EQUALITY, UNITY, AUTONOMY, DEMOCRACY

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[Editors note: This article was originally published without the final two paragraphs due to an oversight by me in copying and pasting the text from the original Word document to WordPress post haste. The error is deeply regretted. Sanjana Hattotuwa] “Ideas are great to the degree that they are feasible…Windbags with grand schemes are incapable of perceiving the relation between the ‘great idea’ that is put forward and concrete reality…” – Antonio Gramsci (Notebook 8) Dr Vikramabahu Karunaratne gets more things wrong than right, and he does exaggerate, but he hardly ever lies wittingly. Therefore I have no reason to disbelieve the following extract from his column in the Sunday Lakbima of July 1st, reporting a meeting in Matara. “MP Sumanthiran was the special speaker at this meeting…Sumanthiran explained in very simple way and in an attractive style the meaning of ‘the right of self determination’. “Sinhala are a great people and we respect them” he said and added “So…

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A-Z of Sri Lankan English: T is for this thing

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Original photo by Deshan Tennekoon What do you call something whose name you don’t know or can’t remember, or which you prefer to avoid naming for whatever reason? A whatsit or a widget? a thingy or a thingummy? a thingamabob or a thingamajig? a gadget, a gubbins or a gizmo? a whatsitsname or a whatchamacallit? The proper term for all these words is a placeholder name. Wikisaurus lists dozens of them here. In Sri Lankan English that something is normally called a this thing, but this doesn’t appear on the Wikisaurus list. It can refer to any inanimate object (“Did you remember to bring your this thing?”); it serves as a euphemism (“You could see his this thing!”); and it can be made plural (“Don’t forget your this things!”). It can function as an adjective (“You must be feeling very this thing”), or as a verb (“They must have this-thinged it earlier”), sometimes with the addition of the suffix –fy…

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Handling disasters: The man-made disaster of July 1983 (Part 1)

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Photograph by Chandragupta Amarasinghe, courtesy Thuppahi’s Blog [Editors note: Part 2 of this essay can be read here.] Looking back at the July 1983 disaster, almost 30 years later, it would be natural to query how key policy issues now critical in the discourse on disaster management, like good governance and Human Rights, affected the decisions made by policy makers and implementers as they handled the evolving situation. A Presidential Commission some years ago, a late response to persistent public demands for ‘truth and reconciliation’ as to what happened, was one not altogether successful, attempt. The jury on the case is still out, in a manner of speaking. This present recounting of events and actions of 1983, as far as memory and available documents allow, is that of an actor who was at the centre of the Administration at the time. It attempts to assess the then Government’s  ‘management of the situation’ from the point of view of those officially…

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Towards an Informed Water Vision: Part 2

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Uda Walawe Tank, photo submitted by author Through the nation water quality has become a serious problem.  The Nitrate and Nitrite pollution of the groundwater on the Kalpitiya peninsula, the eutrophication of the hydroelectric reservoirs during low flow, the renal failure syndrome of the North Central province, the rise in neuromuscular diseases among vegetable farmers, are but early symptoms of the malaise that suggests the water quality of the nation being compromised. The load of organic pollutants entering surface waters has affected over 90 percent of the watersheds of the rivers of this country. Further, the decline in water quality is related to a decline in populations aquatic predators of disease bearing mosquitoes, increasing the incidence of vector borne diseases throughout the country. Though the loss of water quality in Sri Lanka has been dramatic, it is a problem that can be solved. It is still not too late, Nitrates and Nitrites can be removed using deep rooted trees; Organic…

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Towards an Informed Water Vision: Part 1

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Erosion from tea plantation. Photo submitted by author. The three basic substances of our biosphere, Air, Water and Soil share the characteristic that they are all dynamic and vary in quality and quantity from place to place on this planet. However there is what is generally recognized as the ‘optimal range’ of values for each one of these substances, to render the environment hospitable to life.  While my comments today, are focussed on water, it should be kept in mind that they apply equally to the other two. Water is a critical element of all living things and it is the medium through which much of life is expressed, all animals and plants including humans are made mostly of water. Water is an essential material for the maintenance of global ecosystems; it is required in the right quality and quantity for each purpose that it is used for.  Water enters a landscape as rain or fog and moves across a…

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Taking back our temples!

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Image courtesy Global Abilities blog To visit a place of worship seems such a natural thing to do to the extent that we rarely consider it in terms of entitlements. Yet for people with physical disabilities, especially for those of us who use wheelchairs, this entitlement to attend and participate in temple worship is at best provisional and more often than not, impossible because of the profound inaccessibility of temple sites and lack of accessibility information. I have been a wheelchair user for many years and can also ‘walk’ short steps with assistance. My country of residence is Australia though I am Sinhala Burgher. Let me tell you a story of my recent visit to three Buddhist sites – The Dalada Maligawa in Kandy and the Samadhi Buddha statue and Ruvanweliseya in Anuradhapura. I was full of great expectation about my visit to Dalada Maligawa since the temple had a special place in my heart as a Buddhist and also…

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  • 28 Jun, 2012
  • 23 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Kandy,
    Sport

The Oldest and the Greatest: A reflection on the Bradby Shield and what it stands for

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Image courtesy Trinity College website History and tradition are great mentors. History assures us of who we are, and if we are brave enough, it can also teach us where we have failed or triumphed, behaved honourably or been disgraced. Tradition, for it to be useful, must be wisely chosen and morally crafted; because it is the conduit through which history’s best lessons flow down the ages. Great traditions are not always old, but the best ones are usually those that stand the test of time and like good wine, enhanced by age. Where it is not mistaken for blind ritual, tradition sets out an honour code on how we should behave as well as treat ourselves and others with dignity. As much as history and tradition helps chasten us and help preserve the integrity of our social fabric, they are also vulnerable to misinterpretation and exploitation. Sometimes, when history is ousted by myth and tradition is confused with petty…

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American Foreign Policy and the HRC Resolution on Sri Lanka

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Image courtesy Onlanka News Obama and Human Rights The Obama administration did fight to get a seat on the Human Rights Council (HRC) in 2009; something that George W. Bush probably did not even contemplate. And, as David Bosco has noted, the US has been relatively active at the HRC since that time. Bosco goes on to say that “The United States has laid special emphasis on the Council’s use of special experts, individuals given a mandate to investigate some particular country or human rights theme.”[1] On the other hand, the Obama administration’s approach towards experts wanting to examine US policy has been rather mixed, especially “when UN experts request information about sensitive areas of national security and counterterrorism policy.”[2] Since the dawn of the Cold War, it has always been easy to question American intentions when it comes to human rights. That said, Obama’s escalation of drone attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere is disturbing. It reveals a very…

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An Archive of Memories: Viewing War Footage Critically

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Image courtesy Ron Haviv’s photo essay The Fires Within: The Sri Lankan Civil War For many in Sri Lanka and around the globe, war is generic. Images of war victims are anonymous and nonspecific. If the caption on a photograph of a child war victim is altered, the meaning of the image can be changed and the photo reused in different contexts and by different parties – by LTTE advocates, different political factions, or by the Sri Lankan government. Do photographs of war victims necessarily vivify the condemnation of war? No. The same photograph that can be used as a call for peace can be used as a cry for revenge, as exaltation of a warring party, as acknowledgement that terrible things happen, or even as intimation that terrible things will continue to happen. The uses of the same Sri Lankan war footage can be diverse, from the promotion of the military, to appeals for peace, to ammunition for Human…

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A new spate of web censorship in Sri Lanka?

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Reports online suggest that Dialog Axiata and Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), inter alia, are blocking access to a number of Tamil language websites reporting on Sri Lanka. In the morning we were asked whether we could access tamilwin.com. Is @groundviews able to access tamilwin.com? Generally 1st to publish news,pics&video from North. — Niran Anketell (@nirananketell) June 26, 2012 We tested on SLT ADSL, Dialog HSDPA and via an Etisalat dongle. Only Etisalat loaded the page. @nirananketell Nope – on SLT ADSL. Trying again via Dialog HSDPA. — Groundviews (@groundviews) June 26, 2012 @nirananketell Negative on @dialoglk HSDPA (iPhone Personal Hotspot) connection. Will try with Etisalat dongle. — Groundviews (@groundviews) June 26, 2012 @nirananketell CORRECTION: Site loads fine via Etisalat dongle. We were still on SLT ADSL when we tried last. Point reg. mirroring stands. — Groundviews (@groundviews) June 26, 2012 Given the blocks we suggested consumers in Sri Lanka use TOR to access the blocked pages using any ISP. One…

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Cast as Mother – A Reading: Audience Reviews

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Photo by Ruvin de Silva ‘Cast as Mother’ – a dramatic reading of an upcoming play by Stages Theatre Group was held at the Lionel Wendt on May 24. Directed by Ruwanthie de Chickera, ‘Cast as Mother’ featured the writings of thirteen women from the Sinhala and English stage on their experiences of motherhood. The 90 minute presentation drew its material from a 300 page manuscript, and was performed in Sinhala and English. The play, which is currently being devised, will be staged from September 13 – 16 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre. Stages Theatre Group encouraged members of the audience to write in with feedback. Here we publish a cross section of excerpts of these reviews and comments.  In shows to come, Stages will continue to promote Audience Reviews that will no doubt contribute to a culture critical debate in the arts. ### If motherhood in Asia, and especially in Sri Lanka, is one of the prototypical roles which…

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INCREMENTAL SECESSIONISM: WHY DEVOLUTION MUSTN’T BE OPEN-ENDED

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Picture from Colombo Telegraph While everything is debatable, not everything is negotiable. Some things, a few things, simply must not be negotiable. The territorial unity and integrity of the Sri Lankan state, Sri Lanka as a single indivisible country, must never be up for negotiation. Whoever we negotiate with and whatever we negotiate on, must know and understand this from the outset.  Every political community has boundaries which constitute red lines that should not be crossed. What can be negotiated are the specific arrangements, structures and forms within a united Sri Lanka. Nothing should be treated with or entertained however, if that discourse or enterprise rejects, is ambivalent on or fails to commit unequivocally and unconditionally to the parameters of a united, single, indivisible Sri Lanka. Within a united Sri Lanka anything should be negotiable– though it may be unrealistic, given the balance of forces, including public opinion over the long term, to expect to convince Sri Lanka that the North…

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Messing in the maze: A response to Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

A Tamil woman shows her ink-marked finger after she cast her vote during a local government election in Jaffna

Photo courtesy Reuters As my friend Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka is probably aware, I rarely miss his articles. Sometimes I have been mildly shaken by his radical writing, but never quaked as I did having read – “Moving out of the maze” It made me to believe that I had probably misunderstood him as an academic supportive of power sharing. More dangerously, I wondered whether Sri Lanka instead of moving out of the maze would mess in it by agreeing with him. At the outset, I deplore Diaspora behavior in London standing on a Sri Lankan national flag. In Sinhala expression it was ‘spitting up to fall on the face!’  Dissent is fine; indecent dissent descends the quality of dissenters. If the dissenters were Sri Lankan citizens they have sinned unpardonably. If they are of Sri Lankan origins and hail the Union Jack now, they have shamed the British by their uncivilized and unbecoming actions. Wrongs committed on devolution Before commenting…

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International Widows’ Day Celebrations of 2012 in Nedunkerny

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A group of war widows in the Nedunkerny region of the Wanni District celebrated the International Widows’ Day on 22nd  June, 2012 at the  conference hall of the Nedunkerny Pradesa Sabai.  This meeting was organized by an NGO in collaboration with the relevant officers of the Divisional Secretary of Nedunkerny who  had arranged for the distribution  some material for income generation activities provided by NGOs. The funds for this meeting was provided by an UK based charity organization working  for  war affected children and widows. This meeting was attended by representatives of these organizations and  more than a hundred war widows  who had been invited  to commemorate  this day and listen to motivating speeches by experienced persons to give hope for these widows who had been rendered destitute by the recently concluded war.  Some of these widows made use of this opportunity to cry out the problems they are facing consequent to their re-settlement in this region. Nedunkerny is situated…

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Post-war Sri Lanka’s Thought Police: The Rehabilitation of Ex-Combatants and the Denigration of Tamil Identity: Part Two

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[Editors note: Read Part 1 of this series Post-war Sri Lanka’s Thought Police: The Rehabilitation of Ex-Combatants and the Denigration of Tamil Identity here] Introduction As mentioned by TSA,[1]the government has prepared a lengthy, heading-less, and inappropriate questionnaire[2] (in poorly written and, at times, incoherent Tamil) which has been used to obtain information about ex-combatants before they leave Protective Accommodation and Rehabilitation Centres (PARCs). The document appears to place no genuine emphasis on emotional wellness at all; one need not be a mental health professional to see that. No information was given as to why this questionnaire was administered. The only visible indication on the document is RQ-SL (Adult). It appears that this questionnaire was intended to capture the pulse of ex-combatants prior to their release. Some Specifics[3] The introductory portion of Part A tells respondents to do the following: There are forty-two questions in Part A. None of which are “Yes” or “No” questions. Rather, respondents are expected to give…

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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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