Gratitude for Life

Sunrise Sri Pada

While the word biodiversity is gaining currency worldwide as a result of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) an internationally binding set of agreements. Whose articles are legally binding and used today to address some or other aspect of nature. Thus it is critical to appreciate the true nature of biodiversity and what role it has in our future. Biodiversity is the measure of the variability of living organisms at any spatio-temporal point i.e. the number of different species at anyplace at any given time.   It does not mean wild, endemic, rare or even native, it is merely a measure of diversity.  This measure has various meanings, from indicating a potential for conservation to indicating changes in the environment.  It also signifies the way natural cycles work, cycling  substances such as carbon, oxygen  or water.  The conservation of biodiversity refers to the conservation of this diversity of actions. The variability of our living world, has been the source of human…

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Sons and daughters missing, missed, forgotten: LLRC’s failure in Sri Lanka

"My daughter has been missing since 15th of May 2009 from Valaijarmadam" ~ Vasanthathevi Kathirkamanathan from Ananthapuram, Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaithivu District

Tamil mothers, sisters, wives and daughters have not yet given up their hopes to find their disappeared sons, brothers, husbands and fathers. The tragedy of endless search continues for them. Some Tamil women have more than one tragedy to digest. Vasanthathevi Kathirkamanathan is still searching for her missing daughter. And, her husband has been missing since May 2009. “I don’t know whether he is alive or dead. My relatives want me to believe that he was hit by a shell during the heavy fighting in May 2009, and died on the spot. But, he was with me till the last moment on 18th May 2009. If he was hit by a shell, and died on the spot, I must have seen his dead body. Since, I have not seen his dead body, I am unable to believe that he was killed. I strongly feel he was made to disappear. My life is in limbo” says tearful Vasanthathevi Kathirkamanathan from Ananthapuram,…

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How to Deal with Racism

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Photo courtesy The Platform/Raashid Riza The Lord Buddha once said “When someone fires an arrow into you, you don’t try and find out who fired the arrow and what they are all about. You concentrate on getting that arrow out.” What do we do to combat against racism and stereotyping we see so much of in our society? We think that those who spew such hate are a minority and that their opinions and actions are not representative of the majority that wants to co-exist and live in peace. So do we let things be or fight back? What is the best way to deal with racism? By thinking that we cannot change things, that certain situations in life are beyond us and that we must leave that to elected officials, we do what we unfortunately do best. We let people (usually with hidden interests) manipulate our emotions and pull wool over our eyes. So we react. Reacting requires less…

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The Sinhalese…

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[The triple gem of Anuradhapura; Abhayagiriya facing north and its synthesis of Theravada and Mahayana represents the spiritual values of balance and integration; Ruvanweliseya in the western corner symbolizes caution, orthodoxy and conservatism; Jethavanaramaya in the eastern corner symbolizes optimism and progress – the mentality of the rising sun. To the south is materialism into whose clutches the sinhalese walked innocently without any of the safeguards afforded by this ancient Trinity.] The Sinhalese… Left their unity and security at Anuradhapura. They have not been safe or secure in any of the subsequent capitals. This chronic insecurity has something to do with their narrow version of domesticated Buddhism and a Sangha that enjoys entrenched privilege upon a notion of an exclusive Sinhala Buddhist identity. The original sense of brotherhood upon which the Indian invaders and natives finally settled, sealing their compact with the Ruvanweliseya and Gamani Kingship was whittled down in stages into a sharp hierarchy where the Sangha and king…

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Mullikulam: Restrictions on fishing, cultivation, access to the church and school continue

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The continuous appeals and campaigns carried out by the people of Mullikulam, the Bishop of Mannar, Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph and members of the clergy and civil society seems to have finally borne some results, in terms of the resettlement process of the people of Mullikulam. Even though the situation is still far from ideal, and the people still aspire to return home, as the intention of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) to stay put, is quite clear, and as the people have suffered for so long, they have reluctantly agreed to being resettled 750m outside of their original residential lands. Two and a half months since (December 26th 2012) the Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith met with the people of Mullikulam to discuss[1] their grievances,[2] we visited Mullikulam on 13th March 2013. We were able to see for ourselves and hear directly from the people about the progress made in terms of commitments[3] made by…

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Travails of the Women in the Vanni

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Photo courtesy Amantha Perera / Perambara (Following is a copy of  a presentation made by the author at a side event at the UNHRC in Geneva on 11th March, 2013 organised by the Co-operative Society of Netherlands in collaboration with the International Movement Against Discrimination and Racism)     All of us remember the day the war ended in Sri Lanka. While those in the rest of the country rejoiced, to  the Tamils, many of whom had friends and relations living in the war zones, it was a very sad day.    Thousands of persons had been killed in the final days of the war.  Thousands of others  walked  into the hands of the army waiting  to receive them and send them to the hurriedly established camps which they called welfare centres. The  292,000 odd persons who escaped death during  the war,  had to spend  nearly three years  in  refugee camps in which they were imprisoned till they were re-settled or re-located in…

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It’s about Justice, stupid!

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Image via DBS Jeyaraj.com My faith is not threatened by the faith of others whose beliefs are different from my own. Neither my race nor my culture is under threat of being engulfed by another. I am now a migrant and a traveller. My land is no longer confined by any arbitrarily drawn state or national border. I am a custodian of the whole Earth and a brother to all of humanity. Yet, as I sit to pen these thoughts, 8,335 km away from home, I realise how difficult it is to draw conclusions about how widespread the religious intolerance in Sri Lanka is and whether it is as pronounced in society as it is in social media. I do not have a feel for whether it is growing or subsiding and by how much. What I am certain though, is that no priest or politician, not even beloved relative or dear friend can usurp my right and obligation to…

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  • 14 Mar, 2013
  • 29 Comments
  • Jaffna,
    Peace and Conflict,
    Politics and Governance,
    Post-War

Appeal from the Tamil Civil Society to the International Community regarding the upcoming resolution in the UNHRC on Sri Lanka

This appeal, signed by civil society activists who live and work in the North and East of Sri Lanka, seeks to state our position with regard to the resolution on Sri Lanka to be tabled at the 22nd sessions of the UN Human Rights Council. We understand that the resolution will seek to provide more time to the Government of Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations contained in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission and that it will fall short of calling for an international independent investigation to hold to account those responsible for the Crime of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. If this resolution would contain only the above and no further, in our opinion, it would be truly unfortunate. We firmly believe that giving more time to the Government of Sri Lanka will lead to irrevocable damage being inflicted on the Tamils. There has been much talk about the ‘progress’ with implementing the LLRC. We welcome…

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The Numbers Never Lie: A Comprehensive Assessment of Sri Lanka’s LLRC Progress

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Download the report in full here, or view in inline here. ### Introduction Nearly four years since the end of the country’s civil war, Sri Lanka remains a divided, post-war society, as the ethnic conflict burns on. It has been fifteen months since the Final Report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was made public. In July 2012, the GoSL released an Action Plan to implement the LLRC recommendations, yet little progress has been made on this front. Instead, a host of problems related to the judiciary, governance and militarization, among other issues continue to plague the island nation. TSA’s third report, The Numbers Never Lie: A Comprehensive Assessment of Sri Lanka’s LLRC Progress, provides a detailed look at the Government of Sri Lanka’s LLRC progress that includes both quantitative and qualitative analysis. TSA surveyed 1,786 households across 208 GN divisions in nine districts throughout the North, East and Hill Country. In virtually all crucial areas, the GoSL…

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Police detains families of disappeared from Northern Sri Lanka and prevents peaceful protest and petition to the UN

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[Editors note: See our earlier report, Police impeding the movement of Tamils.] March 5th, 2013, Vavuniya On March 5th, 2013, at about 8.30pm, the Police blocked about 600 persons, comprising families of the disappeared and civil society activists from the North, from traveling from Vavuniya to Colombo to attend a protest organized by the ‘Association of the Families Searching for the Disappeared Relatives’ the following day (6th). Following the protest at Viharamaha Devi Park, in Colombo, the families had planned to march to the UN office in Colombo and hand over a petition. This protest was meant to be part of a larger campaign organized by the families of the disappeared to know the truth about their loved ones, and to lobby the international community to intervene on their behalf by calling on the Sri Lankan Government to provide them with truth, justice and accountability. As a result of this obstruction however, the planned protest could not be held. People had…

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‘Kerosene’ by Kannan Arunasalam wins international documentary award

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Groundviews is extremely pleased to recognise that Kannan Arunasalam has won the 2013 South Asian International Documentary Festival’s Prism Short Award for ‘Kerosene’. This short film was one of three produced by Kannan with utilising a small grant by Groundviews in 2011. First screened in Colombo and subsequently featured on the critically acclaimed Moving Images website, ‘Kerosene’ and his two other short films generated the most feedback and engagement given their unique, deeply sensitive and compelling interrogation of life in the North of Sri Lanka, post-war. You can view the full film below. Kerosene from Kannan Arunasalam on Vimeo. Go to Moving Images to see his two other films, as well as other productions on Sri Lanka. A trailer for all three productions can be viewed below. Trailer: Koothu, kerosene and paper from Kannan Arunasalam on Vimeo. Repost This Article

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Impeachment of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice and its impact: What do you think?

Opposition activists hold up placards during a protest in Colombo

Photo courtesy Euronews Just a few weeks since the impeachment of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, no one is really talking about it anymore. Interviews conducted by and featured on Groundviews at the time impeachment proceedings were on clearly flagged serious fears over the independence of the judiciary. In order to ascertain the lasting impact of the impeachment in the manner it was conducted as well as to understand better the dynamics of public opposition or support towards it, Groundviews has created a brief online questionnaire. The questionnaire will be open for responses from today until 21 March 2013. Depending on the feedback, results of the questionnaire, along with suitable data visualisations, will be posted on this site. To answer the questionnaire, please click the button below OR click here to fill it out in a new browser window. Answer Questionnaire Please pass it on to friends and colleagues. Repost This Article

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Police impeding the movement of Tamils

11.14PM, 5th March 2013: Families of the disappeared in Sri Lanka, traveling to attend a demonstration in front of Colombo UN office, were detained in Vavuniya by the Police. Eleven buses with victimised Tamil people were en route to Colombo to stage a demonstration in Colombo tomorrow to coincide with the submission of the US resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN human rights Council. All the eleven buses and a total of around 700 individuals were hindered in their progress. The bus drivers were questioned by TID and CID members. This evening, when they tried to pass Omanthai check post after all the security procedures were completed, a special Police escort came and took them to Vavuniya. At present, all the families are being kept under heavy military presence amid heavy rain in Vavuniya’s Urban Council Ground. A short whole ago some unidentified people in civilian dress tried to infiltrate the crowed in an attempt to trouble them. 9.21am,…

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An Allegory For Sri Lanka’s Sad Communalism

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Photo by Aufidius, via The untold story of a child The recent debate around the anti-halal movement, with its echoes of anti-Tamil sentiment of the post-independence period (‘Tamils get more government jobs,’ ‘Tamils have access to better education than Sinhalese’), is on the surface a conflation of religion, nationalism, class and various other factors. Beneath the complexity of the rhetoric, at least to me, are feelings of disaffection, great sadness, loss of meaning of what we stand for, of what we are as a nation, as a people. To attempt to make sense of it let’s scale down the scenario to a manageable, personal level. Consider this hypothetical situation: I am school age. I have a friend who, at least for now, we will call Sam ­– a facile Western name to free your image of him from Sri Lankan race/religion/caste and other cultural trappings that further complicate the issue. Sam is a huge cricket fan. On most days he…

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Grievances of Muslims in the North

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“It is not only inhumane to be expected to live under such terrible conditions, but these conditions are also a breeding ground for mosquitoes and the spread of other communicable diseases. If the water is not pumped out manually, it will be at least April by the time all the water left over by the floods evaporate,” said a distraught Muslim IDP from Uppukulam, Mannar, whilst pointing to a stagnant pool of water left by December’s flood (2012), in his backyard. He, together with his wife and widowed daughter live in a one-roomed shack in Uppukulam since their return in 2000. Muslim families in Uppukulam, Kondapitty (Mannar District), who were evicted by the LTTE in 1990, were given permit land by the State and permitted to return to Uppukulam in 2000. Having lived in cadjan huts for years, some families have been moved to an Indian Housing Scheme four years ago. Of the 96 houses built, only 50 (comprising approximately…

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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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