Do not question the numbers when speaking of your dead sons in the field of war. accept quietly your death dues. Hush! Don’t worry! just in case you trouble Our Army Officers. Gentlemen of the Black Robes, you who were called traitors, we know your Glory! Hush! Shut your ears! No Legal Action against The […]
It was one night some years ago that I realized how deep discrimination against Tamils runs in Sri Lanka. We were all stopped at a checkpoint and I happened to notice that my friend’s National Identity Card (NIC) had some extra lettering to mine. At a glance, it somehow seemed more crowded than mine. After […]
Preamble My last reflection on the immediate possibilities of state power sharing had an unusual over 25,000 readers generating 77 comments amounting to a staggering 24,500 word count. Luckily for the most part, a very healthy debate was building particularly amongst writers such as SomewhatDisgusted, Disgusted and Undergroundview. Such intense and articulated engagement is rare. […]
Victors, if the pre-election shenanigans in the South are any barometer, violently differ on how to share the spoils of war. Unsurprisingly, the war and LTTE are still alive in the pre-election campaigns in the South. Victory against the LTTE and those who championed it are projected as superior, and better fit for political office […]
“Rajani… would have found the recent war completely abhorrent.” – UTHR (J), 18th Sept, 2009 I did not expect the Rajani commemoration to be a posthumous Nuremburg Trial for Velupillai Prabhakaran, as Dayapala Thiranagama seems to suggest (Sunday Island Oct 4, 2009, p 15). I did expect a single mention– a moral indictment strong and […]
The second burning of an opposition politician’s house took place within the last 48 hours (Sunday evening). However, the incident is being treated trivially by the government as well as society. A society so accustomed to lawlessness is treating this as just another incident. It seems to be of no more importance than a mosquito […]
Dayan during President Premadasa’s time defended Stalinist repression in an article published in the Daily News. To defend repression and to deny the existence of repression are two different things. There may be those who believe that repression is justified for ideological reasons. However, to deny repression when it exists is a completely different thing. […]
Dayan Jayatilaka begins his article with the words, “I am proud of my country, Sri Lanka.” To demonstrate the differences in our points of view I would like to begin by stating that, while I am proud of some aspects of Sri Lanka I am also very ashamed of many other aspects of my country, […]
I am proud of my country, Sri Lanka, which has just been able to vanquish a formidable, ferocious and fascistic foe, despite its vast global network and in the face of considerable external pressure. I am proud that my country Sri Lanka has been able to restore its territorial unity and integrity and reasssert its […]
Despite the successful military victory over terrorism, we continue to be warned by the state that a critical threat to national security continues to stalk the country. Consequently, we have passively assented to a persistent and invasive military presence in our daily life. Furthermore, over quarter of a million Tamils are continuing to be held […]
The war it seems is not over. The international conspiracies to save Prabhakaran and the LTTE are now said to have morphed into a conspiracy to destabilize the government, initiate regime change and charge its leading lights and war heroes with war crimes. The opposition and civil society activists are said to be key figures […]
The elite based political debate in Sri Lanka once again appears to gravitate around the primordial issue of deciding the best mode of power-sharing between the centre and the periphery, primarily between the dominant majoritarian Sinhalas and the battle shamed minority Thamils. In a rather apolitical interventionist manner CPA has released an 800 page volume, […]
The widespread indifference to the continuing misery of 280,000 interned IDPs, most of them already unlawfully detained for about four months without any charges, is a sad reflection on the moral values of our society. The reported release of a few thousand is most welcome, but what of the remaining 270,000? Attempts made to justify […]
Sri Lanka on the nuclear map Recently Sri Lanka has shown increased interest in using nuclear energy for future power generation. The Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) of Sri Lanka is in the process of seeking cabinet approval to initiate a programme for ‘Nuclear Energy for Peaceful Use’. Initial explorations in Sri Lanka have shown that […]
As I scanned the Sunday newspapers today, I saw the ‘wanted’ faces of Sara and Jehan and the bold article by Tissaranee who are but a few brave patriots in our country who are virtually sticking their necks out to uphold the time tested values of  justice, peace and equity in our beautiful isle. Criticizing […]