Archive for the ‘Colombo’

Radical UNP and its New Constitutional Proposals: A Radical Farce?

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Photo courtesy Sunday Observer When regimes are dictatorial and dangerous, alternative forces which promise a better society and future do tend to be taken seriously by the people. This, quite simply, is because the future promised by such alternative forces tends to be better than the present. But one thing many people can’t do about the present UNP is to take it seriously. The UNP’s new constitutional proposals/principles – which it claims will shape and form the new constitution it hopes to place before the people once elected to power – tell us why this is the case (see, ‘UNP draft proposal for new constitution’, The Island, 30 May 2013). Apart from a few grand promises, the UNP’s guiding constitutional principles are generally known to the people and can be easily found, stated in different words, in the 1978 Constitution. The new set of constitutional principles and proposals needs to be viewed in the context of the grand promise of…

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Sri Lanka at a critical crossroad: JHU and the 13th Amendment

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Udaya Gammanpila, Senior Member of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), courtesy FT.lk The country stands at a crossroad. A parliamentary victory for the JHU bill will complete the negative process which commenced with Sinhala Only in 1956 and the distortion in 1972 of the laudable shift to a Republic with mono-linguistic and mono-religious hegemony. If ’56 and ’72 were paving stones for the Tamil Eelam project, the passage of the JHU bill to abolish the 13th amendment will complete the process of the legitimisation of secessionism. A victory for the JHU will also cast a pall over the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and guarantee Sri Lanka’s defeat at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014. It will embarrass our allies Russia and China and drive South Africa and much of the Non-Aligned Movement away from us. It will irreversibly discredit and radically isolate the country and the Sinhalese, regionally and internationally. In short, in terms of Sri Lanka’s…

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Illicit Emigrants: Criminals or Victims?

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Image courtesy Christian Science Monitor This year’s Bishop Cyril Abeynaike Memorial Oration was a fascinating talk on some aspects of globalization by Dr. Harsha Athurupane.  He spoke mostly of the benefits of globalization but also mentioned some possible ill effects.  In an ideal globalized world, people, goods, services, knowledge, information and technology should move freely across of globe.  But we do not live in such a world and probably never will, but there has been some movement towards globalization that may have  accelerated in recent decades.  This paper will focus on an aspect of globalization on which Dr. Athurupane did not focus – illicit human trafficking. Given the considerable asymmetry of resources, correlated to political entities such as nation state and, to a less extent, regional entities such as the European Union, barriers to migration, and a measure of illicit human trafficking are inevitable.  In the early decades after we gained independence, there was illicit migration of labor from India…

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Sri Lanka’s Numbers Game

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Image courtesy Hill Post On May 16 a seminar was held at the Marga Institute to launch  a publication by the Independent Diaspora Analysis Group – Sri Lanka (IDAG-S) – The Numbers Game: Politics of Restorative Justice. I was at the seminar and will here attempt to provide an impression of the ideas generated in the discussion. This is in no way intended to be a formal record or set of minutes. The members of the panel leading the discussion of the publication were Dr Godfrey Gunatilleke, Chairman Emeritus of the Marga Institute, Asoka Gunawardena, Marga’s Executive Governor,  and Raja Korale, an international statistics consultant. The open forum was moderated by Dr Nimal Gunatilleke. The IDAG-S Report Dr Godfrey Gunatilleke, opened  the proceedings by answering the question: “Do numbers matter”. He acknowledged that, while even a low number of casualties was cause for anguish, citing large and inaccurate figures raised issues of the proportionality of the military response and the…

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Thoughts on Sri Lanka’s Future on Another Vesak Day

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Photo courtesy Dawn.com/AFP The  Vesak Poya day has come and gone several times since May 2009 when the prolonged war with the LTTE ended. And we Sri Lankans are yet trapped in post-war rhetoric and caught up in punches and counter-punches arising from different visions of what post-war Sri Lanka ought to be. Some think that we should continue to celebrate, as the current government does, and even forever celebrate the military victory over the LTTE. Some think that the purpose of this kind of extravaganza is justified  for it gives the government the means to keep the people of this country continuously reminded of one of its most significant success stories. Is that the case or is it, as some others think, that the government wants to exploit its military triumph and use it to keep on bamboozling a gullible public to continue to support it regardless of a failing economy, increased corruption and a disastrous governance record? Nobody…

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Interview with MIXED RICE: Standing up for a diverse Sri Lanka

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Describe the group of people who curate MIXED RICE. Who are you? Where are you located? What are your ages? Educational and professional backgrounds? The people behind MIXED RICE are a collection of Sri Lankans from various backgrounds who are scattered across the globe from Sri Lanka to Australia, Japan, the US and UK. There are 10 active members right now who range from early twenties to late thirties, both male and female. Our group includes Sri Lankans who are Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims who are of all faiths and a few who believe in none. Some of us are students, some of us are professionals in IT, Accounting and Journalism. We didn’t consciously set out to be as diverse as that but it has fit neatly into the message we aim to promote through our platform. But to us, it is not who we are that is important but the message and dialogue we wish to promote and create. We…

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My Esteem for the Buddha: An open letter at Wesak to my Buddhist Sisters and Brothers

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Photo courtesy Reuters My good friend, the Ven. Bellanwila Wimalarathana wrote a letter to Christians on his understanding of Christ at Christmas last year.  This has prompted me to reciprocate with this letter to you at Wesak. A seekers vision I write in my personal capacity as a disciple of Christ, a student of Buddhism and one who perceives the universal wisdom and values in world religions as gifts for all and not just the adherents of a respective religion. This is not an attempt to teach you what you know better than I; but an expression of my profound respect for the Buddha and the potential I see in the Dhamma for compassion, contentment and coexistence for all life. I know you will be patient with any shortcomings in my perception of Buddhism. Compassion for all life I have never ceased to be stirred by the Buddha’s compassion for all living beings; and not humans only. This all inclusive…

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Vesak Reflections

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Image courtesy The Nation This Vesak Day I was reflecting on the centuries of Buddhist tradition and the cultural response, recorded in the magnificent constructions and spiritual art that withstood centuries of exposure to the elements. The tragedy is that this generation will go down in history as the vandals who destroyed our patrimony in economic self-interest. While volumes have been written on the folly of investing in coal as the energy source of a nation. We have borrowed huge sums of money to create the problem prone Norochcholai  coal fired power plant in an area that will ensure that the South West winds will carry the resulting polluting gasses over the NCP and blanket Dambulla, Sigiriya, Anuradhapura and Pollanaruwa. As a recent report on coal states :  “Air pollution from Coal fired power plants is varied and contributes to a significant number of negative environmental and health effects. When coal is burned to generate electricity, the combustion releases a…

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Ganesan Nimalaruban: A murder and responses of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice

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Photo courtesy Vikalpa Ganesan Nimalaruban’s murder in July last year wasn’t an issue for or comprehensively covered in the mainstream media in Sri Lanka. Vikalpa covered the circumstances of his murder and funeral, and this content was translated into English and published onGroundviews. Responses to the stories on both sites included a former high ranking UN diplomat and senior civil servants who said they had tears in their eyes listening to and reading the lamentation of Nimalaruban’s mother at his funeral. Contrast this with some of the comments made by Sri Lanka’s de facto Chief Justice Mohan Peiris, as reported in the media recently, when the Fundamental Rights case of Ganeshan Nimalaruban was taken before the Supreme Court. “When the prison is under siege do you want the prisons commissioner have to read to them the Geneva Conventions?” The AG submitted a confidential report to the Court and Counsel Petitioner requested a copy to be issued to him. CJ Peiris said “Why do you need this? The court…

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Shakespeare – Is he “Wellington’s Lieutenant?”

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Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty via The Guardian Among the many twists and turns of history, few can be more contrived than that which led to the establishment of Shakespeare’s tongue as a second or link language in a little island thousands of miles from England where Englishmen have scarcely set foot in Shakespeare’s lifetime (1564 – 1612).  Of that ambiguous legacy, I am one of the beneficiaries. This may explain, at least in good part, why the majority of the English speaking minority of Sri Lankans are still drawn to the drama of Shakespeare or assessments of it. When I decided to go public with these personal musings on Shakespeare, I was acutely conscious of the fact that nearly everything I have to say may sound familiar and unoriginal to the informed reader. I took heart, however, from the fact that Shakespeare, Polonius’ dictum notwithstanding, was both a lender and, more important, a copious borrower.  Shakespeare, whatever else he may be,…

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  • 22 May, 2013
  • 0 Comment
  • Colombo,
    Constitutional Reform,
    Politics and Governance

Review of The Sri Lankan Republic at 40: Reflections on Constitutional History, Theory and Practice edited by Asanga Welikala

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Coming as it did at the end of 2012, The Sri Lankan Republic at 40: Reflections on Constitutional History, Theory and Practice, is much more than two edited volumes or an extensive anthology. Rather, on close reading it seems more a living embodiment of current and critical debate at the very heart of the Sri Lankan body politic. Here are voices and perspectives from the fields of law, politics, sociology, history, gender and religion (to name a few) that speak to the reader and to each other on both the history and the power of the constitution. It navigates through the past – charting ‘the course from the liberal democratic post-colonial constitutional inheritance to the promulgation of the republic as part of the nation- and state building project’ [i]. Because the volumes give voice to scholarly and political views through specialist thematic writing and interviews, we also get a wide picture of experience and diverse viewpoints. All of the authors deserve…

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Use Vesak decorations to reflect upon Dhamma

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Lord Buddha gave different meditation objects to different people. For some, just focusing on rubbing two pieces of material against each other worked, and for some others focusing on the breath worked. On Vesak poya day, we celebrate the birth, enlightenment, and the passing away of this great teacher. In Sri Lanka, almost every Buddhist family makes a lantern, or at least buys and lights up a lantern, or an oil lamp.  One might think that this is a mundane way to celebrate Vesak. However, if we carefully use the activity of making a lantern, or the object of a lit up lantern, we can at least get a glimpse of what Buddhist meditation is all about. In Buddhist teaching, the objective is to attain a permanent state of unconditioned still happiness. To get there, we should understand what conditioned happiness is, and why it is so volatile, mixed with sorrow. We condition our happiness by anchoring on five classes…

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Beyond Nostalgia: ‘Children of Olcott’ Must Revisit History

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Review of: Mahinde Thamai Iskole (Mahinda is the School!) by Sundara Nihathamani de Mel (Suratha Publishers, Mt Lavinia, Sri Lanka; 220 pages; LKR 600 I have never been able to understand why apparently grown Lankan men instantly turn so nostalgic — and sometimes completely incoherent — at the mere mention of their primary or secondary school. Old school tie is evidently very strong among most of our men, often hilariously so. Thankfully women, many of who are just as loyal and grateful to their former schools, don’t descend to such immature behaviour. As one with no emotional attachment to any of his old schools, I almost ignored Mahinde Thamai Iskole (Mahinda is the School). The book, released in mid 2012 and already into its fourth edition (wonder why?), is ostensibly a collection of its journalist-author’s reminiscences about Mahinda College, a leading boys’ school in Galle founded in 1892 as part of the Buddhist educational and cultural revival in 19th century…

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OPPOSITION MYTHS, POLITICAL REALITIES

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Image courtesy Asianews.it Erroneous political thinking and analysis obscure and obstruct the path of the political recovery of the Opposition in Sri Lanka. They can be disaggregated into six myths. Myth 1 is that unity at all costs in the ranks of the main democratic opposition party is a necessary and sufficient condition of political success. The reality is that as in mathematics, any number into zero is zero. If the leader or candidate of the main opposition party is an electoral liability, internal unity only suffocates rather than liberates. If internal unity within parties is an absolute condition of political success, there wouldn’t be a gruelling season of primaries in US politics aimed precisely at choosing putting the party on the right track and the candidate with the best chance of winning. France went a step further with a nationwide election for the leadership of the French Socialist party. Myth 2 is that unity of the Opposition ranks is…

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Reconciliation, Rights & Freedom: Four years after the end of war in SRi Lanka

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Image courtesy The Telegraph It is now 4 years after the end of the war. The way we Sri Lankans will remember the end of the war is likely to demonstrate once again how divided we are, as North and South, as Sinhalese and Tamils. Some Tamil friends in the North told me that they will try to have some events to remember the large numbers who were killed and disappeared, despite the past threats and intimidations. “We will try to have it quietly and low profile way” was what one friend told me. It is unlikely that families of those killed, disappeared, injured, those whose land has been occupied by the military after the war, will be in the mood to celebrate. This of course should not be confused with the fact that they are indeed relieved the war is over – that they don’t need to be in bunkers, duck shells, bombs and shooting, run over dead bodies…

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About Groundviews

Located at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Groundviews is a citizen journalism website that uses a range of genres and media to highlight critical perspectives on governance, reconciliation, human rights, the arts and literature, democracy and other issues. The site has won two international awards, including the prestigious Manthan Award South Asia in 2009. The grand jury's evaluation of the site noted, "What no media dares to report, Groundviews publicly exposes. It's a new age media for a new Sri Lanka... Free media at it's very best!"

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