Crztchr - a life long learner at University of Texas in Austin

Our lectures today continue to be informative and thought provoking.  The pieces are finally coming together.

 Post Independence Politics and Civil War in Sr Lanka by Neil Devotta.

 Professor Devotta was an energetic and knowledgeable gentleman.  He paced the floor as he passionately informed us of the history behind the current situation with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)  on the beautiful island of Sri Lanka.Following colonization by the Portuguese in 1505, Dutch in 1603 and the British in 1796  (who are credited with the 93% literacy rate on the island due to the good schools they created,) civil war threatens to undermine the progress that has been made to date.

Vellupila Prabhakaran, Leader of the terrorist group, the Tamil Tigers, continues to fight for independence from Sri Lanka and to name his new country, Eelam.. He operates like a multinational corporation receiving money from abroad, and owning lucrative businesses which support his quest for sole power.  It is reported that they own their own airplanes for bombing raids, train suicide bombers (Black Tigers), and have forcibly removed children from their homes to train as child soldiers.At this point in time, there is no quest for a peace pact.  The new government believe the LTTE will be successfully eradicated by the military.  A split in the LTTE in 2004 helped the government reclaim part of the Eastern coastline but this political unrest is not helping the economy of the island as tourists are scared away by USA government travel warnings.

 We will be spending 10 days in Sri Lanka and hope to safely see and learn more firsthand news about the current troubles