By Nur Yalman –
Suicide attacks in beloved Barcelona. We are once again left aghast at the cruelty of an entire group of malevolent people. These evil acts should have no place in civilized existence. Where do they come from? What is their purpose? What is to be done?
First of all we must note that these murders are part of a “Death Cult” associated with the profound radicalism deriving from an unusual Wahhabi version of Islam.
This is a reactionary development emanating from shadowy organizations in the Middle East. ISIS in Iraq and Syria is only one of them. There are many others. They provide the organization, the political direction, the financial support and the spiritual encouragement to vulnerable individuals in the West. The persons who commit them are themselves “suicide bombers”. Many intend to kill themselves with their victims. The idea of “suicide bombing” as a weapon of choice was invented by the Tamil Liberation Tigers in Sri Lanka and has since had an enormous range of application in many unfortunate countries. We had seen a full demonstration of such group suicide work in the 9/11 attacks in New York.
The vicious xenophobia exhibited by the extremist Wahhabi version of Islam that has been propagated by various well financed organizations in the Middle East for many years has taken root in a number of unhappy Islamic countries. This medieval Wahhabi interpretation of Islam has become even more poisonous when combined with those profound grievances arising from the colonial and imperial policies of France and Britain in the region since the First World War. Add to this already combustible mixture the tragically ineffective military interventions of the US “War on Terror” – seen in much of the Muslim world as a “War on Islam” – and you get the violent background to the murders in Barcelona.
The ideological background of this xenophobic puritanical Islamist movement derives mainly from the many writings of Abdul Wahhab (b.1704). This puritanical interpretation of fundamentalist Islam was originally directed against the more sophisticated Sufi-tinged cosmopolitan Islam as practiced in the vast Ottoman Empire in the 18th century. Their openness to the large Christian populations in the Empire, as was the case in old Andalucia, was particularly resented by the Arab tribes of the desert who had turned to the teaching of the Wahhabi’s. In 1804 the Wahhabi scholars created an efficient alliance with Ibn Saud, the leader of the Saudi tribe in Arabia. They sacked the famous Shi’a city of Karbala and destroyed the venerated tomb of the Imam Huseyin in 1802. By 1805 they were in control of Mecca and Medina. They expressed their hostility to the Ottoman Turks by claiming that all the Shia’a tombs of Saints in Iraq they had destroyed were sites of “idolatry”. The Ottoman Sultans did not tolerate this “primitive” challenge to their rule. They captured Ibn Saud as well as the Wahhabi religious leaders and had them executed in Istanbul. Mecca and Medina returned to Ottoman rule in 1811. These events were an early indication of the major division in the interpretation of Islam that continues in our day. It has been very useful for “divida et impera”.
The Wahhabi ideological message received a new lease of life when the British military joined forces with the Saudi tribes in 1917 during the First World War to defeat the Ottoman Turks in Arabia. Mecca and Medina were once again returned to the Wahhabi Saudis. Since these cataclysmic events, the puritanical message of Ibn Wahhab, so disdained by Ottoman Scholars, has been propagated with billions of dollars of oil funds available to many sinister groups in the region. Their “message” to put it succinctly is that “the killing of unbelievers is essential to purifying the community of the faithful”. And by “unbelievers” they include all those more easygoing cosmopolitan Muslims, Sufi lovers, saint worshipping Iranians, and all others who do not follow their harsh Wahhabi line of thought.
Our modern problems with these radical elements can be traced back to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. This time it was the CIA that made the strategic decision to support radical jihadist fighters to undermine Russian power in that unfortunate country. The Arab fighters of Bin Laden, fired up with the ideology of Abdul Wahhab and also the thoughts of Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian anti-Imperialist writer, made an alliance with the local Pashtun tribes, the “Taliban” (“religious students”), to chase away the Russians and then the Americans.
The Western and in particular American and British response to these complicated developments in the Middle East has been to “put boots on the ground”. The military response in Afghanistan, later in Iraq and in Syria, has been disastrous. The militarization of the conflicts, instead of dousing the flames, has extended them. They have destabilized major countries and their huge populations. Criminal acts that should have been dealt with as local limited “police” events by local forces have become major international causes. They have electrified millions of radicals.
It will take clear headed analysis to sort out the chaos that has been created by ill-advised interventions. We need serious far sighted statesmanship as well as major educational and cultural efforts to clear the mess. Such statesmen and good policies are regrettably rare in the centers of power at this time.
*Nur Yalman is a leading Turkish social anthropologist at Harvard University, where he serves as senior Research Professor of Social Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies.
sbarrkum / October 7, 2017
Yalman, Nur. Under the Bo tree; Studies in Caste, Kinship, and
Marriage in the interior of Ceylon. Berkeley, University of
California Press, 1967.
I cant emphasize enough the breadth and depth of this work. Do you want to figure out anthropology etc and want to figure it out in a SL context, read this book its an all time classic. Maybe some day this and Pfaffenberger work will be translated into Sinhala and Tamil. Even better would be if the populace can read the originals.
http://www.amazon.com/Under-Bo-Tree-Marriage-Interior/dp/0520020545/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420375884&sr=1-3&keywords=Nur+yalman
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Native Vedda / October 7, 2017
Nur Yalman
“The idea of “suicide bombing” as a weapon of choice was invented by the Tamil Liberation Tigers in Sri Lanka and has since had an enormous range of application in many unfortunate countries.”
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The idea of “suicide bombing” was not invented by the Tamil Liberation Tigers in Sri Lanka. As records suggest the idea was first put to use by Ignaty Grinevitsky on 13 March 1881.
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Japanese Tokkotai, the ‘special attack unit’, popularly known as Kamikaze pilots (‘divine wind’) who carried out 3,860 suicide attacks before the end of world war II.
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Then of course the first ever and largest suicide bombing after WWII was carried out on 23 October 1983 was in Lebanon by Hezbollah.
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The LTTE’s first ever suicide bombing was carried out by Captain Miller on 5 July 1987 at Nelliady, Sri Lanka.
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LTTE innovated suicide jacket. –
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Had LTTE’s deputy leader Mahathaya persuaded V Prabhaharan to take Miller’s place in first ever suicide bombing, the war would have ended long ago and struggle to restructure the state would have started earlier on.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / October 7, 2017
NV you are absolutely correct that LTTE carried out its first suicide bombing in 1987. Five years prior to that Islamic terrorists carried a suicide attack on a US navy ship in the gulf by ramming a boat filed with explosives. PLO and Hamas had carried out several suicide attacks before that in Lebanon and Israel. Therefore to say that the art of suicide bombing was invented by LTTE to be followed by others and absolve Islamic terrorist groups of the crime is absolute dishonesty. NV you are absolutely correct. It is a pity that such commentators coming out with half truths. LTTE carried out its first suicide bombing only in 1987.
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SJ / October 7, 2017
“Five years prior to [1987] Islamic terrorists carried a suicide attack on a US navy ship in the gulf by ramming a boat filed with explosives.”
I cannot locate such an incident on the Internet. Could Dr GS help.
There are records for Israeli warplanes attacking USS Liberty in 1967; and for an Iraqi warplane firing a missile at the USS Stark in the Persian Gulf in 1987 (at the time Iraq was a US proxy in its war against Iran.
*
Talking of terrorism, the the US is the biggest terrorist establishment around.
It is interesting that the good doctor finds excuses for LTTE terror but cannot see why Hamas and PLO had to takes to arms.
It is one rule for Sinhala-Tamil contradiction and another for Israeli-Palestinian contradiction, which involves brutal Zionist oppression of an innocent people that has gone on for over 70 years.
*
The irrational narrow nationalist mindset has not changed much even after being let down repeatedly by the West, the US especially.
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Native Vedda / October 8, 2017
SJ
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“The irrational narrow nationalist mindset has not changed much even after being let down repeatedly by the West, the US especially.”
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It was Sampandan’s fault. Sambandan needs to do penance for his mistakes, and pray to Mao and Siri Mao.
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soma / October 8, 2017
Remember JVP slogan in the 70s:
Long live Mao, short live Siri Mao. ( And China immediately supplied a full consignment of arms to Siri Mao and Russia 5 fighter jets.
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Native Vedda / October 8, 2017
somass ji
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What did your cousins Hindians give Siri Mao?
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Are you busy hanging out in Dark Web with dark forces who believe Eliya means darkness?
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Rohan / October 9, 2017
You cannot or will not locate such references as this concerns Muslims. If it was Tamils you would have located them
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Ben Hurling / October 7, 2017
Native,
The modern format of suicide bombings, was indeed, so well fine-tuned, however crudely primitive was done by the LTTE. It was popularized as a weapon of choice to this on-going massive extent was also done by the LTTE. Nobody else. Professor Nur Yalman is right. Islamic lunatics & Jihadists were quick to notice the dreadful effects LTTE was scoring with their brutally spectacular explosions all over SL. It will go down in history as LTTE’s contribution to modern civilization. Despite your effort to ease them of that terrible burden.
Cheers!
PS: Going by your logic Native, we could also say Concentration Camps as implemented in Aushwitz was not a Nazi Idea, but British. True. Because, Brits planned Concentration Camps during the Boer War in Africa. But, everyone connects Concentration Camps with the Nazis’, not with the Brits. Does that make you sad?
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / October 7, 2017
Hell burning, you are an outright liar. What NV said is the absolute truth. Just because you have a pathological hatred of LTTE, do not distort facts. Even Jews carried out suicide bombings during their struggle for statehood.
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Native Vedda / October 8, 2017
Ben Hurling
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” Going by your logic Native, we could also say Concentration Camps as implemented in Aushwitz was not a Nazi Idea, but British.”
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Originally Zero was an Indian idea. It spread all over the world.
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While we are talking about concentration camps did you know during second world war about 127,000 innocent Japanese Americans were interned in campsaround West coast?
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Being an American citizen Dr Gota too interned nearly 300,000 innocent civilians in his concentration as well as extermination camps in Vanni. The notorious one was named Manik farm. Where did he get the idea?
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wannihami / October 7, 2017
You should be doing a doctorate on subject mate, rather than trolling the CT forum. All this BS you spew out against the Sinhalese cannot be good for your BP..try ooooohmmmm
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Native Vedda / October 8, 2017
wannihami
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Do you find self actualization in this forum necessary?
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malik / October 9, 2017
@ Native Vedda,
As per usual you fall down on your sword of logic and mis read the entire article. Maybe you Native want to parade you skills of copy and paste wikipedia.
The above descriptions you have given of Suicide Bombings are of Military Targets. Where the article Describes Suicide Bombings used in context of Civilian Murder (Terror).. No doubt the Very fist was indeed the LTTE..
There is a difference between military and Civilian Targets. Maybe you misread the wikipedia articles, as usual.
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Native Vedda / October 9, 2017
malik
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“In December 15, 1981, the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut was blown up by a suicide bomber that broke in, resulting in more than 60 deaths to and dozens wounded.”
——- https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/al-maliki-arrest-lebanon-claims-involvement-bombing-1981/
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“ARCHIVE 1981 1216
Iraqi Embassy in Beirut racked in ‘kamikaze’ hit
By With Analysis From Monitor Correspondents Around The World Edited By Karla Vallance DECEMBER 16, 1981
BEIRUT — An explosion reportedly set off by a suicide terrorist ripped through the Iraqi Embassy Tuesday, killing at least nine people and injuring scores of others.
————https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/1216/121619.html
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There had been suicide attacks in the history of war. Suicide bombing was introduced not by LTTE nor it invented the idea. LTTE invented the Suicide Jacket. It was not the first one to attack either military or civilian target.
–
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malik there is lot more happening outside your blinkered view. Why don’t you pull your head from wherever it is now.
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Native Vedda / October 10, 2017
malik
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When have you scheduled to appear next in this forum with your fake news?
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Ben Hurling / October 7, 2017
Excellent explanation by Professor Yalman of the backdrop in which we are now dealing with Islamic lunatics. All explained in layman’s language. Easier to understand how we got here. Thank you CT. Should be compulsory reading for all those Sri Lankan idiots, who Hail Trump and his dumb methods in the Islamic world. Cheers!
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Ajith / October 7, 2017
We are talking about Islamist Fundamentalism but we fail to talk about Buddhist Fundamentalism which is a suject relevant to us. In Srilanka, there was no islamic or hindu or christian fundamentalism but there is Buddhist fundamentalism. Who funds Buddhist fundamentalism in Srilanka? It is suicide bombing that caused problems in Srilanka. It is Buddhist Fundamentalism that caused Terrorism in Srilanka and that lead to use of sucide bombing as a weapon. In Srilanka, Buddhist Fundamentalism used food as a weapon, medicine as a weapon. What is the difference between bombing on Navali church in 1995 and suicide bombing of military camp in 1987? in the first one the target was refuguees but in the second one the target was military. Both are intentional. Results of both are human loss (srilankan citizens). Can we justify one over other? Today, LTTE is not there, No suicide bombing but Buddhist Fundamentalism is active. Can you beat Buddhist Fundamentalism?
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Amarasiri / October 8, 2017
Prof. Nur Yalman,
RE: Islam, Extremism & Hypocrisy
“It will take clear headed analysis to sort out the chaos that has been created by ill-advised interventions. We need serious far sighted statesmanship as well as major educational and cultural efforts to clear the mess. Such statesmen and good policies are regrettably rare in the centers of power at this time.”
Thank you for the write up on the hypocrisy of Wahhabi-Salafis and their numerous clones and mutations, initially formulated by the Satan-Devil-Iblis inspired Wahhabis, aided and abetted by the British imperialists and later by the American neo-imperialists. What a strange combination, each pursing theit own self-interests.
Regarding the Devil Satan, Iblis following Wahhabi-Salafis and their clones, given below are some references from Hadith and from a cleric from Al-Azhar University, a premier Sunni Institution..
1. Hadith of Najd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith_of_Najd
“O Allaah bestow your blessings on our Shaam. O Allaah bestow your blessings on our Yemen.” The people said, “O Messenger of Allaah, and our Najd.” I think the third time the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, said, “There (in Najd) will occur earthquakes, trials and tribulations, and from there appears the Horn of Satan.”
Najd is East of Medina, and that is from where Andul Wahhab and the Satan following hoards appeared, and the British imperialists latched onto.
2. Scholar from al-Azhar: Wahhabism is a Satanic Faith, the Horn of the Devil that Muhammad Predicted
How to debate with the so called Salafiyyah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UDy_apXW3E&t=10s
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Amarasiri / October 10, 2017
Prof. Nur Yalman,
RE: Islam, Extremism & Hypocrisy
“This is a reactionary development emanating from shadowy organizations in the Middle East. ISIS in Iraq and Syria is only one of them.”
Hadith of Najd.
ISIS and the problem of the Wahhabi and Salafi Ideology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJLl–gSCpo
[Wahhabism is] sort of an extreme orthodoxy that historically has not been shared by a majority of Muslims, particularly nobody outside of the Arabian Peninsula.Wahhabism has been Saudi Arabia’s dominant faith. It is an austere form of Islam that insists on a literal interpretation of the Koran. Strict Wahhabis believe that all those who don’t practice their form of Islam are heathens and enemies.
Critics say that Wahhabism’s rigidity has led it to misinterpret and distort Islam, pointing to extremists such as Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. Wahhabism’s explosive growth began in the 1970s when Saudi charities started funding Wahhabi schools (madrassas) and mosques from Islamabad to Culver City, California.
The religious curriculum in Saudi Arabia teaches you that people are basically two sides: Salafis [Wahhabis], who are the winners, the chosen ones, who will go to heaven, and the rest. The rest are Muslims and Christians and Jews and others.
They are either kafirs, who are deniers of God, or mushrak, putting gods next to God, or enervators, that’s the lightest one. The enervators of religion who are they call the Sunni Muslims who … for instance, celebrate Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, and do some stuff that is not accepted by Salafis.
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Lankan No 03 / October 7, 2017
Muslim extremism has its roots in wrong reading of texts in Islam.. nothing wrong in the sources of islam but wrongness in the minds of human beings who read them wrongly.
Sorry to say extremism has crept into Islam by the works of some salafi groups in Saudi and still some Saudi salafi groups read the texts in their own ways..
Out of co contexts,
Word to word literal reading
No clue about modern development in all aapects of life
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Singhalese pundit / October 7, 2017
Now Sinhalese extremism that leads into shortage of coconuts in Sri Lanka..
They do not want to kill no monkey for extreme Buddhism..now monkeys eat all coconuts in trees and people do not enough of it ..
President wants to do something to this..
When religion interfere on some thing monks do not have knowledge life could go bad to worse
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Jim softy / October 7, 2017
Monkies eating all coconut should be a dumb statement. Probably, during the war, most of the jungles were cleared. Now Riashad bathiuddin like peole settle muslims there. Tamils want to settle Tamils there so, the eleohants and Monkies have no where to go. Otherwise, cocnut belt was far away from where the monkies lived. You should be a Wahabi who cannot live with other religions. You like people are are one example why muslims can not live side by side with other religions and should be eliminated because of that. Turkey like countries can live with other religions but not Saudi arabia like countries. Because, so many muslims are going to employment in Middke east countries, and middle eastern mullahs come to Sri lanka Sri lanka has become a play ground for Wahabis
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Amarasiri / October 8, 2017
Jim softy and others,
“Turkey like countries can live with other religions but not Saudi arabia like countries. Because, so many muslims are going to employment in Middke east countries, and middle eastern mullahs come to Sri lanka Sri lanka has become a play ground for Wahabis”
Here is why. Wahhanbi-Salafies make Muslims lose reason, lose critical thinking abilities, and became idiots and stupid, the prescription the Devil, Satan, Iblis ordered.
Scholar from al-Azhar: Wahhabism is a Satanic Faith, the Horn of the Devil that Muhammad Predicted.
How to debate with the so called Salafiyyah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UDy_apXW3E&t=10s
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Thengai Srinivasan / October 7, 2017
The recent attack by a group of hoodlums led by Buddhist monks on a safe house sheltering Rohingya refugees in Colombo has once again exposed the ugly face of Sinhala chauvinism in Sri Lanka. The incident which occurred with the complicity of the police is only the latest in a series of such monk-led thuggery in Sri Lanka aimed at intimidating minorities, especially the Muslims. While outraging many in Sri Lanka and abroad it has also raised concerns of such actions getting out of hand with the streets of the island being completely surrendered to the rowdy monks and their goons.
According to Lawyer Ajith Prasanna the motive for the ugly protest is due to the rape of the Rohingya under age girl by the police on off duty. This is absolutely outrageous on the part of the law enforcement authorities to keep silent on this complex issue.
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old codger / October 7, 2017
Prof.Yalman’s writing is good, but some details are confused:
” The idea of “suicide bombing” as a weapon of choice was invented by the Tamil Liberation Tigers in Sri Lanka”
Hizbollah used a suicide bomber against US forces in 1982, before the Tigers. The Japanese had suicide bombers (literally) in WW2.
“Our modern problems with these radical elements can be traced back to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. This time it was the CIA that made the strategic decision to support radical jihadist fighters to undermine Russian power in that unfortunate country.”
Quite true. The same West has the nerve to bleat about “terrorism” nowadays.
Facebook sprouts French flags when a dozen people die in Paris, but no Syrian flags when hundreds die in Syria.
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SJ / October 8, 2017
OC
Could not agree more.
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Native Vedda / October 9, 2017
SJ
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Do you agree with what China did to the Cambodians?
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In 1979 China the Middle Kingdom peacefully rose and flowed into Vietnam for about 27 days. Its all peaceful. Therefore you should condemn Vietnam for creating such a situation.
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Or is it Sambandan’s fault?
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Singhalese pundit / October 7, 2017
MONKEY EATING YOUNG COCONUT..
Experts say that price increase of coconuts and it’s shortage is due to monkey numbers growing with some Buddhist extremists who like killing human beings as in burma do not like to harm any monkey.and thus increased numbers and now all come inside home and eat all vegitable and fruits..
Farmers are complaining about it for a long time.
Now president should take action not monks..
You should put first people and then order of animals …when animals are given preference over human life ..
Is it Buddhism tell this ? Buddhism put human life first .
Not as some extremists claims
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Jim softy / October 8, 2017
Sinhalese Pundit: you look like a barbarian who is fond of eating dead carcasses. Monkies lived even decades ago and there was not problem with them for coconuts or Kurumbatti. they did not like it. I think now the problem is they sold all the lands to real estate agents to build “line kamara” like house. So, not enough cocnut trees. So, the minister has hired a lorry and selling coconuts infront of everyhouse hold and intersection. Sttop your crap. what c CRI doing and is there a coconut development voard or they just get the salary and sleep.
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edwin rodrigo / October 10, 2017
There is some truth in this. In my land in the Matugama area, the monkeys are doing great harm by plucking the very young nuts in search of food. They just pluck them and throw them away as there is nothing to eat inside.
I don’t think killing them would be an answer. We have to think of ways frightening them away or protecting the nuts in some way.
If one goes deeper in to this phenomenon, these monkeys had a lot of forests to live in and gather food. With the forests disappearing, they come to find food in the coconut and other plantations. The problem is manmade and should be handled humanely.
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thrishu / October 7, 2017
I have lived and worked with Muslims for a long time and can say individually they are nice people to get on with it. The problem arises in their group behaviour and especially when they were egged on or wound up by politicians and their agitators. The last serious issue that we know about in Sri Lanka was in the early 1900s, but since then we have had no major conflicts. The stirring up troubles by Rajapaksha led mob groups nowadays are just a flash in the pan and I think the communities of both sides are tolerant and not getting carried away by them, in fact ignoring the madmen and remaining calm. In mid-east it is a different story when it comes to Westerners and Sectarian conflicts. I hope and pray that we do not have to face such turmoil in SLK.
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Native Vedda / October 7, 2017
thrishu
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” The problem arises in their group behaviour and especially when they were egged on or wound up by politicians and their agitators. “
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Are Tamil, Sinhalese, …….group behaviours any different to Muslims’ group behaviour?
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thrishu / October 7, 2017
Stick to the issue in hand and stop going off at a tangent. You are one of the people stirring up racial hatred here in camouflage, but pretending to be a hermit. Get lost and the next time make an original comment instead of hanging on to other peoples’ …… learn to stand up on your own feet, bloody nut case.
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Native Vedda / October 8, 2017
thrishu
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“You are one of the people stirring up racial hatred here in camouflage, but pretending to be a hermit.”
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This is what you typed at thrishu / October 7, 2017 18:26:
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“” The problem arises in their group behaviour and especially when they were egged on or wound up by politicians and their agitators. “
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What exactly did you mean? It was a sweeping nonsense thrown at Muslims. If it was not stirring up racial hatred then what is?
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Only those with an iota of brain can see original comment and understand it fully. Don’t expect any Tom Dick and Harry to curl racism at others and get away unchallenged.
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Go support public racists who organise Eliya. Dr Gota is a key man.
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Thassim / October 7, 2017
Very thoughtful article based on facts. I hope the racist hater anti semite fanatic Farouk and the subtle Trinity College racist Hilmy and the other fanatical Wahabi wallahs like Usuf and other dingbat Tamil speaking Dravidian Muslims who think they are Arabs READ this and think think think. Denmark and Belgium banned your Burqa shit for a reason. It is a danger to secular society. Sri Lanka should do the same. Turkey banned even the veil long ago when Kemal Atartuk realized he needed a secular westernized society to come out of his backwardness after they lost World War I. Reality today is despite Ergodan and his dictatorial ways, the Turkish Military is secular and will not allow the Burqa fanatics to plague them. Wahabism stems from Saudi Arabia: US’s best friend and pimp. They just bought THAAD Missiles too. They buy tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons from USA. Farouk and Hilmy, and Usuf must be squirming in their jungies.
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K.Pillai / October 7, 2017
At the very end ~ “Nur Yalman is a leading Turkish social anthropologist at Harvard University, where he serves as senior Research Professor of Social Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies”.
Will someone enlighten me as to what “Turkish Social Anthropology” is please?
Nur is writing like a common or garden social science media person. As a researcher should he have gone into why radicalism gets driven to violence?
Did the oppression of Muslim Brotherhood by Hosni Mubarak help the Brotherhood volunteers? (Hosni is now one of world’s richest). The Brotherhood won an election but was displaced by Sisi. Regularly Egyptians are arrested and accused of “showing sympathy to the Brotherhood”.
Right now the Saudi King accompanied by 1500 Saudis is in Moscow. The King brought his own golden escalator which did not work. He has no time for Rohingyas.
Turkey is going fundamental. Darwin is banned and so is family planning. Opponents of Erdogan are sentenced to death or life – dozens at a time. Erdogan is a democratic dictator.
Will Nur tell secularists (in Turkey for example) as to what they should do?
By the way Nur, I am not an academic and I abhor violence.
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sbarrkum / October 7, 2017
K Pillai,
Please read the first comment.
It has a link to a book”Under the Bo Tree: Studies in Caste, Kinship and Marriage in the Interior of Ceylon” written by Nur Yalman on Sri Lanka.
Read it if possible, maybe from an Inter Library loan service if you live in the west.
or buy it, its USD 2.49 for a used book at moment.
Its a classic, used as a text book in Social Anthropology, and the price of the used text books fall after the end of semester (students sell the book).
While you are at it suggest reading and the Edmund Leach books.
Pfaffenberger, Bryan, Caste in Tamil culture : The religious foundations of Sudra domination in Tamil Sri Lanka
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MICHAEL ROBERTS / October 8, 2017
Great to see you in print again NUR. … and many thanks for a sensible and grounded review. You may already have seen these works but in reprinting your article in THUPPAHI I have referred to them and present them here for the readers and bloggers.
* ROXANNE L. EUBEN, ENEMY IN THE MIRROR. ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM AND THE LIMITS OF MODERN RATIONALISM, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1999.
* Peter L. Bergen:, Inside the Secret World of Osama bkin Laden, New York, The Free Press, 2001.
* David Cook, ‘Jihad’, ‘Matyrdom Operatioons’, and Mohammed Atta’s Injunction in the “last Night’, befoe 9/11,12 May 2015, https://thuppahi.wordpress.com/2015/05/12/jihad-martyrdom-operations-and-mohammed-attas-injunctions-in-the-last-night-before-911/
…. https://thuppahi.wordpress.com/?p=27614&preview=true
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Real Siva Sankaran Sharma / October 9, 2017
What a very good article. These Saudi and Wahhabis only use their funds to Arabise and spread their primitive fundamentalist form of Islam throughout the world to create chaos and when it is created, causing immense harm and misery making thousands flee their homes as refugees, they will not help them, even if they are fellow Arabs and Muslims. In Sri Lanka with the help of the local Muslim elite and politicians , they have brain washed the local Muslim population , 95% or more who are Tamil by ethnicity and only migrated from South India, a few centuries ago, to think that they are Arabs and worship everything Arab and hate their actual Tamil origin culture and ethnicity . They are now fasting discarding everything Tamil , names, dress culture and even language about them and their 1000 very tolerant Tamil form of Islam, that they brought from their South Indian homeland and becoming starting to act and look like some pathetic carbon clones of the Wahhabi Gulf Arabs . Just look at the way they dress, their names and how aggressive they have become. Go to Kattakudi and many other towns and cities in the east to see this virulent Arabised form of Islam and people, who are now intent on creating chaos in the name of Islam and Arabism
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A.D.J. Perera / October 11, 2017
RSSS
The Saudi rulers are in mortal fear of the more educated and restless Saudi youth being inspired by the Arab Spring. This was a movement towards gradual democratisation that is very popular in the Arab world. The Saudi despots suffer nightmares more and more democracy will eventually force them to rule their autocratic hold over the oil-rich Kingdom. There was an attack on the Rulers palace in Jeddah and Riyadh a few days ago. The Shia-Sunni divide is another factor that causes great worry to the Saudis – particularly because, despite some unpopular moves, the Iranian leadership has reinstated respect for Iran in the world in general and in the Middle East, in particular. And then, of course, there is the Islamic Bomb with the Shiite Iranians.
The Saudis are reported to have allocated something like US$250
billion to radicalise Islamic societies in many Arab and non-Arab Muslim countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka in particular. We see that clearly in Kattankudy and other parts of the East. The Saudis employ clones in different countries to carry out their dirty work. But with dwindling price of Oil and Gas the
Saudi enterprise is doomed to fail.
The Clash of Civilisations Samuel Huntington predicted in the 1980s is already with us. It is only a matter of time before the 2nd Crusade
goes global.
A.D.J. Perera
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Joe / October 9, 2017
Another senile ignoramus greatly affected by the dark machinations of Pax Americana.
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edwin rodrigo / October 10, 2017
Suicide Missions as a weapon of war has been around for thousands of years. In Sri Lanka, we have a prime example where Elara accepted Dutu Gemunus challenge for a face to face combat to decide who the winner is. It was a suicide mission because, though experienced, Elara was no match for his opponent. But by engaging in this face to face combat, they saved the lives of many people on both sides. The fight ended very quickly, like one of those Mohammed Ali’s boxing bouts, where he knocked out his opponent within a few minute, disappointing even his own fans.
It is a pity that in the more recent Eelam war, which raged for over 30 years, no such challenge was issued by either Prabha or his Sinhala opponent (MR in the last stages). I cannot with 100% certainty who the coward was. No that is not quite right. I cannot say who the bigger coward was. But based on the evidence available, the crown should go to Prabha.
However, the question arises, were they were actually suicide bombers. Perhaps not. They were innocent boys and girls who just wanted to have last good meal including Chicken Curry (Vanni style) with their perfect leader. I mean the perfectly round leader.
Some hold the theory that the whole thing was a conspiracy against the LTTE. There were no suicide bombers. Of course, there were some bogus kids who were caught wearing bomb kits. But no one who had actually exploded bombs has been arrested, let alone charged in courts. The conclusion is that either the security forces were completely stupid or the whole thing was a hoax, like Armstrong landing on the moon. I favor the 2nd.
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