…the places in which Mr Rajapaksa lost, and his challenger General Sarath Fonseka won, are – barring a few districts in Colombo and the hills – entirely in the north and east – the areas where Tamils and Tamil-speaking Muslims are in the majority.
The Sinhalese nationalist general was an unlikely champion for minorities but had convinced them that he was more interested in finding them a political solution.
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johnpi
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johnpi
Famous rapper and Tamil Tiger daughter MIA is very angry at the New York Times for listing Sri Lanka as the top destination to go on vacation in 2010.
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Lawrence of Arabia
One of the Village Voice blogs had a rather prompt rejoinder to what was a VERY flimsy piece by the NYTimes on M.I.A., linked below by johnpi. As the VV blogger points out, the Voice had done this piece 4 years ago and had done it a whole lot better.
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johnpi
To many Americans, the Oscar-nominated Maya Arulpragasam, known as M.I.A., is the very pregnant rapper who gyrated across the stage at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, but some in Sri Lanka who know the Tamil singer’s work say she is an apologist for the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels fighting in the country’s long-running civil war.
Sri Lankans who have seen her videos say they interpret some parts as showing support for the Tigers, or at the very least glorifying their cause. But for those not familiar with the conflict, they might come across as generic third-world scenes.
“I kind of want to leave it ambiguous for my fans,” she said in the PBS interview, referring to the lyrics of her song “Paper Planes,” which was nominated for record of the year at the Grammys but did not win.
“Paper Planes,” which compares international drug dealing with selling records, drew a reaction from DeLon, a Sinhalese rapper based in Los Angeles, who made a video remix in which he interspersed images of people being blown up by Tamil Tiger bombs and subtitles about M.I.A. being a terrorist.
M.I.A. responded that she did not support terrorism.
So far, this is the only person in the conflict who I identify with and have been moved by.
