Norman Palihawardena, in The Island, 27 June 2013
LTTE’s Women’s wing leader Sivasubramaniam Sivahami, alias Thamilini, yesterday vowed that she would never join a terrorist organization as she had learnt a bitter lesson in life after joining the LTTE. “The security forces re-habilitated me and taught me to be a good citizen and in future I will be a good citizen and live an exemplary life,” the former terrorist leader said. Continue reading
Ridma Dissanayake, in Daily News, 25 June 2013
Major-General Udaya Perera
Sri Lanka is in the fourth year since the defeat of terrorism. Now the whole country is on the fast track to development and the priority in the development drive is centred on the war affected areas in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The Daily News interviewed Security Forces Commander Kilinochchi Major General Udaya Perera to delve into the progress achieved in the development programmes carried out in the Kilinochchi district with the assistance of the Security Forces.
Q: Kilinochchi was the headquarters of the LTTE and the people living here would have been the worst affected by the LTTE atrocities. What steps have you taken to alleviate their condition?
A: An extent of 1,800 square kilometres is covered by the Security Forces headquarters. Kilinochchi is today safe and secure. We have already resettled all displaced persons in Kilinochchi who lost their homes during the war period. I can clearly say that we have resettled all war affected persons in Kilinochchi in their own homes and new homes built in the same areas. We have already cleared all welfare centres established in Kilinochchi to provide shelter for civilians affected by terrorism. Now there are no such centres in Kilinochchi and we have fully completed the resettlement programme there. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, economic processes, female empowerment, historical interpretation, island economy, life stories, politIcal discourse, population, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, reconciliation, rehabilitation, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, welfare & philanthophy
Greg Sheridan in The Australian recently. This item appeared also in The Island with title “Neighbour asks for a hand to tame Tiger”
Gamini Lakshman Peiris wants Australia to proscribe the LTTE as a terrorist organisation, making any support to it from Australia illegal. The LTTE is a proscribed terrorist organisation in Europe and North America but, perversely, not in Australia. Peiris says that although the war between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE is over, Tamil Tiger networks still intimidate Tamil families in the diaspora and extort money from them, as well as engaging, he believes, in a range of other criminal activities. Continue reading
Filed under asylum-seekers, australian media, democratic measures, ethnicity, historical interpretation, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, nationalism, politIcal discourse, propaganda, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes
Anoma Pieris
Abstract: The role of the home, the domestic sphere and the intimate, ethno-cultural identities that are cultivated within it, are critical to understanding the polemical constructions of country and city; tradition and modernity; and regionalism and cosmopolitanism. The home is fundamental to ideas of the homeland that give nationalism its imaginative form and its political trajectory. Continue reading
Padraig Colman, in the Sunday Island, where the title is “Who speaks for Sri Lanka’s Tamils?”
Pic from Ministry of Defence
An article I posted on Groundviews on May 28 elicited many responses —http://groundviews.org/2013/05/28/sri-lankas-numbers-game/ On May 16, a seminar was held at the Marga Institute to launch a publication by the Independent Diaspora Analysis Group – Sri Lanka (IDAG-S) – The Numbers Game: Politics of Restorative Justice — http://www.scribd.com/doc/132499266/The-Numbers-Game-Politics-of-Retributive-Justice
Dr Godfrey Gunatilleke, Chairman Emeritus of the Marga Institute, opened the proceedings by answering the question: “Do numbers matter”. He acknowledged that, while even a low number of civilian casualties was cause for anguish, citing large and inaccurate figures could only inhibit the healing process. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, historical interpretation, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, rehabilitation, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, unusual people, war crimes, world events & processes, zealotry
Faraz Shauketaly, with Mike O’Shea, in The Sunday Leader, 16 June 2013
English cricket legend, Sir Ian Botham has confirmed that he is embarking on his most daring walk ever – all in aid of raising funds for sport in Sri Lanka. ‘Beefy’ whose love for Sri Lanka has matured ever since he first arrived here for the first test that Sri Lanka played, at the Sara Stadium – The Oval Colombo – way back in 1982. The former English Captain and one of England’s most beloved cricket all-rounders, will walk from Mankulam in the former conflict zone to Seenigama in the South, an area that suffered particularly badly during the Tsunami 2004. Announcing the event at a function on London earlier this week, Sir Ian was joined by Sri Lanka’s own star player, Kumar Sangakkara and Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev. They were all present when the well known sports foundation, Laureus Foundation made the announcement that Sir Ian Botham’s walk will raise funds for a sports complex and school to be built in Mankulam. Continue reading
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
Ishara Jayawardane in Daily News, 5 June 2013
“It dawned on me how vast the length and the enormity of the journey was that I have travelled. From those early years when the sky had fascinated me to the present when I have taken part in creating laws and regulations to tether the infinite plains of outer space.” Young Jasentuliyana looked up at the sky and its myriad stars from Ambalangoda. So many stars! It seemed as if he could rise up and be one with them. And as he looked at them, he had no idea that his fate was already being carved out in the Universe.
Award recipient: The light from these stars reaching him, as he stood mesmerized by them. Perhaps these stars were already dead, their light reaching him only then. A little boy on a lonely planet in the Milky way in such a vast universe, how could he know what the cosmos would have in store for him? For one day, he would not only be a proud son of Sri Lanka but a gift to the world of academia and science. Continue reading
Filed under life stories, unusual people, world affairs
courtesy of I LOVE KANDY
Filed under heritage, life stories
thuppahi
