Dr. Asoka Bandarage
Dr. Asoka Bandarage is a professor in the Public Policy Institute at Georgetown University. Her latest book is entitled “The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka: Terrorism, Ethnicity, Political Economy” (Routledge, 2009)
International Affairs Forum: Where does the situation in Sri Lanka stand today? Is the humanitarian situation in the Tamil areas in the North as bad as it was following this year’s military offensive?
Dr. Asoka Bandarage:First of all, in Sri Lanka there are no areas that are exclusively Tamil or Sinhalese or Muslim, and much of this conflict is about that. In the Eastern Province, there are populations from all the ethnic groups, and the Tamils are a minority there. The notion that the North is a Tamil area is not true in that there was ethnic cleansing of Sinhalese and Muslims from the area. I want to make that clear from the outset.
ASOKA.. CONGRADULATIONS, AS ALWAYS FROM THE TIME FROM SCHOOL, YOU HAVE EXCELLED IN EVERY STEP YOU HAVE TAKEN.. I USUALLY DO NOT GET INVOLVED UNLESS SOMEONE REALLY ANNOYS ME WITH THIS ISSUE OF THE LTTE. SO VERY PROUD THAT YOU HAVE HAD EXCELLENT ANSWERS TO ALL THE QUESTIONS.
I AM NOT QUITE SURE WHETHER YOU WILL REMEMBER ME I AM DINESHA KULATUNGE, WHO WAS IN YOUR CLASS, IF I REMEMBER CORRECT IN MOST GRADES AT VISAKHA, EVEN IF YOU DONT REMEMBER ME YOU WILL REMEMBER MY FATHER, I AM SURE.
ALL THE BEST DINESHA.
By: DINESHA PATHMASIRI on November 12, 2009
at 5:27 am