Archive for June, 2007

Mangala’s party and the Citizen’s dream

I begin my article with some quips and observations from friends and colleagues on Mangala’s new political party and his political vision as articulated by him to the media recently. Clearly, the field is not united in their appreciation of Mangala – some see him as a bold new visionary, others see old wine in new bottles. What is clear however is that his dramatic statements of late have created a stir in polity and society and people are talking about what this all means to the future of government in Sri Lanka as we know it today. What is the true direction of Mangala’s aspirations? Is it possible, as reported in today’s Daily Mirror, that one can really expect “major” political changes in the near future and an alliance between Ranil and Mangala? Recent history suggests that the Mangala-Sripathi combine, as they themselves have admitted, were in one way or another involved in interactions with the LTTE on behalf…

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Fighting for democracy

“Ignorance and prejudice are the handmaidens of propaganda, and in most modern conflict, the men of war prey on the ignorance of the populace to install fears and arouse hatreds.” Sashi Tharoor, Bookless in Baghdad Mark Whitaker captures well the perversity of Sri Lanka today in a compelling biography of murdered Tamil journalist Sivaram Dharmeratnam (Taraki) published recently. He writes that “…it is one of the peculiarities of Sri Lanka that a nation so lacking in effective political solutions has been, nevertheless, so replete with subtle, heartfelt and often accurate analyses of its own failures”. There is something terribly wrong when the politics of hate have and war have erased a wider appreciation of democracy and the vital cross-currents of debate that give it life and meaning. In winning the war against terror – or let me rephrase that, the war against the LTTE – we have lost what our constitution, warts and all, fundamentally gives expression to and guarantees…

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DARE WE DREAM?

Unveiling his political vision for a ‘new Sri Lankan order’ this week, Mangala Samaraweera challenged Sri Lankans to envision a better future. Dare, he said, to dream which, as a rallying cry in these miasmic times, has an even more piquant ring to it in the Sinhalese ‘Sihinaye Abhiyogaya’. The SLFP-Mahajana Wing’s discussion document is remarkable, both for its length, breadth and depth, and the fact that it has been produced by a Sri Lankan political party. Ideological conviction, articulacy, ideas, and policy debate – in short the pith and substance of democratic political leadership – are not things usually associated with the Sri Lankan political culture, and certainly not with its political parties. Yet this is what Samaraweera, with self-assurance and verve, succeeds in demonstrating with this document. The paper is structured in more or less three parts. In the first, we find a sweeping historical overview of the glorious past of this resplendent isle, which liberally sprinkled with…

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Remembering Sivaram

Last week’s revelation that Tamilnet had been blocked to Sri Lankan citizens took the country yet another step further away from media freedom, posing the question: How much worse must the situation become before things start to improve? It was against this bleak backdrop that journalists, academics and human rights activists and colleagues gathered at a memorial lecture which drew lessons from the life, as well as the death, of journalist Dharmaratnam Sivaram. On the 28th April 2005, the 46 year old was abducted in broad daylight outside Bambalapitiya police station and his abandoned body was discovered the following day. Sri Lankan media and international journalists’ organizations condemned the murder as an attack on press freedom but one year later, the perpetrators of this politically motivated killing are yet to be brought to justice. Sivaram was not only a journalist, but also a political columnist for the Daily Mirror and a founding member and contributor to the Tamilnet news website….

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Closer Look At Operation To Capture Thoppigala

To recap what has happened recently, 15 LTTE bodies were recovered on 22nd June in Toppigala while the government forces and LTTE both launched heavy artillery and mortar strikes at the front line. Kumburumoolai, Kinnayadi, Meeravodai in Valaichchenai and Chenkaladi army camp were also targeted by LTTE mortar strikes, according to military officials and residents in the area. At the same time the TMVP landed cadres through the Pulipanchchakal Bridge in to the LTTE controlled area. There were confrontations between LTTE and TMVP. A TMVP cadre was injured and the LTTE withdrew from Pulipanchchakal, Ponduwalchenai, and Saaraweli and part of Vahanery south, according to the TMVP. Government forces also landed through the Pullumalai area toward Toppigala LTTE base. Over 65% of LTTE-controlled areas have been captured by the government forces in Batticaloa district up to today, in my opinion, despite military statements that 95% has been captured. The military is now drawing close to Toppigala. However over running Toppigala will…

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  • 25 Jun, 2007
  • 7 Comments
  • Peace and Conflict

Edifice of Retrogression

“There will be a political vacuum in the ethnic relations of this country as long as devolution is a non-starter, a mere word in the south. Despite the balance of forces, the cease-fire cannot survive for long in this political vacuum.”- Dharmeratnam Sivaram, 25.8.2004, ISGA Bashing: Much Ado about Nothing Almost three years later, all’s manifest. Optics vis-à-vis the humanitarian dimension, are nothing short of egregious. The 2002 cease-fire agreement, as legit today as Eelam IV is undeclared, has taken shrapnel in every clause but 4.4, as the SLA pushes North, violence of the Tigers remaining silent, docile, implying guerilla strategy, weakness, or both. In the contemporary context, there’s no trust between the parties or mutually recognized platform for talks, thus no framework for peace. Whether or not opprobrium apropos human rights is sustainable, as long as the ground-based international dimension is impotent and multilateral military aid continues to flow, so will the war, regardless of how many devolution proposals…

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War, abductions, killings, human rights violations and evictions

War, Abductions, killings, human rights violations, and evictions are synonyms widely used to describe the current situation in Sri Lanka especially in the international area. Are we facing the gravest period of Sri Lanka history? One would say the accusations lodged against country are accurate and the situation demands immediate intervention and another would argue that the situation in Sri Lanka is over played by Diplomats, NGO’s and the so called civil society activists who fill their coffers with dollars and euros showcasing a dire situation in the county. As a Sri Lankan, then a Sinhalese and a Buddhist what ideology should I represent is a question that has been tormenting me for a while. To clarify my stand I referred to the defence secretaries statement made few months ago “Do you know of any one in your village who has been abducted or killed, can you name a person who has been abducted from the UNP, JVP or other…

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A Small Victory for Human Rights

R.M.B Senanayake Photo credit: Dinidu De Alwis Hundreds of Tamils temporarily resident in Colombo in lodges were summarily bundled into buses and forcibly taken to the towns in the North & East. The Supreme Court has however issued a stay order on such evictions as they are a violation of the Fundamental Rights of the victims. The IGP tried to make out that the victims had gone of their own volition. But the Prime Minister has denied it and accepted the government’s responsibility for this gross violation of human rights. We commend the government for owning up and apologizing to our fellow citizens. They cannot be looked upon as LTTE supporters merely because they are Tamils. Such a prognosis smacks of racism. Western journalists may well draw a parallel with the actions of Idi Amin who issued an ultimatum to the Indians in Uganda to leave their country because they were not native Africans although long standing immigrants. Some may…

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  • 24 Jun, 2007
  • 1 Comment
  • Nuwara Eliya,
    Poverty

The flip side of picturesque: Estate workers in Sri Lanka

From Al Jazeera’s channel on YouTube. Also read Causing a storm in a tea plantation. Repost This Article

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Sri Lanka : Decades of Displacement

From UNHCR’s video channel on YouTube. Also read Maps of Shame. Repost This Article

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Sparks from the Notes of a Vagabond Mind

The Sri Lankan film director and writer, Tissa Abeysekara, is one of our greatest storytellers in both Sinhala and English. Two of the best examples are his short novel, Bringing Tony Home, published in 1998; and In My Kingdom of the Sun and the Holy Peak of 2004. These are landmarks in Sri Lankan literature. His latest work, Ayalea Giya Sithaka Satahan (Notes of a Vagabond Mind), this time in Sinhala, is a new genre in itself; part autobiographical memoir, part cultural commentary, an exploration of history through myths, folklore, archaeology and written documentation. On reading this new book, I was immediately reminded of R. A. Brohier’s books Seeing Ceylon (1965) and Discovering Ceylon (1973) and of Martin Wickramasinghe’s Kalunkla Seveema (In Search of a Panacea) (1950). The reflections which follow are not a proper review but more a set of reactions, as idiosyncratic and personal as the book itself. Tissa is an outstanding writer both Sinhala and English, with…

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  • 20 Jun, 2007
  • 3 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Human Rights,
    Peace and Conflict

Defence Secretary: The epitome of bad governance

The last column suggested that the tide of popular opinion may well be turning against the Rajapakse regime on account of the human rights and humanitarian situation, international censure and the rising cost of living. The brutal slaying of the Red Cross workers was followed by the lodge evictions and the Supreme Court decision halting them. The Independent International Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) who had been invited in by the President to observe the workings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry submitted its first Interim Report to him and released two press statements. The latter confirmed all the challenges and obstacles they face in the fulfillment of their mandate that local human rights groups had warned about when the idea of such a commission and hybrid mechanism was mooted in the first instance. Geneva visit The President flew to Geneva to address the ILO and had the opportunity to meet the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Secretary…

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Sri Lanka blocks TamilNet

Follow up to Tamilnet banned? – How to continue to access the site from Sri Lanka Original story available from here. [TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 June 2007, 15:32 GMT] TamilNet has completed 10th year of its web publication on 7th June 2007. TamilNet is a globally based news agency, run by an independent group of persons, to cover news and views related especially to the North and East of Sri Lanka. TamilNet has earned its credibility for news reporting and has become an indispensable news source to opinion makers worldwide. Not surprisingly, the Government of Sri Lanka has thought of rewarding the TamilNet on its 10th anniversary by clandestinely blocking it to the public of Sri Lanka. Readers from Sri Lanka have informed TamilNet that local internet service providers have indicated that the access block was implemented by directives from “higher authorities.” Even though the Sri Lankan state has a history behind it for silencing the voice of the Tamil public…

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Tamilnet banned? – How to continue to access the site from Sri Lanka

Reports received by Groundviews indicate that Tamilnet is inaccessible from many major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Sri Lanka. At the time of writing, the site is confirmed to be inaccessible from: SLT (ADSL and dial-up) Lankacom (leased line) Lankabell (dial-up) Suntel (dial-up) Only Tamilnet seems to be affected. There is a workaround. Click here to access all the content on the site through Google. It’s not pretty, but all the content is there. We will be keeping tabs on this issue and post information and updates as we receive them. Repost This Article

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SRI LANKAN DEMOCRACY IN PRACTICE: 1997 – 2007

On 27th June 2007, Tony Blair leaves office after a little over a decade as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He leaves office a reviled figure, largely due to the widespread unpopularity of his decision to support the United States in the invasion of Iraq, and its continuing disastrous consequences. Nothing could be further from the aura of almost angelic invincibility that he exuded in May 1997 when he swept into office on a historic landslide and the worst post-war electoral reversal for the Tory party. It is ironic that Iraq should be Blair’s nemesis, given that it was in fact an extension of an interventionist foreign policy, a willingness to use armed force against gross human rights violations and in support of democracy that his government had implemented to international applause and much local gratitude in places such as Kosovo and Sierra Leone earlier. Be that as it may, Blair is one of the most successful prime…

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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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