Word: tamils
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Between Madras and the shore temple town of Mahabalipuram, the Tamil farmers spread their harvest across the road and wait for the traffic. Cars, buses and trucks burst through the sheaves; the rubber meets the rice, and the grains are pinched free from their husks. The vehicles move on, and women, children and Indian crows drop down through the exhaust fumes to gather in their share...
...July 1987 Sri Lanka bowed to pressure from New Delhi and allowed Indian forces to occupy the north and east of the island. Some 80,000 soldiers remain deployed there, trying with limited success to suppress Tamil separatist guerrillas who, ironically, were initially encouraged, armed and trained by India...
...elections in Tamil Nadu, one of India's most populous states, looked like a perfect opportunity for Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to reverse the failing fortunes of his ruling Congress (I) Party. The opposition was badly split, and a secret poll showed Congress vying for the lead. Smelling victory, Gandhi visited the state four times in three weeks...
...away, Jayamani Marianayagam ricochets between grief and anxiety as she recounts the fate of her son Jude Chandrakumar. Three weeks ago, the 17-year-old boy was practicing You Are My Rock, O Jesus on the organ in St. Mary's Cathedral when a street battle between two militant Tamil factions spilled through the doors and into the sanctuary. Mistaking young Chandrakumar for a wounded rival, guerrillas grabbed him. The boy's body was found that night outside the church, his legs broken, his fingernails missing, his head half blown away. "No mother should ever have to face the tragedy...
Northerners are also under siege, caught in the cross fire of Tamil gangs. The undisciplined E.P.R.L.F., armed and assisted by Indian troops, tortures and kills any civilians it suspects of sympathizing with the rival Tigers. "These boys panic or get angry at the slightest provocation and pull the trigger," says a cart driver in Nallur...