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 »
Posts Categorized: Politics
Top-aide Says LTTE May Not Have Killed President Premadasa
by P K Balachandran, Hindustan Times, September 8, 2004 Bradman Weerakoon, International Affairs Advisor to former Sri Lankan President, R Premadasa, has cast doubts on the popular notion that it was the LTTE which assassinated the President In his racy book entitled “Rendering Unto Caesar” (Sterling Publishers, New Delhi, 2004) Weerakoon says that there are… 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 »
I Got Trapped in the Secret ‘No Fly List’ of the Transportation Security Administration
by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 1, 2004 I neither have the charisma of a Kennedy nor the celebrity status of Massachusetts’ senior Senator Edward ‘Teddy’ Kennedy. However, for the past 25 years, I have subscribed to the liberal democratic ideals for which the youngest males of the Kennedy clan (John F., Robert and Edward) have… 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 »
Collective Rights and the ISGA
by Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe, LTTE Peace Secretariat, September 1, 2004 In looking at peace and development we need to recognize that peace is not the absence of war. In a wider perspective of peace we have to look at several dimensions of violence. The Ceasefire Agreement ensures an absence of direct violence between the two… Read more »
Is the XIII Amendment the Roadblock to Peace?
Sinhalese Myths and Fallacies Challenged by Wakeley Paul, Esq., September 1, 2004 Several recent articles reveal once more the cherished myths under which the Sinhala press continues to delude itself. These Sinhalese myths need to be punctured once and for all, since they are founded on three fundamental misconceptions. 1. That Sinhalese supremacy is the… Read more »
Tamils Alone in Hostile World
Tamils Should Realise They Stand Alone in a Hostile World An Editorial from Northeastern Monthly Every few months or so, accusations of human rights violations are flung at the LTTE by various local and international actors whose concern for human suffering knows no bounds when it gives them an opportunity to cause the Tiger rebels discomfiture…. Read more »
Won’t the Sri Lankan Leadership Reform?
Centre for Peace and Human Rights Culture Director Rev.Fr. A.I. Bernard has underlined an urgent and necessary remedy for the ailment Sri Lanka is undergoing on account of the ethnic conflict that grips the island state. On behalf of the Jaffna-based Centre Rev.Fr. A.I. Bernard says, in a letter addressed to the Sri Lanka’s Peace… 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 »
ISGA Bashing: Much Ado About Nothing
by Taraki (aka D. Sivaram), The Daily Mirror, Colombo, August 25, 2004 “Myself when young did eagerly frequent Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument About it and about: but evermore Came out by the same door as in I went” – Omar Khayyam (Rubaiyat. Edward Fitzgerald translation) Reams have been written against the Interim… 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 »
Thoughts on the Creation of a Federal State
Some Concrete Thoughts on the Creation of a Federal State by Wakeley Paul, August 21, 2004 The ISGA sets out the interim structures for an ultimate Federal Constitution. This must first be given the chance to work in order to determine what further restructuring is necessary. Both main ethnic groups must acknowledge that the whole… 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 »
Why ISGA is LTTE’s Irreducible Minimum
COLOMBO DIARY | PK Balachanddran Hindustan Times, August 16, 2004 The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have now made it abundantly clear that they will not entertain any alternative to their proposal for an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) for the predominantly Tamil, North Eastern Province (NEP) of Sri Lanka. In the immediate context… Read more »
Sri Lanka Scene: Southern Conflicts Hinder Talks
Weekly Review Sri Lanka Scene 18 August 2004 Southern conflicts hinder talks by: T. Sabaratnam The latest: JVP says there is no government proposal for the establishment of an interim body for the northeast! It says as far as it is concerned alternate proposals do not exist. The JVP’s propaganda secretary Wimal Weerawansa told a seminar… Read more »
What is All This Fuss About?
by M. Nadarajan, August 19, 2004 Rudyard Kipling wrote “East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet.” A modern day poet would be tempted to write a Tamil is a Tamil and a Sinhalese is a Sinhalese and never the twain shall meet (except perhaps on a battlefield). The goings on… 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 »