My apologies to all for a long absence. As the Governator once said, I will be back. Just needed a little time off to rest my bloodshot eyes, straighten my keyboard-cramped fingers, and un-kink my turtling neck. Also, Mr. Cicatrix promises to make an honest woman of me soon.
Anyway, I’ve been so out of commission, I let my inbox clog like open pores on a teenager. In a mad zit-popping burst of clearing up (go extended metaphors!), I finally read blog posts that at least four Sri Lankans had forwarded to me about Sri Lanka’s new budget airline, Mihin Air.
An airline that aims to “provide affordable services to less affluent travellers, people leaving for overseas employment, particularly in the Gulf and Asian countries, and to promote regional tourism,” (link) has to be a good thing, right? Although it would be great if the goverment could provide alternatives – local jobs – for the women who work as maids in the Middle East.
But this is also a government-owned airline, supposedly the baby of Sri Lanka’s Donald Trump-like President, Mahinda Rajapakse. As the blog Broken News put it:
Reports indicate that the name ‘Mihin Air’ was selected after the alternative name – ‘All Hail Mahinda, May He Rule For A Thousand Years’ – was deemed too long for inclusion in company stationery.
One of the most unnerving aspects of this new airline was highlighted (as a positive) by the carrier’s CEO Sajin Vaas Goonewardene: “it took only three months to become a reality from a mere concept.” link to full interview. Three months? Really? Seriously?!
Maybe that’s why so many Sri Lankans themselves are casting a rather sardonic eye on the whole affair. A Sri Lankan business site had this to say:
A cursory examination of the profit-and-loss reports of the world’s airlines will show that the airline business is quite volatile, with the low-cost segment being more volatile and risky. For example, India’s biggest low-cost airline, Air Deccan reported a net loss of INR 3.40 billion for the 15 months ending June 2006, on turnover that increased 322 per cent to INR 13.52 billion. Air Deccan claimed that it will be profitable by 2008-2009. link
Ah, yes. Nothing like plunging a country exhausted by 25 plus years of a terrorist conflict into volatile business ventures. Why play safe now? I welcome commentors who might know more about the nuances of Sri Lanka’s latest aviation adventure, but until then, here’s my favorite satire of the affair, full of the best in Lakan gallow’s humor:
WELCOME TO MIHIN AIR!!!
Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. This is your captain Wijepala, welcoming both seated and standing passengers on board Mihin Air. We apologize for the four-day delay in taking off, it was due to bad weather and some overtime I had to put in at the bakery.
This is flight 717 to Mumbai. Landing there is not guaranteed, but we will end up somewhere in India. And, if luck is in your favour, we may even be landing on schedule!
Mihin Air has an excellent safety-record. In fact, our safety standards are so high, that even LTTE terrorists are afraid to fly with us! It is with pleasure I announce that, starting this year, over 30% of our passengers have reached their destination.
If our engines are too noisy for you, on passenger request, we can arrange to turn them off! To make your free fall to earth pleasant and memorable, we serve complimentary Kiribath and Parippu. For our not-so-religious passengers, we are the only airline who can help you find out if there really is a God!
We regret to inform you that today’s in-flight movie will not be shown. We forgot to record it from the television. However, for our movie buffs, we will be flying right next to Emirates Airline, where their movie will be visible from the right side of the cabin window.
There is no smoking allowed in this airplane. Any smoke you see in the cabin is only the early warning system on the engines telling us to slow down! In order to catch important landmarks, we try to fly as close as possible for the best view. If however, we go a little too close, do let us know. Our enthusiastic co-pilot sometimes flies right through the landmark!
Kindly be seated, keep your seat in an upright position for take-off and fasten your seat-belt. For those of you who can’t find a seat-belt, kindly fasten your own belt to the arm of your seat. And, for those of you who can’t find a seat, do not hesitate to get in touch with a stewardess who will explain how to fasten yourself to your suitcase.”
ENJOY MIHIN AIR!!!! (link)
Finding flaws in your attacks against the LTTE doesn’t automatically label us supporters. This isn’t a black and white issue – stop forcing people into corners. Using terms like “terrorist conflict” instead of civil war are obvious signs of your viewpoints creeping into completely non-related posts. Do you think disbanding the LTTE will solve all of the island’s problems? I know you find Mahinda’s government to be a joke – as do we all – but you repeatedly take a anti-LTTE stance instead of an anti-war stance, and that’s my problem – you can’t just pick on one pugilist in a fight and label them the criminals. Both parties are to blame.
I don’t care if your mother is Tamil, just like I don’t care if your father is Sinhalese. That’s not an automatic qualification of anything – I could be a white kid writing this and my thoughts on the subject would still be valid.
You can take all the complaints you get as personal attacks and dismiss us as jerks, or you can actually use this to evaluate why people constantly find fault with your posts.
alex on August 25, 2007 06:32 PM · Direct link you’re simply incapable of conceding, aren’t you? you should have just noted that at the start, we could have avoided all of this.
cicatrix on August 25, 2007 06:36 PM · Direct link If you want to say something about Tamil resistence, please do so. No one is stopping you. Have at it. You don’t have to address me when doing so, however.
alex on August 25, 2007 08:08 PM · Direct link You can take all the complaints you get as personal attacks and dismiss us as jerks, or you can actually use this to evaluate why people constantly find fault with your posts.
From the note above the comment box: personal, non-issue-focused flames; intolerant or anti-secular comments; and long, obscure rants may be deleted.
My apologies. I flew off the handle in the heat of frustration. I still think that the points are valid, and I’m not sure what other forum I would be able to discuss them in.
But as I noted earlier, I would have stopped long ago if I thought this was pointless. I find that either dismissing this blog or dismissing those like myself as biased readers is a mutually disadvantageous resolution.
That said, I apologize again for the personal attack. Baseless, unnecessary and not at all constructive.
Look people, it seems pretty clear that Cicatrix isn’t labelling TAMIL resistance as ‘terrorist’…she’s labelling LTTE resistance as terrorist…but in her view (sorry if I’m misunderstanding you Cicatrix), Tamil resistance is by now inseparable from LTTE resistance…therefore it’s a terrorist conflict.
I’m someone who has sympathies for the Tamil people of Sri Lanka, and I would be willing to cast most of the blame for CREATING the problem on the Sinhalese (or at least their political/religious leaders and the mobs which acted at their behest)…however I can’t support the LTTE or their tactics at all.
If you see the time of my post you’ll discern that I must be inebriated – correctly, I must add (in shame) – but Amitabh, none of the people who’ve posted so vehemently against Cicatrix in this forum – Ananthan, Priya and myself – are LTTE sympathizers. I really have no idea how you would arrive at that conclusion – not saying that you specifically have – from reading what we have written. I’m not even a human being who supports Eelam – my family being mixed, and nostalgia being the asshole that it is, I side with the united Sri Lanka of my parents’ dreams. But it’s the callous dismissal of those who take offense to LTTE cheapshots as blind, fervent supporters that I have a problem with. None of us even went so far as laying the blame on the Sinhalese – we called it a problem that was initiated in racial discrimination, but went no further…I understand if you see that as implying that the fault lies with the Sinhalese, but I myself feel that it’s an ancient territorial battle that simply had the opportunity to resurface post-independence and did so – and we certainly didn’t blame the Sinhalese over the Tamils, and I believe any objective reader of this forum has to agree with us. I’m apologetic for my remarks because I know it was a stupid move to attack Cicatrix, and it paints my argument as boorish and crude. But if you can ignore my idiocy, you’ll see that we have legitimate concerns with her ability to be neutral on any SL related subject. I really hope this doesn’t come off as a personal flame – I think she’s a fine writer concerning other subjects – but these are legitimate complaints and things that need to be addressed. I don’t want to have to stop reading this site and hopefully they won’t want people like me to stop reading. I think the most achievable solution lies with observations that third party readers like yourself have to make, and I’ll read them carefully and take note, as I’m sure the SM crowd are doing. I really hope I don’t come off as a patronizing asshole on this.
is cicatrix using her “my mother’s Tamil” defence again? oh god…
amitabh, by saying you can’t support the LTTE tactics, are you saying you support the SL Gov’t tactics?
also, what are your views on state terror? do you support a state’s use of terrorist tactics?
Is some anonymous hero attacking a female blogger who had the nerve to post something humorous again? Are they making it personal when it in no way had to be? Oh God, indeed.
Alex, thank you for taking the time to try and elevate the discourse, by owning your comments and explaining why you made them. I really appreciate that.
I take great offense at people belittling or invalidating Cicatrix, when she has put herself out there, despite repeated attacks via comments. I can say that last bit because look what happened– this post was about an AIRLINE, and it was filed under HUMOR. Some of you used it to jump back in to the same
…quagmire. Way to enlighten non-Sri Lankans about what’s going on. It’s clear after several posts on this blog about SL, that we are not going to reach some kind of consensus on who sucks, so the flaming is especially useless– it also silences bloggers who might timidly try and post about anything SL-related. I naively put up a post about the conflict because I was genuinely interested in learing more, and I was mocked mercilessly on other blogs for it, even as they acknowledged that I had opened up a safe space for a sane discussion. Rest assured, I’ll think twice before posting about Sri Lanka again.
None of you will win hearts with flames.
When it is on topic, please address the issues in a manner which doesn’t demean your worthy arguments. Attacking someone’s relationship with her parents as something irrelevant to the formation of her perspective? Not the issue.
Now kindly get back on topic or I will happily shut this shit down. Thank you.
What does this have to do with gender? Cicatrix draws this type of debate because she maintains a narrow and persistant position on a controversial subject, not because she’s a woman.
As for people getting personal, if you read back in the thread, it was Cicatrix who got personal first:
I don’t understand this sudden zeal for staying on topic either. Are we applying that to every thread on sm, or just this one? This issue is fraught with opposing views and positions. Characterising the war as a terrorist war rather than a civil war will raise hackles because that one little word carries a load of significance, as we all know. I take offense to cicatrix branding everyone who questions her characterisation as distant, removed and somehow lacking the right to comment or question her because of our relative youth, location or background.
I understand why cicatrix adopts such a knee-jerk response to those of us who question her wording. It’s probably a natural build-up of debating this war – you come across a whole lot of hard-headed, stubborn and stupid people. But, Alex is right, many of our stances aren’t quite so rigid, one-sided, or simple. Try to give us some credit.
It’s not sudden. Not at all. And for the umpteenth time, if standards seem like they are applied in a less than consistent manner, that’s a function of SM being a volunteer effort and a second priority to our jobs. None of us does this full-time, so we just do what we can. But admonitions regarding staying on topic are not novel for this blog.
I am trying to give everyone credit; I did not take anyone’s side, because I don’t know enough about SL to do that. The only position I take is one where I am anti-flaming the blogger.
Yes. So I would hope people would express themselves civilly and understand that they will probably have to agree to disagree.
Absolutely not. I don’t support the SL Govt. at all. That’s why my sympathies lie with the Tamils. As for state terror, what do you think my views are? I don’t support it at all. And I agree that the SL Govt. is guilty of it. That still doesn’t change my views of the LTTE. I do support the aspirations of the Sri Lankan Tamil people though.
Anna, I believe this is the point that we are making. I’ve seen time and again that SL topics tend to devolve into nonsense flaming bullshit, but that really isn’t the case with this post. I have no idea how many times I’ve repeated it so far, but Ananthan, Priya and myself have stayed on topic (at least about why we were offended), attempted to keep it non-personal – a)it was I who did flame, and I took ownership over my stupidity, and b)that’s a tough thing to ask anyone who is being attacked, as Ananthan has pointed out – and tried to explain why we take offense to these sort of remarks.
Surely you’re not under the impression that this has happened in this discussion. To clarify our stance in this little metaphor, our position is that X and Z both suck – and really, X and Z sucking shouldn’t have even come up since we weren’t talking about it in the first place; so the conversation about staying on topic is especially frustrating to me because we’re addressing someone’s inability to do that. That said, I don’t want this to revert back to a discussion about Mahinda’s airline – he’s universally regarded as a buffoon, and in any case, don’t you find this to be a much more interesting discussion?
I have to say…Mihin Lanka is an AWESOME name. It just sounds good.
Oh my fucking god.
My position:
FACT: Post-independance Sri Lanka saw wildly see-sawing laws and attitudes toward Tamil rights, depending on the administration.
FACT: The govt is an elected body and has varied from Communist/Trotskyite to middle left, to Capitalist right to far right. (I’m not a fucking poli-sci major so don’t bother jumping on these definitions if there are more appropriate ones out there.) The full ideological spectrum has been covered so viewing “the goverment of Sri Lanka” as one continuous entity is just not possible.
FACT: Citizenship was taken away from ONE particular group of Tamils, the hill country Tamils who were brought over from South India by the British. (YES I THINK THIS WAS HORRIBLE AND WRONG). Citizenship was restored by the next govt administration.
FACT: Growing dissatisfaction against a “Sinhala-first” movement in the 1970s led to Tamil rights movements. Most were begun by students since quotas were now in place that restricted access to universities and civil service jobs. (YES I THINK WAS HORRIBLE AND WRONG).
FACT: By the early 80s, the LTTE managed to eliminate (literally killed) other Tamil rights groups and claimed to be the voice of the Tamil people. LTTE was never student led, and instead a military outfit, trained in Palestine in guerilla warfare. (ALLEGED: LTTE is training the Naxalite movements in Bengal since the LTTE is now seen as one of the most sucessful terrorist organizations out there.)
FACT: 1983 riots were hell on earth. The Sinhala mobs were instigated by right wing politicians, and the police did little to control the situation. During the subsequent period of martial law, the govt is alleged to have sent out goon squads to abduct people (Sinhala and Tamil), the JVP killed people for not being Sinhala enough and anyone with a grudge took the opportunity to whack a neighbour, boss, etc.
My position, as was said by some commentors above, is that it’s now impossible to separate the LTTE from the Tamil cause. THE TAMILS ARE SQUEEZED FROM BOTH ENDS – THE SINHALESE AND THE LTTE. They are looked at with suspicion and outright hostility now by the former, and are extorted by (LTTE demands money and conscripts for “the cause” – quotes here for LTTE usage of the term, not the idea that Tamils don’t have a valid cause. ARE YOU PEOPLE FUCKING HAPPY OR SHOULD I PARSE FURTHER??) and fearful of the latter.
For the above reason, I do not see this as a civil war. The LTTE uses terrorist tactics, (AND YES THE GOVT DOES INDISCRIMATELY BOMB THE LTTE CONTROLLED NORTH. YES THIS IS HORRIBLE. NO I DO NOT MEAN TO BE GLIB. YES THE SINHALESE HAVE MUCH TO ACCOUNT FOR. Please let me know if you’d like a pound of flesh with that. And the preceeding statement is not a sign of my anti-semitism, I’m just angry.) and by this point has succesfully managed to shape events to the point that the goverment is reactive. I have no idea how SL can move past all this, and I write and write again because I dream of the country I grew up in, where my parents could meet and fall in love, where my best friend was Muslim, where we broke coconuts in the kovil, made paper lanterns for Vesak, and exchanged presents at Christmas.
I’ve said repeatedly here that if there IS another kind of Tamil resistance movement, please tell us since I’m not aware of one. Instead, the same few commenters are STILL talking about ME. As much as i love the attention, kids, you’re not doing much more than quibbling over semantics. What fucking new material has come up, after all these goddamn comments??
So once again, for the record, is my “narrow and persistant position”:
THE TAMILS ARE SQUEEZED FROM BOTH ENDS – THE SINHALESE AND THE LTTE.
As for this:
Comment #25:”cicatrix, nice sly way to project your political agenda”
Comment #31: “again you are flaunting your political views on this rather dull post.” “Low cost flights in Sri-Lanka interest me not…slipping in your usual rose-tinted bias annoys me.” “If you want to be taken seriously…I suggest you word your points carefully.”
Comment #39: “her views on Tamil resistance to the SL government which I find naive, rather than just disagreeable”
I believe my first response to all this was comment #40.
Are you all done crying now??
After having the fucking gall to righteously hijack this post (see “I don’t want this to revert back to a discussion about Mahinda’s airline”,”Low cost flights in Sri-Lanka interest me not” etc.), criticize me eight ways to Sunday on my own thread, and then continue on despite ANNA’s comment on how even SHE will think twice about writing on Sri Lanka, you all
STILL HAVEN’T SAID A BLOODY THING OF SUBSTANCE. IT’S ALL JUST SEMANTICS.
Many thanks to the commenters who stayed on-topic. Comments on Sri lanka, LTTE, etc. can carry on as well, since it’s too far gone now. Alex, to second ANNA, thanks for owning your comment. Further clarifications on your positions aren’t necessary since apparently we ALL AGREE that both sides are in the wrong, and don’t support the LTTE. I use the word “terrorist,” some of you object. Fine, we get it. Just MOVE ON and say something substantive, or this thread will be shut down.
🙁
I can’t believe the trivialities that you all narrowly persist in discussing. Here’s the burning question that my enquiring mind wants answered: will Mihin Lanka Air have first class cabins like this (scroll down)?? Was that part of the three month concept? To paraphrase Filmiholic, what’s Sinhalese for “mile high club”???
Please do. Three times, if you must. But please, continue to consider SL-related blog posts. We, IMHO, would all be poorer if SM decided to avoid all things SL-related.
On a rather selfish note, I think that the more posts on SL-related topics exist on this site, the higher the likelihood that the sole DBD in my office who consistently and deliberately refers to me as “Indian” will get a freakin’ clue. Clearly, the many Murali and SL Cricket-related pictures that adorn my screen and cube are not clues strong enough to warrant such a connection.
Angry Cicatrix,
it’s sad we had to get the point where you have to educate us all like first-graders at the hand-painting workshop, but it was clearly necessary. And you’re right, alot of us who have grown up abroad feel an righteous emotional deficit about the things which happened to our parents/relatives who grew up in the SL of the 1900s up to the 80s when most did end up leaving–this deficit does lead us to react like dogs beaten with a particular color shoe and immediately lash out at any perceived slight (syntax included) if it carries a supposedly similar shading.
I wish all of our families were intermarried (across language/religion/ethnicity) and could reap the many benefits of negotiating cultural/religious/traditional barriers/differences at the dizzying frequency which family interactions afford–I definitely benefited from many such interactions and am the better for it.
I know GOSL soldiers, comandos, generals, admirals and the like–most of them retired due to the realization that a military solution, however possible, was entirely unpalatable for many reasons, not the least of which concerned the welfare of the Tamil people under ‘temporary’ GOSL military administration. However the Tigers have shown us their capacity for authoritarianism, random brutality and the cold ‘logic’ that a life lived under the banner of guns, landmines and cynanide capsules inevitably burns into your brain.
My family’s connection with legitimate forms of Tamil resistance (read; peaceful) ended with the rise of tigers–the people who took the militant attitude of the peaceful agitations and turned it into a blood-thirsty political beast that has yet to be sated.
For many years, Chandrika was but a call away for one of my aunts–the very same person who was seen a cold-eyed war-monger by many north-east Tamils during the latter years of her reign.
I can see this conflict from many perspectives and that’s exactly why it’s so perplexing as to why no leaders who can acheive a true, lasting accords are apparently extant–perhaps we can attribute this absence to the horrible political pressures placed on such peace-makers by both the GOSL with it’s disrespect for the free press and the Tigers with their blatant disregard for basic human rights.
Having spent my childhood Jaffna until 1992 I have had first hand experience with the war. I find this discussion about terrorism interesting. Although I consider the Sinhalese politicians who have been targeted by the LTTE to be perfectly legitimate, there is no doubt that the LTTE has terrorized Sinhalese civilians throughout this war. I am not disputing the fact that the LTTE has engaged in many acts of terrorism during this war. I just find the selective application of the ‘terrorist’ label somewhat amusing. Perhaps someone could make a case for the LTTE having committed more acts of terror than the SL Army. Having been through part of that conflict, I’d be interested.
Hahaha. SL Tamils’ own house negro. He said all the right things and they rewarded him handsomely. A Tamil foreign minister as the face of the SL government in the West. A brilliant PR coup. BTW, are there any Tamils in the SL Army? Perhaps they lack the courage of the late foreign minister. Or a nice house in Colombo 7, perhaps?
Next person who uses this despicable phrase gets banned. Your point was made powerfully without resorting to such ugliness.
“Next person who uses this despicable phrase gets banned. Your point was made powerfully without resorting to such ugliness.”
Are there any other phrases that trigger ‘dispicable’ sensors? I feel there are a lot worse phrases out there than this one. I question the judgement on calling out this phrase, but hey, it’s yall’s board so I’m not gonna argue.
But this is the key issue – the word terrorism carries a certain weight that a synonym wouldn’t – that’s why this isn’t simply about semantics. Both sides have used the method of terrorism and all Sri Lankan’s have been victimized. However, calling it a terrorist war is an oversimplification that shouldn’t be accepted. I accept that the reaction might have been excessive, but I won’t apologize for criticizing your choice of words.
We don’t disagree on much, Cicatrix. I guess your views aren’t narrow and my criticism of them likely arose out of oversensitivity. Murali’s coloured shoe metaphor is a good one. But the initial objection is still valid.
Interestingly, NYTimes is carrying an editorial about Gonzales calling him a “House Lawyer”. Edgy stuff…
Cicatrix
I have revisited this thread for the first time since my comment was deleted; we have had the annual 2-day biggest street party in Europe on my doorstep – the Notting Hill Carnival. Dancing at sound systems and going to after-parties, I’ve been blissfully unaware of the upset and anger my comments have caused.
I think it was others who over-reacted to me – Raj, who further incensed me with his outrageous/ uncalled for accusations and Muralimannered who gallantly (but clumsily) sprang to your defense. Perhaps, to you guys, Alex did too, but it is absolutely without apology that I stick by my comment that the ‘terrorist conflict’ term is unfair and biased. It was on-topic, (because it was stated in your topic) and I felt it had to be addressed. My position is I made a valid point, but I expressed myself poorly. I had no right to say that your post was ‘dull’, to get so personal or to write off your blog – I was frustrated and am frustrated with being viewed as a supporter of terrorism and I think all it would take is for you to be aware of avoiding politically charged statements/terms when even mentioning the civil war. There is the ‘Stop Errorism’ movement started by Sri-Lankan Tamil university students in Toronto who are graciously trying to stop the stereotypical attitudes towards us. The more we are alienated, the more we are likely to be pushed into actually becoming what none of us want to be. It’s with regret that I lashed out towards the end of my final comment, but I was looking to make an impact rather than to be dismissed and ignored.
Remember last summer how the whole world was outraged when Israel went on to bomb civilian homes and infrastructure in Lebanon, justifying this with the view that they were trying to deal with Hizbullah terrorists? Innocent women and children were killed and there was an international outcry with even middle-class Christian Arabs openly showing support for and solidarity with Hizbullah. With Sri-Lanka it’s exactly the same. For obvious reasons, Sri-Lanka doesn’t get the same media coverage, but right now I am feeling just like those Arabs living in the West but with relatives/connections to those in Palestine and Lebanon: I am angry and hurt about being viewed as a troublemaking supporter of terrorism and that the source of the problem lies with the LTTE while the legally recognized government gets off scot-free. Everyone seems to have forgotten about innocent Tamils suffering in the crossfire while expressing their zero-tolerance towards terrorism.
We all have our personal experiences and perspectives: you as an American half Tamil half Sinhalese Colombo Sri-Lankan, me as a British Jaffna Tamil Sri-Lankan who ended up in London as a refugee. I am hyper-sensitive to the war being described in such a way: I have relatives in Sri-Lanka who joined the LTTE out of duress and because they felt there was no other solution. According to common Sinhalese belief, we are the ‘niggers’ of Sri-Lanka, bloodthirsty troublemakers who don’t want to live in an ethnically diverse unified island. Then there are those that say that those of us who left Sri-Lanka only came to falsely seek asylum and that we have no connection with the country or rights to an opinion on what goes on in Sri-Lanka. We were forced to leave. Sadly, I cannot say anything of substance about a solution to Sri-Lanka’s civil war because x sucks and z sucks and I can only paraphrase Edward Said’s final speech on Palestine when I say that campaigning for Eelam is a noble cause. I have no power to change things, but I do hold the view that the Sri-Lankan government are not to be trusted and cannot fairly govern the Tamils as much as I despise the present-day LTTE. Why did the LTTE exist in the first place? I am a pacifist but I don’t see much hope in a united Sri-Lanka. Having said all this, I’m not some downtrodden angry bitch; I do have a full life, an interesting job and decent education, a hectic social life, many interests, friends from various ethnic and social backgrounds and a strong relationship with my non Sri-Lankan boyfriend. In Britain, we have M.I.A., Dharshini David, George Alagiah who are all famous and successful Sri-Lankan Tamils as well as Sri-Lankan Tamils who I personally know to remind me that anything and everything is possible for us ‘lucky’ ones.
I really didn’t want to hijack this thread with this issue – it escalated out of hand and it wasn’t entirely my fault. Debate is healthy. As I mentioned before, I worked at the BBC’s World Service and this issue of the absolute need in using neutral statements between the Sinhala section and the Tamil section was always a difficult one but one where both departments cooperated and (perhaps begrudgingly) accepted.
Cicatrix, I really do hope you continue to write on Sri-Lanka with greater sensitivity to the varying views and emotions; we need unbiased and conscious writers on Sri-Lanka and brave female writers like yourself to do the job. I do take note of your ties, knowledge and experience of living in Sri-Lanka. I’m sorry I lashed out at you and became personal and I sincerely hope you come back with renewed zeal and understanding.
Priya,
I think some english comprehension lessons for you are in order.
you said:
So if she made an off-color joke mentioning people with a fur fetish or the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, you would think that an in-depth discussion of Furries and children’s entertainment were in order? Thank the flying spaghetti monster that you don’t moderate this blog.
As to the prose style of my Cicatrix defense, I see no reason for you to point out stylistic shortcomings. Your reasoning is entirely tautological and unbearably trite. Please, count me out of your aggrieved group of Tamilians who see Hizbollah (or the LTTE) as even a momentarily tolerable ‘liberation’ movement for which one can provide reasoned apologia.
And you think that’s special? I have a relative who decided that he would ‘fight the good fight’ and quite suddenly ran away to train at a TELO camp in Tamil Nadu. Do you know what the family did with him? We hauled him back to SL, gave him a good boxing about the ears and set him straight on what leading an honorable and moral life entails. If you claim to be anti-LTTE and anti-terrorism, you’ll have no problem with unequivocally denouncing any organization that resorts to kidnapping young children to fulfill recruiting quotas (your relatives were lucky to have even a shitty set of choices that included joining the LTTE).
Aww. Poor dear. Given the chance to grow up in western societies, where merit and a gambler’s eye can conceivably move you up the economic ladder, you choose to be alienated by the few benighted souls who have even heard of Sri Lanka or the conflict.
The previous generation in my family had far better reasons to be alienated–losing all money, property, social status and whatever records that established that a family existed at all, in the home country. They didn’t cop out, citing a weak mind and join some band of hormonal ak-47 jockeys on an eternal vendetta against people who share so much of their own history. They buckled down, weathered recessions in other countries and made a homes and lives for themselves, their children and grandchildren abroad. They were heroes–worthy of all the admiration and casual plaudits heaped upon the heads of gun-toting yahoos like the Tigers by ignorant SL Tams abroad.
this is a poor analogy.
Poor Lebanese Christians and poor Lebanese Muslims have always lived in close proximity. Aoun’s alliance with Hizbullah was of a political nature, owing to strength of Hizbullah on the street during the Israeli incursion, but he never stood in opposition to them.
SL Tams abroad have little time to feel any sort of solidarity for the Tigers because any government assault on innocent civilians is soon followed by the inevitable Tiger strike against some civilian target or the now ritual, midnight round-up of grammar-school students for cannon-fodder duty.
Muralimannered,
You really feed off my comments, don’t you? I’m so glad to be of service. Thanks for your concern but I DON’T feel sorry for myself and I DON’T need English comprehension lessons. I have an English degree from a good university. You live in the US, I live in the UK and lots of people here HAVE heard of Sri-Lanka and the civil war. Sri-Lanka is a popular tourist destination for Brits and it was a former colony. Everything else you say about the LTTE is fine by me since they are your opinions and that’s fine….HOWEVER, I AM NOT A SUPPORTER OF THE LTTE. Got it?
Not to inflame the situation any further, but do you guys think the obvious stalemate in these discussions is based on where our parents decided to emigrate to? I’m just posing a question and hopefully you guys can answer without getting personal – I think discussing your family history is dangerous from the start because a)for some reason, people tend to use it as qualification in this argument, b)even if it is meant to simply explain your defensiveness, people will somehow see it as a competition to begin a comparative family analysis, and c)it’s awful logic in an argument.
But back to my point, I’m beginning to see a dichotomy between American-Sri Lankans and British/Canadian Sri Lankans – and Australians, Germans etc. for that matter. Why do you think this is?
alex,
I’ll concede to Priya the heightened awareness of SL and SL-related issues in the UK. I should know this–after all, I was born there.
Regarding bringing in family into the argument–it has to do with authentication (useless in the anonymous internet age, i know) and also commenters on SM do have an long history of using anecdotal evidence to substantiate and/or contextualize whatever point they’re making. Dry collegial, academic discourse is preferable but it lacks the masala that SM usually injects into the topic of discussion.
Regarding the difference in attitudes, i think it could be correlated to the country which your parents chose, but anecdotal experience has seriously thrown me for a loop: I have wealthy cousins in OZ that don’t really give much of a toss either way, concerning SL, and more distant cousins in the US who are just as wealthy but super-conscious of the goings-on–to the point of volunteering much of their post-college life to humanitarian work in SL. There is a significant SL Tam population in the US cousins region, but not nearly as large as the one in OZ. OZ is also, generally, much more exposed to SL and SL-related issues thanks to the large SL tam diaspora population there and also the recent spate of arrests over funding and supplying war material to the Tigers.
alex,
I never wanted to mention relatives, in fact I’m finding it all very intrusive and crude. I didn’t even realize Cicatrix was half-Tamil until she responded to me or you. I never wanted to say anything about my relatives, but felt I had to. In fact, it’s funny you’ve even posted this because I’m perplexed myself as to why Muralimannered has used every opportunity to offset HIS experiences, HIS opinions and how HIS relatives coped with the situation against mine. Highly annoying, since I’m conceding somewhat and none of those comments, except the last, were ever responses to him. Yet from day one, I’M BEING OFF-TOPIC?
I only made the remark about plenty of Brits knowing about Sri-Lanka, because MM said, “you choose to be alienated by the few benighted souls who have even heard of Sri Lanka or the conflict,” and I’ve heard Americans are quite short-sighted when it comes to geography. Lots of people in the UK know about Sri-Lanka because every other person has been there on holiday, or because they are aware of the conflict. I was at a party last night and a greasy Irish guy was trying to chat me up and the first thing he asks is if I’m Tamil and the second if I’m a Tiger. This happens a lot, every fucking day, in fact. Or I get asked if I’ve been to ——- and how —— in Sri-Lanka is soooo beautiful. No, I haven’t fucking been, but thanks.
Interesting point your bringing up here, really. I have felt that I lashed out at Cicatrix because she was purely Sinhalese and I feel stupid for that for a variety of reasons.
i think muralimannered, alex wants to hear the following:
Since US Government has declared LTTE as a banned terrorist organization (in post 9/11 world, these bans have real significance), immigrants from Sri Lanka in US, tend to disassociate with LTTE, and their ways – maybe, out of their own well being in their new homeland, since DHS/ FBI will be sniffing them 24/7. Or in general, current US political discourse is averse to violent organizations, and that forms the prevailing winds in one’s thought. Therefore, they become averse to such methods.
Even IRA has recently got lot of flak in US, inspite of support to them by significant Irish Americans for a long time.
Maybe, that is what he wants to hear, I am just guessing. I dunno know.
if you choose to see it that way, but I used my own experience, and those of my family, to help explain why you and alex went off the rails (although alex has a much better excuse). The topic of this post was Mihin Air, which if you’ll examine comes up nowhere AT ALL in your comments. You saw the word “terrorist” and, i’ll wager, haven’t read a single word other than that on the actual post since (not the comments.)
also, if you were a regular commenter, you would know my modus operandi and the fact that I’ve had a very unusual life and am completely at ease with using anecdotes to contextualize and sometimes substantiate the points that I make–often rebuttals of blanket statements made by other commenters.
You may feel that, as a resident of the UK, you get blanketed by stereotypical comments assuming a certain simpatico between you and a terrorist outfit–that’s not something I’ll argue against. But nowhere have I ever called you a terrorist supporter. And the SL Tamil/Singhalese diaspora is much MUCH larger than the UK population. This is a blog written primarily by people who live, work and play in the US–and us Lankans living here are very much used to people having nothing more to say about SL other than “bloody good tea” or “great beaches.”
This is not a instant-messenger conversation. It’s an unregistered-user blog, open to anyone and frequently the site of multi-commenter arguments that range on for hundreds of comments and more. If that’s not to your taste, too bad.
Even middle Eastern Americans (I know enough of them to form statistically significant numbers) are very leery of openly supporting Hamas and Hezbollah. What they do in their dinning table does not go beyond family chatting?
On the other hand, they are quite vocal about the plight and cause of Palestinians and Lebanese but they tend to steer away from some organizations.
I understand how this can be both beneficial and interesting, but it really hasn’t been in this discussion – authentication is useless in any discussion anyway – I hope that you wouldn’t tell any non Sri Lankans who decided to put their own 2 cents in this conversation that their opinions are worthless. That being said, contextualizing sounds like fun. I’m still not going to do it, but I won’t hold it against you if you do.
Back to the point though, is there an American neighbourhood comparable with Hounslow in the UK or Scarborough in Canada (Cabbagetown before that)?
Kush and Alex
thanks for trying to take this discussion in a more productive direction.
That’s a good point, but I don’t think it’s entirely valid – the LTTE have been declared a terrorist group in Canada as well, and I think also by the EU and British governments. In any case, we in Canada aren’t really naive enough to believe the FBI/CIA don’t have access to our phones too – the Arar case sort of puts into light how much Can/US security agencies work together.
One of the things which makes SM so interesting to me, is the backstory of our commenters. They provide fantastic context and make things more accessible and often, more relevant. There’s a reason why (unfortunately) some diseases or causes don’t resonate or get attention until a celebrity’s face is associated with them…we’re human, we’re interested in other humans, we identify more easily when we know someone’s story.
It’s not considered off-topic to share one’s past. It is rather off topic, however, to take a humorous post about an airline and obliterate it with a shrill, emotional, unexamined examination of a heart-breaking conflict. What I have observed on this thread just reinforces for me how much pain is associated with this struggle and I am sad that a place which I was told is like paradise, resembles hell, thanks to the actions of those who rightly deserve your ire.
You’re leaving out Glen Waverly in Melbourne. But no, there is no equivalent neighborhood in the US. There are some spots (Houston comes to mind and northern Virginia/DC) where the population is significant enough to have rugby and cricket matches between former students of various schools (St. Thomas, etc.) in SL, but nothing like Hounslow, Scarborough or Glen Waverly (which is just a giant suburb–not really a mixed commercial/residential area).
and no Alex, I don’t pull the identity-politics card. I wasn’t even the first to identify the fact that I was an SL Tam.
the LTTE have been declared a terrorist group in Canada as well, and I think also by the EU and British governments.
Yes, but Canada and EU will do nothing.
However, in US, they might (after 9/ 11), if an extra zealous FBI officer notices you even “soap box” seemingly harmless oratory, citizen or not. Especially, if it links to Middle Eastern outfits.
One example amongst 1000s: A high school girl in NYC got deported back to Bangladesh (she was in US since age 4, and was illegal, but usually nobody does anything to them), because she extolled the divinity in suicide on some internet chatrooms more out of teenage angst. An Middle Eastern origin FBI officer (herself an immigrant) went after her after following her chatting pattern on the internet for over a year as a potential suicide bomber. Last I read, a lot of people even in FBI think she acted too over zealous. There are 1000s more cases like that.
Well in the US, the fear of government retribution for the exercise of free speech is somewhat understandable. I always felt like Sl Tam diaspora populations felt more of an existential threat from Tiger supporters abroad, than nosy government agents.
I have heard stories about SL Tams in Scandinavia, avoiding other SL Tams in public places for fear of getting involved in any kind of relationship with a Tiger supporter/fund-raiser/recruiter. The only time I’ve see a substantiated episode is when a family friend was offered a free ride at a Cal Uni if he agreed to help out the Tigers with logistics afterwards.
This was the case in Canada as well, but the number of complaints has steadily decreased over the years and I haven’t really heard anything about it in a very long time.
Well, I think the Arar case as well as the case involving the tamil students accused of purchasing weapons disproves that. You’re right though, there is still a drastic difference between living here and the States in that we really don’t have a fear of expression, but at the same time, Canada does have a right-wing government in power right now.
Anna and Murali, I think you’re both unfairly harsh on Priya. I’ll get this out of the way now, I’m no knight in shining armour – hopefully you can ascertain from my comments that all I’m trying to do is remain objective. Priya’s conceded on many points and I think you’re taking her comments out of context. Murali, I know you weren’t the first to put out your backstory, but is there a difference between identity-politics and the aforementioned “authentication”? Like I said, in a discussion like this, especially one that for some reason keep degenerating into personal attacks, familial histories tend to do more harm than good. If we were all to put the verbal guns and knives away, I can see how it would be benefical, but that’s up to you guys.
Back to the heart of the matter – I didn’t intentionally leave out Glen Waverly but I don’t know much about it so maybe you can help me out with this – the reason I bring up Hounslow and Scaborough isn’t that they’re Tamil neighbourhoods, but these are the areas that refugees located to when they first came to the country. I mentioned Cabbagetown, and that was the area in Toronto that initially took the wave of Tamil refugees. There’s other areas around the city – Lansdowne Co-op and the like. Do you think there’s an economic line dividing this then? Is it because most of people who came to Canada/UK initially lived in poverty/social assistance and had to work their way out of it, whereas most Americans came much more prepared. I’m not trying to make a blanket statement, but is there any truth to this generalization?
On a lighter note, are there really any Americans that say “boxing his ears” and “bloody good tea”?
Kush Tandon:
“Even middle Eastern Americans (I know enough of them to form statistically significant numbers) are very leery of openly supporting Hamas and Hezbollah. What they do in their dinning table does not go beyond family chatting?”
And I was beginning to think it was the company I was keeping..
Nothing beats conceding and having it thrown back in your face. I believe my last response was banned yesterday even though there wasn’t much in it and I was keeping it light: I’m finding some of you quite creepy to be frank. So well done, Muralimannered, this really isn’t to my taste. I’ll stick to radio news…personal testimonies are fine when they suit you, being shrill and emotional is fine when it suits you…to me a spade’s a spade, I responded to something I found offensive, so did others, I responded to some personal attacks, I corrected myself and apologized where it was due and then this. I won’t dwell on it too much, this is an American Desi blog and you surely don’t represent me…so ciao
Cicatrix, I am really sorry for getting personal. Alex, thank you.
Nope. Nothing you wrote was “banned”, though I think you actually mean “deleted”. Either way, nothing was done to your responses. Creepy, eh? Our allergy to flaming has nothing to do with being an American blog, and everything to do with being civil. To be frank.
Others who are “on the opposite side” of MuraliMannered or whoever you think is winning or being favored have rejoined the discussion and done so thoughtfully, which is a welcome development. If you don’t want to exercise the effort, spare us baseless allegations and excuses.
You’ll have to point out the civility in that statement – I enjoy the fact that I’m now privy to frank and thoughtful discussions, but I’m not sure why it hasn’t been extended to her – it seems like Priya can’t make one minor misstep without someone jumping all over her. As a moderator, I really think that you need to remain completely impartial even in the face of what may seem like unfair accusations.
This all smells of witch hunt, and I’m really not the only person who thinks so.
As a moderator, I take accusations that we deleted or banned someone– which we only do when necessary– very seriously. It’s a little more than just “unfair” to level them.
As a moderator, I also take a dim view of people who attack bloggers.
Finally, as a moderator, I have neither the time nor inclination to get in a debate with you, so if you continue to feel persecuted on behalf of Priya, we’ll have to agree to disagree; there is no witch hunt and you are doing the discussion a disservice by imagining one or alleging that “others” think so. I think you are otherwise modeling excellent behavior and making your points well. I hope you continue to do so, since it helps with the moderating. Now we can move on or I can close the thread, which would solve a lot of problems, since it eliminates the possibility of witch hunts or anything else.
I’m with alex on this one (sans the “witch hunt” element — I don’t think it’s a witch hunt, just a misunderstanding gone too far). I can’t contribute at all re: SL, but I think Priya wrote a very thoughtful and reflective explanation and apology back in #72. No need to continue to beat someone over the head. This topic got heated quickly, and I don’t think it’s fair for us to judge one another by this alone.
I think you are giving her explanation and apology a bit more credit than they deserve. If it had ended at #72, that would have been one thing.
I am not beating anyone– I would hope someone as active on SM and aware as you are could sympathize with the challenges of running this site. The last thing I need is for some new-to-SM person to come in, see her accusation of arbitrary banning and get the wrong impression about a project we have spent years creating.
Further meta-commentary will be deleted. We are adding no value to this thread by discussing my decisions. You are right, there is probably a misunderstanding, but please move on and discuss the airline, address relevant points or be understanding when this thread is closed.