Archive for March, 2008

  • 31 Mar, 2008
  • 6 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Peace and Conflict

Sri Lankan Defence Ministry suddenly wakes up to its own propaganda

In response to the appearance of posters in Colombo promising generous cash rewards for would be suicide bombers who gave themselves up, Sri Lanka’s military spokesman, Brig Udaya Nanayakkara, said last Friday (28th March) in a BBC news report that the police were investigating the posters. “He said there was no answer when he had called the number himself and he suspected it was a hoax.” (Emphasis mine) In an absurd turn of events that beggars belief, the Daily Mirror reports today that it was in fact the Defense Ministry itself that had put up these posters! “Those posters had been put up by the Ministry of Defence and accordingly, now there is an opportunity to all would-be suicide bombers to surrender,” Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told the Daily Mirror yesterday. In response to the earlier claims by the government that the posters were not put up by any state institution, the spokesman said, “earlier we were not aware…

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The Terrorist Complex

Responding to a friend’s inquiry on my silence I realised how much I valued being away from home. I actually responded saying I was out and glad to keep away from the madness when he asked me how I was keeping and why he hadn’t heard from me. Of course I was looking forward to seeing my family and friends. But I hurriedly forwarded the various mails to a few interested contacts and deleted them without reading them myself. I wanted a respite from the situation reports from this or that place, the press releases by this or that body condemning this or that attack. I felt the reverse of what someone returning home after a stay abroad would probably feel. I want to think I will return with a nostalgic longing for the familiar. Instead, I exited the airport with my elbows out, a frown and a blank and unseeing stare. I was grateful that I wasn’t subjected to…

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From Akkaraipattu

This video clip contains a brief interview with A.L Thavam – Chairperson of Akkaraipattu Pradeshiya Saba (local government). It is presented here as is, without analysis or comment. Summary of the interview. Feels that Batticoloa election was successful because of the lack of incidents, and says therefore Government has been successful in liberating the Eastern Province. Acknowledges there may have been ‘little incidents’ but says these do not carry significance when the bigger picture is considered. Says that if the people did not want to vote, they could have made a mark on the ballot paper and submitted it – in effect, just pretended to vote. But says the number of these kinds of votes were very little, so feels that most people voted for who they wanted to. Also says (not on the video clip) that only “two or three seats were there for the Muslim community” and therefore the theory that the Tamils voted in order to prevent…

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Elections in the East: The dawning of democracy or fostering of violence?

By K. Ratnam It is as if the city of Batticaloa has become a red hot furnace due to the scorching sun. Yet at high noon there is a pall of gloom that hangs over the city. People who have come to attend to their requirements are wandering about hither and thither in a mighty hurry to get back as if a storm were expected any time. It is likely their only objective is to achieve their needs and leave the city as fast as possible. What is happening in Batticaloa these days? If the Government is asked this question, a probable response would be: “these days we are sowing the seeds of democracy.” In other words, they hope to widen the limits of democracy by arranging for an election in Batticaloa. However the residents in and around Batticaloa are under a reign of terror, the only difference is the one who wield the weapons. They live in a state…

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Withdrawal of the IIGEP (International Independent Group of Eminent Persons): Interview with Nimalka Fernando

Prominant Civil Socity activist and Lawyer Nimalka Fernando speaks on the withdrawal of IIGEP (International Independent Group of Eminent Persons) and its implications for human rights protection in Sri Lanka. Repost This Article

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My abducted brother found in Colombo National Hospital

An armed group abducted my younger brother this month. He was 25 years old. They came in a van in early February at around 8.30 in the night. I am the eldest son in my family and I returned to Mannar after my marriage. After one year I told my parents to come down to Sri Lanka since a ceasefire agreement was signed between LTTE and the government. They returned to Mannar after 12 years from India. As soon as he was abducted I informed the ICRC, FCE, Citizen Committees and CHA. My abducted brother is the youngest in our family. He neither knows nor has any connection with any militant group. Yet he was abducted. We searched all over but we could not find him. In early March I suddenly got an anonymous call. The person one who spoke to me over the phone did not tell me his name or address. He just said, “Your brother is in…

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A narrow escape and a great tragedy

I am the director of a convent in Madhu. Our convent was shifted from Adampan to Madhu at the end of January this year due to the heavy shelling & aerial attacks by the security forces. There were 25 school children with me in the convent in Madhu including 300 families also sheltered at the Church compound. The students at the Madhu Church used to travel in the bus that used to set off at Madhu at 7.30am toward Thadchanamadhu School. On 28th January this year, I had to go to Killinochchi to get a pass. I told the convent children not to go to school in my absence. Only one student from my convent went for basketball practice. On the way from Killinochchi to Mannar, I heard that there was a claymore mine blast on a passenger bus in Thatchanamadhu. This news was shook my heart. We rushed to Vellankullam hospital where I found dead bodies of schoolboys, most…

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The psychological trauma of an age old war

Puthiyavan A recent survey conducted by a social organisation in Savatkadu, Anaikodai Jaffna under a the supervision of a psychiatrist, revealed the silent suffering of generations who’ve witnessed the war first hand. The killings, abductions and disappearances that take place daily have contributed to decades of mental agony which are finally taking its toll in the manifestation of an aggressive society. The survey revealed that the majority of young widows had lost their husbands due to killings or abductions. All the young widows were with mental depression. Their children in the age group of 1- 10 years displayed signs of stubbornness, urinating in the bed, and pain in the limbs. However it was indicated in the survey that these disorders were purely psychological impacts of the horror incidence they witnessed or heard. The Elderly have now grown accustomed to the killings and abductions of their kith and kin including their children, in-laws and friends. They are tired of grieving; attending…

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Forgotten IDPs from the North

‘Cries from Puttalam’ For those familiar with the fairytales of the Grimm Brothers, the story of the young girl who equals her love for her father to her love for salt is no doubt a resounding one. Banished from her home by a wounded father who assumes her love for him to be trivial, she later gains grace when he realises the true depth of her love for him. However, for the Muslim refugees of Puttalam, life is no fairytale. The situation is certainly grim, and the taste of salt is now bitter. For these Muslims, who once led peaceful and productive lives in the north of the country, their lives were shattered when they were ordered to leave their homes in just two hours – or face dire consequences. Leaving everything they possessed behind them, they fled with their families, hoping no doubt to return when things calmed down. Little did they know that their lives, which had turned…

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Impeachment of Public Officials

The history of democracy is a history of evolution. In Britain the King was the Head of the Executive. There was the legal principle that ‘the king can do no wrong’. It was a Royal Prerogative to appoint Ministers and officials and dismiss them at his will and pleasure. But Parliament got the King to agree to the principle of ‘no taxation without representation’. But what if the tax revenue was wasted by the King and his Court? That would be unfair by the people. But Parliament could not punish the King for such misdeeds. So Parliament hit upon the principle that although the King had an absolute privilege to appoint his officials Parliament could hold them accountable for financial misdemeanors and corruption. Such acts may have been carried out on the orders of the King but Parliament took the position that the officials are liable for misdemeanors. Thus arose the struggle between the King and parliament. Parliament hauled up…

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Elections in the East

There is much hype by the government spokesmen about how they held an election in the East for local authorities and restored democracy. Now the government is holding a Provincial Council election. They argue that however imperfect the democracy it is a step in the right direction. But how valid is this viewpoint. The basic premise of democracy is that the people decide who will be their rulers. But this choice must be freely exercised. If there is no freedom of choice then it can’t be considered as an expression of democracy. The former Soviet Union held regular elections to decide on the members of the Parliament. But no one considered such elections a free exercise of choice. Why? Because freedom to choose requires that here should be several candidates o choose from. Since in a modern state candidates are picked by political parties and then presented to the voters for election there must be freedom for the political parties…

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Treachery, Egotism and Myth in our politics

What do enlightened citizens make of the happenings in our country today- the antics of Dr Mervyn Silva, the failure of the IGP and the Polcie to arrest him or even question him and stop his path of inflicint terror on media personnel firstly on Rupavahini workers and now on Sirasa reporters? Any criticism of the government and its record of violations of human rights media freedom and norms of good governance is met with one answer by Government spokesman. It is a conspiracy with the LTTE by the opponents to discredit the government which is winning the war against the LTTE. It is all a conspiracy by foreign powers to stop the war. Those who stand up against the abductions, the extra-judicial killings, the attacks on the media personnel and threats to journalists are tilting against imaginary windmills like Don Quixote. They say look at the Sunday Leader and its virulent criticism of the government and ask the rhetorical…

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Militarizing the Media Mahagedera?

The news that a retired SLA General is considered as chairperson of RÅ«paváhini (SLRC) comes as a terrifying antidote to the remaining freedom of expression in the decomposing democracy in Sri Lanka. The background leading to this decision and the way the current regime has decided to respond is a decisive reflection of the strategies preferred by the rules of Lanka and their advisors. There is little doubt, that media is one of the most interactive civic passages in any modern secular democracy. It is for this reason that illiberal and anti democratic rulings is often reflected in their desire to manipulate and construct a pretentious freedom. Dictatorship towards media is an early sign of a rule that has a demonstrative desire to destabilize the stronghold infrastructures of a working democracy. RÅ«paváhini, the national visual identity of the state of Sri Lanka has had a chronic history in managing and fulfilling its mandate as an agency between the demos and…

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Lionel Bopage: Evolution of the LTTE and Prabhakaran’s role in the Tamil nationalist struggle

Lionel Bopage speaks on the evolution of the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE) and Prabharakan’s role in making the outfit what it is today. Lionel Bopage was a former General Secretary of the JVP and was involved with the party since 1968 until his resignation in 1984. Other related contributions by Lionel Bopage to Groundviews can be found here. See also Prabakaran’s Role in Tamil National Struggle: Interview with Shanthi Sachithanandan. For other compelling videos with alternative perspectives on war, peace and governance, visit the Vikalpa Video Channel on YouTube. Repost This Article

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AFTER THE PARTY – in Memoriam: Anura Bandaranaike

I remember an evening flavoured by my mother’s cooking, bringing two smart patriots together, to speak about devolution not yet realized, accommodate what makes sense seeing the island from afar, the only way forward, two dear friends who met then for the first time. Now, one is laid to rest, and the other engages readers still to think afresh about slow or fast bombs, double-speak, cynical tongues, how to bring more than twenty five years of war to an end before all our parties break up and families gather, with shot-gun shells and confetti to scatter, at weddings held on holy ground beside gravestones where fathers and brothers, mothers and sisters are buried. Indran Amirthanayagam, March 16, 2008 Repost This Article

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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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