Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded September 18th, 2024
Few in Canada will likely have heard of Neelan Tiruchelvam, but for those in the ex-patriot Sri Lankan community, the Harvard-educated human rights lawyer, mediator, and champion for peace was, at the end of the last century, the best hope of bringing together the Tamil minority community with the Sinhalese ruling class to avert civil war. His assassination in 1999 put an end to those hopes, and history records what happened next.
Sathish Balasunderam is a Canadian Tamil and lawyer involved in "left politics" out east. Sathish is also a collaborator with Pitasanna Shanmugathas, the writer, director, producer, and editor of the acclaimed documentary series, 'Truth to the Powerless: An Investigation into Canada’s Foreign Policy' - on a new project based on the life of Neelan Tiruchelvam.
Pitasana Shanmugathas and Sathish Balasunderam in the first half.
And; while the news is fresh: Yesterday Israel attacked Lebanon. That's hardly news; Israel has been bombing there for nearly a year, (and much else besides for decades more) but what is new is the nature of the attack. Everyone has heard by now of the "pager bombs". As I write, eleven are confirmed dead, with many hundreds more injured. After nearly a year of horrors and crimes never witnessed, it seems we've got further to descend yet.
But, David Rovics is not cowed. He says, "Whatever's happening next, I aim to be singing about it!" David's an itinerant singer/songwriter, essayist, and anarchist. Fresh from the anti-climactic Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Rovics and partner in musical rhymes, Kamala (the Good) Emanuel, a.k.a. 'The Ministry of Culture' are touring the continental Northwest, with gigs in Washington State, Oregon, and right up here in B.C.
David Rovics and Titanic entertainment amid the icebergs in the second half.
But first, Sathish Balasunderam and Pitasanna Shanmugathas on the life and times of Neelan Tiruchelvam, Sri Lanka's hero for peace.
Song: Aysenur
Artist: David Rovics
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, at: GRadio.Substack.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/
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