In the LTTE days, Uthayan was a communalist, unreliable newspaper in Jaffna while Valampuri was the staid, respectable newspaper that intellectuals subscribed to.
That is no longer so after the demise of the LTTE. As the Uthayan became more mainstream, Valampuri Editor, N. Vijeyasundaram, has moved his newspaper to the right and says Christians should become Hindus. He has been rewarded with a teaching position at Jaffna University. Even this was tolerated by many and his readership grew at the expanse of Thinakkural. As far back as in Christmas 2009 he claimed that Muslims were using dog meat in their shops. Protests from both sides grew and Jaffna got polarized.
Despite this background he became coconvenor of Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam’s and Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran’s Thamil Makkal Peravai (TNPF). The newspaper grew in extremism and readership especially during February’s local government elections, and has taken a turn for the worse in projecting an even more extremist communalist slant.
In two separate recent editorials Vijeyasundaram has claimed that Muslims have the highest fertility rate in the country and would overtake Tamils as the most important minority by 2030. He further claimed that Tamils are being converted to Islam and that Mullaitivu and Mannar will soon be Muslim areas. He also alleged that Muslim businesses are expanding rapidly.
Muslims are boiling and were seen today, September 1, burning copies of Valampuri at the 5-road junction where the Muslims are dominant.
A Jaffna-based observer commented, “The TNPF is reaching to the bottom of the barrel to get the support it needs to replace the TNA.”
At this critical juncture, Chief Minister Wigneswaran issued a statement dated 31 Aug, 2018. He said he has four choices before him: 1) To fold up and go home to continue his retired life (and by saying continuing his retired life he seems to be admitting to doing nothing as CM); 2) To join another party and stand for elections; 3) Starting a new party; and 4) To give up party politics and make the TNPF a mass movement for joining local and expatriate Tamils to put forward a solution for problems confronting Tamils.
The same observer felt if it is choice 4, we are in for great disruptions in Jaffna. (By Vishaakha Navaratnam)
sach / September 1, 2018
Anti Muslim and anti Sinhala vituperation is nothing new in Tamil political platforms in Jaffna. No Tamil political leader can ride the high horse.
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Native Vedda / September 1, 2018
sach
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“No Tamil political leader can ride the high horse.”
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Oh look who is talking.
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Ceylonee / September 2, 2018
The Vala(ppun)mpuri , and all thamil papers are backed and own by RESIDUE of TAMIL TERRORISTS who always against Muslim by publishing as fabricated and puraana news as their false Gods inspired.
Srilankan people must be vigilant of these residue of terrorists..
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sach / September 1, 2018
And burning a news paper just because it said something bad or something they did not agree with is not right. It seems extremism is rising among all sections including Muslims.
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Native Vedda / September 3, 2018
sach the stupid
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The burning of paper is symbolic.
It is too rich for a member of Sinhala/Buddhist fascist gang which burnt down entire library with 95,000 books.
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k.soysa / September 1, 2018
Without passing blame for the higher birth rate among Muslims, begin to multiply. Without blaming the Muslims for establishing businesses, the Tamils and the Sinhalese must do likewise. DO something! Dont stand by, moan and groan and pass blame. That has been the malady of our people. Did anyone see the comments made by the top-most business leaders in the Island newspapers?!
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Native Vedda / September 2, 2018
k.soysa
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Compare the population in 1881 with that of 2011 and work out the the increase of respective population.
Please stop your guessing game and look into real growth of Sinhala population. You would be surprised.
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ceylonee / September 3, 2018
The birth rate of Sin kele baudayas are astonishing.. how could they breed like dirty Pigs even though all sin keleyas being Kasippayas.. wonder..
yesterday , tv showed a sin kele baudachchi who gave birth 12 children but no one cares her even after the age of 97 .. Oh. in other woman gave birth 16 children in a jungle sorrounded village.. TV showed all these bauddachci woman.. BUT ..
SADLY MUSLIM rate are diminished as expected as those are against so called Muslim and tamil community casting racism and rowdism. this is the truth in sri lanka..
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dingiri / September 3, 2018
I am surprised anyone believes that what the country needs at this juncture is a still larger population?
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Native Vedda / September 4, 2018
dingiri
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“I am surprised anyone believes that what the country needs at this juncture is a still larger population?”
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What do you do about it when a privileged majority multiply like rabbit? See for yourself what the data tell you about the population increase.
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Sinhalese (1881) 1,846,600, (66.91%) – (2011) 15,250,081, (74.90%)
Tamils (1881) 687,200, (24.90%) – (2011) 3,108,770, (15.27%)
Muslims (1881) 184,500, ( 6.69%) – (2011) 1,892,638, ( 9.30%)
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Note it is the Sinhala speaking people who multiply at a faster rate than the others. Is it to secure a sizeable population in order to maintain a majoritarian state or they got nothing better to do?
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Then the Sinhala/Buddhists fascists who blame the Muslims for population increases.
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Ajay / September 2, 2018
This cheap bigot Vijeyasundaram is thinking that he is the Tamil counterpart of the Sinhala demon Weerawansa. And the TNPF is trying to be the Tamil-Saiva equivalent of the BBS. Now this jackass Wigneswaran is supposed to have been a supreme court judge. What the hell is he doing with these racist criminal elements? There were indications even right at the beginning that Wigneswaran had a Hindu fundamentalist streak and was a medieval moralist. Now it is full-blown. Tamils and Muslims in the north seem to be at the mercy of one wolf pack after another: FP ….. TULF ….. LTTE ….. TNA ….. TNPF …… Wigneswaran should take option (1) and go back where he came from …… to Velichcha Wattakka and crowd – and leave the Tamils alone to sort out their problems more sensibly with the government.
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sumathy / September 2, 2018
At last, somebody is confronting Valampuri. This should be published in Tamil.
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Jaffna Citizen / September 2, 2018
Valampuri’s symbiotic relationship with the politics of the University of Jaffna gives us food for thought on the state of the people and their institutions.
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Nalampuri / September 2, 2018
Re: Vijayasunderam,
“He has been rewarded with a teaching position at Jaffna University. “
VC Vasanthy Arasaratnam gave him the teaching position because she was using anti Christian propaganda to ride the high horse after Douglas Devananda lost the Jaffna elections. The root started then.
What did you expect? Such convoluted thinkers are used by bad elements for polarizing the people just to get votes and their private ends.
Valampuri is hurting our reputation as a civilized people.
Poor undergrads who are made victims for the bad elements in Jaffna.
Down with Valampuri the lying newspaper that ruining Jaffna.
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K.Pillai / September 2, 2018
Vishaakha Navaratnam ~ “In the LTTE days, Uthayan was a communalist, unreliable newspaper in Jaffna….”.
Your slip is showing Vishaakha! Please do not forget (so soon) the sacrifices Uthayan management, journalists and staff made during the trying times. International journalists recognise this – so did UN, several governments and leaders like Cameron, Nobel Laureates. None of them called the paper unreliable or ‘communalist’.
~ “…… while Valampuri was the staid, respectable newspaper that intellectuals subscribed to”.
Who were these ‘intellectuals’ Vishaakha? Are you sure they are not fake/alt/ig/selfie?
By the way, the houses behind the Valamperi-on-fire has Arabic names. There are none like this at the Jaffna five-road junction.
Who amongst them is/are the sub-sect Christians?
The Jaffna University appointment (if any at all) of Vijeyasundaram was made during Devananda regime.
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Vishaakha
We support protests by any marginalised group.
How about a protest for-or-against MMDA1950?
Please tell us what Vijeyasundaram teaches.
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sen / September 3, 2018
this author is shows his grumpiness towards the tamil medias thats all
Doesn’t seems to have a thought of journalism
Uthayan was a very reliable media during the war time
as majority of tamils did , was a representative of tamil population in northern srilanka
There are few journalist attacked and killed because of ey worked for Uthayan
There is another media call Eela naadu was burnt down
Valampuri did a great job during the hardest time
I still remember the uthayan publications come in a hard papers when those days with the paper shortage
This writer is Mere puppet /The real protest was conducted by around ten muslims in front of the mosque backed by one of the municipal member in the jaffna called Azmin ,for the simple political gains .
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K.Pillai / September 3, 2018
Thank you Sen for refreshing our memory. The brutality of the persecution targeting Uthayan under the rein of former NP Governor GA Chandrasiri is discussed in journalism courses.
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Protests by marginalised groups like Lankan Muslims are legitimate. In this case the protestors must note that a similar protest in the South is almost unthinkable.
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By the way does this Jaffna Municipal Councillor Azmin know about the genocide (UN used this word) of Rohingyas?
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K.Pillai / September 3, 2018
One after-thought.
Will Jaffna Municipal Councillor Azmin remind the ‘other’ group that the Mayor of Jaffna and the Councillor elected to represent people of Nallur (bastion of Hindus) are Christians
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Steve / September 3, 2018
Conflicts between minority communities is exactly what politicians will be looking for due to forthcoming elections.
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PARAGON / September 3, 2018
VALAMPURI IS FUNDAMENTALLY FROM THE VERY START IS FUNDED BY ANTI TNA GROUP FROM OVERSEAS .THIS MAN WIJEYAMATTASUNDRAM IS TOTALLY PUBLISH MADE UP NEWS AGAINST SAMPANTHAR AND SUMANTHIRAN AND MAVAI SENATHI. NOW UTHAYAN IS FIGHTING FOR CIRCULATION NOT WITH VALAMPURI BUT WITH KALAIKATHIR PUBLISHED BY WITHIYATHARAN WHO THE IN LAW OF UTHAYAN OWNER SARVANAPAVN.WICKEDNEASWARN IS DEPENDING ON VALAMPURI WHICH IS TRYING VERY HARD TO BRING JUNIOR GG -MANDAIAN SURESH AND MR.VICKED TOGETHER.GOOD SAMPARU COMBINATION.
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shankar / September 4, 2018
“Valampuri Editor, N. Vijeyasundaram, has moved his newspaper to the right and says Christians should become Hindus.”
he also says hindus who have migrated to christian countries begging for refugee status,should either become christians and live there or come back and continue to be hindus.A bit confusing.
“He has been rewarded with a teaching position at Jaffna University.”
So this is the octopus head with the tentacles of anti christian culture.The head of it the VC should be kicked out before any further damage to hindu christian relationships.Culture always permeates from top to bottom.We had the bhudhist hysteria started by SWRD who got shot by a bhuddhist monk.We had the tamil violence encouraged by amirthalingam who got shot by LTTE.
when will they ever learn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VseETz8C48c
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kulan / September 6, 2018
If chasing Muslims out of North is justifiable , Chasing out Tamils form Colombo etc in ‘1983/77 can argued justifiable.
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