In the Vanni, through the unceasing waves, LTTE created areas of full control. And invested heavily in projects of statebuilding that gave people a sense of dignity, safety, limited freedom of movement. Before that meeting, Sivaram saw those projects as waste of precious resources during the time of war. He was of the opinion that, as a direct consequence of state building, LTTE focused too much on expanding conventional capabilities and on protecting territory at the expense of its guerrilla roots. But the witnessing of statebuilding exercise has left an everlasting impression on the Vanni people as well as on the visiting diaspora. That investment paid off in the form of willing participation and in unflinching loyalty to the LTTE even in its dying days.
Monthly Archives: May 2014
War, Peace and the Manufacturing of Rajapaksa Myths
The post-war Rajapaksa meta-narrative is aimed buttressing the connection between the majority ethno-religious community and the country’s new rulers. It is premised on three main myths – the myth of eternal national insecurity, the myth of miraculous development and the myth of the infallible hero-king. The three myths reinforce each other; in confluence they create and sustain the socio-psychological soil necessary for the new Rajapaksa dynasty to take root and flourish.
NPC Resolution Requesting Assistance on Teachers & MDs
SriLanka_NPC_Resolution_22May2014_English SriLanka_NPC_Resolution_22May2014_Tamil —- The recent resolution by the Northern Provincial Council requesting assistance from India and Tamil Nadu governments. The following resolution was tabled by the Council Member Hon M.K. Shivajilingam and adopted by the Northern Provincial Council in Sri Lanka on May 22, 2014 RESOLUTION Calling upon India to provide Tamil speaking doctors, and teachers for… Read more »
Schadenfreude of a Sinhalese Blockhead
by Sachi Sri Kantha, May 23, 2014 The dictionary defines ‘Schadenfreude’ as “n. pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune. ORIGIN German, from Schaden ‘harm’ + Freude ‘joy’”. Some English wordsmiths have stated that there is no exact English word, to express this sentiment. Thus, the word has to be borrowed as it is… Read more »
‘The Scene at First Light Was Devastating’
by Frances Harrison, ‘Huffington Post,’ Los Angeles, May 20, 2014 New photographs have emerged five years after the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka showing the aftermath of government attacks on a United Nations food distribution centre inside the war zone. The pictures, shot by a Tamil working for the media unit of… Read more »
An Offer to Let the Mind Wander
by Ligaya Mishan, ‘The New York Times,’ May 29, 2014 The shiny black table reflects blue sky, banana fronds and distant birds with eyelash wings. Outside, signs for mortgages and driving lessons loom over this tired stretch of Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. But inside Spicy Lanka, clouds drift, as does the mind. The murals on… Read more »
Myanmar’s Appalling Apartheid
SITTWE, Myanmar — Minura Begum has been in labor for almost 24 hours, and the baby is stuck. Worse, it’s turned around, one tiny foot already emerging into the world in a difficult breech delivery that threatens the lives of mother and child alike. Twenty-three years old and delivering her first child, Minura desperately needs… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Greatest War Criminal (Gotabaya) is a US Citizen
by Ryan Goodman, ‘JustSecurity.org,’ May 19, 2014 Monday, May 19th marks the five-year anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, which claimed the lives of 40,000 to 70,000 civilians in its “catastrophic” final phase. In 2009, Congress asked the State Department to report on the humanitarian law violations during the war, and those reports make for gruesome reading…. Read more »
TNA Statement on Sri Lanka’s Diaspora Ban
TNA Statement on Diaspora Ban The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) wishes to unequivocally condemn the recent action taken by the Government of Sri Lanka to designate several Tamil diaspora organisations and individuals under Gazette Extraordinary No. 1854/41 of 21 March 2014. This Gazette notification was issued under the United Nations Regulations No. 1 of 2012… Read more »
We Betrayed Rwanda in Its Hour of Desperation
Yet events in Sri Lanka five years ago or in the Central African Republic today show that genocide has not been consigned to history.
5 yrs On: Remember to Remember
by Eelapalan, Finding Self blog, May 18, 2014 5 Yrs On. Global Tamils are remembering the 5th anniversary of the May 2009. While we mourn the lives lost, we should also remember to remember the truth. The Tamilnation website quoted the following prophetically and purposefully, when it shut itself down. “…A key psychology for leading… Read more »
The Slow Wheels of Justice and Change
In contrast, a principled yet strategic instrumentalization of international justice processes can offer promising rewards, provided also that this strategy is a part of a cohesive domestic strategy for meaningful political change. The success of the struggle for justice in Sri Lanka hinges on the choice between impulsive emotionalism and carefully calibrated rational politics.
HRW: Comply with Rights Council Investigation
by Human Rights Watch, May 20, 2014 (New York) – The Sri Lankan government should comply with the March 2014 United Nations Human Rights Council resolution creating an international investigation into allegations of serious abuses by both sides during Sri Lanka’s civil war, Human Rights Watch said today. The resolution calls on the UN Office of… Read more »
On Anniversary, a Victory Parade and a Crackdown in Sri Lanka
“The Tamil people should have the freedom to mourn collectively the untimely death of a large number of members of their community,” the Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association said in a statement.
Sri Lanka Blocks Tamil Memorials Amid War Parade
Official victory day celebrations were held in Sri Lanka’s south Sri Lanka has held a victory parade on the fifth anniversary of the end of its civil war, while stopping Tamils from commemorating their war dead. Security forces in the north surrounded party offices and religious sites, blocking memorial ceremonies for Tamils killed in the… Read more »
New Pictures Of Isaipriya Alive Emerge
New pictures of the LTTE media TV newsreader Isaipriya alive have emerged.The Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence claims 53 Division troops killed Isaipriya during the last battle. Her name is in the Ministry of Defence’s published list – “Identified LTTE leaders who were killed on 18 May 2009 by 53 Division troops“ – as “Lieutenant Colonel… Read more »
New Report Details ‘White Flag’ Cases
by ‘Tamil Guardian,’ London, May 17, 2014 A new report details cases, testimonies and new photograph evidence of LTTE cadres who surrendered at the end of the armed conflict, and were later found dead or remain missing. The report, “5 years on: The White Flag Incident 2009-2014“, published by ‘STOP’ part of the International Truth… Read more »
Beyond the Beach
by Marcelle Hopkins, AlJazeera, May 17, 2014 Five years after one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history, Sri Lanka hovers between war and peace, as a profoundly traumatised population grapples with creeping militarisation, continuing ethnic divisions and a crackdown on dissent. Interactive website at http://ajinteractive.businesscatalyst.com/srilanka/home_txt.html
Buddhism, Conflict and Violence in Modern Sri Lanka
ISBN10: 0–415–35920–1 (Print Edition) ISBN13: 9–78–0–415–35920–7 Entire book at http://www.khamkoo.com/uploads/9/0/0/4/9004485/buddhism_conflict_and_violence_in_modern_sri_lanka.pdf Book review at http://sangam.org/taraki/articles/2006/05-03_Buddhism_Conflict.php?uid=1709 Table of Contents 1 Introduction: Buddhism, conflict and violence 1 MAHINDA DEEGALLE 2 Is the Sri Lankan war a Buddhist fundamentalism? 22 RICHARD GOMBRICH 3 Hindu influences on medieval Sri Lankan Buddhist culture 38 JOHN CLIFFORD HOLT 4 The Theravada analysis of conflicts… Read more »
From Tiananmen to Jaffna
In the final analysis, an autocratic government, whether run by the Communist Party in Beijing or by the Rajapakse family in Colombo, fears people with a political will that oppose its own. It is secondary whether the people use the ballot box, civil disobedience or armed combat to achieve their aim. What need to be nipped in the bud are people coming together as a community: therefore it is made a criminal act. As long as mourning facilitates the restoration of community, it will be opposed by oppressive governments. And as long as it is opposed – be it five years or 25 – the people will not give up trying to restore community either.