humanity is my fraternity”
2005
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Sectarian tensions are complicating relief efforts in Sri Lanka, a
country trying to recover from two decades of civil war. NPR's
Madeleine Brand discusses the issues with Martin Regg Cohn,
Asia correspondent for the Toronto Star.
Sunday Essay by Ajith Samaranayake
Nature (now that we no longer believe in God) has
chosen December as the cruellest month for Sri Lanka.
Tortured by a protracted fratricidal war, subjected to two
insurrections of the southern youth within a space of 25 years
and plagued by all the multiple ills of a Third World economy,
this once paradise isle was last Sunday chosen for the dubious
distinction of being the country which suffered the worst damage
from the Tsunamis tidal wave which wrought havoc across
South Asia.
The irony, of course, was that except for the occasional floods
accompanying monsoon rains Sri Lanka had hitherto being
immune from every other kind of natural disaster and that
indeed Sri Lankans had delighted in this condition which they
had taken as being almost divinely ordained.
nine-year-old Sri Lankan
boy, mourns the death of
his mother in Koralawella,
south of Colombo Sri
Lanka December 28, 2004
who was killed when a
tsunami hit the area on
Sunday.
The symbols of the new Sri Lanka are those who sport the
exclusive Sinhala or Tamil badge. Caught between an expired
bi-lingualism and a mono-lingual nationalism menacing the very
basis of a united Sri Lanka we are a generation of
sleep-walkers tottering towards what looks alarmingly like a
collective national doom.
Huge death toll in North-East [Sunday Observer]
The Virakesari said Kalkudah Army camp was totally
submerged by the waves and it was feared that over 200
soldiers drowned. The Sudaroli said 110 employees and 40
foreign tourists at the Kuchchuveli beach hotel in Trincaomalee
were swept away by the raging waves. The Thinakaran quoted
Army Headquarters and said thousands of people living along
the sea coast in the uncleared Vanni area fled to Jaffna
peninsula through Muhamalai.
The Thinakaran on Tuesday led with the story that 17 villages
in the uncleared areas in Vadamarachchi and Mullaitivu were
totally destroyed by the tidal waves and the government
decided to provide urgent relief measures to these areas.
Over 6000 were feared dead in these two areas. A train with
over 1000 commuters from Colombo to Matara including
foreign tourists was swept away by Tsunami waves at
Ambalangoda and there were no trace of any survivors, the
Virakesari reported. Amidst heavy rains relief work was carried
out by military, police and volunteers in Jaffna, according to the
Thinakkural.
The Sudaroli on Wednesday led with banner headlines that
refugees had been pushed from bad to worse since
government relief was yet to reach them even three days after
the disaster. Since sea water has seaped into wells, villagers in
affected areas urgently needed drinking water the paper said
in another front page story.
Jeremy Bowen, Kalmunai:
Torrential rain and severe
flooding has been yet
another drag on a relief
operation which has still
barely reached some
parts of this country.
Here on the remote east
coast, the Sri Lankan air
force had to cancel its
helicopter operation for
parts of the day because
of the weather.
That meant food and
medical supplies didn't get
through to people who'd
been cut off by the floods
and who've now been
living rough for almost a
week since the tsunami
struck.
devastation and divisions [International Herald Tribune]
Abdul Hamid Ansar woke up before dawn, whispered prayers,
gulped down a cup of steaming tea and resumed his surreal
new existence: overseer of Sri Lanka's coast of death.
Ansar, a shy, 42-year-old divisional secretary, the Sri Lankan
equivalent of a city manager, has led the search for bodies
along a stretch of congested coastline 6.4 kilometers, or four
miles, long where 9,000 people are believed to have been
killed when a tsunami crashed in on Sunday.
effective, Sri Lanka
bishop says [Catholic World
News]
The Catholic Bishop of Sri
Lanka’s battered eastern
province has appealed for
support for local
humanitarian
organizations struggling to
assist earthquake
survivors.
Bishop Kingsley
Swampillai of Trincomalee
and Batticoloa said that
local services were more
efficient than large
international groups in
providing assistance to
families in the region. He
reported that no
government or
international aid had
reached the area as yet,
while donations of food
and clothing were pouring
in from private individuals.
Regardless of what religion you may have been, if you were
one of the thousands who died when Sunday's tsunami struck
the Maruthamunai quarter of Kalmunai on Sri Lanka's east
coast, chances are you were buried a Muslim.
Wildlife officials in Sri Lanka have reported that, despite the
loss of human life in the Asian disaster, there have been no
recorded animal deaths.
Waves from the worst tsunami in memory sent floodwater
surging up to 3.5km (two miles) inland to the island's biggest
wildlife reserve.
Many tourists drowned but, to the surprise of officials, no dead
animals have been found.
It has highlighted claims that animals may possess a sixth
sense about danger.
Yala National Park in Sri Lanka is home to elephants, deer,
jackals and crocodiles.
the Tamil Homeland” :
Sea Tiger Chief appeals to the Tamil Diaspora [LTTEPS]
“It is our Tamil brethren overseas who have, during the past
two decades, helped to sustain the economy of our people.
Most difficult periods of war and economic embargo saw the
Tamil Diaspora helping our people survive. This time round it is
Mother Nature’s fury that has hit our people unlike the hitherto
man’s inhumanity to man. It is true that many parts of this island
are equally affected, but there is a difference, a stark
difference at that."
Divided [WOITV]
For Sri Lanka the
tsunamis aren't the first
dealing with devastation.
The country is ethnically
divided. A civil war has
been going on for the
past twenty years in Sri
Lanka. The country, once
called paradise on earth,
has been divided into two
ethnic groups. Seventy
percent of the population
is Sinhalese. The
remaining thirty percent is
Tamil. The Tamil
community lives mostly in
the northeast part of the
country.
Two men, Bala Balasekar
and Ruban Ambrose, are
part of an organization
that's been working to
raise money for the
minority population since
long before this week's
devastation. The two Sri
Lanka natives say since
the country operates
under a parliament. The
majority has absolute
power. They say that's
why they must stick
together as Tamils, and
help direct funds to the
portion of the country
where most of thier
minority ethnic group
resides.
The men say history
shows that all the funds
that go to the Sri Lanka
government are not
channeled to the North
and East because of the
on going war and ethnic
division there.
Bala has been in the
United States since 1984.
He migrated here after
1983 when the country
faced a series of ethnic
riots. Ruan came here in
1987. Both are now U.S.
residents. But they say
their native stomping
ground is still very
important to them
especially when their
home country needs help
now, more than ever.
Neither men actually live
in Iowa, but are in town on
business. They are
asking for donations for
thier homeland. For more
information log on to
www.trousa.org
of Asian Tsunami Victims [VOA News]
President Bush says Americans join the world in feeling
enormous sadness on this first day of the New Year, because
of the enormous toll from the Indian Ocean earthquake and
tsunami. The president has pledged $350 million to help those
affected.
President Bush says the carnage in the Indian Ocean region is
of a scale that defies comprehension.
"As the people of this devastated region struggle to recover,
we offer our love and compassion, and our assurance that
America will be there to help," said George W. Bush.
Tsunami Victims with Sri Lankan President [WhiteHouse]
Secretary of State Colin Powell and the president's brother,
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, to the tsunami-affected region on
Sunday to assess the need for assistance, the White House
said. Bush is seen speaking with the President of Sri Lanka on
Wednesday from the Bush ranch near Crawford, Texas.
[Whitehouse]
The Tsunami literally brought hundreds of people to the streets.
But film directors and stars were out on the streets for a different
reason. A team led by `Captain' went to Nagercoil for relief work.
Vijaykant has announced a donation of Rs. 10 lakhs for the
victims in Tamil Nadu and another Rs. 2 lakhs for those affected
in Pondicherry. The amounts will be handed over to the Chief
Ministers soon.
The massive tsunami in the Indian Ocean has been described by
relief experts as one of the worst natural disasters in recent
history.
With a death toll so far of well over 100,000, the wave is
particularly notable for the extent of its reach, from Indonesia in
the east, to the coast of Africa, some 7,000km (4,000 miles)
away.
A tsunami is a series of very long ocean waves created when a
large body of water is displaced.
Tsunami, pronounced soo-NAH-mee, comes from a Japanese
word that means "harbour wave." It's often incorrectly called a
tidal wave, which is a periodic movement of water produced by
the gravitational pull of the sun and moon. Tsunamis are not
connected with the weather or tides.
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