Category Archives: IDP camps

October 4, 2016 · 2:58 pm

Mahinda Rajapaksa meets “The Hindu” in July 2009

I. Preamble by Michael Roberts

I was in Colombo from mid-April 2009 to early June and observed the local coverage of Eelam War IV at its bitter end. I was invited by Muralidhar Reddy[i] to write articles for Frontline on aspects of the politics surrounding the war. Though Frontline is a magazine produced by The Hindu consortium, I was not a regular follower of that newspaper on web — even though I had once been introduced to its owner and chief executive, N. Ram, way back in time by Chandra Schafter and had also had an extended chat with him in Delhi in 1995.[ii]

n_ram_20120625_350_630 N Ram talking to Mahinda Rajapaksa, mid-2009 mahinda-with-ram

Thus the receipt of a Hindu report on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s thoughts in mid-2009, expressed in an extended session with him conducted by N. Ram, serves up new material from my position. In step with my policy of raising significant episodes in the course of Eelam War IV to public notice,[iii] I  hasten to place this exchange in the public domain. Continue reading →

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September 3, 2016 · 11:04 am

Groundviews on Disappearances and the OMP

MISSING -GV 22

Raisa Wickrematunga: “Searching for Answers: The Road to the OMP,” 30 August 2016, https://groundviews.org/2016/08/30/searching-for-answers-the-road-to-the-omp/

Bhavani Fonseka: “The Office on Missing Persons: A New Chapter or Another Empty Promise?” 18 August 2016, https://groundviews.org/2016/08/18/the-office-on-missing-persons-a-new-chapter-or-another-empty-promise/

Continue reading →

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October 25, 2015 · 1:21 pm

Lessons from Sri Lanka for the Humanitarian Crisis swamping Middle East and Europe?

Jehan Perera, in The Daily News, 21 October 2015, where the title is “Sri Lankan experience to mitigate world humanitarian crisis “

These past two months Sri Lanka figured significantly in the deliberations that took place on important topics in Geneva, which is one of the key venues for gatherings of the United Nations. In September the country took a central place in the deliberations of the UN Human Rights Council where it co-sponsored a resolution on itself that called for truth, accountability and justice in relation to its past conduct of the war against the LTTE.

humanitarian efforts

In October last week Sri Lanka again got attention at the final consultation of the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Geneva which brought together nearly one thousand humanitarian workers from all parts of the globe. One indication of the country’s visibility was the role played by Sri Lankan media personality Chevaan Daniel who obtained the official position of master of ceremonies for the duration of the three day consultation on account of the Maharaja group of companies’ humanitarian work and hence became a part of the WHS Secretariat that guided the consultation to a successful conclusion. Continue reading →

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September 15, 2014 · 2:04 am

Tamil Person and State: Pictorial … Images Listed

Michael Roberts

     Contents

Acknowledgements v

Preface vii

List of Pictorial Items xvii

Abbreviations xxxiii

Prologue xxxv

Visual Imagery within Political Struggles and Manoeuvres …. pp. 1-44

Photographs …. pp. 45-208

Postface: BBC Blind …. pp. 209-29

Bibliography …. pp. 230-51

List of Appendices … pp. 252-92

Appendix I: Media Personnel transported to battlefront by Min-of Defence … pp. 252-63

Appendix II: Estimates of the Death Toll among the Fighting Forces of the LTTE and Government of Sri Lanka …. pp. 264-66

Appendix III: NGOs providing Relief at the Mānik Farm Detention Centres …. pp. 267-70

Appendix IV: US Ambassador Robert Blake’s Secret Despatch, 19 March 2009…. pp. 271-72

Appendices V: Inaugural Meeting of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi, Colombo, 18 December 1949 … with Presidential Address by SJV Chelvanayagam …. pp. 273

List of Pictorial Items

Illustrations for introductory chapter

  1. Ecstasy and a karate kick before the kill, 24/25 July 1983
  2. A killing victim at Varanāsi, 23 December 1992
  3. A Muslim shot by police during Seelampur riots, Delhi, 1992
  4. Hindu mob assembled at night during Bhagalpur pogrom, 28 October 1990
  5. Massive crowd of White Americans assembles to watch thelynching of a Black American, Henry Smith, at Paris, Texas, 1 February 1896
  6. A case of torturing: two interpretations

F1: The image and its tale in The Cage

F2. The unmodified image discovered by GSL sources … with tell-tale slippers suggestive of Tiger troops

  1. DiManno’s slanted pictorial pick: a weak attempt to fool the public about the scenario of the Last Redoubt

H1, 2. LTTE video of auxiliary mobilisation for belligerent activity

  1. David Cameron’s visit to Jaffna draws world attention to the anguish of kin seeking the “missing”
  2. Tamils greet Cameron with demonstration depicting photographs of missing kin
  3. Tamil women seeking their kin in public expressions of grief and anger
  4. Tamils abandon Thamilīlam and walk through jungle at night to safety of Army terrain, February 2009

M1, 2. Mobilisation in search of the “disappeared” kin, 2012 and 2013

PONNA CHELVA  GG Ponnambalam, SJV Chelvanayakam and C Vanniasingham, of the Tamil Congress in 1947

2b-Chelva hustings  Chelvanayakam campaigning 13c--Prabha with pistol-2 the talaivar Pirapaharan with automatic handgun … probably a Glock Continue reading →

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September 11, 2014 · 9:27 am

Advertising TAMIL PERSON AND STATE by Michael Roberts

59- VP signs peace accord 2002-BBC  53- Pongu Thamil Geneva 2003

TAMIL PERSON AND STATE – ESSAYS = Rs. 3500/-

TAMIL PERSON AND STATE – PICTORIAL = Rs. 4000/-

This set of books is the latest anthology from Michael Roberts that caters to the reading public in Lanka and elsewhere by collecting his essaying interventions in the public realm, usually on web, within one cover. These articles were written between 2009 and 2012. Two long articles, however, are new products drafted in 2012. One explores the significance of a Karaiyar caste coterie within the LTTE, while clarifying the ideological currents that inspired their opposition to the Sinhala-dominated state. The other clarifies the circumstances of the Tamil peoples within the de facto to state of Thamilīlam from 2002 onwards and especially within the crucible of war in “the Vanni Pocket” in 2009 and thence to the detention centres at Mänik Farm. Continue reading →

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March 26, 2013 · 9:10 am

Sahni slams Indian foreign policy at UNHCR sessions in Geneva

Ajai Sahni in article entitled “Ambivalence, Opportunism, Deceit”

 ajaisahniOn March 21, 2013, at the 22nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) a United States-sponsored resolution on Human Rights (HR) violation in Sri Lanka was adopted with 25 countries, including India, voting in favour of the resolution in the 47-nation body. While 13 countries voted against, eight member-states abstained from voting on the resolution. The resolution urged the Government of Sri Lanka to implement the Government’s National Action Plan (NAP), including the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) addressing outstanding issues related to reconciliation, and to meet its obligations for accountability. Earlier, on March 22, 2012, UNHRC had adopted a resolution urging Sri Lanka to investigate alleged abuses during the final phase of war with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), with 24 votes in favour, 15 against and eight abstentions. Continue reading →

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February 20, 2013 · 8:49 pm

Tamil IDPs Today and Yesterday… Pudukuduyirippu and Beyond

Michael Roberts hijacking Dhaneshi Yatawara

I: Preamble by Michael Roberts

Dhaneshi Yatawara is a Sri Lankan reporter whom I do not know and have no contact with. I happened to be in Sri Lanka in April-June 2009 and collected news clippings, which now guide me to items on web. Among the latter are a series of striking photographs provided by Dhaneshi Yatawara on the 10th and 17th May 2009 respectively. The first lot were obviously (though not so stated) snapped on the foreshores in the Pulmoddai or Trinco area as Tamil IDPs injured and “carers” were disembarked from ICRC ships guided by the SL Navy. Parenthetically I note here between the 10th February and 15th May 2009 the ICRC ships “Green Ocean” and “Seruvila” escorted by the SL Navy made several trips and evacuated “over 13,500 sick and wounded people and their caretakers” (http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/ documents/ update/sri-lanka-update-090609.htm).[1]

60c-april 2009 exodus This Pic is not from Yatawara Continue reading →

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December 12, 2012 · 12:50 pm

Longitudinal UNICEF Survey of Nutrition in the IDP Camps in 2009

ppt for rob

Michael Roberts

In the course of presenting a seminar on the topic “Humanitarian Work obscured by the Fires of Propaganda War: The IDP Camps, 2009-12” at the premises of ICES on 7th November 2012, I was met by a hostile challenge from Mirak Raheem of the Centre for Policy Alternatives  who raised three points of criticism – one based on empirical material that I had presented about a few IDPs who were bussed in from Nandikadal and the Vanni Pocket – a four-five hour journey I believe – being dead on arrival. Information from the UTHR report , from such individuals as Narendran Rajasingham (who met escaped IDPs in March-April) and the doctors at Manik Farm (e.g. Safras, Woodyard) reveal that there were a few IDPs who could best be described as “walking dead” (and some kin reported the trauma of leaving grandparents behind because they were not fit to move).

CHA photo 2 5828587480_f139405626_s  phoca_thumb_l_Children waiting to get kanchchi at TRO center.. phoca_thumb_l_vanni12 Despite the evocative photographs presented re the abnormal conditions encountered for several months by the Tamil populace corralled together in a revolutionary act of blackmail by the LTTE, Raheem had clearly NOT comprehended the abnormal circumstances of that moment in April-May 2009 and the looming possibility of a humanitarian disaster among the large clusters of IDPs assembled (some 250,000 all told) in the Vavuniya locality in numerous temporary schools-used-as-camps as well as the Mänik Farm Zones. This outstanding failure was – and remains — a measure of the ideological blindness located in advocacy circles in Colombo. It marks an obduracy that is founded upon (1) enclosure within air-conditioned cocoons in Colombo; and (2) a visceral hostility to the Rajapaksa regime that cannot allow for any good emanating from a range of official (and unofficial)  agencies. One can even envision the advocacy circles in Colombo as a cluster that has created its very own siege bunker in the morally righteous cloister way up in the clouds. Continue reading →

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October 9, 2012 · 2:09 am

Sob Stories from returned Sinhalese Boat People…… with some chillie added by Hodge and Perera

Amanda Hodge in The Australian, 9 October 2012, where the title runs: “Hardships after a long trip home“

JOSEPH Fernando has been fishing every day since he returned to Sri Lanka 17 days ago, a failed asylum-seeker.His total income since his ignominious homecoming is about $120. His decision to return to Sri Lanka — after hawking the family gold and borrowing steeply from money lenders to pay his passage — was driven by the news on arrival that Australian laws had changed. Unlike the many who went before him, Fernando discovered only after reaching Australia that he could not earn money while his appeal for asylum was considered. Instead he would be sent to Nauru. Faced with two stark choices, Fernando abandoned his thin asylum claim rather than leave his family with no support while he awaited adjudication on a Micronesian island best known for pigeon stool. Continue reading →

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October 1, 2012 · 2:46 am

An Overview: Setunga V, 22 July 2009

Myrna Setunga, 22 July 2009 …. providing a summary description of conditions in early June when Zone 4 was being set up and moving on to circumstances in July. Web Editor.

Dear family and friends,  This is the second part of the report on my visits to Vavuniya. I had intentions of printing this report and posting it to selected people because I do not want this report to be circulated. Please think twice before you pass this on, because I could get into trouble. Some of this information could be seen as sensitive. My printer is refusing to obey my commands – so here it is in the form of an email. Your comments are welcome.

As I said in the emailed report we went to Menik Farm on the 1st of June. We were in the temporary camp [in Zone 4] which consisted of tents and could see the semi- permanent zinc structures in the distance. These are similar to the ones constructed after the Tsunami. There is a barbed wire fence separating the two parts but I saw a woman quietly creeping through the fence to get to the tent section. Any relative from the outside who wants to visit an IDP in the camp has to wait at the gate till the person is summoned over the loud speaker. The visitors and their parcels are thoroughly searched. I saw this happen at all the camps I visited. The visitor is not allowed into the camp and can speak to the IDP in a special shed which is in full view of the Military Police who guard all the camps. The reason given for this is that there are still LTTE members among the IDPs. They have found the wife and children of Tamilshelvam among the IDPs. Prabakaran’s parents too are in the Menik farm Camp. One has to therefore understand why these people are like prisoners behind barbed wire. Continue reading →

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