Category Archives: NGOs

November 18, 2014 · 2:04 pm

Cartographic & Photographic Illustrations in support of the Memorandum Analysing the War in Sri Lanka and Its Propaganda Debates

Michael Roberts

No survey of Eelam War IV — especially its last phase from late 2008 to May 2009 — can be pursued without some comprehension of the unfolding geographical context and some attention to illustrative pictorial details of the LTTE ditch-and-bund system of defense as well as the defensive deployment of a congealed mass of people and Tiger personnel from circa mid-February to mid-May 2009 within what is best referred to as the “Last Redoubt.”[1] Attention to pictorial evidence must obviously embrace evidence of shelling and casualties (both injured and dead) as well as prima facie instances suggestive of extra-judicial execution by both sides. These in their turn must sit alongside the graphic photographs of clusters of people streaming or struggling across the Nandikadal Lagoon or crossing sand and scrub terrain in April and May 2009 after the Sri Lankan Army infiltrated and penetrated the Tiger arena in the Last Redoubt…. and released them from their corralled situation.[2]

Pic 1: The Fate of the Corralled Tamil Populace of Thamilīlam = on the move constantly — from mid 2008 in some instances — Pic from en.wikipedia.com Continue reading →

31 Comments

Filed under accountability, atrocities, Eelam, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, mass conscription, military strategy, NGOs, patriotism, photography, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, unusual people, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, wikileaks, world events & processes

September 15, 2014 · 2:04 am

Tamil Person and State: Pictorial … Images Listed

Michael Roberts

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

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

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

David Cameron’s visit to Jaffna draws world attention to the anguish of kin seeking the “missing”
Tamils greet Cameron with demonstration depicting photographs of missing kin
Tamil women seeking their kin in public expressions of grief and anger
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

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

Chelvanayakam campaigning the talaivar Pirapaharan with automatic handgun … probably a Glock Continue reading →

5 Comments

Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, atrocities, caste issues, citizen journalism, disaster relief team, discrimination, economic processes, Eelam, gordon weiss, governance, historical interpretation, IDP camps, language policies, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, Muslims in Lanka, nationalism, NGOs, patriotism, photography, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, Rajiv Gandhi, rehabilitation, security, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war crimes, welfare & philanthophy

September 11, 2014 · 9:27 am

Advertising TAMIL PERSON AND STATE by Michael Roberts

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 →

4 Comments

Filed under american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, caste issues, constitutional amendments, cultural transmission, disaster relief team, disparagement, Fascism, historical interpretation, Hitler, IDP camps, island economy, life stories, LTTE, NGOs, photography, power politics, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, TNA, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, unusual people, vengeance, violence of language, war crimes, world events & processes, zealotry

June 7, 2014 · 10:12 am

Bile, Obfuscation & Censorship on Display in the Boxing Bout between GV and CT, Sanjana and Uvindu

Padraig Colman courtesy of Asian Mirror where the title is ““The Wacky World of Citizen Journalism – An Eyewitness Account”

There is a priceless article on Groundviews by Sanjana Hattotuwa. At the time I am writing this, there have only been four comments. I would like to raise the profile of Sanjana’s article and thereby add to the gaiety of nations. …. http://groundviews.org/2014/06/03/response-to-article-in-colombo-telegraph/ Sanjana is the scourge of corruption, triumphalism, Buddhist thugs and Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism in general. So, what new crime is he exposing in this article?

Sanjana H

The article is about a meal at the Gallery Café in 2009, the cost of which Sanjana allegedly claimed from the Centre for Policy Alternatives. Colombo Telegraph sees this as indulgence in lavish living. “Certain prominent Colombo-based ‘human rights professionals’ are making merry, wining and dining in upmarket restaurants, hoodwinking donors by filing expenses under ‘safe’ cost columns.” Our intrepid muckraker, Sanjana, is miffed because that other intrepid muckraker, Uvindu Kurukulasuriya, is turning his muckraking laser on Sanjana himself. This will not stand! Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, citizen journalism, cultural transmission, governance, legal issues, life stories, NGOs, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, sri lankan society

June 3, 2014 · 5:06 am

FIVE YEARS AFTER: Reviewing Sri Lanka after the end of War, May 2009-May 2014 … in Groundviews

SEE http://groundviews.org/category/issues/end-of-war/

Articles published in the Special Edition, in order of appearance,

First week

Launch of Special Edition: The end of war in Sri Lanka, five years on, Sanjana Hattotuwa
PLATO’S CAVE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN: ELITE FAILURE IN SRI LANKA, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
Is reconciliation achievable without separation in Sri Lanka?, Lionel Bopage
Sri Lanka’s Quiet Heroes, Gibson Bateman
Badiou’s Event and the defeat of the Tigers: A Brief Response to Dayan Jayatilleka, Vangeesa Sumanasekara
Five years on, where we are now: Reconciliation, the Rule of Law and governance, Ravindra
Opened letter to His Majesty Mahinda Rajapakse the Lord of Sri Lanka and the Universe also (translated into Sinhala by Vikalpa here), The Silva
The Silly Idealist, Marisa de Silva
A new phase of mediation to get from post-war to post-conflict Sri Lanka, Jehan Perera
Political settlement or regime change!, Kumar David
THE WAR, PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
Kasturi’s Progress, Nalaka Gunewardene
Five Years Later, Indran Amirthanayagam
A Brief History of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance from 2004 to 2014: Statistics and Real Politics, Khana
Keep Off the Grass, Subha Wijesiriwardena
The failure of the media, civil society and the ‘moderates’, Heejaz Hizbullah
Re-visiting the Rajapaksa Hegemonic Project, Dayapala Thiranagama
5 years after: Reflections as a mother, women and a citizen of Sri Lanka, Visakha Dharmadasa

Continue reading →

Products from the northern Tamil districts impress visitors at Colombo ‘fair’

Courtesy of the Daily News, May 2014

A variety of products from the Northern Province made an eye catching display at the newly built market stalls at the Diyatha Uyana, close to the Diyawanna Lake in Kotte on Thursday. Products showcased by over 250 individuals representing various villages in the Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mulaithivu, Mannar and Vavuniya districts at the Diyatha Uyana premises were a major attraction among the local and foreign visitors. The government facilitated the opportunity with the financial and organising support of several organisations, including the USAID and Nucleus, to allow these producers to promote their products, and make commercially viable interactions. Continue reading →

Is R2P “humanitarian intervention” a form of imperialism? and a shift from a frying pan into a fire?

Padraig Colman, courtesy of Ceylon Today where the title is “Pros and Cons of R2P“

Louise Arbour, of the International Crisis Group, said that, “The responsibility to protect is the most important and imaginative doctrine to emerge on the international scene for decades.” Anne-Marie Slaughter from Princeton University has called it “…the most important shift in our conception of sovereignty since the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. ”

The UN General Assembly endorsed the principle of the “responsibility to protect” (R2P) in 2005. The Security Council unanimously reaffirmed the principle in Resolution 1674 in 2006. The head of the UNHRC mission to Darfur, Jodie Williams, used it to evaluate the government of Sudan’s performance, finding that the government had “manifestly failed” in its responsibility to protect its citizens. Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon used R2P in relation to their diplomatic efforts to resolve the post-election conflict in Kenya. Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, British imperialism, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, NGOs, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, rehabilitation, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, vengeance, violence of language, world events & processes

April 13, 2014 · 5:57 pm

Fashioning a Spectre of Disaster with Aid from Humanitarian Agencies: Tamil Marvels

Michael Roberts, courtesy of Groundviews, where the title differs and where readers will find critical comments

A scene showing displaced Tamils in makeshift encampments in late 2008(?) or early 2009 as they faced multiple displacements in step with LTTE demands

Summarising previous essays (see bibliography below) this article proceeds in point-form with an eye on greater impact via succinctness.

A. During the last phase of Eelam War IV in 2008/09 the LTTE attempted an international heist that is unprecedented in world history:[1] they used some 320,000 of their own people to manufacture a picture of an “impending humanitarian disaster” so that concerned international forces would intervene and impose a ceasefire or effect a rescue operation. These entrapped Tamil people were not only so many sandbags and a source of labour and/or conscripts. Their primary purpose was to constitute a spectre of impending horror. A2 – Thus, the LTTE political commissar Puleedevan told some friends in Europe “just as in Kosovo if enough civilians died … the world would be forced to step in” (quoted in Harrison 2012: 63) — a line of policy confirmed subsequently by KP, the head of the Tiger international arm, during a frank interview with the redoubtable Tamil journalist in Canada, Jeyaraj: “[we] had to magnify the humanitarian crisis,” (Jeyaraj, “KP” speaks out, 2011: 25, 30). A3 — This spectre was disseminated by (a) LTTE satellite technology at their HQ, and by TamilNet and the extensive Tiger networks abroad; and A4 — was fed by the reports of the Tamil medical men within the battle theatre acting as patriots[2]or under duress.

Continue reading →

4 Comments

Filed under authoritarian regimes, disparagement, Eelam, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, NGOs, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, war crimes, world events & processes

March 11, 2014 · 12:19 am

Blundering Foreign Ministry and its Sinhala extremist siege mentality endangers the island in the UNHCR

Q and A with Rajiva Wijesinha ..courtesy of Ceylon Today where the title is different

Q: You were one of the six government parliamentarians, including four ministers, who sent a letter to the President regarding the forthcoming UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution. What was that letter about?

A: That letter was intended to draw attention to the dangerous situation the country was in, which we felt had not been conveyed accurately to the President.

Q: What did you urge the President to do? What did you warn him about?

A: We urged him to address international concerns strategically and have informed discussions to develop a counter-strategy to address what would be raised in Geneva this month. We need to convey systematically the work done by the government since March 2009 towards uniting this country, using competent communicators able also to deal with questions. Continue reading →

The War in Sri Lanka: Ravi Nessman’s Slanted Story for USA on the Tavis Smiley Show, 18 February 2009

Ravi Nessman was Associated Press Bureau Chief in 2008/09 based in either Delhi or Colombo. He was carried to the war front on day visits in October 2008[1] and late January 2009. He was certainly located in Colombo when asked by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to speak to America on the show that is simply titled Tavis Smiley. This show usually features “a unique mix of news and pop culture to create a thought-provoking and entertaining program. A hybrid of news, issues and entertainment, it features interviews with artists, activists, news makers, politicians and everyday people.”

18th February 2009 in “episode 18 of Season 6, Smiley interviewed Dr Palitha Kohona and then Ravi Nessman . For a live hearing of the latter session with Nessman, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2ZqLlpuLBE.

Critical Comments are inserted at the end of this word-for-word record of the interview. Michael Roberts Continue reading →

34 Comments

Filed under accountability, cultural transmission, disparagement, historical interpretation, law of armed conflict, legal issues, news fabrication, NGOs, photography, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, world affairs, zealotry

Category Archives: NGOs

Cartographic & Photographic Illustrations in support of the Memorandum Analysing the War in Sri Lanka and Its Propaganda Debates

Like this:

Tamil Person and State: Pictorial … Images Listed

Contents