User:Anirvan/Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America

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The Federation of Tamil Sangams in North America (FeTNA, established 1987) is an umbrella organization of North American Tamil diaspora organizations.[1] As of 2006, the group represents 42 local organizations, with a combined constituency of about 20,000 Tamil families, mostly Indian American (from Tamil Nadu) and Sri Lankan American.[2]

Contents

[edit] Activities

[edit] Convention

FeTNA organizes an annual North American Tamil convention. Established in 1988, the conventions are held during the 4th of July weekend, in a different city every year.[1] Conventions can attract over two thousand attendees from all over North America.[3][4]

Invited guests typically include Tamil writers, actors, musicians, and politicians from a variety of political parties in India and Sri Lanka.[3][4][5][6]

The annual conventions were held jointly with the Indian-American Tamil Nadu Foundation until 2002; the two groups have held separate conventions starting in 2003.[7][8]

[edit] Support for Tamil studies

FeTNA sponsors visits from two Tamil scholars to the United States each year; as of 2006, it had sponsored a total of 24 scholars.[1][9] It has also been involved in the sponsorship of a Tamil Chair at the University of California, Berkeley[10] and the Tamil Studies program at the University of Toronto.[11]

[edit] Fundraising

FeTNA plays an active role in fundraising for disaster relief work in response to crises like the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the 2004 Kumbakonam school fire.[12]

[edit] Membership

The Federation was founded in 1987 by five American Tamil sangams: Tamil Association of Delaware Valley, Tamil Sangam of Washington & Baltimore, New York Tamil Sangam, Ilankai Tamil Sangam, and Harrisburg Tamil Sangam.[1]

As of July 2006, FeTNA's website links to the websites of the following member organizations: Austin Tamil Sangam, Bay Area Tamil Sangam, Bharathi Kalai Mandram, Boston Tamil Association, California Tamil Sangam, Chicago Tamil Sangam, Columbus Tamil Sangam, Connecticut Tamil Sangam, Greater Atlanta Tamil Sangam, Harrisburg Tamil Sangam, Ilankai Tamil Sangam, Metroplex Tamil Sangam, Michigan Tamil Sangam, Minnesota Tamil Association, Missouri Tamil Sangam, National Tamil Youth Organization, New England Tamilsangam, New York Tamil Sangam, New Jersey Tamil Sangam, Seattle Tamil Sangam, South Florida Tamilsangam, Tamil Sangam of Carolina, Tamil Association Colorado, Tamil Association of Greater Delaware Valley, Tamil Sangam of Greater Washington, Tampa Tamil Association, and the Tennessee Tamil Sangam.[13]

According to the FeTNA website, the cost of membership varies based on the size of constituent sangams. Each sangam appoints delegates to the governing board, with votes proportional to membership.[1]

[edit] Political stances

[edit] Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka

The Federation sides with the cause of ethnic Sri Lankan Tamils in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has issued a number of statements calling for an end to Sri Lankan government violence against Tamils, the ability of Tamils to engage in meaningful negotiations with the government, and a peaceful political resolution to the conflict.

  • 1995: Passed a resolution at annual convention, asking the US government not to sell arms to Sri Lanka, and calling for the US to pressure the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE to find a political resolution to the civil war [14]
  • 2005: Held the Sri Lankan government accountable for the death of Sri Lankan Tamil journalist Dharmaratnam Sivaram.[15]
  • 2005: Strongly condemned the murder of Joseph Pararajasingham, a Sri Lankan Tamil Member of Parliament[16]
  • 2006: Called for an end to extra-judicial killings by Sri Lankan government forces and paramilitaries.[17]
  • 2006: Supported a call for Sri Lanka-LTTE peace meetings, urged world leaders to pressure all parties to stop attacks on civilians, called for Sri Lankan military to withdraw from civilian homes and buildings, and called for sanctions to be initiated unless the Sri Lankan government disarmed paramilitaries [18]
  • 2006: Participated at a protest at the United Nations, condemning Sri Lankan state violence against Tamil civilians, asking for an investigation by the International Criminal Court, and calling for good faith negotiations between the Sri Lankan government and Sri Lankan Tamils [19]

[edit] Criticism

Some critics of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the primary Sri Lankan Tamil military and political secessionist organization, consider FeTNA overly sympathetic toward or supportive of the group.

A July 2003 Times of India article based on a prior article in Sri Lankan paper The Island called FeTNA "one of LTTE's front organisations," and referred to the annual FeTNA convention as an LTTE fundraiser.[20] (The Island is editorially critical of the LTTE, and some of its Tamil critics point to a 1999 Asian Human Rights Commission statement that called it "a Sri Lankan newspaper well known for its racist propaganda.")[21] The accusation appears not to have been repeated in subsequent media coverage, and mainstream Indian political figures (e.g. Indian President Abdul Kalam) have continued to participate in FeTNA events.[3]

[edit] US civil rights lawsuits

The Federation's interest in doing cultural work in the "Tamil Eelam" region of Sri Lanka involved it with high-profile legal challenges against the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) and the USA PATRIOT Act.

In 1997, Secretary of State Madeline Albright designated the LTTE as a "foreign terrorist organization" under the terms of the AEDPA, which, according to TamilNet, "criminalizes the provision of material support or resources to the lawful and non-violent activities of any foreign organization designated as 'terrorist' by the Secretary of State."[22] In 1998, FeTNA and seven other organizations joined the Center for Constitutional Rights in challenging the constitutionality of the AEDPA, which would make illegal FeTNA's attempts to do service around Tamil language, arts, and cultural institutions in the LTTE-occupied "Tamil Eelam" region of Sri Lanka. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against the plaintiffs.[23]

The Center for Constitutional Rights and the Humanitarian Law Project took up a similar case challenging the AEDPA and the USA PATRIOT Act in 2003.[24] In March 2004, Judge Audrey Collins enjoined the US Government from enforcing applicable sections of the USA Patriot Act against the plaintiffs; however, FeTNA was not covered by the ruling, because they did not provide the court with adequate details to prove that their proposed actions—doing cultural work in LTTE-occupied parts of Sri Lanka—would actually be in violation of the law.[25]

[edit] California Hindu textbook controversy

FeTNA was actively involved in the Californian Hindu textbook controversy, in which it joined a number of other groups in successfully petitioning California's Curriculum Commission to reject allegedly revisionist edits to California's textbook curriculum on Hinduism and India, as suggested by the Hindu Education Foundation and the Vedic Foundation. FeTNA raised several specific objections about the proposed textbook revisions, which they felt sidelined the role of South Indian and Dravidian culture (history, language, and religious traditions), and whitewashed caste and gender discrimination in India.[26] (See main article Californian Hindu textbook controversy for details.)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America. FeTNA: About Us. Retrieved on 2006-08-06.
  2. ^ "FeTNA's 19th annual convention from July 1", The Hindu, 2006-04-13. Retrieved on 2006-08-06. 
  3. ^ a b c "2,000 attend Tamil meet in U.S.", SiliconIndia, 2003-07-10. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  4. ^ a b "Business and cultural forums mark achievements of community", South Asian Insider, 2006-07-14. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  5. ^ "Gajendrakumar on U.S. visit", TamilNet, 2004-07-05. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  6. ^ "The grand Tamil reunion", Rediff, 2002-07-06. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  7. ^ "Letter from the President", Kolangal (National Tamil Youth Association newsletter), 2002-2003. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  8. ^ "TNF vs. FeTNA & Where NTYO Fits In", Kolangal (National Tamil Youth Association newsletter), 2004. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  9. ^ "Glimpses of rich past at FeTNA's Manhattan date", The Indian Express (North American Edition), 2006-08-04. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  10. ^ UC Berkeley Center for South Asia Studies. Tamil Chair Background. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
  11. ^ University of Toronto Tamil Studies Coordinating Committee. TamilStudies.org: Contribute. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
  12. ^ "South Asian Americans Confront Tsunami with Faith and Fundraisers", India-West, 2004-12-31. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  13. ^ Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America. Welcome to FeTNA.org. Retrieved on 2006-08-06.
  14. ^ "The FeTNA Resolution", Tamil Voice (Newsletter of the Ilankai Tamil Sangam), Fall 1995. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  15. ^ "Govt. of Sri Lanka is accountable for journalist's murder- US Tamils", TamilNet, 2005-05-02. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  16. ^ "US Tamils call for sanctions against SL Government", TamilNet, 2005-12-27. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  17. ^ "US Tamils call for stop to extra-judicial killings", TamilNet, 2006-05-29. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  18. ^ "Tamil Americans urge Co-chairs to promote "equal partnership for peace"", TamilNet, 2006-01-04. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  19. ^ "US Tamils urge UN action against Sri Lanka", TamilNet, 2006-07-01. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  20. ^ "Indian cine stars to raise money for LTTE", The Times of India, 2003-07-02. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  21. ^ Asian Human Rights Commission says: "Sri Lankan record of gross abuse of human rights is much worse than that of Chile during the rule of Pinochet". Indictmnt Against Sri Lanka. Tamilnation.org (2006-02-19). Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  22. ^ "US Antiterrorism Law challenged in courts", TamilNet, 1998-03-20. Retrieved on 2006-08-06. 
  23. ^ "Petition against Antiterrorism Law ruling filed in US Supreme Court", TamilNet, 2000-12-24. Retrieved on 2006-08-06. 
  24. ^ "Cole, Chang lead US Patriot Act challenge by Tamils", TamilNet, 2003-10-05. Retrieved on 2006-08-06. 
  25. ^ "Amended US court ruling protects WTCC, FeTNA", TamilNet, 2004-03-04. Retrieved on 2006-08-06. 
  26. ^ Thillai Kumaran (FeTNA) (2006-02-19). FeTNA letter to the California State Board of Education (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-08-06.

[edit] External links

Category:Indian diaspora Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States Category:South Asian American organizations Category:Sri Lankan Diaspora Category:Tamil diaspora