A Tragi-Comedy in Three Parts Act I “& Co.” is a political satire on Swarnavahini that’s quite hilarious, until of course we realise we are essentially laughing at the tragedy that is Sri Lanka today. Comedy flourishes as a form of political commentary precisely when political repression is the greatest. For example, one SMS I […]
What place is home for Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala Sri Lankans? Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in. — Robert Frost, “The Death of the Hired Man” The recent fiasco of trying to evict Tamil people from the city of Colombo, saw them […]
In a chilling and frank admission of the true mentality of this repugnant government, Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa (not known for his tact) admits in an interview to Reuters that the eviction of Tamils last week was better than what, in his opinion, it could have been: “So you can tell them, if you don’t […]
How can those who tortured and those who were tortured co-exist in the same land? How to heal a country that has been traumatised by repression if the fear to speak out is still omnipresent everywhere? And how do you reach the truth if lying has become a habit? How do we keep the past […]
News from Sri Lanka had been disquieting for the last several months with the escalation of conflict, the collapse of the rule of law and the protection of fundamental human rights. It was also becoming clear that the government was rapidly taking leave of its senses and losing sight of any moral compass that it […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
“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 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 […]
The full title should have read, “I am an enemy of the State as defined by the Rajapaksa administrationâ€Â. 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
රà·à¶à·”à·’ à¶à¶±à¶…න්ධකà·à¶»à¶º කප෠හරිමින් , අවට à·€à·à¶ºà·”ෙගà·à·Šà¶½à¶º ෙදදරà·à¶¸à·’ කවමින් පුනරින් පුෙද්à·à¶ºà¶§ ඵල්ලවු ෙෂල් පුහà·à¶»à¶ºà¶à·Š සමග මà·à·™à¶œà·Š සිෙà¶à·Š යමි බියක් අà·à¶à·’ෙනà·à·€à·”ව෠ෙනà·à·™à·€à·’.ෙකà·à·…ඹ පුෙද්à·à·™à¶ºà·Š ජිවà¶à·Š වන අපට ෙමම පුහà·à¶»à¶ºà¶±à·Š අඵà¶à·Š වුවà¶à·Š,ෙමම පුෙද්à·à¶ºà¶±à·Š à·„à·’ ජිවà¶à·Š වන අපෙග් සෙහà·à·Šà¶¯à¶» ජනà¶à·à·€à¶§ ෙමම à·à¶¶à·’දයන් ඔවුන්ෙග් ජිවිà¶à·€à¶½ à¶à·€à¶à·Š ඵක් ෙදයක් පමනි. ම෠ෙමි සිටින ස්ථà·à¶±à¶ºà¶§ මිට à·ƒà¶à·’ ෙදකකට පමන ෙපර ඵල්.ටි.ටි.ඊ.සංවිධà·à¶±à·™à¶ºà·Š ෙෂල් […]
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 […]