Without having read all the posts here in detail except for having browsed over there, I am tempted to post two links from the latest issue of countercurrents, with the hope that our concerns be pushed a little ahead.
1. Genocide of Tamils : UN Action Appalling By Dr C P Thiagarajah http://www.countercurrents.org/thiagarajah170409.htm The Tamil race had come to their low ebb of their endurance. Unless this genocide is stopped forthwith under power vested under UN charter 39-42 military measures it will be another blot on the current century 2. Sri Lanka: Politics of Perceptions By Chandi Sinnathruai http://www.countercurrents.org/sinnathurai170409.htm Tamils have to face the reality rather than engaging in mere play with words. Iyakkam cannot stand still nor can it become stagnant. It ought to be taking steps to stand in the gap, regain its moral force, and take full political charge. Even that were to mean, politics of forgiveness and healing of memories. A liberation movement must have within its capacity to engage not only in politics but also in statesmanship. And to this end the Tamils must rise up! On Apr 18, 11:23 pm, damodar prasad <[email protected]> wrote: > The challenges of solidarity > > Th*e urgent need in Sri Lanka is a resolution to the humanitarian crisis and > strong pressure to stop government attacks on minorities, argues Ahilan > Kadirgamar. But solidarity has to be pluralist, he emphasises, recognising > the brutality of the Tamil Tigers and avoiding the polarisation or > marginalisation of the country’s diverse communities..* > > http://www.redpepper.org.uk/The-challenges-of-solidarity > > 2 more articles in this section on focus on Lanka. > > > > On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 6:03 PM, Bobby Kunhu <[email protected]> wrote: > > AfthabI think the answer for lack of responses is provided in Nirmala's > > article itself viz. the role of the tamil diaspora. what is termed as LTTE's > > past mistakes was a full blown war by itself. I have personally lost friends > > who have belonged to other tamil separatist outfits like TELO to LTTE > > bullets in TN - LTTE did not even spare academic voices like neelan > > thiruchelvam when the voices were critical of them. In that context, the > > tamil situation in sri lanka is rather tragic caught between a genocidal > > government and fascist liberator > > > 2009/4/18 Afthab Ellath <[email protected]> > > > I have gone through the comments below this articles on > >>www.opendemocracy.net<http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/the-tamil-diaspora-solidarities-...>and > >> haven't seen a genuine Tamil voice in that thread supporting the views > >> of Nirmala, through some of them criticize LTTE for some of its "mistakes" > >> in the past... So what makes you believe that Roy is off the mark while > >> Nirmala is on the mark ? > > >> Afthab Ellath > > >> On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 11:10 AM, devika Jayakumari > >> <[email protected]>wrote: > > >>> I do think Roy is seriously off the mark on Sril lanka. Not that the SL > >>> govt's war is forgivable; but the other side is equally disturbing. > > >>> The last thing SL Tamils want is the acceptance of LTTE as their > >>> representative. Nirmala Rajasingham's piece, to my mind, has a more > >>> focused > >>> and political perspective. I've copied it below. It is on > > >>>http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/the-tamil-diaspora-solidarities-... > > >>> The Tamil diaspora: solidarities and realities > >>> Nirmala Rajasingam > > >>> The Tamils abroad mobilising in response to events in Sri Lanka need to > >>> face difficult truths about the political narratives and forces that have > >>> contributed to their compatriots' plight, says Nirmala Rajasingam. > >>> 15 - 04 - 2009 > >>> The Sri Lankan Tamil community may not be the largest of the diaspora > >>> communities represented in London or other such greatly diverse cities > >>> around the world, but the numbers and conviction they have mobilised in > >>> recent days to highlight the plight of their brethren at home have been > >>> exceptional. The demonstrations by Tamils in the centres of London, > >>> Toronto > >>> and other cities have been spectacular, defiant and spirited displays of > >>> grief and anger: men, women, and many young people have gathered with > >>> colourful flags and banners, staged sit-ins, and chanted slogans, while > >>> several of their number have promised to fast unto death. > >>> Their slogans are simple: "Genocide!", "Pirapaharan is our leader!", and > >>> "We want Tamil Eelam!". These references to the leader of the Liberation > >>> Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the aspiration to an independent state in > >>> northern Sri Lanka are accompanied by the touting of images of this figure > >>> and the waving of flags showing the Tiger emblem. Several parliamentarians > >>> in Britain and Canada have voiced support for the demonstrators. > >>> The humanitarian situation in parts of northern Sri Lanka - especially in > >>> the narrow strip of land around Mullaitivu - is indeed desperate, as the > >>> Sri > >>> Lankan army's advances have continued and as they lay siege to LTTE > >>> redoubts > >>> where approximately 100,000 civilians are confined - the latest stage of a > >>> long war that has persisted since 1983 (see "Sri Lanka's displaced: the > >>> political vice", 8 April 2009). > >>> The cries of genocide have risen with the intensification of the military > >>> campaign and a sharp turn for the worse in the fortunes of the Tamil > >>> Tigers. > >>> They have spread too beyond the official Tiger propaganda stream (radio, > >>> TV > >>> and newspapers); the blood-splattered images and messages have inundated > >>> cyberspace: via Facebook and YouTube and other cyberspace outlets, via a > >>> torrent of emails, the drenching claim is simple, direct and frightening: > >>> genocide. This campaign has mobilised even those who had never been > >>> politically involved before. > >>> The sorrows of commitment > >>> The genocide alert is at heart about the trapped civilians in Mullaitivu. > >>> But the truth about the horrific circumstances in which civilians are > >>> stranded there is not stated in full. They are caught between two armies, > >>> each of which seeks to use them as pawns in this war. The government > >>> forces > >>> have shown no inhibition in bombing and shelling indiscriminately into > >>> crowded civilian areas, schools and hospitals as long as their military > >>> objective of crushing the Tigers is achieved. But the civilians are dying > >>> not only as a result of such bombardments or in crossfire; for credible > >>> reports indicate that Tigers are not allowing civilians to move out of the > >>> line of fire and escape to government-controlled areas, and may be going > >>> further to prevent attempts to flee. > >>> It has long been established that many children have been forcibly > >>> recruited into the ranks of the Tigers, and that such cadres are > >>> forewarned > >>> that their families would be wiped out if they surrender. Now, as the > >>> Tigers' military situation becomes more and more desperate, the logic of > >>> their own anti-civilian approach is apparent: for the Tamil civilian > >>> presence now provides the only chance of ensuring the Tiger leadership's > >>> survival. > >>> It is striking, however, that in all the demonstrations not a single cry, > >>> slogan or placard seems to demand that the Tigers should let the civilians > >>> go or cease their own assaults on them. The silence of the diaspora > >>> community on this issue is deafening. The general support for the Tamils' > >>> cause has in the public arena collapsed into one soundbite. There is no > >>> recognition in these demonstrations of the fact that the military > >>> objectives > >>> of the LTTE are no longer reconcilable with the safety of the trapped > >>> civilians. There is a disjunction between propaganda and reality here that > >>> reflects the way the logic of Tamil Tiger propaganda has become > >>> internalised > >>> by much of the diaspora. This does nothing to help Sri Lankan Tamils. > >>> Such spectacular demonstrations have the potential to send a powerful > >>> message to the international community about the true nature of the > >>> predicament of the trapped civilians. Why then do the demonstrators fail > >>> to > >>> highlight this. Why have they not also raised their voices against Tiger > >>> atrocities as well as the government's? Why do they elide the horrifying > >>> predicament of the civilians with the political interest of the Tigers? > >>> What makes these questions even more pertinent is that the huge > >>> demonstrations in the west that endorse the LTTE are in direct opposition > >>> to > >>> the waning popular support for the LTTE amongst Tamils in Sri Lanka > >>> itself. > >>> The eastern region of Sri Lanka where many Tamils live - and which has > >>> lost > >>> far more of its young people and children in this war than any other Tamil > >>> region - has largely abandoned support for an independent state. The > >>> Jaffna > >>> peninsula in the north has been largely uninvolved for more than a decade > >>> or > >>> so in the separatist cause; there, the vast majority of civilians have > >>> submitted to uneasy cohabitation with the army simply because amid > >>> available > >>> options, they prefer an absence of war. The LTTE's cynical and callous use > >>> of civilians for its war effort has also over the years undermined its > >>> status within the Tamil population in Sri Lanka. > >>> There are other considerations absent from the demonstrators' concerns. > >>> The escalating military campaigns have placed great pressure on civilians > >>> for months, yet there have been no demonstrations to highlight the plight > >>> of > >>> those commandeered to retreat and follow the Tigers in the wake of > >>> government army advances - for example, those from the Mannar area in the > >>> western part of the northern province, who had to follow the trail of the > >>> Tiger retreat all the way across the Vanni jungles to their current pocket > >>> on the eastern coast of the Vanni. Many of these civilians had been > >>> corralled out of Jaffna at gunpoint by the LTTE in 1995 during the first > >>> big > >>> and enforced Pol-Pot-style exodus. > >>> The frenzied demonstrations have begun only when the military defeat of > >>> the LTTE appears a real prospect. Again, the confusion between > >>> humanitarian > >>> protest and political solidarity with the LTTE is evident. But this still > >>> leaves open the question: what explains the widespread support that the > >>> LTTE > >>> enjoys in the diaspora despite its declining fortunes in Sri Lanka, and > >>> the > >>> atrocities it commits against ordinary Tamil people there? > >>> The political war > >>> The answer to this question lies in part in general conditions > >>> experienced by the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora community, and in part in the > >>> particular role of the LTTE in establishing its political dominance within > >>> it. > >>> The Tamils in the west have like many other migrant communities from the > >>> global south faced racist discrimination, exclusion, social isolation and > >>> economic deprivation. Their search for membership of and integration with > >>> "host" societies is, even in the best of circumstances, > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
