| OP-ED |
||||
|
Ceremony
to donate books to Jaffna Library
Indian HC hopes
commitment at peace talks would be translated into deeds Mr. Sen was speaking at a ceremony held at the Indian Cultural Centre, to donate books to the Jaffna Library. Nearly 1400 books were donated of which around 800 books are in English and a little more than 500 in Tamil. He said that it is self-evident that problems become easier to solve if ordinary people everywhere have confidence that there is respect for different opinions and freedom to express these through both the written word and by political parties. TULF Vice President V.Aandasangaree and former Jaffna Mayor Sellan Kandiayan who played a major role in collecting books for the rebuilt Jaffna Library received the book donation. " In this connection, I am specially pleased at the presence of the TULF president and Mr. Kandaiyan and his fellow municipal councillors. These are men of courage and principle and I am sure the Tamil community and the country would benefit from having them in public life', Mr. Sen said. He said that the Jaffna library was well known and ranked with famous libraries like those at Saraswati Mahal of Thanjavur and those of Chennai and Pune. 'Seeds grow into trees and trees into forest and we hope that seeds such as these as well as those from other benefactors will see the burgeoning of a new Jaffna Library. Through the use of information technology, the library can in time acquire rare books which libraries in India and elsewhere have stored electronically and in CDs', he said. He said that books cover a vast range of subjects including mythology, epics, poetry, drama, biographies, history, politics, economic analysis, education, art, culture, music, international relations, medicine, mathematics, natural science, botany, agriculture and contain some of the latest research in frontier areas of medicine and technology, including bio-technology. 'Incidentally, there are also books on the Indian Constitution. I know that committees of very young people from the north-east are travelling to Europe in search of constitutional knowledge. In this context, it is worth recalling Thomas Jefferson's letter of August 10, 1787 to his nephew. Jefferson had said that for the young knowledge does not come from travelling because first there has to be a foundation of experience and wisdom grounded in repeated and just observations at home', he said. 'It is from books and life among one's own people that one learns. Jefferson therefore said that it is only those of sober age who can travel and gather knowledge which can be usefully applied in their own country', Mr. Sen said. 'It is worth remembering at this juncture that Jaffna Tamil literature also has democratic and inclusive traditions. One need only remember the fine writings of Somasundara Pulavar, Nallathambi Pulavar, Thuraiappa Pillai and Periyathambi Pillai who wrote of a united Ceylon "Glorious Mother Lanka, Ceylon, glorious pearl, is our country. I walked. It was a summer night". In more recent times one may mention the progressive writers' association and the writings of K. Kailasapathy who called Tamil and Sinhala the two eyes of Ceylon and those of K. Sivathambi. The two eyes may for some time be out of focus but I am sure that a solution to this political and historical astigmatism would be found', he said. 'The books in English and Tamil combine what is called the field of liberal and useful education. In fact, ultimately it is liberal education that becomes really useful in life. It is hoped that these rays of genius, gathered and concentrated will set youthful minds aflame with a spirit of critical inquiry', he said. Call
to India to forgive and forget "The most valuable contribution India can do today is to put its full weight to bring peace back to this country. That is my humble request and that is the desire of every Indian I know. Everybody wants peace in this country," he said. "We always look at India as our mother country. When I say we, everyone in this country looks upon India as the mother country. So India is a country that we already look upon as our mother country and we continue to do so inspite of the little differences. India also as a mother country has a duty by us. India must forgive and forget" he said. While reiterating his gratitude to the Indian Government , he expressed surprise at having been selected to receive the books on behalf of the people of Jaffna. "I am still wondering as to why I was chosen, why out of all people I should have been selected to receive the books on behalf of the Jaffna Municipal Council and the Jaffna people. Of course I can think of one reason. Perhaps, because I got the highest number of votes and I represent Jaffna. No one can say that I didn't get those votes honestly. So that is the only satisfaction I have, in spite of all the controversial situations I am facing. "Now to come back to the main subject of the day. I was supposed to open the library sometime back. I prepared a speech because that was a very important occasion at which I should make a very careful speech. I wish to quote just one or two sentences from this speech that I prepared. In that speech. I was to have said that India is our mother country and Tamil Nadu is our neighbour and it will fill all our bookshelves with valuable volumes of Tamil books. "I was physically present when the library was burning and I never attribute that act to an educated man. I am very happy to see a gathering of representatives from Jaffna, almost all MPs representing Jaffna and the other neighbouring areas. Most of the members of the Jaffna Municipal Council, at least 20 of them are here. That shows the interest our representatives, our people have in developing this library and bringing it back to its old position." "I don't want to make a long speech. This is not an occasion for it. In the meantime there are a lot of things that could be said. A lot of things which if unsaid could leave a doubt. But unfortunately
this is not the occasion. Let us not make a play of politics here.
Turning to the media, Mr. Anandasangaree said "to the media I have one word to say. Everyone knows that this function is specially meant to hand over books to the library. But one national paper carried no news about the library books being handed over to me but said the Indian High Commissioner is meeting the Mayor of Jaffna. I don't want to tell you how mischievous it is, it is really mischievous. "Today I heard over the radio, I don't know which radio, that the High Commissioner is meeting the members of the Jaffna Municipal Council. It would only make me happy if your Excellency meets them and discusses matters with them but these news are factually incorrect. If you know a little about the current politics you can see through the type of mischief that is meant in publishing a news like this."
The former Mayor said that upon assuming office, one of the tasks was to re-open the Jaffna Library. " With this in mind , money was set aside and after considerable effort the work regarding renovation of the Jaffna Library was completed. At the eleventh hour, the representatives of the Tamil Eelam Students' Union as well as the LTTE's political commissioner in Jaffna , Illamparathi, told us not to go ahead with the re-opening" he said. When he had explained that the re-opening could not be put off at the last minute since work was almost completed, LTTE representatives had threatened him. In spite of the threat to his life and his family, a unanimous decision was taken to re-open the library, he said. "I was then warned that if I went ahead with the re-opening there would be bloodshed similar to what happened at the World Tamil Conference in 1974. While it was our position that the council should re-open the Library, fearing bloodshed and keeping in mind the welfare of the people, we had no option but to reconsider our decision" said Mr. Kandaiyan. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
