Michael Roberts
THE LTTE AND PRABHAKARAN
CHAPTER 1.….Inspirations and Caste Threads in the Early LTTE … 1-43
CHAPTER 2…..Hitler, Nationalism, Sacrifice: Koenigsberg and Beyond … 44-68
CHAPTER 3…..Hero Figures and Hitler in Young Pirapāharan’s Thinking … 69-89
CHAPTER 4…..Tamil Tigers: Sacrificial Symbolism and‘Dead Body Politics’ … 90-100
CHAPTER 5……Killing Rajiv Gandhi: Dhanu’s SacrificIal Metamorphosis in Death? 101-31 Continue reading
Filed under authoritarian regimes, cultural transmission, Eelam, female empowerment, gordon weiss, governance, historical interpretation, Hitler, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, LTTE, nationalism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, Rajiv Gandhi, riots and pogroms, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, TNA, tolerance, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, unusual people, vengeance, world affairs
Courtesy of The Herald and Daily News
The opinion piece by Gordon Weiss (“Stance on Sri Lanka needs urgent rethink”, 4/4) includes a number of assertions that need correction. Most seriously, Mr. Weiss makes the untrue claim that during a visit to Tamil regions in Sri Lanka’s North and North-East just over 12 months ago I was given a guided tour by the Sri Lankan military. I led a delegation that included Immigration Minister Scott Morrison and Justice Minister Michael Keenan. A precondition of our visit to the Tamil regions was that we would be driven around by leading members of the Tamil National Alliance. This took place over more than two days, with no military, government or police accompanying our delegation. Tamil community representatives Our Tamil hosts were free to take us to any location of their choice and we were unhindered by any arm of the Sri Lankan government.
Filed under accountability, australian media, democratic measures, economic processes, gordon weiss, governance, historical interpretation, legal issues, politIcal discourse, power sharing, reconciliation, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, welfare & philanthophy, world affairs
Dayan Jayatilleka speaks to Sergei De Silva-Ranasinghe about the security situation in Sri Lanka … courtesy of POLICY, Autumn 2013, vol. 29/1: 53-56 where the title reads “In the security of Sri Lanka”
Jayatilleka
In Australia, Sri Lanka continues to dominate headlines about allegations of war crimes and the influx of asylum-seeking refugees, but comparatively little is known about Sri Lanka’s history and politics. Dr Dayan Jayatilleka is among Sri Lanka’s leading and most respected political commentators. A prolific writer, he has published several books, including The Travails of a Democracy: Unfinished War, Protracted Crisis (1995); Fidel’s Ethics of Violence: The Moral Dimension of the Political Thought of Fidel Castro (2007), and Long War, Cold Peace: Conflict and Crisis in Sri Lanka (2013). In addition, and until recently, he was Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva (2007–09) and ambassador to France, Portugal and UNESCO (2011–13). In March, he spoke to defence analyst Sergei De Silva-Ranasinghe about Sri Lanka’s political future; the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE); allegations of war crimes against the Sri Lankan state; the causal factors of Tamil secessionism; Sri Lanka’s evolving relations with the United States, India, Pakistan and China; and its future strategic options. Continue reading
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Michael Roberts and Padraig Colman … in what is a summary of the former’s “BBC Blind” — courtesy of Transconflict and Colombo Telegraph. Readers are advised to visit the Colombo Telegraph version for illuminating evidence of rabid extremism and name-calling from Tamils and Sinhalese who hate the Sri Lankan dispensation. The occasional counter-blog from Sinhala apologists further evidences the ongoing propaganda war and indicates how difficult it will be to move towards reconciliation. Indeed, it supports Izeth Hussain’s argument that “accountability” and “reconciliation” are not compatible. The point is that the goal of “Accountability” is grounded in rather simplistic notions of “Truth” and Justice” — simplistic when some testimonies are emotionally-driven and/or calculated half-truths or lies.
Although Western media have been critical of both sides in the conflict between the Sinhala-dominated government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), they tend to see Tamils (and thus the LTTE) as underdogs. Sri Lankan Tamils have been emigrating since the fifties. There is a substantial body of intelligent and prosperous Tamils abroad alienated from Sri Lankan politics and governments. The patriotism of expatriate Tamils increased when the government defeated the LTTE in 2009. They are receptive to the propaganda of Tiger activists. Continue reading
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Michael Roberts
Col Balraj and Tiger fighters after the capture of a battle tank during the encirclement of Elephant Pass in April 2000…. SEE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rXdXYPgjgM
LTTE
1a = 21,051 from 27 Nov. 1982 [Shankar] – 6 June 2008 ………………………………………………of which 4,535 or 21.5 % were female.[1]
1b = ??? 13,000 as a guess for rest of the period June 2008-end 2009… ……………………………………………………….making a total of ………….34,000 perhaps?
2 = 22,247 cadres (with 11,812 identified by name during Eelam War IV alone[2]
3 = thereby suggesting that the total Liberation Tiger losses for the whole period 1982-2009 could even add up to 40,000 (being 22,000 for E-War IV and roughly 18,000 in the three previous phases of war) Continue reading
Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, environmental degradation, gordon weiss, historical interpretation, liberation tigers of tamil eelam, life stories, LTTE, military expenditure, military strategy, power politics, prabhakaran, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil Tiger fighters, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, world events & processes
Padraig Colman, courtesy of Transconflict, an online web journal
An End to Terror in Sri Lanka? Sri Lanka’s bitter and brutal thirty year conflict ended in May 2009. The government’s victory over the separatist LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) was decisive and the rebel leaders, including Vellupillai Prabhakaran, were killed or co-opted. There have been no terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in the four years since the end of the war. The formerly war-torn Northern Province has been enjoying an economic growth rate of over 28%.
In spite of all this, the government has come under unrelenting criticism, mainly orchestrated by members of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora who supported the cause of a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka, Tamil Eelam. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, citizen journalism, fundamentalism, gordon weiss, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, photography, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, reconciliation, Tamil civilians, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
Michael Roberts, courtesy of Groundviews where a different title was used, namely, “ABC, Gordon Weiss and authoress Niromi de Soyza”
Like many people I used to think that such agencies as the BBC and ABC provided balanced reviews and were relatively unbiased. No more. Further confirmation: a recent panel presentation by ABC in March 2013 that was anchored by Jane Hutcheon,** exposed in blatant nudity the lop-sided perspectives within Aunty ABC. The presentation was timed to coincide with the UNHCR sessions in Geneva where the USA was sponsoring a resolution censuring Sri Lanka. No problem with that. But this was a serious ABC review dependent on two questionable “experts,” namely, Gordon Weiss and authoress Niromi de Soyza aka Subhodini Mariatta Anandarajah – known as Subha among her pals. When Australia has a bevy of possible commentators, from Ameer Ali to Rohan Bastin, Serge de Silva-Ranasinghe, Shanaka Jayasekera, Laksiri Jayasuirya, Noel Nadesan and Suri Ratnapala to choose from, their selections on this occasion indicated partisanship. Continue reading
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thuppahi
