Of Tamils and Tigers: a journey through Sri Lanka’s war years
Ben Bavinck & Rajasingham Pater
| Author | Ben Bavinck |
| ISBN | 9789556651393 |
| Publisher | VIJITHA YAPA PUBLICATIONS |
| Pages | 344 |
| Size | 140mm X 225mm |
| Weight | 600 |
| Our Price | US$ 15.60 |
Category Archives: indian armed forces
Sri Lanka in India’s Orbit: A Discerning Study by Dayan Jayatilleka
N. Sathiya Moorthy, courtesy of The Hindu where the title is “Re-discovering Sri Lanka’s place in today’s Asia”
It is not always that a work of non-fiction, however current and relevant the title and topic be, goes into a second print within a year of its publication. It is also not always that public discourse ensues on the book, however elitist and academic it be, and the contents become the topic of a seminar. It is not always, again, that the author concerned takes time and effort to incorporate the valid among the suggestions made at the seminar in the ‘revised’ edition of the book within a year.Colombo-based scholar-diplomat Dayan Jayatilleka’s Long War, Cold Peace: Sri Lanka’s North-South Crisis has all this and more. Every page of the book is replete with words of wisdom that reflect the author’s scholarship, authoritative academic background and painstaking preparations of a political scientist. Dr Jayatilleka’s early background as one from the global Left, who got frustrated by and with the local Left-leaning JVP militancy, and also possible excessive expectations from the Tamil-Left in Sri Lanka, too, stands out in the process.
Filed under economic processes, Eelam, governance, historical interpretation, indian armed forces, Indian Ocean politics, language policies, Left politics, military strategy, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, Rajiv Gandhi, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, world events & processes
Izeth Hussain’s Reflections on Sri Lankan Politics
I. Re-thinking the Ethnic Imbroglio – Island, 24 January 2014
It is always difficult to see things as they are. Somerset Maugham, a shrewd observer of human frailty in his best work, claimed that the transcendental geniuses such as Shakespeare and Dostoevsky – I am not sure of the names he actually used – could see through a brick wall, whereas he himself, unlike average humanity, could clearly see what was directly under his nose. Wyndham Lewis was even more scathing about the limitations of average humanity: he wrote that only a few people of very exceptional intelligence can see that the cow is in the field. Many readers will write all that off as misanthropic hyperbole. But most will agree that in general we are usually reluctant to see things as they are when they are unpleasant. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, democratic measures, economic processes, historical interpretation, indian armed forces, Indian Ocean politics, law of armed conflict, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, TNA, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes
Harsh Ground Realities in War: Decomposing Bodies and Missing Persons and Soldiers
Rajasingham Narendran, presenting a blog comment within http://transcurrents.com/news-views/archives/6285 which is an article by Michael Roberts, “The Tamil Death Toll in Early 2009: A Misleading Count by Rohan Gunaratna,” 23 November 2011.**
As addendum to Prof. Michael Roberts presentation, I hereby present briefly what I witnessed with regard to the bodies of my family members and others killed by the IPKF on day 10 of their murders: My mother: 68 year old at the time of her killing. Slim build. Had been attacked by animals and crows and was in an advanced state of decay. My brother: 38 year old at the time of his death. neither obese or thin. Body intact though bloated. The gardener: Age approx. 60 years. Obese. All flesh had fallen off and the skeleton was clearly visible .A neighbour’s Watchman: Age approx. 60 years. medium build. Only thigh bones-femurs and the skull remained. The rest of the body had been consumed or carried away by animals. Continue reading
Filed under historical interpretation, indian armed forces, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, politIcal discourse, propaganda, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, tamil refugees, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, violence of language, war crimes
Prisoners of the Past — says Dayan Jayatilleka
Elmo Jayawardane, reviewing Dayan Jayatilleka: Long War, Cold Peace
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka has not stopped at merely hitting the nail on the head; he’s gone a lot deeper! The man has taken a Black and Decker and drilled the skull of the reader and carefully pushed in 498 pages of faction and action (shameful and laudable) that relate to our “Long War” of almost three decades.
It is a timely publication too. The International Tambourine Men gathered in Geneva flaunting their lily white innocence in attempts to barbecue us. At least, we the ordinary habitants of this land should know how the cookie crumbled while we suffered the consequences of divisibility for thirty grisly years. Of course the ‘mea culpa’ rests with none other than the leadership. They festered the wound of ethnic divide and titillated political maggots that nearly annihilated us as a nation. We need to know some truths that have been gagged and swept under the carpets by both sides, ably assisted by the good Samaritans who sat on the third seat preaching negotiated peace. ‘Long War, Cold Peace’ is the answer. Dr. Dayan is punching hard, in a ring where he knows the rules, and he is not holding anything back. There is a good possibility that the book may take him to the mouth of a long menacing serpent in the political game of ‘Snakes and Ladders.” But then, with his historically valuable contribution in ‘Long war, Cold peace’, he will walk tall among people who really matter. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, Eelam, governance, historical interpretation, indian armed forces, Indian Ocean politics, Left politics, LTTE, mass conscription, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, unusual people, world events & processes
Sri Lanka and the Defeat of the LTTE by KM de Silva reviewed
Colonel Hariharan
KM de Silva’s Sri Lanka and the Defeat of the LTTE (Penguin books, 2012 ISBN 9780143416524) looks at the rise and fall of LTTE in the context of South Asia and the India-Sri Lanka relationship, says R Hariharan. The story of Velupillai Prabhakaran’s rise from the backwoods of Jaffna to build the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), one of the most dreaded terrorist organisations, and his fall in the battlefield can be told in many ways. Sri Lanka historian KM de Silva in his latest book looks at the rise and fall of the LTTE in the larger context of South Asia and the India-Sri Lanka relationship. Continue reading
Filed under atrocities, indian armed forces, Indian Ocean politics, language policies, law of armed conflict, Left politics, life stories, LTTE, military expenditure, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes
Emily Howie’s digest of recent Australian action on asylum seekers
Emily Howie in email circular
Foreign Minister announces 4 point plan to combat people smuggling in Sri Lanka
Statement by Australia’s Foreign Minister, Bob Carr
17 December 2012
Australia’s Foreign Minister announces a four point plan to combat people smuggling, including intelligence sharing, naval cooperation, public awareness and aid, which are designed to reduce people smuggling by “destroying the people smuggling business model.” “There is a message from these talks to people in Sri Lanka – by getting on that boat you risk your life, you’ll lose your money and you will be sent back home,” Senator Carr said. The plan includes provision of additional surveillance and electronic equipment to Sri Lanka, a joint training program to develop Sri Lanka’s intelligence expertise, $700,000 for advertising campaigns warning against travelling by boat, resources and training to expand Sri Lanka’s on water disruption activities and an aid program to ‘reduce demand’ for people smugglers’ business. Continue reading
Velupillai Pirapaharan’s Q and A with Anita Pratap on 8 April 1990 at Mullaitivu
Courtesy of the TIME magazine
Pirapaharan in Indian plane in 1987
Q: What made you confront India?
A: India claimed to have intervened in Sri Lanka to secure Tamil interests. In actual fact, India came to secure its own interests. There was never any genuine attempt to understand and solve our problems. India deliberately aggravated Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis. It destabilized Sri Lanka [by training and arming Tamil militants, including the Tigers] so that it could play a dominant role in bringing Sri Lanka within its sphere of influence.
What I can’t forgive is the way India claimed to have intervened to protect the Tamils and then launched this war against our people. On the third day after the war started, I sent an appeal to India to stop the attack because of the civilian casualties. But India mistook it as a sign of weakness and pressed ahead with the offensive, thinking they could crush us.
Subhas Chandra Bose: A Pact with the Devil – Between Gandhi and Hitler
SEE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyhmI6a2qsA …..where in this revealing material we also see Prof Anita Pfaff, Bose’s daughter, as well as information about the Indian National Army. It was sent to me by MANGO with the note “Some kind soul has uploaded it to Youtube and translated it into English. A superb effort.” Web Editor
ALSO SEE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGCEDRB-MoI&feature=related … FOR Hitlers Secret Science: In the crucible of World War II, Germany’s most brilliant scientists race to create terrifying new weapons of mass destruction. Before the war is over, Germany will produce many technological firsts that remain the basis for many air and spacecraft today.
Did they have outside help?
Besides this revealing material we see Prof Anita Pfaff, Bose’s daughter, as well as informaion about the Indian National Army. It was sent to me by MANGO with the note “Some kind soul has uploaded it to Youtube and translated it into English. A superb effort.” Web Editor
Tamil Tigress presented in two puzzling forms in 2009 and 2011
Michael Roberts, courtesy of www.groundviews.org, under a different title, where you will see a throbbing set of comments of varying degrees of silliness and pertinence, one I have refrained from participating in [I dislike pseudonyms and nom de plume as a matter of principle]. The repetition here enables the insertion of illuminating photographs.
Niromi de Soyza’s so-called autobiography, Tamil Tigress, has received extensive coverage in Australia and has traversed the world now because of critical reviews by several personnel and devoted defence from others. It has been described as “part memoir, part compelling reportage, part mea culpa” by Nikki Barrowclough in the Sydney Morning Herald’s weekend magazine.[1] Gordon Weiss, the moral crusader, proclaimed it to be “incredibly moving” and considers it “a story of redemption” (as quoted by Nikki Barrowclough). This may well be one of the motifs that Robert Perinpanayagam, a perceptive commentator, sees as the potential crux of the book in his unelaborated blog comments.
Without denying that dimension of the book if one stretches a point and treats it as a “faction,” that is, a “fictional narrative based on real events,” rather than a historical account, its self-presentation as a memoir[2] and “true story” renders Tamil Tigress liable at the same time to the charge of deception (a combination stressed in my little-noticed third article on the topic[3]). Indeed, it is arguable that it could be subject to a legal charge for a misleading advertisement that deceives consumers.[4] Continue reading
