Archive for the ‘Batticaloa’

Voices of Reconciliation Radio – New Content

Tune in and turn up the volume! VOR Radio aims to enhance social, political and cultural cohesion in Sri Lanka through podcasts in Sinhala, Tamil and English with a special focus on civil society initiatives and perspectives on peace, reconciliation and democracy. Some of the latest additions to our growing collection of podcasts from Sri Lanka are: Coastal Rising Young Asia Television (YATV) has brought together district-based teams of journalists and civil society activists in the East and South of Sri Lanka to highlight tsunami recovery from the community perspective. The series draws attention to how citizens, local government, relief agencies and the donor community have risen to the challenge of rebuilding livelihoods and infrastructure along the devastated coast. Click here or search for Coastal Rising on the VOR Radio site to get a wealth of podcasts and content over the past 10 weeks. Mobile talking: Cellphones, Conflict Resolution and Human Rights A podcast with Radio New Internationalist, Australia on…

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Closer Look At Operation To Capture Thoppigala

To recap what has happened recently, 15 LTTE bodies were recovered on 22nd June in Toppigala while the government forces and LTTE both launched heavy artillery and mortar strikes at the front line. Kumburumoolai, Kinnayadi, Meeravodai in Valaichchenai and Chenkaladi army camp were also targeted by LTTE mortar strikes, according to military officials and residents in the area. At the same time the TMVP landed cadres through the Pulipanchchakal Bridge in to the LTTE controlled area. There were confrontations between LTTE and TMVP. A TMVP cadre was injured and the LTTE withdrew from Pulipanchchakal, Ponduwalchenai, and Saaraweli and part of Vahanery south, according to the TMVP. Government forces also landed through the Pullumalai area toward Toppigala LTTE base. Over 65% of LTTE-controlled areas have been captured by the government forces in Batticaloa district up to today, in my opinion, despite military statements that 95% has been captured. The military is now drawing close to Toppigala. However over running Toppigala will…

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අභිෙයා්ග හමුෙවි ඉදිරියට යන ශුි ලංකා කුිකටි

වර්ෂ1996ෙය්දි ඔස්ෙටුිලියාවට එෙරහිව ශුි ලංකාව ලද ෙලා්ක කුසලාන ජයගුහණය දැන් දැන් අපෙග් මතකය අඑත් කරනවා ෙනාඅනුමානයි.ෙමි දිනවල බටහිර ඉන්දිය ෙකාෙදවි දුපත්හි පැවැත්ෙවන 9 වන ෙලා්ක කුසලාන තරගාවලිෙය් අර්ධ අවසන් තරගය සදහා ෙමම මස 24 ෙවනිදා ශුි ලංකාව සහභාගිවන තරගය පැවැත්ෙවන ෙහයිනි. තත්වය ෙමෙස් තිබියදි සුපුරැදු පරිදි ශුිලංකානු කුිකටි කණ්ඩායමට එෙරහිව ෙකරිෙගන යන උද්ෙඝා්ෂණයන් සහ මඩ පුහාරයන් අාරමිභවි තුිබිම අප කවිරැත් පුදුමයට පත් ෙනාවන බව මාෙග් අදහසයි.1995 වර්ෂෙය්දි ඔස්ෙටුිලියාෙවිදි පැවැත්වු ෙබන්සන් ෙහජස් තරගාවලිෙය්දි ඔස්ෙටුිලියානු විනිසුරැ ඩැරල් ෙහයාර් විසින් මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන් පන්දුව දමා ගසන්ෙනක් බව පුකාශ කරන ලදි. අවසානෙය්දි කුිකටි කවුන්සිලය පැවැත්වු පරික්ෂණයකින්්් පසුව මුරලිදරන් නිෙදාස්කරන ලදි.1999 වර්ෂෙය්දි එංගලන්තය ෙටස්ටි තරගයකින් පරාජය කිරිෙමන්පසුව එංගලන්ත පුවත් පත් වලට සහ කුිකටි ෙලා්ලින්ට පින්සිදු වන්නට ශුි ලංකානු කණ්ඩායමට එංගලන්තය සමග ෙටස්ටි තරගාවලියක් සදහා පුථම වරට ෙටස්ටි තරග 03 ක් ලබාදිමට එංගලන්ත කුිකටි පරිපාලනයට සිදුවිය.ෙමි අකාරයට ශුි ලංකානු කුිකටි කණ්ඩායමට එෙරහිව ෙගන ගිය කුමනිතුණයන්ෙගන් සුලු පුමාණයක් පමණි.නමුති ෙවනදාට වඩා ෙමම ගැටලුව ෙවනස් අාකාරයකට ඉදිරියට ෙගනවිත් ශුි ලංකානු කුිඩකයින්ෙග් මානසිකත්වය බිදදැමිමට ගනු ලැබු උත්සහයන් පිළිබද නවතම විස්තරයන්…

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On “traitors” and federalism: Beyond the hypocrisy, towards collaboration

Bear with me and read the following carefully: “The problems of the Tamil community are best known to the Tamils than any others. Any solution to our problems put forward by us should be taken into consideration by the other two communities – the Muslims and the Sinhalese. Furthermore the Tamils problems must have a Tamil solution and not a Sinhalese imposed solution. Even veteran politician Annan (eldest brother) V. Anandasangaree, leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front and senior cabinet Minister Douglas Devananda , leader of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party, too has said time and again that they are for an Indian model. It must be pointed out that today a federated unitary form with secularism enforced vigorously keeps India united, where as a theocratic unitary sectarian government, focusing on majoritarian numerical supremacy in Sri Lanka, has eroded the unity and pushed the country towards the brink of disintegration, dissension and division. It is unfortunate that a section…

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Any More Separation For TMVP?

TMVP is remembering their 3rd year of separation from the LTTE on April 10th 2004 when 175 Karuna cadres, including female cadres, were massacred in Verukal in an attack by the LTTE to prevent the separation. Regarding the separation V. Muralitharan (Karuna amman) has given statement to their web site. “Earlier it was seem as a single person’s problem with the LTTE. Now there is more clarity on the extent of the problem after we got strength through military wise and political wise with support of eastern people”. However they reached this position with help of few cadres and supporters. Now the situation is that those cadres are being sidelined and being dominate by some others. After the separation TMVP had only around 30 cadres. 5 to 10 carders were very confident and trust among them by Karuna. In the beginning he lost his trusted 6 cadres in a shooting incident in Colombo Kottawa in 2004. They were senior and…

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Whiter justice? – The killing of Thillainayagam Theeban

Photo credit: Video Image, Sri Lanka Media Helping Media features a poignant submission by Nalaka Gunawardene on the murder of Thillainayagam Theeban. As noted in the article: Theeban, 16 at the time of his death, was one of eight survivor children in four Asian countries that TVE Asia Pacific tracked for one year under the Children of Tsunami regional media project. Theeban’s life story, as framed by Nalaka is deeply moving and bespeaks of the plight of many other children in the North and East after the tsunami, and caught up in violent conflict. It also calls to question the effectiveness of aid to the tsunami affected communities (read the Lessons We Never Learn, written for the 2nd commemoration of the tsunami, that asks some searing questions on similar lines). Nalaka’s article is important for another reason. Questioning the oft stated goal of journalism – to be “objective”, Nalaka avers that: Journalism with empathy was far preferable to the cold…

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Security Forces North & East Operations

Civilians are returning to government-controlled areas on a mass scale and are fleeing LTTE territory, while the main goal of the government is to wipe out LTTE from the eastern area. This is because the east was a stronghold of the LTTE and V. Prabhakaran’s dream was to make Trincomalee the capital of Eelam. Artillery fire power has now been divided into three sectors to target the LTTE in Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara. Artillery fire is being accurately positioned using mathematical systems to target LTTE camps. This is being done by commandoes and special forces who have infiltrated LTTE areas and are communicating with gunnery points to give accurate targets of LTTE camp locations. Despite LTTE artillery retaliation, LTTE cadres are fleeing camps and going further interior into the jungle. Specialized jungle warfare special commandoes and infantry troops are hunting them down one by one. Tigers fled the Trinco Peraru Camps and LTTE cadres are fleeing to the Welioya region….

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White Vans, Disappearances And Abductions

Lets talk about white vans, disappearances and abductions. How much do people who don’t speak in Tamil know about these subjects, and conversely how much do people who speak in Tamil know about these things? I will get to these odd questions in a bit. Being a Colombo-based Sinhalese person, I found the occasional reference to white vans, in the last year or so, curious but I didn’t come across a clear description of what it was in the media. The media and people I talk to are my only sources of news about the world. My best guess and reaction was “ah, the van was used in an abduction! I wonder why the vehicle was a white van. Don’t people get abducted in blue vans?” Why am I describing my naivety in detail? It is to convey a sense of the information barriers and the separate information zones that we live in. Some people know all about white vans,…

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The wages of passivity

Sri Lanka’s Muslims have long kept quiet while Tamil militancy has made its own demands. Now they are becoming restive, fearing that silence may have cost them too much. By | Dilrukshi Handunnetti If you were to go by the international headlines, the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict appears to engage only the two main communities, the Sinhalese and the Tamils. Yet when the conflict exploded into war in 1983, and in the more than two decades following, it was not just the two communities locked in battle that suffered. The impact of the internal war on the island’s Muslim community has been massive – and severely overlooked. In Colombo, when issues of politics or peace deliberations arise, the ‘Muslim question’ has long been confined to intellectual debates and dinner-table discussions. This continues to this day, despite the fact that representatives of the Muslim community have for decades worked with the country’s majority-led governments. This has included the premier Muslim party,…

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What Is The Future Of The Eastern University?

The Eastern University Muslim students are trying to get transfers to other universities for security reasons following the claymore attack by the LTTE on January 31st 2007. Students outside of Batticaloa district are fearful after the incident and some have little experience of such incidents. What I could see after talking to the students was that they were very fearful after the experience and there were internal politics between the Vanni – Betti armed groups. When I spoke to a student out of the North and East who is studying at the university, she said “on that day a few students ran around the university compound making a barking sound. I think it was a signal or warning to some students to expect an attack. Actually we were in the dark regarding this signal. Thereafter gunmen entered the hostel, where there were only female students, and they warned us to lay down and opened fire towards the sky twice. I…

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After Today’s BMICH Explosion

I was with some Tamil students, as a training course was winding down for the day, when news of the explosion at the BMICH reached us. The details of the incident were sketchy at first. Being Muslim, while I felt worried when I heard the news, and the BMICH being close to where we were, I didn’t panic. But I noticed a marked difference in the reaction of the Tamil students. “Oh god what happened,” one of the male students wailed. “We have to go home quickly,” another said. “What will happen to me on the way back home,” another student said with deep worry. They started calling their homes. They even left without telling me. What I could see was that they felt deeply afraid after such incidents. They were not afraid of the average person on the street. They were afraid of security forces and what they might do to them. When I see this kind of thing…

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Popular Activist in Oddamavadi Targeted

A family man, and popular activist in Oddamavadi Aboobacker Ilyas (25) was targeted and fired upon by an unidentified gunman on Boundry Road, Oddamavadi. This incident happened around 5.15 am on 4th February. The gunmen used T56 weapon; 5 rounds were fired, and luckily A.B. Ilyas escaped from this attack. This is not the first time he has been targeted and this is causing a lot of tension in Oddamavadi at the moment. People in the area suspect that the LTTE is behind this because Ilyas is involved in media and may have been seen as a threat to the LTTE. Repost This Article

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Liberation and Relief

I haven’t heard Crowded House play on the radio here before, but the other day, while driving, the sounds and words of “Don’t Dream It’s Over” filled my car. It’s one of those songs that always takes me in to another headspace – to where you get lost in your own thoughts – imagining, searching. There is freedom within, there is freedom without Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup The song made me think about Sri Lanka and its never-ending story of violence. I had been on trip with some friends, and had just returned from the East, where the security forces had ‘liberated’ Vaharai (or Vakarai), a town that used to be inside the territory controlled by the Tamil Tigers. Now, the Government, or the Military, claimed the people have been freed from the clutches of the Tamil Tigers. There’s a battle ahead, many battles are lost The so-called liberated people end up in IDP camps…

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Brotherhood Bloodshed Again?

The TMVP has given a request to the government to conduct eastern provincial council elections and before that to setup an interim council. Because most of the eastern province is now under the control of the government this becomes an important matter. The statement of TMVP that they are the only representatives of the Tamil people in the east has worried other Tamil political parties. Due to this they fear “brotherhood bloodshed”, something that happened in the past with the LTTE. Also if the government doesn’t agree with their request will they resort to violence? Do they want a federal system of devolution or will they even ask for a separate state if their requests are not met? They have not clarified on this matter. Such suspicions and questions are now important in the eastern ground situation. Regarding this, when I spoke with a number of political parties there seems to be major differences in points of view. Speaking with…

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Blast Outside Eastern University Batticaloa

Regarding the blast right outside the Eastern University in Batticaloa Vantharumoolai at around 11.30am yesterday, about 15 km north of Batticaloa town, the information I have heard is that there were around 200 students inside the University when the blast occurred. The rest of the students, around 1100 had returned to their home districts such as Jaffna, Vavuniya and other areas after exams. The blast killed 11 including 1 student, while 4 students were injured. Sometimes the army opens fire into surrounding areas in such instances. One reason is that they want to secure the area for those who are involved in rescue and attending to wounded and defend against the enemy. Sometimes the LTTE can detonate one claymore and then wait and detonate a second one to target rescue groups. Occasionally some soldiers might also fire with revenge in mind. No one was injured in shooting yesterday. I have not received any information to the effect that there was…

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About Groundviews

Located at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Groundviews is a citizen journalism website that uses a range of genres and media to highlight critical perspectives on governance, reconciliation, human rights, the arts and literature, democracy and other issues. The site has won two international awards, including the prestigious Manthan Award South Asia in 2009. The grand jury's evaluation of the site noted, "What no media dares to report, Groundviews publicly exposes. It's a new age media for a new Sri Lanka... Free media at it's very best!"

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