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In the Course of My Researches Into the Emergence

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In the Course of My Researches Into the Emergence II Wednesday 11th January, 2012 BY MICHAEL ROBERTS n the course of my researches into the emergence of Ceylonese nationalism in the British period, I Idelved in considerable detail into an event that was referred to then as "the 1915 riots" - the term "riots" in South Asia being a mechanical reproduc- tion of the terminology of the British legal lexicon to describe affrays of all sorts. In 1915 this short- hand phrase referred to the assaults on the Mohammedan Moors (as they were called then) in work- the south-western quadrant by elements of the ing Sinhalese population (Roberts 1981). Amidst the secretly complex processes that promoted this outbreak let in LTTE me isolate a particular factor: a critical force inspir- territory ing the attacks was the incitement by those whom I from 2007 or have referred to as "stirrers" (Kannangara 1984; 2008 and that Roberts 1981; 1994a). Nick Paton The outbreak of the July 1983 pogrom against Walsh entered Tamils living in the south-western and central Sri Lanka to regions of Sri Lanka encouraged scholars to rede- complete the fine such events as "pogroms." On this occasion too, final phase of this anecdotal testimony from friends and the article by cooperation; but Valli Kanapathypillai (1990) indicate that incitement was deemed suspect by a diverse body of chauvinist stirrers was one fac- and unceremoniously tor behind a campaign that legitimised the terror turned out by the Sri wrought by depicting these activities as acts that Lankan government in would "teach Tamils a lesson." May 2009 - a humiliating Dwelling on some anecdotal tales I was motivated outcome which added in the 1990s to pen a literary essay of protest against revenge to the other motiva- the horrendous acts of July 1983: The Agony and tions promoting Channel 4s Ecstasy of a Pogrom: Southern Lanka, July 1983, commitment to the Tiger cause This article was written during a lonely sojourn in and its targeting of the Sri Charlottesville, Virginia where my isolation promot- Lankan government for a public ed reflexivity. Central to this intervention was the hanging. deployment of two horrifying photographs extracted In early 2009, as we know, the Sri from the Tamil Times. In subsequent years I discov- Lankan government was subject to pressure ered that these images had been captured by a brave from some Western governments, UN agencies cameraman, Chandragupta Amarasinghe, who sup- and INGOs demanding that they resort to a uni- plied me with better copies and clarified details lateral ceasefire in order to reduce the s civilian about the mayhem around Borella Junction that death toll. As Simon Jenkins indicated in his stric- 24th/25th night in July (Roberts 1994b, 2003). tures on David Miliband's grandstanding on several These engagements with ethnic extremism and fronts in that period: "in Sri Lanka a rudimentary ating zealotry encouraged me to seek comparative materi- study of the past three months of fighting would composite picture of a al on race riots in USA and pogroms in eastern have told Miliband that a ceasefire would be pro- typical riot-pattern, a con- com- Europe; while a Research Fellowship at Teen Murthi Tamil, not just "pro-humanitarian" (2009). This was stellation which I would set out mand of enabled me to spend four months in Delhi in 1995 precisely the position I pressed then in criticising in order to provoke readers and the situation and had delving into "communal violence" in India - mostly Hilary Clinton and other world leaders for their sim- governments into reflective counter- taken control of many attacks on the Muslims by Hindus, but also the pleton approach, one that encouraged the LTTE to action. Central to such a purpose was the buildings in the attacks on Sikhs in 1984 after Indira Gandhi was use the impending general elections in mid-May in deployment of photographic imagery of the northern Vanni, espe- assassinated (Roberts 2010a). India as well as human rights vocabulary as a foun- type Amarasinghe, namely, pictures that horri- cially in the town of dation for their Machiavellian policy of using the fy and reveal man's inhumanity towards man. Kilinochchi, which Tamil population of Thamililam as a buffer and bar- My reasoning was that it is far more difficult for had been abandoned by gaining chip to gain some bolt-hole (also see people to transfer horrendous images into the the LTTE once Tekwani 2011). nether regions of the mind in contrast with prose Paranthan fell in late Since then, after the demise of the LTTE military reports on violence. December 2008. SL army torturing would, in my regime, the campaign to crucify the Sri Lankan state The shortcomings of a great deal of the Channel speculative reasoning, have occurred within closed has been promoted by processes that I do not have 4 film footage have now been outlined in several pro- doors. On this ground I thought then that this set of the expertise to decipher, but which can be treated as ductions. The most revealing is the visual power- images indicated a killing of a dissident or deserter an alliance of sorts between five categories of point documentary assembled by a Canadian collec- by the LTTE, acts which were frequent in actors. These are tive associated with the Sri Lankan government who Thamililam from 1990 through to 2009 and which 1. The LTTE's various international arms - incorporated Siri Hewavitharana's visual decoding have been documented over the years by the UTHR bolstered now by new recruits among Tamil analysis (2011a, 2011b) within their product. The collective; and which are even stressed by Gordon migrants stirred by the emotional heat of 2009. most thorough textual criticism is that presented by Weiss himself in The Cage (2011: 69, 141-42). 2. UN, INGO and NGO agencies directed for a media outfit marshalled by the Ministry of The doubts were subsequently supported by the the most part by human rights discourse and the Defence: Appaling Journalism. Jon Snow and insights offered by the Tamil dissident, Noel either/or epistemology that governs the currents of Channel 4 News on Sri Lanka. Nadesan: "I was told by sources in the Vanni that secular fundamentalism that are so vibrant now in Both sources above may immediately be viewed this was an LTTE operation and [that these] pictures Western countries. as tainted by those hostile to the Sri Lankan state. were taken for propaganda purposes by LTTE. Have 3. The hidden agendas (and double standards) However, Godfrey Gunatilleka's recent summary of a close look and you will find among the so-called Weiss has a reputation of being an idealist and of several Western states as well as the UN agencies the findings of a Marga team supports their thrusts soldiers a man in slippers. Sri Lankan soldiers never his moral passion may suggest that he is not the type in their pockets. in providing a measured, yet severe, set of strictures go about in slippers when they go out on operations." of person who would crop a photograph. However, 4. The sensationalist tendencies of several on the yardsticks directing both Ban Ki-Moon's Nadesan is referring to operations in the late 2000s his campaign against human rights abuses directed media outlets in the West who thrive on "churnal- Darusman Panel and the Channel 4 documentary. and told me that his sources are former LTTE func- at both parties in the conflict has not been even- ism," encouraged as they are by a principled hostili- There are also useful insights in the remarks of tionaries associated with its propaganda wings. He handed. There are several moments where his repre- ty to the intimidation of their colleagues in Sri such independent analysts as ShyamTekwani (2011) is not free to name them, so this evidence is open to sentations let the LTTE off the hook. A separate Lanka during the period 2006-09. and KalanaSenaratne (2011). sceptical responses from those who believe the essay is called for if one is to evaluate the degree of 5. The activities of several Sri Lankan jour- Because I was familiar with the LTTE's capaci- Channel 4 version of this visual story. partiality and integrity displayed in recent years by nalists and cameramen who were forced to flee their ties in using pictorial and video material, I surveyed Nevertheless, I insist that there is reasonable Gordon Weiss. land in 2007-09 as a result of the assassinations and the first airing of the open-air execution scenes by ground to conjecture that this segment of Killing During this work I dwelt on the possibility of cre- threats that surrounded those with liberal or Left Channel 4 in August 2009 with suspicion. These Fields is an LTTE production developed as part of ating composite picture of a typical riot-pattern, a inclinations. On a priori grounds one can say that doubts became conviction when I read Siri its propaganda operations in late 2008. The three rea- constellation which I would set out in order to pro- ideology, motives of vengeance and occasionally that Hewavitharana's forensic analysis in article form in sons for this verdict are (a) the resort to open-air tor- voke readers and governments into reflective count- of profit combined to encourage such individuals to the Asian Tribune and local newspapers immediate- ture and execution with the use of a tree as a stan- er-action. Central to such a purpose was the deploy- supply Channel 4 and other Western media outlets ly afterwards (see Rajasingham 2010 for a subse- chion; (b) the presence of a soldier wearing slippers; ment of photographic imagery that horrifies and with some of the wherewithal to cane the govern- quent overview).
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