Archive for September, 2007

Elementary, my dear President

The tragedy of Sri Lanka today is such that the government’s shrill response to the assessment of Sri Lanka’s dire humanitarian and human rights situation by Sir John Holmes, Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator was, regrettably, expected – only the degree of the petulance was surprising. While the Government’s war efforts continue apace and North-bound, its interest in strengthening and securing human rights mechanisms continues to wane. That this erosion in human rights mechanisms in Sri Lanka is taking place with near total impunity and in the full glare of international actors poses significant challenges for conflict transformation. It is argued that the most virulent of criticism against NGOs, INGOs, humanitarian organizations including the UN and international human rights organizations are aimed at a local vote base and often only finds expression in the vernacular. However, it is also evident that calling senior international diplomats terrorists in the pay of the LTTE is a telling indicator of…

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Questionnaire And Licenses In Jaffna

President Mahinda is checking the Jaffna peoples’ pulse. Now security forces take census in Jaffna. They collect all the informations Address, ID No, educational qualifications, designation, phone No, mobile No, Bicycle, motorbike No, everything from each family members. The last question soldiers asked each house, future election you will support to whom? Separately, sometimes security forces are doing local administration works also. Jaffna town Commander ordered all the bicycle holders should take bicycle licences before 10th of this month. If anyone ride bicycles without, the bicycles to be taken by forces. All the bicycle holders hurry to take the licences. One pradeshiya saba clerk said he issued more than 150 bicycle licence daily, some times he can’t control the crowd.

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  • 3 Sep, 2007
  • 1 Comment
  • Peace and Conflict

Attacking the North – Marching Forward or a Downward Spiral?

It has now become evident that the govt. is pursuing a silent policy of attempting to capture the Northern-held rebel territory (contrary to our travelling Foreign Minister’s remarks – no surprises there, of course). But a thinking citizen may ponder on a number of significant questions which arise out of this strategy. First and foremost would be is ‘is our military – our Air Force, our Army and our Navy – capable of actually capturing the Wanni?’ In my opinion, the only notable credit to this govt. is the capture of the East and hats off to our Armed Forces for that. One, then, would not fully blame the govt. of being confident of doing the same in the North. Of course, I am assuming that the decision to attack the North was much more informed and also took into account various intelligence sources as well (well I’m hoping anyway). In light of this assumption I would fully back the govt. on this strategy but sadly it comes at a very,…

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Rupavahini, Ranil and the media

My article රෑපවාහිනය, රනිල් සහ ජනමාධ්‍ය (Rupavahini, Ranil and the media) brings to light the decrepit nature of State media through a recent personal encounter. Promised that my response to Rupavahini on a recent statement made by Ranil Wickremesinghe criticizing three key Editors of newspapers, I was deeply saddened to note that the broadcast censored what I had to say about the deterioration of media freedom and the severe intimidation many journalists have to face. I also noted that the Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association, Sanath Balasooriya, also had his statement to Rupavahini severely censored. By attempting to teach Ranil a lesson or two in media ethics, what was evident is that Rupavahini itself is in dire need of educating itself on media professionalism and impartiality. On the other hand, it is my personal belief that Ranil’s criticism of the media is based more on parochial political gain than any real interest in strengthening media freedom in…

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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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