Category Archives: LTTE

June 29, 2016 · 12:35 pm

Zeid on Warpath says UNHRC and Yahapaalanaya are on the Same Page

The Island, in two [confusing] items today 28 June 2016 … http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=147741 …. AND …  http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=147742

The Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC has renewed its call for international participation in the proposed war crimes probe in Sri Lanka following representations made by the government of Sri Lanka and the four-party Tamil National Alliance (TNA). The Island yesterday revealed that TNA Parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran had disclosed a tripartite understanding among the GoSL, the US and the TNA in respect of foreign judges as well as other personnel to be accommodated in a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism.

Call for foreign judges renewed

*Fresh probe into ‘cluster bombs’ sought

*Lankan peacekeepers striclty screened

article_imageUN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, in his special report that dealt with the entire gamut of issues, said: “A key question remains the participation of international judges, prosecutors, investigators and lawyers in a judicial mechanism. Continue reading →

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June 28, 2016 · 4:06 am

Lanka’s Immediate Prospects and Samaraweera

Jehan Perera, in The Island,  28 June 2015, where the title is  “Sri Lanka’s Brexit hour still to come”

The Sri Lankan government goes into the current session of the UN Human Rights Council with several accomplishments to show. These are primarily at the level of change of spirit and less as concrete changes that can be quantified. It is difficult to quantify the impact of the lifting of fear of agents of the state and their associates acting with impunity, of white vans into which people disappear and the attitude of confrontation. But these have transformed life in the country. The passage of the Right to Information law in Parliament unanimously, without a vote and therefore without division, is an indication that there is broad acceptance in the polity, to which the government gives leadership, that good governance is good for all. In addition, the government has been able to showcase the draft law setting up the Office of Missing Persons, which is one of the four transitional justice mechanisms that it promised to establish at the October 2015 session of the UNHRC. brexit SL Continue reading →

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June 24, 2016 · 3:51 am

Ominous Threads in the Present Paths of Constitutional Reform

Rohana R. Wasala, in The Island, 22 & 24 June 2016, with title “A glance at PRCR report in the context of drive for federalism”

Tamil_Eelam_territorial_claimThe armed struggle for creating a separate state in Sri Lanka was decisively defeated in 2009. But, the separatist ideology is still very much alive and shows signs of flourishing again. According to the US State Department the LTTE fronts active in that country continued their collection of funds for their activities through 2015, though the outfit still remains on its list of banned foreign terrorist organizations, so designated since August 10, 1997. Yet the Americans support the demand by expatriate Tamils, the TNA, and Tamil Nadu politicians that the government ‘demilitarise’ the north. Despite this, the Sri Lankan government lifted its ban on a few of these fronts in September last year. Chief minister Jayalalitha of TN has pledged to make one of her priorities the creation of Eelam in Sri Lanka that the terror leader Prabhakaran envisioned.  Continue reading →

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June 22, 2016 · 11:24 am

Hilary Clinton’s Aggressive Overkill

Evan N. Resnick, Courtesy of Eurasia Review … at http://www.eurasiareview.com/22062016-hillary-clintons-foreign-policy-paradox-analysis/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eurasiareview%2FVsnE+%28Eurasia+Review%29, where the title runs thus: “Hilary Clinton’s Foreign Policy Dilemmas”

 CLINTON DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, Wikipedia Commons.

Paradoxically, although US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is relying on her extensive foreign policy experience to bolster her electoral appeal, her actual track record as a foreign policy decision maker is worrisome. Earlier this month, President Barack Obama waded into the rough and tumble 2016 US presidential contest by endorsing Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee. In his videotaped announcement, Obama declared: “I don’t think there has ever been someone so qualified to hold this office.” Continue reading →

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June 22, 2016 · 8:45 am

An August Gathering Addresses Indo-Lanka Issues

Shamindra Ferdinando, in The Island, 22 June 2016, where the title is “Unresolved Indo-Lanka Issues”

One-time head of the Law Faculty, University of Colombo, Dr Nirmala Chandrahasan last Thursday (June 16) called for tangible action on the part of the Sri Lankan government to bring in Sri Lankan refugees, living in India, particularly in the state of Tamil Nadu. Dr Chandrahasan estimated the number of Lankan refugees in India at the peak of the conflict at 200,000. The appeal was made over seven years after the successful conclusion of the war with the annihilation of the LTTE leadership.  The distinguished law academic insisted that special arrangements should be made to facilitate the return of refugees. Dr Chandrahasan was addressing a forum on India-Sri Lanka relations in the 21st century, organised by the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BSIS).

IMAGING INDIA

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June 16, 2016 · 4:22 pm

A Puzzle: When Weiss, Amnesty International and Aussie Greens LIE

Michael Roberts, courtesy of Colombo Telegraph, where the title is  “Moral Crusader Journeys into Duplicity”

Today’s world in the West is marked by currents of secular fundamentalism mounting campaigns against paedophiles, smoking, corruption and “crimes against humanity”.  The humanitarian campaign directed at war crimes has on occasions promoted a strange phenomenon: where people of ethical stance indulge in outright lies as well as the massaging of facts. When Amnesty International, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (Sydney) and such moral crusaders as Gordon Weiss descend to such duplicity, the world must surely take note.

MILNE on SL Christine Milne on Sri Lanka –www.youtube.com = Pic 1

The Australian media-man Gordon Weiss is the epitome of a moral crusader. Of Polish Jewish ancestry, it is likely that his leanings are coloured by the horrors inflicted on the Jews in Europe during the first half of the 20th century. His presentation of self within his own web site, his intense demeanour when fronting the public on TV cameras or stage and his campaign against the government of Sri Lanka (GSL) stand as testimony to the stance “crusader for truth.” Continue reading →

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June 2, 2016 · 9:15 am

IV. Bavinck on Life in Jaffna, 1994-2004: People Caught in the Middle of Two Awesome Forces

Michael Roberts

Continuing with my presentation of “Motifs” from within Benjamin Bavinck’s diaries, this collection depicts the sentiments of moderate Tamils who were caught in between the main protagonists. Since Bavinck’s political leanings were firmly within this mould, the entries are extensive. This post, therefore, gives readers a sense of the difficulties faced by the Tamil civilians within the Jaffna Peninsula (maps are tacked on to aid the readers). It also reminds every one of the unfolding political scenario from the lead-up to the 1994 Presidential Election, the killing of Gamini Dissanayake, the peace talks of early 1994 and the LTTE’s demolition of that process to the SL Army’s invasion of the Peninsula in mid-1995 and the exodus of most Jaffna peoples to the western section and/or the Vanni …..and a whole series of fluctuating events thereafter.

NEELAN Neelan  Rajan-Hoole-3 Rajan  DAYADayaBAVINCK = RAJASINGHAMBavinck & Rajasingham

Note that Bavinck did not pen his entries day in, day out. An entry sometimes summarizes events in the days preceding. Again, he was out of the island on business or home-visits on several occasions — so there are temporal gaps in the historical data. Continue reading →

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May 31, 2016 · 2:55 am

III. Bavinck Diaries: The Tamil Intelligentsia for the LTTE

 Michael Roberts,  also see https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/bavinck-diaries-iii-the-tamil-intelligentsia-for-the-ltte/where there will be comments. NOTE: highlighting in RED and other colours is my imposition to draw readers to highly significant opinions and/or information.

 Continuing with my presentation of “Motifs” from within his diaries, this collection is relatively meagre, but must be placed alongside the paths depicting moderate Tamils who were caught in between the main protagonists. Since Bavinck’s political leanings were firmly with the latter, it is not surprising that there is more information on that facet of political thinking. Therefore, this post must be studied in conjunction with the one immediately following on “Bavinck on Life in Jaffna, 1994-2004: People Caught in the Middle of Two Awesome Forces.”

A_Thurirajah--www.jfn.ac.lkProfessor A. Thurairajah fR EMANUEL Fr. Emmanuel Thomas_Savundaranayagam--en.wikipedia.orgBishop Thomas Saundranayagam

Both together indicate ambivalence and shifting tides in the thinking of the people residing in Jaffna under LTTE rule and/or SL Army rule. They also provide a sense of the shifting fortunes of war. The entries here are of great importance and indicate that the LTTE had a solid foundation of support among the middle class peoples of the north – an impression that was sustained during my brief visit to Jaffna Peninsula and Kilinochchi in late November 2004. Bavinck’s diary entries are written intermittently, Note that he was residing at Puttur from mid-1994- September 1995; Atchuvely from then till July 1996; Puttur again from June 1996 till August 1999; Maruthanarmadam from thence till he left the island in September 2004. Note, however, that there were spells when he left the island on pastoral business or on furlough.

Ben-4

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Link

Shamindra Ferdinando, “Colonel Thamilini’s version of events that led to LTTE’s annihilation,” Island, 24 May 2016, at http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=145767 … with highlighting embellishments by the Editor, Thuppahi

The launch of ‘Thiyunu Asipathaka Sevana Yata’ (In the Shadow of a Sharp Sword), Sinhala translation of ‘Oru Koorvaalin Nizhalil’, life story of high ranking LTTE cadre, Subramaniam Sivakamy alias ‘Col’ Thamilini, took place at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI) on May 13, 2016. Oru Koorvaalin Nizhalil’ was launched on March 19, 2016, in Kilinochchi, a one-time LTTE bastion.

aa= THAMILINIHer husband, Jeyakumaran Mahadevan, British national of Sri Lankan origin, earned the wrath of an influential section of Tamil politicians, as well as Tamil Diaspora, for releasing the book. They made a desperate bid to thwart the revelations, made by Thamilini, one of those senior personnel who had access to LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and top battlefield commanders, throughout the eelam war IV. Continue reading →

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May 25, 2016 · 8:26 am
May 16, 2016 · 3:21 pm

Thamilini’s Book in Sinhala: Pathways to Reflection and Reconciliation

Listen to playwright Dharmasiri Bandaranaike’s Exposition of the Virtues of the Book via BBC Sinhala Service … https://www.facebook.com/BBCSinhala/videos/634977279993357/

How the paths that led to her revising her views can promote wider self-examination and reform  .. karunaava dakveema

Her transformation (parivarthanaya ) = a lesson to all

තමිලිනී ස්වයං චරිතාප්‍රදානය සිංහලෙන්

More Videos by BBC Sinhala – සංදේශය

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දිවියන් මිය යෑම වාර්තා ගත මට්ටමකට ළඟා වී ඇති බව සමස්ත ලංකා වනජීවී නියාමනකරුවන්ගේ සංගමය පවසයි.

ඡායාරූප- Getty/ ඉෂාර කොඩිකාර

BBC Sinhala - සංදේශය's photo.

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