Archive for the ‘Post-War’

Thank you, Madam Navi Pillai

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Photo courtesy JDS Thank you madam, for being the voice for the voiceless. The poverty stricken, wounded, displaced and marginalized Muslim and Tamil victims of the brutal thirty year war in our country have been forced into submission by the ruthless and racist Rajapakse regime which has gained a stranglehold over power through a deliberate and well planned conspiracy which was plotted out with impunity and arrogance to deny its citizens of democracy and justice. The regime is firmly entrenched through constitutional amendments passed in stealth and haste despite objections raised by an educated few for extended public debate and discussion warranted of significant changes. The Sinhala majority have also been hoodwinked with the glorification of the war and masking of human rights violations through the regime’s uniting call for patriotism against international conspirators who wish to destroy the country’s onward path to progress – which no one dares question why? The truth is that only a few have the…

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Youth unemployment in Sri Lanka: The foundations of violence?

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In an interview broadcast on public TV recently, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Studies at the Open University of Sri Lanka and co-author of Rethinking the nexus between youth, unemployment and conflict – Perspectives from Sri Lanka looks into what is a real and growing problem in Sri Lanka – youth unemployment. As the report by International Alert notes, Likewise, youth unemployment cannot be looked at as an isolated problem: Its roots lie deep in social, cultural, economic and political structures and dynamics, as illustrated by some of the issues emerging from the district-level research. Enhancing young people’s skills, while necessary in countries where educational curricula and job market requirements do not match, will not be sufficient to overcome these barriers. In the interview. Dr. Amarasuriya speaks of a National Action Plan for Youth Employment, an initiative from a few years ago under the present government that no one now seems to recall, leave aside implement the…

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A Search for Identity: Tomorrow’s Sri Lankan!

A Search for Identity, Tomorrow's Sri Lankan_Kamaya Jayatissa

Few are those who believe in the existence of what I would like to call a post-war Sri Lankan identity. Indeed, most of us will identify themselves according to their ethnicity, some according to their religion, beliefs and aspirations and some according to their country of birth. Yet, the fact is that we do not belong to just one category or another. We are different from each other and at the same time we carry diversity within ourselves. Each of us is a unique combination of various identifications that are not equally significant to us. So how does one define the schizophrenic notion of identity? In a sociological sense, one could say that identity defines who we are and who we want to be. It also defines where we come from and where we go to. Yet, identity is not necessarily something we inherit or something inherent to us. It does not axiomatically combine shared values, beliefs or concerns. To…

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  • 27 Feb, 2012
  • 2 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Jaffna,
    Politics and Governance,
    Post-War

Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons: Plagiarism and the fate of LTTE surrendees

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Photo courtesy Deccan Chronicle When I first read Shamila’s piece posted on 24 February (Female ex-combatants of LTTE in post-war Sri Lanka), I had the strange feeling that I had read it before as it seemed very familiar. A moment later I realized that not only had I read it, I had actually written much of it. Shamila has both paraphrased, and quoted verbatim, a section of my piece titled Jaffna and the Vanni today: The reality beneath the rhetoric, posted on 17 March 2011, without giving due acknowledgement. Although Groundviews is a citizen journalism website, and not an academic journal, all those who contribute are expected to abide by accepted rules relating to due acknowledgment of sources and refrain from engaging in plagiarism. For ease of reference, I shall list below the striking similarities between the two pieces. It is the first section of Shamila’s piece that has been ‘borrowed’ from my article while it appears the second half…

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When a Prophet Speaks: Stephane Hessel on Sri Lanka

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A prophet spoke at the UNESCO in Paris this week, though he joked that having lived for 90 years, he had written thirty pages and found he had been turned into ‘a rock star’. Stephane Hessel, born in Germany in the year of the Russian revolution, is 95 years old. Anti-Nazi Resistance fighter, concentration camp survivor, diplomat and writer, he was 93 when he wrote a political essay of 13 pages, which grew into a booklet of only thirty pages, called Indignez–vous! In English this means ‘Be Indignant’ while the English language translation has been published under the title ‘Time for Outrage’. Between October and December 2010 it sold more than 600,000 copies. It has since sold a million copies in France alone and has been translated into 30 languages, selling 3.5 million copies worldwide. The left leaning newspaper Liberation, founded by Jean-Paul Sartre, says the booklet “crystallizes the spirit of the time”. The conservative National Post of Canada says…

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New wave of abductions and dead bodies in Sri Lanka

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Image from Transcurrents In the past 5 months – October 2011 to February 2012 – there has been a disturbing rise in the number of abductions, especially in and around the capital, Colombo. Out of 29 abductions and 3 missing persons reported in media, most have not returned to their homes and families, rendering them ‘disappeared’ persons. The manner of these abductions has sent alarm bells ringing within the Sri Lankan human rights community, recalling the twin phenomena of the ‘white van’ and the unidentified gunman’ which plagued the country in the period from 1987/1989, and which prompted two visits to the island by the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances in 1991 and 1992. The discovery of a charred body of a man on a small street in Narahenpita, Colombo 5, on the morning of February 13 has served to heighten these concerns. There have been 10 bodies discovered in February in addition to the 7 abductions…

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History after the War: Challenges for Post War Reconciliation

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[Editors note: Also listen to podcast by author here.] The end of the war is certainly not the end of the conflict that led to the military confrontation between the military forces of Sri Lanka state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This conflict surfaces in different guises, the military episode being only one. It is well-known that conflicting interpretations of the past of the island by conflicting parties is a major factor in the conflict.[1] When the military confrontation was the dominant form of the conflict, the importance of other forms were less evident. With the military episode completely over, non military aspects of the conflict are again coming to the fore. It is in this context that the renewed role of “history” in the Sri Lanka ethnic conflict has to be discussed. In the collective imagination of the ‘Sinhala-Buddhist South’, the ‘Tamil North’ occupies a very special place. In short, it is a place to be conquered and…

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History after the War: Challenges for Post War Reconciliation (Podcast)

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This podcast is based on History after the War: Challenges for Post War Reconciliation penned by the author. As noted in the article, From the point of view of a post-war reconciliation that should accommodate the legitimate demands of Tamils in the North and East, the renewed importance of ‘history’ in shaping the post-war dynamics of the ethno-political conflict will certainly pose a major challenge to those who wish to overcome the horizons of nationalist imaginations in a new post-war rethinking of politics. In a context where extreme Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism is unprecedentedly strong and ideologically aggressive, providing the ideological support for the political system that excludes Tamils, the need to build an alternative discourse of history becomes more than a naïve academic pursuit. It is a profound political and ideological task that has to be given a high priority. Nirmal Ranjith 2012 Feb 21(1)

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A Road to Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: Will We Take It?

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Photo courtesy REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte Despite the many limitations and criticisms levied at the final report of the LLRC, it must be recognized that in the presentation, the report reached a level of professionalism, objectivity and breadth in scope, within the relatively short period of time mandated to the Commission. The much talked about Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa was not without its critiques. Many felt that the TRC was “weighted in favour of the perpetrators of abuse.” The ‘highest – profile of these objections’ was filed by the family of prominent anti – apartheid activist Steve Biko who was killed by the secret police and whose story was featured in the  film ‘Cry Freedom.’ The family felt the TRC “was a vehicle for political expediency” which denied them their ‘right to justice’.  Opposing amnesty for his killers, they brought legal action against TRC as unconstitutional.  There will be no report that will be free of criticism or be able…

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In Search of Something More than the 13th Amendment

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Photo courtesy First Post During his recent visit to Sri Lanka, India’s External Affairs Minister, Mr. SM Krishna reminded that President Mahinda Rajapaksa was committed to a ‘13th Amendment Plus approach.’ This has been an old promise of the Government, one which was so prominently made in 2008-2009 as well. The timing of this promise seems perfect; the next session of the UNHRC in Geneva is around the corner. 13A: debate The debate concerning the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka has now been revived. A useful contribution made in recent times which contains important suggestions regarding the full implementation of the 13th Amendment is that of a principled advocate of federalism, Asanga Welikala (Groundviews, 12 Feb. 2012). Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka argues that the current deadlock can be broken by setting up an interim administration in the North (Transcurrents, 13 Feb. 2012). We remember the numerous contributions made in the past too. One particularly striking and lucid contribution…

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The 97% and the 3% in Sri Lanka

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Photo courtesy Daylife/Reuters We all know about the 99% and the 1% and most of us know where we are or which we sympathise with. I’m with the 99%. But what about the 97% and the 3%? How many of us know about the 97% anyway? I didn’t until a few days ago, so I wouldn’t blame anyone, but those of you who read this article will know all about it when you’ve finished and you can figure out which side you’re on. I’m with the 97%. As you read on, it will be tempting to caricature the point and reduce the 97% to a partisan stance, which it is not. To spin it as such would be the most gigantic undeserved compliment one could pay an administration or a political bloc. The 97% is about a perspective on an important theme or cluster of concerns (‘national-popular’ in Gramscian terms) of the enormous majority of the country’s citizenry, which translates…

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LIVE AMMUNITION AND CITIZEN ENEMIES

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Photo courtesy www.dbsjeyaraj.com If the time ever does come for a comprehensive evaluation of security policies and legislation adopted during the privation and emergencies of war and the peacetime ‘stability’ of a post-war context, it would only be fair to conclude that the unpleasantness of the former far exceeds the unpleasantness of the latter, but it is still just that – unpleasant. It has not been that long since we read about the callous disregard for human life in a number shootings, which occurred in August 2011, where the police and military used live ammunition to ‘control’ protests that occurred outside police stations and military camps. That particular period passed us by with one protester shot dead in Pottuvil by the military, two protesters injured when the military shot at a demonstration in Kinniya and a few protesters injured when they were shot at by the police in Puttalam. If these incidents seem somewhat remote and indistinct, there is always…

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Arbitrary Detention in Sri Lanka: Internment, Rehabilitation, and Surrenderees in the Prison System

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Photo courtesy GlobalPost. Stephen Hird/Reuters. In January 2012 I traveled to Sri Lanka with a group of fellow students from the University Virginia School of Law.[1] We wanted to learn about legal issues in other countries, and we arrived in Sri Lanka eager to hear views from government officials, NGO workers, and local citizens. I chose to focus on arbitrary detention in a number of settings including the internment of IDPs from May to December 2009, the rehabilitation of former LTTE members, and the labyrinth of Sri Lanka’s prison system, including many who have disappeared while in custody or are being held without charge. The following is a brief summary of the testimony gathered from nearly three weeks of interviews in Sri Lanka. My interviews took place primarily in Colombo and the Vanni. A more in-depth exploration of arbitrary detention in Sri Lanka based on these interviews, including a substantial examination of Sri Lanka’s obligations under Article 9 of the International…

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Long Read: Creating Social Reconciliation or Social Implosion?

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Photo from The Struggle for Justice blog Introduction Lankan society in its post-1948 history has undergone many violent conflicts in the form of pogroms, insurrections, and a civil war. The latest round of violence said to have ended with the military defeat of the LTTE in 2009 continues now at a much lower level, but seems to operate throughout the land. These campaigns of violence have caused collective social trauma within the society. With the end of the war, the opportunity was ripe to rebuild the country and reconcile the many divisions. During the war, of course, many statements, assurances and pledges were made that the issues of Tamil people that culminated in an armed conflict would be resolved through major constitutional and legal reforms including devolution of power to the periphery, though after the end of the war, such measures are yet to come to fruition. International situation The reports of global capitalist financial institutions indicate that the present…

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The Full Implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment: What Can Be Done?

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Photo courtesy CNN. AP/Getty Images. There has been in recent weeks a revival of interest in the full implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment, as part of a broader on-going debate triggered by the publication of the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) about future constitutional reforms addressing the need for devolution and democratisation. As implicitly acknowledged by the LLRC, the salutary need for a new post-war constitution, or substantial reforms to the existing one, is a matter of pivotal importance in moving Sri Lanka from its ‘post-war present’ to a truly ‘post-conflict future.’ These fundamental reforms, however, will involve sustained negotiations among all stakeholders about details of process and substance, and are distinct from the set of issues with regard to how the implementation of the existing framework of devolution in terms of the Thirteenth Amendment might be undertaken. Without in any way foreclosing the need for more substantial reforms, the full implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment,…

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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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