Archive for the ‘Post-War’

Peace and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka

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Photo credit: Eranga Jayawardena / AP, taken from Christian Science Monitor Peace in our country cannot last long without reconciliation. And there can be no reconciliation until the people in the North and East and all those who were affected by the war come to terms with their losses, and pick up the threads, with hopes of a better future. No matter how many highways and bridges are put up, no matter how many houses are built until and unless the grievances of the war affected minorities are looked into, there will be no lasting peace. The grievances of these people are not limited to food, clothing and shelter only. The 30 year civil war was not fought merely to get these basic needs. First and foremost they need to be free of fear and humiliation. Even today, twenty one months after the war a man or woman can be harassed by the police on mere suspicion, if he or she…

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The Duplicitous Disclaimer: GOSL, the UN and Accountability

In consideration of the vague exposition on the reasons behind the meeting between Ban Ki-moon and representatives of the Sri Lankan Government in New York on the 23rd of February 2011, as well as the Government’s own disclaimer on the meeting, it is clear that there has been a concerted effort to disclose as little information as possible on this ‘eleventh hour’ attempt by the Government at back-door diplomacy in order to address the UN’s ‘panel on accountability.’ It is rather obvious that suspicions will arise when there are contradictory statements provided by both sides on the content of the discussions, which differed considerably as Ban Ki-moon’s spokesman, Martin Nesirky, stated that it was a ‘courtesy call’ on ‘reconciliation and reconstruction efforts,’ while the Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, Romesh Jayasinghe, stated that the meeting was about ‘legal issues.’ It was also interesting to note Deputy Minister Neomal Perera’s statement, which denied that there was an official visit…

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Moving Tamil Dissent Politics Beyond Anti-LTTEism

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To be able to engage in dissent politics one needs enormous courage. Not only in terms of the threats and dangers that come your way as a result of your decision to dissent (I remember Kethesh Loganathan once mentioning that when you dissent you risk bullets from multiple sides unlike when you take sides, when you have some cover) , but also whether you are convinced whether you are doing the right thing.  Particularly, when you are faced with a situation where as a result of the dialectics of power, one power (which I shall call the ‘initial source of power’) has led to the creation of another as a natural corollary. As a member of a political community subjected to immense oppression by the ‘initial source of power’ I have found it immensely difficult to decide how to respond to the power that was created as an anti thesis – as a response, in opposition and in resistance to…

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Lanka @ 63: The ‘military business model’ of post-war economic development

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On 4 February, Sri Lanka celebrated its 63rd birthday. After nearly three decades of armed conflict, it is now one of Southasia’s calmest and fastest-growing countries. Its social indicators, apart from the northeast zone, remain the best in the region, and its strategic location is inviting investments from both Asian giants, China and India. Its stock markets are booming, its growth rate bouncing at around eight percent, and tourists are back to enjoy sun, sand, sea, and the island’s natural beauty. Along with big sister India, Lanka is the only other country in the South Asian region with unbroken if rather tattered democracy since independence from the British Raj in 1948, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently congratulated the government of Sri Lanka when it released a Standby Agreement (SBA) loan tranche despite the high ratio of public debt to GDP. As many economists know, however, stock-market booms do not necessarily correlate with socio-economic peace, equity and justice, or…

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The Tamil Diaspora and the Future of the Tamil Struggle

Today, the 18th of February, finds us three months away from the second anniversary of the “Mullivaikal Massacre”. At this juncture it is important to ask the question: What constructive action can be taken by the Tamil Diaspora to build a better future for the Tamil nation? In Tamil culture, at a funeral, all the people of the village are expected to attend. It’s tradition. But if the whole village was a funeral house, who will go and to whose house?  Also, who will heal the existing souls? This is not just a philosophical question, but an unavoidable reflection on the May 2009 humanitarian catastrophe, where 40,000 Tamils were massacred and nearly 60,000 were wounded. Nearly one in four Tamil people became direct victims of the Sri Lankan government’s offensive military operation. And today the survivors still suffer lingering effects of structural and cultural violence. The disastrous events of May 2009, which were sold to the International Community as a…

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Democracy in Sri Lanka: Ideas and responses

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In March 2010, Groundviews launched a unique initiative online to ascertain what citizens perceived and accepted as democracy in Sri Lanka. To date, 74 people have submitted 42 ideas and cast 596 votes, but what do YOU think? Click on http://bit.ly/sldemocracy To coincide with a planned in-depth survey on democracy in Sri Lanka by Social Indicator, the polling arm of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, we are revisiting this initiative that when launched last year generated a lot of buzz online. From blue sky thinking to tried and tested initiatives that need to scale up or be better recognised and supported, we invite you to co-create a unique catalogue of ideas on how post-war Sri Lanka can strengthen democratic governance. We strongly encourage those from the grassroots, or work closely with communities at the grassroots to contribute their ideas. Please vote on the ideas you like, contribute your own, and pass on the word to participate!

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Commemorative lecture on second death anniversary of Lasantha Wickrematunge

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“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” ~ Martin Luther King Jr, (15 January 1929 ~ 4 April 1968), (Activist, Clergyman, and prominent leader in African ~ American Civil rights movement) A commemorative lecture to mark the second death anniversary of Sunday leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge was held today. This is the first commemorative lecture to pay tribute to Late Lasantha Wickrematunge, who was killed on 8th of January 2009 in Ratmalana, suburb of Colombo. Christopher Warren, former President of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) delivered the key note address titled ~ “Role of Media in Post-War Democratization”. Candles were lit around the cement monument of pen with a human hollow to pay tribute to the journalists who sacrificed their lives. The monument stands on a barrel painted in white. The monument was created by the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (VAFA). A large number of human rights activists, diplomats, foreign and…

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Celebrating Freedom: A Personal Account

Note: The Editors of Groundviews received this account of the attack, written by Dr. Harsha de Silva (MP), which took place on the 4th of February at an opposition protest outside the Welikada prison. I am generally not the street-protesting type. I try to articulate my arguments with facts and figures, be it writing, speaking or engaging in debate. But the other day, I was in a demonstration and this is an account of what happened; the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The UNP had decided to boycott the 63rd Independence celebrations to protest the incarceration of General Sarath Fonseka and the continuing clampdown on freedoms in general; it was only a week since the offices of LankaeNews were set ablaze. That morning I had already made several comments on rising prices, in fact the doubling of prices, since the UPFA had ascended to office. During the day I had spoken to several people on the…

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Imaging the aftermath

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“Absence of war does not mean peace. Meaningful peace can only be achieved by accepting separate identities and by trying to understand and accept the differences and uniqueness of cultural diversity. Peace cannot be achieved by blurring the uniqueness and denying separate identities. Peace cannot be achieved by suppression or by force; peace has to emerge from mutual understanding and respect” says Godwin Constantine. ### Godwin Constantine’s work takes us to a space engulfed with acute political and social implications that are connected with ethnic conflict and the resultant war that was fought for over 30 years in the land of his youth, Jaffna. Born to a middle class family in Kandy, doing his early schooling at St. Anthony’s College and Trinity College (Kandy) and now a leading cardiologist, one would wonder why Constantine’s work does not really sync with the usual art aspirations or aesthetics of the comfortable upwardly mobile middle class. In actuality, his work constitutes uncomfortable reminders…

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GLF: A space for activists?

A playground for Colombo’s “artsy fartsy?” A personal initiative by G. Dobbs (Founder) to increase the per capita income of G. Dobbs? A promotional tactic to draw tourists to our fair land? An ideal getaway for the middle and upper classes to catch up with old friends and make merry? A platform for cultural and literary exchange and constructive discussion/debate? An ideal forum for writers and participants to engage and learn from one another? The Galle Literary Festival (GLF) is probably a combination of all this put together. I’m no ‘party pooper,’  and that’s all well and good. But, is it permissible to claim that the festival provides “relatively ‘safe’ spaces for literary and political exploration and debate” and is a forum at which the “real situation of the country” can be brought to light? http://groundviews.org/2011/01/24/writing-against-the-rsfjds-appeal-to-boycott-the-galle-literary-festival/ I find this particular claim to be quite difficult to digest. Firstly, because it has been stated by a well -respected human rights activist…

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Writing against the RSF/JDS appeal to boycott the Galle Literary Festival

[Editors note: We were sent this personal letter from Sunila Abeysekara addressed to a leading signatory of the RSF/JDS appeal to boycott the Galle Literary Festival. She kindly agreed to publish it on Groundviews for a wider appreciation. As noted in our response to the RSF/JDS appeal, Sunila is an outspoken and award winning human rights activist. Amongst a number of other awards recognising her work, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan presented Sunila with a UN Human Rights Award in 1999. See a video interview with Sunila conducted by Groundviews for Human Rights Day in 2009 here.] Dear Cheran, I am writing to you after seeing your signature on the petition circulated by the JDS (Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka) and RSF (Reporters without Borders) calling for a boycott of the Galle Literary Festival. I was really sorry to see your signature there. As you know I have dedicated the past thirty years of my life to defend…

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Video: Parliamentary debate on deterioration of human security in the North of Sri Lanka

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A parliamentary debate on deterioration of human security in the Jaffna Peninsula, North of Sri Lanka, was held on 20 January. Early media coverage of the debate suggested the government was playing down concerns over the deterioration of human security, and heated exchanges between government and opposition MPs. The number of reports on murders and abductions in the Northern Province just over the past month suggest a disturbing breakdown in the rule of law. Networking for Rights (NfR) in a statement expressed “serious concern” about the deterioration of the law and order. “The series of killings that have taken place during the last few weeks in the Jaffna Peninsula raises the question whether death squads have been reactivated in the Jaffna Peninsula.” Groundviews received the video of the parliamentary debate today. The debate is oftentimes interrupted by the characteristic shouting and inflammatory remarks across benches. This video captures the submissions by the TNA and UNP, plus responses by Government and…

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Responding to a facile appeal: Galle Literary Festival and the freedom of expression

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Michelle de Kretser signing. Photo by Sharni Jayawardena, courtesy Galle Literary Festival The Editors of Groundviews received via email this morning intimation of an international appeal made by Reporters Without Borders and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), a network of exiled Sri Lankan journalists. The Galle literary festival appeal notes inter alia, “We believe this is not the right time for prominent international writers like you to give legitimacy to the Sri Lankan government’s suppression of free speech by attending a conference that does not in any way push for greater freedom of expression inside that country.” Now in its fifth consecutive year, the Galle Literary Festival has been called many things, but a ‘conference’ it has not. Things go inexorably downhill from here. This ill-advised appeal reminds us of the equally ill-conceived Amnesty International human rights campaign during the last cricket world cup in 2007. At the time, even well-known human rights defenders in Sri Lanka wrote…

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Hear My VOICE: Bonsika Vadivel Vasanthan ~ “Please bring my father back to me”

Bonsika Vadivel Vasanthan struggles to come to terms

Bonsika Vadivel Vasanthan (7) always stays alone and confines to a brown plastic chair with flower work. The chair is bigger than she. She wears a pristine white pleated frock, which is the school uniform with light Blue and white stripe tie. A light blue silk ribbon holds her straight hair into a ponytail, and she wears a pair of artificial white stone ear studs. She does not mingle with anybody. She seldom talks or plays. She stays quiet. “My father used to tell me a lot of nice bed time stories, before I go to sleep everyday. We used to sing a lot of beautiful songs together in Tamil. Now, nobody either tells me any story or sings with me. I feel very lonely as my father is not with me” laments Bonsika Vadivel Vasanthan while tears fill her both eyes. Her father got injured during the last phase of the war in Vanni, North of Sri Lanka in…

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Sri Lanka and war crimes investigations: Nothing to Lose, but a World to Win

To rephrase the words of Marx and Engels: a spectre is haunting Sri Lanka – the spectre of an international investigation. More specifically, a demand has been made by the West, and will be made in the future too: a demand for an international investigation. The response to such a demand, without any doubt, should be: NO. Such a response should not be based purely on the issue of ‘sovereignty’ alone; i.e. that an international investigation violates Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Furthermore, this response should not be (and should not have been) the fast-unto-death kind. But there are other reasons. One reason is the fact that the demand is made by Western/European States which do not practice what they preach (for instance, when US Ambassador Patricia Butenis stated in her cable of 15 Jan 2010 that “There are no examples we know of a regime undertaking wholesale investigations of its own troops or senior officials for war crimes…

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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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