First interviewed in 2010, Dr. Farzana Haniffa appears again on Groundviews to talk about the Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE. As the Commission’s website notes, in October 1990, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) expelled the entire Muslim population of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Within a period of 48 hours the LTTE systematically chased out close to 75,000 Muslims residing in the districts of Kilinochchi Mulaitiwu, Jaffna, Mannar and parts of Vavuniya.

The Quest for Redemption: The Story of the Northern Muslims is the report by the Commission, release late 2011 and available for purchase online. As one of the Commissioner’s, Dr. Haniffa justifies why the Commission and its findings are an invaluable record of a chapter in Sri Lanka’s history that is often undervalued and glossed over. We talk about how the publication of the report has served to heighten interest over the complex dynamics regarding the Northern Muslims, and how the communities the Commission interacted with are also grateful for what in their minds is the first accurate historical record of what they underwent.

In a submission made to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) by Dr. Farzana Haniffa in November 2010, the plight of the Northern Muslims was clearly flagged,

In summary then the Northern Muslims feel marginalised by the fact that the state has no policy on protracted displacement, no public acknoweldgement of the old IDPS and their needs, no cash grants for resettlement assistance, no commitment to assist with housing, no provision to address damage to property due to twenty years of neglect due to no fault of their own, no provision to address damage to social networks due to the conflict and the expulsion, no assistance with livelihoods, no plans for compensation. The northern Muslims are also distressed by the fact that they maybe absent from the government’s development plans for the North. They fear that they census and the local authorities bill may marginalise them by not taking into account the virtual limbo in which many of them currently live.

Dr. Haniffa notes that conditions have improved since 2010, and that the Government has unofficially given the assurance that protracted internal displacement would be addressed over 2012. She also goes into the complexities of return (“going back has not been easy” she categorically notes), the perception of the Northern Muslims by host communities and the tensions therein, the challenge of returning to a Peninsula that has still major challenges of infrastructure and the issue of co-habitation after twenty years of absence.

Going beyond the specific concerns regarding the Northern Muslims, Dr. Haniffa also critiques Muslim party politics in Sri Lanka post-independence, and how the real concerns over those evicted were hostage to the electoral desires and design of mainstream Muslim political parties. Towards the end, Dr. Haniffa notes that the process of documentation is still on-going, and that they are now working on getting photographs of the eviction from the families who have them, with a view to digitising them and placing them on the web.

Groundviews has also published three key articles dealing with the Commission.

• The Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of the Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990 by Dr. Farzana Haniffa
• Some observations on the Final Report of the Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990 by Manouri Muttetuwegama
• A Commissioner’s Perspective: Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE by Chulani Kodikara

• The Muslim question and resettlement of Muslim IDPs in post-war Sri Lanka: Two comprehensive interviews
• A Commissioner’s Perspective: Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE
• Citizen’s Commission: Expulsion of the Northern Muslims by the LTTE in October 1990
• The Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of the Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990
• LLRC submission: The Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the North by the LTTE in October 1990

“There is no State of Emergency today.” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012

vs.

“Therefore, the attempt of the Sri Lankan government to replace emergency laws with another set of laws under a different name, yet meant to do the same task is not surprising. State of emergency is not only a particular set of laws. Removing emergency regulations while continuing with militarisation and a massive project of policing in socio-cultural arenas do not indicate a journey towards normalcy.” – Amali Wedagedara, Groundviews, 5 September 2011

“It is no secret that through 30 years there were armed groups and militias operating, especially in the North and East. All such groups have now been disarmed.” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012

vs.

“March 3, 2012 marked a very dark ebb in our society as it saw the horrific rape and murder of little Jesudasan Lakshini (13), allegedly at the hands of former EPDP cadre, Kanthasami Jegatheswaran (alias Kiruba) (31), from the Delft Island, Jaffna. Currently being held in remand at the Jaffna Remand Prison, the accused was produced before the Kayts Magistrate this week (30). However, the hearing was further postponed to April 9, 2012, as the Delft Police had failed to conclude their compilation of eye witness statements, said attorney-at-law K.S. Ratnavel, who is appearing on behalf of the victim’s family. The pending statement is the last of four eye witness statements attesting to having witnessed Lakshini being intercepted and taken by the accused on her way to the market, he added. This raises the glaring question as to why the Police was unable to obtain a mere four eye witness statements in the course of almost a month following this incident, unless of course exterior political forces are in play.” – Marissa de Silva, Groundviews, 2 April 2012

“We have systematically removed from our vocabulary the references of refugee camps, land mines and villages under threat. ” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012

vs.

“Back at the destroyed camp, we learned that earlier the same morning, the industries and commerce minister, Rishad Bathiudeen, had also paid a visit to the site. Upon his arrival, bombarded by residents’ desperate pleas to finally be allowed to return to their homes, he responded that he had only come to see what could be done to help them after the storm and ordered, “don’t try and turn this into a political issue”. Unfortunately, what Mr. Bathiudeen does not seem to know or acknowledge is that the reason for not allowing these people to return to their villages for almost three years is a political decision.” – Watchdog, Groundviews, 7 April 2012

“There were limits imposed on fishermen under which they could not go beyond a certain distance. These restrictions are also no more.” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012

vs.

“Many problems regarding the fishing industry in the North in many ways related to the militarization that was strengthened during the last phase of the war but not completely relaxed even after the end of the war. For instance, some coastal areas, which are very significant to fishing, still remains as High Security Zones (HSZ); and therefore fishermen are banned from engaging in their livelihood activities in those areas; in many areas, fishermen were allowed to go to sea only within a permitted corridor, and even for that they had to get passes from military forces.” – Sumith Chaaminda, Groundviews, 31 March 2012

“The check points and road blocks that we had through every two or three kilometers, and even on this Galle Road, are not there anymore… We are aware that the armed forces do not participate in the administration of the North or East. These regions are administered by the public service and the police. ” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012

vs.

“The reality that most, if not all the soldiers manning the Omanthai Checkpoint are not proficient in Tamil, is also quite telling in terms of the complete non-recognition of, and lack of respect for the Tamil community. More often than not, Tamil passengers unfamiliar with the routine have to rely on the Tamil translation of a more seasoned traveller. This indignity is further heightened when each of these passengers are made to have their personal belongings rifled through, until such time that the army personnel is adequately satisfied of the innocence of the specific passenger in question.” – Marisa de Silva, Groundviews, 16 April 2012

and

“The ubiquitous presence of armed security forces, weapons drawn, fingers on the trigger was fearsome. Every 100 metres on the Jaffna highway there was a security picket; every three kilometres, an army post; every 10 km, an army camp. The army was everywhere, running roadside shops, hotels and hospitality businesses. Even funerals or marriages or social functions in Tamil areas needed army permission in advance.” – The Hindu, 21 March 2012

“You will recall how terrorism compelled us all to live in the midst of much restrictions and obstructions, through 30 years. It is just three years since the war ended. Today, the country that faced such restrictions has returned to normal.” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012

vs.

“Especially for those living in the North, normalcy is far from reality. Only a part of these are the deciduous problems encountered, unfortunately but unavoidably, by people living in former conflict zones in the aftermath of war. It is now disconcertingly apparent that the militarisation of all spheres of life in the North is becoming increasingly institutionalised, and moreover, that this is the deliberate policy of the government. The regime is able to implement its policy with regard to the North, and more generally the continuation in force of disproportionate and repressive wartime national security measures, with virtually no meaningful democratic opposition.” – Asanga Welikala, Groundviews, 29 April 2011

“We are a country that is a member of the United Nations, working with friendship with all countries and sit with equality with all its members.” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012

vs.

On 30 June [2010], senior Government Minister Wimal Weerawansa urged the public to surround the UN office in Colombo and hold its staff hostage until moves by the UN to appoint a panel on Sri Lanka is dropped, putting the UN in Sri Lanka on high alert. On the same day, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said that when the UN contacted the Sri Lankan government over this statement, the government assured they were Minister Weerawansa’s “individual opinion”. On 2 July, it was reported that the government may tender an apology to the UN over the Minister’s comments. Any communication to this effect by the government to the UN is, to date, not in the public domain. On 4 July, Minister Weerawansa said he stood by his comment, and clarified that he made it as the National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and not in his capacity as a Government member. He also reiterated his call for the public to surround the building and protest against the UN panel. On the morning of 6 July, the NFF surrounded the UN compound in Colombo… Related to this, the Lanka Truth website runs a story on an alleged phone call with the President’s brother, the churlish Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in which he directly orders the Police to withdraw from the vicinity of the UN compound. – Groundviews, 8 July 2010

“We are already carrying out what we can agree to and can implement among the recommendations of the LLRC.” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012

vs.

The official media page of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) tells its own story. It’s blank. There’s literally nothing on the official website of the LLRC that provides information on public statements by the LLRC and coverage of its proceedings in the media. Furthermore, it’s impossible to find the interim recommendations or the final report of the LLRC on the official website… What remains of the LLRC’s proceedings and output – its interim report and recommendations, the accessibility and translations of its Final Report, most of the public submissions in Tamil, Sinhala and English, audio recordings and detailed records of media reports – are all, without exception, carefully curated and published online for public access by the very NGOs and platforms, including this site, that have been openly and repeatedly vilified by those in and partial to government. And all the government itself has managed to do was to establish a website for the LLRC – that too rather late into the LLRC’s activities and bereft of vital records. – Groundviews, 20 March 2012

“National political parties are today able to work and function freely in the North in absence of fear.” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012

vs.

The bizarre responses to what was a brutal attack, post-war, in broad daylight, against unarmed Parliamentarians engaging in nothing more subversive than the democratic process and it’s subsequent denial by the President himself – essentially shutting the door on any investigation or punitive measures – reflects a desire by government to, unilaterally and violently if necessary, define Tamil politics and moreover, throttle the growth of a more plural Tamil polity and society. These attacks are justified by senior government ministers, who believe that “the UPFA and other political parties represented more Tamils than the TNA”, which means that more can be expected in the future. The resulting humiliation of the TNA MPs is keenly felt and watched by a larger Tamil community, domestic as well as international. – Groundviews, The attack on TNA Parliamentarians in Jaffna: A timeline of outrageous denials (Updated), 5 July 2011

“Sri Lanka would soon pull out its remaining troops from areas still under military control in the Tamil-dominated northern province that was once an LTTE bastion, a prominent Tamil minister has said. ‘We have successfully taken the military presence off in most of the areas in the Northern Province. Only two in tenth of the areas are still under military control. We will soon make this area free of military presence. I need a month’s time from you to work on this,” Minister Douglas Devananda said while addressing people at Mathagal.” – Press Trust of India, 10 February 2012

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“Sri Lanka’s president has rejected a call by Indian legislators to withdraw soldiers from the island’s former war zone in the north where minority Tamils are concentrated, his spokesman… President Mahinda Rajapakse told a delegation of visiting Indian lawmakers that troops could not be pulled out despite the end of the decades-long Tamil separatist war in 2009.” – AFP, 22 April 2012

and

“President Mahinda Rajapaksa speaking at the Victory Day celebrations today said that it was not advisable to remove or reduce military camps in the North as the Tamil diasporas had not given up its attempts to win Eelam.” – Ceylon Today, 19 May 2012

• What is the bigger lie? US resolution in Geneva or number of people in Vanni in 2009?
• Who really supports reconciliation in post-war Sri Lanka?
• Archive of Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) submissions and media reports
• Reloading General Sarath Fonseka for a post-paid Sinhala package
• In conversation with Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu: The resolution in Geneva and its discontents

[Editors note: Sanjay Senanayake in a comment below raises a number of concerns regarding inflammatory statements made by Rev. Dambara Amila Thero in the past, which invariably inform the appreciation of the interview below. Sanjay also alleges that the thero had in the past assaulted journalists from Young Asia Television, which produced this video. We have asked them for a response.]

When first put online by Young Asia Television after it was broadcast on Sri Lankan TV, Groundviews requested the producers to sub-title this video in English to make more widely accessible what Rev. Dambara Amila Thero has to say about the practice of the Dhamma in Sri Lanka today, his views on political Buddhism and religious co-existence in Sri Lanka.

What he says is particularly important and resonant in light of the outrageous violence spearheaded by the Chief Prelate of the Dambulla temple a few weeks ago.

This interview is essential viewing for those who expressed their condemnation over the violence in Dambulla, and refreshing take on the Dhamma over what is today the popular fashion of publicly worshipping the Buddha to bestow blessings on even the most heinous of deeds and men. At around 18 minutes into the interview, Rev. Dambara Amila Thero also supports religious co-existence and comes out strongly against religious extremism – noting that anyone who is such, is not really a Buddhist.

• Not In Our Name: Against religious extremism in Sri Lanka
• Fake video and lies: The strange case of Dambulla’s Inamaluwe Sumangala thero
• The middle finger to the middle-path in Sri Lanka
• The transformation of Buddhism in Sri Lanka
• Photo essay: Freedom, Religion, and Dambulla

Audiences in Colombo were over the weekend treated to Samhara, a collaboration between India’s Nrityagram Dance Ensemble and Sri Lanka’s Chitrasena Dance Company. Groundviews caught up with Nrityagram’s lead dancer Bijayini Satpathy, the artistic director and choreographer of Nrityagram, Surupa and Chitrasena Dance Company’s choreographer, Heshma Wignaraja.

We talked about the production, and the creative process that gave rise to it. The conversation focussed on rave reviews of the performance at the Joyce Theater in New York, and why they are averse to calling it a fusion of dance forms. We talk about the creative tension of modern day choreography juxtaposed with the form and tradition of Kandyan as well as Odissi dance, and how young, new audience with their own expectations are influencing each company to perfect their dance. Given the sheer technical prowess of dancers in this production, we also go discuss the problem of inspiring the next generation of dancers when so many are unwilling to make the self-effacing sacrifices needed to come remotely close to what audiences saw on stage at the Wendt.

The interview runs for just under 39 minutes. Some photos of the production sent to Groundviews by Nrityagram can be viewed beneath the video.

Groundviews and the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble have a long history. Nrityagram’s Director of the Odissi Gurukul Bijayini Satpathy was first interviewed by us, at the Chitrasena Kalayathanaya, in July 2009. As we noted then,

What Orhan Pamuk is to literature, Bijayini is to dance. She is effortlessly captivating. Having seen her dance on a couple of occasions, I was delighted when I got the opportunity to speak with her at length on the art of dance, her sojourn in Sri Lanka, her take on our own dance traditions, her bond to the Chitrasena Kalayathanaya and, in general, her experiences as a dancer, life in Nrityagram and the nature of a relationship between the guru and the student.

A year later, we caught up with Bijayini in an interview broadcast on public television in Sri Lanka.

Groundviews has also interviewed Chitrasena Dance Company’s Heshma Wignarajah. In that interview,

We speak about how difficult it is for a woman to be part of what is a predominantly male Kandyan dance tradition and form. Given the changing nature of audiences, I ask Heshma who she sees as her audience – her answer is interesting, noting that it is not just an older generation interested in the Company’s productions. Towards the end of the interview, I ask Heshma about her approach to choreography, the sources of her inspiration and choreography’s place in a dance production.

• Heshma Wignaraja: Thoughts on dance and choreography
• In conversation with Bijayini Satpathy, Director of the Odissi Gurukul at Nrityagram
• Interview with Bijayini Satpathy, Director of the Odissi Gurukul at Nrityagram
• Thoughts on ‘Dancing for the Gods’ by the Chitrasena and Vajira Dance Foundation
• What Samhara Means: A review of Samhara and an unraveling of what it really means for Sri Lankan Dance

After the email update reproduced below was sent on 2nd May, less than a week after the Not In Our Name initiative was launched, Deshabandhu Jezima Ismail, senior lawyer and HR activist JC Weliamuna, two-time Secretary to Presidential Commissions of Inquiry into Disappearances MCM Iqbal, well-known economist Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, Prof. Michael Roberts and Ranjini Obeyesekere, both leading academics, Tamil activist, poet and academic Cheran, Channa Daswatta, one of Sri Lanka’s best known architects and Harsha de Silva, Member of Parliament, along with dozens of others, have signed up to the initiative.

“I put my name here just to give evidence to my children that at some point in the future, if they happen to suffer from communal violence as a result of what happens under president Rajapakse Government, their father did his bit to condemn his silence.” – Thrishantha Nanayakkara

“The conduct of some of the Buddhist monks at Dambulla was disgraceful. It was an insult to the Buddha.” – Mangala Moonesinghe

“Sri Lankan; not Parsi, not Burgher, not Eurasian, not Sinhalese, all to which I have claim. Not in our name.” - Hans Billimoria

“All Buddhists, especially the prominent members of the Buddhist clergy, should hang their heads in shame at this racist, mediaeval and un-Buddhist act. The government should institute legal proceedings for treasonous public statements undermining the authority of the duly elected President of the country.” – Prof. H.L. Seneviratne

“Certainly not in my name. The Dambulla violence and intolerance can provoke another cycle of mindless chauvinism unless the silent majority voice their unanimous condemnation compelling the Government to act decisively and speedily. The true Sri Lankan patriot, anchored in a rich past of tolerance and co-existence, is a not a racist or religious bigot.” – Jayantha Dhanapala

“This attack and the clumsy, unacceptable handling of it by the authorities has quite certainly not been done in my name.” – Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga

These are excerpts from longer comments in response to the online campaign Not In My Name. In just under a week after it was launched and at the time of sending this email, around 940 have signed up to the campaign. It has been shared over 1,000 times on Facebook alone. The campaign, and why it was established, has been featured on TV in Sri Lanka.

Hundreds have tweeted about it, some have written their own blog posts encouraging more to sign up and many more have emailed all their email contacts the campaign and shared it with professional colleagues on networks like LinkedIn. Those who have signed up to date include,

• Deshamanya Bradman Weerakoon, one of Sri Lanka’s most senior and respected civil servants
• Popular TV personalities, actors and singers: Ranjan Ramanayake, Narada Bakmeewewa, Kasun Kalhara
• Popular theatre personalities and directors: Steve de la Zilwa, Tracy Holsinger, Ruwanthie de Chickera, Nadie Kammallaweera, Shanuki de Alwis
• Gratiaen Prize winners Shehan Karunatilaka and Senaka Abeyratne
• Leading authors: V.V. Ganeshananthan, Shyam Selvadurai, David Blacker, Pradeep Jeganathan
• Former Sri Lankan of the Year Chandra Jayaratne
• Leading journalists, Editors, media personalities and media owners: Hana Ibrahim, Dilrukshi Handunetti, Dharisha Bastian, Easwaran Rutnam, Anoma Rajakaruna, Savithri Rodrio, Lal Wickrematunge, Hilmy Ahamed, Sharmini Boyle
• Human rights activists: Kumudini Samuel, Ruki Fernando, Dayapala Thiranagama, Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
• Gifted cartoonists like Gihan de Chickera
• Well-known photographers like Deshan Tennekoon and Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
• Prominent artists like Chandraguptha Thenuwara, Nelun Harasgama and Jagath Weerasinghe
• Former Secretary General of the JVP, Lionel Bopage
• Prominent bloggers like Jehan Mendis and Subha Wijesiriwardena

From a 73 year old grandmother to leading academics, from atheists to Hindus, Saivites and Christians, from Burghers and Sinhalese to Tamils and Muslims (and fascinating combinations of these beliefs and groups), the sheer diversity of those who have signed up to Not In Our Name unequivocally condemning the violence in Dambulla is incredible to read, both for what has been written and by whom.

As noted on the blog, after a month, the names and comments of those who signed up will be printed out and sent to the Presidential Secretariat, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Religious Affairs & Moral Upliftment, along with the Department of Buddhist Affairs, Department of Christian Religious Affairs, Department of Hindu Religious and Cultural Affairs and the Department of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs.

Already, this campaign is a unique collection of comments opposed to violence and extremism. Please read them, and consider adding your own name today.

Young Asia Television asked the following questions about the Not In our Name initiative for their weekly Connections TV digest, broadcast over public TV this week.

1. Not in Our Name: Is it focusing just only on the incident in Dambulla or is it looking broadly at religious extremism in Sri Lanka ?
2. Judging from the responses so far , what do you feel is the general pulse on the role of the State in addressing religious extremism in Sri Lanka ?
3. How will such incidents impact on communal relations and attempts at bringing about ‘National Reconciliation’?
4. In the end what purpose will this initiative serve?

• A different take from the Sangha: The dhamma and religious co-existence in Sri Lanka (UPDATED)
• Not In Our Name: Against religious extremism in Sri Lanka
• The middle finger to the middle-path in Sri Lanka
• Bigoted monks and militant mobs: Is this Buddhism in Sri Lanka today?
• “There is a right way and a wrong way to use violence”: Interview with Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

When going through the album, make sure to read the captions.

• Groundviews on Twitter and Facebook
• Launch of Groundviews Facebook Fan Page
• Fake video and lies: The strange case of Dambulla’s Inamaluwe Sumangala thero
• Like Slaves In Jaffna
• A different take from the Sangha: The dhamma and religious co-existence in Sri Lanka (UPDATED)

The Associated Press obtained a copy Thursday of an email written by a U.N. land mine expert that said unexploded cluster bomblets were discovered in the Puthukudiyiruppu area of northern Sri Lanka, where a boy was killed last month and his sister injured as they tried to pry apart an explosive device they had found to sell for scrap metal.

The email was written by Allan Poston, the technical adviser for the U.N. Development Program’s mine action group in Sri Lanka.

“After reviewing additional photographs from the investigation teams, I have determined that there are cluster sub-munitions in the area where the children were collecting scrap metal and in the house where the accident occurred. This is the first time that there has been confirmed unexploded sub-munitions found in Sri Lanka” the email said.

Emphasis ours. The incident noted in Ravi’s copy was actually reported in the Tamil media on 6th March 2012.

The story on Sudar Oli, published on Page 7 notes,

An explosion in Killinochchi kills a boy: His sister sustains serious injuries

From Vishamadhu, Killinochchi, comes the report of a death of a boy, who had tried to examine a metallic object. The details of this incident are as follows.

Yesterday (5. March 2012) at around 11.30am, V. Villuwan (14) a small boy and his sister, V. Kovila (22) were collecting metal when they tried to remove the copper off a metallic object. At this moment, there was an explosion with a huge sound.

Seriously injured from the explosion, both children were admitted to the Dharmapuram Hospital. Afterwards, they were transferred to the Jaffna Hospital’s emergency ward, at which time the boy succumbed to his injuries.

It’s very important to track the Sri Lankan government’s denials over the use of cluster munitions. Last updated on 19 August 2011, the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor notes,

Sri Lanka has said that it does not possess cluster munitions. The Sri Lankan government’s Media Center for National Security issued the following statement on its website in February 2009: “The Government wishes to clarify that the Sri Lanka army do not use these cluster bombs nor do they have facilities to use them.” The Ministry of Defence website posted a statement saying Sri Lanka never fired cluster munitions and never brought them into the country. In February 2009, a military spokesperson was quoted stating, “We don’t have the facility to fire cluster munitions. We don’t have these weapons.”

Emphasis ours. On Page 47 of the UN Panel of Experts report, allegations of cluster munitions use are noted along with denials from the Sri Lankan government,

1. Allegations of the use of cluster munitions or white phosphorus
169. There are allegations that the SLA used cluster bomb munitions or white phosphorus or other chemical substances against civilians, particularly around PTK and in the second NFZ. Accounts refer to large explosions, followed by numerous smaller explosions consistent with the sound of a cluster bomb. Some wounds in the various hospitals are alleged to have been caused by cluster munitions or white phosphorus. The Government of Sri Lanka denies the use of these weapons and, instead, accuses the LTTE of using white phosphorus.

One of the most categorical denials came from Palitha Kohona, an Australian national who at the time was Secretary of Foreign Affairs and is currently Sri Lanka’s top ranking diplomat to the UN in New York.

In the interview with CNN, Kohona explicitly notes to a question by the anchor, Monita Rajpal, whether the Sri Lankan Army is using cluster bombs,

“I can say categorically that the Army does not use cluster bombs, it does not posses cluster bombs and it does not procure cluster bombs. I say this with authority, because I have… since… hearing the story, I have verified the facts with the procurement committee.”

There have been a number of reports in web media in particular on the use of cluster bombs. Coincidentally, in a report published on 21 March 2012 on Tamilnet.com, which is blocked in Sri Lanka, it is reported that “a container allegedly deployed by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) to carry cluster bomblets has been recovered recently by the de-miners of the humanitarian de-mining agency Halo Trust near a house at Thiruvaiuyaa’ru, 3 km east of Ki’linochchi town”. A PDF copy of the story, which also contains an image of the cluster bomb container, can be seen here. In January 2009, the same website carried images of cluster bombs allegedly dropped by the Sri Lankan Airforce in Mullaitivu. A PDF copy of the story, along with images, can be seen here.

There have also been other media reporting alleging the use of cluster bombs in Sri Lanka. Though is hard to verify the accuracy of a report that appears on Sri Lanka Truth conceding the use of cluster bombs in Sri Lanka sourced from Russia, the UN’s most recent confirmation over the use of cluster bombs also means that the report cannot be dismissed easily.

On 22 April 2009, the Guardian ran a story on the use of cluster bombs in Sri Lanka, which noted that,

Cluster bombs and artillery shelling have killed many civilians at a makeshift hospital within the last strip of Sri Lanka’s coastline still controlled by the Tamil Tigers, a doctor said today. Thangamutha Sathiyamorthy is a doctor working at the hospital in Puttumatalan.

Sathiyamorthy claimed that there had been a number of cluster bomb attacks, one of which killed a doctor, Dr Sivamanokaran, in the temporary hospital at Valayadmadam.

“The hospital yesterday was functioning and the doctor visited that area and there was a blast that is a cluster bomb and so he died in the hospital area,” he said.

In another news report published on IBM Live much earlier, on 4 February 2009, it was reported that,

Cluster bombs have been used in the war in Sri lanka for the first time since the collapse of a Norway-brokered ceasefire in 2007. The bombs were used near a civil hospital in Puthukudiyiruppu. It is not clear if they were used by the Lankan military or the tigers.

The organisation’s spokesperson, Sarasi Wijeratne couldn’t say who fired the shells. But Dr Thurairajah Varatharajah, the top Government health official in the area, said the attacks appeared to have come from the army.

Earlier we spoke to Gorden Weiss, the UN Spokesperson in Colombo who said that cluster bombs have been thrown in the vicinity of the hospital.

Revealingly, the three government doctors who claimed high civilian casualties and the use of cluster bombs by the Sri Lankan Army were rounded up and under duress, forced to retract their submissions. Though widely suspected, it was only after the Wikileaks cables were published that exactly why they contradicted their earlier submissions was confirmed.

Other prominent government spokesmen were more outright in their dismissal of concerns by the international community over the use of cluster bombs. Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, in February 2009, called those in Amnesty International “lunatics” and their concern over the use of cluster bombs by the Sri Lankan army “rank idiocy”.

Did the Sri Lankan Army use cluster bombs and phosphorus bombs against civilians?, published in September 2010 on Groundviews, translated a lead story published in the Sudar Oli newspaper based on the testimony of one N. Sundermurthi to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). As we noted at the time, not a single English or Sinhala mainstream print or broadcast media carried this story. Sundermurthi’s testimony notes,

In the final stages of the war, thinking they were attacking the LTTE around Puthumathalan, the Army used cluster bombs and phosphorus bombs against innocent civilians. There were many casualties on account of this. Around 400 to 600 died daily, and around 1,000 were injured.

The LTTE even attacked airplanes that were sent to attack the safe zones. When they counter-attacked, the Army used banned phosphorus and cluster bombs against the LTTE. There were many casualties on account of this. Around 400 – 600 died daily, and around 1,000 were injured. It was a grim situation. After this, amidst incredible hardship, we arrived in areas controlled by the Army.

There are, at the time of writing, 112 comments to this story, and most of the commentators vehemently deny the use of cluster bombs, noting that there is no way Sundermurthi could have known what kind of munitions were used and fired. At the time, Sri Lanka’s top ranking diplomat at permanent mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations at Geneva, and currently Ambassador to France, with accreditation to Spain and Portugal, and Sri Lanka’s Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka first roundly dismissed the report, and then said that the story was Sri Lanka’s equivalent of WMD’s (in Iraq). Another commentator, David Blacker, noted,

The witness’ testimony is quite useless on the point of whether or not cluster bombs and phosphorous was used by the SLAF. The witness merely states as fact that these weapons were used. There is no description of the weapons in action, the detonations or impact, nor of any residue, damage or injury caused. None whatsoever. The witness could just as easily have said that the SLAF used tactical nuclear weapons.

As an aside, artillery units use white phosphorous (WP) shells as marker rounds for forward observers, and often the explosions and residue from these rounds are mistaken for offensive weapons.

Overall… the witness’ statement seems a bit contrived, as if he has been fed a few keywords (DPU, cluster bombs, phosphorous, etc) and is trying to work them into his story. The skeletons he describe probably were from a cemetery having been shelled or bombed. In general, civilian statements on artillery exchanges are often sketchy, with witnesses unable to accurately discern direction, especially at close range.

Given all of this, is it really surprising that no other newspapers bothered with this?

This analysis was backed up by Dr. Jayatilleka. Blacker went on to accuse Groundviews of being a “tabloid” and “sensationalist publication” for republishing in English Sundermurthi’s testimony to the LLRC.

It remains to be seen how the Government will answer the UN’s confirmation, based on its significant technical expertise of dealing with UXOs, that there are in fact unexploded cluster munitions still in and around the Puthukudiyiruppu area. Perhaps because it trusted government reports, that the UN itself was wholly unprepared to deal with unexploded cluster munitions is evident in the leaked UN email. As AP’s Nessman notes,

Poston’s email, dated Tuesday, said mine clearers in Sri Lanka had not been prepared to deal with the bomblets, and are now relying on the experience of deminers who had worked in Lebanon, where Israel used cluster munitions in its 2006 war.

One deminer with experience in Lebanon was asked to clear the area and train other teams in how to handle the bomblets, according to the email. The local mine clearing office is adopting the Lebanon standards, and UNICEF was informed of the need to educate the local population about the dangers of the unexploded munitions, it said.

What new levels of spin, deception, counter-claims, propaganda and hate speech through spokesmen, Ambassadors, advisors and other assorted apologists will the government employ to counter this damning new evidence of what can constitute war crimes by the armed forces? If vehement denials of cluster bomb use by the government turn out to be false, what command chain responsibility implications will it have?

• Did the Sri Lankan Army use cluster bombs and phosphorus bombs against civilians?
• Cluster munitions, inhumane IDP camp conditions and the White Flag incident: More disturbing leaks from UN report
• Government MP Rajiva Wijesinha clarifies allegation against Groundviews
• The desecration of graves in Jaffna: Path to reconciliation?
• Post-war, is the Sri Lankan Army going on a rampage in the North?

A week ago, a violent a mob of about 2,000 Sinhalese, including a group of Buddhist monks led by the Mahanayaka of the Rangiri Dambulu chapter Inamaluwe Sumangala thero, stormed and vandalised a mosque in Dambulla. The mosque was declared an illegal structure, but it is unclear how this far this is accurate.

The shameful behaviour and expression employed by the Mahanayaka of the Rangiri Dambulu chapter Inamaluwe Sumangala thero, along with the monks he led and the crowd of thugs is not remotely associated with or reflective of the philosophy of the Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha, or the way in which a Buddhist monk is supposed to behave and speak. Many online have already expressed their dismay and deep concern over the actions of a few, placing Sri Lanka in the media spotlight again for all the wrong reasons.

We have a choice, but time is running out. Speak up. Sign up to this online statement and say that this violence was not in your name, and that more calls to violence are futile. Renounce a fringe lunacy and resist extremism. By putting your name below, you are opposing mob violence and bigotry as ways to resolve disputes.

If we have to fight, let’s fight to keep Sri Lanka free of extremists who threaten not only what they seek to destroy, but also who and what they claim to represent. Add your name, and please pass the message on.

Read the full statement and sign up in English here, in Tamil here and in Sinhala here.

• Fake video and lies: The strange case of Dambulla’s Inamaluwe Sumangala thero
• The middle finger to the middle-path in Sri Lanka
• A different take from the Sangha: The dhamma and religious co-existence in Sri Lanka (UPDATED)
• Bigoted monks and militant mobs: Is this Buddhism in Sri Lanka today?
• Monks of War – Al-Jazeera on the JHU

The Mahanayaka of the Rangiri Dambulu chapter Inamaluwe Sumangala thero, one of the key figures in the on-going tensions in Dambulla over the presence of a mosque and kovil near his Temple, perhaps in response to the public outcry against the violence instigated by him, has told the BBC that TV footage that showed monks engaged in violence – including one monk disrobing and exposing himself to the mosque – were fake.

The Mahanayaka of the Rangiri Dambulu chapter Inamaluwe Sumangala thero told BBC Sandeshaya that he only led a ‘peaceful and democratic protest against illegal constructions’.

He maintained that no violence was used.

“Videos that portrayed the protest as violent were technically manipulated,” said the Mahanayaka thero who also heads a media outlet.

Let us for the sake of argument not disbelieve or dismiss what Inamaluwe Sumangala thero says. Musāvāda veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi, or refraining from incorrect or false speech, is after all one of the five Noble Precepts. Let us believe that TV broadcasts of the violent mob were doctored.

There is however, a slight problem. Rangiri Dambulu chapter Inamaluwe Sumangala thero is the Director General of the private radio station Rangiri Radio.

Rangiri Radio also has a Facebook fan page. As it notes, “Rangiri Sri Lanka is a radio channel that has been inaugurated with the intention of promoting the Buddhist cultural values and development of personality including aeasthetics values.”

On both the homepage of the Rangiri Radio website, and prominently, at the time of writing, on the Facebook page of Rangiri Radio, the following video appears. The well crafted introduction and end credits suggest that this is a professional production, featured on Rangiri Radio with the awareness if not also the blessings of Inamaluwe Sumangala thero, who also appears in it.

If one glosses over the racist chants, the video footage fully supports Inamaluwe Sumangala thero’s submissions that he only led a peaceful and democratic protest. Up until, that is, around a minute and twenty seconds into the video. 1.27 to around 2.20 showcase the most violent moments of the mob, where you don’t need to understand the derogatory, racist expressions in Sinhala to observe just how far the monks and the mob are from being peaceful, democratic or indeed, Buddhist in expression and behaviour.

In light of the divide between Inamaluwe Sumangala thero’s submission to the BBC and what really was said and done, we wonder if there is a more righteous sangha in Sri Lanka or abroad who can urgently remind the monks in Dambulla about the first and fourth Noble Precepts in particular?

• Not In Our Name: Against religious extremism in Sri Lanka
• The middle finger to the middle-path in Sri Lanka
• A different take from the Sangha: The dhamma and religious co-existence in Sri Lanka (UPDATED)
• The Mind of Compassion: Buddhism and Violence
• Monks of War – Al-Jazeera on the JHU

Groundviews was sent a copy of what we were told was the deed of the mosque at the centre of an on-going controversy in Dambulla, Sri Lanka. We were also sent photos of the damage and vandalism wrought by the mob violence a few days ago.

We’ve uploaded the document to Scribd as a PDF, and the high resolution, original scanned images of the deed to Flickr. Both are embedded below, along with four photos of vandalism to copies of the Quran and the cupboards in which they were stored.

Groundviews has already flagged that the basis upon which the PM, in a televised submission, said that the mosque was an illegal construction is hugely suspect.

In a video of a community meeting uploaded to YouTube two days ago, in the presence of Senior Minister for Urban Affairs A H M Fowzie and the Assistant Government Agent, there is a discussion in Sinhala about, inter alia, the legality of the mosque. The discussion on the mosque’s location and legality starts around 6.20 into the video. at around 7.50, the AGA is directly asked whether she thinks the mosque is an unauthorised structure. Seconds before, the discussion was about the fact the mosque had been there for decades. The AGA unequivocally notes that the structure is unauthorised. When asked why she thinks so, she says nowhere in the AGA’s office is the structure recorded as a mosque. When the crowd informs her that this is not necessary given the law in Sri Lanka, she responds that she doesn’t even have a copy of the records that some in the crowd say have been for years with the central government.

From around 8.40 to around 9.30, a lawyer present at the meeting politely and patiently runs through the relevant laws around registering a mosque, reiterating that the AGA’s office is not the location, under the law, that it should be registered with. The AGA persist and says that her office has no record of a mosque or kovil in the area. A person from the crowd retorts that while this may be the case, it is irrelevant under the applicable laws. In response however, the AGA simply notes that there is no record of a mosque or kovil in her records.

Given the exchange above, we publish the deeds for wider public scrutiny in the hope that informed persons, including lawyers more familiar with the registration of places of worship, and in particular, mosques, are able to shed light on why a structure that has, by multiple accounts of residents in the area, been present and used for decades, and ostensibly for which the deeds are also available, is now considered illegal and unauthorised.

5:53pm: Pursuant to the vibrant debate on Twitter (follow on @groundviews) over the original post, Groundviews has just been forwarded copies of what we are told is the original deed, and other relevant documentation over the land for the extension of the mosque. This documentation was kindly sent to us from the office of Reyyaz Salley.

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• Fake video and lies: The strange case of Dambulla’s Inamaluwe Sumangala thero

As noted by Raashid Riza, the Multimedia Editor of The Platform,

Last Friday a mob of about 2,000 Sinhalese, led by a group of Buddhist monks, stormed into a mosque in the historical city of Dambulla. They caused disturbances so severe that Friday prayers had to be cancelled. Reports suggest that the mosque had been hurled at with petrol bombs the night before, causing minor damage, and security forces were deployed to control the situation. The targeting of the Muslim community was instigated by a group of racist Sinhalese individuals, consisting largely of hooligans, who were motivated by the uproar and attention such an act would create, rather than by any identifiable ideology.

News channels have since broadcast footage from the incident. It is extremely disturbing, and warrants attention. Since the content is in Sinhala, we offer rough translations of the most disquieting sentiments.

00:47: Buddhist monk in orange robe: “The Divisional Secretary promised that on Monday, which is to say in two days, there will be a meeting at 3pm to take a decision on this matter.”

1:15: Buddhist monk in brown robe: “This is how the written promise came. Listen carefully. 2011.4.20. This is a historic day for us. In the Kingdom of Dambulla, in the absence of a Sinhala King, when there was no King… the Head Prelate, led by Ven. Jayaratana in front of the Buddhist clergy we will come to a verdict. This verdict is not just for Dambulla, but all of Sri Lanka… We are number one in self-governance. Because of this, against the courts, without the President, this written promise is a first, a victory for those who love the race (hela), have Sinhala blood, and are Buddhists. This is what it says. There are reports of an illegal Muslim mosque near the Rangiri Dambulu Temple. That a huge swathe of people were part of a protest is also reported. After 1.11pm no Muslim, for whatever reason – you can’t even go to the toilet – (derisive laughter from crowd) I promise to the Sinhala Buddhist people who love the country. Signed – is he Muslim? (derisive laughter from crowd) Senior Police Superintendent… With this victory, we temporarily depart. To be continued with your pooja”.

3.20 to 6.20 features Sri Lanka’s Prime MInister speaking about the incident, which he said he first got to know about from the newspapers. He notes that for around 500 Muslims in the Dambulla area, the contested mosque is the closest place of worship they have. What’s quite bizarre about the PM’s statement is that he notes (3.19 to around 3.36) that the Dambulla Temple grounds have been declared a sacred area by the Town and Country Planning Ordinance. But as Namini Wijedasa notes in Lakbima News,

The government last week withdrew an amendment to the Town and Country Planning Ordinance that if passed would have given the Minister of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs vast powers over any private property in the country.

The Town and Country Planning (Amendment), a copy of which was obtained by LAKBIMAnEWS, consists of just eight clauses. Legal practitioners described the bill as ‘bizarre.’ It was presented to parliament close on the heels of another controversial law–the Revival of Underperforming and Underutilised Assets bill–under which the government acquired overnight the assets of 37 private sector companies.

Thus, the illegality of the mosque, going by the PM’s definition on TV, is very suspect. In fact, Deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs A.L.M. Hizbullah notes that the mosque is over 50 years old,

..If there is any dispute, it must be discussed and seen to. Surrounding the mosque and staging a protest only disturbs the harmony in this country that has been restored after a 30 year war… I have prayed at this mosque as early as 1985 when I was still in university. There have been no issues in the past. Only recently have there been problems when the number of people coming into the mosque on Fridays for Jummah prayers increased.

In the clip above, at around 4.47 the PM says that there is no provision for the erection of temples belonging to other religions within the land owned by Buddhist temples. Smiling, he wonders aloud why there was a sudden inflammation of disharmony around the mosque in Dambulla. Noting the government’s foremost responsibility to protect Buddhism, at around 5.36 the PM notes that the government’s responsibility is also to ensure that people of other religions can fairly observe their own religious practices. He ends by stressing the need for religious harmony and peaceful co-habitation, and flags the need to follow the tenets of each religion.

However, a longer clip of the segment first broadcast on TV suggests that some leading members of the Buddhist clergy in Dambulla are, clearly, not even remotely Buddhist in thought, expression and action.

There are members of the Sangha engaged in mob violence. There is a member of the Sangha who disrobes, jumps up and down and exposes himself, in public, against the mosque. Others break down the entrance of the mosque. A Chief Prelate from the Dambulla Temple suggests that the mob is a shramadaanaya, and that destroying the mosque is something that they should in fact be helped by the government.

At around 3.47 in this video, there is a particularly chilling exchange between one of the Chief Prelates of the Dambulla Temple and a Hindu resident of the area. The female resident, who is not once dis-respectful in her submissions to the Prelate, says that from when she was small, she had worshipped at a Kovil in the area. The Prelate’s immediate answer is whether she is referring to the 1800′s. In a menacing Sinhala idiom that loses a lot of its original violence in translation, the Chief Prelate threatens to either remove the Kovil, or have it removed along with the homes of the Hindu residents, noting that they are all there illegally. The Chief Prelate notes, through a Sinhala adage, that not only are the crows attempting to fly over their heads, they are now attempting to enter the nest as well – a clear reference to the Hindus and Muslims in the areas. The woman assures the Chief Prelate, in a very deferent expression, that there is nothing for him to fear about their worship. However, the Prelate’s answer is again menacing in Sinhala, noting that she can take her gods wherever they want to, but away from the sacred ground of the Temple.

The whole exchange and clip is sickening.

As Concerned Citizen in Spirtuality, Religion and Human Conflict avers,

In Sri Lanka, we can also see the negative impact of nationalizing Buddhism as a state religion and the obligation of the state to give it primacy of place over all other religions and foster its practice as required by the Constitution. The politicization of Buddhism favours the majority Sinhalese as it happens to be practiced only by Sinhalese in Sri Lanka and therefore marginalizes all other ethnic/religious minorities, particularly the largest minority group, the Tamils which has contributed to the ethnic conflict. Although the conflict culminated in a war resulting in the successful decimation of the extremist terrorist movement by the state, it has given rise to fanatical Buddhist supremacy which is intolerant of other creeds.

In a Twitter conversation with Dinouk Colombage (@Dinoukc), a journalist with the Sunday Leader newspaper, he notes that according to reports he has received, people of the Dambulla area are ashamed at the behaviour of the Buddhist clergy.

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Forgetting and moving on, however, is easier said than done when mob violence, outright racism and violent expression are so closely associated with the practice of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Late last year, a similar mob also led by Buddhist monks destroyed another Muslim place of worship. Photos of the incident show Police just standing by, and a green flag with Islamic iconography being burnt. Mervyn Silva, a senior government Minister whose public record of violence is well documented and is protected by no less than the ruling family, openly threatens to maim and kill human rights defenders and, literally, in the same breath says he is a good Sinhala Buddhist. Some of these statements were made in a leading temple in Colombo, with members of the Buddhist clergy present, who went on to bless the Minister.

Positively frightening Facebook groups that go unnoticed in mainstream discourse because the content is completely in Sinhala demonstrate the fringe lunacy that drives Sinhala-Buddhist extremism. Each of these group have over 4,000 fans, and by the looks of it, are extremely active and influential. Both feature incredibly inflammatory content over the Dambulla incident.

From https://www.facebook.com/pages/මාගේ-හෘද-සාක්ෂිය/351343628228268

From https://www.facebook.com/pages/Protect-the-Buddhism-බුදු-දහම-ආරක්ෂාකරමු/318576704821497

Though the denigration of Islam and Muslims in these respective Facebook pages is too outrageous and maniacal to translate, in every single instance, it is justified by way of protecting Buddhism and the motherland (a violently reductionist conflation of maathru and punya bhoomi).

As Raashid Riza’s article goes on to note,

I have seen Facebook and Twitter updates of Muslims visibly upset, as they should be. But the actions of the Muslims should be based on rational thought, accountability and logic, otherwise they will play into the ploys of those who seek to have them driven by their emotions. These communities should be patient and understand that, despite the odds, their interests will be best served in acting within the confines of ethics, morality and legal jurisdiction.

Muslim politicians have to realise these matters and work with the government and the opposition in consolidating their status as a community that has always acted in the best interests of the Sri Lankan state, and continue to enjoy their status as fully integrated Sri Lankan citizens bar none.

Conversely, given damning silence of the Chief Prelates of all the Nikayas over the violence in Dambulla and hate speech in the name of Buddhism, how do you think the Buddha, were he present, would have responded to this frothing chauvinism?

• Ask Ass. Sec. Robert Blake a question on Sri Lanka over Twitter
• A different take from the Sangha: The dhamma and religious co-existence in Sri Lanka (UPDATED)
• Photo essay: Freedom, Religion, and Dambulla
• Groundviews on Twitter and Facebook
• Fake video and lies: The strange case of Dambulla’s Inamaluwe Sumangala thero

From around 5pm to 5.30pm today, Ass. Sec. Blake took questions from those on Twitter in South and Central Asia. Ass. Sec. Blake is the Assistant Secretary, South And Central Asian Affairs at the US State Department and former Ambassador to Sri Lanka. South and Central Asia is a large swathe of physical as well as ideological terrain. Fearful that Sri Lanka would be forgotten in the deluge of tweets under the hashtag #AskSCA, we published a story on Groundviews flagging our own questions, and what at the time were a few other questions to Ass. Sec. Blake posed by others on Twitter.

The session didn’t see Ass. Sec. Blake answer many questions. It started by his office noting that,

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This was followed by a few tweets on Nepal, and a congratulatory tweet on the new US Ambassador in New Delhi. The first tweet responded to was on the Maldives, followed by one US foreign policy goals in Central Asia. Then ones on Bangladesh, the Maldives, Uzbekistan, the US lease of Manas Base in Kyrgyzstan, LGBT rights, the border security of the 5 Central Asian states and how the lack of secure infrastructure in CA affect New Silk Road strategies.

Sadly, and for reasons best known to Ass. Sec. Blake and his office, not a single question on Sri Lanka was taken up.

This wasn’t because there weren’t enough good questions. Sri Lanka’s BBC correspondent echoed the tweets posted by Nigel Nugawela, the co-editor of Groundviews. Even though the Reuters Sri Lanka correspondent chipped in with his questions a tad late, they are vital ones to ask, and not just from Amb. Blake, but from our own political leadership. Revealingly, many Sri Lankan mainstream media Twitter accounts (e.g. @DMBreakingnews, @Adaderana and @Sundayleader) failed to ask a question. Colombo Gazette, a web based news outlet, posed a single tweet. Bizarrely, Ceylon Today (@Ceylontoday) posted two tweets to Ass. Sec. Blake but then proceeded to delete them.

We have collated in a Bundlr bundle the tweets we could find addressed to Ass. Sec. Blake under the #AskSCA tag. Please leave a comment if we’ve missed out any. Even though they were all unanswered by Amb. Blake, the questions can be taken up in other physical and virtual fora, including with the new US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, others in Washington DC and US Embassy officials in Colombo. These tweets are succinct tableaux vivants of Sri Lanka today, with concerns over the freedom of expression, human rights, the rule of law, reconciliation and indeed, coherence and continuity of US policies and practices over Sri Lanka.

We urge readers to not forget them, and keep asking.

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Update, 8.39pm: Ass. Sec. Robert Blake lamented on Twitter the limited amount of time he had to take any questions on Sri Lanka. We responded noting that it would be great if he had more time to spend on these interactions, and perhaps to have them with South Asia and Central Asia as two distinct regions, which would allow for more focussed exchanges around each region. Ass. Sec. Robert Blake agreed, and we then also exchanged thoughts on USAID programming in Sri Lanka and the possibility of Peace Corps volunteers coming to teach IT skills and English.

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• Ask Ass. Sec. Robert Blake a question on Sri Lanka over Twitter
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Robert Blake is the Assistant Secretary, South And Central Asian Affairs at the US State Department and former Ambassador to Sri Lanka. The man likes cricket and our own Murali, and given his current portfolio, is a key figure in US-Sri Lanka relations post-war.

He is currently taking questions on Twitter on US relations with South Asia.

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Through the hashtag #AskSCA, there are already a number of questions from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, but very few from Sri Lanka. We have posed four, based on the US Senate’s Committee On Foreign Relations report on Sri Lanka (SRI LANKA: RECHARTING U.S. STRATEGY AFTER THE WAR), published in December 2009, which has a number of important recommendations we’ve not heard about since.

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In addition to ours, @Apelankawe and @thrishantha have posed some interesting questions.

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Till now, not a single mainstream media Twitter account in Sri Lanka, or even full time journalist, has responded to the call to ask Amb. Blake questions pertinent to US – Sri Lanka relations, and particularly given the resolution in Geneva, what the US State Department really thinks will change in Sri Lanka over the coming year.

If you’re on Twitter, please make use of this opportunity to pose a question to Amb. Blake, who will only be on for around 30 minutes and given his official portfolio, will not only be responding to Sri Lankan issues. The earlier you pose a question, the better chance it has of a response.

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The largest animal on the planet, the blue whale, is found in Sri Lankan waters. Unusually, the blue whales off our coast do not to migrate to polar waters for feeding – a characteristic of other populations. We do not yet know why. In this interview, we talk about additional qualities that make them unique and interesting while highlighting the need for a scientific understanding of the population in order to manage and protect them into the future. In light of current and growing human encroachment in our oceans, Sri Lankan marine biologist Asha de Vos makes a strong case that the time is now.

Asha’s Sri Lanka’s second TED Fellow (and the second TED Fellow to be featured on this site). She was awarded a Zonta Woman of Achievement award in 2011 and has coordinated and implemented projects related to marine and coastal resources in Sri Lanka in collaboration with donors and partners. As a marine biologist she has worked at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and as a consultant on projects for NARA. Asha de Vos has written numerous journal articles, publications, and presented her work in several countries including Australia, Maldives, the US and Sri Lanka. Most recently, at the TED conference in Long Beach, California, she delivered a presentation titled “The Unorthodox Whale”. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Western Australia, where she studies the ‘factors influencing blue whale aggregations off Southern Sri Lanka’.

Relevant to our conversation was the fact that Asha leads the first major study of the unique Sri Lankan blue whales, and is attempting, over the long term, to get an estimate of the numbers of whales in Sri Lanka.

We begin by going into how Asha began her interest in cetology and marine biology, and how it was a journey on a ship near Sri Lanka’s coastal waters, and a random encounter with blue whales, that started her on a path to study these amazing mammals. Asha comes out strongly on two points, the need to regulate the whale watching industry that’s blossoming in Sri Lanka and the whale population’s proximity to one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, and the inevitable, tragic consequence of collisions.

Image courtesy Wired. The lines in yellow reflect lanes with the most amount of ships per annum.

Photo courtesy Sopaka Karunasundera, taken in Colombo harbour in late March 2012. The ship’s crew didn’t even know they had hit and killed a blue whale.

Asha notes that she’s using technologies never been used in Sri Lanka before to more accurately map the area in which these amazing mammals swim and breed in, and stresses that aside from the obvious danger of fatal collisions, the sonar pollution from the low range frequencies of ship propulsion pose a serious threat to the health of the whale population. On regulations, Asha expresses her concern that there are no regulations around whale watching in Sri Lanka, which leads to policies and practices that are harmful to the mammals. Asha also notes how disruptive the practice of charging right towards whales on boats is, in search of a good photograph. Instead, she notes that the best chance of a great shot of a blue whale is to stop, sit, wait.

Asha’s also passionate about raising awareness about marine biology and conservation, and speaks of the need to encourage children and youth to learn more about the rich diversity of marine life around Sri Lanka. Towards the end of our conversation, we talk about how technology, including Asha’s output on the web and through her blog, advances our understanding of the issues she is working on. Asha also responds to a question as to whether technologies that bring closer, to those who haven’t experienced a blue whale sighting in real life, the magic of the mammals enhances interest in its conservation, or makes it an experience more ordinary, and as a consequence, more forgettable. Inspired by this question on our programme, Asha went on to host and curate a great conversation on TED, titled Technology doesn’t kill the magic.

We don’t talk about it much, but one of the biggest challenges Asha’s faced in the study of blue whales is not so much the complexity of the subject, but her gender. Asha’s a pioneer in this regard, and as she notes in a recent initiative to celebrate Sri Lanka’s female role models by Reach Out, “Being a marine biologist is uncommon enough, being a female marine biologist is stare-worthy. I carry heavy equipment and direct teams of researchers who are often men”. We end our conversation with Asha stressing the importance of pursuing one’s dreams, and never giving up on them, especially if the interests lie with marine biology and conservation.

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The Sri Lankan government’s denial of things extends well beyond allegations of war crimes. Earlier this year, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US, Jaliya Wickramasuriya “Rapes, this and that not taking any place in Sri Lanka”. Writing about this daft and peculiar statement, Roel Raymond noted,

I don’t understand this. I don’t understand why our diplomats and politicians continue to bristle defensively, refusing to accept fault, scrambling to cover the massive chip on their collective shoulders. How hard can it be to admit one is wrong? How very different would it have been if Ambassador Wickramasuriya had said ‘Yes this is a problem, but we as a nation are committed to ending it’?

On 1st April last year, The Grassrooted Trust led the global V-Day celebration in Colombo at the Barefoot Gallery with a production of ‘A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer: Writings to End Violence Against Women & Girls’, a groundbreaking collection of monologues by world-renowned authors and playwrights. The show was sold out, and The Grassrooted Trust was able to raise and donate LKR 50,000 to the Women’s Devenlopment Center, Kandy.

The show’s success was the catalyst for this year’s ‘වී DAY’, where as promised, we will showcase Sri Lankan stories that discuss not only conventional forms of violence against women and girls, such as rape, battery, incest and sexual slavery, but also more unconventional, far less reported forms of violence, stemming from patriarchy, and cultural hypocrisy.

Under the direction of Anuruddha Fernando and Hans Billimoria ‘වී-DAY 2012 – Writings to end Violence Against Women and Girls in Sri Lanka’, a selection of original writings which will be staged on Sunday, 1st April 2012 at the Warehouse Project, Block # 26, Tripoli Road, Colombo 10. Directions here.

A total of seven pieces, all of which have been written by Sri Lankans living and working in the murky field of sexual and reproductive health and rights in Sri Lanka, will be performed by experienced cast of actors from both English and Sinhala drama traditions. The entire programme will last approximately ninety minutes, including an interval.

Groundviews caught up with Hans Billimoria and a few actors in the play to talk about the production, and the issues it aims to raise.

We talk for around 25 minutes, and address issues of sexuality, the sponsorship of this kind of production by media organisations that have been openly homophobic, the challenge of moving the action from stage to polity and society, over the long-term, the ways in which theatre can help strengthen awareness over this prevalent issue.

Also see video on V-Day produced by Vikalpa here.

• Violence Against Women and Girls in Sri Lanka: No April Fools joke
• The Travelling Circus on video: Looking at war and IDPs through theatre
• The Right to Respond
• Women’s Day 2012: Concerns, challenges and opportunities from Sri Lanka
• Floating Spaces: Theatre and censorship in Sri Lanka

Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu is the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, the institutional anchor of Groundviews. He is today one of three human rights defenders senior government ministers consider traitors and would like to, as in ancient times, kill, and, inter alia, break the limbs of. Though Sri Lanka’s foreign minister distanced himself from these remarks, the President and his brother, the all-powerful Secretary of Defence, have not expressed a single word of condemnation, or distanced themselves from the minister’s comments, who has openly and repeatedly said he derives his legitimacy from the Rajapaksa’s.

Much of this hate and harm directed against Dr. Saravanamuttu and other key human rights defenders of late has been on account of their participation at the recently concluded 19th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, and in particular, supporting a US sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka. There hasn’t been much informed debate and discussion within Sri Lanka on the contents and genesis of this resolution. Many who joined the protests against the resolution in Sri Lanka, and particularly in Colombo, didn’t even know what they were protesting against. State media launched, and to date, continues with, an incredibly vicious campaign of hate speech not seen since Sri Lanka lost the GSP+ status, which was also due to Sri Lanka’s non-cooperation with, as Dr. Saravanamuttu noted at the time, “what was effectively termed an affront to national sovereignty and pride”. The same ignorance, misplaced patriotism and flawed logic seemingly animated foreign policy and engagement over the US resolution in Geneva.

When Dr. Saravanamuttu is asked as to why anyone should believe his take on, and indeed, support of the US resolution in Geneva, he goes into how the resolution came about and the non-participation of the government in its framing despite an invitation by the US administration. He also flags the history of commissions in Sri Lanka, including a number set up under the present administration, which have failed to result in or influence any meaningful reform of change. We move on to three key questions – the fears of UN interference in domestic affairs as a consequence of the resolution, the perceived hypocrisy of the US in tabling such a resolution against Sri Lanka, when it’s own human rights record is far more blemished and suspect, and why the fullest implementation of the LLRC’s recommendations is championed by those, such as Dr. Saravanamuttu, who when the final report came out, flagged deep flaws and silences over, amongst other issues, the meaningful investigation of allegations of war crimes.

We then talk about how far removed Sri Lanka’s domestic politics and sentiment is from international advocacy and scrutiny of the country’s human rights record, and how whipping up the basest emotions of a largely ill-informed public through propaganda can help Sri Lanka really address outstanding concerns over governance, human rights and accountability into the future. Dr. Saravanamuttu also flags the central challenge of human rights advocacy today, where criticism of government is conflated with, and perceived to be criticism of country.

From this, we move on to address the fall-out of the growing sentiment from government that because the LLRC’s final report has somehow over-stepped its mandate, its implementation will be piecemeal. We also look at what government and some other commentators of late have noted, which is that the US resolution has already led to a hardening of the regime’s stance on reconciliation, and increased the pushback against implementation of the LLRC’s recommendations.

Dr. Saravanamuttu then addresses the question as to why there isn’t greater public agitation and demand for the implementation of the LLRC’s recommendations, and why there isn’t even interest in getting to know the contents of the final report, which to date haven’t been distributed by the government in Sinhala or Tamil (Editors note: Read Who really supports reconciliation in post-war Sri Lanka?).

Even though the three human rights defenders who in the past couple of weeks have suffered the brunt of the hate speech campaign published a letter clarifying their position (Counter-productive propaganda and human rights in Sri Lanka), the attacks continue. We ask Dr. Saravanamuttu why, in the fact of such a vicious and violent response from government, he continues in his advocacy for human rights.

Towards the end of the interview, Dr. Saravanamuttu looks at the possible implications for Sri Lanka’s political stability and economic growth over the non-implementation of the LLRC’s recommendations. We also pose to him the usual response from government over the insistence of meaningful steps towards reconciliation – that it is being unfair to a government which saw the end to a nearly 30 year old war, that steps and measures are in fact being taken but under-appreciated, and that the implementation of the LLRC’s recommendations will take money the government does not have. Finally, Dr. Sarvanamuttu addresses the perception that international advocacy supporting the US resolution in Geneva and the full implementation of the LLRC recommendation is actually a guise for regime change, and ousting the incumbent government from power.

For video of interview along same lines in Sinhala, please click here or view it directly on Vimeo here.

• A Realistic Look at the Draft Resolution by the US on Sri Lanka at the UN HRC
• THE BIG LIE ABOUT THE US RESOLUTION
• Counter-productive propaganda and human rights in Sri Lanka
• In conversation with Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
• Who really supports reconciliation in post-war Sri Lanka?

Dr. Neavis Morais is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Open University of Sri Lanka, and in this interview looks at the state of Sri Lanka’s economy. As couple of days ago the Economist Intelligence Unit noted that, tweeted:

Around the same time, Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said it cut this 2012′s economic growth target to 7.2 percent, down from 8 percent. There’s a big difference between the Central Bank’s and the EIU’s growth projection. The interview begins with Dr. Morais looking at this significant discrepancy, and why it exists. He notes that whatever the Central Bank says, it is highly doubtful Sri Lanka will achieve anything close to 7% GDP growth, and flags the failure of macro-economic reforms targeting economic growth as a central factor. Dr. Morais also speaks about the Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Under Utilised Assets Act, which was rushed through Parliament as an urgent Bill last year and notes that it sends the wrong signals to the private sector. Noting that around 30% of the budget goes for debt repayments, and another 20-25% as salaries and wages for State sector employees, Dr. Morais flags that prudent thinking to manage high public debt and debt servicing is necessary, but largely absent.

We also speak about the impact of the increases in diesel and kerosene (very likely to go up again in July) and the resulting increase in inflation and utility expenditure on consumers, and how this could play out over 2012. Dr. Morais looks at how the exponential growth year on year of tourism inflows can help support the economy, and also how, if at all, the Euro zone crisis can impact our own economy. More generally, we talk about the Occupy Wall Street movement and economic justice, and how today, the market is not a phenomenon fully understood by even economists, and what this means for ordinary citizens.

Dr. Morais looks at the problems of budgetary allocation, where even post-war, defence spending alone has exceeded the allocation for the entire social sector (health, education etc), and that though defence spending may now embrace tourism, service delivery and other economic aspects, the comparative underspend on the social sector is deeply worrying, and a significant problem.

The interview ends with Dr. Morais stressing the need for principled reform of Sri Lanka’s economy, and that playing around with the economy is not worth the risk.

• (Mis)-apportioning the Public Money
• Promising the moon to lure the voters is dangerous for the economy
• G- 20 and the World Economic Crisis
• Youth unemployment in Sri Lanka: The foundations of violence?
• Marketing a troubled land: War, peace and tourism in Sri Lanka

Groundviews caught up with Gustavo Fijalkow, one of two (the other being Gerda König) responsible for the concept behind ‘changeABLE cohesion‘, a contemporary dance performance that will kick off the Colombo International Theater Festival on 26th March. changeABLE cohesion features six dancers, two women and four men, three with and three without physical disabilities.

In the interview, we ask Gustavo as to why the Theatre Festival decided to go with a production such as this for opening night, and obviously, details of the production and what the audience could expect to see and take away. More broadly, and interestingly, we speak on disability and the differently abled in performance – how their interaction is framed by the performance space and tradition, but also redefines both. Gustavo, a trained dancer for over 20 years, speaks of his frustration with traditional dance companies and their auditions process, and how markedly different DIN A 13 tanzcompany, one of the few mixed-abled dance companies worldwide, approaches dance.

In the 20 minute interview, we also pose questions to Gustavo on how what DIN A 13 tanzcompany is doing in Sri Lanka can be sustained after they leave, whether the experience of being part of a production for over four months has in any way changed those who are part of it.

We apologise for the bad exposure in some parts of the video – we are still learning to shoot HD with a newly acquired D-SLR camera. changeABLE cohesion will go live on March 26th 2012 at 3.30pm and again at 7.00pm at the British School auditorium.Tickets are available at the venue British School Auditorium and at the Goethe Institut Sri Lanka.

Audiences can expect performances on the lines of DIN A 13 tanzcompany’s previous performances, trailers for two of which can be viewed below.

From Terrains Decouverts, Senegal

From Patterns Beyond Traces, Ghana

• Samhara: An interweaving of the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble and the Chitrasena Dance Company
• Heshma Wignaraja: Thoughts on dance and choreography
• Interview with Mohamed Adamaly: A life in English theatre
• Interview with Vajira, Sri Lanka’s Prima Ballerina Assoluta
• Thoughts on ‘Dancing for the Gods’ by the Chitrasena and Vajira Dance Foundation

Photo courtesy of Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte

[Editors' note: The article below was sent to us by a regular contributor to the site whose name we have redacted due to security considerations.]

With the airing of Channel 4’s new film, Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished, a follow-up to their first one Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields first broadcast nearly a year ago, there is bound to be a renewed interest in the matter of alleged war-crimes concerning the Sri Lankan Government. Because, let’s face it: Channel 4’s first video came and went, and while there were about two weeks of discussion around it, mostly everyone eventually forgot about it.

Now, with the emergence of the new film and its alarming new footage, released in time with the Human Rights Council meetings in Geneva, we are forced to remember what we forgot then:

1. That it is undeniable that Tamil civilians were maimed and killed during the last stages of the war, despite what we were told by the authorities, perhaps in larger numbers than we had ever imagined – and perhaps unnecessarily.
2. That there is perfectly good evidence pointing to extra-judicial executions of imprisoned LTTE fighters by members of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, during these last few days.
3. That there is a good possibility that civilians were, at best, neglected and deprived of adequate food and aid, and at worst, deliberately ignored while they lay dying, starving and wounded.
4. That there is strong evidence indicating that multiple Government-allocated ‘No-Fire-Zone’s were repeatedly bombarded by the Sri Lankan military, in an attempt to run out the remainder of the LTTE, at best carelessly, at worst deliberately.
5. That it is fairly obvious that the various spokespeople for the Government of Sri Lanka at the time knowingly lied about the number of civilians trapped in the narrow strip of land in Mullaitivu, caught in the final battle between the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE, hugely downplaying the severity of the situation and blatantly denying civilian casualties and deaths.
6. That it’s fairly clear that the Government deliberately kept independent observers out of this area in the final days of the war, even those that could have helped protect and care for civilians.

Channel 4’s films on Sri Lanka are not shining examples of good journalism. They give an unmeasured, sensationalist view of a very complex and difficult issue. Jon Snow is melodramatic. A lot of their information, including the crucial interviews, is somewhat vague and difficult to recognize as credible. On one hand, they reek of propaganda themselves at times, and seem strangely unconvincing in the way they present their information at other times. On the other hand, the footage, recorded mostly on camera phones, if you believe it’s authentic, speaks for itself. It’s hard to look away. This time, it may be harder to forget.

One can understand anyone in Channel 4’s position is in an impossible position, attempting to make films about ‘the truth’ of what happened during those last few months of the war in Sri Lanka. After all, how can they reveal their sources for the sake of credibility? How can they interview Tamil civilians and run the interviews with faces unmasked, and names at the bottom of the screen? It is impossible for us to hear directly from the victims of this ordeal, or those who were there to witness it first-hand, because of what this film is trying to say: it’s trying to say that the Government of Sri Lanka, from the very top down, including the President himself, is guilty of very serious war crimes, crimes against humanity and human rights violations. Which Tamil civilian would willingly appear in such a film, for fear of their life? Which Sri Lanka Army soldier would candidly step forth to speak of his experiences, unafraid? Who can protect the people we need to hear from? Given these circumstances, it’s very nearly possible to forgive Channel 4 for some of the seeming carelessness. Perhaps it is not carelessness then, but the impossibility of the task they are trying to accomplish: the task of making and broadcasting internationally a film that criticizes the Sri Lankan Government and accuses it of breaking the law.

You can say what you like about these films, but the fact remains that they are as close as we’ve gotten to finding out more than merely what we were told by the Mahinda Rajapakse regime. The fact remains that Channel 4 has gotten closest to giving the world an opportunity to choose what they believe about what happened during the last stages of the civil war in Sri Lanka. And so we must all choose.

What is ‘the truth’? Will we ever know? Is it important to know? There are no easy answers.

Yes – I think the truth is always important, and if not in its entirety, it’s important to know as much of it – from as many different viewpoints – as possible. Yes, I believe the truth is not singular; it is plural, in cases like these. And that’s where we’re going wrong: all we know now is what one entity is telling us, and therefore things – opportunities – like the Channel 4 films can be useful and important.

The Channel 4 film forces us to remember. Let’s not forget what happened, even as we stand amidst new highways, roads and the boom of infrastructural development around the island; amidst a renewed flourishing of the tourism industry; amidst promises that our economy is on its way to being one of the best in the region: that not even three years ago, this country underwent a monumental change that would, by default, transform and shape our identity as a nation in the years to come. Let’s not forget that, despite this change being upon us, those who rule our country have refused, bluntly, to this day, to accept or acknowledge that we all suffered, we all paid a price, and that we all lost something along the way. It has refused to drop the triumphalism, even for a second, and reflect, to spend even a moment in introspection, examining truly why we had a civil war, why it ended the way it did and who can answer to the people whose lives were permanently compromised because of it. Let’s not forget that there’s been a veil of mystery surrounding what happened in April and May 2009, in particular what happened to the civilians that were caught in the cross-fire of the final battle. Let’s not forget, that even now, Tamil civilians in the Vanni continue to live in temporary housing, and still live under a series of restrictions on movement, livelihood and other rights, imposed upon them by the Sri Lankan Army, who are stationed in the North and North East in something that strongly resembles a military occupation, demanding total control of all operations in the area, dominating the economy and occupying buildings and property that rightfully belong to the civilians. Let’s not forget that there is corruption at almost every level of government, and we are all, our families, our businesses, vulnerable to the whims and fancies of the powers that be. Let’s not forget that there are still hundreds of detainees held in custody, in terrible conditions, to this day, with no trials and no idea of when they’ll be out, or if they will, or the unexplained disappearances of young Tamil men, many of whom were last seen surrendering to the Sri Lankan Army in the last days of the war. Let’s not forget the slain journalists and media-workers, Tamil and non-Tamil and all of those who continue to live in fear, live in exile, or are simply not alive at all anymore.

We are tiring now, we all are. I can hear people – people who did not support the way the war was finished, or the way the call for accountability has been ignored, or the way the facts were distorted and then conveniently swept under the rug – I can hear even these people mutter words about ‘moving on’. ‘Anyway, the war is over. What’s done is done. We need to find a way to move forward’ they say, exhausted. But why is it, that so often moving on and moving forward in this country, in this culture of ours, seem inextricably connected with forgetting?

Let’s not forget. Forgetting is easy and, let’s admit it, when it comes to matters like this one, forgetting feels nice. It allows us to carry on with our day-to-day lives, attempting to keep our heads above the water and solve our mundane problems. It allows us to momentarily convince ourselves that everything is OK, and that we are a nation that is indeed, moving on. We’re good at forgetting, us Sri Lankans. And there are a lot of plans, and a lot of people’s ambition that depend solely on this very characteristic, this flaw, of ours. We’re told accountability is not important; the truth is not great. Do we believe these things? Do we have choice?

The fact is, yes, we do have a choice. You must choose what to believe and hold on to those beliefs and convictions, steadfast. You have a right to ask, to demand even, that you are given some answers. We are all legally obliged, as tax-playing, law-abiding citizens, to ask that we are told the truth. If you don’t care about civilian casualties and deaths, then care about the fact that you were lied to.

There’s no saying we will ever know the total and absolute truth. And there is certainly no saying that Channel 4’s graphic new film has all the answers. But it’s important that we watch it: take the information at hand, and filter it through your own sensibilities, and your own sense of logic and reasoning. Think carefully about what you believe, not what you want to believe. This film is not the game-changer, but perhaps, if nothing else, it will create the space for a more intelligent and intellectually measured debate and conversation about the facts at hand; perhaps, it will remind us that it is important to remember, to not forget just because we are asked to. Perhaps it will compel us to be sure that we never look away again.

• Watch Moving Images at Kandy International Film Festival (KIFF)
• Between The Artist and Hugo: Nostalgia for what cinema is really about
• Interview with Asoka Handagama
• “We need a revolution in Sri Lanka!” – A brief chat with Sam de Silva
• Giving the middle finger: Sri Lanka’s conflicting responses to war crimes allegations

The official media page of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) tells its own story. It’s blank. There’s literally nothing on the official website of the LLRC that provides information on public statements by the LLRC and coverage of its proceedings in the media. Furthermore, it’s impossible to find the interim recommendations or the final report of the LLRC on the official website.

The interim recommendations of the LLRC were first published in full on Groundviews. The most comprehensive record of media coverage on the LLRC, from domestic and international media, is also on Groundviews. Long before the LLRC’s official website was launched, Groundviews collated and published official submissions to the LLRC. With 214 submissions, it’s far more comprehensive than the records currently on the official LLRC site (the LLRC site does have a record of field visits – more on this partial set of records later). Groundviews served as a platform to correct mainstream media misreporting and misrepresentations of key submissions, and translated into English disturbing official testimony and Tamil media coverage of the proceedings, which were, at best, under-reported in the English and Sinhala mainstream press.

When the LLRC’s Final Report was made publicly available, it was placed on a decrepit government server that promptly crashed due to the high volume of traffic. We managed to download a copy, mirror it, and publish it. Today, the report and annexes can be downloaded, in theory, from the website of the Policy Research & Information Unit of the Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka. However, given that the site is so unreliable and slow, we again spent some time downloading all the annexes and mirroring them for easier access, linking and embedding on other sites. This isn’t rocket science, and as noted before, they are impossible to find on the LLRC’s official website.

Even though most, if not all of the LLRC’s public sittings and submissions were recorded, not a single recording is available on the LLRC’s official website. Again, this content is available on a website created and curated by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES), along with other content around the LLRC.

The LLRC’s Final Report was released to the public in December 2011. Today, the tweeted:

At around the time the LLRC was constituted and began its work, Chandra Jayaratna (former President of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and LMD Sri Lankan of the year 2001) wrote to the commission and to Groundviews on how Information and Communications Technologies could help the LLRC’s proceedings, and reconciliation writ large in Sri Lanka. His submission fell on deaf ears.

Warts and all, the LLRC was a process that generated a lot of public debate, both within and outside the country. It elicited revealing submissions, including from women and men in the Vanni and Jaffna. From the get-go, it was voices from civil society, not government, who called upon the LLRC to leverage modern technology to ensure that the information it received wasn’t lost. Sadly, much of it is already lost. There’s no record of what happened to the official audio recordings. Hundreds of written submissions by those in the Vanni and Jaffna in particular, in Tamil, aren’t available online or on the official website of the LLRC. What’s featured on the LLRC’s website under field visits is really a sub-set of a much larger corpus of submissions. Whether or not they fed into the LLRC’s Final Report, they are an invaluable record of Sri Lanka’s history, expressed through the public. There is no record of these submissions in the National Archives. These are vital records for posterity, but quite possibly already irrevocably lost.

What remains of the LLRC’s proceedings and output – its interim report and recommendations, the accessibility and translations of its Final Report, most of the public submissions in Tamil, Sinhala and English, audio recordings and detailed records of media reports – are all, without exception, carefully curated and published online for public access by the very NGOs and platforms, including this site, that have been openly and repeatedly vilified by those in and partial to government. And all the government itself has managed to do was to establish a website for the LLRC – that too rather late into the LLRC’s activities and bereft of vital records.

Since the LLRC was constituted and ended its mandate, there’s been more public debate and discussion around reconciliation Groundviews and Vikalpa alone than on any official mechanism or online platform established around the Panel’s proceedings or to examine its findings. Search for the LLRC’s final report on its official website. The search result (0 results found) is a prescient indicator of the government’s ability and willingness to pursue and implement the panel’s recommendations. And all the while, they will continue to employ a language of vicious hate and harm against civil society actors, who have in fact done more to support the LLRC’s proceedings and output.

Post-war Sri Lanka in a nutshell.

• Archive of Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) submissions and media reports
• A letter to the President on his re-election campaign spending
• LLRC: Interim report to Government
• Recommendations for ICT and Research Supported Enhancement of the Effectiveness of the LLRC
• Women’s Day 2012: Concerns, challenges and opportunities from Sri Lanka