Archive for September, 2011

Cheran

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He is writing history, where he lives, when he travels, to Denmark, Singapore, Tamil Nadu, Toronto. Edward Said wrote about Palestinians, Rudramoorthy Cheran, Tamils. News that my friend has suffered a mild heart attack does not surprise me. His muscle has been strained for more than thirty years. From the Saturday Review where he reported the first days of rebellion in Jaffna to more recent sociological study and dramatic writing, the man, as scientist and poet, has let emotions hang on strings strummed to a tabla’s beat. Wordsmiths for Tamilians are as good as our instruments and words are always enhanced by music. I recall when we met in 1987 at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies on Kynsey Terrace in Colombo, where I moved as a kid when the house was home and not yet a center dedicated to resolving differences, the wounds of the1983 “Riots” were still very fresh, and enthusiasm for resolution of long-standing grievances strong, and…

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Ray Wijewardene: An Extraordinary Thinker and Tinkerer

Ray Wijewardene in his study at Colombo home, playing with pet squirrel. Larger photo in the background is that of Sir Charles Hayward of Firth Cleveland Group

Ray Wijewardene in his study at Colombo home, playing with pet squirrel. Larger photo in the background is that of Sir Charles Hayward of Firth Cleveland Group. Photo courtesy http://www.raywijewardene.net. A website about the life and vision of the late Dr Ray Wijewardene, one of the most accomplished and innovative engineers and scientists produced by Sri Lanka, is being officially launched on September 28. In this article, the website’s principal writer Nalaka Gunawardene recalls working with an original thinker who also tinkered more than most. If I had to condense the multi-faceted and fascinating life of Ray Wijewardene, I would reduce it to a whole lot of question marks and exclamation marks. In his 86 years, Ray generated more than his fair share of both. He was unpigeonholeable: engineer, farmer, inventor, aviator and sportsman all rolled into one. Whether at work or play, he was an innovative thinker who rose above his culture and training to grasp the bigger picture….

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Milinda Moragoda’s ‘Right to Information’: A sordid record of its real nature and limits

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The Hansard of 20th September 2011 records a question posed by Dr. Harsha de Silva in Parliament over the campaign finances and the asset declaration of Mayoral candidate Milinda Moragoda. See high resolution image here. Download the Hansard from 20th September as a PDF here. Dr. de Silva flags questions repeatedly via Facebook and Twitter Groundviews posed to the Moragoda campaign on these issues, all to no avail. Milinda Moragoda: The gap between promise and reality catalogues the disconnect between what Moragoda says and actually does in more detail. In Why is Right to Information in the Moragoda Mayoral Manifesto? Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, the Head of the Policy Planning Group, Milinda for Mayor Campaign, flags Moragoda’s commitment to the Right to Information (RTI) and ends with a plea to support him on this score. Dr. de Silva, who at the time of writing is the head of the Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council (SJKMC) campaign committee for the UNP notes in Local…

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Fundamental questions for AJM Muzammil and the UNP

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Last Friday, I was slated to interview the UNP’s Mayoral candidate AJM Muzammil on public television. After his media manager expressed a keen interest and confirmed his participation, Muzammil backed out the morning of the interview giving no reason at all and asked it to be rescheduled for the following week. This mirrored the behaviour of the UPFA’s candidate Milinda Moragoda, who also promised an interview and at the last minute, cancelled without giving any reason. It’s almost as if they both were advised that hard questions, for which they would have no easy answer, would be asked. Though no coherent answers are, to date, forthcoming, questions directed at Milinda Moragoda are public. Critical questioning of Muzammil’s policy statement has been comparatively less visible and sustained, but also because Muzammil’s presence on the web is far less adroit than Moragoda’s. His Twitter account for example incredibly has just a single tweet to date. This is, politely put, is deeply embarrassing. His…

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A Review of ‘The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution: Substance and Process’

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Photo courtesy Vikalpa September 8, 2010 marked a watershed event in the constitutional history of Sri Lanka. The enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution on this ill-fated day brought to a close an era in which successive presidential candidates had promised to abolish the executive presidency. The Eighteenth Amendment effectively extinguished the last remnant of hope that this promise would one day be kept. Instead, it has ushered in a new epoch where an over-mighty president for life has become a plausible reality. The present review examines a compilation of papers critiquing the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. The reviewed publication was produced by the Centre for Policy Alternatives in partnership with the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit. It is presented in five chapters, each dealing with a particular aspect of the Eighteenth Amendment—either in terms of its substance or in terms of the process through which it was enacted. In the first chapter, Dr. Pakiasothy…

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Hacking mayoral campaign promises

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Photo from Asian Mirror In Open-source policy formulation for Sri Lanka’s capital, an article published on the Lanka Business Online website recently, the Head of the Policy Planning Group, Milinda for Mayor Campaign and renowned policy analyst Prof. Rohan Samarajiva looks at how mainstream politics can be made more participatory. The promise is of a direct democracy model with the aid of web, mobile and Internet technologies. Prof. Samarajiva captures well the shortcomings of a traditional approach to manifestos and public policy, “The traditional approach is to rely on expertise. Experts formulate policy. Other experts debug it. Not very different from what goes on at the Redmond Campus of Microsoft.” It is a beguiling vision. Co-creating public policy transparently is infinitely better than codifying in closed groups. This is the Wikipedia model, adapted to fit a political campaign. Experts, like Prof. Samarajiva, assume a curatorial role in the campaign – sifting through citizen-generated ideas, refining and combining them to create a…

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Authoritative Ethical Realist Reads Rajapaksa’s Role

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The Pope with Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith Though my political approval of and personal liking for Mahinda Rajapaksa, (certainly in relation to his competitors and immediate predecessors) are shared by nine out of ten Sri Lankan citizens (according to the Gallup poll), it is not comfortable to be alone in one’s analysis and evaluation, among one’s own social stratum, the intelligentsia, especially the English-speaking and writing urban intelligentsia. It is therefore a good feeling when you discover that your views coincide with someone who stands above the fray, and cannot but evoke respect from all rational people. Nicest of all, is when the public personage with whose views your own coincide, has achieved a status and recognition that is truly global. My perspectives on Mahinda Rajapaksa, his administration, Sri Lankan politics and the issue of accountability and international pressure have been denounced by political partisans of almost all sides. The Tamil Diaspora accuses me of Sinhala chauvinism or neo-nationalism (as Taraki put…

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Land in the North and East of Sri Lanka: Concern and confusion over Government circular

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Image credit Jeremy Suyker, via Foto8 The Government recently unveiled a policy regarding land in the North and East through the introduction of a Cabinet Memorandum (memo) titled ‘Regularize Land Management in Northern and Eastern Provinces,’ which was subsequently followed by a Land Circular (circular) titled ‘Regulating the Activities Regarding Management of Lands in the Northern and Eastern Provinces’ (Circular No: 2011/04) issued on 22nd July by the Land Commissioner Generals Department in Colombo in order to operationalise the memo. Since then, there have been reports of notices and forms being issued in areas of the North and East for people to register their land under the Bimsaviya project to ensure title registration of their property. At the time of writing, it was unclear whether this specific process was the same as the one set out under the circular. Contradictory information was received from the different divisional secretariat units (DSs) where the forms were distributed; increasing confusion regarding the process…

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An appeal against infringement of university autonomy in Sri Lanka

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The Ministry of Higher Education has issued a directive that all state universities should hire the services of Rakna Lanka Ltd for provision of security services. The undersigned of the University academic community considers that directive to be in complete contravention of the norms and conventions by which universities are expected to function. The letter issued by the Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education seeks to bypass standard procedures that are followed in the university system in the hiring and outsourcing of services. That process requires tenders to be called for and for a suitable company to be selected in a transparent and independent manner. The Secretary’s instruction therefore is in violation of established processes and is contrary to the underpinning principles of governance and the autonomy of academic institutions. Rakna Lanka is held out to be a government owned commercial security venture and has been set up under the Ministry of Defence, under the direct supervision of the…

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A Kunanayakam by any other name?

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Mercenaries with misplaced consciences appear to be leading Sri Lanka’s latest band of apologists. Seldom does a hired hand leave such a damning trail as does Tamara Kunanayakam, Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland. During the General Debate under Item 2 at the 18th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on 12 September 2011, H.E. Kunanayakam criticized the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay for her apparent ‘partiality’.[1] One is at a loss to comprehend what ‘partiality’ the Ambassador alludes to, except perhaps the fervency in which the High Commissioner has thus far discharged her mandate. In any event, there is no doubt that the High Commissioner will wear this curious brand like a badge of honour. The Ambassador goes on to state: I must also observe that it appears that the High Commissioner does not have the will to even acknowledge a…

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The rich man in his castle, The poor man at his gate

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Photo courtesy JDS This was a part of well-loved hymn I would love to sing during the early years of my school career. I cannot actually remember whether these words were omitted by then as they are now, or if I sang it without disdain at that time. As I became politically aware, these words stirred resistance within me as I felt that it was contrary to my faith and the book that guided it. It came back to me as I read last Sunday’s paper and other recent reports of the attempts being made at grabbing land, the poor who have had promissory deeds or real deeds evicted without any compensation, the Mews Street fiasco but very specially the video clip of the political offspring doing some threatening of what would happen to people if they do not vote with the current political juggernaut. What came back to me was actually in question form. Why have not any of…

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Are there really gay Sri Lankans?

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As I write this, friends and people I have worked with, are living in fear. In truth, since Saturday before last (10th September) when Rivira published their exposé on condoms and lubricating gels being distributed to men who have sex with men, and the community based organization involved in the process, tensions have been high for the gay community. In the 10th September article, the organization was identified by name, their detailed address was also offered up with the sensational declaration that both offices of this organization (project and head office) were in close proximity to a primary and secondary school respectively. Of course parents were warned to protect their sons, based on the infantile notion that if a man is gay, he must necessarily be a pedophile too. In addition to targeting the community organization, Rivira also raised questions about the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) who have provided funds to the community organization to implement…

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Because I was asked to be silent

Wimal Weerawamsa

Portrait of a card-carrying Sri Lankan patriot. ### I am not a patriot. I am not a patriot if it means that to be a patriot I must deny that innocent people have been killed. I am not a patriot if it means that I have to turn a blind eye to the destructive activity of self-righteous members of the Sangha who feel it within their purview to destroy a Muslim shrine. Neither am I a patriot if it means I have to be amongst the Sinhalese who support this crime. Nor am I one if, like the Catholic Church I remain silent or am partisan to the Rajapaksa regime. I am not a patriot if I have to ignore criminality because it grants a certain kind of peace. I am not a patriot if it means I must remain speechless and unresisting.  A few short weeks ago, Groundviews carried an article by Meena Serendib on Why the Diaspora must return…

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  • 20 Sep, 2011
  • 4 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Corruption,
    Politics and Governance,
    Post-War

Local government elections: Military puppeteers, elected puppets, right to information and people’s liberties

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[Editors note: The author is at the time of writing, the head of the Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council (SJKMC) campaign committee for the UNP. Groundviews is critical of all political parties and candidates, but not equally so. Harsha's article is published here as the extension of a lengthy exchange on the topic of RTI Groundviews has spearheaded with leading local government candidates. Please also read Why is Right to Information in the Moragoda Mayoral Manifesto? and Milinda Moragoda: The gap between promise and reality.] First impressions of Kotte: Similar concerns among dissimilar people Now that I have been entrusted with leading the campaign for the Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council (SJKMC) election I have had the opportunity to visit the homes of many people in the administrative capital of Sri Lanka.  The first thing that struck me was that not only does “the proud city of Jayawardene” as mentioned in the Salalihini Sandesa have a rich history it is rich in its diversity of people.  I…

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Sinhala Buddhist Rationale In An Omnivorous Society

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Photo courtesy Ada Derana My new neighbour, a quiet middle class, young Sinhala Buddhist professional from beyond Matara, who started constructing his own house, brought down a “Kattadi mahathtaya” from his village to evoke blessings on the property, the new construction and on himself and his young family, before the foundation stone was laid. The ritual went on with loud chanting and drumming through midnight, a public nuisance, but tolerated in silence, as it was his belief for which he also had a right. Early morning we woke up when a cockerel screamed it’s life out. The final sacrifice of a “life” made in this ritual called the “Bhahirava poojah”. This is no isolated event in this Sinhala Buddhist society, where people construct their own houses and often indulge in such sacrificial poojahs. May be there are other similar rituals too, when “life” of animals and birds are sacrificed, in lieu of a safe and prosperous future for the person(s)…

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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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