Under Scrutiny: FIRE AND STORM reviewed by Sanderatne

Nimal Sanderatne, courtesy of Groundviews … http://groundviews.org/2013/04/17/review-of-fire-and-storm-by-michael-roberts/

     When Michael Roberts left Peradeniya in the late seventies, he was part of an exodus of intellectuals from the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, arguably one of the best universities at that time. The exodus of academics at that time was compelled by the economic difficulties faced by university dons. It was the second wave of such emigration that diminished the intellectual life of the university and country. The Arts Faculty of the University of Peradeniya never regained its prestigious academic status after that. Today the University of Peradeniya cannot take pride in intellectuals of the eminence of E.F.C. Ludowyck, E.R Sarachchandra, H.A.de S. Gunasekera, Fr. Ignatius Pinto, Ian Van den Driesen and many others.

A Missing Person in Sri Lanka: Heartfelt Issues & Ground Realities

Michael Roberts, Courtesy of Groundviews, where it appeared on Wednesday last

When I was in Sri Lanka from mid-April to early June 2009 I was on holiday with my wife and not able to pursue investigations in any depth. In contrast my sojourn in May-June 2010 focused on a range of studies and travels. One gem of a life-story surfaced near my second home in Wellawatte when I was able to chat with a domestic servant at a Tamil house nearby, a lady who had been through the crucible of Eelam War in the Vanni Pocket. I shall call her Sambandhi. She was a wizened wiry soul who had survived the war together with husband, but (1) had one daughter killed by shrapnel; (2) one son (who was then aged c. 21) hospitalized in mid-2009 with the loss of one eye and injuries to face and other eye;[1] and (3) was wracked with pain because one of her sons had been conscripted by the LTTE and was missing. Khimera is the pseudonym I shall place on this son, a young man born in 1983 and aged circa 26 in 2009.

Prisoners of the Past — says Dayan Jayatilleka

Elmo Jayawardane, reviewing Dayan Jayatilleka: Long War, Cold Peace

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka has not stopped at merely hitting the nail on the head; he’s gone a lot deeper! The man has taken a Black and Decker and drilled the skull of the reader and carefully pushed in 498 pages of faction and action (shameful and laudable) that relate to our “Long War” of almost three decades.

It is a timely publication too. The International Tambourine Men gathered in Geneva flaunting their lily white innocence in attempts to barbecue us. At least, we the ordinary habitants of this land should know how the cookie crumbled while we suffered the consequences of divisibility for thirty grisly years. Of course the ‘mea culpa’ rests with none other than the leadership. They festered the wound of ethnic divide and titillated political maggots that nearly annihilated us as a nation. We need to know some truths that have been gagged and swept under the carpets by both sides, ably assisted by the good Samaritans who sat on the third seat preaching negotiated peace. ‘Long War, Cold Peace’ is the answer. Dr. Dayan is punching hard, in a ring where he knows the rules, and he is not holding anything back. There is a good possibility that the book may take him to the mouth of a long menacing serpent in the political game of ‘Snakes and Ladders.” But then, with his historically valuable contribution in ‘Long war, Cold peace’, he will walk tall among people who really matter. 

The UN hacks off its own toes

Kath Noble, courtesy of the Island, 21 November 2012, where the title is “The UN’s plan for making white people feel better”

Last week I felt like I had been transported back in time. We were back in those awful first six months of 2009, when I was by turns horrified at the plight of the people caught up in the fighting in the Vanni and disgusted with the way in which the international community was responding.

Of course, we all wanted to stop the war. I hate violence. But as I argued then and continue to believe, at that point, the only way the war was going to stop was with the defeat of the LTTE. Prabhakaran would not give up on Eelam. He was going to continue his vicious campaign against the Sri Lankan state and all its communities until he was caught or killed. Our task, therefore, was to minimise the damage. We had to try to ensure that it was done with as little death and destruction as possible.

Reflecting on the LTTE Crimes in the North-East

Noel Nadesan, in the Daily News, 17 & 18 October 2012**

After my recent visit to Mullativu I came away with the distinct feeling that the Tamil leadership is playing the same old game of the three proverbial monkeys: see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. As usual they are playing the same old game of pointing the finger at the others with the sole objective of trying to pass the buck to others. The latest victim in the blame game is Erik Solheim. No other figure in the international community went out of their way to defend the Tamils better than Solheim.

Australia! Australia! Land of Hope and Fantasy for Tamil Refugees in India

Alana Rosenbaum, in The Age, 17 October 2012, where the title reads “Australia bound ….at any cost”… Note Web Editor’s Comments at End

Nothing will stop Sri Lankan Tamils from boarding boats in search of a better life. Risking everything for an Australian dream Tens of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees have fled to safety in neighbouring India, so why are so many prepared to risk their lives once again? IN KARAN’S recurring nightmare, a great wave sweeps his teenage children overboard and he watches as they drown. He knows he should dive in after them, but he feels paralysed and all he can do is fumble with the straps and buckles of his life vest in a vain attempt to secure it. Before he can rescue them, he is awake and drenched in perspiration. Karan’s eyes moisten as he recalls his nightmare. Thankfully, his children are alive and well and never even came close to drowning, but the treacherous voyage is more than just a figment of his unconscious. On August 28, he boarded a fishing boat in the south-west Indian port of Mangalore with his wife, children and 49 other Sri Lankan refugees. Its GPS was set for Christmas Island, but the vessel never got there.

Misreading and Distorting the Sri Lankan War, 2009-2012

Michael Roberts 25 May 2012

The recent UNHRC resolution sponsored by USA and directed at the government of Sri Lanka was the culmination of a campaign that began during the last stages of Eelam War IV. Since 2010 articulate circles in the West have been convinced that there had been “40,000 civilian deaths” during this phase. In contrast Rohan Gunaratna asserted that there were 1400 civilian deaths, of which 200 were inflicted by the LTTE. Both calculations are erroneous. Estimates provided by three moderate Tamils who have had regular access to the Tamil personnel who were on the ground indicate that the death toll, inclusive of Tamil Tiger personnel, was in the range 10,000 to 16,000, in circumstances where it was impossible to differentiate in all cases between those Tiger, those recently conscripted as auxiliaries and those truly civilian.

 Tamils streaming across Nandikadal Lagoon probably late April–Pic by AFP

It is towards the clarification of these specific circumstances and a criticism of the claims presented by a variety of human rights agencies, moral crusaders and media engines that this essay is directed. The campaign has been sustained by a mixture of lies and half-truths amidst truths, compounded further by a wilful blindness to the manner in which the LTTE utilised the Tamil populace in its domain as labour pool, protective shield and bargaining chip meant to induce a ”humanitarian intervention.” The massaging of death toll figures, therefore, is just one facet of a massive propaganda heist.

Blackmail during the Endgame in Eelam War IV

Michael Roberts,13 April 2012 … courtesy Eurasia Review, where you will find blog comments. Also see Colombo Telegraph for a different set of comments. The essay here has some embellishments and refinements.

Blackmailing Sri Lanka, 2009

The long and episodic war between the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) and the Tamil liberation forces commanded by the LTTE from the 1980s to 2009 involved numerous atrocities on both sides, notably those in the Eastern Province in 1990. It is puzzling why, today, certain Western states and the human rights lobby (HR) are concentrating solely on the crunch situation in 2009 at the end of Eelam War IV in pressing alleged war crimes charges against the Sri Lankan government; and why symbolic LTTE figures such as V. Rudrakumaran and Adele Balasingham are also not being placed within the bars of moral justice.

 David Miliband with Tamils for Labour

he puzzle serves as a backdrop for my argument that the Western nations, both individually and collectively, were sucked into and thus complicit in one of the most outstanding acts of political blackmail the world has seen in recent centuries.[i] This was when the LTTE utilised its own people, some 320-350,000 citizens of Thamilīlam as a hostage-bargaining chip that would enable them to pursue their fight another day.

Guided by their well-placed connections in media and other circles in the West, the LTTE had read the international scene well. Strands of secular fundamentalism had prominent voice and humanitarian impulses[ii] could be persuaded

No Worries Machan! We have WIMAL on our side!

Namini Wijedasa, on “The Sri Lankan Hero” … in a Sandesa to GOD

Dear God,

These are terrible times. They say someone at the Central Bank mucked up the economy. There is a balance of payments crisis. Investment hasn’t taken off. We are heavily indebted. If the rupee sinks any lower, God, we will have to ask the Chinese to do something about it. After all, the Chinese are pretty much the only ones doing anything about our problems.

An Angry Sinhalese: Mahinda Gunasekera’s Protest to the Canadian Houses of Parliament

Mahinda Gunasekera, 11 January 2012**

Submission to the House of Commons Sub-Committee on Human Rights re Sri Lanka

84 Tambrook Drive, Agincourt, Ontario,  M1W 3L9, Tel. (416)4980783

Mr. Scott Reid, MP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Assington, Chair of the House of Commons Sub-Committee on Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International  Development,and the other members of the Sub-Committee on Human Rights

Honourable Members of the House of Commons Sub-Committee on Human Rights,

Submission on the Human Rights situation in Sri Lanka: Further to my letters e-mailed to Ms. Miriam Burke, Clerk to the Sub-Committee on Human Rights with copy to Mr. Scott Reid, MP, Chair of the House of Commons Sub-Committee on Human Rights on November 24, 2011, December 1, 2011 and December 12, 2011, seeking an opportunity to appear before the Sub-Committee especially due to the fact that I was proceeding on a six week holiday to Sri Lanka from January 12, 2012.  I am now submitting my views pertaining to the period of the conflict in Sri Lanka which was decisively ended by the military defeat of the fighting forces of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an organization designated as an international terrorist movement banned by 32 countries including Canada, by the armed forces of the duly elected Government of Sri Lanka on May 18, 2009.

I am the President of the Sri Lanka United National Association of Canada, which is a Non-Profit Community Association which has functioned since 1983 bringing an alternative viewpoint on Sri Lankan affairs to the elected parliamentarians, media and general public of Canada.  Our association represents Canadians of Sri Lankan origin from all ethnic, religious and other backgrounds with the majority of the members coming from the Sinhalese community, who have made Canada their adopted homeland.