Archive for May, 2007

War, Religion and liberal values

By R.M.B Senanayake. Buddha preached ahimsa or non violence against all beings including animals. He intervened to settle a dispute between two rulers using negotiation instead of allowing war to take place. Jesus Christ said “love your enemies, do good to them that hate you” Are we to ignore these teachings? My friend Thilak Wijesinghe’ seems to think so. He argues that Buddha only provides a way of individual salvation. It may be true that Buddhism has not engaged itself in social questions although I don’t agree entirely. But is religion to be confined to the private realm and not exercise any influence on social questions and their resolution. The monks do not often take this stand consistently. Some agitate for banning such social evils as smoking, alcohol and gambling. The ‘Mahanayakes’ have told the Archbishop of Canterbury that no religious hierarchy should engage in the issues of human rights violations but leave the government to carry on with their…

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The MPs Pay Hike Case – An Opinion from Australia

This article is based on the recent case on the Pay Hike for MPs. The Supreme Court was divided in rejecting the application made by Weliamuna. The S.C did not give reasons as they should. This response is based on an article which was published in the Island newspaper as a letter from me on the judgment on case. The case was filed by Weliamuna on behalf of trade unions. I give below an opinion received from a lawyer in Australia- M/s Sonali Fernando, formerly from Sri Lanka. The MPs Pay Hike Case – An Opinion from Australia I refer to Mr R.M.B. Senanayake’s letter requesting for advice from lawyers about the S.C. judgment in the Pay Hike which was published in the Daily Island. The facts in this case are that some trade unions filed an application to obtain leave to proceed in a Fundamental Rights case before the Supreme Court relating to the hike in the pay of…

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Promoting A Conscience For Peace And Reconciliation

Taken from the Editorial in the Catholic Messenger of the 29th April 2007 The Indian newspaper Hindustan Times commenting on the statement issued by the Vatican quoted thus: “According to the Vatican communiqué, the Pope told President Rajapakse that in the light of the current situation in Sri Lanka, there was a need to respect human rights and restart negotiations, as this was the only way to put an end to the violence that had “bloodied the island”. Furthermore the Vatican Communiqué states “The Catholic Church which offers a significant contribution to the life of the community will intensify the commitment to form consciences, with the sole aim of favoring the common good, reconciliation and peace.” We reluctantly and sadly refer to the Abductions, Kidnappings and extra -Judicial killings that are taking place in the north and east as well as in Colombo. We note the statement of the Defense Secretary that politicians in the south do not have to…

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Darfur vs. Sri Lanka

Click here for a larger version. Graphed from data on Reuters Alertnet, the chart above covers the period from 21.9.2006 to 10.5.2007. It’s an wretched contest to be in, but over the past couple of months, reportage on Sri Lanka’s humanitarian crises have on several occasions overshadowed that of Darfur. What does this war mean to the people behind the statistics? I graphed this after chancing upon an old Groundviews post of mine, Maps of Shame.

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Getting rid of the LTTE: A few questions

The photo above was taken at a busy intersection in Colombo. How much are we willing to sacrifice to root out the LTTE? Are they the only terrorists in Sri Lanka? What of the President’s own countenance of human rights abuses? What about the allegations of child conscription in the East? What about the President’s brother and his behaviour? Does anyone in this government have their children fighting this war (apart from we all know who, now comfortably residing in England)? Why doesn’t the JVP mobilise its young supporters to go fight and win the war? Why doesn’t at least one monk from the JHU immolate himself to support the violence that they preach should be directed at others? Why is no one interested in why the LTTE came about, even if their methods are despicable? “The important thing is not to stop questioning.” – Albert Einstein

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Mobile Phones Connections Cut In Jaffna

Mobile phones are of no use now in Jaffna. The purpose of using mobile phones is to pass on any urgent message, but mobile phone connections are being cut often in Jaffna. Generally for more than half the day, connections are out. More than one lakh mobile phone users are there in Jaffna.

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An infamous proposal

The proposals released by the SLFP on the 1st of May deserve mention only because they epitomise how NOT to foment a process of conflict transformation to address Sri Lanka’s violence. Rohan Edrisinha, in an article on the proposals published recently in this newspaper cogently & disturbingly avers: “The SLFP proposals for constitutional reform 2007 must surely be the most retrogressive set of proposals made by any political party, organization or group in the last twenty five years. They fail to address the core issues both in relation to peace and democracy, and in the area of constitutional reform for conflict resolution offer to the Tamil people and their political leadership less than what they already have and less than what was offered in the past twenty five years… the main political party in the government of Sri Lanka lacks the understanding, capacity, empathy and commitment to accommodate reasonable Tamil aspirations and work towards a negotiated political settlement with justice…

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The SLFP Proposals: The Slap in the Face and the Shot in the Arm

The international spotlight is upon us yet again and this time against the backdrop of the third successful outing of the LTTE air force, the “mountain moved and produced a mouse” SLFP proposals and the House of Commons debate on Sri Lanka. US Under Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher will be here this week, along with the Archbishop of Canterbury, a member of the House of Lords, and most members of the IIGEP as well. It is to be expected that the twin Achilees’ heels of the government – human rights and proposals for a political settlement of the ethnic conflict along power sharing lines, will be further exposed in and by these visits. No doubt, the “offence is the best form of defence”, defence will be used to assure the faithful about the unflinching and furious defence of national sovereignty. Beneath it all, however, the fundamental truth remains undisturbed. As this columnist has opined, be it…

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Right to Information and Good Governance: Linkages and Challenges

“Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and … the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.” – UN General Assembly Resolution 59(I), 1946 – In this article I explore the symbiotic relationship between good governance, democracy and the Right to Information. The Right to Information is, I argue, a fundamental tenet of democracy. Across the world, the public is demanding more information from the government to understand the reasoning behind its policymaking and decisions taken on their behalf. Governments are lagging behind in providing this information. Recognising that a culture of withholding information leads to corruption and all manner of other malpractices that undermine democratic governance, I make the case for the Right to Information in Sri Lanka as well. While recognising the need for an overarching legislative framework to facilitate the Right to Information, I end with the point that at the end of the day, with or without such laws, the…

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THE SRI LANKA FREEDOM PARTY’S BREATHTAKING PROPOSALS ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM

Rohan Edrisinha Faculty of Law, University of Colombo and Centre for Policy Alternatives The Sri Lanka Freedom Party has a new approach to negotiated settlement. It goes like this in a hypothetical negotiation regarding a salary dispute between employer and employee. Employees ABC earn a salary of Rs 10000 per month and go on strike demanding a higher pay. Employer X states that he is committed to a negotiated settlement, appeals to Employees ABC to return to work, and offers them an all inclusive salary of Rs 5000 per month, less than even their previous salary raise which gave them Rs 7500 per month. The SLFP Proposals to the All Party Conference announced on 30 April are as outrageous as the offer of the employer in the example cited above. Yet it claims that that the proposals are those “through which a lasting and honourable solution to the ethnic issue (sic) is to be realized.” Such a astounding claim for…

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THE MAY DAY TRAGI-COMEDY

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” – George Orwell As an example of monumental irrelevance for the cause of peace in Sri Lanka and as a testament to the awesome political bankruptcy of this government, it is hard to beat the May Day 2007 document released by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), purporting to be its constitutional reform proposals. It has, to paraphrase Ferdinand Mount, all the intellectual oomph of a tranquillised vole. Reading through the document, disbelief gives way to perplexity, and eventually, to hilarity. Perhaps never in the history of the Sri Lankan conflict has such a measly offering of constitutional primitivism been made public, with a straight face, as the constitutional reform proposals of a government of Sri Lanka. There was more than a smidgeon of elitist snobbery in the way some lawyers and academics associated with the government’s anti-federalist viewpoint have…

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From a Tragedy to a Farce: Comments on the SLFP Proposals

Professor Wiswa Warnapala, the Minister of Higher Education, is one of the leading political scientists in Sri Lanka. He has produced, even after entering the busy life of politics, many books in a wide variety of subjects, the most recent being about Sri Lanka-Russia Relations. When the media reported that Prof. Warnapala would be the main architect of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s proposals to the All Party Representative Committee (APRC), we all became optimistic assuming that the proposals would adequately address complex issues of restructuring the postcolonial state in Sri Lanka. However, the SLFP proposals submitted to the people on May Day 2007, have demonstrated clearly and conclusively that the SLFP have not traveled forward in time but far back. Its “fresh approach” to a “complex problem,” that has grown to gigantic magnitudes over the years, is in essence nothing more than the proposals of the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayaham Pact of 1958, almost five decades ago! History sometimes, in Sri Lanka…

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About Groundviews

Located at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Groundviews is a citizen journalism website that uses a range of genres and media to highlight critical perspectives on governance, reconciliation, human rights, the arts and literature, democracy and other issues. The site has won two international awards, including the prestigious Manthan Award South Asia in 2009. The grand jury's evaluation of the site noted, "What no media dares to report, Groundviews publicly exposes. It's a new age media for a new Sri Lanka... Free media at it's very best!"

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