes suggested a mechanism for the process-convection in the mantle. Complete evidences to convince more scientists those plate tectonics the movement of larger segments of the outermost shell of the earth as a mosaic of large rigid plates was not accomplished until the 1960's...."

The Department of Geological Sciences of the Canadian University of Saskatchewan in its web pages states that Plate Tectonics is the unifying theory that explains almost all the processes at work on the planet. To understand the evolution of our planet and to have a coherent idea on earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain belts, ocean basins and the topography of the sea floor, scholars are relying on the theory of plate tectonics.

Alfred Wagener known as the Father of Continental drift in his publication of 1912 said that " Looking at a global map it would appear that the continents could be brought together to fit like a jig saw puzzle" Mankind is one and this stands proven once again by the geological fact that continents were together at one time and drifted apart. Now everyone accepts that as solid upper Earth floats on astheno-sphere, the litho-sphere drifts".

The Earths crust since its formative years dating back to 4.6 million years is in constant motion. "Broken into a patchwork of plates and floating on currents in the fluid visco-plastic upper mantle beneath, the plates continuously collide and pull apart. The continental crust is significantly less dense than either oceanic crust or the upper mantle rocks. Some more proofs are given below.

The formation of Himalayan Mountains is due to the fact that Indian sub continent moving northwards buckling up material while colluding with the Asian continent. The scientists of the Earth Observatory of Columbia University New York confirm that the Indo-Australian plate south of Equator in the Indian Ocean area has broken into two and each is moving in one direction. In the last 50 million years Indian sub continent is drifting at 5 centimeters a year towards North. Tibetan plateau and Himalayas bear the brunt of this mounting pressure. The Altyn Tagh fault i.e. geo-fracture extends 2200 kilometers in Western China...........

TAMIL NADU: KUMARIKANDAM MEENDUM?

Researchers in the Earth and Planetary Science letters state that instead of Earth's surface being divided into 12 major plates there are now 13 plates. In the latest research by Lamont-Doherty scientists about 8 million years ago the accumulated mass of Indian subcontinent became so great that the Indo-Australian plate buckled and broke under stress. The result of this crucial stage in the collision between India and Australia is the break up of Indo-Australian plate into separate Indian and Australian plates. In The Central Indian Ocean Nature is conducting a large scale experiment for us showing what happens to the oceanic lithosphere (earths outer layer) when force is applied. Using drilled samples in 1970 scientists discovered that a broad zone of the Indian Ocean floor stretching more than 960 kilometers from east to west along with the equator was compressed and deformed. They later found that the newly created seafloor had spread outward from the mid ocean ridges in the zone and theorized that the movement of seafloor could only be fitted in only if a distinct boundary existed between Indian and Australian plates... [On this in Dinamani Tamil daily 26.01.1996 Nandhivarman had written as "Meendum Thonruma Kumari kandam?"]

The changes that could happen have been a matter of speculation. Highlighting the gravity of the situation in THE OTHERSIDE October 1997 edited by George Fernandez, Nandhivarman wrote with specific thrust on Pondicherry as follows:

WILL PONDICHERRIANS BECOME ECOLOGICAL REFUGEES?

Pondicherry, a word born out of the Frenchman's tongue is a variation of the Tamil word 'Puthucheri' which means new settlement. Now at the fag end of this century we Pondicherrians have to engage in the quest for new settlements. The danger of becoming ecological refugees looms large. This is neither soothsaying nor a prophecy of doom. A forewarning to plan our resource use in a proper manner to avert this eventuality.

A Report on Ground Water survey and exploration in the Union territory of Pondicherry and its environs prepared by a team of experts of Central Ground Water Board (Southern Region-page 13) contains the following observations:

"The general strike of the cretaceous-Paleocene formations trends NE-SW with gentle dips ranging 2 to 5 towards Southeast. The Cuddalore sandstone formation though maintains the same strike, shows a dip up to 10. The cretaceous and Paleocene beds form an inliers having been exposed due to the denudation of the overlying Cuddalore formation which overlap them completely. A low angle fault trending in NNE-SSW direction is inferred from Mudrapalayam. This fault passes just west of the bore holes drilled by Oil and Natural Gas Commission at Mudrapalayam and Muratandichavadi which when extended passes close to Rayapudukuppam where the rocks show high and irregular dips. Probably this fault takes a swerve towards North East beyond Rayapudukuppam and runs along the out crop contact between the Manaveli and Kadaperikuppam formations met with in the Oil and Natural Gas Commission bore hole at Murattandichavadi is marked by breocinted clay stone indicating probably a fault zone. The limited thickness of Kadeperikuppam formation in the bore holes at Koluvari, Mudrapalayam and Muratanndichavadi appears to be the result of the aforesaid faulting. It is presumed that this fault is met with much below at depth further north of slim hole at Alankuppam.

Photo-geological study has also confirmed the existence of a fault to the west of the coast line a straight scarp running almost parallel to Pondicherry-Marakanam East Coast Road. This straight coast line is also indicative of some structural dislocation.

These observations made since 1973 contain the shocking news about faults otherwise known as geo fractures. Dr.S.M.Ramasamy Director of the Center for Remote Sensing of Bharathidasan University explaining the findings on his project River Migration Tamil Nadu in the interview to The Hindu says

But the East-North-East-West-South-West trending faults on the contrary are showing left handed (sinistral) ongoing translational movements and again the North-West-South-East trending faults are showing right handed (extral) translation movement. Such sinisterly and dextrally moving faults display definite morph tectonic anomalies in the remotely sensed data and also in the field. In addition there is a conspicuous land subsidence between Pondicherry in the North-East and Cumbum valley in the South-West.

The same scholar in an article in the Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing dated September 1993 observed:

One such graben has been established along NE-SW trending faults in between Pondicherry- Cuddalore in the North East and Cumbum Valley in the South west ( Kodaikanal and Cumbum Valley).. It is significant to observe that the earthquake epicenters fall along such NE-SW trending fault in Pondicherry, Cuddalore, Ariyalur, Dindigul and Kodaikanal.

The findings of the Central Ground water Board and the findings based on the photographs taken by remote sensing have confirmed the existence of faults. I.e. geofractures and the earthquake epicenters in Pondicherry.

Let us seek the same scholar’s advice on actions to be taken.

The present analysis shows that the NE trending quaternary faults and the NE-SW trending quaternary reactivated faults are seismicity prone in Tamil Nadu. Hence care must be taken in avoiding developmental activities in the form of urbanization, industrialization and also construction engineering structures. Hence it can be concluded that mainly quaternary fracture systems and our quaternary reactivated pre Cambrian faults are pollution accentuating fractures in Tamil Nadu (Pondicherry) and hence pollution discharging industries should be avoided along NS trending fault systems.

Science is issuing a forewarning. Scientists have suggested steps to prevent calamities. We the citizens of Pondicherry must be concerned over these findings. Highlighting these is intended to harm none but to forewarn. Dravida Ilaignar Peravai had taken up with the Union Minister of Forests and Environment on 2.12.1995 the need to scientifically study the geofracture. Pondicherry Administration also is apprised of this through a memorandum submitted on 12-12.1995.

I appeal to the environmentalists of our country in particular to generate sufficient awareness in the corridors of power forcing our Administration to set up a team of scientists to study the geo fracture, the evil effects of pollution discharging industries. the way to arrest our ground water depletion etc.

The depletion of ground water will not only result in salt water intrusion but also will aggravate the geofracture. In fact most of our coastal villages suffer from salt water intrusion. We are getting ground water in all the colors of the rainbow, due to the contamination of ground water by pollution discharging industries. Eachangadu a tiny coastal village with 250 families even today gets water in the color of engine oil from its bore pumps. Our party's campaign led to the closure of the polluting industry in February but even after 6 months villagers suffer without clean drinking water.........

These issues were ignored. Later by 2000 when there were tremors and when in 2004 tsunami struck our coasts, some people recalled our forewarnings made from a decade ago.

And now when waves lash our coasts, drawing attention to the Sea Coast erosion N.Nandhivarman wrote an article in The New Indian Express of 4.06.2005. We reproduce it here because it shows in past decade we continue to focus on Green Issues.

MOTHER TONGUE AS MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

MOTHER TONGUE AS MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

N.Nandhivarman

If anyone says, “I will not speak English” in England he or she won’t, say it in English. They will say “ Me na vyn cows sawsnak”. Who are these people? They were the speakers of Cornish, a language of Cornwall England, which became extinct in 1777. A Primary school in Pondicherry Chief Minister’s constituency “Periyavar Swaminathan Ninaivu Palli” has a motto. Study English but not Study in English. Both these language speakers by such assertions are for one goal. Preserving their native tongues. The first case is for revival of Cornish language, in which they are showing signs of achievement. Second case is an experiment to impart primary education in mother tongue fearing disappearance of Tamil in the thinking process and expressions. United States of America annexed Hawaii in 1898 and banned teaching of Hawaiian in schools. The Anglicization of education led to almost extinction of Hawaiian language. So to revive their mother tongue as medium of instruction Hawaiians created in 1983 “Aha Punana Leo” which means language nest. Aha Punana Leo was created to reintroduce their native language throughout the state including its public schools. Hawaiian language pre schools were opened in 1984 followed by secondary schools. By 1999 the first graduates in Hawaiian language came out of their colleges. This is a success story at the revival of a mother tongue. Linguists all over believe that out of 6120 languages spoken in the world 3400 will disappear by 2100. Many languages had become extinct. Manx, the language of Isles of Man disappeared in 1974 when its last speaker breathed his last. In the Caucasus region the death of a farmer in 1992 resulted in the death of Ubykh language. UNESCO had prepared a Red Book on Endangered Languages and to promote multilingualism had been celebrating International Mother Language Day on Febraury 21^st every year from 2000. UNESCO adopted Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, which “ encourages international community to take steps to protect intangible heritage, including languages, in the same way natural and cultural treasures of tangible heritage are protected”. This is the way wind is blowing globally.

Every mother tongue must be preserved seems to be the driving force for intellectual growth of humanity. In a rare coincidence, in spite of being classical language efforts are needed to revive the Tamil medium of instruction, for fear of extinction of Tamil in everyday usage. And the primary school situated in the Chief Minister N.Rangaswamy’s constituency is a school with a difference. They teach Spoken English to nourish the proficiency of English language but at the same time want to stimulate thinking process in Tamil. To commemorate the memory of Late Swaminathan who was the President of Dravida Kazhagam in Pondicherry state during seventies, his son S.Nedunchezian had donated land to Senthamizh Trust for starting this school.  N.M. Thamizhmani who runs the Trust ran from pillar to post at every step to cross hurdles and raised the finances to build this school. With the approval of the Government of Pondicherry this school is conducting classes in PRE-KG, LKG, UKG and from 1 st to 4 th standard.

A tiny baby Ashwini walks out of a class, we ask her “ In which class you are studying? She replies I am doing “Arumbu” which means pre-kinder garden. Lower Kinder garden (LKG) class is named as Mottu, UKG is known as Malar. The children call the Head Mistress as Amma, teachers as Akka and Annan. The star performer of the school Nilavarasi who studied from pre kg here and now in IV th standard states that “Our teachers never used cane, never threatened us, we are brought up with love and care”. Nilavarasi now is the star dancer of the school that teaches Music, Dance, Painting and Computers too. She and all the children are proud of their school. It is surprising that amidst craze for English education in the mushrooming private primary schools, parents are willing to send their children to a Tamil medium primary school. If the history of education in Pondicherry is written from the days of French many institutions have come up and grown with the help of philanthropists. This Tamil Primary School is another example of the public contribution in education. It is surprising to find these children doing well in spoken English classes, and justifying their motto “Study English but not Study in English”. They are proficient in both languages. A pre-kg student is able to recite 30” Thirukural “stanzas with ease.

Looking to America, the speakers of 540 Native American languages admit that language is essential for perseverance of a culture of the past generations and that culture in turn is important to the future of native peoples. Many cultures and languages are racing with times to preserve their languages. Washington Post publishes a story ( 31.3.2003) about Northwest Tribe Struggles to Revive Its Language. Indian Country Today report ( 23.10.2002) speaks about a Meeting to preserve the Lakota language. Squeamish Nation puts together CD-ROM to teach its language. Native Language Institute works to stave off decline of traditional tongues. Linguist begins effort to preserve native Alaskan language. Christian Science Monitor story (11.6.2002) speaks about Tribal immersion schools rescuing language and culture. Research is on the Effects of Including Native Language and Culture in the Schools. You will be surprised at the attempts made at preserving the 540 native languages in America where we all think English is the undisputed monarch. Like preservation of flora and fauna, preservation of all languages is the goal of human race now. None wants uniformity but crave for unity amidst diversity. If we clone all human race as one alike, then the world will become the asylum of the mad. The Periyavar Swaminathan Memorial School is a living testimony for such struggle to preserve the native tongue and Senthamizh Trust led by N.M.Thamizh Mani shows the aspirations of miniscule sections of society who are torchbearers of the Gandhian concept to impart education in one’s mother tongue.