by V. Gunaratnam; published May 26, 2004 It is too early to be speculating on where the peace process is heading, but we cannot forever be engaged in political invective, and not go further afield to look at other plausible causes which have forced Sri Lanka to come down from its high-horse in search of a… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Politics
Are They Trying to Take Us for a Ride?
by Rajkumar Sivapatham; published May 26, 2004 The USA and India have recently made statements on the Tamil issue which need some careful examination. The USA’s Ms. Rocca made a statement asking the LTTE to lay down their arms. There have been different reports on exactly what she has said. However, at the outset, she wanted… 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 »
Sinhala Political Enmity Will Thwart Peace
Tamil Guardian editorial; London, May 19, 2004 Amid the hectic diplomatic activity of the past two weeks and the broad hints from officials on both sides last week, the prospect of direct negotiations between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government seemed brighter than ever before. The comparative quiet this week is hence somewhat… 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 »
Sri Lanka Scene: Sex Scandal, Blackmail & Kidnap
by T. Sabaratnam; published May 19, 2004 Weekly Review Sex Scandal, Blackmail and Kidnap New Trends Tuesday’s election of the Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairman of Committees appeared a tame affair, an anti-climax. There was no shouting. There was no seizing of the ballot box. They were elected unopposed. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse proposed Geethanjana Gunawardene… 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 »
28th Anniversary of Vaddukoddai Resolution
THE RESOLUTIONUnanimously adopted at the First National Convention of the TAMIL UNITED LIBERATION FRONT held at Vaddukoddai on May 14, 1976 Chairman S.J.V. Chelvanayakam Q.C., M.P. (K.K.S) Whereas, throughout the centuries from the dawn of history, the Sinhalese and Tamil nations have divided between themselves the possession of Ceylon, the Sinhalese inhabiting the interior of… Read more »
Are the People Sending a Message?
by Rajkumar Sivapatham ; published May 16, 2004 The recent elections in two South Asian countries send some messages to the world loud and clear. The important one is that “Don’t take the ordinary people for granted.” Recent Indian election results were shocking to the BJP, despite its records in the government. They were unbelievably surprising to… Read more »
ISGA: Chance for a United Sri Lanka
by Taraki; Daily Mirror, Colombo, May 13, 2004 ISGA: The chance to persuade Tamils to remain in United Lanka Everyone would agree today that a bit of homework is necessary for taking forward the peace talks stage by stage. The study of the negotiating behaviour of the party or person with whom one is going to deal… Read more »
Sri Lanka Scene: Kumaratunga’s Strategy Fails
by T. Sabaratnam; published May 12, 2004 Weekly Review Kumaratunga’s Strategy Fails LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan has sent President Chandrika Kumaratunga the clear message that he is not prepared to help her overcome her problems in the guise of peace talks, political analysts say. “He wants to watch her sincerity, her government’s stability and her capacity… Read more »
Peace Talks Wrecked Before Resumption
by Wakeley Paul; published May 11, 2004 Based on the multitude of inconsistent, illogical and contradictory positions taken by the two K¹s [Kumaratunge and Kadirgamar] on the peace talks, it is quite obvious that they have already done everything in their power to quash the Peace negotiations for good. Yet they pretend to be committed to… Read more »
The Only Possible Solution
by Kumar Ponnambalam; The Weekend Express – Saturday, November 7 – Sunday, November 8, 1998 The only possible solution to the Tamil National problem The island is burning. The country is bleeding. Most of us are fiddling some of us are tinkering. Is this fair? Is this human? The cause of this state of affairs is… Read more »
Thinking the Unthinkable
by V. Gunaratnam; published May 10, 2004 Power to change Power springs from the people, not a piece of paper that is a country’s constitution. When power becomes an instrument of oppression by the tyranny of the majority, as against the Tamils of Sri Lanka, the need for justice empowers those oppressed to seek such remedies… Read more »
Pirapaharan 2, Chapter 2: The Jaffna Massacre
by T. Sabaratnam; published May 7, 2004 (Volume 2) 2. The Jaffna Massacre Must Put an End Shell-shocked Balthazzaar and his top men held a conference at Gurungar Camp on their return. The radio room had by this time informed Colombo about the blast and the death of 13 soldiers. Balthazaar got a call from… Read more »
Sri Lanka Scene: Peace Talks to Resume Soon
by T. Sabaratnam, Colombo, May 4, 2004 Weekly Review Bala Coming Back A full-scale effort to resume peace talks stalled for over a year will be made this week, Colombo and Kilinochchi sources said. “Talks will start soon. I cannot say it will start immediately. A few procedural and other matters have to be sorted… 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 »