A special plain clothes squad comprising security personnel from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Toronto police special task force combating Tamil gang violence swooped down on a town house at 1018 Bridletown circle in the residential area of Scarborough (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) last Tuesday Sept. 15th shortly before midnight. Their quarry was a swarthy, stocky 37-year-old male of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. When the officials attempted to arrest the person concerned, he refused to comply initially saying they had no right to arrest him. His wife too repeatedly told the police that they were making a mistake.

The law enforcement officials also had a search warrant to examine the premises. They promptly executed the warrant and took away a lot of stuff for detailed and thorough perusal. The man possessing a passport bearing the name Sivaguru Shanmugam was also taken into custody. After preliminary interrogation the man was produced at court number 412 at the Ontario Provincial courts in Scarborough on Wed. 16th. He was charged on three counts of fraudulent impersonation, possession of false documents, and obstruction of justice. The case was held over for the next day as no lawyer appeared for the man.

On the same evening the RCMP detachment at Milton in Ontario issued a press communique outlining the basic details of arrest and charges. The Press release however made the sensational disclosure that the detained person was named Muralitharan Nadarajah and that he was 'under investigation by the RCMP Immigration and Passport section for allegedly being in Canada under a false identity and for his alleged leadership role in the LTTE in Switzerland'. The man claiming to be Sivaguru Shanmugam was none other than Nadarajah Muralitharan alias Murali a.k.a. Swiss Murali, the Tamil political activist who was until recently in charge of LTTE functions in Switzerland.

An affidavit sworn by RCMP Corporal Fred Bowen to obtain justification for the search of premises at Scarborough where Muralitharan was arrested also provided some information about the background to the arrest. According to Cpl. Bowen he had learned from Tamil exiles that Mr. Muralitharan Nadarajah was a leading figure in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and that he headed Tiger operations in Switzerland where he lived until recently. In the affidavit, Cpl. Bowen also said he received a tip in May that a Tiger official called Murali was coming to Canada. The mountie stated he learned this month that he was in the country. The findings at the search are yet to be revealed.

The case was taken up the following Thursday 17th in the morning before Justice of the Peace, Mr. James Allen. A lawyer of Sri Lankan Tamil origin Manuel Jesudason represented Muralitharan. The issue before court was whether bail should be granted or not. Usually persons charged for 'trivial' offences of this type are granted bail and the onus is on the crown to impress court that bail should not be granted. The reverse onus is on the defence to assert why bail should be granted. Predictably the crown objected to bail on the grounds that there was every chance of the accused slipping away and also because of on going investigations into his alleged LTTE connections. Mr. James Allen denied bail to Muralitharan saying he 'failed miserably' to prove he would return to court or was not part of a criminal group. The case will be taken up on Sept. 25th again.

The response of Muralitharan in the dock when bail was denied to him was taken particular note of by the Canadian mainstream media. 'The Toronto Sun' tabloid observed that he was 'Grinning' at the time. The CFTO TV news reported that the accused was 'laughing' when bail was denied. It may be that Muralitharan may have been laughing or grinning to demonstrate that he was not fazed by the current predicament. Those who are aware of Muralitharan's past history know that the activist has weathered many a storm including long periods of incarceration. But to the Canadian mainstream media seeing an alleged 'terrorist' standing in the dock with irons around his legs, laughing away his troubles must have come been incomprehensible.

The 'Sun' also had a picture of Murali captioned 'Tamil Tiger caged' while the story was headlined 'Top Tiger busted'. The 'Sun' also had a quote from a woman Sathyasri Muralitharan, the wife of Murali who claimed that the charges against her husband were false. The local Tamil media as is usual also down played the story. Initially the only Tamil medium to report it was the 'Voice of Tamils' radio. Its director Chris Sandrasagara was bombarded by telephone calls from listeners after the broadcast. Some were irate calls from Tiger elements who criticised Sandrasagara for revealing facts that 'weakened' the Tamil struggle.

Although preliminary media reports indicated that Murali was denying that his passport was false and that he was carrying one under his grandfather's name, subsequent disclosures have clarified that aspect. Apparently Sivaguru Shanmugam is the name of Murali's paternal grandfather. In keeping with the custom of naming the eldest grandson after the grandfather (A practice almost extinct now) Murali had indeed been given the names of Sivaguru and Shanmugam also. But he had not used them and had been generally known as Nadarajah (father's name) Muralitharan in Sri Lanka. After coming to Europe he was known as Muralitharan Nadarajah like most Tamils in Western countries. The passport used by The Murali... (From page 13)Murali to arrive in Canada was under the

names Sivaguru Shanmugam. He had walked across to the Canadian border point south of Montreal on Aug. 3rd this year and claimed refugee status. He had moved to Toronto three weeks ago.

'Swiss' Murali went missing in Switzerland at the beginning of this year. After awhile his wife and four children also went missing. Sathyasri who spelled her husband's name as 'Muralidaran' with 'D' instead of 'TH' as is the norm arrived in Canada some months ago with her three daughters and son. She too sought political asylum and made a refugee claim. Since Canadian law forbids refugee claimants to work until being granted conventional refugee status, Sathyasri and her dependent children have been welfare recipients and will be so for awhile until their claims are processed fully.

After Mrs. Murali arrived in Canada and made her refugee claim that Canadian law-enforcement authorities were alerted to the possibility of Murali reaching also following his family to Canada. The officials were already smarting over their perceived failure to detect the arrival and stay of two prominent Tiger activists from Europe in Canada some time ago.

Although Canada had denied visas to people like LTTE spokesperson Lawrence Thilagar and prevented entry to another from Norway to others had slipped in and even engaged in clandestine LTTE activity. One was Mariyanesan alias Sukhla from France and the other Sarvendra alias Giri from Norway.

Thus the Canadian security officials particularly the RCMP unit in charge of illegal entry was vigilant.

Since Murali along with a host of other prominent LTTE personalities is on the Canadian 'black list' of undesirable persons not to be allowed in, it was expected that Murali would use a false passport if and when he wanted to enter Canada. So if Murali after applying for asylum has decided to lie low in some place in Canada not having Tamils and refrained from maintaining links with his family for awhile may have succeeded in evading arrest. But once he arrived in Toronto and was seen leaving and entering 1018 Bridletown circle frequently it was only a matter of time before the law cracked down on him.

What baffles most investigating officials is the 'mystery' behind Murali's disappearance in Switzerland and his appearance in Canada. Muralitharan was riding high in Switzerland as LTTE chief and was at one stage the favourite country representative of Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabakharan. There was a time when Murali was ranked third in the overseas LTTE hierarchy below KP and Thilagar. After his arrest by Swiss Canton Police in 1996 and his release on bail last year his stock apparently began to fall. After some time he went 'missing' and a person called Shankar was in charge for Switzerland.

Various rumours began circulating on the Tamil grapevine about Murali's downfall. One was that he was involved in a sex liaison with a young Tamil girl and was penalised by the hierarchy for that. This rumour had it that it was Shukla himself who took the incriminating photographs and passed it on to the leadership. The second theory was that he was guilty of misappropriation of LTTE funds. The third rumour was that he had a hand in the killings of two LTTE activists Nathan and Gajan in Paris. The fourth and most plausible theory was that he had slipped out of Switzerland to avoid inevitable punishment in the future.

On April 10, 1996, the Swiss authorities clamped down on the LTTE in their country. Murali and about 15 LTTE activists were arrested simultaneously. The LTTE head office in Lang Stra in Zurich was raided, 200,000 Swiss francs were seized along with some documents. Bank accounts were frozen and a few LTTE outlets sealed. Within a fortnight the LTTE conducted a demonstration in front of the Berne Parliament with about 5,000 Tamils participating. The demand was 'free Murali and the LTTE activists'. Later Murali was to boast that this exercise was an indicator of the LTTE's acceptance among the Tamils. 'We were with the people. The Tamil people are committed to the struggle. I am part of the struggle.'

The charge against Murali was that he was the 'organizer of a criminal organization (LTTE) extorting money specifically from the Tamil people living in Switzerland.' As is the case in most instances concerning LTTE extortion of funds from Tamil expatriates no one was willing to come forward and testify in court. The Swiss canton court could not produce credible witnesses. When Murali's lawyer Marcel Bossenet moved for his release. The police objected saying that investigations were not over yet and that if released Murali would 'disturb witnesses and may even escape'. He was not released.

Murali's lawyers then appealed to the higher federal Court. This Tribunal released Murali with the express proviso that the 'Police should continue with their investigations. Muralitharan was specifically forbidden to leave his canton of residence Chur, without prior permission. Murali's address at that time was 700 Chur, Goldstresse. A further handicap faced by Swiss authorities at that time was the belated discovery that their chief translator 'Singham' had been bought over by the Tigers and was passing information to them. Murali was released on Oct. 30th 1996 and his release was hailed as a great victory for the LTTE.

Therefore it is theoretically possible that in spite of the 'victory euphoria' Murali may have realised that it was only a matter of time before the Swiss police cracked down again decisively. He also may have discovered that his 'controlling grip' on the community and movement had been weakened because of his arrest and detention. Fund-raising was not as lucrative as before because the element of coercion was now not as strong as before. Also the knowledge that many of them may have to return to Sri Lanka made many Tamils shun the LTTE as a measure of caution. Murali also found a coterie within the LTTE ganging up against him. So it is possible that he may have decided to move on to the greener pastures of Canada.

Muralitharan has had a chequered career in pursuit of his political goal. Born on Oct. 10th, 1960 Murali hails from Thayiddy in Kankesanthurai (KKS). Educated at Nadeswara College and Nagarasa Tutory in KKS, Murali obtained 1B, 2 C' and done S at the GCE A/L but failed to get university admission because of standardisation. He was involved in political activity as a member of the TULF's student and youth organizations. Originally he was not involved in Tamil militancy but was arrested in 1984 as a suspected helper of the LTTE.

He spent two and a half years in custody at various places like Elephant Pass, Gurunagar, Palaly, Maradana, Boosa and Welikade. It is said that Murali was politicised in jail by EPRLF stalwart Sugu. Once Murali was seriously injured in prison in an assault by TELO member Kanthan. Despite Sugu's indoctrination Murali remained an LTTE sympathiser. After 29 months of detention he was produced in the Colombo High Court and sentenced to only three weeks imprisonment under the PTA for not providing information to authorities. He was released from Welikade on Dec. 23, 1986.

Thereafter Murali engaged in political work for the LTTE in Sri Lanka and India for some years. Later he relocated with his family to Switzerland. When Krishnakumar alias Kittu was Secretary General of the International secretariat of the LTTE he appointed Murali as Switzerland 'chief' in 1990. Murali was a capable organiser and was very successful in garnering support and funds for the Tigers in Switzerland. The LTTE under Murali functioned under the guise of World Tamil Coordinating Committee and federation of Tamil associations. Murali's remarkable performance endeared him to his leader Prabakharan.

Unfortunately for Murali his power went to his head and he began intefering in intra Ñ Tamil disputes thereby incurring displeasure. He also encouraged coercion in collecting funds. It was Murali who sabotaged Indian film star Rajanikanth's show in Switzerland because of petty rivalry. All this led to complaints being against Murali to the Police who finally cracked down on him. Although released conditionally the detention marked the beginning of the decline for him.

The mounties have been quoted by the Canadian media that Murali was here to take over LTTE operations here as the previous activist in charge was arrested and faces deportation. The reference is to Suresh Manickavasagam the former coordinator of LTTE activity in Canada, who was ordered deported by the Federal court under a national security certificate. He is now appealing to the Supreme Court and has obtained an injunction against his deportation pending the outcome of his appeal. If this speculative theory is correct then it looks like Murali's plan was to seek asylum in Canada and then gradually take over as LTTE chief.

The Canadian law-enforcement officials however are considering a number of possible reasons for Murali having come here. Firstly there is the view given credence in the media that he had come with the intention of taking over the LTTE. Until his arrest in Switzerland Murali was supposedly one of the best country chiefs of the Tigers. As such he may have been considered the best bet for Canada after Suresh's legal debacle. Canada with the largest Tamil Diaspora among Western nations is of paramount potential and importance to the LTTE for fund-raising and Murali certainly was a proven expert in that respect.

A related possibility is that Murali may have come here with the temporary purpose of cleansing the augean stables. After Suresh's exclusion from LTTE activity because of legal stipulation, the situation is not very satisfactory. Although the existing structure helps maintain the usual motions of Tiger activity the earlier dynamism and moral ebullience is absent. Factionalism is rampant and generally the LTTE front organizations here are visibly decaying. So it may be that Murali came here for the limited objective of being a trouble shooter. Utilising his refugee status he may have hoped to stay on for a while and galvanise the LTTE in Canada. Thereafter he may have wandered on leaving his wife and children behind in Canada.

The third possibility and from a security perspective the most dangerous one is that Murali was sent to Canada for a short-term task of demolishing opposition. A past practice in Europe has been for hit men to cross over from one Country to another and do the dirty work and then scamper back. Swiss Tamil gangs are notorious for this. Mercifully the Atlantic Ocean has spared Canada this terrible phenomenon so far. But the law-enforcement personnel who are well aware of who was behind the killing of Tamil dissident Sabalingam in Paris are certainly probing this angle intensively. Although Murali is certainly entitled to the basic legal concept of presumption of innocence the authorities cannot afford to ignore that line of thought.

Other possibilities are that Murali has really been expelled from the LTTE for various misdemeanours and has hopes of leading a new life in Canada. He may have reached Canada on his own or the LTTE in appreciation for his past services may have helped him to do so. It may also be a case of Murali just quitting the LTTE on his own and just attempting to turn over a new life here. There are also the reverse possibilities than he may even be fleeing from the LTTE. Another one may be is that he felt the Swiss noose tightening and just ran away.

All these theoretical possibilities regarding Murali coming to Canada will certainly be extensively probed by the authorities. The media reports in Sri Lankan journals about Murali being recalled to Sri Lanka by Prabakharan etc. will certainly be perused and followed up by the investigators. One area that the Canadian authorities will like to cover will be the mystery behind Murali's disappearance in the recent past. After he went 'missing' from Switzerland where did Murali go is the question. Did he really go to Sri Lanka? If so what is his position in the LTTE? Why did he come to Canada? etc. are but some of the queries that need urgent answers.

One matter that did not escape the attention of Canadian authorities was the conspicuous absence of well known LTTE personalities in Courts during the bail hearings. There was no 'show' of solidarity as in the case of Suresh on earlier occasions. Only friends and relatives of Murali were present. In an obvious 'plant' a Tamil newspaper said that members of the World Tamil Movement (LTTE front in Canada) became aware if Murali's presence in Canada only after his arrest. This 'revelation' is not believed and the law-enforcement authorities are certainly keeping their eyes open about any visible sign of links between him and the Tiger apparatus here.

Whatever the reason or motive behind Murali coming to Canada there is one point that puzzles and possibly irks the authorities here. Muralitharan as the Swiss LTTE chief was a highly visible and prominent person. His picture appears on several videos and newspapers. In additional his fingerprints were taken by the Swiss police at the time of his arrest. It has been the practice in recent times for all refugee applicants to be fingerprinted and Murali too has done so. Also there is a sizable number of people here who know Murali personally. Under these circumstances the authorities are wondering as to what made Murali think that he could avoid detection in Canada or deny his identity. Also the other puzzle is about Murali and his family opting to live in Scarborough with a large Tamil concentration instead of living in another place where Tamils were negligible.

Given Murali's previous arrest in Switzerland it does seem inevitable that Canadian authorities will interact with their Swizz counterparts on the issue. In fact the decision whether Murali is entitled to bail or not itself may be determined by the input from Swiss authorities. In addition Interpol assistance regarding possible European proclivity of a criminal nature too are likely to be explored. As of now the Murali issue is only seen as an 'Immigration violation' in legal terms although in practical terms the authorities are not unmindful of the perceived security threat. Continuing investigations however may alter the position in the coming weeks.

It is also interesting to see what course of action the Canadian officialdom will ultimately decide upon in the case of Murali. In the case of Suresh the security certificate was issued on the recommendation of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). In Murali's case the CSIS has not played any role in the affair so far, apart from perhaps functioning in a consultative capacity. But in the case of Suresh a deportation order was issued after being accepted as a Convention refugee. Thanks to a formidable legal battle waged on Suresh's behalf the man is still in Canada and CSIS officials are twiddling their thumbs without proceeding in other instances because they are waiting for the final outcome in Suresh's case.

In the case of Murali he is yet to be accepted as a Conventional refugee and therefore more vulnerable legally. In that context it remains to be seen whether a security certificate will be issued against Murali also or whether other legal options will be pursued. The course of action to be taken by Swiss authorities and Canadian public option etc. are also factors that may influence Murali's case. So even as Muttiah Muralitharan continues to create cricket history for Sri Lanka his namesake Nadarajah Murlitharan will be making waves as events continue to unfold in Canada.

In making an assessment of the advantages the PA has at a future election, due consideration has to be given to the ongoing war effort. The breaking of the ceasefire with the new government by the LTTE in April 1995, gave rise to a widespread hardening of the Sinhalese attitude towards the war. A significant military success at this stage will definitely have an impact on the electoral prospects of the governing party even if all other factors are unfavourable.

In fact, the war effort has become the only straw the PA can cling on to. It has become the excuse for almost everything including the under performing economy, the government's inability to hold elections on time, its failure to abolish the Executive Presidency etc. In short, it is only the war effort which is keeping the PA afloat. But it must be said that some of their gambles have paid off. During UNP times, the conventional wisdom was that Jaffna could not be taken as the LTTE would contest every inch and the casualties both among the civilian population of Jaffna and the armed forces would be too high. Nevertheless the PA went ahead with their plans to take back Jaffna, and at the time this was described as ''sheer lunacy''. The PA was taking a dangerous gamble. But it paid off. When the LTTE saw that the government was going to come in anyway despite any number of casualties, they decided to decamp. If they had tried to face the onslaught, they would have been harmed to such an extent both in terms of cadres lost and their popularity among the civilian population who would have got caught in the crossfire and blamed the LTTE for the carnage, that they decided not to stand against the military operation. Even though the LTTE was a past master of the ''human shield'' tactic, to use such methods in the Jaffna Peninsula with its large civilian population would have to be done only in the event of a last ditch stand. The LTTE obviously felt that the time was not yet ripe for that type of last ditch stand. So they decided to fall back on the strategy they adopted during the IPKF occupation and resort to terrorism from jungles.

Be that as it may, the end result was that the Jaffna Peninsula was captured with very little bloodshed and civilian life began to return to a semblance of normalcy soon afterwards. The importance of all this is that Jaffna being the ideological heartland of the Tamil separatist struggle was once more under government control. The de facto separate administration which the LTTE had carried on was gone overnight. Even more importantly, the Jaffna population was shown that any Army be it Indian or Sri Lankan, could dislodge the LTTE from Jaffna almost at will. Most importantly, after the establishment of some degree of civilian rule in Jaffna and the reconstitution of some local government institutions, the Mayoralty of Jaffna has emerged as the key political post on the Peninsula. The two persons who held the post upto now have been residents of Jaffna throughout the past decades through good times and bad. They are not expatriate or Colombo Tamils brought in by the military to form a ''quisling'' government. The LTTE's assassination of the two first Mayors (along with many ordinary Tamil civilians in Mayor Sivapalan's case) has led to a visible rift developing in Jaffna between the more moderate and democratic Tamils and the LTTE. All this time the world was led to believe through Tiger propaganda that Jaffna was monolitically pro-LTTE and pro-separatist. Now however, the world is seeing a different picture. Ambassadors visit Jaffna and talk to the people. It is no longer a ''forbidden city''. Mayor Sivapalan was assassinated only days after he had had a meeting with the British High Commissioner. Since the world can see what is going on, the general trend has been more in favour of the government than of the LTTE.

Of course, the full extent of the government's achievement is not known to the Sinhala voter. But he is vaguely aware that something has been achieved and they are waiting for the final prize. The government has promised them an end to the war by military means and the public is waiting for it. If the government fails to deliver after it has made the promise, they will have to face the consequences. But if they do succeed in delivering, the people's approbation will no doubt be reflected at the poles. Sitting in the hot seat is a tough job. J. R. Jayewardene said he would turn Sri Lanka into a Singapore. He managed to take the country some distance towards that goal, but he failed to consummate the pledge he gave to the public. Much less than turning the country into a Singapore, he failed even to solve the youth unemployment problem. Hence, despite the fact that it was JRJ who brought this country into alignment with the 20th century, he had to suffer an inevitable diminishing in popularity towards the end of his administration.

Similarly, the PA will have to face the music at the polls if they fail to deliver what they have promised on the war. The war promise has become the mother of all promises for the PA because all other promises it gave to the public have been ''postponed'' on the pretext of the war. Hence, if the PA fails to deliver, they will have to face the consequences with compound interest. All the failures of the government will descend upon it like an avalanche.

In this context, it would be fool hardy in the extreme for the government to be paniched by Ranil's call for unconditional talks with the LTTE. They should not allow themselves to be controlled by the UNP's initiative. The government brought this situation upon themselves by their overly servile attempt to portray themselves as friends of the minorities while the UNP was an anti-minority party. This was irritating,... much in the same way that Premadasa's forming of the ''A LTTE sanvidhanaya'' in the early nineties infuriated the general public. Politicians should know the limits of bowing to special interest groups at the expense of the majority of the population who enjoy no privileges precisely because they are the majority community...

Of course one might ask what else was the government to do because they were so dependent on the minority vote...? While it is true that the government was dependent on the minority vote, still they would have been able to win very significant support if they managed to finish the war. The government should have gone about its task of bringing the LTTE to heel without this highly unwarranted game of one-up manship against the UNP over the minorities issue. The most dangerous thing was the manner in which the PA kept the UNP under a state of siegeÑby promising the minorities far more than it was possible to ever grant. This foolhardy strategy has already done irreparable damage.

When a government is in power, they have to do what has to be done without always thinking only of the next election and how to stay in power. No matter what contortions they may perform, no governing party can remain in power for ever. Once a party is in power it should think of doing what is necessary for the country and not what they should do to prolong their stay beyond their welcome. Ranil's overtures to the minorities have stripped whatever edge the PA had over UNP on the minorities issue. Now that the government has no edge over the UNP vis a vis the minorities, they will be compelled to focus all their energies on winning the war. Who knows? May be Ranil has unwittingly shown the PA the way they could earn the respect of the entire population...

The American people, not to mention the whole world, has been mesmerized by the sordid details of the Clinton video and the Lewinsky transcript as if there were no more important issues needing urgent attention. The media frenzy is not only in the USA but has gripped the attention of newspapers and TV around the world. American women have argued that the attacks on Clinton have been spearheaded by the far Right whose views on women are, in the long term, far more damaging to women. And the guru of the earlier feminist movement, Betty Friedan, has denounced Sexual McCarthyism and condemned both the publisizing of the video and the moves to impeachment. There are however several views of the Clinton affair among feminists.

Power imbalances
On the one hand there is the classic regulationist view that sexual harassment and power imbalances make sexual activity in the workplace the exploitation of women. This school of thought believes in strict liability and that consent of the victim is not relevant. As Naomi Wolf pointed out in a recent comment, sexual harassment of any kind in the work place, corrupts the work atmosphere. Now that women are entering the workplace in larger numbers, strict liability with regard to relationships between senior and junior workers must be upheld and sexual behaviour of this sort should be condemned.

Women's asency
The other point of view is that women have the right to sexual expression and that we should move away from this notion of women as victims. Lewinsky at the age of 24 has the right to make her own decisions and reap her own whirlwind. The clue to the analysis is consent. Lewinsky has never denied that she gave her full and free consent to the sexual liaison. By interfering without any reference to the victim is to deny a wide range of human relationships. This also raises the greater issue of the state regulation of sexual and emotional behaviour of individuals. By attempting to shame people by using sexual blackmail, Starr brings up images of the Inquisition. If the standards are too strict, the vast majority of people would be sinners in any society at any given time. In recent times biographies have been written to demystify their subject. A recent biography by Mao Tse Tung's doctor is all about how often Mao brushed his teeth, the young women who slept with him and his general rustic, uncouth manners. This kind of biography is an absolute denial of the right to privacy. One is made even more uneasy when it is revealed that the publication allowed the young doctor to get a visa to the U.S. This strategy of using private life to shame important public figures, is something that causes us grave concern.

Public and Private
For the past few decades, the women's movement has been arguing against the public-private distinction with the slogan, ''the personal is the political.''

As a result, we have pushed for the state to eradicate domestic violence and sexual violence in the home as well as the workplace. A decade after the victory of the violence against women movement, many feminists are now beginning to feel that we have gone too far in our collaboration with the criminal justice system. There is a sense that the right to privacy is also an important right and the right to family planning, and the choice of sexual expression should not be the business of the state. Starr's tracking down is so much like the activity of totalitarian regimes in their desire to destroy individuals that it is extremely uncomfortable precedent.

It reminds one of the McCarthy era where incidents of human failing were blown out of proportion and individuals' private lives made them ''traitors.'' Hence Betty Friedan's remark on ''Sexual McCarthyism'' is relevant. Perjury and obstruction of justice are important issues but at another level one is reminded to the Crucible-Arthur Miller's play about the witch hunt in Salem, Mass.

Catseye feels that individuals should be held acountable for criminal activity but consensual sex among adults remains one of the important areas of privacy. If Lewinsky wanted to bring a suit, that is a different matter but that she was forced to do so because her friend was taping the conversations and betraying her trust is the issue that is important to us.

To drag a young girl through hell and back-not to mention her mother and family-is something that is more inexcusable than a president lying about adultery. We feel that the implications of this case for the private lives of people is very problematic. Technology now exists for people to be bugged and videoed in the most private of spaces.

The destruction of this privacy causes us grave concern and we are reminded that a totalitarian state that monitors every aspect of our lives is far more troubling than nine occasions of illicit sex and the foolish attempt to cover it up.

Hunting witches in Sri Lanka?
But why are the putrid details of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair being devoured so eagerly? Are they themselves politically important and relevant, or are these details gossiped about for other reasons? The answer lies in the highly moralistic nature of US society, which, as highlighted in a previous Cat's Eye column, goes back to the puritan roots of early settlers. It is this hypocritical moral atmosphere that has led a simple extra-marital affair to over shadow every other issue of the day, for there is nothing that moralists enjoy more than some hot ''under the covers'' reading.

The same applies in Sri Lanka. We are very fond of harping on our religious values and virtues and are quick to decry the so called moral laxity of the West. But aren't we hypocritical in thisÑenjoying and devouring lurid, and often false, details about the sexual lives of politicians and public figures. Should not the private lives of public figures remain privateÑwhy should public gossip go on endlessly about ''who is sleeping with whom'', and what a particular person's sexual orientation is?

The answer is the same in both US and Sri Lankan cases. It is in fact the puritan moral strictures of the early US colonists, and Victorian values of our own colonists, the British, that have banished sexual pleasure underground. And hence, it emerges, sensationally and hypocritically as a perversion of political discourse.

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