Archive for August, 2009

Demographic Assimilation vs Democratic Accommodations: An analysis of Sri Lanka’s first post war election results

The first post war election results generates some serious propositions regarding the future of democracy in Sri Lanka in general, in the North East –once accepted as the traditional Thamil Provinces, in particular. After thirty years of suffering and paying the high cost of an abysmally bloody armed struggle and currently under a virtual (Sinhala) military rule, the residents of Jaffna Municipal Council have voted for the candidates of UPFA. UPFA represents the current Colombo government in power for the 14 years led by President Rajapakse who very successfully led a military campaign and annihilated the LTTE including once invincible Velupillai Pirapaharan, iconic symbol of Ethnic Thamil separatism, just three months ago. If elections are supposed to reflect the will of the demos in a democracy, then one may conclude that the people of Jaffna, the heartland of the Thamil Nation in Sri Lanka, have said that they agree, admire and want to strengthen the rule of H.E. Rajapakse and…

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Analysis of how Jaffna voted and why the EPDP feels defeated in Sri Lanka’s first post-war elections

It appears to me that the TNA and TULF might have got more of the Tamil votes than EPDP in Jaffna. Out of 13 seats for the UPFA, 4 have gone to Muslims candidates. 9 are from EPDP. A Northern Displaced Muslim friend of mine says that 3000 votes were cast by the displaced Muslims living in Puttalam (If anyone has a better/accurate number i am willing to correct myself on this). Moulavi Sufiyan of Independent Group 1 himself polled around 1100 votes. The rest went to UPFA. Total number of votes polled by UPFA is 10,000. If you subtract the Muslim votes from the 10,000 only about 8000 votes have gone to the EPDP from Jaffna Tamil residents. (i substract only 2000 since about 1000 have gone to the Moulavi) TNA has then got almost the equivalent number of votes that EPDP polled- 8000 – from Jaffna Tamil residents. Add to this TULF’s votes that’s 9000 votes. More than…

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Broken Pottu

An infant in Menik Camp. Many thousands of the IDP children have lost both their parents comes news from the Sri Lankan ‘welfare camps’. Bright red pottu Every morning Never missed. The point of your finger Right here between our eyebrows For both of us. Amma puts hers first Then she puts mine. Remember me insisting Me first, me first! That day Dad give me a biggest hug, squeezed so tight, Lifted me so high, laughing so loud. At midnight he went out of the bunker. Amma must have known he wasn’t coming back But still she smiled at me. The day she went out of the bunker Her pottu was still shining between her eyebrows. Then her pottu went right into her head And red blood came all down her calm, loving face. Before then I only knew how to cry. Then I knew how to shriek, to scream Holding on to your body, Amma, Scream! Scream! Scream! Here…

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  • 1 Aug, 2009
  • 111 Comments
  • Peace and Conflict

Dayan Jayatilleka: From Geneva to Sri Lanka

Running time approx. 50 mins. Download high-quality version for Apple iPod Touch, iPhone and PC here. Recorded on 31st July 2009, this was the first interview on video given by Dayan Jayatilleka after he was asked to quit his position as Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva a few weeks ago. Going into the reasons behind his sudden sacking, the interview interrogates his most contentious submissions regarding the 13th Amendment, his take on the current Presidency and future prospects for peace in Sri Lanka, key memories of his sojourn in Geneva including the epic Human Rights Council sessions and other issues related to politics and democracy. I also ventured to ask some impertinent questions about his love life, given that for the duration of the interview, he was flanked by his wife Sanja. Dayan’s been a regular voice on Groundviews. In addition to contributing over 30 articles to Groundviews, Dayan has penned hundreds of detailed comments and…

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Forcible resettlements in East

“We can’t send them back to a place where there are just jungles.” (President Mahinda Rajapakse, in an interview to the Hindu, 6th July 2009, referring to resettlement of people displaced from the North) Perhaps the President is unaware that even as he cites the above as reason for delays in resettling people displaced from the Vanni, his government has started to dump displaced people in the East into remote jungle areas infested with wild elephants, against the wishes of the concerned people. Savukady Savukady is a small village near Chenkalady, a few kilometers inside from the A4 main road to Batticaloa from Chenkalady. Most of displaced people in Savukady have been displaced several times. On 18th June 2009, the Divisional Secretary (DS) together with the Police and Military had forced around 57 families to resettle in Pullumalai area. I met a woman who had fainted and had to be hospitalized. Eyewitnesses had seen crying women pushed inside buses, youth…

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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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