News Update - 20051115
*** Topics: History of Elections and Governmental Policies/Pacts; News Round-up ***
What follows are links to different articles of all different types. As always, read what you can now, and leave the rest for later. The most important thing is that we continue to educate ourselves on what we don't know, however gradual it may be.
** History of Elections and Governmental Policies/Pacts:
The Nov. 17, 2005 elections are less than two days away and counting. Campaigns have ended, since they are forbidden within 48 hours of the polls. Anything can happen, though, at the last minute, as has occurred in the past.
To understand the Tamil perspective on the history of electoral politics in the island during post-independent times, and why they claim that this election makes no difference to them, I leave it to others to sum it up best.
http://www.sangam.org/taraki/articles/2005/11-14_Political_Ideology_in_Sri_Lanka_AntiTamil.php
Brian Senewiratne is a Sinhalese who recognizes the justice in the Tamil quest for autonomy as well as the path that is has taken and continues on. His analysis articles are accurate and matter-of-fact. Here, he recounts the history since independence, and gives a message to all Tamils around the world about the elections.
http://www.tamilnation.org/forum/sivaram/041010.htm
A short article written by Taraki ( a.k.a. D. Sivaram) just more than a year ago about the broken promises of the ruling elites among the Sinhalese. (Taraki was above and beyond any other journalist in the island, not just for his amazing political insight but his amazing military insight and broad knowledge of the history of both. He was assassinated only 6 months ago, but his insights still teach us a lot about the fundamentals and motivations for everything.)
http://www.tamilnation.org/books/Eelam/devotta1.htm
This article is somewhat long and highly academic in analyzing (accurately, I would say) the root cause for the ethnic is the way the Sri Lankan government is structured. It includes a sufficient amount of the history and politics to cover the entire post-1948 history decently, but it maintains an anthropologist's style of writing.
** News Round-up:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2005/11/051111_unp_soldiers.shtml
Admission by the government that soldiers were routed by the LTTE during fighting between 1997-2001. This is old news except to southern Sri Lanka, where the news is never told truthfully anyways. The timing of the announcement has to do with the elections, probably.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4420580.stm
Retirement of the government official who headed the government's peace secretariat. He is a candidate to be the next UN Secretary General, but is certainly a long-shot. His true motives for quitting are unclear.
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=16290
As the first 3 articles all point out, the two major parties of Sri Lanka fight back and forth over whether to consider granting a fair deal to the minority groups. However, the few things that they do agree on are: extending the Prevention of Terrorism Act (which is used to justify terrible actions by security forces in the North and East); increasing the defense budget (despite which party at the time happens to claim to support peace); and continuation of the position of the President (because both parties are greedy for the powers of the position, and believe that they can win it at the next elections).
http://www.time.com/time/asia/news/article/0,9754,1129476,00.html (also, http://www.tamilcanadian.com/pageview.php?ID=3580&SID=526 )
http://www.time.com/time/asia/news/article/0,9754,1129475,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/asia/news/article/0,9754,1129473,00.html
The elections made it to this weeks Asian edition of TIME. This is a curious head-to-head-to-head comparison of the views and counter-arguments of each of the main relevant forces regarding the elections.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9937017/site/newsweek/
Perhaps this can be taken as an indicative position of where business-oriented world superpowers's priorties are -- money and peace (for the money to flow better). Things like finding a just solution to end the conflict are secondary, as well as getting all the facts straight.
http://www.sangam.org/taraki/articles/2005/11-14_Telekha_Tigers_Claw.php
Lastly, but certainly not leastly, an interview with a women who works for Voice of the Tigers. It gives an interesting look into the role that women and literature play in the Tamil struggle.