” ‘A God cannot die’: Divergent narratives about the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam” ‘by Giacomo Mantovan and Lola Guyot (Critique Internationale)

Giacomo Mantovan and Lola Guyot co-authored an article entitled ‘“A God Cannot Die”: Divergent Accounts of the Defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’. The article was published in the journal Critique internationale.

Summary

After waging a long war against the Sri Lankan government (1983-2009), raising high hopes of victory among combatants and activists in the Tamil diaspora, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were totally annihilated in 2009. Although they share the same objective, diaspora activists and ex-combatants in exile have developed very different narratives about this event. The former, on the one hand, gloss over the destruction of the armed movement and the death of its leader and play down the defeat by declaring that victory is within reach. The latter, on the other hand, give a detailed account of the annihilation of their organisation, as well as the ensuing collapse of their culture, their imagination, and their way of being in the world. In seeking to understand the reasons for these differences, this article examines the links between memory production and the mobilisation trajectories (demobilisation and remobilisation) of activists. The efforts of defeated actors to make sense of years of struggle, the experience of defeat, and political impotence are studied in light of their various political trajectories, between capitulation and attempts to resurrect the struggle.

source: Mantovan G. & L. Guyot, in Critique internationale, 101, n°4, 2023-12-01, p. 77-98

“”I hated MGR’s politics but loved his cinema: Shobasakthi on his yearning to return to Sri Lanka, his political allegiances and why violence solves nothing” by Debesh Banerjee

“When Dheepan was announced as the winner of the coveted Palm D’Or at this year’s Cannes Film festival, it was its unlikely lead actor Jesuthasan Antonythasan, 47, who stole the limelight. Known in literary circles by his pen name Shobasakthi, he has written several short stories, political essays, and two novels in Tamil, the most recent being a collection of translated short stories, The MGR Murder Trial. A former LTTE child soldier, Shobasakthi’s own career graph bears close resemblance to the film’s lead character’s journey. Over a telephonic interview from Paris, Shobasakthi talks of his yearning to return to Sri Lanka, his political allegiances and why violence solves nothing.”

– See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/i-hated-mgrs-politics-but-loved-his-cinema/#sthash.Ltny0gxx.dpuf

 

“TID arrests a Tamil woman and 8 year old French daughter” by WATCHDOG

Ms. JeyaGanesh Pakeerathy was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Sea Tigers unit for around four years (exact years unknown). She was heavily injured and was discontinued in 2000. After receiving intensive treatment at home, she recovered. However, even today she is unable to do heavy work.

“Home Is Elsewhere” by Shahnaz Habib for The New Yorker’s ‘Briefly Noted’)

Shahnaz Habib writes for The New Yorker’s ‘Briefly Noted’ a review of the last book of Shobasakti “The MGR Murder Trial “.

shoba

Again and again, the stories in this exciting new collection from Sri Lankan writer Shobasakthi grapple with the question of who a character really is. The writer, who now lives in France as a refugee and has worked as a dishwasher, construction worker and street sweeper over the last 20 years…

via: http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/books/home-is-elsewhere

“Subramaniam Sivakamy Alias ‘Col’ Thamilini becomes a ‘Suthanthirapparavai’ (Free Bird) Again” by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

““Suthanthirapparavaigal”(Birds of Freedom)was the popular name by which the Women’s political division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE)was known in the past. Last week , saw a former woman political commissar of the LTTE tasting freedom after three years of detention and one year of rehabilitation.41 year old Subramaniam Sivakamy alias”Col”Thamilini became a Suthanthirapparavai or free bird on June 26th 2013.”

via: http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/22263

source: www.dbsjeyaraj.com