MetaFilter posts tagged with SriLanka

Not a Halloween Post.

gman — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:46:13 -0800

The Maskatorium: hundreds of masks collected from around the world over the past 20 years.

"I started the movement with the firm resolve that I will never be caught alive by the enemy. That has spread down the ranks."

shoebox — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:56:16 -0800

Velupillai Prabhakaran, the elusive and ruthless leader (timeline, short bio) of the violent separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been reportedly killed in battle by the Sri Lankan Army (self-loading video) (Previously) So far, most news organizations are reporting this as fact (guardian obituary) and calling a definite end to the war, but the LTTE are denying all claims as to the death of their leader and state that this is simply government propaganda to dissuade their movement. Sri Lanka has been subject to a heavy media blockade since hostilities resumed in December 2005 in the ongoing conflict. Whether or not the claims are true, the army has completely surrounded and routed the Tigers from their strongholds in Northern Sri Lanka and the Prime Minister has declared victory. It is unclear what will happen from now as many in the Tamil minority are wary of the government. However, one thing is clear: This is a definite turning point in the history of this young, post-colonial nation torn apart by civil war and internal strife for decades.

Life as a female Tamil Tiger guerilla relived by one of first female soldiers

chunking express — Tue, 12 May 2009 07:31:52 -0800

Life as a female Tamil Tiger guerilla relived by one of first female soldiers. In 1987, aged 17, Niromi de Soyza shocked her middle-class Sri Lankan family by joining the Tamil Tigers. One of the rebels' first female soldiers, equipped with rifle and cyanide capsule, she was engaged in fierce combat.

You have been accusing my soldiers of raping civilians?

chunking express — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:49:16 -0800

"Is this Channel 4? You have been accusing my soldiers of raping civilians? Your visa is cancelled, you will be deported. You can report what you like about this country, but from your own country, not from here." -- Nick Paton Walsh tells the story of how he was ordered to leave Sri Lanka by Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

LTTE Is No Excuse For Killing Vanni Civilians

chunking express — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:35:10 -0800

"A young mother is injured and her three month old baby killed by shell fragments as she breastfeeds the child in the government declared no fire zone. Parents hide their children in roughly dug bunkers to escape LTTE press gangs who comb the no-fire zone for conscripts. A woman loses her husband to sniper fire and the toddler he was carrying too drowns when they attempt to wade across a lagoon to escape the no-fire zone. A father is shot in the head by LTTE members as he attempted to flee with his family." - The University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) discuss the situation in Vanni, Sri Lanka, in their 47th information bulletin.

War in Sri Lanka

chunking express — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 07:44:55 -0800

If you didn't know, there is a war going on in Sri Lanka. Jailed journalist Jayampathy Wickramaratne discusses what a political solution to the conflict might entail. Noam Chomsky offers up his opinions on the war and its eventual aftermath. Want to hear from some Tamils? MIA offers up her take on the situation. And in a very precient article from May of last year, D.B.S Jeyaraj discusses the LTTE at 32. The editorial on the war was written by Canadian politician Bob Rae, who has been to Sri Lanka to help with discussions on a federal solution to the countries problems. The first two interviews were posted online in the past couple days. Jayampathy Wickramaratne is in jail now, and has been for some time. The MIA post is from a week or so back. She's been bringing up the war a lot in interviews about her Grammy and Oscar nominations. The D.B.S. Jeyaraj article is a little older, but very interesting.

And Then They Came For Him

jaduncan — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:10:06 -0800

Lasantha Wickrematunge's last editorial [via bb] as part of the Sri Lankan Sunday Leader. Lasantha was shot on the way to work, but seems to have had a piece ready for just this situation. In a country where the state boasts about bombing radio stations, two journalists were executed in 2008 and five in 2007 the fact that this killing took place in broad daylight after state media called the paper unpatriotic has led to accusations of governmental involvement.

Tigers beat

Artw — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:07:22 -0800

Is this end for the Tamil Tigers? The Sri Lankan army have captured Elephant Pass, the latest in a string of victories against the guerrilla outfit. The army has pledged to avoid civilian casualties (which have caused India and other countries to intervene in the past) but there are still concerns with reports of artillery strikes on civilian centers in Tharmapuram [graphic], and serious human rights concerns. Though the military battle may be all but over the country is sure to face armed political struggle for some time.

Disaster Capitalism

Blazecock Pileon — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:35:26 -0800

"Like the dotcom bubble, the disaster bubble is inflating in an ad-hoc and chaotic fashion." Journalist Naomi Klein discusses how corporations and governments are working together more closely than ever, using the mandate of catastrophe — whether natural or man-made — to further concentrate power in fewer hands, with less oversight: from illegal sales of American police technology to China to avert hypothetical tragedies during the Beijing Olympics, to the privatization of water supplies in post-tsunami Sri Lanka.

So, you thought Cricket was for sissies, aye?

hadjiboy — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:22:44 -0800

First, a bit of an introduction to the game of Cricket (youtube) for those of us who may not be familiar with the sport. Next, a few clips (1, 2, 3, 4) on how awesome the Gentleman's Game can be (and you thought we didn't do anything but roam around in our white pants and cotton shirts...). But, if that wasn't enough for you, then here's a taste of Twenty20 Cricket (the fast, fast paced version of the game), and the new DLF Indian (pdf) Premier League. (This is in addition to the One Day Matches, which were instituted to bring in a bit more excitement into the game during the 1970's, prior to which the match only consisted of Tests. However, some purists still maintain that the game would've been better served had it not been commercalized to the extent that it has, and still prefer the leisurely pace of the original format to its current incarnation.) A small History of Cricket here, along with a History of the US playing the sport too: yes, you yanks were Batsmen and Bowlers once upon a time as well. Although, there is hope that you might still try and break into the sport yet. Women too have shown that they are just as good with the bat and the ball as their male counterparts, and so have the visually challenged. See, this is a game that anyone can play, even kids who can't afford the equipment, and play a rudimentary form of the sport called Gilli Danda. Oh, and not to forget, there's someone else who tried his hand at Cricket too. Any guesses? And finally, a list of the DLF Indian Premier League Cricket Teams: The Kolkata Knight Riders | The Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad) | The Delhi Daredevils | The Rajasthan Royals | The Bangalore Royal Challengers | The Chennai Super Kings | The Mumbai Indians | And the as yet to be named Mohali Cricket Team

Travels in a Militarised Society.

chunking express — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:50:07 -0800

groundviews is Sri Lankan citizen journalism initiative. There is a lot of good stuff here. I started by reading Travels in a Militarised Society (Part one and two). What Liberation, on the government taking control of the East, is also an interesting read.

Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology: Implications for Politics and Conflict Resolution in Sri Lanka

chunking express — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:47:24 -0800

Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology: Implications for Politics and Conflict Resolution in Sri Lanka

Rama's Bridge or Adam's Bridge

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 05:35:56 -0800

Indian Government withdraws scepticism of bridge-building monkey army

Sri Lanka’s Scars Trace Lines of War Without End

chunking express — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 07:16:06 -0800

Sri Lanka's Scars Trace Lines of War Without End. This article in the New York Times does a pretty good job of covering the state of the conflict in Sri Lanka up till today.

It's hard being a journalist in Sri Lanka

chunking express — Tue, 01 May 2007 07:10:32 -0800

"The people who murder journalists in Sri Lanka feel so well protected that they carry out fresh murders to mark the anniversaries of their preceding ones."

Karuna Group and LTTE Continue Abducting and Recruiting Children.

chunking express — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:13:02 -0800

The Karuna Group and the LTTE Continue Abducting and Recruiting Children. "When government troops at a military base look across the street at children standing guard at a Karuna office and do nothing, it’s hard to believe the government is taking any meaningful steps to end this abuse."

Images of Ceylon

selton — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 11:09:51 -0800

Images of Ceylon - Hundreds and hundreds of photos taken in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from the mid 1800's to around the turn of that century.

Warning: A handful out of the ones I've seen show topless women so maybe NSFW.

"They showed him a picture then; / Ain't that you with the Muslims?"

bardic — Mon, 22 May 2006 06:44:06 -0800

Banned in D.C., not to mention the rest of the U. S. A. --British-Sri Lankan rapper M. I. A. (myspace page, with music), aka Maya Arulpragasam, has apparently been denied entry into the United States to record her next album, a follow-up to the surprise success of her first major release, "Arular." Could it have been this album that pricked the ears of immigration officials? Or maybe these lyrics ("Sunshowers," available at myspace)?

More Violence in Sri Lanka

chunking express — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 18:52:11 -0800

Violence that had been building up in the Eastern coast of Sri Lanka has errupted in the capital with the assassination of the foreign affairs minister. Presumably the LTTE are involved in the killing, as they have been complaining for some time that the government has been sheltering a splinter group, conducting a covert-war. As one would expect, LankaWeb supplies a strong opinion on the assassination. One wonders if we will see Sri Lanka return to the state it was in some 10 years ago.

Isn't slavery illegal? Well, defacto slavery may not be ...

kmtharakan — Sun, 08 May 2005 07:39:17 -0800

Sri Lankan Maids Pay Dearly for Perilous Jobs Overseas The teacher held up an electric cake mixer and told the class of wide-eyed women before her to clean it properly. If it smells, "Mama," as the aspiring maids were instructed to call their female employers, "will be angry and she will hammer and beat you." Sriyantha Walpola for The New York Times More than a million Sri Lankans - roughly 1 in every 19 citizens - now work abroad, and nearly 600,000 are housemaids. Sriyantha Walpola for The New York Times Some maids being trained in Kegalla, Sri Lanka, will find brutal work conditions in the Middle East. "This is where you go wrong," the teacher continued. "That is how Mama beats you and burns you - when you do anything wrong."

South Asian Tsunamis

i_cola — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 01:43:30 -0800

A massive earthquake - the largest since 1964 - centred off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra has caused tidal waves that are devastating coastal areas around the Indian Ocean including Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia.

Eyewitness report from the south coast of Sri Lanka. The death tolls are still rising, there is the risk of further tsunamis and it is being estimated that 100,000s of people will be left homeless.

Sri Lankan Elephant Room

mcgraw — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 07:40:42 -0800

Elephants of Sri Lanka. Three have been lost in a train wreck.

Asia: Full of Grace

euphorb — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 01:42:15 -0800

Asia Grace

Evangelism in Sri Lanka

homunculus — Mon, 05 Jan 2004 14:11:13 -0800

Globalized fundamentalism versus tradition. This report for the Society for International Development describes the efforts of foreign funded Christian evangelists to gain converts in Sri Lanka, which the author views as an assault on traditional Sri Lankan culture. There is a backlash, which some say is leading to the suppression of religious freedom and state sponsorship of Buddhism. [Via Plastic.]

jfuller — Fri, 14 Nov 2003 14:20:34 -0800

Buddhists go badass. "Rathana, an official with a powerful Buddhist group, dismisses Sri Lanka's peace process and urges renewed military action against Tamil Tiger separatists." Let me anticipate mefi's notorious left bunch of bananas and attribute it to this.