Voices in Exile is moving to Blogger

We would like to let our readers know that we are officially moving our blog to the Blogger service, and our new URL will be http://voicesinexile.blogspot.com . While WordPress.com has served us well, and remains a good service, we still are unsure of the exact circumstances and reasons for the (brief) termination of our blog.

Since our trust has now been broken already in suspicious circumstances, we felt it imprudent to believe that it could not happen again to us.

Review: Sri Lankan Journalism, Its Fact-Finding, and the Internet

by Gogol G.

Groundviews did further digging into the Sunday Times’ story about Bob Rae, and its shoddy attempt to use Wikipedia as a source to paint Bob Rae as an LTTE supporter.

As expected, what Groundviews found was a trail of facts that all point to the dubiousness of the original Sunday Times article.  This report from Groundviews is commendable for taking the extra step to investigate this.

However, I’d like to point out and correct something quite glaring.  

Opinion: WordPress Suspending Our Blog and the Larger Context

Voices in Exile noticed on June 10 that WordPress had suspended our blog, and our blog said that the site had been suspended due to a violation of the terms of service.  We are not sure on which day the blog was suspended.   WordPress suspended our account and did not notify us about any concerns before, at the time of, or any time after the suspension until we notified them.  This is very unfortunate, since we see ourselves as a forum for the free expression of people’s opinions and for intelligent dialogue on all of the confusing happenings around Sri Lanka and the world.  We contacted WordPress regarding this incident, and telling them that our blog holds itself to high standards of content and openness of dialogue.  Here is the response from them, one day later:

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

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.

Last Updated: 5:19PM BST 08 May 2009

December 23 1987 was a warm, clear day, and I was hiding under a lantana bush with eight of my comrades in a village north of Jaffna. With our rifles cocked and our cyanide capsules clenched between our teeth, we awaited the soldiers who had been scouring the area for us for several hours. Our orders were to empty our magazines into them before biting into the glass capsules we called ‘kuppies’ that hung on a thread around our necks. As a Tamil Tiger guerrilla, there was no honour in being caught alive.

There had been 22 of us that morning – nine boys and 13 girls, aged between 15 and 26 (I was 17). Now, four of my comrades were missing, two were wounded. Ten were dead.

Opinion: What does the future hold for Sri Lanka? Quel avenir pour Sri Lanka?

What does the future hold for Sri Lanka?
by Eric Meyer, Professor at Inalco, Paris
Article date : 30-04-2009

The political system, society and economy of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) were thoroughly shaken up by more than a quarter of a century-old conflict (1983-2009) between the Sinhalese majority government (75% of the population) and the Tamil separatist guerrilla led by the organisation of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The latter which controlled vast territories between 1990 and 2007 in the north and east of the island, and had built a force capable of inflicting heavy losses on the Colombo Army, has lost most of its territories and military potential since 2008, and finds itself driven to defeat on a cramped coastal strip, where it was retaining about fifty thousand civilians, by the end of April 2009, to use them as a human shield. After suspending hostilities for two days on the occasion of Sinhalese and Tamil new year (14th April), fights resumed and the Sri Lankan Army moved forward till the sea, triggering a mass exodus of civilians, which as of 29th April, continued under disastrous sanitary conditions.

Opinion: Sick of these Tamil Protests, Eh?

by Sunthar V

Sick of these Tamil Protests, Eh?

Let me take you to the side and speak to you. Away from the crazy mass of Tamils who have blocked your roads, caused commuter chaos and made your life so miserable through their protests. So miserable, that you feel they should be stripped of their Canadian citizenships and shipped back to wherever the hell they came from.

As Torontonians recover their lost sympathy from last week’s University Avenue hold-up, and brace for yet another human chain rally put forth by these Tamils, there are many thoughts that explode out of my rather youthful Tamil-Canadian upbringing. Yes, I too am a Tamil. Contrary to popular belief, I am not a terrorist nor am I a difficult individual. I do however, have a long last name and I am the first generation of my family to receive a post-secondary education, but never has my upbringing consisted of resentfulness towards what my family calls home, Canada. I would never give up this country for anything, and my pride for it mirrors my favourite beer commercials.

However, I cannot express the same sort of pride towards our government.

Video Interview: CBC Newsworld Interview with Phillip Koneswaren

Phillip Koneswaren, interviewed by Peter Forestell
CBC Newsworld
May 11, 2009

A full transcript follows.

Opinion: Guerre au Sri Lanka – Le Canada doit sortir de sa torpeur

Guerre au Sri Lanka – Le Canada doit sortir de sa torpeur

Christian Nadeau, Professeur au département de philosophie de l’Université de Montréal

Le Devoir

Édition du samedi 02 et du dimanche 03 mai 2009

Selon les Nations unies, 100 000 civils tentent ou ont tenté d’échapper à la zone des conflits depuis le début des hostilités au Sri Lanka le 20 avril. Ils sont pris en charge par le gouvernement dans des «camps de bien-être» que l’organisation Human Rights Watch a qualifiés de «camps d’internement» (Le Monde, 30 avril 2009).

La population tamoule est ainsi forcée à un exode sans précédent. Selon l’ONU, 6500 civils ont déjà perdu la vie en raison des combats, en plus de 14 000 blessés. En ces temps de grippe porcine, les préoccupations sanitaires voilent les yeux de la communauté internationale sur une tragédie à laquelle il faut à tout prix mettre un terme.

Opinion: The War in Sri Lanka and the Left in Toronto

By Noaman Ali and Fathima Cader

photo by freelancer RJ

The recent burst of mass mobilizations by sections of the Canadian-Tamil community in Toronto has brought to the fore several contradictions concerning the conflict in Sri Lanka and its presence in and connection to Canada. Mainstream media’s responses to the protests have been overwhelmingly racialist, exposing many of the limits of Canadian multiculturalism. In order for Canadian multiculturalism to accept any given group of people as a cultural community, it must define that group by differentiating it from a supposedly mainstream Canadian identity. This focalising Canadian identity—in effect a non-identity—is white and middle-class. Thus, when the Toronto Star publishes an editorial entitled “Protesters vs. the public” [1] it effectively notes that the protesters are not part of the public by pitting (Tamil) protesters against the (Canadian) public. Rather than focusing on the war, media outlets have focused on the inconvenience posed to commuters, thereby shifting attention away from deaths in Sri Lanka to traffic regulations in Canada.

News: Canadian Academics for Tamil Rights – Statement on the Crisis in Sri Lanka

Canadian Academics for Tamil Rights
Statement on the Crisis in Sri Lanka

We are writing to express our grave concerns about the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the “safe zone” in the Vanni region of Sri Lanka. Most independent observers estimate that more than 200,000 Tamil civilians, many already displaced multiple times, have been under siege in the tiny coastal strip with at least 50,000 still there. Confirmed reports indicate that more than 4000 civilians, including 700 children, have been killed since January 2009.

Displaced persons who have managed to flee the fighting have been placed in de facto detention camps by the Sri Lankan government where they are denied freedom of movement, in contravention of international standards. There are over 40,000 displaced people being held in 13 sites in the Vavuniya District in overcrowded conditions without adequate access to healthcare, food and water. There are reports of rape, torture and killings in the camps (Medico International, Germany, April 16, 2009). Civilians who are suspected of LTTE ties have been taken into government custody, leading to fears of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, tactics the government and its allied militias have employed in significant numbers over the past few years (Amnesty International, ASA 37/004/2009).