Theodore K
Category Archives: discrimination
The UIGHURS: Their Political Backers Revealed ….
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, arab regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, discrimination, disparagement, doctoring evidence, ethnicity, historical interpretation, life stories, Palestine, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, Uncategorized, world events & processes
The WEST: In Engagement in Two Contrasting Wars
Lakshman Gunasekara. in Daily News, 30 April 2024, where the chosen title is “Russia advances as NATO stingy wit Ukraine aid” …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
Ukrainians are realising with horror that their Western “allies” are de-prioritising their war with Russia as the Palestine war and West Asian flare-ups keep the Western power bloc focused on sustaining tiny client Israel. The United States alone has so far provided Ukraine with military aid worth US$ 44 billion since the Russian invasion of Ukraine but that is small compared with the West’s pampering of Israel.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, counter-insurgency, discrimination, economic processes, ethnicity, European history, governance, historical interpretation, insurrections, Jews in Asia, landscape wondrous, life stories, Middle Eastern Politics, military expenditure, military strategy, Palestine, parliamentary elections, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, racism, self-reflexivity, taking the piss, vengeance, war reportage
Imagine there’s no countries, nothing to kill or die for
Rohini Hensman …. An article composed at the end of the year 2003 for a conference in January 2004; and eventually published in 2012 (see below: fn 1) …. with the title being borrowed from ‘Imagine,’ by John Lennon …. and the highlighting emphasis imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
I would like to look at the issue of community and nationalism and its continued relevance at the present, and in particular to analyse its association with authoritarianism, militarisation, nuclearisation, terrorism, and questions of war and peace in South Asia. Within this region, there is a very close parallel between the current situation in Sri Lanka [2003-04] and developments which have taken place much earlier in India, Pakistan, and later Bangladesh. In both cases, we see the development of strong authoritarian tendencies, linked up to either religion or ethnicity.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, arab regimes, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, democratic measures, discrimination, Eelam, ethnicity, Fascism, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, insurrections, Islamic fundamentalism, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, Middle Eastern Politics, nationalism, Palestine, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, racism, racist thinking, religious nationalism, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, world events & processes, zealotry
Introducing Tambiah’s 1992 Book: “Buddhism Betrayed?”
Item in Tamil Nation ……………………………………… https://tamilnation.org/books/eelam/buddhismbetrayed
Given Buddhism’s presumed non-violent philosophy, how can committed Buddhist monks and laypersons in Sri Lanka today actively take part in the fierce political violence of the Sinhalese against the Tamils?
Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah’s Buddhism Betrayed? seeks to answer this question by looking closely at the past century of Sri Lankan history and tracing the development of Buddhism’s participation in such ethnic conflict and collective violence. Tambiah analyses the ways in which this participation has, over time come to alter the very meaning of Buddhism itself as a lived reality.
Filed under anti-racism, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, demography, discrimination, disparagement, economic processes, education policy, electoral structures, ethnicity, fundamentalism, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, language policies, legal issues, life stories, nationalism, parliamentary elections, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, racist thinking, riots and pogroms, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, trauma, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, working class conditions, world events & processes, zealotry
Campaign to Promote “Malaiyaha Thamilar” Identity
Diana Joseph in Groundviews, 25 March 2024 ….where the title runs thus : “Identity Crisis of the Malaiyaha Thamilar Community” … reproduced here with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
People of Tamil descent raised on plantations have endured a long history of discrimination, exploitation and violence tracing back to the era of colonization. The younger generation, both men and women, expresses a preference for employment opportunities in urban areas or Middle Eastern countries as labourers rather than on plantations. Unfortunately, this pursuit often results in their exploitation and entrapment in modern day slavery, a cyclical pattern that has persisted for over two centuries.
Filed under accountability, anti-racism, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, discrimination, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes
China as Target of CIA’s Destabilizing Programme
Anonymous
Watch …. https://www.youtube.com/live/2EZg8mPatv4?si=uzoFr0XBWGEqB5A0
Today, we learn what I’ve known for years: that the CIA have spent billions in spreading anti-China propaganda to stir up trouble in China and with countries dealing with China, thereby seeking to topple the government of China and destroy its economy. This propaganda campaign included pushing fake stories that the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative [BRI] was a threat to the world, that China would use the BRI to take over the world, that China would militarize ports they had built as part of the BRI, such as in Hambantota. It was all lies. It is now confirmed that Trump ordered the CIA to bad mouth China’s infrastructural projects, which has caused tremendous damage around the world, costing trillions of dollars to the US in damages, destroying relationships around the world, and for what?
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, conspiracies, discrimination, disparagement, doctoring evidence, ethnicity, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, military expenditure, news fabrication, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, security, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes
White Racism Penetrates Beach Resort in Southern Sri Lanka
Kelly Ng, in BBC News ………………. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68421131… with highlighting emphasis imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
An organiser of a “white party” in Sri Lanka has apologised after the event sparked a backlash online. The event’s advertisement specified a white dress code, but also had a line saying “Face control: White” – which was largely interpreted to mean the event was open only to white people.
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
Khawaja ‘cartooned’ by Johannes Leak
Johannes Leak is one of the cartoonists for The AUSTRALIAN newspaper. To receive his attention in whatever form is to reach the mountainearing heights of political commentary. Usman Khwaja is one of the rare sportsman to receive this áccolade’. Joining Australia’s Prime Minister [on Albanese] as a target is reach the cumulous clouds of public prominence.
Filed under accountability, anti-racism, arab regimes, art & allure bewitching, australian media, authoritarian regimes, cricket for amity, cultural transmission, discrimination, ethnicity, landscape wondrous, life stories, martyrdom, nationalism, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, press freedom & censorship, religiosity, self-reflexivity, taking the piss, unusual people, world events & processes
Debating the Value of Tangential Historical Forays
Michael Roberts
A FEW DAYS BACK, on 28th November 2023, I circulated this item among Lankan aficianado…. [ Let me add, here, that I was prompted to do this by the burgeoning world debate on the Palestinian-Israeli War that has been raging since August]. ………………………………………………………………….. https://thuppahis.com/2014/11/18/cartographic-photographic and -illustrations-in-support-of-the-memorandum-analysing-the-war-in-sri-lanka-and-propaganda
ROHANTHA GUNARATNA in Canada responded in critical fashion. …. So I circulated his Memo to some personnel with this NOTE: “I encourage responses [to his Memo] from interested personnel – here, quite deliberately, reaching out beyond Lankans to Indians and Brits familiar with the Lankan scene in that period past.”
Filed under american imperialism, anti-racism, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, communal relations, cultural transmission, discrimination, economic processes, ethnicity, fundamentalism, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, insurrections, language policies, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, modernity & modernization, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, racist thinking, refugees, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, violence of language, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry