Archive for January, 2009

“There is a right way and a wrong way to use violence”: Interview with Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

“There will be times when organised violence has to be exercised as a last resort. People will resist with violence. States will use violence against various foes. But there is a right way and a wrong way to use violence.” Watch Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka‘s first video interview, conducted over Skype, after presenting his credentials as Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland on 6th June 2007. Topics discussed in our interview ranged from future scenarios arising from the capture of Killinochchi last week and media freedom to international relations and the timbre of democratic governance in Sri Lanka today. You can download the video in full here. Noting that Dayan is open to and regularly engages with comments very critical of his writing and worldview on Groundviews, I allowed Dayan to respond at length to each of my questions without any interruption. Readers are encouraged to engage with Dayan’s comments…

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Hasta la Victoria Siempre! – Ever Onward to Victory!

“Hasta la Victoria Siempre!” (“Ever Onward to Victory!”) - Che Guevara “One thing is now required-to deal the death-blow to the fascist beast…The last storming of the Hitlerite lair is on…give them no respite until they cease resistance.” - Stalin, Order of the Day, May 1, 1945    With the liberation of Paranthan and Kilinochchi, the war has pivoted decisively in favor of the Sri Lankan armed forces and against the LTTE. We are winning a ground war, not against sporadic suicide bombers or home made rockets causing single digit casualties over long years, but against a ferocious insurgent foe fielding large  formations, armed with heavy artillery, fast boats and light aircraft. We are doing so not with open ended foreign patronage, not while imposing collective punishment and inflicting civilian casualties which are almost a fifth of armed enemy casualties, but with minimum collateral damage despite the use of human shields by the enemy. If in the eyes of some, colossally disproportionate…

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  • 4 Jan, 2009
  • 0 Comment
  • Colombo,
    Poetry

In conversation with Vivimarie Vanderpoorten

An interview with Vivimarie Vanderpoorten, the Winner of the Gratiaen Prize in 2007. Vivimarie is also a Senior Lecturer in English, Dept of Language Studies, Open University of Sri Lanka. The interview covers, in addition to her poetry, identity, culture and creative writing in Sri Lanka. For a taste of her poetry, read The Day After Tomorrow. Groundviews has also published the poetry of Vivimarie’s sister, Yichaelle Devendra. Vivimarie will also be part of the Galle Literary Festival 2009.

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Using SLBC to brainwash the population

For the last 100 years or more there have been continuous struggles in many Asian countries to fight against their feudal and rural traditions and to establish a modern economy and a modern state. In Japan, these struggles culminated in the creation of the modern Japan. It is equal in status the most developed countries in the world. China took a longer time in this struggle, but it too has reached the status of a world power already, and is likely to become even more powerful and prosperous in the future. Many other countries in South East Asia have had enormous struggles to replace their feudal set up and, particularly, to do away with the powerful families, including the royal families, which tyrannically ruled over these countries. There are relative levels of success in different countries, but by and large the victory is on the side of those who stand for modernization and democratization of their countries. The result is…

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  • 1 Jan, 2009
  • 3 Comments
  • Advocacy,
    Colombo

For a quieter Colombo – Ban the bus horns!

Close your eyes and imagine a horn free Colombo – no loud ‘fog horns’ from all those buses – bliss !!.   As I sit here in a café in the centre of Windhoek, Namibia, I have not heard a horn all morning.  This is developing country but the road behavior is definitely ‘developed’.  In the last six months, I have been working in several African countries and one thing that stood out for me is the good road discipline and how little they use the horn.  There is always the exception as in Kenya and Malawi’s private bus drivers – the ‘mutatoos’  - a law onto themselves.   Yet, it is nothing compared to the nuisance of the ‘fog horns’ and indiscipline we have with Sri Lanka’s public buses.   It is such a relief in these countries not to be subjected to this aggressive noisy behavior on the roads.   One can almost gauge the social values and discipline of a country…

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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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