DJ_NUFC Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Following the mass debate over the Gaza situation, I'm doing my part to spread the knowledge of a very similar situation which has gone on in Sri Lanka where (I'm convinced) Sri Lanka took Israel's actions as a cue to launch their own offensive against the Tamil Tigers and their regions. In a single day, 300 civilians, many of them children and entire families, were killed as the Sri Lankan government bombed and raided safe-zones -- the only places where civilians could stay as fighting raged on around them. I've been inundated by requests from my Tamil friends, co-workers and humanitarians to spread the info. In a very untidy nutshell, the war has raged due to the British joining two very different people and regions for administrative reasons, and handing the power to one of them, knowing full well the repurcussions of this as a typically sweet post-independence goodbye. The recent events have been labelled as a humanitarian catastrophe by the Red Cross. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ia4ejAqN9MT6G7PaUNDg10HXEVsgD962MAL00 http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/26/sril.lanka.rebels/index.html http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/31/sri.lanka.fighting/ http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/15/sri.lanka.journalist.death/index.html http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/03/sri.lanka.fighting/index.html Some guy burned himself, buddhist-monk style. His suicide letter's pretty interesting: http://www.tamileelamnews.com/news/publish/tns_10913.shtml ... etc. In case people were wondering, 'Vannakam' means welcome in Tamil. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro111 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Im honest enough to say I new absolutely nowt about the situation in Sri Lanka until I saw the Chris Ryan programme a month or so back when he spent a week training with the Sri Lankan army. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I know very little on this, but there are some similarities between Palestine and this. Most of these issues come from the flawed thinking that drawing a line of a mpa (or in this case the lack of it), will solve the problem. I am not sure whether the tamil people have any representation in the Sri Lanakan govt. Unfortunatley it seems that might has equalled right in this case, a situation that is looking more and more likely for Palestine. The bigger issue is that many states are unwilling to look in to these situations due to the impact it would have on there own politics. Its a disgrace that the news channels in this country devote their headlines to the fucking snow, when shit like this is going on in the world. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ_NUFC Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Absolutely. There are so many parallels in Sri Lanka with the Israel-Palestine situation it's unreal. Two extremely different people were forced to unite due to administrative reasons by the departing British, who handed the power solely to one of them. Of course, it's a little more complex than that, as the Tamils were not *from the land* but were brought in as labourers from India. Here's a brief history: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdYpPPW80a8 Terrible video, I know, but one can always google or Wiki the historic details. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delima Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I am always very saddened by independence yearning ethnic being oppressed by another ethnicity. My symphathy extends to the Irish Republicans. Unfortunately I am too powerless to do anything to help. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ_NUFC Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Come on people, MIA is on it too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0vZEQWUBMY Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ_NUFC Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 One last bump, if anyone cares: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/01/ri-lanka-tamil-tigers-media http://www.thestar.com/article/581327 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24993117-25837,00.html http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/attacks-on-sri-lanka-hospital-kill-nine-20090202-7vck.html This is by far one of the most under-covered topics in Western media, and it's shocking these things are allowed to happen. The Sri Lankan govt has been given a free pass to do whatever the fuck they want. Their censorship and media ban are Stalin-tastic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 People can truly only connect with one crisis at a time Deej. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ_NUFC Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 As a veteran of armchair punditry, I truly disagree with your statement but will blog about your right to say it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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