Brian Victoria* … in Informed Comment … https://www.juancole.com/2024/02/judaism-tribalism-universalism.html…. where the title read thus: “The Battle for the Soul of Judaism: Tribalism, Amalek and the Axial Age Universalism of Isaiah”
Category Archives: asylum-seekers
Tamil Women at War as ‘Birds of Freedom’ in the LTTE Cause
Vindhya Buthpitiya: “How to Capture Birds of Freedom: Picturing Tamil Women at War,” Trans Asia Photography (2023) 13 (1) … derived from ………………………………………… https://doi.org/10.1215/21582025-10365016 … with the aid of my Aloysian mate KK De Silva; whilr the highlighting is my imposition.
Abstract: This article examines the uses of images of women fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during and after the Sri Lankan civil war (1983–2009) to explore the contrasting mobilizations of visual representations of Tamil women cadres, focusing on the cultivation and framing of contradictory nationalist imaginaries by competing ethnic and state actors. In northern Sri Lanka, portraits of gun-bearing women fighters were wielded to signal revolutionary possibilities for the future of the Tamil nation-state as well as to inform the political socialization of its hopeful citizens. Meanwhile, images of Tamil women cadres were cast as gendered and ethnicized threats by the Sri Lankan state in what constituted a calculated form of visual ethno-political othering and weaponization. This article reflects on the ways in which such appropriations exacerbated the political precarity of and the denial of victimhood to Tamil women.
Malathy was the First Tamil Tigress to face death for the Tamiil for the Tamil Cause
Filed under accountability, anti-racism, asylum-seekers, authoritarian regimes, caste issues, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, communal relations, cultural transmission, discrimination, disparagement, doctoring evidence, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, language policies, legal issues, life stories, military strategy, nationalism, news fabrication, NGOs, patriotism, photography, politIcal discourse, racist thinking, Rajapaksa regime, refugees, rehabilitation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, social justice, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry
Mass NUDE Assembly at River in Aid of Cancer Project
Tayla Coucaud in The Australian, 11 October 2023
A New York-based artist has put out a call to thousands of Queenslanders to strip down and possibly enter the Brisbane city river for a series of nude images. American photographer Spencer Tunick will be collaborating with Brisbane Powerhouse to stage a series of nude photographs along Brisbane River later in November.
Sydneysiders naked at Bondi each in 2022
Filed under art & allure bewitching, asylum-seekers, charitable outreach, commoditification, cultural transmission, democratic measures, education, heritage, human rights, landscape wondrous, life stories, martyrdom, performance, photography, psychological urges, self-reflexivity, taking the piss, terrorism, tolerance, unusual people, world events & processes
Putin shreds the Canadian Parliament’s Idiotic Charade
An Observer from a Black Sea Town ……. in an Original Set of Comments … where the highlightS are interventions from The Editor, Thuppahi
A fair comment by Putin here. The speaker of the Canadian Parliament introduced a 95 year old Ukrainian to the parliament as “a soldier who bravely fought Russia in WW2. “ This led to 3 standing ovations in the parliament for this brave Ukrainian.
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, Canadian politics, citizen journalism, discrimination, disparagement, ethnicity, Fascism, foreign policy, historical interpretation, life stories, nationalism, performance, politIcal discourse, propaganda, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, taking the piss, truth as casualty of war, Ukraine & Its Ramifications, world events & processes, zealotry
Surviving the Aging: Transforming Oneself
An Email Circular from Lorenz Pereira in Melbourne, 13 August 2023 …. with highlights imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
The surprise has arrived! The Director of the George Washington University School of Medicine maintains that the brain of an elderly person is much more practical than is commonly believed. At this age, the interaction of the left and right hemispheres of the brain becomes harmonious, which expands our creative possibilities. That is why among people over the age of 60 you can find many personalities who have just started their creative activities.
Remembering the Unseen Hands Supporting One of My Books
Michael Roberts in the DEDICATION presented on the first page of the book Tamil Person and State: Essays, Colombo, Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2014, … ISBN 978-955- 665-230-7
The essays that make up this anthology would not have been possible without the assistance of numerous individuals who provided me with information during face-to-face conversations, Skype and telephone chats or through responses by email. This will be only too evident if readers take note of my citations and footnotes. For this reason, it is entirely appropriate that I dedicate this work to all those who have assisted me in my researches over the last few years. Not all of them will agree with my thrusts. Indeed, there are a few of them in Colombo, such as Ananda Chittambalam, who have disputed some of my arguments, while yet encouraging me in my researches and publication programmes.
Ana Chittambalam: ex-Royal College, raconteur, promoter of causes and a staunch ally and dangerous foe
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, atrocities, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, demography, economic processes, Eelam, ethnicity, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, insurrections, language policies, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, military strategy, nationalism, patriotism, performance, photography, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, refugees, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry
Australia’s Response to the Refugee Problems generated by Sri Lanka’s Civil War in the 2000s and 2010s
Betts & Higgins address the “Migration Policy” pursued by Australia in the context of the refugee problems arising in the context of Sri Lanka’s “Civil War.” [i.e. what most refer to as the “Eelam Wars.”]. The full title is noted below and their “Abstract” is presented.
The infamous Alex Kuhendarajah on the Sumatran(?) coast witha boatlad of Tamil refugees …. and other pictorial illustrations of refugees and their boats 
For the benefit of those not familiar with the scenario, the refugees were mostly SL Tamils, but there was a ‘supply chain’ of agents and smuggler boats from Sri Lanka, India and the Indonesian islands that also catered to Sinhala and Muslim personnel seeking “eldorado” in the West via Australia. See some bibliographical items listed at the end which will lead one to even more literature…. Michael Roberts with thanks to Johnny De Silva in Melbourne for converting the file containing the Betts & Higgins article.
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, atrocities, Australian culture, australian media, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, demography, discrimination, doctoring evidence, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, people smugglers, politIcal discourse, refugees, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, trauma, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes
Protecting Women from Trafficking & Abuse: Here. There. Everywhere
Stephen Keim, reviewing Elaine Pearson’s “Chasing Wrongs and Rights” …. 
https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/Chasing-Wrongs-and-Rights/Elaine-Pearson/97
Elaine Pearson was born in Sydney but grew up in Perth and completed her law degree at Murdoch University in November 1998.
Filed under accountability, anti-racism, asylum-seekers, authoritarian regimes, democratic measures, female empowerment, historical interpretation, human rights, Islamic fundamentalism, landscape wondrous, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, women in ethnic conflcits, world events & processes
Playing to the Western Gallery? Shehan Karunatilaka
A Simple Silva
Shehan’s intervention with his prize-winning book at the present juncture is significant. He states the obvious re corruption, cronyism and expresses thumps his bleeding heart for the suffering people of Sri Lanka (and YES, Shehan, do please gift the prize money of 50,000£ to the suffering masses in the island).
In an article published in the Financial Times, he laments that “I would like to write from a Tamil woman’s point of view. I mean, that would be calling in a lot of grief if I get it wrong”. (Financial Times) …. … …………………………………. https://www.ft.com/content/fa8c6ebb-7c93-4b54-8337-b6f568234d78
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, cultural transmission, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, trauma, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes
Tamil Civilians as Sandbags in 2008/09 & Blinding Ignorance in Geneva
Lucien Rajakarunanayake in An Article on 11th September 2014 entitled “Sandbags of Humans” in strategy to woo the West” …. with the highlighting being the present impositions of The Editor, Thuppahi
“I come across new evidence regularly in the midst of misinformation and dis-information that is a facet of the propaganda war that has been sharpening since the LTTE began to retreat in 2008. Since the volume of data is huge, a thorough investigation calls for assiduous work by a team which includes those who are culturally competent and able to discern manipulation.”
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, demography, disparagement, doctoring evidence, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, nationalism, patriotism, photography, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, refugees, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war crimes, war reportage, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
