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Between The Artist and Hugo: Nostalgia for what cinema is really about

Two of last years’ biggest films are about film; so as cinema as we know it is undergoing a radical and rapid transition – film to digital to 3D to CGI – are we now becoming momentarily nostalgic? Are we feeling slightly panicky for what we are about to leave behind, leaping forth into the great unknown abyss that technology offers, possibility upon possibility for wonderment and stimulation? In Martin Scorsese’s 2011 film in 3D, Hugo, George Méliés, an ageing erstwhile illusionist turned film-maker (played by Ben Kingsley), says about cinema, ‘If you ever wonder where your dreams come from, look around: this is where they’re made.’ And truly, films have captured our imaginations – our wildest imaginations – since the beginning. We love the movies because they are about stories, and stories are important to us. Stories are an important medium; through which we document history, teach lessons we feel are significant, pass on knowledge and reflect on what…

5 Apr, 2012
WATCHDOG
11 Comments
Colombo,
Features,
Human Rights,
Human Security,
Jaffna,
Peace and Conflict

Horrible rise of disappearances in post-war Sri Lanka continues unabated

Image from Transcurrents [Editors note: Also read New wave of abductions and dead bodies in Sri Lanka] Twenty nine disappearances (including an attempted abduction) have been reported in Sri Lankan media between February and March 2012. There have been fifteen in March and fourteen in February. This brings the total number of disappearances reported in the last six months to fifty six. Nineteen cases were reported while the sessions of the UN Human Rights Council were in progress in Geneva from the 27th of February to the 23rd of March 2012. Out of the twenty nine disappearances in February-March 2012, sixteen of the twenty nine (16/29) appear to have occurred in the Colombo district while eight have been reported from the Northern Province (8/29). Five of those reported from the North are said to be ex-LTTE cadres who had been detained, released from detainment and then abducted. There are also three from the indigenous Wannilaye Aetto (Veddah) community. Amongst the…

3 Apr, 2012
Gibson Bateman
1 Comment
Colombo,
International,
Politics and Governance

Immigration Anxiety and Ruminations on Thought Police

I have always loved international travel, but I have always hated the “immigration” process, except for the part where I get my passport stamped. I realize what I have just written is not entirely rational since it’s hard to have foreign travel without “immigration,” but people are not always rational. Even when doing nothing wrong, a profound sense of anxiety and apprehension wash over me as I hand my passport to an immigration official. After all, that person is the only thing standing between me and a foreign country—where I can be exposed to new thoughts, practices, mores, traditions and more. Immigration officials stand between me and learning, humility or adventure, matters I do not take lightly. This is why I was especially nervous about applying for a tourist visa using Sri Lanka’s Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system. While not hugely important, I have said and done things that certain State officials in Sri Lanka might not appreciate. The last…

Oil, Coal, Gas and Carbon: Fundamental Truths From Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous people know the reality of fossil energy. The Shuar peoples of Amazonian Ecuador, under whose territories lie huge reserves of oil. Unlike those eager to find oil in their territories, have rejected exploration, they do not want to get rich on selling oil. They have a saying “Oil’ represents the sprits of a long dead world, that we use to satisfy our greed for power and sacrifice and our children in return.” (CESR 1996). Here lies a truth that cannot be escaped when looking at climate change. But in this statement there also lies wisdom, a truth, which if appreciated will clarify the actions needed to address the spectre of climate change. Their wisdom is that, they are aware of the difference between the spirits of the living world and the dead. They know that, asking for power from the spirits of the dead world has a great price, often they seeking the lives of our own children. What…

2 Apr, 2012
Marisa de Silva
7 Comments
Gender,
Human Rights,
Human Security,
Jaffna,
Peace and Conflict,
Post-War

The rape of a 13 year old and paramilitary presence in Jaffna

March 3, 2012 marked a very dark ebb in our society as it saw the horrific rape and murder of little Jesudasan Lakshini (13), allegedly at the hands of former EPDP cadre, Kanthasami Jegatheswaran (alias Kiruba) (31), from the Delft Island, Jaffna. Currently being held in remand at the Jaffna Remand Prison, the accused was produced before the Kayts Magistrate this week (30). However, the hearing was further postponed to April 9, 2012, as the Delft Police had failed to conclude their compilation of eye witness statements, said attorney-at-law K.S. Ratnavel, who is appearing on behalf of the victim’s family. The pending statement is the last of four eye witness statements attesting to having witnessed Lakshini being intercepted and taken by the accused on her way to the market, he added. This raises the glaring question as to why the Police was unable to obtain a mere four eye witness statements in the course of almost a month following this…

V-Day: Writings to end violence against women and girls

The Sri Lankan government’s denial of things extends well beyond allegations of war crimes. Earlier this year, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US, Jaliya Wickramasuriya “Rapes, this and that not taking any place in Sri Lanka”. Writing about this daft and peculiar statement, Roel Raymond noted, I don’t understand this. I don’t understand why our diplomats and politicians continue to bristle defensively, refusing to accept fault, scrambling to cover the massive chip on their collective shoulders. How hard can it be to admit one is wrong? How very different would it have been if Ambassador Wickramasuriya had said ‘Yes this is a problem, but we as a nation are committed to ending it’? On 1st April last year, The Grassrooted Trust led the global V-Day celebration in Colombo at the Barefoot Gallery with a production of ‘A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer: Writings to End Violence Against Women & Girls’, a groundbreaking collection of monologues by world-renowned…

31 Mar, 2012
Sumith Chaaminda
2 Comments
Development,
Economy,
Jaffna,
Post-War,
Reconciliation: From Invoking to Understanding

Fishing in Turbulent Waters

Introduction Newly initiated development projects in the Northern and Eastern Provinces in post-war Sri Lanka are expected to open new avenues towards ethnic reconciliation, as proclaimed not only by government media but also by the mainstream development scholarship. However, this popular perception about opening up new avenues for reconciliation through development seems to foreclose certain barriers and obstructions existing within the so called development highway itself, especially with regard to ethnic minorities. To understand the possible political and other forms of repercussion of the currently existing development-community encounter, one should turn one’s ears not only to the subject-agents of the development discourse but also to those who are subjected to the development industry, considering the fact that the subalterns also are involved in creating meanings (or counter-articulate the dominant discourse, as Laclauian discourse analysts would suggest) in their own way. This piece explores the ways in which the local communities in the Northern fishing villages receive the messages enunciated by…

29 Mar, 2012
Groundviews
12 Comments
Colombo,
Diplomacy,
International,
International Relations,
Politics and Governance,
Post-War,
Reconciliation,
War Crimes

In conversation with Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu: The resolution in Geneva and its discontents

Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu is the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, the institutional anchor of Groundviews. He is today one of three human rights defenders senior government ministers consider traitors and would like to, as in ancient times, kill, and, inter alia, break the limbs of. Though Sri Lanka’s foreign minister distanced himself from these remarks, the President and his brother, the all-powerful Secretary of Defence, have not expressed a single word of condemnation, or distanced themselves from the minister’s comments, who has openly and repeatedly said he derives his legitimacy from the Rajapaksa’s. Much of this hate and harm directed against Dr. Saravanamuttu and other key human rights defenders of late has been on account of their participation at the recently concluded 19th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, and in particular, supporting a US sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka. There hasn’t been much informed debate and discussion within Sri Lanka on the contents and genesis…

After the fuel hikes and slide of rupee: State of Sri Lanka’s economy and future prospects

Dr. Neavis Morais is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Open University of Sri Lanka, and in this interview looks at the state of Sri Lanka’s economy. As couple of days ago the Economist Intelligence Unit noted that, tweet Around the same time, Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said it cut this 2012′s economic growth target to 7.2 percent, down from 8 percent. There’s a big difference between the Central Bank’s and the EIU’s growth projection. The interview begins with Dr. Morais looking at this significant discrepancy, and why it exists. He notes that whatever the Central Bank says, it is highly doubtful Sri Lanka will achieve anything close to 7% GDP growth, and flags the failure of macro-economic reforms targeting economic growth as a central factor. Dr. Morais also speaks about the Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Under Utilised Assets Act, which was rushed through Parliament as an urgent Bill last year and notes that it sends the wrong…

25 Mar, 2012
Kalana Senaratne
35 Comments
Colombo,
Diplomacy,
Features,
Human Rights,
International,
International Relations,
Jaffna,
Peace and Conflict,
Politics and Governance,
Reconciliation,
War Crimes

The Geneva II debacle

Photo courtesy Vikalpa, from protest against US resolution in Colombo, 27 February 2012 The US-sponsored resolution at the UNHRC had to be defeated. It was not. 24 in favour, 15 against, 8 abstained. Hearts are broken, glasses are shattered, the ‘gods’ have ignored our prayers, there is madness surrounding us; 2012, we are now sure, is when the world comes to an end. But that was yesterday. Today, the morning after, is once again cold; we need to pick up the pieces, mend our hearts, move on. And there are questions too: what is this resolution? How did we perform? Is it all India’s fault? Where did we go wrong? Are we to be blamed? What now? Resolution L.2: From US, with love The resolution titled ‘Promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka’ has, during the process of the UNHRC session, undergone considerable change. From being an intrusive and arrogant one sponsored by the US, it now appears rather soft,…

25 Mar, 2012
Indran Amirthanayagam
0 Comment
Colombo,
Human Rights,
Human Security,
Jaffna,
Poetry,
Post-War,
Reconciliation

Defending the Country

They cry foul in that cauldron of a news room, saying these human rights defenders are traitors, publishing their names and photographs, inciting fears of death squads preparing to drive white vans to their residences. The warning by the UN Human Rights Commissioner to protect witnesses is welcome, quixotic. How will her office stop disappearances when government has rejected the resolution, said it will push back reconciliation, which I presume to mean more islanders vanished, bloodshed, people living in fear and loathing, keeping quiet or moving out, accompanied to the airport by diplomats from a friendly mission, leaving their homes to caretakers, a new life abroad for champions of human rights at home? And for those who stay, negotiating protections, waiting for a post- midnight call by an elite team of assassins, like the ones who shot prisoners at Nandikadal, stopping motorbikes in the intersection to beat Lasantha to death, dressed in black with black glasses, or as drivers of…

Desertification and Biodiversity

Photo courtesy NASA The link between land degradation and desertification has been made abundantly clear in studies conducted in Africa and Australia. A loss of natural vegetation, a loss in soil organic matter and a loss of soil stability contribute greatly to the process. These processes are often interlinked. Vegetation encourages soil stability by providing cover, the binding action of roots, providing root exudates and by the contribution of its biomass to the soil. A loss of vegetation results in a corresponding loss of soil organic matter and stability. Soil organic matter and soil stability are often linked. A soil that becomes depauperate in its content of organic matter looses the glue that holds soil particles together and becomes easily erodible. The more a soil erodes the more difficult it becomes for the soil microorganisms to glue the particles together. The process is analogous to a spider’s web in the wind. A whole web can withstand the pressure. If one…

24 Mar, 2012
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
32 Comments
Colombo,
Diplomacy,
International,
International Relations,
Politics and Governance,
Post-War,
War Crimes

Geneva 2012: The signs missed, lessons unlearnt

Photo courtesy JDS Let’s learn the right lessons from the Geneva outcome, not the wrong ones. It is not the case that a small country such as Sri Lanka cannot fight a diplomatic battle with the mighty USA and win. Minutes after the Sri Lanka vote at the HRC this time, the Cubans moved a resolution on the composition of the staff of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the opacity (code-named independence) of which the West regards as a holy of holies. The USA opposed the resolution. The Cuban resolution won with a massive 33 votes. Last year the USA invested far more effort and political capital at a far higher political level than in the case of the Sri Lanka resolution in Geneva, to prevent Palestine from being granted full membership of the UNESCO in Paris. The US lost that battle, and besieged Palestine, an embryonic or proto-state (unlike Sri Lanka) won a two…

24 Mar, 2012
Groundviews
0 Comment
Arts and Theatre,
Colombo,
Disabilities,
Music

changeABLE cohesion: Dance and disability

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…

23 Mar, 2012
Politiki
6 Comments
Human Rights,
International,
Peace and Conflict,
Politics and Governance,
Post-War,
Reconciliation,
War Crimes

WHOSE MOVE IS IT ANYWAY?

Image from www.dbsjeyaraj.com. Photo by Jean-Marc Ferré

The passage of the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution on Sri Lanka raises a fundamental question: what next? When the dust settles and tempers calm, all parties concerned will be faced with the actuality that things have changed quite dramatically. This piece attempts to identify the challenges and opportunities presented by the passage of the Resolution to a number of political entities or individuals. Sri Lankan government The Sri Lankan government now faces an awkward situation. Having lost more than one half of the entire membership of the Council including almost all of Latin America, and given the exhortations from even sympathetic members that it should implement the recommendations of the LLRC, the options at the Rajapaksas’ disposal have narrowed. What is clear is that twelve more months of slow or no progress on key issues of demilitarization, devolution, disarming paramilitaries, democracy and accountability will only isolate Sri Lanka further, and augment the likelihood of an international investigation…

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Archive for the ‘Issues’

Between The Artist and Hugo: Nostalgia for what cinema is really about

Horrible rise of disappearances in post-war Sri Lanka continues unabated

Immigration Anxiety and Ruminations on Thought Police

Oil, Coal, Gas and Carbon: Fundamental Truths From Indigenous Peoples

The rape of a 13 year old and paramilitary presence in Jaffna

V-Day: Writings to end violence against women and girls

Fishing in Turbulent Waters

In conversation with Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu: The resolution in Geneva and its discontents

After the fuel hikes and slide of rupee: State of Sri Lanka’s economy and future prospects

The Geneva II debacle

Defending the Country

Desertification and Biodiversity

Geneva 2012: The signs missed, lessons unlearnt

changeABLE cohesion: Dance and disability

WHOSE MOVE IS IT ANYWAY?

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