Courtesy of Harry de Sayrah of Sydney
Category Archives: refugees
The Taliban Campaign. The West in Deep Shit in Afghanistan
David Kilcullen, in The Australian, 31 July 2021,. [and The Inquirer, 31 July ]where the title reads “Making sense of the Afghan fiasco, and how to fix it” … 2021 and with this byline : “there are four moves that could stabilise the situation long enough to get talks back on track.”
If a gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth, US President Joe Biden committed one a few weeks ago, answering a question about Afghanistan, when he said “the mission hasn’t failed, yet”. That “yet” contains multitudes: a tangle of military and humanitarian factors refracted through political spin and a hyper-partisan US media.
Afghan militia gather with their weapons to support Afghanistan security forces against the Taliban, in Afghan warlord and former Mujahideen Ismail Khan’s house in Herat on July 9. Picture: AFP
Filed under american imperialism, australian media, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, disparagement, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, insurrections, Islamic fundamentalism, jihad, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, military strategy, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, refugees, security, self-reflexivity, trauma, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry
The Wikipedia Tale of the Murugappans of Biloela … Today, Mid-2021
Murugappan family asylum claims .… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murugappan_family_asylum_claims
Kokilapathmapriya Nadesalingam (Priya) and Nadesalingam Murugappan (Nades)[1] are two Sri Lankan Tamils seeking asylum in Australia. The couple married in Australia and have two Australian-born children. Until their detention by Australian Border Force in March 2018, the family was resident in the central Queensland town of Biloela, and consequently referred to as the Biloela family by some media.[2][3] The cause of the couple and their children has been supported by some residents of Biloela as well as asylum-seeker advocates.[4]
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, Australian culture, australian media, charitable outreach, democratic measures, discrimination, disparagement, doctoring evidence, economic processes, education, ethnicity, historical interpretation, human rights, immigration, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, medical puzzles, meditations, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, refugees, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, trauma, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
A Humanitarian Military Act in an Era of Horrendous Powerplays
Capt Elmo Jayawardena, in The Island, 24 March 2021,where the title is “The Pilot”
The UNHRC is in full swing. The ‘merchants of Geneva’ are getting ready to shoot their arrows of justice against the offenders of this planet. Of course, it is done democratically, by honourable people in Saville Row suits who sit around polished mahogany tables and determine by a count of votes who is guilty and who is not. That is the showpiece; but the truth could be so very different. Powerful people call the tune, and the theme is “You lend me your mule and I will remember you when it is your turn to take the stand. Then I’ll lend you my donkey.”
Filed under accountability, atrocities, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, ethnicity, foreign policy, governance, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, meditations, news fabrication, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, refugees, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tolerance, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
Gus Mathews on Western Power Jinks Worldwide
An Email Memorandum from Gus Mathews in London, c. 24 February 2021[i]
Michael, I am afraid there are no niceties in war. War is brutal as is the detritus of war. Unlike in a conventional war where the behaviours of troops are defined by the ‘Geneva Convention,’ it is not applicable in a civil insurrection especially one that attacks a legitimately elected democratic government. No country is bound to tolerate a secessionist group especially one that utilises terror to achieve its ends. History is replete with examples of civil wars that were prompted by secession. The most glaring example is the United States civil war. We also have an example from Vietnam and currently ongoing is the Korean debacle.
Tiger dead collected by the SL Army …. and Tamil civlians incl Tigers in civies leaving the final battle arena east of Nandhikadal Lagoon
see Roberts, Tamil Person & State. Pictorial, Colombo, 2014 for details and more Pix
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, communal relations, discrimination, disparagement, doctoring evidence, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, refugees, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes
Murugappan Asylum-Seeker Family on Verge of Legal Victory and A Return to Biloela
Nick Pearson in 9news, 16 February 2021, where the title reads “Biloela family spared deportation for now, but remain on Christmas Island”
Filed under accountability, Australian culture, australian media, charitable outreach, economic processes, historical interpretation, immigration, legal issues, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, press freedom, refugees, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, trauma, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Combatting Terrorism Today: Three Imperatives
John Richardson
For what they are worth, here are three “imperatives for preventing conflict and terrorism” (from the 10 that conclude Paradise Poisoned) that seem particularly relevant to this discussion. These are excerpted from “elevator talk” I gave to Board members of the US Association for the Club of Rome a year or so ago.
Filed under accountability, atrocities, chauvinism, communal relations, cultural transmission, disparagement, fundamentalism, historical interpretation, immolation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, refugees, self-reflexivity, suicide bombing, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes
Caste, Ur and Tamilness among the Tamils in Metropolitan London
Jane Russell. reviewing article by Thanges Paramsothy entitled “Caste Within the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora” in Anthropology Matters Journal, Vol.18 No 1 (2018)
I usually avoid reviewing academic articles. Many are derivative and ones that employ original research can be turgid and dull. But that is not the case with this article by Thanges Paramsothy, currently South Asia Program Scholar at Cornell. While replete with sociological and anthropological information about Sri Lankan Tamil caste groupings, both past and present, it is also full of revealing insights into a social system that has been a veiled inner sanctum to many outsiders.
a toddy tapper
Filed under asylum-seekers, caste issues, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, discrimination, disparagement, economic processes, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, refugees, religiosity, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, working class conditions, world events & processes
Clandestine Tiger Forays in Sri Lanka, 2012-20
Camelia Nathaniel in Ceylon Daily News, 4 August 2020, where the title reads “Forces thwart attempts to revive LTTE terror”
Since the LTTE’s defeat in 2009, there have been several attempts over the years to revamp the terror outfit. From 2012 there have been 12 such attempts that are on record. All of these incidents have had some form of foreign hand in them. Intelligence units are investigating these incidents and the international connections.
Filed under accountability, conspiracies, Eelam, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, refugees, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, unusual people, world events & processes
Justin Trudeau Rapped on Knuckles for Statement on Victims of Eelam War
When Justin Trudeau issued a brief statement on the 18th May 2020 expressing sympathy for all the victims of Eelam War IV in the course of his request for an accountability purpose, he was clever. There was no slant towards Tamil victims. But there was a reference to “the last phase of the war at Mullivaikal” …. and this, together with the focus on accountability, implied that he was supporting Sri Lankan Tamil and HR claims alleging mass killings.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, discrimination, disparagement, economic processes, Eelam, ethnicity, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, power politics, refugees, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, world events & processes
