Language Barriers

When looking at the root causes of the Sri Lankan conflict, one issue that comes up time and time again is language. According to The Constitution, Sri Lanka’s national languages are Sinhala and Tamil but it seems that ‘national language’ and ‘official language’ mean different things. The Constitution has two separate sections for these, the latter of which reads “The official language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala. Tamil shall also be an official language. English shall be the link language.” From the wording alone, it is not surprising that this is still a very problematic area where discrimination and inequality prevail. Today, Sri Lankans have the right to an education in either Sinhala or Tamil, but they are not required to learn both which means that from a very early age, communities are being divided by language barriers. That is not to say that Sri Lankans are monolingual. On the contrary, many Tamil people have learnt Sinhala, especially those…

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Robberies Increase In Jaffna

Gun-point robberies have increased in Jaffna. Town area houses are robbed day or night and even during curfew time. Last week some robbers went to a house during the day, introduced themselves as being from the CID dept and said they wanted to search the house. After they left a camera, money and a mobile phone were missing. Day before yesterday some robbers went to a restaurant and robbed at gun point. Sometimes the robbers sexually harass women as well. One month back some robbers robbed a house in Kalvianakadu. The house owner shouted thief and neighbours gathered and chased them away and caught one of them. The villagers assaulted the robber and he died as a result. A Jaffna library laborer is in police custody now. He was one of the people who beat the robber. Now Police have arrested him and magistrate has ordered that he be remanded. Repost This Article

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  • 5 Apr, 2007
  • 2 Comments
  • Disaster Management,
    Human Rights,
    Human Security,
    Peace and Conflict,
    Trincomalee

නැගනහිර යූද්ධය තූල තනීවූ සාමෙය් නගරය.

ශූීලංකාව තූල තවමත් අැදීයන ෙමි ඊළාමි යුද්්්්ධය ට දැන් වසර 26 ක් ගතවි තිෙබි.ෙමම වසර 26 තුල යුද්ධෙයන් බැට කෑ අහිංසක ඡනතාවෙග් අවසන් බලාෙපාෙරාත්තුවද දැන් ෙකෙමන් ෙකෙමන් දියෙවන්නට පටන් ෙගන අැත. ෙමම ඊළාමි යුද්ධෙයන් බැට කෑ තවත් එක් දිස්තිුක්කයක් ගැන ෙසායා බැලිෙමි අරමුණින් අප ෙමි සංචාරය අාරමිභ කරන ලදි. සමස්තයක් වශෙයන් ගත් කල නැගනහිර පළාෙත් පුනර්ඡිවනය වශෙයන් හදුන්වනු ලබන තිුකුණාමළය නගරයයි. ුුුුිිිි අාර්ථිකය අතින් වැදගත් වු ස්ථානයක් ෙලස හැදින්ෙවන ෙමහි පිහිටි ස්භාවික වරාෙයන් සහ සුන්දර ෙවරළ තිරෙයන් නැගනහිර පූෙද්ශෙය් වැඩි වටිනාකමක් දිනා ගැනිමට තුිකුණාමළය පුෙද්ශයට හැකිවි තිෙබි.එෙහත් අවසනාවකට ෙමන් අද අප කතා කිරිමට සුදානමි à·€ සිටින්ෙන් නැගනහිර පූෙද්ශෙය් යුද්ධෙයන් බැට කෑ තුිකුණාමළය නගරෙය් වර්ථමාන තත්වය පිළිබද ෙතාරතුරැ ෙසායා බැලිමටය. සාමෙය් අාරමිභයත් සමග උදාවු වසන්තය දැන් නිමාව අැතයිද යන්න ගමන අාරමිභෙය්ම අපට හිතුෙන්,පුෙද්ශෙය් අාරක්ෂක අංශ විසින් පනවා තිෙබන මාර්ග බාධක සහ පරික්ෂාකිරිමි නිසාය.ෙමම මාර්ග බාධක පසු කරන සැම වාහනයක් සහ පුද්ගලෙයක්ම දෑඩි පරික්ෂා කිරිමකට ලක්කරන අාකාරයයි. නගරයට අැතුල් වන ස්ථානය වන අනුරාධපුර මංසන්ධිය අසල දකින්නට ලැබුෙන් පාඵ ස්භාවයකි. මිට මාස 10කට…

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  • 4 Apr, 2007
  • 2 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Human Rights,
    Peace and Conflict

Human Rights and a Political Settlement: Regime Defences Wearing Thin

The two main criticisms against the Rajapaksa regime relate to human rights and a negotiated political settlement of the conflict.  In summary the charge is that the regime is unwilling to do anything about either and therefore is well into the smoke and mirrors game of camouflage and procrastination.   The regime on the other hand maintains that its bona fides on both fronts are in tact and that these are baseless charges. In the case of human rights, time and time again it points to the Commission of Inquiry (COI) and the Independent International Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) as evidence of its seriousness of commitment and purpose. The international community too, has gone along with this and more.  It has invested time and resources in the establishment of the IIGEP and key members have indicated their expectation of results.   Indeed any further action on the human rights front internationally has been stayed by the establishment of the COI and…

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  • 4 Apr, 2007
  • 37 Comments
  • Peace and Conflict

Amnesty Campaign: Some quick thoughts

I never thought I’d say this, but I think Amnesty International has made a big mistake in launching its latest human rights campaign against Sri Lanka against the backdrop of the World Cup Cricket Tournament. Don’t get me wrong (and yet I predict many will). I am entirely supportive of any and all attempts to highlight grave human rights violations in Sri Lanka. However, the recent initiative a la Amnesty reeks of double standards, cheap pot-shots and poor taste. Here are the reasons why. First, if World Cup Cricket offers an opportunity to name and shame human rights violators, then practically every competing country is fair game for past or continuing rights violations. The fact that this particular tournament takes place at a time when the incidence of rights violations are at an all-time high in Sri Lanka seems too easy a reason for AI to single-out one country without as much a passing reference to other egregious violators. Second,…

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Which comes first – Human Rights, Media or Terrorism?

Judging by his own standards and those laid down in public by his government, our incumbent President is Sri Lanka’s No. 1 “traitor”. In branding those who champion human rights in Sri Lanka to be partial to the LTTE, we tend to forget that the President himself was an fervent champion of the very human rights he now holds in contempt when in the opposition over a number of years. I have explored this in earlier articles as well, but in this submission to Groundviews, I explore some fundamental problems facing the media today in Sri Lanka in reporting the on-going violence and conflict. Professional media, I argue, can’t take sides and certainly can’t be shafted into a simplistic black and white paradigm of being in support of the Government or against the Government / with the LTTE. Professional media has a vital role to play in exploring ALL sides of the conflict, based on the inviolable right of the…

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A Marxist Perspective on Constitutional Reforms

Erik Olin Wright, in his interesting and insightful article entitled “Compass Points: Towards a Socialist Alternative” (in New Left Review No. 41, Sep-Oct, 2006), dissects the term “social” that has been present in both socialist and social democratic politics. In general, the term- “social”- “is invoked to suggest a commitment to the broad social welfare of society, rather than the narrow interests of particular elites”. The debate on constitutional reform in Sri Lanka has been so far carried on in the dominant language of constitutionalism. All three main streams of constitutionalism, namely, liberalism, nationalism and communitarianism, subscribe to this meta-language of constitutionalism that privileges the state, nation and citizenship. On the other hand, emancipatory social science that Olin Wright proposes to uphold calls for “a systematic scientific knowledge about how the world works” and explains how its central purpose of “the elimination of oppression and the creation of condition for human flourishing” be achieved. In this article, I deploy emancipatory…

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Peace professionals and War professionals

By Rajan Philips There has been a spate of writings on the political economy of war, particularly relating to the war on terror that President Bush has imposed on the world as the primary concern of humankind in our time. Sumanasiri Liyanage, Peradeniya academic and commentator, has recently written about the political economy of peace in the Sri Lankan context. In particular, he has drawn attention to what he calls the emergence of “peace professionals” and their allegedly “rent-seeking operations” in the peace process. Rent-seeking in economic theory simply means making money without producing anything, and is treated as different from the positive economic practices of profit-seeking and wage-earning. There is also another term, called profiteering which is to make unreasonable profits and often in unconscionable situations such as war. Sri Lankans have grown familiar to war-profiteering over the last two decades, and accusations of war-profiteering are among the main criticisms of Bush Administration’s war in Iraq. In my view,…

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Hypocrisy defined: Mahinda Chintanaya and Ranil in the 90’s and today

I am variously labeled in the media and was most recently called a traitor. Not the first time I’ve heard it and won’t be the last, but this time, it was because it was noted by some in the State media that those who made representations at the UN’s Human Rights Council in March were engaged in a vast, NGO driven conspiracy to tarnish the good name of the Government and the Sri Lankan State. I go back to 1990, and an interview with Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was then the Secretary of a Parliamentary Committee on Fundamental and Human Rights, followed by the response of the self-proclaimed doyen of human rights today, Ranil Wickremesinghe. After going back to these statements of the two the highest public officials in the country today, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Mahinda’s pro-NGO stance in the 90′s and Ranil’s negation of human rights are an interesting foil to judge what they say…

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  • 29 Mar, 2007
  • 3 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Human Security,
    Peace and Conflict

LTTE Air Strike: Turning Point or Confirmation of Protracted Conflict?

Mr Prabhakaran has managed yet again to shock and even awe with the air strike on the Katunayake air base, even though the talk about a Tiger air capability has been around for some time.  According to a former Indian intelligence chief, the LTTE has had this capability for some nine years.   The question is as to whether this air strike alters the balance of power, militarily, politically and psychologically. That the LTTE pulled off the attack begs a host of questions regarding the detection of the aircraft and as to why they were not pursued and destroyed before the attack or after it.  There is to be yet another commission to look into this and its findings may well go the way of all commission findings, gathering dust or disappearing into the ether.  The attack also begs the question about the reported success of the ceaseless aerial pounding of the Vanni on the grounds of destroying LTTE military capability…

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A Wave of Relief

Since the devastating tsunami struck the coastal areas of Sri Lanka just over two years ago, there have been mixed reviews about the rehabilitation process reported in the media. On the one hand, it has been said that Sri Lanka experienced two tsunamis, the second being the wave of money that flowed in and allowed people to rebuild their lives and look to the future. But on the other hand, and far more frequently, these stories go untold or are overshadowed by reports of corruption, unfair aid distribution and incompetent international relief organisations. Far too rarely do we hear of stories that reflect the support and participation of various stakeholders including local level collaborations across ethnic and caste divides, NGOs, INGOs and Government organisations who worked together in the face of immeasurable adversity. Not that the problems or failures that have occurred during the reconstruction and rehabilitation process should be dismissed completely, but it is also important to provide an…

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Conspiracy Theories

Regrettably, the continuing tragedy of violent conflict in Sri Lanka is further compounded by the increasing emergence of all manner of conspiracy theories. Because of their risqué sensationalism with scant regard for verifiable facts and a marked disdain for accountability, those who promote such conspiracy theories are out to get media attention and through it, further a parochial agenda that otherwise, in their perception, lacks the gravitas to command public attention and support. The most recent cause célèbre are allegations of a secret deal between the President and the LTTE during the Presidential Elections in 2005 that guaranteed through nefarious means Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ascendancy to power. There have also been conspiracy theories regarding the recent spate of abductions and disappearances of citizens, particular in the East but also in Colombo. Mysterious armed groups equipped with Houdini techniques to escape detection and maligned forces out to tarnish the good name of the government have been blamed. We do not know much…

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  • 28 Mar, 2007
  • 4 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Peace and Conflict

Victor Ivan: This is your conscience speaking! – An open letter to the Ravaya Editor

Photo credit: Tamilnation In my article to Groundviews, I ask what I believe is an extremely pertinent question from my erstwhile colleague, Victor Ivan, the Editor of Ravaya. I ask him to explain his stance regarding the blanket censorship on news and information on “Mawbima” and Managala Samaraweera. My article uses the philosophy of Bertrand Russell, a favourite of Victor, to attempt to convince him that the current editorial bent of Ravaya is hugely detrimental to the perception of the newspaper as a progressive and alternative media voice. Read my article in full here. Repost This Article

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Flying Tigers…

From Australia: This image occupies almost half a page in the World section of today’s Age – the leading paper in Melbourne. I am sure it has also been printed in the Sydney Morning Herald and in many papers around the world. I wonder if it made it on to Sri Lanka’s papers… Of course, it’s not clear when this photo was taken, and if it represents the type of aircraft that dropped the explosives over the air force base – but nevertheless – it’s no doubt doing the rounds in newspapers and websites throughout the world … And where’s the discussion speculating the type of aircraft? Perhaps CNN / Fox / BBC are all running panels, featuring experts, anaylsing these images… Repost This Article

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Federalism in verse: An idea

A conversation with a friend over SMS when I was at a book launch recently: Sanjana: “At Sumane’s book launch. Peace and federalism are supposedly nigh” MR (Friend): “That sounds fun. So u chose that over the poet rapper. I think that’s the critical problem. We don’t have a song about federalism so people can’t relate to it” Sanjana: “But we do right? Remember that YA*TV rap song on peace?” MR: “Yes, but would it not be meaningful if Shehan and Anarkali sang Mege Pemwathage Pedral Wadaya?” Sanjana: “Quite. But form would overwhelm content in your example” MR: “Yes, but that is most peace agreements. I think I am so inspired I will write the lyrics 4 Sha FM. Soon 2 b most requested” I think MR’s stumbled upon a great idea. History will record whether he will make a fortune as a lyricist for the federal movement in Sri Lanka. Repost This Article

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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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