Archive for the ‘Disabilities’

Taking back our temples!

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Image courtesy Global Abilities blog To visit a place of worship seems such a natural thing to do to the extent that we rarely consider it in terms of entitlements. Yet for people with physical disabilities, especially for those of us who use wheelchairs, this entitlement to attend and participate in temple worship is at best provisional and more often than not, impossible because of the profound inaccessibility of temple sites and lack of accessibility information. I have been a wheelchair user for many years and can also ‘walk’ short steps with assistance. My country of residence is Australia though I am Sinhala Burgher. Let me tell you a story of my recent visit to three Buddhist sites – The Dalada Maligawa in Kandy and the Samadhi Buddha statue and Ruvanweliseya in Anuradhapura. I was full of great expectation about my visit to Dalada Maligawa since the temple had a special place in my heart as a Buddhist and also…

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changeABLE cohesion: Dance and disability

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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…

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The rights of the disabled: Forgotten and forsaken?

Of the more than 6 billion people in the world, the UN estimates that more than 500 million of them are disabled. That is approximately 8%. In the early 1900s and before, little knowledge and awareness existed about people with disabilities, so much so that  the Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not even mention the rights of the disabled. However, since then awareness and activism concerning disability has increased tremendously with the UN alone, in ensuring that the rights of people with disabilities are met on a global scale, championing and adopting numerous measures. Following these international developments, the National Council for Coordinating the Work of Disability Organizations (established in 1989) in Sri Lanka, began discussions about the necessity for legal provision to safeguard the rights of people with disabilities. On August 9, 1996, a Bill was presented to Parliament and was passed unanimously on September 17 that same year entitled the Act for the Protection of the Rights…

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  • 11 Dec, 2009
  • 2 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Disabilities,
    Human Rights

The rights of the disabled in Sri Lanka: Marginal or mainstream?

As part of our video series for human rights day 2009 (falling on 10 December), Groundviews interviewed Sunethra Bandaranaike, Chairperson of the Sunera Foundation. With the interrogation of human rights in Sri Lanka often solely focussing on violations of political rights, Groundviews sought to focus attention on disability and the rights of the disabled in our country. Sunethra speaks on legal and institutional challenges impeding the protection of the rights of the disabled, as well as our myopic perception of the disabled, with resulting policies and practices that do not recognise or value their special needs and rights. Sunethra also comes out very strongly in support of youth and young people championing human rights and standing up against continuing violations. Also watch Finally, disabled friendly buildings in Sri Lanka! for Sunethra’s take on the recent Supreme Court ruling which ordered all public buildings to be constructed in the future to be easily accessible to disabled persons. The Court further ordered…

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The duty to talk loudly about Police Reforms

Police Reform was the theme of a discussion organised by the Commonwealth Initiative in Delhi last week. Among the participants were senior police officers from South Asian countries including a few who are retired. Also present were many other persons interested in the issue. Throughout the discussion there was consensus that something has gone terribly wrong with the policing systems in South Asian countries and that the absence of radical reforms of the police threaten the very stability of the nations concerned. While everyone agreed that the problems are related to the colonial origins of the institutions, everyone also agreed that the failure to take the necessary action for reform lies with the states, as well as the failures of political and civil society movements in these countries. As this meeting was taking place, the incident that happened at the Bambilipitiya sea in Sri Lanka relating to the killing of Balavarnam Sivakumara was becoming news both in the country as…

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We, The Spectator State

A young boy was drowned in broad daylight this week. Though not a single newspaper carried it, I’m told B. Sivakumaran was his name. He was “believed” to be mentally retarded and known for throwing stones at passing vehicles and trains. Approximately 100 people watched him die. One even managed to capture on film the final five minutes of his life. That five minutes of footage could have been of a possible rescue by one of the 100 or so spectators.  Or, that five minutes of footage could have been shot at the same time a call for assistance was made to the nearest Police Station, by someone present in the crowd. This was the heart of Bambalapitiya after all, and Sri Lanka is not short of mobile phones. But instead, the five minutes of footage shows us the gory, pathetic end of a young life, for no apparent reason. The spectators watched on intently. Three to four men surfaced…

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  • 21 Oct, 2009
  • 2 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Disabilities

A different kind of theatre in Sri Lanka

Groundviews was recently able to cover the rehearsals for two up-coming plays, An Inspired Swan Lake and Human Touch, which will premiere together on the 28th of October and then on the 29th of October. The directors Jehan Aloysius and Nalinda Premaratne have worked extensively over the last couple of months with extremely talented disabled individuals from the Sunera Foundation and the Ranaviru Sevana, who were impressively skilful in their acting and physical performances that most of us would find cumbersome. What was immediately striking was that these productions were anchored to a vital issue – disability. Affirmative action towards influencing the public policy to accommodate and look after the rights of disabled individuals was not apparent until the latter part of 2009 and ignored by successive governments. Groundviews sought to highlight the issue of disability in Sri Lanka following the recent Supreme Court ruling which ordered the construction of public buildings with facilities that allow easy access to disabled…

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  • 19 Oct, 2009
  • 2 Comments
  • Advocacy,
    Disabilities

Finally, disabled friendly buildings in Sri Lanka!

As reported in State media, on 14th October 2009, the Supreme Court ordered that public buildings to be constructed in the future should be easily accessible to disabled persons. The Court further ordered that such buildings should be facilitated with adequate sanitary facilities for such persons. Groundviews spoke with Sunethra Bandaranaike, Chairperson of the Sunera Foundation, for her views of the judgement as an activist who has, through theatre and art, championed the rights of the disabled in Sri Lanka over a number of years. Repost This Article

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  • 25 May, 2007
  • 5 Comments
  • Disabilities,
    Peace and Conflict,
    Puttalam

An encounter in Puttlam: Peace as seen by two youth who served in the Army

My article is based on an encounter with two Sinhalese youth in Puttlam recently. Both had served in the Army. Both had lost limbs, though we didn’t find this out till much later. We listened silently as we sat on the bund and they recounted their stories of war, and their aspirations for peace. When so many are clamouring for war and violence in Colombo, these two youth offered us a different viewpoint. Instead of hatred and violence, having seen enough of both perhaps, they told us they were sick of war and just wanted to live in peace. It’s a simple message, but are we listening? Read my article in Sinhala here. Repost This Article

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Chikenguniya Spreads In Jaffna

More than hundred thousand people have been affected by Chikenguniya in the Jaffna District. Some students sitting for the Ordinary Level examinations were reported to have fainted in examination halls. Deputy director of Health Services Dr.R.Ketheswaran said seventy thousand patients took treatment in government hospitals and that private hospitals were also full patients sufferring from it. There is also a shortage of staff in government departments since 80% of the staff have also been affected. Due to the shortage of Paracetamol, prices of this painkiller have risen to 5.00 Rs per tablet. Repost This Article

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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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