In response to a call by the Opposition and civil society to lift the state of emergency and to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in consequence of the end of the war, the Leader of the House Nimal Siripala de Silva informed Parliament last Tuesday, 26th May 2009, that the Government has no intention of doing so at present. The stated reasons are that the threat of terrorism continues, remaining LTTE cadres in hiding need to be weeded out, and investigations regarding those already in detention are incomplete.

This is a predictable and even unsurprising response from the government, because as students of states of emergency will know, the present government is acting in broadly comparable terms with both …

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After a war is won, there is always the after thought. Leaders from conflict parties, either dead or living, will be portrayed either as martyrs, heroes, traitors, terrorists….the list is endless. Which ever side one takes on the debate of romanticising the vanquished or demonising him, it is always interesting to see what the other party has to say.

Have been observing the way in which people reacted in the post-war (can we say that yet?) context. Nationalistic spirit knew no bounds. Even the ardent opponents of the government praised its military campaign and the subsequent victory of annihilating the LTTE. The President would have been in a mental state, where ANY world leader would aspire to be in. Enviable position.  …

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Well it’s not exactly a hero.  What we are really holding out for is a statesman – but that wouldn’t have made a catchy title.  Yet it is a statesman that is needed in Sri Lanka at this juncture in its history.   Having finally made it over the daunting hurdle of terrorism, which had us mired in a mud heap for so many decades, Sri Lanka is now emerging, scarred but optimistic, out of the wasteland of war.  As flags fly in a uniting show of joy – a vast majority of people look forward with hope to a new dawn – a new country and another chance to catch up with the economic success of the nations around us.

To …

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This year marks the twentieth death anniversary of Rajini Thiranagama, doctor, lecturer, feminist and human rights defender, and the first death anniversary of human rights lawyer and political activist Maheshwari Velauthan. The former was shot dead by the LTTE as she cycled home to her children after presiding over an Anatomy examination, the latter shot dead by the LTTE as she cared for her sick mother. They were among thousands of Tamils killed by the LTTE simply because they did not agree with it. For Tamil progressives like them, the defeat of the LTTE mitigates one source of terror.

The LTTE’s claim to be the sole representative of Sri Lanka’s Tamils could be sustained only by the physical liquidation of all …

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The degree of denial of Prabhakaran’s death within the expatriate Tamil consciousness is the best evidence of the pathology of Tamil ultra-nationalism. Rohana Wijeweera’s followers were fanatics, but when their leader was gone, they did not go into mass denial. The hardcore elements of the Tamil Diaspora really have to get their heads around it: Elvis has left the building. The Sun God has set, and his son won’t be rising either.

The Tigers were among the best known brands in the terrorist universe and by defeating them so completely and utterly Sri Lanka and its armed forces have made a contribution to regional and global security and stability. They have made an example of the Tigers …

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Spontaneous street parties broke out, fireworks crackled in the air and strangers offered flowers to  soldiers to celebrate the news in Colombo – Asia’s Idi Amin was no more! One of the Indian subcontinent’s longest wars was at an end. The day before, street parties in New Delhi had celebrated the victory of the Congress Party in the elections that marked the maturing of Indian democracy and the fact that the Tamil Nadu electorate had a sophisticated view of the situation in Sri Lanka. It is, hence, to be hoped that India, the regional superpower, will play an effective role to ensure peace with justice for the minorities in Sri Lanka.

The victory of the Congress Party was a victory for …

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[Editors note: The Poverty of Michael Roberts’ Enlightened Humanitarianism by Martin White, read over 900 times to date, elicited a number of responses among which were those of Nicolai. It is Nicolai’s last response that Martin White takes up at length here.)

Sorry for my delay, Nicolai. Although events have moved on dramatically in the past few days, your questions, raised in a commendably honest spirit, are relevant and deserve an answer. Please also believe me that I speak respectfully to you even when I am being blunt. But permit me first, if you will, to set the scene. Briefly surveying the Vanni landscape, we find that the ‘outcome’ that Prof. Michael Roberts and others wished for – and …

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A group of men are standing in an outdoor location. They are grinning and laughing and are triumphant but most importantly of all, they exude an air of victory. The camera pans out to reveal four or so neatly arranged bodies on the grass in front of them. The men pass a dog tag amongst themselves, they finger it, look closely at it and ask an unseen photographer to take photographs. There is an air of jubilation.
I have seen this sort of picture before. Old photographs of colonial masters in Asia and Africa holding rifles aloft, an air of triumph and victory on their faces, their trophies displayed before them. Often there are two native bearers, flanking the …

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On the 19th of May 2009, the Sri Lankan president announced that the 27 year old civil war was finally over, that the LTTE as a military entity ceases to exist. This sparked feverish celebrations all over Sri Lanka last seen when Arjuna Ranatunage scored the winning run against Australia to win the World Cup in 96. The defeat of LTTE, the world’s 2nd most dangerous terrorist organisation, (which is well funded by the Tamil Diasporas) is by no means a simple task and should make any Sri Lankan extremely proud.

However, what are we celebrating? Defeating an entity we forced into existence? Are the reasons that forced a young Prabhakaran to assassinate the Mayor of Jaffna resolved? Is Sri …

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I am amazed at the mobilization of young people from the Tamil Diaspora around the world to protest against the Sri Lankan government’s purported human rights violations. When often the younger generation of immigrants forgets the old country to a future in the new one, it is incredibly positive that the Diaspora feels so passionate about this difficult conflict on behalf of their community. Maybe once the conflict is over, they will come back to Sri Lanka to rebuild the country together. However, there is long way to go for reconciliation between the two communities as so much hatred has manifested, especially amongst the Diaspora overseas.

We have all been affected by this ruthless conflict. …

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At the outset let me say this. I am neither moved to tears of joy that would prompt me to fly a flag and light fire crackers nor tears of absolute sorrow that the war has ended and that the LTTE has been defeated. I am just relieved that “IT’ is over, all too aware of the cost the entire war, including the last three years, has had on thousands of people all over the island who have killed, abducted, lost loved ones, displaced and suffered in so many ways. But I am also apprehensive knowing that we are poised at a critical moment. The decisions the Government makes now (and in the days and weeks) to come will have …

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Yesterday we were given a body whose death left me strangely numb. While it was a man whose brutality I condemned, it was not a death that I could celebrate. It was not only that the event came to us bearing the stench of fresh blood from the camps and battlefields of the Vanni – but it was also all the talk that Prabaharan got what was ‘due’ and that this was ‘poetic justice’ for someone who lived by the sword to die by the sword.

Rather, the enormity of what Prabaharan had robbed us of is not susceptible to easy equations. Even in the last months there have been thousands killed through Prabaharan’s death dance with Rajapakse. Moreover, …

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The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which claimed to be the sole representatives of Tamil people, one of the most feared and considered as one of the most ruthless terrorist organizations in the world is vanquished. LTTE guerillas who once considered them in an equal footing with the SLA are silenced with their first and second rung leaders all killed. One of the bloodiest civil wars ended with all the due recognition given to the political will and determination to engage devoid of dithering in the face of the pressure of the IC and courage of Sri Lankan armed forces. People are in a jubilant mood relieved to have got rid of fear and destruction of war. That …

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Vikalpa Video asked Ven. Prof. Bellanvila Vimalarathana Thero for his opinion on whether the LTTE was really finished and the war over in Sri Lanka. Ven. Prof. Bellanvila Vimalarathana Thero is the Chief Priest of the Bellanwila Rajamaha Viharaya.

This interview was recorded one week ago, before the dramatic events over the past few days. An English transcript of the short interview is provided below for those who can’t understand Sinhala to interrogate the Thero’s opinion on the conduct of war and plans for development and humanitarian assistance to the Vanni, which mirrors that of the Buddhist clergy writ large in Sri Lanka….

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For live updates / tweets of the President’s speech in Parliament, click here or follow #srilanka on Twitter.

The long and bloody Sri Lankan war is over, and not a moment too soon. I really want to believe it. The alternative is too depressing to consider.

Of course, there is no independent verification – it has been a war without witnesses for the past many months, with no journalists or humanitarian workers allowed access. We know that history is written by victors, not losers. I am willing to take a leap of faith if that’s what we need to usher in the long-elusive peace.

As we stand on the threshold of peace, I am overwhelmed with memories of our collective tragedy. I hope we can once again resume our long suspended dreams for a better today and tomorrow.

I …

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Video shot on the streets of Colombo and its suburbs on 18th May 2009.

For related videos, please visit Is the LTTE really finished and the War over? on Vikalpa’s YouTube Channel.

For live and regular updates from the ground in Colombo and for live soundbites from the President’s speech on 19th May 2009 (Tuesday), check out our Twitter feed.

From the Ministry of Defence website:

LTTE defeated; Sri Lanka liberated from terror
Sri Lankan armed force have militarily defeated the LTTE and freed the nation from three decades of terror, Army Chief Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka announced.

Meanwhile, defence sources on the battlefront said all top LTTE leaders were believed to be killed during their abortive attempt to flee from advancing troops this morning (May 18). According to the sources, troops have found a burnt body suspected to be of LTTE chief V. Prabhakaran. However, the sources said that positive identification is yet to be made.

Also, unconfirmed sources revealed that LTTE’s intelligence wing leader Pottu Amman and Sea Tiger wing leader Soosai were killed in today’s …

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There will be lamentations
and sadness, there are already,
and recriminations. Why
did we allow the unthinkable
to fall down on those
hapless families
in tents and bunkers?

Why did we agree
only to informal
meetings
in the basement
of U.N. headquarters
before proposing
an emergency session

of the Human Rights
Council for next week?
After months of
slaughter, next week?
How long do we need
to assemble diplomats
of 47 countries

who live in greater
Geneva, some just
a walk away
from the roundtable?
I imagine the table
round like the large
hearts of hapless

bystander diplomats
before the rain
of terror, bombs
and mortar, metallic
lassos thrown
about Tamils
squared

in 2.5 kilometers
between lagoon
and sea, 50,000
civilians left
in that spit of Vanni,
numbers reduced by
tens …

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Isn’t it horrible to watch people being killed like this? Pictures of dead bodies strewn all over the place flood my mind. What a damned war this is! What a curse on our poor little country full of such nice people. With thousands of innocent civilians, brave soldiers and valiant cadres already killed in this bloody war, now this huge group of people caught in the middle, struggling with every breath, for their lives and for their loved ones.

Can’t the LTTE, who keep making so much noise about people dying, let them go, so they won’t have to die or get maimed and suffer like this? Fight bravely or surrender… but don’t be a party to the death of thousands …

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