Tragic Story of a ”War refugee separated from her 3 Children”
The ethnic battle continues to rage back and forth; the insurgency may have been defeated, but conflict remains in the form of words and increasingly polarised ideologies. Yet, in the midst of these vociferous exchanges, who can hear the IDPs themselves; the ones who have been firmly planted into a situation that is the direct result of a conflict they have no say in?
Tamil’s will never get anything from Sri Lankan State Terrorists – Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam
“Tamils should be vigilant of President Mahinda Rajapakse’s intentions. He says that there is no minority race in the country but only a majority race. It is clear that his intention is to assimilate the Tamil race into the Majority Sinhala race in Sri Lanka,” Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district parliamentarian, told TamilNet Saturday in an interview in Jaffna.
“Unified Tamil voice is the need of hour for Independent Tamil Eelam”
While the Sri Lankan state and its allies are relieved that the war is over in Eelam, the Tamils and their allies are in deep shock as to what will happen in the next phase of the LTTE proclaimed political/diplomatic struggle. After the LTTE leader’s decision to silence their guns, the LTTE leadership has not come out publicly to speak in front of the Tamils.
Life during peacetime: With Sri Lanka’s war over, there is no excuse for anti-Tamil policies
During the recent military campaign in Sri Lanka, this newspaper was broadly sympathetic to the Sri Lankan government’s goal of confronting and subduing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers), the guerilla-cum-terrorist force seeking to carve out a Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.
On Sri Lanka, As UN’s Ban Speaks of IDPs’ Comfort, UN Dismissive of Abductions
UN's Ban on July 29, tortured UN staff and dismissive advisor(s) not shown
While UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had said he would closely monitor Sri Lanka’s compliance with the commitments made while he was there in May, for example to release by the end of the year 80% of the 280,000 Tamils it has detained, and to end impunity, the UN and Mr. Ban have had little to nothing to say on these topics in last two weeks.
do Indian High Commissioners dread to come to SL?
India’s High Commissioner (HC) to Sri Lanka (SL) , Alok Prasad had to leave SL even before his official term was over. It is reported that India’s Foreign Ministry is placed in a deep quandary, for there is no one to take over as the Indian HC to SL after Alok Prasad. The reason for this is, many of them who were nominated to take over the post have expressed reluctance to come to SL.
What are the fundamentals for the next phase of our struggle?
In these pages last week I had stated, our liberation movement had concluded that applying pressures through political and diplomatic means to achieve the national liberation of the people of Tamil Eelam were the most practical and strongest ways forward.
The urgency of bearing witness: Conflict may be over, not the battle to reach victims
First they were captives of a conflict in which their freedom and security was thwarted at every turn. Now huge numbers of the Tamil population of Sri Lanka find themselves trapped again, unseen for the most part and wholly unprotected, says the Medical Foundation for the care of victims of torture (www.torturecare.org).
India encircled by China’s string of pearls?
Many in India believe that Beijing is building special relationships with India’s old foe Pakistan and Sri Lanka and is extending its reach down the Indian Ocean.
China’s ‘String of Pearls’ strategy seems to be surrounding India and has given food for thought to many in New Delhi for quite some time now.
War Without End
The guns have fallen silent in Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war, but the deep wounds of ethnic animosity have not even begun to heal. An estimated 300,000 Tamil civilians remain essentially prisoners in internment camps run by a Sinhalese-dominated government.
To begin easing the deep mistrust between the communities, donor countries will have to pressure the government to be as serious about securing a just peace as it was earlier this year about winning the war.
