If the government is providing ‘sufficient’ relief – which is questionable in and of itself – that is the what. There still remains the questions of to whom, why, where, how is it going about it, and in what timescale. Given the actions of this government thus far, the banning of observation of its actions, and many other facets, in the context of a 26 year war and an even longer marginalisation of the population currently suffering, I would think a close eye to its actions now would be in order. Granted, that might mean less focus on ‘war crimes’ and more focus on current crimes or discrepancies in distribution – i.e. a new phase, because the old one has ended – but it by no means means shutting up. That’s exactly what the GoSL wants – I can almost guarantee it.

And why would you give money to help someone-even if only to help their credibility by improving the situation- if you don’t trust them? if giving money to whomever allows the government to avoid its responsibilities, taht’s no good – but that’s a question worth exploring.

So to deal with the supreme urgency of the situation – it clearly makes sense – but then isn’t the case everywhere? And everywhere, is it really wrong to make calls for accountability alongside the other objectives we have? cause it’s for damn sure that the Sri Lankan government will try to obliterate this episode or rewrite it thoroughly in order to ‘move forward’ and that of itself could endanger people in Sri Lanka – Tamils and others – both in the present and the future. It’s their choice, ultimately, but if they tell me I can help, I will.

At the same time, I think the position you end up taking on such an action is connected to a lot of factors, including whether in fact you have any effect or are just cheerleading, what effects pressure from donors would have, the larger culture of imperialism / geopoltiics, and the effects it can be expected to possibly have on the Sri Lankan government in this case.

Where I vehemently disagree with you is the ideat hat nothing can be done. This was posed to me in the context of Israel / Gaza when the Israeli invasion was at its height (the blockade and misery continue, btw). The idea that ‘nothing can be done’ was raised and I responded, ‘well, if 100 White American Jewish children went to Gaza and stood in the face of the tanks and were killed, on a day to day basis, that would put a significant dent in the Israeli invasion.’ Now, both my friend and I felt that this was not something we would want to organise but my underlying point was that in many situations, there is something that can be done – the question is whether poltiically and personally we are willign to bear the costs of what it would take or whether we woudl sit by and do nothing. Granted, I am overestimating perhaps the impact that an individual person can have and that I am underestimating the ways in which social movements will be coopted by larger structural forces (see, e.g. the Bush Administration’s use of women’s rights and other talking points in justifying the war on Iraq).

However, if we get a ltitle creative, we can engage in political actions and not fall into the trap of thinking that humanitarian reliefa nd politics are totally separate. For example, there is a Non Violent Communication centre in Sri Lanka. There are assuredly organisations that are better or worse in terms of who you want to support. There are groups like MSF and ICRC and Reporters without borders that can be contribtued to rather than efforts that the current government of Sri Lanka will take credit for. most notably, there is the role that we can play in our individual lives – as Nilanjana has done here – in initiating a sound and smart discussion on something like this so taht we can again say ‘Never Again’ as we do every time this happens – but start getting to the point where we can actually mean it when we see it.

Because it has happened too many times, and it is enough. As someone who is outside the situation without any deep connections on a personal level to the conflict, we need to live our lives, and its hard to do so while this massive violence is occurring in a world outside our lives – or perhaps remotely in connection with it. Just like with Palestine, with poverty in other places, etc. And I can’t accept the fact that there is nothign to be done – only that we may not be willing to bear the costs of doing what it is that needs to be done, right now. But even thinking about that and trying to get a bit more comfortable with coming closer to bearing more costs if not to the extent described above might make a difference of some kind.

But you may be right – American optimism is both eternal and occasionally insipid, but if you don’t believe, what can be done?

I am trying to understand this situation the best I can, and I’m learning through this discussion. I don’t advocate the withholding of funding to Sri Lanka, which I agree would be disastrous, but is pressuring donors (like Japan) to demand some accountability in addressing issues with IDPs, etc., the same thing as asking them to stay away? I’m asking because I don’t know. The tone of posts on indi.ca seems to suggest that we shouldn’t focus on the lofty war crimes question in the wake of more practical and pressing humanitarian concerns; I can and do appreciate that. If the government is providing sufficient relief, that’s a point in this discussion that needs to be acknowledged; if it is not, is there a role for the international community to help without hurting the situation? (And yes, I can accept that shutting up about war crimes and offering more aid may be what is needed right now.)

As for ‘action,’ small actions do add up, so publicizing them here can’t hurt. Thanks for the links.

Thanks again for putting up the post.

I would, however, once again and most respectfully ask you to read the sources I provided, especially http://indi.ca/.

When hardcore chauvinists and the moderates agree on policy prescriptions, the actual effects of IC actions are almost irrelevant. Are you familiar with the 50-yr old embargo of Cuba?

I am not claiming privilege of identity, as many do when discussing the issue with out-group observers, but only that HRW and the UN have been considered ‘thorns in the side’ for many years now by the defence establishment and civilian commentators alike. Diatribes of this sort are not a unique data point in the history of SL–they are very common.

Advocating the withholding of IMF funds and aid, which will lead inevitably to hardships for average citizens, is tantamount to snatching food out of their mouths, bleeding petrol out of their cars and generally strangling the throat of an already palsied SL market. I’m struggling to see the morality of pressuring big donors to stay away. Does not one of these humanitarian GI Joe’s think of the consequences of their actions? This is how the moderate Tamil opinion is driven out of mainstream human rights discourse–when we say that IC action will hurt the LCD in SL, we are greeted with the same kind of fundamentalism of thought that pervades the Sinahala chauvinist discourse.

if you want to ‘take action,’ i suggest donating to actlanka. You can see timely updates of purchased items and know that it is actually getting to Manik and Cheddikulam Farms as it is a domestic NGO.

http://www.actlanka.org/

This is my last comment here on this topic. I can see why DBS Jeyaraj graced me with the following advice:

What I have learnt through painful experience is that one can only advise those who realise that they need advice. There’s no point in advising those who think nothing is wrong with them and only others are to blame for their predicament

I will have to reiterate from PTR–delaying the loan will only lead to GOSL printing worthless money to pay for the bills. Fuel and many food staples are imported and subsidized. POTA is still in force and there is no political will to unwind and shrink the military Making it more expensive for the average citizen to buy essentials will not endear them to what they rightly see as the shrill hypocritical chiding of a heretofore uninterested international community.

False is the faith placed in toothless international action, censure and symbolic spluttering. SL can, has and will continue to seek wealthy patrons outside the western sphere. It may be frustrating to the child raised in optimistic environments, but there’s nothing you, I nor anyone else can do about it.

http://www.countercurrents.org/sagar300509.htm

1) How many civilians died in the final weeks of assault on the LTTE inside the ‘no fire’ zone and what has happened to their corpses? 2) Why were hospitals treating the injured and the sick inside the ‘no fire’ zone repeatedly shelled by the Sri Lankan army and what is the fate of the Tamil doctors who reported this to the global media? 3) What kind of banned weapons did the Sri Lankan forces use in their operations against the LTTE and which governments around the world supplied these to them? 4) Despite repeated official assertions that the ‘war is over’ why is the Sri Lankan government afraid of allowing independent media, humanitarian workers and human rights groups access to war affected areas? 5) Why are the thousands upon thousands of Tamil refugees – Sri Lankan citizens all of them- still being kept behind barbed wires like cattle corralled off before slaughter and why are Tamil youth being abducted from within these camps ? 6) Why are the repeated reports of Tamil women being raped by Sri Lankan army personnel not being investigated? 7) Why are Sri Lankan journalists questioning the conduct of the war being killed, tortured or forced into exile if the government has nothing to hide? How can a chauvinist regime responsible for the worst kind of prejudice and atrocities against its minority population be entrusted with either their immediate rehabilitation or long-term solutions to the island’s ethnic question? 9) How long will it be before Mahinda Rajapakse and all high officials under his command are brought before an International Tribunal to account for their war crimes and crimes against humanity? 10) Now that the Tamil Tigers are defeated is it not time for the world to tame the rampaging Sinhala Lion too?

But that’s just the personal and moral – the situation on the ground is taht the Sri Lankan government controls the island. It has engaged in specific actions,a nd the LTTE is gone. So can we focus on the matter at hand, as this post does, and talk about the serious problem that is posed by situations like this – on the one hand, we hate imperialism; ont he other hand we hate ‘internal situations’ that generally involve a massive amount of violence against groups of people or pehraps the entirety of the people.

So what do we do? In this case, after talking to people I know and trust who don’t support anti-imperialism at all, I was okay supporting the U.S. pushing the IMF to delay a loan and opposed to the UN stating that it did not support that. I’m not sure what I feel about the resolution that’s the subject of the post – it’s an enormously complicated situation, but one obvious lesson is that governments are governments – and whether it is the U.S. government or the Chinese government or the LIbyan government or the Indian government, they don’t give a f”£k about what happens to Tamils or Palestinians unless it serves or at least works with their domestic political interests. And this is a serious problem – both for the billions of poor people in the world who are already affected by climate change or in this case hundreds of thousands of people in Sri Lanka – whether Estate Tamil or Colomban Sinhalese or Tamil Muslim or Jaffna Tamil or JVP or Hindu or Muslim or Buddhist or whatever else. I think it requires thinking on a case by case situation, and thinking carefully, and with as much information in hand as possible.

on an aside, yes, rob, please go spout anti-muslim stuff on a spelling-bee thread rather than this one.

When the Americans needed to win battles, they massacred plenty of people (Eg- Fallujah). Why should Countries like Sri Lanka deal with Insurgencies in their country any less brutally than the Americans and British who do so in places thousands of miles away.