GO BEHIND THE HEADLINES and examine the many layers of the conflict in Sri Lanka. Canada's large Tamil community has come out in force a number of times over the past few months, most notably in Toronto and Ottawa, to bring attention to the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). As these protests continue to disrupt citizens' daily life, how well does the average person understand the nature of the conflict? What are the protesters hoping to achieve?
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Premier tells protesters not to block roads (May 11, The Globe and Mail)
"Traffic is running freely on the Gardiner Expressway today after a Tamil protest shut down one of the major commuter routes in the Greater Toronto Area for several hours late Sunday and early today." read article
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The Agenda with Steve Paikin has explored the issues in Sri Lanka in some depth. Producer Daniel Kitts produced a 38-minute discussion (available to watch, below) on how Sri Lanka and all those affected by the civil war, from governance to civilians to the larger communities, can move on from the conflict. Additionally, Daniel, along with York University professor Ananya Mukherjee-Reed who is currently on sabbatical at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, has written extensively in recent weeks on the issue. An index of those blog posts is provided here:
The Sri Lanka Conversation Continues (Mar. 10, The Inside Agenda blog)
"What's struck me about what I've heard from Sinhalese and Tamils on the conflict is how little common ground there seems to be. Many of those who support the government in Colombo seem very reluctant to even consider the possibility that the Tamils might have legitimate grievances against the Sri Lankan government." read post
Arundhati Roy on Sri Lanka (Mar. 29, Eye on India blog)
"A link to the full article from the Times of India." read post
Sri Lanka and Human Rights (Apr. 3, The Inside Agenda blog)
"Earlier today, I attended part of a conference in North York called "Human Rights and Sri Lanka". The conference was organized by a group called Canadian Human Rights Voice." read post
Canadians supporting the Tamil Tigers (Apr. 8, The Inside Agenda blog)
"The recent demonstrations organized by Canada's Tamil community to protest the Sri Lankan government's prosecution of the civil war in that country often include prominent displays of support for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were declared a terrorist organization by the Canadian government in 2006." read post
Sri Lanka: A ceasefire, a blackout, and a flag (Apr. 13, The Inside Agenda blog)
"Today features one piece of relatively big news: A ceasfire is in effect. For now. The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) began observing a two-day ceasefire in honour of the Sri Lankan new year." read post
Sri Lanka: Criticism rains down on both sides (Apr. 16, The Inside Agenda blog)
"The brief two-day ceasefire in Sri Lanka has ended and the fighting goes on." read post
Is the tragedy in Sri Lanka a mere election issue for Indian politicians? (Apr. 19, The Inside Agenda blog)
"In an interview to NDTV, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi has said that LTTE chief Prabhakaran "is his friend and is not a terrorist". Karunanidhi has also suggested severing all diplomatic ties with the Sri Lankan government unless there was a "permanent ceasefire"." read post
Sri Lanka: When does this end? (Apr. 21, Eye on India blog)
"The deadline set by the Sri Lankan army has passed. Prabhakaran has not surrendered. 49,000 civilians have fled the so-called no-war zone. But 50,000 or so remain. And even if/when this gory tale comes to an end, there are no political solutions in sight." read post
Tamils stage another massive Toronto demo (Apr. 27, The Inside Agenda blog)
"A large group of Tamil Canadians has converged on the U.S. consulate in Toronto, forcing police to shut down a large stretch of University Avenue, one of the city's major thoroughfares." read post
THE DEBATE The Tear Drop Civil War - Tuesday, March 3 on The Agenda with Steve Paikin featuring guests: Lenin Benedict, Canadian Democratic Tamil Cultural Association; Rudhramoorthy Cheran, University of Windsor; Anna Neistat, Human Rights Watch; David Poopalapillai, Canadian Tamil Congress; Asoka Yapa, formerly of Project Peace for a United Sri Lanka.
