REACH-June 2012

46OFFICIAL E-MAGAZINE OF TYO-CANADA

FEATURING TAMILEELAM’S NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM

REACHJUNE2012

REACH - 46JUNE 20122

As summer makes its way into our everyday lives, our

moods change and our activities change along with it. June

is a month where everyone plans their vacations and take

spontaneous trips to the beach along with family gatherings

that include the traditional summer barbeque. Further, June

is also a month that many students anticipate as near the

end school is out for many youth. A month that is celebrated

by students is also a month where Tamil students, youth, and

community members remember and honor the first student

to ever sacrifice his life for our liberation movement. The

actions and self-less sacrifice of Pon. Sivakumaran is one

that transitioned our struggle from a non-violent one to

that of an armed resistance. Further, Pon. Sivakumaran is an

ideal individual who demonstrated students should throw

themselves completely into the struggle and not budge

until an independent state of TamilEelam is achieved. Tamil

students all over the world embrace and acknowledge Pon.

Sivakumaran for his great contribution and with him at heart,

continue to advocate for a free nation.

- TYO-Canada

TYO - CANADA JUNE 2012 3

p.12

p.15

p.5

p.16 p.18 p.20

p.6p.4 Student Uprising Day Conference

TEFA Home Welcoming +

Pon Sivakumaran

C [youth canada] A [tamil history] D [world youth]

E [did you know?]

B [world history]

F [face-to-face] G [chef @ cheran] H [youth reflection]

TamilEelam’s National Football Team +

Facts you didn’t know about Soccer

The White Rose

w/ Yathurshan Karunailingam

Caramel & Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

Dance meets Political Revolution

To work towards the enhancement of the Tamil Nation and to provide

an avenue for the betterment of Tamil youth in CanadaTYO

REACH JUNE2012

CONTENTS

46


In 1970, Ponnudorai Satyaseelan founded the Tamil Manavar Peravai (Tamil Students League), which was joined by Sivakumaran. Bandaranaike had in the meanwhile begun to take a hard line towards Tamils, cutting off foreign exchange for Tamil students going to India for higher studies, banning the import of Tamil films, books and Magazines from Tamil Nadu, and proscribing the small Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party in Jaffna.

The formation of Tamil United Front in 1972 led to the Tamil laingyar Peravia (TYL, Tamil Youth League) in January 1973. It was founded by some 40 youths, many of who subsequently were in the forefront militant movement. The TYL drew support from Thangathurai, the TELO leader. Satyaseelan’s arrest in February 1973 set off the second round of mass arrests in Jaffna and virtually crippled the TYL as well as the older Tamil Students League. Several young men languished in prison until 1977, although some gained amnesty on the eve of the Kankesanthurai by-election in 1975. By then two developments had occurred in the Indian subcontinent, which had a bearing on the Tamils. One was the JVP insurrection, which was stamped out. The second was the India Pakistan war, which led to the birth of Bangladesh. Both events took place in 1971. The JVP was never popular among Tamils; although it did have marginal support in Jaffna. In 1973, the Sri Lankan navy seized a boat belonging to Kuttimani filled with dynamite. Kuttimani fled to India, but was arrested and deported from Tamil Nadu to face a Sri Lankan prison sentence. M.Karunanithi’s DMK party then governed Tamil Nadu.

Jaffna witnessed its first case of death by cyanide poisoning the next year. Sivakumaran had been lying low for a while, but took an active interest in the 1974 International Tamil Conference in Jaffna. He had been influenced by his parents’ pro-Federal Party views. He studied at Urumpirai Hindu College- which was to several recruits to the Eelam campaign- up to the advanced level, majoring in Chemistry. He is the only one among the Tamils of that era who is remembered fondly even today by everyone. He was a very sensitive person. He believed that despite the need for militancy, the Federal Party was important and often compared Chelvanayagam with Mahatma Gandhi and the boys with Subash Chandra Bose. He was a restless character. He would discuss all night, emphasizing the need for an armed struggle. Since breaking off from Thangathurai, Sivakumaran had set up his group, which came to be known as the Sivakumaran’s group. The 1972 & 1973 mass arrests had slowed down his pace. His contemporaries say he was a shattered man after the Tamil Conference fiasco. He had worked for its success, and it pained him that nine people died for no fault of theirs. Since then he had passionately advocated vengeance against Duraiyapah, the Mayor, and a Sinhalese police officer he held responsible for the deaths.

On June 5, 1974, the police trapped Sivakumaran. He was 17 years of age and knowing about police torture if he were caught, he used to carry a cyanide pill. On that day he swallowed it without so much as an afterthought and died almost instantly. Thus was born Tamil Eelam’s cyanide culture.

Hundreds thronged Sivakumaran’s funeral. All shops in Jaffna downed their shutters in mourning and hundreds of pamphlets were distributed in the town and its outskirts, eulogizing the martyr as Eelam’s Bhagat Singh. At the funeral, several TYL members pledged collectively to continue the fight for an independent state. Tamils later put up a bronze statue outside Jaffna in the memory of the young man – it showed a defiant youth, his clinched fist out stretched and dangling a broken chain.

Pon Sivakumar

A [tamil history]


A student led non-violent resistance group, The White Rose, was founded on the basis of opposing the Hitler regime. Spearheaded by a group of students from the University of Munich alongside their philosophy professor, the group was famous for their anonymous leafleting and graffiti artwork. Known as heroes in Germany today especially for their outward resistance of the Third Reich, or in other words, Nazi Germany. The members of The White Rose co-authored leaflets as mentioned before that instructed the people of Germany to resist the dictatorship at the time that plagued the country. Further, The White Rose was motivated to fight against this oppression when they saw a group of naked Jews being shot in a pit.

Within a year, approximately between June 1942 and Febru-ary 1943, the group had come up with six different leaflets. The group rejected fascism and militarism. They believed in a federated Europe that held on to the principles of toler-ance and justice. The leaflets were copied on a typewriter and made as many copies as possible. These leaflets were distrib-uted all over Germany and left in places such as telephone books, public phone boots as well as mailed to other students and professors. These leaflets were also sent to other univer-sities to create further awareness. With around 100 leaflets, the secret police of Nazi Germany, Gestapo had intersected 35 of them. This action of printing leaflets may seem simple in this time and day however, something like this in Nazi Germa-ny was beyond dangerous, and in fact it was fatal. Groups like

The White Rose resemble the motive behind the existence of Tamil Youth Organizations and Tamil Students’ Associations around the world. The simple act of distributing leaflets can go a long way in educating the broader community about the Tamil struggle as The White Rose had done in Germany against the Hitler dictatorship.

In February of the year 1943, three members of The White Rose had committed the greatest “crime” so to speak in regards to their resistance movement. The three members had used tar and paint to white slogans on the sides of house on Ludwigstrasse, which was a main thoroughfare in Munich near their University. Slogans included, “Down With Hitler,” “Hitler Mass Murderer,” “freedom,” as well as pictures of swastikas completely crossed out with huge Xs. Later that month, two members of the movement dropped stacks of leaflets at their university and were arrested by the Gestapo along with a third member. They were sentenced to death and faced their fates bravely. Later on in the same year the remain-ing members were also sentenced to death for their actions. This particular movement brings to mind the sacrifice of Pon. Sivakumaran as he as well, a student, non-violently fought until death against the atrocities of the Sri-Lankan State. With both The White Rose Movement and Pon. Sivakumaran in mind, Tamil students and youth activists should continue to resist injustice and continue to educate their peers about the plight of the Tamil people.

The White Rose

B [world history]


Student Uprising Day Conference

SCARBOROUGH, ON

In honor of Pon. Sivakumaran’s sacrifice, Student Uprising Day was carried out as an educational conference which was held by the Tamil Youth Organization. Along-side TYO-Canada, the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus Tamil Students’ Association as well as the York University Tamil Students’ Association provided the audience with enlightening presentations. The event was a different approach but had all the elements of an instructive work-shop for those who attended.

C [youth canada]


TEFA Home Welcoming

TORONTO, ON

The Canadian-Tamil players of the TamilEelam National Football team arrived back in Canada on June 11th, 2012. The talented in-dividuals were greeted by family and fans who congratulated their achievement. With the support of a strong fan base all over the world, the team looks forward to competing in the 2014 VIVA soc-cer tournament.


Pon Sivakumaran Cup

SCARBOROUGH, ON

Every year the Tamil Youth Orga-nization-Canada and the Cana-dian Tamil Sports Association hold their annual Pon. Sivakumaran Cup in honor of the fallen hero. Soccer clubs from all over Canada bring their strongest Tamil ath-letes to participate in this presti-gious competition. This year the Jarvis FC rose victorious and took the cup home.


CTYA Thaalam 2012TORONTO, ON

The second annual inter-univer-sity dance competition hosted by the Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance, Thaalam, happened on June 24th at the John Basset theatre. There were 6 teams that participated this year with the York University/Seneca College Huskies placing third and the University of Osha-wa Institute of Technology Titans placing second. The University of Toronto Scarborough Campus Tamil Students’ Association’s As-sassins took home the champion-ship cup as they placed first this year.


TamilEelam National Football Team

IRAQ KURDISTAN

Everyone raves about the FIFA World Cup every four years and even the Euro Cup that happens on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Like any other community in the world, the Tamil community is also particularly fond of watch-ing soccer whether it is any sort of tournament. Many Tamil youth are involved with the sport and also have favourite world teams that they support. However, this year there was a slight change in the world of soccer as another team was added to the world stage. Team TamilEelam made its first international debut in the 2012 VIVA World Cup which was held in Iraqi Kurdistan. This tournament was founded by Nouvelle Fédération-Board, which is an umbrella organization for countries that are not affiliat-ed with FIFA. TamilEelam Football Association was established by the Global Tamil Youth League on the April 8th, 2012.

D [world youth]


Fifteen young athletes from Canada, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom make up the current squad.

UNITED KINGDOM

Lakshman Vairavamoorthy Gajan Premkumar Ragesh Nambiar Mahy Nambiar Rathish Nalliah Sri Rosh Selvananthan Hariendra

SWITZERLAND

Biraveen Nallathamby Krishanth Thavarajah Venojan Raveetharan

CANADA

Arun Vigneswararajah Janarthan Sadacharalingam Menan Nagulendran Pushpalingam Kandavanam Sanjev Jayasingam

Menan Nagulendran scored the first ever goal for Team Tamileelam and went on to complete a hat trick with two more goals to follow. Sri Rosh scored the 4th goal for Team TamilEelam in their first victori-ous match against Raetia. The team as well as their huge fan base all over the world looks forward to competing in the 2014 VIVA World Cup.


Protesting Rajapaksa’s Jubilee Invitation

NEW ZEALAND

The members of the Tamil Youth Organization-New Zealand protested President Rajapaksa’s invitation to the Queen’s Jubilee Celebrations. With signs that read “War Criminal Rajapaksa Dining with the Queen” protest-ers showcased their anger in disapproval of the event. Similar protests were held around the world including the United Kingdom near to the Jubilee itself.


Facts you didn’t know about SoccerOR SHOULD WE SAY FOOTBALL?

Soccer/Football is the largest spectator sport in the world. The FIFA world cup is watched by billions of people from all over the world. Brazil currently hold the title for winning the most world cups (five) and has a massive fan base all over the world. European teams have always reached the final of every World Cup except in the year 1930 and 1950.

The first black professional soccer player was goalkeeper Arthur Wharton. Born in Ghana, he played for the English League team Rotherham United in the year 1889.

In the year 1950, India withdrew from the World Cup because FIFA did not allow them to play the game barefoot.

The average soccer ball is made up of 32 leather panels and held together by 642 stitches.

Soccer brings out the patriotism in every country with a team as we as the Tamil community witnessed when our very own soccer team made its debut in this year’s VIVA World Cup.

E [did you know?]


WOULD YOU MIND WALKING US THROUGH YOUR FIRST EXPOSURE

TO TRACK AND FIELD? HOW DID THIS MOTIVATE YOU TO CONTINUE

WORKING TO BE WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW?

My first exposure to track and field was in grade 9 at my high school, Bill Corthers Secondary School, located in Markham city. The high school paid close attention to the specific athletic abilities of the students that attended and nurtured their talent. One of my coaches had recognized that I was able to run particularly fast and ever since then I trained to work to where I am now.

Yaathushan Karunailingam currently holds the title of being the second fastest in the world for both the 100 meter and 200 meter run in the under 18 age category. A recent high school graduate eagerly awaiting his first year at the University of California, Los Angeles, Karunailingam helps train younger Tamil youth during his free time when he is not training himself. Nicknamed “brown speedy” by his peers, Karunailingam states that appearing in the 2016 Olympics is his utmost important achievement that he looks forward to. Born in TamilEelam, and raising in Canada, this star athlete is bound to accomplish great milestones for the Tamil commu-nity.

ATHLETES HAVE INSPIRATIONAL INDIVIDUALS OR IDOLS THAT THEY

MAY LOOK UP TO, EITHER IN THE ATHLETIC WORLD OR OUTSIDE. WHO

WOULD YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR INSPIRATION OR IDOL?

I would definitely have to say that Usain Bolt is one of my inspirations. After seeing him in the 2008 Olympics I learned about him and from there he remains as one of my inspira-tions that I look up to till this day. Also, I was intrigued by the amount of work that he puts into his training as well as all the glory and pride he brought to his country. His achievements gave me the ability to recognize my potential and spoke to me in a way where I knew not to give up until I reached my personal goal in terms of track. In addition my family is always an inspiration as they are more than supportive of what I excel at as well as the coaches that I’ve had throughout the years. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

Yaathurshan Karunailingam

F [face-to-face]


YOU’VE BEEN TO MANY TRACK MEETS AND HAVE COMPETED WITH

MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD. WHAT

WOULD YOU SAY IS YOUR FAVOURITE MEMORY SO FAR?

My favourite memory has to be when I placed second in the Texas Nationals under 18 for both the 100 and 200 meter run, this past April. My record time for the 100 meter run is 10.22 seconds and my record time for the 200 meter run is 20.31 seconds. This definitely has to be one of my favou-rite memories because of the fact that I was one of the few Canadians that were invited to participate in this prestigious competition for track and field. Only 4 Canadians were invit-ed to participate as the competition served the top most qualified athletes in the United States. I’m looking forward to participating in the World Juniors being held in Barbados and hopefully it’ll be memorable as well.

IS THERE ANY PIECE OF ADVICE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO GIVE TO

FELLOW TAMIL YOUTH WHO HAVE DREAMS TO PURSUE CAREERS OR

STRIVE FOR SUCCESS ATHLETICALLY?

The only advice I would give to my fellow peers would be if you really like it, you should pursue it. This goes for anything, whether it is something in relation to your academics, or athletics. Our youth should look past all the negativity that surrounds their passion and only focus on their goal. Person-ally speaking, I was faced with a lot of putdowns but now people look up to me as I’ve demonstrated persistence. Youth should face the obstacles that come their way and work towards whatever goal wish to achieve. They should strive only for success.

THIS QUESTION TIES IN WITH THE PREVIOUS ONE BUT WHY DO YOU

THINK THAT IT IS IMPORTANT FOR TAMIL YOUTH TO INDULGE IN THE

DIFFERENT TALENTS THAT THEY HAVE? WHAT EFFECT DO YOU THINK

THAT WOULD HAVE ON OUR COMMUNITY?

It’s really important for youth in our community to get involved with extracurricular activities especially the ones that they are interested in. There are so many kids that have a lot of potential and no one should stop them from pursu-ing what they love. When our youth strive to be the best that they are they help our community grow in so many ways. Our achievements will put Tamil people on the map. Our youth should learn to break the stereotypes placed on us by our community and work towards our dreams. I recently spoke to my elementary school and I wanted to convey the message of getting involved with extracurricular activities rather than getting involved with drugs. When you put so much time into getting involved with what you love, you have less time to be badly influenced by other things and keep our youth off the streets.


Caramel & Chocolate Coconut Macaroons (Adapted from Pillsbury) INGREDIENTS

• 1 (14 oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk• 1 (12.25 oz) jar Caramel Sauce (Smucker’s Ice Cream Topping Used)• 1 tsp coarse sea salt (Plus extra for sprinkling)• 4 cups unsweetened desiccated coconut• 1 (14 oz) bag sweetened shredded coconut• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips• 1 (11 oz) bag caramel bits

G [chef @ cheran]


4

1

6

3

5

2

Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Let the macaroons cool on the baking sheets for two minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 325F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheets.

Stir in the desiccated coconut until well blended. Stir in the shredded coconut, chocolate chips, and caramel bits.

In a large bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, caramel sauce, and salt. Mix well.

Leave about 1” between each. Sprin-kle the tops with additional sea salt (these cookies are fabulous unsalted too).


On June 24th I had the pleasure of attending the inter-university dance competition Thaalam for the first time. I was definitely looking forward to a great show. My friends had told me about all the different themes that the schools had portrayed the previous year and I was excited to see what the universities had in store for the audience. I enjoyed all of the performances very much. I didn’t particularly have a favorite dance team but there were a couple of scenes from certain performances that had immediately caught my eye.

Two schools had creatively incorporated the concept of TamilEelam into their dances. I thought the creative incorporation of our political struggle and aspirations into such artistic pieces was beyond clever. Dancers had definitely not only showcased their talent but also their love for their country and that was completely breathtaking to see. Many students were inspired by these actions taken by the dance team to include TamilEelam into their backdrops and props. Not only were these particular props beautiful to see but also very important in terms of our ongoing struggle to liberate our homeland. I applaud the dance teams and hope to see political expressions through various art forms.

Dance meets Political Revolution

H [youth reflections]


Speak Out As Tamil youth in Canada, we have the

ultimate duty of educating others, as well as ourselves of the suffering of the Tamil

people. Understanding is crucial. And with understanding comes awareness, the most

essential step in the path to progress.

Join TYO Our doors are always open to new

members that are looking to make a difference for Tamils around the world.

As an organization with the interests of Tamil youth at heart, TYO provides

opportunities for Canadian Tamil youth to network, contribute, and develop their skills

in various areas as well.

Interested in getting involved?

Please contact us at [email protected]

Or visit us at WWW.CANADATYO.ORG

http://www.facebook.com/pages/REACH/18660939839

http://issuu.com/reach

https://twitter.com/#!/TYOCanada

http://www.facebook.com/events/162087407234910/?ref=ts

REACH-June 2012

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