Comments on: In conversation with Chandraguptha Thenuwara: Art, politics and education in Sri Lanka

By: N. Ethirveerasingam

N. Ethirveerasingam — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 06:35:17 +0000

Thank you Mr. Thenuwara for wanting people to remember. “Forget the Past” seem to be the slogan by GSL since end of the war. I heard that phrase first at a lecture at the Univ of Jaffna by the Minister of Higher Education in mid 2010. The latest person who spins that phrase is G.L. Peiris. Cannot understand how a Professor could bring himself to utter such nonsense.

A monument, such as naming the junction and a mural to Neelan is as important as monuments to those civilians who died as a direct result of the war. Tamils in the North or East cannot erect any monuments to mourn and remember their dead. The link below shows how Tamil Nadu Tamils commemorate the death of the Tamils in the North,

http://www.newsalai.com/2012/07/blog-post_5908.html#.UBbGcwm1SlE.facebook

Will GSL permit the Tamils in the North and East to erect a memorial like the 9/11 memorial to remember their war dead? What if the families erect a memorial in their land for their loved ones who died in the war? People need to mourn and perform the rituals to the dead to begin a new life. They left their dead in land, Vaikals and lagoons where they died. Most of those who surrendered disappeared. How can there be reconciliation in an atmosphere of fear and oppression.

By: MV

MV — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 02:57:35 +0000

Where exactly would all the newly erected war monuments in the North and East and the war tourism fall under in ‘erasing all markers of a violent past’?

By: P.L.J.B.Palipana

P.L.J.B.Palipana — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 03:37:03 +0000

In ref.to FUTA stuggle for the 6%, shall we take an example; The University of Peradeniya.We could still see the University which was created by Sir Ivor Jenins of 1940s. The same buildings are un-painted for years and the accomodation is limited by the same space. The libraries are full of out dated books.There are no recreational facilities at all.The IT facilities are very poor and the English language teaching units are poorly equiped.
The University belongs 12 miles of internal roads net work which was very badly maintained from the year 2005. There is vast amount of buildable land within the university premises. Sir Ivor dreamt an other Cambridge University in SL but our sons and daugthers never met that end of the tunnel.The University has still capasity to accomodate more than 10000 children.What waste this REGIME is doing. Unnessassary carnivals,playgrounds,Commonwealth Games festivals, Indian cinema festivals ete..ete..ete…Those monies could be easily used to develop our State University System of the country.
Some stupid people blame our University teachers instead of observing the reality surrounding the problem. Very sad indeed!!!