Posts Categorized: International

Mishandling Suicide ‘Terrorism’

Aside from an amusing ignorance about Sri Lanka, Scott Atran gives a level headed look at ‘suicide terrorism’ in an article in the Summer 2004 issue of The Washington Quarterly put out by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  The gist of his argument is that, in order for community support for suicide attacks… Read more »

US Assistance to Lanka Against ‘Terrorism’

A Second Look  by Taraki [aka D. Sivaram], The Daily Mirror, Colombo, September 15, 2004 Sinhala Buddhist nationalists do not count their blessings. They keep complaining that the world is not helping them in any concrete way to crush the LTTE. One of them recently asked the US, “Where’s the beef?” (Though it is unbecoming… Read more »

Build a State First, a Nation comes Later

This review of Fukuyama’s book shows the distinction between the concepts of state and nation.  What Fukuyama does not deal with are the problems of imposing a state on top of two existing nations as in the case of Sri Lanka. — Editor by Janadas Devan, The Straits Times, Singapore, September 8, 2004 A nation… Read more »

The Sinhala Nation and Foreign Military Involvement

by Taraki [aka D. Sivaram], Virakesari and TamilNatham, Sri Lanka, September 5, 2004 An important question arises when we look at the military balance in SriLanka. Though the LTTE maintains its military strength on par with Sri Lankan Army (SLA), any military intervention by a foreign country which does not sympathise with the Tamils, can… Read more »

The International Community Sharpens its Knives Against Tamils

by Sachithanandam Sathananthan*, New Delhi, September 3, 2004 Sri Lankan Tamils took note of a newspaper article titled “Ending the regional drift,” published in India recently.  Its author, Dr Raja Mohan, is a foreign policy analyst who is close to the Indian establishment, and he accurately reflects its thinking.  He lauded “the muscular message” New… Read more »

Give the Chechens a Land of Their Own

by Richard Pipes, The New  York Times op-ed, September 9, 2004 Does this call to give Chechens independence and America’s appeal to consider what is happening in the Darfur region of Sudan genocide – which legally obligates the international community to intervene – have anything to do with the actual situation in these countries or… Read more »

LTTE Critics Argue Against Continuing with Ceasefire

by Taraki, [aka D. Sivaram], Daily Mirror, Colombo, September 9, 2004 Heckles and jeers are sure to greet one if one were to say that the Tigers too face criticism and political pressure from a cross section of their supporters here and abroad for “futilely sticking to the peace process”. The hecklers and jeerers on… Read more »

A Global War: Many Fronts, Little Unity

Terror is not an enemy, but a method, used in different ways by different movements…But it is also a label that has been seized on by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel and, in various shades, by leaders from Italy to Pakistan to set their own agendas. It… Read more »

Countering Terror

by Rajeev Dhavan, The Hindu, Chennai, September 3, 2004 Where counter-terrorism violates human rights, it produces state terrorism directed against a nation’s own people. Both collectively and individually, nations across the world are obsessed with policies of counter-terrorism. This obsession is subversive of peace and good governance in ways that are beginning to dwarf the… Read more »

Self-Righteous Democracies

by Phar Kim Beng, Straits Times, September 2, 2004 Mr. Bill Clinton made the promotion of democracy the centrepiece of his foreign policy when he was president of the United States. President George W. Bush, especially after Sept 11, did the same, looking to democracy as a means of reforming Arab/Muslim societies and awakening them… Read more »

Diaspora Circulation and Transnationalism

As Agents for Change in the Post-Conflict Zones of Sri Lanka R. Cheran of the Dept. of Sociology and Refugee Studies of York University, Toronto has written a paper entitled “Diaspora Circulation and Transnationalism as Agents for Change in the Post Conflict Zones of Sri Lanka” which does exactly what sociology is supposed to: observe… Read more »

Good Government: You Can Put a Value to It

By Janadas Devan, Straits Times, Singapore, August 2004 WHY did Singapore succeed and so many other post-colonial states didn’t? The answer to that question often takes the form of a litany: Singapore got the fundamentals right – political stability, meritocracy, an incorruptible administration. It instituted the rule of law, ensuring the sanctity of contracts and… Read more »

Vaiko Reiterates Support to LTTE, Not to Seek Bail

by NewIndPress.com, August 4, 2004 CHENNAI: MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Wednesday reiterated his support to LTTE’s activities in Sri Lanka, stating that the Tigers were only fighting for a genuine cause in that country. Speaking to mediapersons outside the POTA Special Court at Poonamallee, he said, “The LTTE is the only organisation which has… Read more »

Sri Lankan Attack on Norway’s Peace Effort

by Brian Senewiratne,  MA (Camb),MD(Lond),FRCP(Lond),FRACP(Lond), Consultant Physician, Brisbane, Australia , August 16, 2004 A group calling itself “The World Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka” is meeting on 20 August 2004 in Oslo to attack the Norwegian peace initiative in Sri Lanka.  The behind-the-scenes hand of the Sri Lankan Government is clearly visible.  If the flyer is anything… Read more »

WAPS’ Activities Expose Sri Lankan Government’s Duplicity

Vis-à-vis the peace process by Dr. Victor Rajakulendran, Sydney, Australia, August 18, 2004 After the Sri Lankan Security Forces (SLSF) experienced major setbacks in their efforts to crush the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)in the ‘War for Peace’ strategy of President Chandrika Kumaratunge, both the President and the LTTE realised that the 20-year long conflict… Read more »

Singapore Must Not Alienate its Brightest

by Ngiam Tong Dow, Straits Times, Singapore, August 15, 2004 Comments from M. Thiru: As a Tamil I could draw parallels when the concerns of this article come to the population sisze and why our own talents are important. We SL Tamils & the diaspora are a small-sized population and our problems are numerous. So… Read more »

Mapuche Indians in Chile Struggle to Take Back Forests

by Larry Rohter, The New York Times, August 11, 2004 Before the conquistadors arrived, and even for centuries afterward, the lush, verdant forests of southern Chile belonged to the Mapuche people. Today, though, tree farms stretch in all directions here, property of timber companies that supply lumber to the United States, Japan and Europe. But… Read more »

Creating the Right Environment to Take the Peace Forward

The Norway facilitators creating  the right environment to take the peace efforts forward by Kaddurai, Thinnakural, August 9, 2004 (translation from the original Tamil by Thiru) All of us know how the Sinhalese ruling class has given assurances to Tamils since Sir Ponnampalam Ramanathan’s era and how the Sinhalese ruling class has gone back on such… Read more »

Sangam Press Release

Date: August 9, 2004 Title: Statements attributed to the Sangam on the John Kerry Presidential Campaign are not factual. Press Release Sangam ITS August 2004