July 26, 2015 · 11:51 am

The Forgotten Muslim IDPs in Sri Lanka

Naalir Jamaldeen, in the Sunday Observer,, 25 July 2015

The Resettlement of Northern Muslim IDPs still remains unresolved. Many factors were attributed for the present status. Several challenges have hindered their resettlement. There was no substantial plan from the Government for their resettlement, a significant part of the land that belonged to Northern Muslims were taken away by the LTTE and given to Tamils during the conflict period and the housing assistance given to the displaced was inefficient, Northern Province Majlish Shoora President S.H.M. Mubarak Moulavi told the Sunday Observer.

The Northern Muslims have the right to come and live in the places from where they have been displaced. Increase in population may also be a cause which hindered their resettlement.muslim IDPS 11

 

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under governance, life stories, sri lankan society, welfare & philanthophy

July 26, 2015 · 8:37 am

Kishali, Narada and Darshanie on Political Issues in Lanka TODAY

I. Kishali Pinto Jayawardene: “Measuring the Maturity of the Sri Lankan Electorate,”  from Sunday Times, 25 July 20 

KISHALIIf Sri Lanka’s political and legal history since independence demonstrates one fact, it is the fundamental dishonesty of those whom we elect to serve us. Even the rare exceptions to this rule have failed to emulate an Ambedkar, a Gandhi or a Nehru whose visions and dreams lifted Indian society from its depths and fashioned an inimitable national spirit which carried that country through decades of communal turmoil. This has been our singular loss.

Lofty sentiments and ugly realities: Insisting on a rights discourse when drafting salient paragraphs of India’s Constitution for instance, Dr Ambedkar warned that ‘for a successful revolution, it is not enough that there is discontent.’ As this bespectacled advocate of the underprivileged observed, there needs to be a profound conviction of precisely what changes we seek, what rights we demand from politicians and collective determination to ensure their outcome. India has done relatively well in that regard. Not so, Sri Lanka. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, cultural transmission, democratic measures, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, welfare & philanthophy

July 24, 2015 · 3:13 pm

Targeting Lanka by Playing Ball with Tamil Extremism: 2008-14

Michael Roberts, courtesy of Groundviews, where the title is slightly different. The original essay was presented at the 9th International Convention of Asian Scholars held in Adelaide from 5-9th July 2015 and was therefore designed as a 15-minute presentation. Hyperlinks, maps, citations and bibliographical references have been inserted in this version, while pictorial illustrations, with the exception of Fig 1,  are in a supplementary appendix. Footnotes have been kept to a minimum.

 The emergence and sharpening of Tamil nationalism from the 1940s to the 1980s is a complex tale which cannot be easily summarized in a few strokes. It is a tale of Sinhala extremism at one pole and Tamil extremism at the other pole feeding off each other. At the same time, the divisions within each extreme (that is, the existence of several competing parties with chauvinist positions) disabled steps towards moderation. Moreover, this major strand of political contestation – the Sinhala/Tamil divide — was complicated by strands of Leftist and Naxalite thinking that encouraged both Sinhalese and Tamil youth to move towards revolutionary struggle.

The growth of a number of Tamil militant groups in the 1970s and 1980s was facilitated by (a) the proximity of India, (b) the support of Tamil politicians, smugglers and fishermen in Tamilnadu and (c) the support of the central government in Delhi from July 1983 – so that most of the militant groups were able to sustain military training camps in India from late 1983 to 1987

03= no 17--VP_+_five_at_Camp-Ponnamma_2Fig. 1. LTTE commanders at their training camp in Sirimalai, northern India —Pic from Rohan Gunaratna, 1997

Continue reading →

8 Comments

Filed under accountability, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, doctoring evidence, Eelam, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, news fabrication, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, unusual people, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

July 24, 2015 · 1:53 pm

World War One in Australia via The Journal of Australian Studies — A Commemoration

AUSTRALIAN STUDIES -CommemorationThis commemorative issue of The Journal of Australian Studies (JAS) marks the 100-year anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign by revisiting a series of published articles that considered why and how we commemorate Anzac, what we remember, and what is of enduring relevance. The nineteen articles selected for inclusion in this virtual special issue are all available, free-access, via this site until the end of 2015.

The following links offer an introduction to the collection along with an original essay by Australian military-social historian Peter Stanley, which historically and intellectually frames the articles. Contributor notes, as well as a bibliography that serves as a reference guide to further World War One scholarship published by the journal from 1978 to the present, are also provided below.

Contributor Notes

Introduction from Alexandra Dellios and Katherine McCabe

“Australians and the Great War”: An essay by Professor Peter Stanley

Extended Bibliography

Peter-Stanley

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

July 24, 2015 · 11:34 am

Sacrificial Death in the Confirmation of Australian Nationhood

Richard A. Koenigsberg, whose essay is entitled “Warfare, Sacrificial Death and Memorialization” in its original version for an international audience at http://www.libraryofsocialscience.com/newsletter/posts/2015/2015-5-26-commemoration1.html — itself part of a Newsletter series, http://archive.benchmarkemail.com/Library-of-Social-Science

Wars are undertaken based on a structure of thought—a template enacted upon the stage of reality. In the first place—in order for a war to occur—there must be an “enemy:” a particular group or class of people imagined to be seeking to harm or to destroy one’s nation and its sacred values. Identification of this dangerous or threatening enemy generates the belief that it may be necessary to wage war—to defeat this enemy that threatens the existence of one’s nation.

Waging war requires engaging in battle, where some citizens may become casualties. Citizens who die in battle (often soldiers) are said to have made the “supreme sacrifice.” Their sacrificial death is conceived as a gift: they have given their lives to their country—so that the nation might live.

anzac memorials ANZAC Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney

Subsequent to a war (or during it—as was the case in the First World War), a nation may create monuments—whose purpose is to preserve the memory of soldiers who have “given their lives” in the process of fighting for or defending the nation. Gravestones memorialize or symbolize the dead soldiers who have sacrificed their lives. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Australian culture, British colonialism, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, military strategy, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, psychological urges, self-reflexivity, world events & processes, World War One

July 22, 2015 · 1:56 pm

Ban Ki-Moon as handmaiden of USA?

Dharshan Weerasekera  Anonymous providing a summary & review of Dharshan Weerasekera’s  book The UN’s subversion of international law : The Sri Lanka Story

A Sri Lankan attorney has attempted to put together a case study that depicts a very sinister move by the UN to subvert international laws and create precedents that would detrimentally affect other nations as well. Taking the reports of the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts, the Human Rights Council as well as the Human Rights Commissioners oral reports and recommendations, Dharshan Weerasekera shows that not only is there an illegality involved in the manner three resolutions led to a call for an international investigation but highlights how resolutions and reports that started out being about the last phase of the war ended up maligning Sri Lanka on a plethora of non-conflict related other matters that should have been dealt through the other UN systems in existence. Dharshan presents a solid case for a Sri Lankan citizen to pursue legal action against the UN, the UN Human Rights Council and the Human Rights Commissioner for the subversion of justice and international laws.

SRILANKA-UNREST-UN-BAN...U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (r) is greeted by IDPs (Internaly Displaced Percons) as he visits Manik Farm in Sri Lanka on May 23, 2009. Just days after Colombo declared victory over Tamil Tiger, he toured the sprawling Menik Farm camp, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Colombo, which was jammed with civilians who had fled the war zone. AFP PHOTO/JOE KLAMAR (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

SRILANKA-UNREST-UN-BAN…U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (r) is greeted by IDPs (Internaly Displaced Percons) as he visits Manik Farm in Sri Lanka on May 23, 2009. Just days after Colombo declared victory over Tamil Tiger, he toured the sprawling Menik Farm camp, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Colombo, which was jammed with civilians who had fled the war zone.
AFP PHOTO/JOE KLAMAR (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, governance, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, war crimes, world events & processes

July 22, 2015 · 1:44 am

Tamil Tigers arrested in southern India

Press Trust of India, 21 July 2015

One of the two Sri Lankan Tamils arrested last night along with communication gadgets and cyanide in the district has been identified as Krishnakumar, a close associate of slain LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran, police said today. Sleuths from Intelligence Bureau, Tamil Nadu ‘Q Branch’ Police, and Special Intelligence Unit were now interrogating the LTTE militant, arrested along with two others during a routi ..

On Monday 20th ex LTTE close associate of Prabakaran and secretary to LTTE leader was arrested by the “Q” branch, when he travelled from Trichy to Ramanathapuram. He was caught with the following: Possession of Krishna Kumar was 75 Cyanide capsules, 300 grams Cyanide, 4 GPS, 8 Mobile phones. 42,200 Indian Rupees and 19,300 SL rupees were confiscated.

Sasikumar was driving the car plus additional two people were inside the car. One is Krishna Kumar (39), and the other Rajendran (44) Krishna Kumar has been isolated and been interrogated. Krishna Kumar is from Alaveddy near Tellipalai.

During the final war, several LTTE cadre left the country and assembled in TN. He has been living in KK Town in Trichy. He is been kept in a special cell and interrogated. It is believed that he was planning to leave for SriLanka by illegal boat. It is also presumed that he may have planned to take the Cyanide capsules to LTTE cadre in Jaffna. It is also assumed that LTTE may be planning to resurrect in SL.

Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/48164939.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

detained-sri-lankan-national-close-aide-of-ltte-chief-police Police said all coastal districts in the state had been alerted to monitor for movement of members of LTTE and checkposts asked to be extra vigilant.
ALSO SEE

* Roberts: “The Induction Oath of Tamil Tiger Fighters at their Passing Out Ceremony,” 23 June 2014, https://thuppahis.com/2014/06/23/the-induction-oath-of-tamil-tiger-fighters-at-their-passing-out-ceremony/

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Indian Ocean politics, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, prabhakaran, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, suicide bombing, Tamil Tiger fighters, vengeance, zealotry

July 18, 2015 · 3:07 pm

From Frying Pan to Carnival in Sri Lanka! The Political Circus that is Sri Lankan Democracy

18 July 2015, Elmo Jayawardena, whose preferred title title is “Oh what a circus Oh what a shame!”

ELMO J--GV PICNo this is not Argentina that has gone to town, but good old Sri Lanka, my beloved home land. Only thing missing is a flamboyant Evita to come and sing the haunting ‘Don’t cry for me’ to complete the carnival. The day has dawned again for the political leaders to gather and discuss who should represent the swans, bells, elephants, betel leaves, weighing scales and such symbols and we the minions like fools await the dawn of reckoning on 17th August. Man! I am even scared to write the who’s who of this situation as things change like monsoon skies and many a modern day Humpty Dumpty gets toppled from the wall. But there is a difference, all the King’s men in this fairy tale are putting all the Humpty Dumpties together again.

Let us ponder a while about this mega comedy called politics. Where is the corruption that was spoken of in the loudest decibels and flashed in brilliant neon before the January regime change? What happened to the billions that were supposed to have been stashed overseas and who drove away the flashy Lamborghinis? What about those who did not settle debts to the Air Force for joy rides in helicopters? This report was called for and that inquiry got completed, they came, they saw and nothing was conquered, and everything slid out like drain water. COPE findings and Weliamuna conclusions, man! Didn’t we really ‘go around the mulberry bush’ to cleanse the country? Sannasgala interviews with hopes eternal and sastharakarayas barbecued for wrong predictions and all that rigmarole of change, what happened? A hundred days was ear-marked to incubate a ‘born again’ new Sri Lanka. Where did it all end? Oh what a circus, oh what a shame?

CIRCUS 22 Pic from circus.com  devil-dancerPic from www.thesrilankatravelblog.com Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, constitutional amendments, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, unusual people, world affairs

July 14, 2015 · 12:11 am

Greece and EU are Off the Hook: How Events Unfolded

It is a slow day in a little Greek Village. The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted.

Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the village, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under taking the piss, the imaginary and the real, world events & processes

July 13, 2015 · 1:12 pm

Political Convolutions in Sri Lanka Today: Perspectives from Hariharan and Jehan Perera

mahinda-rajapaksa-vs-maithripala-sirisena

ONE: “Mahinda’s return as PM: Not yet a done deal”  —  by Col. Hariharan, courtesy of Times of India, 13 July 2015

Unfazed by his surprise defeat in the last presidential polls, Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapaksa appears to be back with a bang on the nation’s political centre stage with the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) coalition nominating him to contest the August 17parliamentary election. as a candidate. Six months ago, when Rajapaksa went into a sulk after his  defeat, nobody would have imagined that he would bounce back so soon and so strongly with the support of UPFA.

His nomination ended weeks of suspense, as his bête noire President Maithripala Sirisena, chief of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), tried to persuade the party, the UPFA coalition and even Mahinda to prevent the latter’s comeback. But Rajapaksa seems to have made up his mind, well before political manoevures began, to contest the election with or without SLFP support as the anti-corruption bodies were making life miserable for him and his siblings. But no one, probably not even Mahinda, was certain of the UPFA nominating him. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, communal relations, democratic measures, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, life stories, modernity & modernization, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society