Category Archives: sri lankan society

December 8, 2013 · 10:36 pm

Wikileak Disclosures of Secret US Despatches on the Last Phase of Eelam War IV in 2009: Appendix III for “BBC Blind

Robert Blake, Colombo , 19 March

OFDA Regional Adviser met on March 18 with a group of 15 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Vavuniya who fled the “safe zone”, including a Sri Lankan employee of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This contact reported that the LTTE is now widely recruiting from among the trapped population, forcing both young and old to fight, and is positioning its artillery within civilian concentrations. The IOM worker confirmed the skirmish on March 17 following LTTE attempt to forcibly recruit civilians who were offloading food supplies, leading to wider retaliation by the IDPs. Continue reading →

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December 8, 2013 · 9:33 pm

Estimates of the Tamil Civilian Death Toll during the Last Phase of Eelam War IV in 2009: Appendix I for “BBC Blind”

Michael Roberts

From January 2009 the LTTE fighters and the civilian mass (the latter regularly depleted by conscription as auxiliaries or fighters) were enveloped within a “furnace of war” within the Vanni Pocket (see Map 2). Quite a number of the Liberation Tiger personnel were not wearing uniforms[i] so it was not easy THEN to separate “civilian” from “Tiger” – as it is difficult NOW to do so in our assessments of the death toll. As the populace retreated, or were marshaled, into the “Last Redoubt” along the sea coast and sometimes moved at night, it is likely that a few who died from snake bite or shellfire were not buried so that their corpses rotted or were eaten by monitor lizards, jackals and other jungle creatures. Invariably, then, these civilians will join the category of Liberation Tiger soldiers who would be deemed MIA – Missing in Action – if the LTTE had survived the war.[ii] Continue reading →

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December 8, 2013 · 8:43 pm

Estimates of the Death Toll among the Fighting Forces of the LTTE and Government of Sri Lanka

Michael Roberts

49c-Balraj with fellow fighters on a Main Battle Tank seized by the Tigers in IththaavilCol Balraj and Tiger fighters after the capture of a battle tank during the encirclement of Elephant Pass in April 2000…. SEE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rXdXYPgjgM

LTTE

1a = 21,051 from 27 Nov. 1982 [Shankar] – 6 June 2008 ………………………………………………of which 4,535 or 21.5 % were female.[1]

1b = ??? 13,000 as a guess for rest of the period June 2008-end 2009… ……………………………………………………….making a total of ………….34,000 perhaps?

2 = 22,247 cadres (with 11,812 identified by name during Eelam War IV alone[2]

3 = thereby suggesting that the total Liberation Tiger losses for the whole period 1982-2009 could even add up to 40,000 (being 22,000 for E-War IV and roughly 18,000 in the three previous phases of war) Continue reading →

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November 25, 2013 · 1:27 am

Channel 4 Distortions arouse Murali

Murali and Cameron-Sri Lankan cricketing legend Muttiah Muralitharan said today that Channel 4 had lost its credibility in his eyes due to airing an edited clip of an interview which distorted the context he spoke in…… Video by Sanath Desmond and Waruna Wanniarachchi

SEE http://www.dailymirror.lk/video/38982-muttiah-muralitharan.html AND http://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-murali-cricket-tamils-misled-forget-forgive  AND http://www.dailymirror.lk/news/38826-cameron-meets-murali.html

Continue reading →

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November 18, 2013 · 1:54 pm

I am batticaloa … Margaret Ootschorn and kaffrinha wedding brought to life

Kannan Arunasalam

I AM BATTI WOMANAt 92, Margaret Ootschorn is very likely the oldest living member of the Portuguese Burgher community in Batticaloa. Displaced from the Dutch Bar after the 2004 Tsunami, she now lives with her daughter in Thiraaimadu, a new settlement developed especially for the displaced community. She said she still misses her life in the Dutch Bar. We talked about the disappearing language and traditions, and how the younger generation no longer speak the language. Afterwards I walked around the small village, met members of the community who were sitting by the roadside and the beautiful new church that was being built for them. A few months later, she invited me along to celebrate the wedding of her grandniece in the unique Portugese Burgher style, with the special blend of Kaffirinha music, dancing and importantly, wine. The Burgher hospitality is legendary and while Margaret felt that modern Burgher weddings are nothing like in the old days, everyone had a lot of fun.

SEE http://iam.lk/the-matriarch/ for a Portuguese Burgher wedding with kaffrinha music … and what is best of all Margaret Ooutschorn’s, reflections in Tamil. Continue reading →

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November 16, 2013 · 12:56 am

Rajapaksa government fighting to win the peace

Amanda Hodge, in The Australian, 13 November 2013

JAMES Packer had not long finished his defence of why a high-end casino resort would be a boon for Sri Lanka, a country recovering from 26 years of civil war, in Colombo this week when an audience member stood to complain about the country’s persistently “bad press”. “What would be your advice about how to change the perception of Sri Lanka in Western countries like Australia?” he asked the casino tycoon, during an interactive session at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting business forum.

It is an excellent question. HODGE PIC OF MR Continue reading →

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November 14, 2013 · 1:01 am

Senator Rhiannon blasts Sri Lanka after being evicted in insurrectionary triumph

Lee Rhiannon, courtesy of the Guardian, where the title is “My detention highlights why Australia should boycott CHOGM”

SENATOR RHIANNON “I went to Sri Lanka to be the voice the Australian government has refused to be. The voice that speaks of the human rights abuses that the Sri Lankan government is allegedly involved in. The voice that is part of a growing international call for an independent investigation into war crimes allegations following a brutal civil war in which more than approximately 40,000 Tamils were killed over five months in 2009. The voice of leadership that says Australia will not reward Sri Lanka for cracking down on journalists, human rights activists, minority ethnic and religious groups. What I saw in Sri Lanka has convinced me that Australia needs to show courage and boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm), as the prime ministers of Canada and India are doing. Continue reading →

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November 14, 2013 · 12:42 am

James Packer and Crown Casino Project batting in Sri Lanka FOR Sri Lanka

I: Projected Crown Casino Resort in Colombo: see Crown Sri Lanka Video at http://vimeo.com/74177676

II: “Sri Lanka among greatest nations in world for investment,” – Packer … HDH Seneviratne in Daily News, 14 November 2013

JAMES PACKERSri Lanka could be turned into a leading tourist mecca for the rising middle class of India, China and the rest of Asia, Australian business tycoon James Packer said. He said he was committed to providing an opportunity to develop the country as a base and destination for mass, luxury and business tourism through his company Crown Resorts and his “plans to establish an integrated resort right here in Colombo on the Beira Lake”. “Sri Lanka is among the greatest in the world for foreign investments and tourism with the dawn of peace and tranquility in the country, Packer, Chairman of Crown Limited Australia, said at the Commonwealth Business Forum. Continue reading →

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November 12, 2013 · 8:05 am

Jaffna Managers Forum on Finances and Economic Development for the Northern Provincial Council

veg market- north -S-Observer M. Sooriasegaram, for the Jaffna Managers’ Forum, 13 November 2013

In light of the opening created by the provincial elections after twenty five years in the North and the urgent need to address the continuing economic problems after the war, the Jaffna Managers Forum held the first in a series of public discussions on 10th November 2013. The discussion titled, ‘Northern Provincial Council: Finances and Economic Development’, was well attended by people from various professions and perspectives. The Jaffna Managers Forum and the participants decided to convey the salient points of the discussion to the Chief Minister and Councillors of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) and the public at large. Continue reading →

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November 12, 2013 · 12:54 am

G. C. Mendis: A Sound Historian of the Old School

Kalasuri Wilfred Gunasekara, reprinted from Daily News, 28 October 1999, where the title is “Dr. G. C.Mendis – one  of Sri Lanka’s pioneer scientific historians”

GC MENDISTwenty three years ago on October 26, 1976 passed away a great pioneer in Sri Lanka’s history. I was associated with Dr. Mendis for 43 years and more closer when he was a livewire of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (now Royal Asiatic Society (SL). There was a time when Dr. Colvin R de Silva wrote a book, Ceylon Under the British Occupation 1795-1833; its political, administrative and economic development. It was written when he was in prison. Reading its proofs was entrusted to Dr .G.C. Mendis. He sought my assistance to go through the proofs. It was an intellectual pleasure when we went through the proofs. Continue reading →

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