Category Archives: NGOs

October 27, 2018 · 9:35 am

Land Acquisition Processes in Sri Lanka, 1948-2018

Gerald H. Peiris, being  an article serialized recently in The Island, under the following heading  “Alleged ‘Land Grabbing’ by the Security Forces in Sri Lanka” … with highlighting emphasis being impositions by The Editor, Thuppahi

In view of the significance accorded in recent public debate and discussion on the subject of ‘land grabbing’ in several conflict-ridden countries of the Third World it is necessary to devote attention to a series of facts that are of crucial relevance to a balanced understanding of the related situation in Sri Lanka.

Figure 1 – post-conflict releases of land from the Palali HSZ

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, communal relations, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, land policies, legal issues, LTTE, military strategy, modernity & modernization, nationalism, NGOs, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom & censorship, rehabilitation, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, war reportage, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

September 6, 2018 · 7:55 am

Pirapāharan’s Thamilīlam, 1990-2009: Aspirations and Achievements

Michael Roberts, courtesy of Daily Mirror, 6 September 2018. where the title reads “The State of Tamil Eelam, 1990-2009″

This article is the second of those preparing the ground for a review of the new data on the last phase of Eelam War IV served up by access to the despatches of British Defence Attache Lt. Col. Gash (the first being my analysis of Pirapāharan’s strategy of assassinations). It concentrates on the character of the state of Thamilīlam­ throughout its period of existence, viz. from 1990-2009. It by-passes the pre-history when the Tamil New Tigers-become-LTTE was an incipient insurgent force competing with other Tamil militant organisations and with the GoSL and/or the IPKF for control of terrain.

Continue reading →

5 Comments

Filed under accountability, anton balasingham, communal relations, cultural transmission, doctoring evidence, economic processes, female empowerment, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, nationalism, NGOs, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes

May 2, 2018 · 3:20 am

Piercing the LTTE’s Last Redoubt: THE HINDU Reportage, 21-30 April 2009

Michael Roberts

When the LTTE persuaded and/or forced their civilian population in Thamilīlam to retreat ahead of their defensive retreat in 2008, the grand strategy was to build up picture of “a humanitarian catastrophe” that would draw the Western nations and the HR lobbies in West and the island into the fray as active participant voices who would save the LTTE from total defeat – as I have argued from way back [i]

A Scene from Pokkanai in the Last redoubt , 9th March 2009 — Pic from TamilNet  SL Army Special Forces

  Schematic Map– from ICG

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, conspiracies, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, nationalism, NGOs, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, trauma, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, war reportage, women in ethnic conflcits, working class conditions, world events & processes, zealotry

Image

The Gash Files IV: The War on Land

Michael Roberts, with emphasis in bold being my imposition

I will be reproducing pertinent sections of Lt Col. Gash’s “Situation Reports” (or Sitrep) verbatim below in single spacing with the date of each despatch specified at the outset, while indicating blacked out sections where pertinent. These reproductions are extensive and demand careful reading. Vital bodies of information will be highlighted in red as a guideline for readers; but they are encouraged to form their own appraisals.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

April 16, 2018 · 10:59 am
April 9, 2018 · 3:15 pm

The Gash Files III: Trapped Tamils Out by Sea in 2009

Michael Roberts

As evident then and as confirmed by subsequent accounts, during the last phase of Eelam War IV from circa December 2008 segments of the corralled Tamil population began to rebel against the privations and dangers they were being subjected to by the LTTE’s grand strategy. While a considerable section of the people remained loyal to the LTTE to the very end,[1] others secured release from their situation through the efforts of international agencies working in cooperation with the LTTE and involving[2] the ICRC acting in concert with the Sri Lankan Navy and the Red Cross.

  Also see Roberts: TPS. Pictorial. Fig. 95 and its details

Continue reading →

17 Comments

Filed under accountability, disaster relief team, Eelam, gordon weiss, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, NGOs, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, trauma, truth as casualty of war, war reportage, world events & processes

November 10, 2017 · 12:52 pm

Revisiting Critical Issues in Eelam War IV: Summarizing Citizen Silva’s The NUMBERS GAME

Michael Roberts: “Introducing ‘Numbers Game’ – A Detailed Study of the Last Stages of Eelam War IV,” …….. https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/introducing-numbers-game-a-detailed-study-of-the-last-stages-of-eelam-war-iv/…. on 1 May 2013 where 46 comments can be found …. while the version here has some highlighting that is not contained in the Col-Tel version

Citizen Silva’s THE NUMBERS GAME can be found at…. http://www.scribd.com/doc/132499266/The-Numbers-Game-Politics-of-Retributive-Justice  OR http://www.margasrilanka.org/ [right panel at top—then click]

Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, disparagement, doctoring evidence, Eelam, gordon weiss, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, IDP camps, Indian General Elections, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, mass conscription, military strategy, NGOs, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, vengeance, war reportage

September 18, 2017 · 10:12 am

Ferment in Lanka’s Political Firmament: Three Tamil Voices — Philips, Moonesinghe and Somasundram

Rajan Philips:  “One more symbolic step: Wigneswaran’s audience with the Mahanayake Thera,” September 16, 2017

We need a break from the tedium, rather the opprobrium, of national corruption. To paraphrase Dr. Harsha de Silva’s public lamentation, the whole country is awash in corruption. The continuing non-promotion of people like Harsha de Silva and Eran Wickremaratne to full cabinet rank shows the depth of cabinet entrenchment by the corrupt and the crooked and the extent of exclusion of the bright and the honest. The government leadership has a lot to answer for its cabinet choices even as it has a lot of explaining to do about its highway contract choices.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, disparagement, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, NGOs, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, TNA, world events & processes

September 13, 2017 · 12:46 am

ELIYA launched as Challenge to the Present Lankan-US Dispensation

Shamindra Ferdinando, in The Island, 12 September 2017, with title “A challenging task for Gotabhaya”

article_image

The high profile launch of Eliya (light) by wartime Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa underscored Sri Lanka’s PATHETIC failure to counter unsubstantiated war crimes allegations, directed by a section of the international community, since the conclusion of the war, in May 2009. Sri Lanka paid a very heavy price for its failure and the previous government can never absolve itself of the responsibility for the situation. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, constitutional amendments, disparagement, doctoring evidence, Eelam, electoral structures, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, NGOs, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, Responsibility to Protect or R2P, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes

September 9, 2017 · 10:18 am

The New Constitution is a Neo-Colonial US Project

Tamara Kunanayakam, being the full text of a talk entitled “The new Constitution – a neo-colonial project!” at a Forum in Sri Lanka on 6th September 2017 .. with highlighting emphasis added by The Editor, Thuppahi

As we meet here this evening, a radical overhaul is underway – of our political, economic, financial, social and cultural system. A new Constitution is being discussed, at the same time a plethora of radical reforms are being rushed through. The fact that many of these reforms are being challenged as unconstitutional indicates that the new Constitution is aimed at making what is un-Constitutional today, Constitutional tomorrow, making legal what is illegal by a simple trick of changing the Law!

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, devolution, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, Left politics, life stories, military strategy, NGOs, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, Responsibility to Protect or R2P, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, women in ethnic conflcits, world events & processes

September 4, 2017 · 9:59 am

Vale. In Memoriam. Dr. Rajasingham Narendran

In sadness, we record the passing away of Dr. Rajasingham Narendran, truly a Tamil intellectual in difficult times who did not let his ethnic sentiments distort his commitment to fact and realistic assessment. There cannot be a greater testament to his commitment to TRUTH than his terse description of the discovery of the rotting corpse sof his mother, brother and family aides after they had been killed by the IPKF in 1987 (repeated below in full to remind readers of their own frailties and the realities of war).

“Naren,” alas, was man whom I met only once …. a man who traversed investigative paths far removed from his training and did so in the incisive ways expected in his specialist field. I borrow his familial details from the VALE recorded in COLOMBO TELEGRAPH where he was a contributor of informative articles. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, citizen journalism, constitutional amendments, education, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, indian armed forces, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, modernity & modernization, NGOs, politIcal discourse, power politics, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, tolerance, world events & processes