Archive for November, 2008

Mahaveer 2008 and Mumbai Mayhem

It ain’t over till the fat laddie swings It ain’t over till it’s over, or as the Americans put it, in a reference to the opera, it ain’t over till the fat lady sings. The Mahaveera Day 2008 speech by Velupillai Prabhakaran, one of the world’s most notorious and certainly tubbiest terrorist leaders, demonstrates that there can be no solution to Sri Lanka’s conflict so long as he remains alive and active, and has not been brought to justice. In our case it ain’t over till the fat laddie swings. In the first place the man is an outrageously unrepentant liar and assumes that everyone suffers from amnesia. In his speech he says that “It may be noted that during the long history of our struggle, we have not conducted any act of aggression against any member state of the international community”.  Let us forget for a moment that Sri Lanka is a member state of the international community, a…

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  • 28 Nov, 2008
  • 25 Comments
  • Peace and Conflict,
    Politics and Governance

Is India reaping a harvest of hatred sown by Indians? We have seen it all before-a Sri Lankan perspective

As I write this, Indian security forces are still fighting terrorists in Mumbai, the financial capital of India and centre of its glamorous film industry. Over a hundred people are dead, gunned down by young men in a crazed Columbine style shooting of unarmed civilians. A previously unknown group called the Deccan Mujahedeen have claimed responsibility. With the choice of this name-the Deccan valley being a large plateau in India-these guys are sending a clear signal: they are sons of Mother India. And they are not alone: a string of bomb blasts over the last year in Delhi, Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, and Uttar Pradesh was claimed by another home-grown group calling themselves the Indian Mujahedeen. India is the largest democracy in the world. They’ve got several hundred languages, they’ve got every major world religion in residence and originated four of them; they are multi-cultural and multi-ethnic, with a male Prime Minister of the minority Sikh religion and a female President….

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We do not know what no one can deny: Stephen Champion’s Lanka War Stories

On 4th February 2008, as the government celebrated the 60th anniversary of our independence from Britain, it struck me strongly that we Sri Lankans are going round in circles. For some time it has been obvious that ordinary political science terminology and analysis are insufficient and reason inadequate to the strange and twisted trajectory of our country. Sights and insights that stimulate deeper thought on these points are captured in Stephen Champion’s book of photographs, Lanka War Stories, the best account I know of the recent history of our tortured nation. This small essay cannot be an ordinary review because these are images of my own experiences; they trace the life of my generation. I remain inside the book, not a commentator but a participant. In the late ‘80s, when I was studying GCL courses in southern Sri Lanka, we were in the midst of two civil wars. In the North the minority Tamils were fighting to liberate themselves from…

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The man who refused to be His Master’s Voice

Book review of: Palitha Perera Samaga Sajeeva Lesin (Live with Palitha Perera) Surasa Books, Colombo; 2008 ‘What does Palitha Perera know about culture? He’s just a cricket commentator!’ That’s how a senior banker reacted when veteran broadcaster and journalist Palitha Perera’s name was proposed as script writer and narrator for a TV documentary series on Buddhist temple murals in Sri Lanka. When Palitha heard this, he realised how, in the minds of many Sri Lankans, he was pigeon-holed into a single niche. This prompted him to write his first book, capturing highlights of a long and illustrious career of over 45 years during which he has straddled multiple spheres of radio and TV broadcasting, cricket commentating, sports journalism, arts and culture. And blazed new trails and left his mark in several of them. However, Palitha Perera Samaga Sajeeva Lesin (Live with Palitha Perera; Surasa Books, Colombo; 2008) isn’t another ego trip of a book, the kind that senior journalists have…

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Aren’t we all in this together?

The first film I was taken to – even before I began schooling– was an Elvis movie, so I welcome the news that the best performing single in the history of the US charts is Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation A Little More Action”. Not only would this hold as regards the global economic crisis, a slightly revised version would constitute sound advice as regards terrorism in the volatile South Asian region: “A little less of double standards, a little more action”. South Asia is correctly regarded as the most dangerous area on earth. It is the point of origin of the terror attack of 9/11 upon the United States. It is the scene of terrorist movements which launch attacks within almost every South Asian state. It is the theatre of cross border terrorism, sometimes suspected to be state sponsored or sponsored by this or that faction of this or that state. It is the zone inhabited by two…

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So close and yet so far: From Pooneryn to peace in Sri Lanka

The military have now taken the strategic western town of Pooneryn, thus opening up the A-32 highway that links Mantota and the former along the western flank of the Northern Province. This would enable the linking up (via the causeway that traverses the Jaffna lagoon) of the peninsula with the mainland for the first time since Eelam War II. Supplies, both economic and military could thus be transported to government-controlled Jaffna, providing relief to its people. Days after Pooneryn, the military claimed the town of Mankulam, also of high strategic value for being the crucial junction of the A-9 and A-34 highways, the latter that links Mullattivu to the former. This would be essential in a future push to capture Mullattivu, which has been home to one of two major bases of the LTTE (the other being Elephant Pass) and the headquarters for the Sea Tigers. But for the moment, the emphasis will be on gaining further ground along the…

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Artistes of hypocrisy in Sri Lanka

By Anonymous The response by a critical mass of Sri Lanka’s artist community to the protests by South Indian artistes to the fighting in the North of Sri Lanka will be noted down as a shameful moment by future generations of creative Sri Lankans. While war lobbies have often recruited artistes to manipulate and revise the impact of war, it is sad that Sri Lanka’s artist community unites only to re-enforce military engagement. There have been many peace vigils during the recent years. Most of these only attract a handful of people, usually the usual suspects who tirelessly repeat their position of peace ahead of war, human rights ahead of murder. Where are the artistes, dressed in white, defending peace and human rights? An article in the Daily Mirror (14 Nov 2008) quotes actress Geetha Kumarasinghe saying “We want to send a message to these Indian artistes this evening and that message is that their allegations are simply not true….

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  • 14 Nov, 2008
  • 4 Comments
  • Advocacy

Corruption in Sri Lanka: Interview with J.C. Weliamuna

J.C. Weliamuna is the Executive Director of Transparency International in Sri Lanka and an Attorney-at-Law. He and his family were lucky to escape with their lives after two grenades were thrown into their house, just a week or two after this interview was recorded. Our discussion explored the nature of corruption in Sri Lanka, how it stunts Sri Lanka’s development and contributes to violence. We also looked at challenges and options in raising public awareness to effectively eradicate corruption from polity and society. Previous posts on the attack on Weli can be found here and here.

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Interview with Kumaravadivel Guruparan, a Sri Lankan Youth Activist

Interview with K. Guruparan, a well known Sri Lankan Youth Activist. Guru is a student at the Faculty of Law University of Colombo and the Founder of the Sri Lankan Youth Parliament based at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies. He is also associated with Beyond Borders and was an Action Partner for the Oxfam International Youth Parliament, having attended the second sitting of the Parliament in Sydney, July 2004.

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  • 11 Nov, 2008
  • 11 Comments
  • Politics and Governance

American People Make History, Can We Sri Lankans Ever?

Muttukrishna Sarvananthan   In April 2008 I met an American national in Colombo who works for the World Bank in Washington, DC. At that time both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were contesting for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination and John McCain was already the sole contender for the Republican Party Presidential nomination. When we conversed about the upcoming American Presidential election he told me that, although in his opinion John McCain was too old for the office of the President, he believed American people are still not “ready” for a woman or non-white person to become the President of the United States. His prognosis was proved wrong on November 04th when the American people made history by electing their first African American President. I was fortunate to be just a few blocks away from the White House to witness this historic moment of the American people; minority communities in particular who overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama. My thoughts went…

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Barack Obama: Hope for America, but not for the world?

Photo credit: CurrentTV Barack Obama has run perhaps the best organized and most inspiring of presidential campaigns in US political history. He has risen above sleazy political tactics, challenged stereotypes, eschewed divisiveness, focused on issues that are important to Americans, and maintained his poise and principles in the face of tremendous pressure from his opponents. It has been truly awe-inspiring and admirable. There is little wonder that almost 53% of American voters and perhaps a larger percentage of the world population have found themselves strongly attracted to Barack Obama. He has become a shining beacon of “hope” and “change” for a country in a crisis of self-confidence, and a world participating vicariously through the blown up “reality-TV” of American presidential elections. Without taking anything away from the greatness of Obama’s achievement, and the historical importance of this event for American culture and identity, I feel constrained to point out that those who think an Obama presidency will improve the way…

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Messiah

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there. There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. A cautious, yet ambitious President Elect Barak Hussain Obama, Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois. Individuals who don’t…

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Barack Obama: History’s High Note

History sometimes hits a high note, sweet and soaring, clean and clear, as if from Satchmo’s horn. The most intelligent, interesting and inspirational of contemporary political personalities is about to be the President of the most powerful nation on the planet. Reading Obama The publisher’s notes on the back cover of his second book sketch him with bare adequacy: “A Senator and a lawyer, a professor and a father, a Christian and a skeptic…” By his words, ye shall know him. To understand him, you have to encounter his words, written and spoken. Three layers of Barack Obama are revealed almost archeologically or geologically in his two books and recent speeches. The first book written in his mid-thirties is the most brilliant in literary terms. An existential search for himself, it covers the USA, Asia and Africa in a journey both outwards and inwards, through ideas and cultures, stages of growth and states of mind, chronicling an evolution of a…

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No we can’t? – Obama’s victory and Sri Lanka

“Obama avoth LTTE ekata vasiyak venewa kiyala kathawak ahala nedda?” (Haven’t you that if Obama wins, it may be advantageous to the LTTE?) Emigration and Customs official, Katunayake International Airport The discovery that I am interested in peacebuilding by an emigration or immigration officer at Katunayake is always an invitation for the brief discussion of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict, the articulation of their unswerving (and I believe genuine) confidence in the incumbent regime to bring peace and my own parting appeal for them to look beyond military victories to the need for a political solution. As I was heading out of Sri Lanka on the 3rd of November to visit the US, the conversation also turned to the US elections and the nature of the two candidates. When I said I hoped Obama would win, pat came the reply I’ve quoted above. I paused, not knowing how best to respond to this popular fiction. In the end, I thought the…

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  • 2 Nov, 2008
  • 10 Comments
  • Peace and Conflict

Interview with Austin Fernando, a Peacetime Secretary of Defence in Sri Lanka

Interview with Austin Fernando, former Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and author of ‘My Belly is White: Reminiscences of a Peacetime Secretary of Defence‘ (reviewed on Groundviews in Sinhala here).  Austin, disarmingly charming and humble, was Defence Secretary when the Prime Minister at the time, Ranil Wickremesinghe, signed the Norwegian-brokered ceasefire agreement (CFA) with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in February 2002. We speak on the challenges of peacebuilding, the hidden challenges of implementing the erstwhile Ceasefire Agreement, dealing with the media during a peace process, his thoughts on future negotiations with the LTTE, the state of the UNP today and other vital points related to war and peace in Sri Lanka raised in his book.

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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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