Re-emergence of the ‘Thalaiyaddi’ in Jaffna
‘Thalaiyaddi’ literally means a person who nods his head in agreement.
 Among the Tamils in the Northeast, it is a term that strikes extreme fear. In contemporary usage, the ‘Thalaiyaddi’ is a Tamil person who wears a bag, with two holes for the eyes, over his head to mask his identity. The Thalaiyaddi, so masked, is used by the Sri Lankan military to pick out persons from a parade of Tamil people for arrest, torture and death by the military. This was such a common phenomenon during the 20 years of war that the term, Thalaiyaddi has become part of the Tamil language with above meaning. The three week long curfew in Jaffna provides the perfect cover to the Sri Lankan military to reintroduce the practice away from the eyes of the international media. Some news from Jaffna follows. On 28 August, Thampasiddy, Thevarayali and Muthumariamman kovil areas in Vadamaradchi were cordoned off. Young men and women were paraded in front of ‘Thalaiyaddi’ and those for whom the Thalaiyaddi nodded were taken to the Sri Lankan military camp. On 29 August at 2.00 pm, Mallakam, Kantharodai, Chunnakam and Alaveddi areas were cordoned off and young men and women were paraded before ‘Thalaiyaddi’.
30 August 2006
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Europe which has a total population of 800 million is made up of 45 language based nation states. South Asia which has a total population of one billion, (1000 million) is comprised of four states. Who is preventing and therefore benefiting by limiting new nation-states in South Asia?
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