Comments on: Post-War Reconciliation in Sri Lanka – A Reality Check

By: Real_Peace

Real_Peace — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 15:23:00 +0000

Dear Dr. Jeyadeva,
I agree with Fr. Emmanuel 100% on this.

In fact, Only with spirituality/moral content, not just religious EXTREMISM will bring ‘Real Peace’ to Sri Lanka!

We all know very well, that many innocent Sinhala Youth ‘disappeared’ by the early 70’s Govt., LONG before Tamil rebels formed.

The time has come for ANY religious leadership to step up to the plate!!

Thank you Groundviews for a healthy forum like this.

By: puniselva

puniselva — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 13:29:00 +0000

This is an extremely vicious ethnic conflict. For many researchers around the world this is a textbook case of ethnic conflict. For decades successive governments have been failing to devolve power (before the 1987 constitution there was no devolution of power and after 1987 devolution of power given by the constitution has not been implemented even to a decent minimum extent) and refusing to have proper third party mediation – very violent ethnic conflicts have been resolved by third parties.
The starting point is laid bare clearly that can be understood even by secondary school students.
Dear Prez and PM, please don’t let go of this almost last opportunity to build a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka.
Please remember the Sixth Amendment contradicts the UN Charter and the practice in many countries.

By: puniselva

puniselva — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 04:32:00 +0000

Dear President and Prime Minister

This is a readymade lesson for an input in Continuing Professional Development of parliamentarians(all other professionals have to undergo Continuing Professional Development).
(This well-structured lesson is particularly useful to the Minister for Foreign affairs who is sent out of the country as often as possible to control damage on as many platforms as possible).
Please have a special meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers to discuss this lesson. It is all the more urgent because last Saturday the Minister for Foreign affairs had already told Chamber of Young Lankan Entrepreneurs(COYLE) about the plan for celebration of 70yrs of Independence in 2018.

By: puniselva

puniselva — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 21:27:00 +0000

In reply to Freddy.

So you don’t believe what this author says.
Then what about this:
”Until our circumstances radically change with the emergence of political leaders guided by ethics and not by self-interest, it will not be possible for us to come into an era of civility in politics.” – The Inevitability of the Banana Republic, Prof Sasanka Perera(Prof of Sociology, University of Colombo before leaving for South Asian University), 29 August 2015, http://groundviews.org/2015/08/29/the-inevitability-of-the-banana-republic/

By: puniselva

puniselva — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 10:17:00 +0000

I’m very saddened and even angered to find that the President keeps telling that all students must be taught about reconciliation(last occasion was yesterday in Kilinochchi) while he or the Prime Minister or any of the Ministers or parliamentarians is not taking any of many practical steps needed to attain it. In fact they continue to do decades-long injustice to the ethnic minorities in very many ways.
Of course there are many occasions in most school lessons to discuss or do many aspects of reconciliation and good teachers consciously promote ”personal and social development” informally and in formal lessons. But this has been having, and can have, only a limited amount of effect on them.
Children and youth(and even adults) copy what others do and not what others say. Sri Lankan children have been seeing racial discrimination practised by successive governments and that has been showing in the past 68yrs of our independence.
It’s a pity that the Mahanayakes are prepared to preach the UNHRC Chief or other Ambassadors what they should do about Sri Lankan politics but fail to guide successive governments to bring them back to the track of Buddhist precepts when their policies and practice go off the track.

By: Freddy

Freddy — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 08:36:00 +0000

The war is over the people has accepted change and improved themselves with jobs, assililatoon and frendship. Its the TNA, Diaspora and foreign manipulators and Muslim, Christians with vested interest, nothing to do with the locals and living. Being a Buddhist country everyone is taking advantage converting, threatnening, blackmailing, suppressing the government and the Sinhalese majority. This has gone too far and has to stop. Period. 30 over years war, and now after 2009 to date pressure to split the country is the agenda. Politically, religiously, economically , threats, lies and manipulation is the game leading to corruption.

By: puniselva

puniselva — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 12:57:00 +0000

It will be really good if the readers can access the other speeches at the seminar.

By: puniselva

puniselva — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 08:17:00 +0000

”No general or shared understanding of what reconciliation and peace building should mean has emerged in Sri Lanka”:
The President told the visiting IFRC Chief on 3 March:
”It is people in the North and East who suffered most due to the protracted conflict and reconciliation should originate from the people in the South and it should be inculcated in their mindset.”

So far the President has not acted on his statement. On the contrary he went on to tell the G7 Outreach Summit on 27 May:
”With a revolutionary change of governance, my government has succeeded in creating the path for viable development environment and for reconciliation in a multi-faceted society.”
Successful governments have been lying on international platforms and the political solution to the ethnic conflict remains unresolved.

By: Father S.J.Emmanuel

Father S.J.Emmanuel — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 10:56:00 +0000

Dr.Jeyadeva, you had put the finger on an important role of our religious leaders when you said
” In contrast, our religious leadership continues to show disinterest in the goals of peace and reconciliation. Lacking in a moral content, and shunned by the moral communities, the agenda of peace building and reconciliation has been made vulnerable to narrow politicization.” i too stressed this Point to the govt. leaders I met- Politicians alone cannot bring about reconciliation. All religions are meant to serve the peaceful coexistence of all People. This is the time for the reliious leaders to come together and offer their Services towards building the Nation.

By: puniselva

puniselva — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 02:58:00 +0000

”Their efforts need to be redoubled”:
Can their efforts cope with the government that keeps appointing new bodies instead of increasing the efforts of bodies already existing:
when there are 92 Ministries and many bodies appointed in the last 18 months, the Cabinet has just approved the formation of another body, National Development Organisation.
No chance of course correction in sight!