Archive for January, 2010

  • 11 Jan, 2010
  • 24 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Media and Communications

Journalist J.S. Tissainayagam released on bail: Implications for freedom of expression

Tamil journalist J.S. Tissainayagam was enlarged on bail today pending the appeal of his conviction under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Groundviews spoke with Asanga Welikala, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Policy Alternatives, for his views on this development and its implications for media freedom and the freedom of expression in Sri Lanka. For a Sinhala interview with Asanga, click on Vikalpa Video here. Groundviews repeatedly flagged the case of Tissainayagam as a significant affront to media freedom and the freedom of expression. Nimalka Fernando, a leading human rights activist, even called his conviction a travesty of justice. A compelling article on Tissanaiyagam’s case, written by a supporter of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government and read well over five thousand times to date is The sentencing J.S Tissainayagam: Not in my name! by Sandun Ratnaweera. Sandun’s article, published on Groundviews in September 2009, highlighted a vital point: “I heard today that Daya Master the LTTE Media head had been released on bail…

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“Believable Change” with unbelievable contradictions: Sarath Fonseka’s manifesto

[Authors note: Please also read Part 1 of this article, “Believable Change” with unbelievable evasiveness: Sarath Fonseka’s manifesto] The much awaited manifesto of General (Rtd) Fonseka the Common Candidate launched on 7January which proves the Opposition Alliance is too loose to offer the people the “Believable Change” its campaign leaders are promising on platform, is now gearing its campaign on other popular promises, far outside those that need to be actually addressed and akin to that ancient promise of “rice from the moon”. This presidential election has turned out to be one of promises, rhetoric, mud slinging and evasive politics, the voters are also comfortable with. Calculations for the extra vote is based on simple arithmetical equations where the Tamil vote is considered decisive. That if the Tamil people feel they have reason to go to polls in choosing one from the two who are responsible for the war that left a human tragedy on top of unsolved, long standing…

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Colour in Sri Lankan Politics

CRT

A particular aspect of Sri Lankan politics is color. Those days, there were two: Greens and Blues. Greens were to the right of centre and Blues to the left. There were some Reds (of the NM and Colvin type), often saying sensible things. But we know there isn’t much space for sensible things in our politics, so those Reds joined the Blues, traded their principles for power and lost their character. Then we had the New Reds, re-discovering themselves many times over, and, together with the Saffrons, punching far above their weights, thanks to an undesirable side effect of the electoral counting system in our country. In the late seventies, nobody judged the Blues and Greens better than the ordinary Jaffna farmers. For when the Blue Lady came to visit that town, they gave her a red-carpet welcome. The roads were decorated with red onions and red chilies — just to spice it all up. When the Blue Lady invited…

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The murder of Lasantha Wickremetunge: A letter to the President and a record of shame

[Editors note: The following text is from a speech at the Platform for Freedom event commemorating Lasantha Wickremetunge's brutal murder a year ago. The widow of the slain editor, Sonali Samarasinghe Wickrematunge, also sent a strongly worded letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 4th January 2010, which can be read in full here. Both the text of the speech and the letter were sent by Sonali to Groundviews for publication.] Lasantha was murdered on January 8, 2009 in broad daylight as he drove to work. According to witnesses eight men on four motorcycles surrounded his car and bludgeoned him to death. The brutal killing took place some 200 yards from one of Sri Lanka’s largest Air Force bases. Now a year later, Lasantha’s murder remains unsolved. Indeed, as with the 13 other dissident media workers brutally slaughtered since President Mahinda Rajapaksa assumed the presidency just four years ago, there has been no serious investigation of his murder. And I am confident…

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A letter to the President on his re-election campaign spending

Screen shot 2010-01-10 at 8.05.10 AM

Dear Mr. President, As a tax payer and citizen of Sri Lanka, I am deeply concerned by, inter alia, the wasteful nature of your campaign and the manner in which you have manipulated what should in reality be independent authorities, to broadcast propaganda. Your SMS message on New Year’s Day is a case in point (http://www.groundviews.org/2010/01/09/the-shocking-behaviour-of-the-telecommunications-regulatory-commission-of-sri-lanka) and your ad campaign on international media websites another (http://www.groundviews.org/2010/01/05/paying-global-media-for-local-elections). Why is it that your official campaign website has no information on campaign financing? How can I be assured as a voter that the money being lavishly spent by you and your campaign for re-election is not public finances? Will you disclose the sum of money spent on the international ad campaign, and even only as a gesture of enlightened self-interest, allow the other presidential candidates to broadcast an SMS also free of charge? These, amongst many others, are pertinent questions that require urgent answers. I trust that part of the subha anagathayak you…

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  • 10 Jan, 2010
  • 3 Comments
  • Peace and Conflict

Robert Kaplan’s Savage Orientalism: A detailed critique

[Authors note: The original version of this article was drafted in September 2009. There was no response from Atlantic Monthly when I sent it to them. Nor did it pass muster with SLATE, Mother Jones, the NY Times, International Herald Tribune and Tehelka. However, HIMAL accepted it, but also made a few editorial changes and suggested some extensions. Their format did not have space for footnotes or citations. The version that is reprinted here is an amalgam of my original piece and the article that appears in Himal, January 2010. I here acknowledge the courtesy extended to me by the Editors of HIMAL.] The senior US journalist Robert Kaplan is well-connected and famous, a master of prose. He is versed in wrapping his international forays with word-pictures of place, person and context. His texts may ramble in places, but they are rarely ornate. The ‘word foliage’ displays are designed to be pleasing and are sometimes capped with striking titles – what…

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Urgent National Security Overhaul in Sri Lanka

10 January 2010, Colombo, Sri Lanka – The government in an emergency press briefing today, announced that it will take steps to overhaul the national security strategy of the island. The government defence spokesman, Minister Kokila Bathalahitawanna admitted that a post-war review of the defence plan had exposed glaring gaps in the national security strategy that needed urgent attention. Military Spokesman Brigadier Rajarathna T Pakshadeemana detailing the changes, said that the first step would involve a radical change in the uniforms of all armed forces personnel. “We found that current military uniforms do not provide adequate protection or camouflage in areas where solders are most often deployed” he pointed out. “The role of the military in the post war context has changed dramatically, from jungle warfare against ruthless terrorists to a primarily urban environment” the military spokesman observed, adding that “they have now been issued with new camouflage kits that are better suited to this new environment”. He refused to…

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The Shocking Behaviour of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

With frustrated resignation, Sri Lankans are used to how government departments (the Police in particular) and public property are misused and abused by the party in power during elections for partisan advantage. For sheer insouciance though, the emergent new kid on the block during this presidential election, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRC), surpasses even the chutzpah of the President in kicking aside the Seventeenth Amendment. On the first of January, many of us would have received an unsolicited SMS from one Mahinda Rajapakse, wishing us not only a happy and prosperous new year, but also reminding us of the handsome gift he had given us in advance: a free and independent country (no less): see Groundviews story on 1st January. One’s reception to this is coloured no doubt by one’s political persuasion, but I am sure many of us were struck with the implications of this SMS from the perspective of campaign finance and the integrity of…

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“Believable Change” with unbelievable evasiveness: Sarath Fonseka’s manifesto

Part 1 The presidential election manifesto of the opposition Common Candidate General (Rtd) Sarath Fonseka was released on 7 January, 2009 at a media launch in Colombo, titled “Believable Change”.  He says “I am different. I am change. I will bring about believable change” writing for himself, in the manifesto in which he tries to spell out his vision. Why this manifesto of Gen (rtd) Fonska is singled out for this short dissection, with no comparison with the “Mahinda Chintanaya” of President Rajapaksa or with what he keeps blurting out at dinners and luncheons, at public rallies and public gatherings, is because of just one reason. There was consensus among democratic forces that Rajapaksa needs to be opposed, long before elections were declared. Opposed for his anti democratic and anti rights, arrogant governance and for his very chauvinistic rule that left Sri Lanka ethnically divided, despite his claim for war victory. There was consensus among most opposition political parties and…

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The Future Tamil Politics

Eelam War IV shattered and devastated Tamils social, economical, cultural and political structural factors. These four structural factors were corner stone’s of the Tamil National Struggle and were intricately interconnected to each other. These became primary targets during the war and were destroyed. To give this research paper a focus and due to contextual developments I will only be analyzing the political aspect. However, I will give due prominence, understand and agree upon the arguments that all four factors have equal prominence. After the age of “alliance building” the Tamil polity needed to analyze and consider surrounding geopolitics maneuvers and the new world order. The very existence and future of Tamil politics will be based on its present moves while reflecting upon the past. It must be shaped in a manner so that it can discourse with Southern / Sinhala politics, regional / continental and global politics. In order to establish a strong foundation for Tamil politics there should be…

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Visualising Sarath Fonseka’s key campaign issues and manifesto

Sarath Fonseka Manifesto

Groundviews was the first website in Sri Lanka to visualise key statements by a Presidential candidate in the public domain. Visualising key speeches and submissions of Sarath Fonseka was republished in traditional print media and circulated widely over email because we seem to have hit a chord with many voters looking for an easy way to get to the core of what the two leading candidates were saying. Key issues as noted on Sarath Fonseka’s website We now use the same technology to visualise the content featured in the issues tab / section of Sarath Fonseka’s official presidential campaign website. This is the raw text taken from Sarath Fonseka’s manifesto (English version), which at the time of writing is yet to be featured on his website but is available here. A larger version of this visualisation can be viewed online here. Much like the content on his website, the key word here is ensure. There is a significant emphasis on Sri Lanka…

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Online election campaigns in Sri Lanka: The way forward

As the presidential race heats up in Srilanka, the sheer volume of content and Ads that burst forth about this election is astonishing. The Internet is now a gateway for millions of ordinary Srilankans to participate in the political process. Mahinda Rajapakse has made an early splash. But every presidential candidate has a presence of some kind online regardless of how well they actually used it, though none built anything as comprehensive as Mahinda’s. At least not yet. Growing up in the paradise that is Srilanka, the first political campaign I paid close attention to was in the 90’s, when I was right out of college and still had my Srilankan citizenship. My information sources were limited back then. We didn’t have broadband access. The Internet was a luxury, in fact you could brag about it and be an authority on all things computers if you had ADSL at home. Old media was essentially it for substantive political coverage. Now?…

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One year later: A murder unresolved, a government unashamed

Maybe we are numb too Though it’s warm and all we have today Is a cloudy sky Death at Noon, Vivimarie Vanderpoorten Lasantha Wickremetunge, the Editor of the Sunday Leader and one of Sri Lanka’s best known and most senior journalists, was killed in broad daylight one year ago. As we noted on the site a year ago, Lasantha was 50 at the time of his assassination. No group to date has claimed responsibility. In a tremendously powerful and moving editorial published posthumously the Sunday after he was killed, Lasantha notes that “When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me.” Groundviews published a number of articles, including poems by award winning poets, condemning the murder and celebrating his life. Lasantha’s murder was also the only occasion to date that we changed our homepage to black and white for a week, as a mark of protest and defiance. In March 2009, we reproduced in full a…

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The Third Option

The year 2010 has dawned with two elections round the corner. As voters who are going to write the destiny of the politicians of this country, our day-to-day conversations are becoming more and more centred on what is going to happen on the 26th of January and later on in the Parliamentary election. My casual dialogues with my Sinhala speaking friends help me see that the Tamils are not the only people who have serious problems in this country. While I— a person belonging to the minority Tamil community—am thinking of how the majoritarian, non-secular character of the Sri Lankan state could be dismantled through a democratic process, my Sinhala speaking friends, many of whom share my middle class background, speak about problems like rising food prices, irregular bus services, development and unemployment with which they have to grapple daily. While I am prioritizing, from a Tamil’s point of view, the creation of a secular state where the ethnic and…

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The long wait for a President…

“How can we inspire ourselves to greatness, when nothing else will do…?” asks Nelson Mandela from Francois Pienaar, the captain of the Springboks rugby team. This leading question comes from the movie ‘Invictus’ which has just been released. It is based on the true story of how Mandela inspired Pienaar and his team to win the rugby world cup in 1995. In his first term as president, Nelson Mandela is faced with a country full of people trying to come to terms with their new found democracy, and each other. Healing the terrible legacy of apartheid was a huge challenge and as the new president looked for ways to make a start, his attention soon turned to rugby and the Springbok’s green and gold jersey – much loved by the white Afrikaaners but hated by everyone else. But Mandela doesn’t ban the jersey or abduct anyone wearing it. Instead, he wore it to the finals of the world cup, cheering…

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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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