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"Tamils have long been seafarers and traders. It is
believed that they reached northern Australia by the 14th century, and there is
a suggestion that they may have got as far as New Zealand. In 1836 the
missionary explorer
William Colenso found this bell, which had been used by
Māori as a cooking vessel for generations. Inscribed on it in Tamil are the
words ‘Mohoyideen Buk’s ship’s bell’. The bell is now held at the national
museum, Te Papa. Theories abound, but the precise origins of the bell and how it
got to New Zealand remain a mystery."
The Tamil Bell
" Around 1836, the missionary
William Colenso met Māori near Whangarei using the bell as a kohua (iron
pot) to cook potatoes. It is bronze, thirteen centimetres long and nine
centimetres deep, and has an inscription. Colenso was told that the bell had
been found after a heavy gale had blown down a large tree; it was uncovered
from the tree roots. Its owners believed that the bell had been in the
possession of the iwi (tribe) for several generations. Colenso swapped an
iron pot for the bell. After his death he bequeathed the bell to the
Colonial Museum, forbear to Te Papa Tongarewa.
The bell produced a lot of interest when it was exhibited, and discussions
and theories abounded about its origins. The bell was photographed and
copies sent to England and various people in India. Tamils in Southern India
immediately recognised the writing on the bell. The bell has been identified
as a type of ship's bell. Some of the characters in the inscription are of
an archaic form no longer seen in modern Tamil script; thus suggesting that
the bell could be about 500 years old."
Museum of New Zealand
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Significance of Land, Language and Culture
in a Multicultural Society - Symposium
Mt. Albert War Memorial Hall, Auckland, New Zealand
17 February 2002
A symposium on ‘The Significance of Land, Language and Culture in a
Multicultural Society’ was held on Sunday, February 17th from
3.00 p.m. at Mt. Albert War Memorial Hall in Auckland. The symposium
was organized to discuss the above topic with special reference to
the Tamil people’s struggle in Sri Lanka and also to focus on the
anti-terrorism bill in front of the Select Committee in New Zealand.
Members of parliament, Matt Robson (Alliance), Keith Locke (Green),
Marie Hasler (National), and Chris Carter (Labour) as well as
Adhitya Kashiyap of United Future presented the views of their
respective parties.
Prof.
Margaret Trawick, anthropologist, with expertise on the Tamil
people’s struggle for self-determination also spoke. Robert Newson
of the Human rights Commission, who is a Maori, also spoke on the
Maori perspective to land, language and culture.
The first speaker was Robert Newson. He spoke of two aspects in
relation to the topic. Tangata whenua. Tangata is people, the tribe.
Whenua is land. He spoke of his home being the place where he comes
from and not where he currently lives. The land owns him, and he
does not own the land. He said his struggle today may not be the
same as that of the Tamil people but it has been in the past. Many
understand mana to mean power. He interprets mana as deriving from
manaki - to care and share. You give me mana because ‘I care for
you’. If there is no land then where can one care for others. In the
absence of land therefore there is no mana. He said it is his duty
as tangata whenua to welcome all to Aotearoa. But he has not been
given that chance. He asked how he could share the land with all if
he does not have Tino Rangatiratanga, self-determination.
Prof. Trawick spoke next about the Tamil people’s struggle and the
current peace process. She started by saying that like Maori and
many other indigenous people land, language and culture are
inseparable for the Tamil people. In the case of Eelam Tamils she
said they suffered persecution at the hands of another indigenous
people, the Sinhala people. She added that this persecution was not
due to self-motivated acts of individuals but rather by a corrupt
ruling class that controlled the government. On the question of how
New Zealand can help she listed the following. New Zealand should
remain neutral. New Zealand could offer itself as a neutral venue
for peace talks. There could be fact-finding missions to the newly
opened war zones in Sri Lanka, either as individuals or as
government sponsored delegation. This is very important she added.
Also of value will be concrete assistance in rehabilitation.
Although New Zealand cannot do much, by starting a small
rehabilitation project in the war zone it could set an example for
other countries to follow she said.
Minister Matt Robson spoke next. Minister’s explanation of the
anti-terrorism bill was most helpful. He started by saying that the
New Zealand government recognises the gross human rights violations
against Tamil people in Sri Lanka and that New Zealand recognises
the conflict within the context of struggle as recognised by the
United Nations, that the people have an inalienable right to their
language and the right to live freely without persecution in the
land that they live. This he said sadly has not been the case in Sri
Lanka. He then spoke of the peace process and New Zealand’s support
for Norway’s effort. New Zealand has played a role in the pacific in
conflict reduction but he said it is difficult to do the same around
the world. New Zealand however, remains open to other roles in the
Sri Lankan peace process, he added. On the topic of the
anti-terrorism bill he explained the difficulties of defining who is
a ‘terrorist’. He acknowledged that it was wrong to rush amendments
to the anti-terrorism bill because of the events on September 11th.
He said the contentious area is deciding who is to be proscribed as
terrorist. There is a lot of discussion going on in narrowing down
the definition.
Keith Locke, member for Green party, in his speech criticised the
anti-terrorism bill and said that it paves the way for a future
government to act in bad judgement. He said that the bill places
sole responsibility for deciding who is a ‘terrorist’ on the Prime
Minister, assisted by one other minister. In his view this can lead
to a dictatorship, he said. He said in national struggles atrocities
are committed by both sides. But when it comes to proscribing, the
USA has always proscribed the liberation movements and not the
States involved. This he said is a biased act that is not peace
making but rather war making. He added that New Zealand should use
the model it used for Bougainville where it treated both parties as
equals and invited them to New Zealand to hold talks. He also added
even if this government does not proscribe LTTE, the bill instills
fear in the minds of Tamils here. It will also lead to prejudices as
seen in the recent coverage of the New Zealand Tamil’s support for
LTTE in the Herald newspaper.
Chris Carter, a Labour party member of parliament thanked the Tamil
community for their energy and hard work in New Zealand. He noted
how 50 years ago Sri Lanka was held up as a model country ready for
independence and how tragically it has failed to live up to that
promise. He expressed hopes that the peace process will end the
tragedy. He added that New Zealand rejects terrorism but those who
supported the struggle in a peaceful way will not be criminalised he
said.
Marie Hasler, member for National party spoke next. She noted her
interest as a young girl in Srimavo Bandaranayake becoming the first
woman prime minister in the world. She also thanked the Tamil
society for inviting her and said that it kindled in her an interest
in Sri Lanka. She said she was born in Ireland and can fully
understand the persecution of minorities. She said most New
Zealanders are sympathetic to the plight of Tamil people. However,
the event on September 11th has created greater awareness for
security in New Zealand. She said National party will support the
general thrust of the anti-terrorism bill. She said the bill makes
it clear who a ‘terrorist’ is. She added that there will always be
some subjective aspect to that.
Adhitya Kashiyap, of United future, asked if anyone has seriously
attempted to understand why someone commits a ‘terrorist’ act. He
said New Zealand should not follow the Band-Aid policy of the USA
without understanding the causes. Those who are branded ‘terrorist’
by the western world are ‘heroes’ to two thirds of the world
population, whose issues are not covered by the mass media, he said.
He said Tamil people have struggled for 50 years without a forum to
highlight their plight. India went in to resolve it without
understanding and burnt its fingers.
During the panel discussion, Matt Robson commented that there is no
proposal to proscribe LTTE in New Zealand given that a peace process
is underway. Marie Hasler also said that there is no reason why LTTE
will be regarded as a ‘terrorist’ in New Zealand, particularly with
the peace process going on. Keith Locke commented that even if LTTE
is not proscribed immediately there will be continuing pressure on
the New Zealand government to proscribe LTTE because the government
is expected to take advice from the security council. USA and UK who
are permanent members of the Security Council have proscribed LTTE.
On the financing of liberation struggles Matt Robson added that he
will not be afraid to support organisations in New Zealand that are
supporting liberations struggling for peoples rights even if some
other organisations that they are supporting are branded as
‘terrorist organisations’, because New Zealand will always support
the right of people here to support such struggles.
The chairperson
Malathy Naguleswaran asked the New Zealand people to take
serious note of the outcome of the December 2001 election where the
Tamil people of Sri Lanka voted unambiguously for a mandate that
stated that LTTE is their sole representatives in negotiations with
the government. She also asked New Zealand to stand apart from the
rest of the western world as they have done with respect to their
anti-nuclear position and the South African anti-apartheid position.
Then, like the gratitude shown by the South African people, all of
Sri Lanka’s people, both Tamils and Sinhalese, will show gratitude
to New Zealand for promoting peace she added. |
