Sivaram’s life work is direction-setter for future Tamil struggle: Viraj Mendis

The quality of the life work of Sivaram, especially the geopolitical analysis he brought out on the struggle of Eezham Tamils 15 years ago, is deeply relevant even today to interpret the external factors seeking inroads in the island. Despite the time and space, the paradigm which Sivaram exposed remains the same, says exiled Sinhala activist Viraj Mendis, who has been supporting the cause of Eezham Tamils for more than four decades. Sivaram was talking about the Iraq war and its relevance to the interest of the Americans in Trincomalee harbour. Historically, the interests of Americans in the Middle-East and their interest of the island were interlinked. But, also in terms of the future, the American interests in the Pacific and the tensions that are emerging now in that region, the geostrategic location becomes an important factor.

It is nothing else than the geo-strategic location of the island in the Indian Ocean and the location of Trincomalee Harbour, which still make the Americans, and the British who hold on to the U.S. bandwagon in global politics, to toe the same line of approach as during the times of Eezham war of independence, Mr Mendis says.



The late TamilNet Senior Editor Dharmeratnam Sivaram, known by his pen name Taraki, was discussing the politics and the geopolitics in-depth with Mr Mendis who is based in Germany for more than three decades.

The interview for TamilNet with Mr Mendis on his interpretation of Sivaram’s analysis in terms of the current context, was done by Bremen based rights activist Nicolai Jung. It was Mr Jung, who interviewed Sivaram in 2004, highlighting the significance of geopolitical outlook of the Tamil struggle.

The feature article on US strategic interests, which Mr Sivaram was working on in April 2005 when he was abducted and assassinated, his 2004 video interview with Nicolai Jung, the features he wrote in TamilNet such as the one on the three year anniversary on the fall of EPS and his writings in Tamil for Virakesari weekly during the times of the Cease Fire Agreement, the articles he wrote in the North-Eastern Herald, which he founded, along with the book ‘Learning Politics from Sivaram’, brought out by Professor Mark P. Whitaker serve as the wealth of knowledge left behind by Mr Sivaram.