Strange - reading this from Bangalore, the day after the bomb blasts here and the same day that Ahmedabad had a taste. And sickening - I was 250 metres from one of the blasts. And to think that the likely perps of every one of these attacks owes at least a little to to those brave souls, the Tamil Tigers. (Not to mention their brothers-in-butchery, terrorists everywhere, Islamic, Irish, Israeli, & the VHP).

Riots - in Colombo or Godhra - are ugly. No glibness, no b/s, no nothing. Killing innocents - using voter lists, or whatever. But we also don't need reminders - when Tigers, or wannabes do their bit. Brutalizing all around them. (And brainwashing the rest - their apologists, or simply murdering dissidents).

Who are the worst:
a) the perps?
b) the politicians (behind Colombo/Godhra/WestBank)?
c) the "diaspora" (i.e. the lucky few who fled to Staten Island,
Missisauga, etc) and pump money and, dare I say, hatred, into the coffers
of the Tigers?
d) all of the above?

I root for (d), but I reserve a special condemnation for (c) - coz they aren't held responsible
enough. They too deserve the equivalent of public shaming. (Wish we could publicize all
donors to the VHP and Tamil Tiger-type causes - especially the rich folks from the US).
They are the artists, cabbies, MDs, maids on SM (actually, maybe only a couple of those professions may find representation here).

Why do I suspect you (VV) are all puffed up when say you're an artist? When did slapping paint on a canvas or a few words on paper make you an "artist" - someone more attuned to the human condition? (To me, that's the only meaningful definition of an artist - everyone else is a technician - a wordsmith (Rushdie), a painter (MFHussain) etc).
Oh, and in case you're interested, I'm an ex-janitor. Not an artist, as you can see. Guess we now know who must be dismissed here! Good old desi totem-pole. If we were back a few decades, we'd exchange caste info. I'm sorry if maybe "desi" isn't SouthAsian enough for you.

Interesting choice of words VV uses (italics mine below) - our artist must be a writer:
"In the wake of the riots, the Tamil Tigers and comparable groups found more willing and able recruits among young people who were no longer sure what their future was in Sri Lanka." Meaning - strictly volunteer; "age no bar" as they say here in India; us SouhtAsains just love child labor.

"Tigers launched more military-style actions against the government .." — meaning kosher stuff, i.e. not terrorist attacks? I especially like "actions". (How does "the 9/11 action/s" sound? - too much of Tom Clancy?)

"but they also engaged in attacks on civilians, elected politicians, and dissidents." Oh my, did they? I guess they're not quite up to Gandhi & King, are they?

"Now other minority populations and factions (including Muslims and tea estate Tamils) struggle for purchase on the shifting ground of war." Wait, wait! So the "Tamil cause" (or should I spell it the way my 4-year old might - Damighiz or something) doesn't quite include everyone who is a Tamil speaker, does it. Confusing. Maybe its just the bootlickers vs the rest. As in those who profited and profiteered in colonial times vs their Sinhalese countrymen. That's why the poor tea-picker got left out. See, language and all that is crap. Even when its the regal Tamighiz. Power equations explain all. And why do the Bashas (tamighiz for Pasha) get left out?

"Tamil journalists and civilians disappear in government-controlled areas as bombs go off in urban centers and near politicians." Vatta statement, da! Yowree-ware dhare dissapearing its (i) both gov't controlled, and (ii) its anna-fartunately kalllaaa-ttteral damage. One would think Jaffna or the jungles near them in Tiger hands are havens of peace-loving, clear-eyed folk united in their just struggle. Not a peep or a skepticism voiced!

Nevertheless, sigh! Your post moved me. Let me shed a tear.

Actually, no. I can't find time for a tear when I'm either sobbong non-stop or out cold from all the pain.

i'll take that moment of silence with you. thx for the update, VV.

It reminds me of New Delhi 1984.

Thanks for this history lesson VV, shamefully I was not fully aware of the events surrounding this date.

Thank you.

Beautifully written.

Actually, no. I can't find time for a tear when I'm either sobbong non-stop or out cold from all the pain.

:(

re: comment #1 and the diaspora, the last time I ate in a Sri Lankan restaurant on Staten Island, they had a "we cooperate with the Police anti-terrorism campaign" type of notice up and displayed prominently. I'm not really sure what the "social meaning" of that notice was--is it warning the LTTE thugs not to ask for $$ (i.e., an implicit threat to call the cops on them?), or just warning not to use it as a hang-out if you're wit the LTTE?. I have to admit it creeped me out a bit--i.e., as an obvious sign that things were going on that I have no idea about. Good food, though!

I don't disagree with anything you're saying, and I know you're trying to be as fair as possible. But in your article you give a reason for the Tamils unrest --government discrimination for decades--but don't offer where Sinhalese unrest stems from, just what incited the Black July riots.

I know it's not fair for you to represent the diaspora. But I think Sinhala grievances are a little more tangible than what you imply.

Thanks for writing this, dear Sugi. As you know, I stand with you in that moment of silence. No Guesses (comment #1) has absolutely no idea how wrong s/he is about your stance.

Paul (#3), your observation about Delhi in '84 has been noted by various social scientists and activists, and there are some striking parallels: The use of voters lists to identify potential victims, the inaction of government and police at the time, the justification of pogroms as a 'natural' and 'spontaneous' response to militant violence (witness: Rajiv's "when a mighty tree falls" comment and Jayawardene's address to the country after five days), etc. But to respond a little more directly to Sugi's post, I also think it's important to delve into the specifics of this moment in Sri Lankan history to understand why and how it happened, rather than place it as one incident in a larger narrative about human nature.

Sugi mentions the flood of emigration after Black July here and in her Wash. Post piece; in the latter naming the west where people sought refuge. I am just curious about the silence about the thousands who sought immediate refuge in India - remember pictures of boatloads of women and children, and also whether there are any estimates on the number of Srilankan Tamils still living in India.

Thanks for posting, Sugi.

Kettikilli,

Specifics would be nice, but when one asks a family member to recall the exact time line (which is generally how I've tried to get a 'ground-level' perspective) of events,the account comes out as anything that aged will: wrinkled, dusty, unclear. This is clearly not a time when one can call "bullshit!"

unlike most ethnic-religious-national conflicts across asia right from middle-east to the korean peninsula in which there is some role played by european colonial exploits and stupid american-soviet union/capitalims-communism rivalry, the locals are solely to blame for the srilankan conflict.

I am not a spokesperson, and I am not a historian. Even if I were, capturing those 25 years in a blog post would be a thankless task. But I am an artist, and as an artist I am against war. So I wanted to tell the Mutiny that I will take a moment of silence this weekend for those who suffered in 1983, and those who have suffered since. This is a moment of silence that I choose, and that no one can impose upon me

This is an interesting statement because conflicts that call into question contradictory professional, national, ethnic and humanatarian loyalties are brutal. Or maybe thats why they are conflicts because you cannot please everyone at the same time.

Thanks for marking the anniversary and the pause for thought.

No guesses: How much cheaper can you get? Are people not allowed to mention any atrocity in this conflict because there are hundred more we can quote?

From VV's WP article -

As a novelist, I should be free to write about whatever I want, without worrying about the political significance people will attach to it. Indeed, writing fiction means that I have license to diverge from historical facts. It shouldn't be my responsibility if some readers have little knowledge of Sri Lanka beyond what they read in my book or hear me say as a guest on a radio show. I also know, however, that regardless of the caveats I put before what I say, my words may carry the weight of an imagined community So I answer the questions, distill the history as best I can.

VV, I disagree with you on this precisely because people who may read historical fiction with no knowledge of history/conflict/realities/subtleties chalk out their biased mental picture of the entire issue. Sometimes these become the cause of more conflicts and falsehoods. I have not read your book and I am not saying that you have presented a biased history of the conflict or region, but I think anybody who writes historical fiction has to strive to become an academic historian as he or she writes the story so as to avoid making it as a vehicle of media propaganda like many pithy tv shows, hollywood movies etc. But I do agree that it is ironical that sometimes works that involve unbaised, realistic historical picture too get into trouble, especially in the subcontinent.

I was a little kid in 1983 and my memory is vague. I remember the names Jagan and Kuttimani, reading the gory details in Tamil news papers of how they were killed in prison after their eyes were gouged out.

Were the riots just in Colombo or all over Srilanka?.

6 · rob said

re: comment #1 and the diaspora, the last time I ate in a Sri Lankan restaurant on Staten Island, they had a "we cooperate with the Police anti-terrorism campaign" type of notice up

unless the american intelligence services have suddenly made LTTE a priority, i doubt it was deterrence (to anyone with access to a computer and google news). I'm not sure about the extortion efforts there, but I doubt it's as significant as in Toronto, London or Australia (and probably wouldn't be a factor if the owners strongly maintained non-tamizh identity).

well on this anniversary date, we can mark the entry of the first American political opportunist (lobbyist, scumbag, 'constitutional law expert') into the matter: good ole bruce fein! Can't say i'm too thrilled about the prospect of Prabster shooting ducks with Cheney.

1 · No guesses said

Wait, wait! So the "Tamil cause" (or should I spell it the way my 4-year old might - Damighiz or something)

I empathize with you and everyone in the world against all kinds of atrocities against humanity. "No guesses", I did not have any empathy for your tone. It is the similar tone that started the problems in Sri Lanka. It is the similar tone from the Indians with no clue about Sri Lankans issue, that exacerbated the pain for the people of Sri Lanka with the naive Indian action. I am sure, all the people close to the decision making realized their mistake, albeit anachronically. I often hear indians critical about foreign policy faux pas of US, we should do some introspection on this issue. I wonder, whether the schools in India even talk about this.

Lack of integration among different ethnicities is root cause of the evil in Sri Lanka. We(india) have the similar issue, multiplied several times in India. Thank Goodness!, we have not started armed fight( I might have to take that back on some armed ethnic conflicts in India). The government picking sides flamed the issue. Then, the iron hand (Premadasa), tried to quench the fire with cunning strategies. Premadasa succeded in part on the Singala side, but failed on Tamil side. The failure showed the clear cause of the problem, that the political system failed to produce strong leadership on Tamil side. That is understandable, given the political situation of Tamils.

A fedaral system where states have much better control on their own issues would have been preferable for that part of the world, where different ethnicities live side by side. The states should have been carved small enough to settle the issues locally. A singalese living in far south cannot relate politically to the issues of the tamils in the north at a national level. The national government clearly failed in Sri Lanka, time and again. The golden chance for an early peace is lost again. Just as LTTE, the government in Sri Lanka cannot wash off the blood from its hands. They should remember that the world is giving them more chances despite that blood.

But I am optimistic, Sri Lanka will come out of the rut, given some more time.

Thanks V.V to throw light on this issue.

From the comment number 1...

"Guess we now know who must be dismissed here! Good old desi totem-pole. If we were back a few decades, we'd exchange caste info. I'm sorry if maybe "desi" isn't SouthAsian enough for you."

Wow. You really have some self-hatred issues, don't you? Maybe you need to see someone for that. And also, why are you so angry? And yes, by the way, most of us on this blog consider VV an artist and a damn fine one at that. She's probably contributed more to this world so far than you have (or will) and we know that you're much older than her. No, don't puzzle over that one - we just know you're older :)

And now, for some instructions for you: stop reading into the posts on this blog so deeply, find out another way to work out your stress, and take this specific post for what it's supposed to be - a moment for reflection and pause.

I was debating whether or not to post here, seeing my last favourable reception, but I couldn't resist and I will keep it short. I do think that picking Black July as a memorial date is rather polarizing, specifically because I think this date is used in a lot of pro-Eelam propaganda both in Sri Lanka and by the Tamil diaspora. All movements exploit such events to build a culture around emotional symbols. But the truth is, this was NOT the beginning of the struggle for the LTTE (the assassination of Alfred Duraiyappah in 1975 already marked the LTTE's ambition and ascent to power. That they spent the next decade systematically trying to "consolidate" TELO, PLOTE etc. suggest that the cause underlying their movement was not a simple liberation struggle that stemmed from such an event.

(By the way, VV, when you talk about Sri Lanka and its diasporas refusing to cede to what they believe is wrong, you are talking specifically about the Tamil Diaspora, and although you qualify the statement with "resisting easy definition", it is true that there are very few organized Sinhalese diaspora groups, and that most of the organized Tamil diaspora groups generally lobby their host governments for increased recognition (of whatever sort) and legitimacy regarding the Tamil struggle in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately I agree with one sentence of "No Guesses" here, and that is that this diaspora has a very strong responsibility (commensurate with the power that it has in terms of money and influence) to understand the burdens that the conflict places on Sri Lankans of all ethnicities and to choose their positions very carefully.

But, regarding "No Guesses", I will say one thing. There is always an attempt to paint the LTTE and its satellite organizations as being staffed entirely by people who have been coerced. Both in Sri Lanka and outside, this is patently not true. There are many villages in Sri Lanka that subsist entirely on the LTTE who act as providers and guardians for them. There are many recruits to the Tigers that are not simply, 'brainwashed", but have suffered the same pain as you seem to have, and see only vengeance as an appropriate response. And, believe it or not, there are plenty of Muslim, and yes, even Sinhalese, sympathizers with this cause. It is what gives a moral power to the organization (a moral power which they fully exploit), but one that is true nonetheless. And of course, they supplement it with coercion and extortion and everything else we know about as well, but that goes without saying. And to say all of this, is not to be an 'apologist' for the cause, but to recognize the sad truth for what it is.

You're right, AVIAF, the LTTE's roots go a bit further back, as do the roots of the agitation (violent and nonviolent) for an independent Tamil state. I think Black July is seen as a turning point, when things got really bad, so to speak, when the conflict flared up and started consuming the attention and resources of everyone involved. It set off the mass emigration, the military campaigns, granted the LTTE the legitimacy that resulted in their stranglehold on everything Tamil in Sri Lanka.

Sure it's polarizing, but how could it not be? To me, it crystallizes all that can go wrong in a democracy when the leadersihp plays groups off against each other for its own gain. That's been the nature of this conflict since, what symbolizes it better than Black July?

As for the diaspora, no one with any sense would disagree with the fact that they've helped inflame the conflict, but what would have happened without their money? Would the conflict end? Would Tamils be safe in Sri Lanka? Considering the actions of the Sri Lankan state since, I have serious doubts. Black July caused the diaspora, the diaspora didn't cause Black July. Commemorating it should serve as a lesson that's as important today as ever, not another launching point for the interminable blame game.

Hi all,

Thanks for reading. AVIAF, it's been said before, but I'll say it again: you're welcome.

Going to split my responses in two for readability.

I agree with Kettikili that it's important to delve into the specifics of the event. This isn't intended to be an exhaustive post about the war.

Keralite, I intended no particular silence about Sri Lankan Tamil refugees going to India. This 2006 Reliefweb release includes an estimate of 60,000 Sri Lankan Tamils living in camps in India. Here's another link that puts the number slightly higher in 2004. I'll keep hunting for better sources and numbers, as I am curious myself.

Ponniyin Selvan: There was violence in other parts of Sri Lanka—not just Colombo. You might look at the Wikipedia article on Black July —which in the section on places affected by the violence sends you to a book called The Cyanide War.

LandBeyond7Zs—I don't know; do schools in India talk about India's actions in Sri Lanka? Does anyone know the answer to this? I actually find this quite an interesting question.

Rajesh @ 18... I appreciate the kind words.

AVIAF:

Welcome back.

Crane has already quite effectively argued some points. Yeah, I didn't say that 1983 was the start of the LTTE, because it wasn't; and of course, yes, if you want, you can argue that the war started at a different point, and Duraiappah's assassination would not be illogical, although I find it less persuasive than Black July for some of the reasons Crane cited. (Agence France-Presse dates the war to '72, whereas most American news organizations use 1983.) To me, Black July seems more of a turning point.

Second, yes, the event has been used for propaganda. That doesn't mean that ALL recognition of it is propaganda. If you say that, you leave no room for the legitimate expression of grief.

You wrote:

(By the way, VV, when you talk about Sri Lanka and its diasporas refusing to cede to what they believe is wrong, you are talking specifically about the Tamil Diaspora...

"And it's Mutinous in all the right ones: Sri Lanka and its diasporas are full of people who resist easy definition and boundaries, who refuse to cede to what they believe to be wrong, and who still fight, after twenty-five years, for a just home in the most beautiful place on earth."

That was quite specifically chosen wording, and to reach your interpretation, you have to assume a number of things that are actually not in what I wrote. A Sri Lankan of ANY ethnic background can "refuse to cede to what they believe to be wrong." And that could be wrong committed by any of a number of parties. Nor does one have to be a member of an organized group to be a part of the diaspora (I certainly acknowledge that such organized groups have sway, although groups do exist that do not fall into the categories you suggest). I am also referring to how individual people conduct themselves.

I do agree with you that Sri Lankan diasporas have "a very strong responsibility (commensurate with the power that it has in terms of money and influence) to understand the burdens that the conflict places on Sri Lankans of all ethnicities and to choose their positions very carefully."

As one of the (abovementioned) ignorant Indians, I don't know enough about this specific issue to comment on it, so I will read up on it before I take any sides (or maybe I just won't take any sides and just read up on it some more)...but I was wondering...

Most 'desis' are very clear about what ethnicity they belong to because our age-old arranged marriage system has ensured the water-tightness of communities. Even now in India, while liberal parents may encourage their children to find their own partners, there is an implicit understanding about finding one who falls in the same caste/religious/linguistic/whatever category.

That is why when one hears of things like Godhra (Hindu/Muslim/State-sanctioned pogroms) or the anti-Sikh riots or even Raj Thackeray spouting his two minutes of hate-driven nonsense, one just feels helpless...no amount of remembering, forgiving, or revenge-seeking can even begin to set things right till we persist in seeing people as 'us' and 'them'.

I think it's high time we dissolved these boundaries. Let's intermarry like crazy in the next few generations and achieve REAL (inter)national integration. I'm a half-Maharashtrian half-south Indian girl who's going to marry a Kashmiri Sikh. Where will my children's loyalties (and language!) lie? I have a Yoga-teacher who's a Muslim. Can I blanket-ban him and his community as unpatriotic? Maybe if enough Sinhalese married Sri Lankan Tamilians in the next few years, it wouldn't be possible to think in terms of 'us' and 'them'.

Maybe this is too off-topic, over simplistic, or naive. But since this is a forum for this mixed-up breed called 'desis', it's just a thought...so tell me...if you are a Hindu, would you tell your child to look for 'anybody but a Muslim'? That's what is really wrong with the Indian sub-continent...

Let us take a step back. From the vantage point of an outsider and a newbie to Sri Lanka politics/economics (which I imagine some people readng this thread are as well), trying to understand what led up to it as well as what followed it is extremely important, because otherwise it's impossible to understand which of the many many competing narratives about this set of conflicts to believe. I won't bother you with my own analysis, because it's really uninformed. However, this reading list might be useful for some, particularly people like me who have only recently been introduced into learning about Sri Lanka. It covers some ideas on economics and the role it played and did not play, the role of British colonialism (see esp. the Scott below, as well as comparative examples of African countries, Cyprus, and Palestine in Blanton, Pollis, and Kliemann respectively), the role of the party system (see Bardhan, Edrasinha, Bose, and others) and the Wickramasinghe for a recent basic overview of the history. Again, like I said I'm new, so if other people who have a more in-depth knowledge of this stuff want to offer different works or additional, please do so.

Sirimal Abeyratne, “Economic Roots of Political Conflict: The Case of Sri Lanka”, ASARC Working Papers, Australian National University, Australia South Asia Research Centre, 2002, available at

Carl Armon and L. Philipson, eds., 1998, Demanding Sacrifice: War and Negotiation in Sri Lanka. London: Conflict Resources.(Nissan, Edrisinha, Sathananthan: 14) available at

Pranab Bardhan, “Method in the Madness? A Political-Economy Analysis of the Ethnic Conflicts in Less-Developed Countries”, World Development, Vol 25:9, 1997, available at

Robert Blanton, T. David Mason, and Brian Athow, “Colonial Style and Post-Colonial Conflict in Africa”, Journal of Peace Research, Vol.38,No.4.(Jul. 2001), available at

Sumantra Bose, States, Nations, Sovereignty: Sri Lanka, India, and the Tamil Eelam Movement (Sage: New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, London, 1994)

Rohan Edrisinha, “Multinational Federalism and Minority Rights in Sri Lanka”, in Kymlicka, Will, and Baogang He, eds. Multiculturalism in Asia (OUP: Oxford 2005)

Lionel Guruge, Sri Lanka's Ethnic Problems and Solutions, (Centre for Policy Alternatives, publishing information given); available at

Paul Isenman, “Basic Needs: The case of Sri Lanka”, World Development, Vol. 8:3 (March), available at

Aaron Klieman, “The Resolution of Conflicts through Territorial Partition: The Palestine Experience”, Comparative Studies in Society and History,Vol.22,No.2.(Apr.,1980), available at

James Manor, ed., Sri Lanka in Change and Crisis (Croom Helm: London 1984)

Adamantia Pollis, “Intergroup Conflict and British Colonial Policy: The Case of Cyprus” ComparativePolitics,Vol.5,No.4.(Jul.,1973),pp.575-599. Available at

Kumar Rupesinghe and Khawar Mumtaz, eds., Internal Conflicts in South Asia (International Peace Research Institute: Oslo 1996; SAGE Publications: London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi )

David Scott, Refashioning Futures: Criticism after Postcoloniality (Princeton University Press: Princeton 1999)

Dhanajayan Sriskandarajah, “Fuelling the Ire: Inequality and Conflict in Late-Twentieth-Century Sri Lanka.” (unpublished manuscript, Annual South Asian Studies Conference: Madison, WI 2002)

R.L. Stirrat, “The Riots and the Roman Catholic Church in Historical Perspective”, in James Manor, ed., Sri Lanka in Change and Crisis (Croom Helm: London 1984)

Stanley Tambiah, Buddhism Betrayed? Religion, Politics and Violence in Sri Lanka (Chicago: Chicago 1992)

Stanley Tambiah, Sri Lanka: Ethnic Fratricide and the Dismantling of Democracy (I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd: London 1986)

Cecile Van de Voorde, “Sri Lankan Terrorism: Assessing and Responding to the Threat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)”, Police Practice and Research, Vol. 6, No. 2, May 2005, available at

Nira Wickhramasinghe, Sri Lanka in the Modern Age: A History of Contested Identities (Hurst and Company: London 2006)

A. Jeyaratnam Wilson with a chapter by A.J.V. Chandrakanthan, Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: Its Origins and development in the 19th and 20th centuries (Hurst & Co: London 2000)

23 · Praxikat

I think it's high time we dissolved these boundaries. Let's intermarry like crazy in the next few generations and achieve REAL (inter)national integration.
Maybe this is too off-topic, over simplistic, or naive.
_________________________________________________________

This isn't naive at all on the personal level, but it's naive politically, b/c nobody's doing it on a large enough scale to ward off the next wave of ethno-linguistic-religious atrocities. Better to pack some heat.

well, hopefully this violence stops as early as possible.

I think it's high time we dissolved these boundaries. Let's intermarry like crazy in the next few generations and achieve REAL (inter)national integration. I'm a half-Maharashtrian half-south Indian girl who's going to marry a Kashmiri Sikh. Where will my children's loyalties (and language!) lie?

Why in the world should anyone deliberately set about to destroy their identity, heritage, and language!!! I find this notion ridiculous and offensive. Of course if you find someone compatible of a different background then by all means you should marry them...but to outmarry in order to "dissolve boundaries" and merely to create a generation of people who have no sense of who they are or where they come from and no clear-cut identity other than 'desi' or 'Indian'...I think that's preposterous.

I find that often Indians who are a mixture of two or more different Indian sub-ethnicities are the ones who embrace this ideal...because they are already there...and like I said there's nothing wrong with marrying outside your background so long as you love the person and are compatible...but don't insult the concepts of heritage, identity, and mothertongue. I never blame anyone if they want someone of their own background to marry.

and merely to create a generation of people who have no sense of who they are or where they come from and no clear-cut identity other than 'desi' or 'Indian'...I think that's preposterous

and even keeping things within a desi frame, what about people who identify most with their religion and less or minimally with their mother tongue or region - in that sense, that is their identity and where they come from - and mixing with people of other languages still allows one to preserve that.

I never blame anyone if they want someone of their own background to marry.

not an expert, but someone ought to do a genetic study of sri lanka, i bet there's been far more mingling between the groups over the past few centuries/millenia than we think

does the converse also hold for you?

I think I said that at least twice in my comment.

however, i don't think you should assume that this is what all other desis value most.

I never assumed that, in fact the converse has been made abundantly clear to me on this blog as well.

I do agree with you that Sri Lankan diasporas have "a very strong responsibility (commensurate with the power that it has in terms of money and influence) to understand the burdens that the conflict places on Sri Lankans of all ethnicities and to choose their positions very carefully."

is it not the slightest bit absurd that those furthest (geographically) from the conflict must be considered historicity guarantors for the very same, though often possessing far fewer provable sources (AP, the Island, Reuters etc. simply don't count) than anyone 'over there.'? (not to re-open the 'who has the authority to comment' argument but i have neither money nor power and living abroad has not gifted me with powers of immediate conflict resolution or the ability to deliver extemporaneous in-depth historical analysis for the benefit of multi-culti-curious questioners.)

not an expert, but someone ought to do a genetic study of sri lanka, i bet there's been far more mingling between the groups over the past few centuries/millenia than we think

yes, i have the same feeling. And it's not just when I look into the mirror everyday and see a disgruntled mash of Sangakarra and Muralidaran staring back.

One of the bigget loads of crap I've read.

"And it's Mutinous in all the right ones: Sri Lanka and its diasporas are full of people who resist easy definition and boundaries, who refuse to cede to what they believe to be wrong, and who still fight, after twenty-five years, for a just home in the most beautiful place on earth."

You know, chandare, not all of us are tiger-loving eelamists. At the same time, we aren't all that happy with the sri lankan government either (especially its latest incarnation). It's difficult to say you don't support a 'side' in a conflict that's always presented as being between exactly two groups. I'm sure there are many sinhalese who feel the same way, locally and internationaly. Aren't we all resisting easy definition? That might not be what VV meant, but it's one incarnation, to me.

Guessing chandare didn't read my comments in the thread. Or maybe he/she thinks it's crap anyway. But yes, mixalot, that is pretty much what I meant.

Priya wrote: "you cannot please everyone at the same time."

Yup, that's also quite evident :)

I never assumed that, in fact the converse has been made abundantly clear to me on this blog as well.

Dr AmNonymous - thanks for the sources. i am poorly informed on the subject, so i look forward to looking through a few of these.

VV - thanks. i am happy that SM has bloggers such as you and cicatrix who can shed some light, and some personal/emotional insight on this situation that is, no matter which side of the issue you may take, tragic for all involved.

Are there any studies of the last decade or so that suggest that whatever goals the warring parties espoused a generation ago, the conflict is now driven more by greed, racketeering, warlordism, and corruption than anything else? That's a question, not a statement . . .

I know I do not get out that often but I have yet to encounter these wonderful creatures.

"And it's Mutinous in all the right ones: Sri Lanka and its diasporas are full of people who resist easy definition and boundaries, who refuse to cede to what they believe to be wrong, and who still fight, after twenty-five years, for a just home in the most beautiful place on earth."

33 · chandare said

One of the bigget loads of crap I've read.

You should try reading your own writing. Then you wouldn't need to come hang out on this blog to activate your crap-o-meter.

commenter crap thyself,
advice taken .
Taking my ball and going home to crap in peace.
Bye beautiful people!

27 · Amitabh said

Why in the world should anyone deliberately set about to destroy their identity, heritage, and language!!! I find this notion ridiculous and offensive. Of course if you find someone compatible of a different background then by all means you should marry them...but to outmarry in order to "dissolve boundaries" and merely to create a generation of people who have no sense of who they are or where they come from and no clear-cut identity other than 'desi' or 'Indian'...I think that's preposterous.
I find that often Indians who are a mixture of two or more different Indian sub-ethnicities are the ones who embrace this ideal...because they are already there...and like I said there's nothing wrong with marrying outside your background so long as you love the person and are compatible...but don't insult the concepts of heritage, identity, and mothertongue. I never blame anyone if they want someone of their own background to marry.

Amitabh I agree with you completely on this. Just dissolving boundaries and identities for the sake of of resolving conflicts, peace and cosmopolitanism is like "homogenisation".... There is beauty in maintaining diversity of tradition culture, languages etc. etc. Moreover American style homogenisation will not work for the subcontinent. The subcontinent has to have its kind of fedealism and multi-culturalism. Moroever you need a lot more of urban centers like Bombay or Delhi where people from variety of backgrounds to intermingle to create that kind of cosmpolitanism.

LandBeyond7Zs—I don't know; do schools in India talk about India's actions in Sri Lanka? Does anyone know the answer to this? I actually find this quite an interesting question.

42 · ak said

how it is being taught in tamil nadu as opposed to the rest of the country. in TN, there is a large variation in how people look at this matter - there are those who are against the separatist movement itself and/or the tigers/terrorist tactics, and those who support one and/or the other.

Whatever the situation used to be pre-1991, the LTTE lost massive sympathy after the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. Pols like Vaiko who nakedly exploited the Tamil cause could no longer be as blatant about it, and it even got to the extent that Jayalalitha locked him up for a while under POTA (India's law for "terrorists" that suspends habeas for 6 months, allows confessions as evidence etc.) At this point, while there might be support, I don't think it is a significant issue any more. (I also think there has been a much more severe crackdown on the shipment (by sympathetic Indians) of weapons and equipment to the LTTE from southern Tamilnadu, which used to go on. I don't have a good sense of how effective that is.)

Chandare @ 38: Those people are out there.

And of course there is an expat population that goes back to Sri Lanka and stays in high-end hotels. But there's also a population that doesn't.

ak and others, I would be particularly interested to know what India schools teach (if anything) about the IPKF and Indian intervention in Sri Lanka.

I had a question when I look at the Sinhala population perecentages, there is a state on the east coast of Sri Lanka that has a 3.5% Sinhala population.
What is this region called? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sri_Lanka_Sinhalese.svg

25 · rob said

23 · Praxikat

I think it's high time we dissolved these boundaries. Let's intermarry like crazy in the next few generations and achieve REAL (inter)national integration.
Maybe this is too off-topic, over simplistic, or naive.
_________________________________________________________

This isn't naive at all on the personal level, but it's naive politically, b/c nobody's doing it on a large enough scale to ward off the next wave of ethno-linguistic-religious atrocities. Better to pack some heat.

I think both points of view miss the essential aspect: We're all pretty well mixed already, anyway. At least when you consider a large enough sample in South Asia, and that includes Sri Lanka, and look back far enough in time.

But there are still going to be pseudo-'origin myths', and after-effects of colonial attempts to introduce artificial class stratification, colonialist minority preferences, colonial labor relocation, divide and rule, minor differences in phenotype, etc. Language brings in another huge variable.

The lesson is, no matter how well mixed you get genetically - cultural, linguistic, and religious 'differences' will arise, 'spontaneously', and divide you. So better learn to live with difference, not try to suppress it, whether from an 'assimilationist' point of view, or from the Bulworth solution pov:

We need a voluntary, free Spirited, compatible, open ended program of procreative racial deconstruction.

Huh?

Everybody just got to keep fucking everybody till we're all the same color.

It's a great thought, but it won't solve the problem. We'll find new ways to make much of smaller differences in phenotype, as indeed happens in South Asia, and North America, and every elsewhere, every day.

ak and others, I would be particularly interested to know what India schools teach (if anything) about the IPKF and Indian intervention in Sri Lanka.

I will say this again, and I repeated it while ago.

Which schools are we taking about?

a) Doon school in DehraDun

b) Springdales in Delhi

c) A small school in Sakotidandha (near Meerut) that has no building and bathrooms with Hindi as their primary medium

d) Kendriya Vidhyala (CBSE Board) in Chennai as a English medium school

e) A high school in Hyderabad governed by AP School Board with Telugu as their primary medium

f) A Jesuit school in Megahalaya.

g) Internation High School in South Delhi which has O-, A-level exams.

Given the large diversity of educational system, in economics, governing educational systems, there is no single answer, for that not even three dozen answers.

Raising such a question is moot, if one has spent more than two hours in India.

On the other hand, there are thousands of articles in print media (in India Today, Indian Express, Danik Jhangran - A Hindi newspaper) over IPKF, Norway accord, etc.

Make that INDIAN schools, not India schools. :)

Preston, I have no idea. I no longer have access to academic databases, so perhaps someone else who does can answer that?

To Amitabh (#27): Sabash! Well said.

I will take a moment of silence this weekend for those who suffered in 1983, and those who have suffered since
VV, did you take a moment of silence couple of months back, May 21st, the day when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by our Tamil neighbors from Sri Lanka? Instead of assassination, should I say "took military-style action upon"? Or would you also justify the event in favor of the Tamil neighbors with your artistic flair?

Sometimes I wonder why Tamilians have such a passion for separatist movements, anywhere and everywhere? For example, in recent Malaysian protests, Tamilians have indicated Sri Lanka style liberation movement (read http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1136140). If they proceed with the plan, Malaysia would be another Sri Lanka in making. After Indian independence too, many Tamil politicians, who had pro-British views for long time, were demanding separate country as Tamilnadu (read http://www.tamilnation.org/hundredtamils/annadurai.htm).

This is a moment of silence that I choose, and that no one can impose upon me.
VV, it's your choice to mourn for Tamilians in Sri Lanka and I would understand that. At least for me, I would say that 13 Sinhalese soldiers were killed by Tamil militants first. Riots against Tamilians followed later. We can see similar situation in every riot in India (count anti-Sikh, anti-Muslim, anti-Hindu etc). Violence begets violence. It is indeed a sad phase and I would mourn for loss of human life, both Sinhalese and Tamilian. It is indeed sad when people decide to be boneheads.

Kush, I don't know where else you raised that, but sorry I missed it. I don't think you can assume everyone here has been to India, but I understand that India (like probably most countries) has a variety of educational systems. Still, I'd be interested in even anecdotal answers. I understand that these answers cannot necessarily be used to draw conclusions about all Indian schools. But I'm still wondering if anyone who is reading this thread went to an Indian school, and if so, did s/he study this at all?

I don't think news coverage is a substitute for the classroom.

(To me, the obvious (albeit imperfect) analogy is Vietnam/the U.S. (I know I'm not the first to use this analogy, but I don't know where I originally read it.))

If they proceed with the plan, Malaysia would be another Sri Lanka in making.

I would be interested in seeing the details of this "plan," since in the Malaysian elections in March instead of taking up arms Tamils went to the voting booth and drubbed the incumbent ruling coalition and its constituent Malaysian Indian Congress. Tamils did not vote on ethnic lines since the corruption of their ethnic party was part of the reason their economic and educational prospects were so poor. Far from being separatists in Malaysia, Tamils threw their lot in with the other minority groups and significantly strengthened the opposition.

So if you want to paint Tamils as separatist hotheads, Malaysia is not a good example.

45 · RahulD said

I had a question when I look at the Sinhala population perecentages, there is a state on the east coast of Sri Lanka that has a 3.5% Sinhala population. What is this region called? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sri_Lanka_Sinhalese.svg

Batticaloa?

47 · Kush Tandon said

Raising such a question is moot, if one has spent more than two hours in India.

Wow, did you roll out of the patronizing side of the bed this morning, Kush?

As somebody who has spent a tad more than two hours in India, I can still see how the question is very well formed. Probably most interesting are how the CBSE and the Tamilnadu state board portray this conflict. I think one can give an interesting answer to the question raised by other commenters without being a jerk about it.

Still, I'd be interested in even anecdotal answers.

Sure, you can get anecdotal answers. But there is a huge danger, in a very diverse place (economically, educationally, linguistically, highly decentralised educational system) like India to draw any conclusions. A high school in a slum in Mumbai is not covering same material as Doon School in DehraDun - nothing is common there - books, language, topics they are interested in, resources.

I was past high-school phase when Norwawy Accord, and IPKF occured, and infact, I was (just headed for) in United States, but the few months that I was in India at that time, newspapers, magazines, debating societies (@ Universities) were flooded with varied analysis - for and against. However, I doubt, in schools, this is discussed beyond a few paragraphs (without much analysis) in History classes, but then again, I cannot say with this an iota of confidence and certainity.

Your best answer might be to look on the net for transcripts for Debating Societies (in Eglish, Hindi, and other Regional Languages) - India is full of them, but 1987-90 is pre-internet, and now people today in India are more interested in other things - so it might be not easy to discern.

If you really want to know - look for print media articles and letter to editor in print media from 1987-90 in library archives. Maybe, look for year schoolbook for Springdales for 1990 - I am sure an eager High Schooler has an opinion on IPKF.

51 · V.V. Ganeshananthan said

But I'm still wondering if anyone who is reading this thread went to an Indian school, and if so, did s/he study this at all?

I did. I went to a CBSE school in Chennai, and finished high school in the mid 90s. The Sinhala-Tamil conflict was not covered at all in the CBSE textbooks (of course, the IPKF intervention was too recent to feature in my textbooks, I don't know whether or how it is mentioned in today's textbooks). I only learnt about it (even pre-Rajiv Gandhi assassination) through news articles, mostly about assorted impoundments of guns/boats in the Vedaranyam area, or more importantly, through the bubbling over of the conflict into Chennai itself - the most significant incident being the LTTE killing of EPRLF leaders in Kodambakkam. While the news articles did not give a good accounting of the background and I was too young to realize it then, the reason the LTTE could operate with impunity back then was the support given to it both by the AIADMK and the DMK. Again, as I mentioned earlier, the Rajiv Gandhi assassination changed that.

55 · Kush Tandon said

However, I doubt, in schools, this is discussed beyond a few paragraphs (without much analysis) in History classes, but then again, I cannot say with this an iota of confidence and certainity.
Your best answer might be to look on the net for transcripts for Debating Societies (in Eglish, Hindi, and other Regional Languages)

Actually, all of the CBSE textbooks are available online here.

Sivaji,

Look again.

"I will take a moment of silence this weekend for those who suffered in 1983, and those who have suffered since"

There is no ethnic marker in that sentence. You're assuming one.

The rioters in 1983 were organized and targeted people on the basis of their Tamil ethnicity, and as kettikili said, those details are worth delving into.

But there is no ethnic marker in that sentence. So "those who have suffered since" refers to exactly that.

55 · Kush Tandon said

If you really want to know - look for print media articles and letter to editor in print media from 1987-90 in library archives. Maybe, look for year schoolbook for Springdales for 1990

this is probably true. i went to springdales (great training for my pomona years) -- we worked with ANC leadership in South Africa, sent toys for kids to Cuba, learnt russian, heartily praised the NAM, and regularly participated in public speaking that commiserated with palestinian refugees/diplomats in delhi.

The CBSE barely covered the LTTE conflict, except in either 9th or 10th standard civics, where they mention the IPKF's international stints (in a broad survey of India's foreign policy). In passing, it is mentioned that Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE operatives. Incidentally, at this time India had just begun making very friendly overtures toward the US and Israel, in marked contrast with its NAM positions (circa mid-late 1990s). So the textbooks were outdated -- not describing India's self-proclaimed jump into the big league and shift to a different foreign policy tenor, usually attributed to its expanded nuclear abilities and early signs of the success of the 1991 liberalization.

57 · Hour 3 in India said

Actually, all of the CBSE textbooks are available online here.

Thanks for the link. NCERT (perhaps for good reason) has never gotten love from Indian students, but this is very praiseworthy.

#57, Hour 3 in India: only the contents page of the books seems to be available at the site you linked to. Is this a temporary glitch, or has the NCERT pulled a fast one yet again?

From Class XII / Political Science / Contemporary World Politics:

ETHNIC CONFLICT AND DEMOCRACY IN SRI LANKA

We have already seen that Sri Lanka has retained democracy. After its independence, politics in Sri Lanka (it was then known as Ceylon) was dominated by forces that represented the interest of the majority Sinhala community. They were hostile to a large number of Tamils who had migrated from India to Sri Lanka and settled there. This migration continued even after independence.

The Sinhala nationalists thought that Sri Lanka should not give ‘concessions’ to the Tamils because Sri Lanka belongs to the Sinhala people only. The neglect of Tamil concerns led to militant Tamil nationalism. From 1983 onwards, the militant organisation, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been fighting an armed struggle with the army of Sri Lanka and demanding ‘Tamil Eelam’ or a separate country for the Tamils of Sri Lanka. The LTTE controls the northeastern parts of Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan problem involves people of Indian origin, and there is considerable pressure from the Tamil people in India to the effect that the Indian government should protect the interests of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. The government of India has from time to time tried to negotiate with the Sri Lankan government on the Tamil question.

But in 1987, the government of India for the first time got directly involved in the Sri Lankan Tamil question. India signed an accord with Sri Lanka and sent troops to stabilise relations between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamils. Eventually, the Indian Army got into a fight with the LTTE. The presence of Indian troops was also not liked much by the Sri Lankans. They saw this as an attempt by India to interfere in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka. In 1989, the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) pulled out of Sri Lanka without attaining its bjective.

53 · pro mixalot: Batticaloa?

Thank you for that info, I looked up Batticaloa and I found this interesting factoid.

Batticaloa is the primary focus of attention of Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, better known as Karuna Amman, a former LTTE commander who broke away from the main organization in 2004. The LTTE claims that "Karuna" feared disciplinary action from the leadership for financial and personal malpractices. Karuna operates his own political (Not yet recognised as a political party even though an application was submitted three years before) and military group, the Tamil-Eala Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, TMVP. At first the LTTE attempted to eliminate the TMVP on its own and demanded that the Sri Lankan government not interfere. Subsequently, the LTTE called for the elimination of TMVP as part of the ceace-fire agreement. However, TMVP claimed to be a political party and asked for protection from attacks from the LTTE. It had no real option except to covertly collaborate with the government forces and function as a paramilitary group of the Sri Lankan Army. Thus the TMVP (referred to as the Karuna Group) is strongly opposed to the LTTE. The division between the Yalpanam-Vanni Tamils and the Mattakkalapu Tamils is deep seated, involving caste as well as forms of Hindu worship. The Jaffna Tamils have considered themselves to be superiror to the Batticaloa Tamils. The conflict between Batticaloa Tamils led by Karuna and the LTTE has some parallels with the conflict between the Mukkavas and the Thamilars

47 · Kush Tandon
A high school in Hyderabad governed by AP School Board with Telugu as their primary medium

51 · V.V. Ganeshananthan
But I'm still wondering if anyone who is reading this thread went to an Indian school, and if so, did s/he study this at all?

I was in high school a little about 6 years ago now and I don't think the LTTE conflict was covered in the textbooks of the AP board. In the AP board, the breakdown is sort of different than in the CBSE. Political/Regional history wasn't covered until the 11th/12th, where it was an optional subject and very few if any took it up. I think the News Media was a much better source of contemporary South Asian politics than textbooks were. AP high school history books were written mostly by an interesting fusion of Very Liberal Brahmins and Socialists in the academia from Andhra and Osmania Universities; they are very staid and almost never take sides. I don't know if it has changed any but then again, through our history Telugus especially from Andhra have never really been overtly aggressive at stating public opinions on anything other than Chiru vs Nag vs Venky.

Actually, all of the CBSE textbooks are available online here.

The link only brought up the title page or, at most, the table of contents. Did anybody have better luck?

61 · MFA said

#57, Hour 3 in India: only the contents page of the books seems to be available at the site you linked to. Is this a temporary glitch, or has the NCERT pulled a fast one yet again?

The chapter titles in the contents are actually clickable links that will take you to the relevant chapter.

Sorry, the above excerpt is from the NCERT link that was posted. I assume this is a recent edition, as the inset political cartoon features Mahinda Rajapakse balancing a stick with a lion and a tiger on either end. There are two more paragraphs that highlight Sri Lanka's relative success despite the conflict.

FYI, RahulD, that information about the East, TVMP and Karuna isn't particularly current. Those interested may want to try Googling news about the TVMP, Pillaiyan and its spelling variants.

60 · MFA said

NCERT (perhaps for good reason) has never gotten love from Indian students

I really liked their sixth grade history textbook. One of the best for book cricket. The pages that would turn up were consistently unpredictable, the book's bizarre numbering schemes meant that one side had both odd and even page numbers which allowed creativity in scoring schemes, and the spine was robust enough to provide a year's worth of fun.

59 · MFA said

this is probably true. i went to springdales (great training for my pomona years) -- we worked with ANC leadership in South Africa, sent toys for kids to Cuba, learnt russian, heartily praised the NAM, and regularly participated in public speaking that commiserated with palestinian refugees/diplomats in delhi.

I'm taking the liberty of awarding MFA the Chacha's Choice Award for Seriously Serious Humor, with VV's permission.

I LOL'ed, and it reminded me altogether too much of old portmanteau, who got the very first Chacha's Choice Award way back in the old days, like around May 2008.

I was studying in a school in Chennai in the late 80s and early 90s. As Kush remarked there are a variety of different academic boards all over India. I can comment on the books followed in Tamilnadu. Even within Tamilnadu, there are Central, State, Matriculation and Anglo Indian boards. Their history books vary in content and the subjects they address. Typically the history text followed by Matriculation board (and I guess it applies to Central Board (CBSE) and Anglo Indian) is written by the Leftist historians of Nehruvian bent. The history books carry very little information about South India, (2 pages out of 200) let alone info. about Sri lanka. State board syllabus is a bit better, because it is controlled by the state admin. I don't remember whether anything about Sri lanka is even taught. Academically students learn very little.

But I think there is a quite a bit of passionate support for Sri lankan Tamils in Tamilnadu. After Rajiv Gandhi's assasination the support for LTTE has been under the radar. The current CM Karunanidhi's rule was dismissed claiming that it supported LTTE in 1991. He embarassed IPKF by not going to receive them. And Congress withdrew support from the United Front government in 1998 based on the same issue. It is a different matter that the Congress and the DMK are best buddies now.

V.V, thank you for the post. Yes, I too join you in a thought for those who struggle in Sri Lanka for peace, for life, for security.

Sri Lanka and the struggle has always fascinated me. Much has been written in fiction starting with Selvadurai with his Funny Boy which deals with the persecution (or whatever is the correct term) of the Tamils, during which I think his family migrated as well. So also Ondaatje and I have read some other works.

What escapes me in all the writing is a reluctance to name the conflict, take sides, and suggest resolution. If one were to read Anil's Ghost one clearly sees Ondaatje's position vis-à-vis the horrors of war, senseless cruelty, which position is quite familiar if one reads his other works. But nothing much about the horrible particularity of the conflict in SL itself in a political way.

This is not the case when you read writers who write about conflicts in their motherlands - Rushdie (Shalimar the Clown, about Kashmir), or Pamuk, or Palestinian writers. They make quite clear where they stand on the issue.

It is as if the civil war in Sri Lanka is carried on in muffled silence. The fact that the world has not paid much attention could be part of the reason. To some degree I understand the reluctance and the silence of the writers. Many have family back in the country. Even in these discussions there is cloud haninging over it, a reluctance to commit to a position other than state the obvious - how sad it all is.

Still I would like to know what Sri Lankans, the Sinhalese in particular, writers really think about all this. Do they feel the Tamil's cause a just one? If so do they want remedies? If not how do they want to handle it? Is there a dialog inside the country, among the diaspora?

70 · Ponniyin Selvan said

The history books carry very little information about South India, (2 pages out of 200) let alone info

This is not true. The CBSE history textbooks had extensive stuff on Chola/Chera/Pandya dynasty, as well as Vijayanagar etc. Post independence, there is very little domestic stuff, period. The focus was more on NAM, and the variety of African independence movements in the 50s and 60s.

this is probably true. i went to springdales (great training for my pomona years) -- we worked with ANC leadership in South Africa, sent toys for kids to Cuba, learnt russian, heartily praised the NAM, and regularly participated in public speaking that commiserated with palestinian refugees/diplomats in delhi.

MFA: Sounds amateurish. JNU molecular bio students resurrected Che using nothing but a hair from his goatee. He is being brought up to speed on the last 40 years of class warfare in a secret bunker at Evergreen College. A Pomona MFA is suited to nothing besides organizing an all Hijra Marxist chorus/street theatre troupe to sing the Internationale (can't sound very good with just falsettos).

VV: Great post, it must be hard to navigate without ruffling feathers.

Ponniyan Selvan: I basically agree with you, but I will say that in the region of TN my relatives hail from the LTTE went from being heroes to zeros over night with the assassination of Rajeev Gandhi. It was tense before that because the refugees were being blamed for violent home invasions. I should qualify this by saying that very few of the refugee "tea plantation Tamils" had roots in these districts (unlike Madurai, coastal districts for example)

Indian perspective on IPKF in Srilanka: Anecdote. Feeble memory. An Army Brigadier had mentioned in a personal conversation that there was interest in IPKF posting because they could bring cheap VCRs home! (In the late 80's, during India's autarkic days, the only VCRs available were moslty smuggled in and sold at exorbitant prices.)

71 · smallpress said

Still I would like to know what Sri Lankans, the Sinhalese in particular, writers really think about all this. Do they feel the Tamil's cause a just one? If so do they want remedies? If not how do they want to handle it? Is there a dialog inside the country, among the diaspora?

Yes, I would pay money for a on-the-ground candid interview with a resident of Hambantota on what they feel is a just outcome(s) for their Tamil brothers and sisters in the north. If you phrased the question as, "do you feel the Tamil cause it just?" the answer would probably be the same as if you asked, "do you feel the LTTE's cause is just."

VV, did you take a moment of silence couple of months back, May 21st, the day when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by our Tamil neighbors from Sri Lanka?

Hey look, it's a troll!!!!!

75 · Nayagan said

the answer would probably be the same as if you asked, "do you feel the LTTE's cause is just."

Yeah, but that distrust and cynicism goes both ways. If you asked someone in the Vanni about the merits of the government's stance, their answer probably wouldn't be very positive. I mean, it's pervasive in the Tamil diaspora too. There's just this ingrained refusal to consider the other sides perspective. I have no idea how a typical Sinhalese member of the diaspora would answer the original question, because I don't know any Sinhalese people, any lurker want to comment?

I imagine they're just fed up. I think that when the other groups (local and not) are also fed up with the violence and death, we'll be ready for a solution. I wonder if it's growing in the Tamil diaspora?

Hour 3 :

This is not true. The CBSE history textbooks had extensive stuff on Chola/Chera/Pandya dynasty, as well as Vijayanagar etc. Post independence, there is very little domestic stuff, period. The focus was more on NAM, and the variety of African independence movements in the 50s and 60s.

Can you let us know the number of pages devoted to the South Indian history and then compare it with the Mughal/assorted history of North Indian kings and empires?. We'd have an idea.

"And it's Mutinous in all the right ones: Sri Lanka and its diasporas are full of people who resist easy definition and boundaries, who refuse to cede to what they believe to be wrong, and who still fight, after twenty-five years, for a just home in the most beautiful place on earth."

V.V., regarding your posting above, when I interpreted it, I did not interpret such a statement to include people on the margins (hence I said earlier that you qualified your statement). Most people would acknowledge that the Tamil diaspora is numerically larger than the Sinhalese diaspora. Moreover, it is far more organized, active, and influential with better links to their host countries' governments. Thus, I do still think that the statement above, lends itself to an unfortunte interpretation (especially the part about fighting for a just home). But, we shall have to agree to disagree.

And, this hardly needs to be said, I never said that the expression of any kind of grief was illegitimate either.

Crane: regarding your points, I would not go so far as to say that Black July was the event that gave the Tigers their legitimacy which resulted in a stranglehold on everything Tamil in Sri Lanka. A bit of an assertion.

But you raise an interesting question:
but what would have happened without their money? Would the conflict end? Would Tamils be safe in Sri Lanka? Considering the actions of the Sri Lankan state since, I have serious doubts. Black July caused the diaspora, the diaspora didn't cause Black July.

Well, as you probably know, there were multiple waves of Tamil emigration from Sri Lanka, especially the professional classes leaving as early as '71, '72 and continuing well before '83. (Probably saw the writing on the wall.)And there continues to be mass emigration today too. I do agree that there was a massive amount of emigration specifically due to the events of '83, but I wanted to say also that people abandoned the sinking ship earlier. (And let's not get into the ethics of such a move just yet.) As to your question about what would have happened if the diaspora did not use their money? Of course the conflict would not have ended. But, let me ask you, what if the diaspora contributed their money towards humanitarian efforts in Sri Lanka, and not to fund a cause with consequences they do not have to face? Maybe, we might have a different Sri Lanka.

I am not arguing against anyone's right to commemorate July '83. I think however, there is a fine line between commemoration (the most genuine of which my religion leads me to believe, is done in private), and the use of it as propaganda. And before you all jump, I am not saying that V.V's post was propagandistic. Merely that it should have been more carefully written.

78 · Ponniyin Selvan said

Can you let us know the number of pages devoted to the South Indian history and then compare it with the Mughal/assorted history of North Indian kings and empires?. We'd have an idea.

what, are you saying that historical eminence of the scythians is even in the same range as that of our fellow austro-dravidian indian citizens?

but seriously, off the top of my head I remember a fair bit of South Indian history in my curriculum, comparable to the significance that was awarded to other regions. Some examples:

-- the satavahanas
-- the pallavas
-- the chola, chera, pandya kingdoms
-- jain and buddhist sites in south india; associated philosophers like nagarjuna
-- cultural achievements made in the sangam era
-- the bhakti movement
-- the bahamani kingdom
-- the vijayanagara empire
-- the french and tipu sultan/anglo-carnatic wars
-- nascent proto-nationalist movements in the south, and their relationship to anti-caste reformers such as narayan guru
-- theosophical society (that its headquarter were at adyar!)
-- pricely kingdoms like mysore, travancore
-- biographical details of personalities involved in the freedom movement: naidu, bharati, rajagopalachari
-- smart people during the british empire: sir Mokshagundam (yes, i thought his name was funny; our 5th grade hindi textbook had a chapter on him) visvesvarayya, ramanjun, cv raman
-- civics class went over language riots; formation of DK--> DMK and AIADMK
-- the oeuvre of rajnikanth (now, i'm just trying to rile you up)
-- [not MK] stalin (once more)

i'm sorry my list is pretty random; it's been 6 years. but i'm taken aback by your resentment at being missed in the cbse curriculum. your peeps were much represented. otherwise, how would i know that your handle refers to kind of a big deal.

#51: