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Tiran Alles and the Media War

Tiran Alles was Mahinda Rajapaksa’s emissary to the North-East during the run-up to the Presidential Elections in November 2005. Now he is in custody and shares a fate similar to that of Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi, Mangala Samaraweera and Rohana Gamage. Media that was against vehemently Mahinda Rajapaksa during the Presidential Elections now clamour to openly, or […]

From democracy to farce

“Majority decisions tell us what people want at the moment, but not what it would be in their interest to want if they were better informed… The argument for democracy presupposes that any minority opinion may become a majority one.” – F.A. Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty “…there is no room anymore to assist terrorism […]

Coming Back Home to a Truth more Dangerous than Fiction

This columnist spent the last two weeks in the UK and the US speaking to opinion and policy makers on the human rights and humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka. In these conversations he pointed out that sadly and tragically, Sri Lanka was one of the worst places in the world for civilians caught up in […]

Diaspora dilemmas: Australia and the Sri Lanka conflict

“Australia should add its voice to this call and put real pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to accept an international monitoring body. The conflict can only be resolved through dialogue, but peace talks won’t happen until there is effective and continued pressure applied by Australia and the international community to stop the human rights […]

The brutality of our times: After the Delgoda massacre

The recent massacre of a family in Delgoda gripped the attention of the media recently. Reports today indicate that several houses of those suspected to be behind the massacre were torched by the local community. I link this senseless violence and brutality to society that is no longer moved by these events. Sensationalism aside, do […]

I am an enemy of the State

The full title should have read, “I am an enemy of the State as defined by the Rajapaksa administration”. Truncation was not meant for sensational optics alone. The accusation is increasingly made by those in government that civil society and rights activists who question its bona fides are enemies of the State. Branded traitors and […]

Journalist Pakkiyanathan Vijayashanthan who went missing reported to Badulla Police station

Update to the story published earlier. FMM is relieved to report that former Journalist Pakkiyanathan Vijayashanthan who went mission yesterday noon, reported to Badulla Police station some 200 KM away from Colombo. He had phoned his wife around 4.00 am this morning to say that he is at Badulla bus stand and colleagues who were […]

Another abduction in Colombo

From a Free Media Movement statement released last night: Pakkiyanathan Vijayashanthan alias Vijayan, who had been a journalist and actor was reported missing today, 18th may 2007. He worked for a Tamil daily as a Trincomalee correspondent and later edited Samaadana Nokku, Tamil edition of Peace Monitor, a publication of the Centre for Policy Alternatives […]

යාපනෙය්දි මිනිසත් බව දුටිමි

රාතුි ඝනඅන්ධකාරය කපා හරිමින් , අවට වායුෙගා්ලය ෙදදරැමි කවමින් පුනරින් පුෙද්ශයට ඵල්ලවු ෙෂල් පුහාරයත් සමග මාෙග් සිෙත් යමි බියක් අැතිෙනාවුවා ෙනාෙවි.ෙකාළඹ පුෙද්ශෙය් ජිවත් වන අපට ෙමම පුහාරයන් අඵත් වුවත්,ෙමම පුෙද්ශයන් à·„à·’ ජිවත් වන අපෙග් සෙහා්දර ජනතාවට ෙමම ශබිදයන් ඔවුන්ෙග් ජිවිතවල තවත් ඵක් ෙදයක් පමනි. මා ෙමි සිටින ස්ථානයට මිට සති ෙදකකට පමන ෙපර ඵල්.ටි.ටි.ඊ.සංවිධානෙය් ෙෂල් […]

Political solution or political illusion?

Pradeep Peiris, Anupama Ranawana, May 2007 The much awaited political proposal of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in now out. Even before the ink has dried it has attracted fierce criticism from every corner including the party’s past and present allies. Interestingly, and quite strategically, the government has attempted to present the proposal as […]

War, Religion and liberal values

By R.M.B Senanayake. Buddha preached ahimsa or non violence against all beings including animals. He intervened to settle a dispute between two rulers using negotiation instead of allowing war to take place. Jesus Christ said “love your enemies, do good to them that hate you” Are we to ignore these teachings? My friend Thilak Wijesinghe’ […]

Promoting A Conscience For Peace And Reconciliation

Taken from the Editorial in the Catholic Messenger of the 29th April 2007 The Indian newspaper Hindustan Times commenting on the statement issued by the Vatican quoted thus: “According to the Vatican communiqué, the Pope told President Rajapakse that in the light of the current situation in Sri Lanka, there was a need to respect […]

Darfur vs. Sri Lanka

Click here for a larger version. Graphed from data on Reuters Alertnet, the chart above covers the period from 21.9.2006 to 10.5.2007. It’s an wretched contest to be in, but over the past couple of months, reportage on Sri Lanka’s humanitarian crises have on several occasions overshadowed that of Darfur. What does this war mean […]