National Day Message 2004 from Singapore’s PM Politics of Dissension and Divergence -Flying Singapore Higher- Straits Times, Singapore, August 8, 2004 [During the 1960’s, Singapore wanted to emulate the success of Sri Lanka. Forty years have passed, and one can see the role reversal caused by contrasting leadership skills.] Excerpts: In other countries, the politicians… Read more »
Posts Categorized: International
The Americanization of Chennai
The Best Job in Town – The Americanization of Chennai by Katherine Boo, The New Yorker, July 5, 2004 Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha ..the British practised overt colonialism. The Americans are now into covert colonialism. Doing anything in covert fashion is the American style. Overt racism is out; but covert racism is thriving…. Read more »
International Community and Proxy War Against Tamils
By Rajkumar Sivapatham, July 17, 2004 [Editorial comment: Present proxy war against Tamil freedom struggle is nothing but another obstacle along our path to freedom. Proverbial ploy: “Rocking the cradle ( peace talks) and pinching the baby (proxy war)” is not rocket science to Tamils. Nevertheless the writer expresses his unhappiness and enlightens us on… Read more »
Greasing Up to the Power
By George Monbiot, The Guardian, UK, July 13, 2004 [An editorial comment: Modern media can not be expected to play an objective role in presenting the grievances of a community with weak lobbying power. Monbiot’s analysis of power structures that distort and subjugate people around the globe is very eduational. It is relevant to the… Read more »
India Looks East
India is really looking towards the East now by Pranay Gupte, Straits Times, Singapore, June 17, 2004 NEW DELHI – ‘We always said, ‘Look East’, but then we would go West,’ Mr Jairam Ramesh was saying in his small ground-floor office here over the weekend. ‘Now India wants to go East and also have the… Read more »
Thiru. Vaiko in Chicago June 19
Playing with Indian Fire
by Rajkumar Sivapatham, June 14, 2004 As expected by the Tamils, the Sri Lankan president is at her tricks again. That is – giving the impression that she is ready for peace talks in one hand and totally rejecting them on the other. So far, this tactic has worked very well with her Sinhalese political friends… Read more »
The Time has Come to ‘Lock Horns’
by Adrian Wijemanne, June 11, 2004 1. This is the infelicitous phrase to describe the peace talks used by Foreign Minister Kadiragamar in his recent address at a meeting in Washington D.C. convened by the Brookings Institution. There is a combative fervour about the phrase, as if the conference table were another battlefield. Memories of… Read more »
Kurds Win Round on Constitution
By Dexter Filkins, The New York Times, June 10, 2004 BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 9 — Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said Wednesday that his government would adhere to the interim constitution agreed to in March until elections are held next year, in an effort to defuse, at least temporarily, a looming crisis with the Kurdish leadership…. Read more »
Don’t Know, Should Care
by Jeffrey D. Sachs, New York Times, June 5, 2004. Our ability to understand what exists before and after wars in low-income countries is nearly nonexistent. George Tenet’s resignation this week came after failures of American intelligence in the Iraq war as well as in the lead-up to the Sept. 11 attacks. But the government’s… Read more »
Sri Lanka Scene: Killings Unite Tamils
by T. Sabaratnam; published June 2, 2004 Weekly Review Killings Unites Tamils; India’s Policy Changes The foul Murder Iyathurai Nadesan is dead. The cause he espoused, Tamil Nationalism, has received fresh vigour. The entire northeast ground to a halt in unity today (Wednesday); not merely to mourn the death of a 49 year-old Tamil journalist who… Read more »
To Be Democratic and Rich
by Janadas Devan; Straits Times, Singapore, published June 1, 2004 To be democratic and rich – or just rich first IS THERE an inevitable or necessary connection between liberal economics and liberal politics? Many American intellectuals think there is. Give people a chance to compete in free markets, and they will want political freedoms commensurate with… Read more »
Will Sri Lanka Become Another Cyprus?
by Victor Rajakulendran; published May 27, 2004 Intensive efforts are being made in Sri Lanka by the International Community (IC) to restart the stalled Norwegian facilitated peace process between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government. Through this peace process, the IC is trying to prevent the island of Sri Lanka… Read more »
Malacca Straits
by P.S. Suryanarayana;The Hindu, Chennai, April 6, 2004 Marines and Malacca Straits P.S. SURYANARAYANA in Singapore The U.S. proposal to intervene in the Strait of Malacca in order to prevent any traffic of cargo relating to weapons of mass destruction raises the hackles of some littoral states. STRATEGIC game plans are the basic stuff of the… Read more »
UN Crop Mission to Sri Lanka
Does anyone have information on the areas missed in this report? Ed. Special ReportFAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assistance Mission to Sri Lanka May 10, 2004 5.3 North-eastern Province Eight districts, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Batticaloa and Ampara form the North-eastern Province. Following the signing of a ceasefire in February, 2002, many farmers… Read more »
Beware of RAW, not Sonia
by Wakeley Paul; published May 21, 2004 While the Sinhala press may have exulted over the prospect that Sonia may have sought to reek some misguided personal revenge against Prabakaran; and while we may breath a sigh of relief that she now will not; the underlying reality remains, that the lurking danger in our midst has… Read more »
Will the Poor be With Us Always?
by Neeraj Kaushal; Economic Times, India, April 27, 2004 The World Bank’s estimates released last week show that the number of people living in extreme poverty has declined by 350 million in the last two decades. In 1981, 1.45 billion people were in extreme poverty. By 2001, the number had declined to 1.1 billion. Tempting though… Read more »
CSIS: Election Shake-up
by Teresita Schaffer and Sean Farrell, South Asia Monitor, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC, May 2, 2004 https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/media/csis/pubs/sam70.pdf Sri Lanka: Election Shakes Up Political Landscape Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election, held April 2, is likely to usher in a new phase of polarization and introspection in the country’s deeply divided politics. The new… Read more »
Security Council Resolution 1539 re Child Soldiers
Security Council resolution 1539 April 22, 2004 (see article re this resolution at end) “The Security Council, “Reaffirming its resolutions 1261 (1999) of 25 August 1999, 1314 (2000) of 11 August 2000, 1379 (2001) of 20 November 2001, and 1460 (2003) of 30 January 2003 which provide a comprehensive framework for addressing the protection of… Read more »
Tibetan Hunger Strike
by Daniel Wakin; The New York Times, May 1, 2004 Tibetan Hunger Striker Hospitalized On the 29th day of their hunger strike against China’s policies in Tibet, one of three Tibetans collapsed yesterday, and was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center. The two other hunger strikers promised to keep fasting until their demands are met. The hunger… Read more »