blaaaady ‘ell

since you’re the one putting the labels out there why do you assume that the word “delicate” is pejorative to the female of our species? i know many delicate men!

yes, they are ‘thugs’, but the burning of the library was more than just a “grievous crime perpetrated by representatives of the law and government” and by characterizing it as such, ie a grievous ‘crime’, you deny the root cause of a conflict that continues to this day. The end of ‘war’ is not the end of ‘conflict’. So, while Sri Lanka MAY (or may not) be “post-war” it is definitely not “post-conflict”. To characterize the burning of the library as a criminal act is to ignore and mischaracterize (purposefully? inadvertently?) the event.

& yes, the post was not about the library but the photos ARE of the war & conflict and so my clarification and pointing out of your mischaracterization is relevant to the post.

@abhi – please elaborate on why the original post was ‘obnoxious’ – seriously, i’m not being facetious, i can’t rightly ‘member wot it was dat i said

this whole site is nutty

Your tone and language are misogynistic, among other things. That should be said. I did not delete your post, but if my sensibilities were delicate, I should not be ashamed of that; delicacy, skilfully deployed, is useful.

You are free to clarify or expand on the term “thugs.” I disagree with your reading of the word as inaccurate: thug status does not, in fact, preclude simultaneously holding a government position. (Er, you can do it all?) So this is somewhat semantic. The post is not about the Jaffna library; therefore I kept my description of what happened at the library relatively brief. But if you wish to describe what happened at greater length, go ahead. Certainly it was a grievous crime perpetrated by representatives of the law and government. Apparently unlike you, I also consider them thugs.

for example: the one about valentines cards – c’mon, gimme a break the LTTE cadre were/are HUMAN BEINGS with feelings, loves & lives – to think that there were not is to demonize them so as to create ‘the other’ that is easier to kill

advice for Walpole – for your captions just put: date, place & maybe (but not necessarily) who or what the pic is of – let the photo speak for itself – no silly descriptions

cheers

fact: the Jaffna Library was not burned by ‘thugs’ – stating that it was is a misreading of history and makes it seem that it was a random event committed by criminals.

The burning of the Jaffna Library was ANYTHING but random and/or committed by criminals. As even the most cursory search on google (wiki or if you want to delve further there are other sources) or research in academic journals will show it was a targeted action carried out on the orders of Ministers (Sinhalese) of the governing UNP party (99% Sinhalese). This was confirmed by the SL President (also UNP) in 1991 when he accused “…his political opponents within his UNP party, Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake” (both of whom are Sinhalese) of the burning of the library and the anti-Tamil rioting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Jaffna_library) – other independent sources have confirmed this.

It is also well documented by many independent sources (both national & international) that the persons who actually carried out the burning and killing were dressed in Police uniforms (in SL the police & armed forces are 99% Sinhalese).

This was an act of cultural genocide… a coordinated attempt to wipe out the linguistic & cultural history of Tamils on the island – thousands of 2000-3000 year old documents (on palmyarh paper) & books which existed no where else in the world were systematically destroyed and the building then torched.

Again, to reduce this event to an act of ‘thugs’ is to ignore history and to ignore the goal of the burning of the library – ie cultural genocide. Many (i don’t know if VV is one of them) these days ARE attempting to cover up the past, to draw a line under the past and ‘move forward’… but can there be peace without justice? justice without truth? or ‘reconciliation’ without a reckoning? those who do not know, acknowledge and address history will definitely repeat it….

lots of love to you all