by Wakeley Paul; originally published January 22, 2004 While both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan President are claiming friendship with the Indian government, it is obvious that the Indian government is playing up to the President rather than the LTTE. The Indian government has declined the invitation to be part of the aid donor group… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Politics
New Alliance Set to Precipitate War
by Taraki; Daily Mirror, Colombo, January 21, 2004 The JVP-SLFP memorandum of understanding is a sure formula for precipitating another war with the LTTE. President Chandrika and her external backers might be able to cleverly postpone the war but they cannot stop it if the United People’s Freedom Alliance were to stick to the policies enunciated… Read more »
Still Time Left to Revive Peace
by Rajkumar Sivapatham (UK); TamilCanadian, published January 20, 2004 Sri Lankan Peace – There is still some time left to revive In view of the events that are happening fast in Sri Lanka, it is important to assess them and have a clear understanding of the situation. I am sure the Sri Lankan Tamils inside and… Read more »
Tamilchelvan’s Statement to Intl Officials & Organizations
by LTTE Peace Secretariat; Kilinochchi, 19 January 2004 “It gives us immense pleasure indeed to receive you all on behalf of our people and the national leader. You all are striving hard to bring about peace in this island and carryout a noble humanitarian service to people in distress with commitment. In the current political crisis,… Read more »
The Case for Direct Economic Assistance to the NorthEast
by Ana Pararajasingam; published January 18, 2004 [The writer is an Australian based Management Consultant, who, between March 2003 and June 2003 this year, was in Sri Lanka working with the LTTE’s Planning & Development Unit and the World Bank, UN agencies and the Asian Development Bank, to assess the needs of the war torn Northeast…. Read more »
Think, India, Think
by Sebsan; Melbourne’s 3CR Tamil Voice, December 22, 2003. The Tamil version is published in www.tamilnaatham.com Sri Lanka is going through political turmoil caused by a constitutional crisis, whilst the Indian political arena is also tensed at the moment. The ruling BJP has achieved unexpected victories in the recently held state elections. At the same… Read more »
Fait Accompli!?
by M. Nadarajah; originally published January 16, 2004 The several Governments that have been in power in Ceylon, renamed Sri Lanka, of whichever colour or hue, and whether capitalist-oriented or socialist-oriented, have had one common objective and that has been to make it a Sinhala Buddhist country, irrespective of the fact that nearly 26% of the… Read more »
Indo-Lanka Defence Cooperation
by Taraki; Daily Mirror, January 13, 2004 Indo-Lanka Defence Cooperation Agreement: A matter of routine The proposed India-Sri Lanka Defence Co-operation Agreement is being considered with some concern by the Tamil press and politicians. The Tigers remain silent. Instead, we heard their advisor Balasingham urging the Indian government to take on a ‘more positive role’ in… Read more »
Terms & Conditions
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, January 14, 2004 If the consequences for Sri Lanka’s peoples didn’t threaten to be so tragic, the dynamics of the constitutional crisis gripping Colombo would be farcical. President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s dramatic announcement Tuesday that she intends to remain in office till 2006 – a full year longer than expected – would… Read more »
Professor Nagl’s War
by Peter Maass; The New York Times, January 11, 2004 Maj. John Nagl approaches war pragmatically and philosophically, as a soldier and a scholar. He graduated close to the top of his West Point class in 1988 and was selected as a Rhodes scholar. He studied international relations at Oxford for two years, then returned to… Read more »
Global Myths and Realities
by Wakeley Paul; originally published January 11, 2004 GLOBAL MYTHS AND REALITIES AMERICA¹S APPROACHPresident Bush, on his recent visit to London made a rather presumptuous statement at the Royal Banqueting Hall of Whitehall Palace when he said. “Your nation and mine in the past have been willing to tolerate oppression for the sake of stability……Now we… Read more »
Review of ‘Elusive Mind’
by Shan Ranjit; from Circle Digest, Tuesday, December 30 2003, Volume 2001 : Number 3311 INSIDE AN ELUSIVE MIND ; BOOK REVIEW OLD WINE IN A NEW BOTTLE The latest book by Narayan Swamy (henceforth referred to as NS) on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and its chief, Vellupillai Pirabakaran is a disappointment. I would… Read more »
Fiscal Federalism
by Taraki; Daily Mirror, Colombo, January 7, 2004 Lankan leaders providing political building blocks for the LTTE? Money and resources are at the bottom of almost all problems and conflicts of humanity. The conflict in Sri Lanka too can be explained from this perspective. The LTTE negotiators did not understand the nature of this fundamental problem… Read more »
Kumar’s Calling to Tamil Intellectuals
by Father S.J. Emmanuel; originally published January 5, 2004 Kumar’s calling to Tamil Intellectuals and Professionals On the 4th anniversary of the death of our beloved Kumar Ponnambalam, when the Tamils in and out of Sri Lanka, salute him as a Great Man – Maamanithar –, as a courageous Prophet, who stood up and spoke out in defence… Read more »
Re-evaluating Concepts of Sovereignty
by Ana Pararajasingam; South Asia Analysis Group paper No. 879, January 1, 2004 India’s former Prime Minister, Nehru and Sri Lanka’s former Prime Minister Bandaranaike shared a common Westernised background and an education at Oxford and Cambridge respectively- England’s oldest and prestigious universities. But, the similarities ended right there. By heeding the sentiments that led to… Read more »
US Presidential election 2004
Received from a Sangam member: I encourage Sangam members to get involved in the US 2004 presidential elections. I think now is a good time throw our support behind a candidate and engage our community to get involved locally around US. The relationships we build now with local supporters and party officials can help us… Read more »
Indonesia’s Secret War
by New York Times editorial; January 3, 2004 Do the tactics of Indonesia in Aceh sound quite familiar to Sri Lankan Tamils? In fact, where did the Indonesians learn from? We wonder why the Times is concerned about these tactics in Aceh, but had no concern for the NorthEast. Must have something to do with oil…!… Read more »
Aiding the Devil
by Saravanan Suresh Kumar, Bangalore; published January 3, 2004 By providing military aid to Sri Lanka, India is weakening further the current troubled peace process. We still seem to have not realized that the Sri Lankan problem is not one that can be solved militarily. We are creating new problems and not solving the existing one…. Read more »
ISGA Proposals and Precedence
by Arvalan; originally published December 28, 2003 On October 31, 2003 the LTTE, on behalf of the Tamil people, announced their proposal for an Interim Self-Governing Administration (ISGA) of the Northeast of the island called Sri Lanka. This proposed ISGA is a significant step toward a peaceful resolution of the decades-long conflict between the Tamil and… Read more »
Federal Solutions Amidst Chaos
by Dr. Robert C. Oberst; Daily Mirror, Colombo, December 19, 2003 Federal solutions amidst government chaos in Lanka Over the last 20 years, neither side in the Sri Lankan civil war has shown a willingness to negotiate the conflict with the other side. Until Norwegian mediation, there were few direct meetings between the two sides and… Read more »