Lifting of Emergency: Exposing the Sham Exercise
Photo credit AP Much has been said about the recent decision of the Government to end the Emergency in Sri Lanka. Some welcomed the move and others are yet to make any…
Human Security
Who is “Pulidaran?”: Reflections on International Day of Democracy
Photo courtesy Who is “Pulidaran?” What everyone knows In “celebration” of the International Day of Democracy today, I would like to bring our attention back to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)[3],…
Channel 4’s ‘Killing Fields’: Journalism, Advocacy or Propaganda?
Image from Channel 4 Introduction The UK based Channel 4 documentary, “Killing Fields”, possesses an interesting characteristic. It has the power of accentuating the prejudices and biases of viewers. The reaction found…
Human Rights in Sri Lanka: Impunity against Accountability and Justice
Image credit AP, via BBC News “There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…not going all the way, and not starting.” – Lord Buddha : When I was a…
Reconciliation, a Political Settlement and the “Grease Devil”
Tissa Vitharana eats the President’s cake, courtesy . Extremist Sinhala nationalists within the parliament and outside who do not believe that the minority communities have or ever had any grievances see no…
Searching for Sri Lanka’s Anna Hazare
Anna Hazare, courtesy Injustices.in Foundation It was just last week that the BBC featured a documentary describing the post war atrocities committed against vulnerable Tamil women in the north and east who…
State of Emergency in Sri Lanka, with or without it
Photo courtesy JDS The decision of the Sri Lankan government to lift the Emergency Regulations (ER) is received in good faith by many. For example, the International Community has expressed its pleasure…
Post-war, is the Sri Lankan Army going on a rampage in the North?
The Sri Lankan Army: Humane or heinous? Photo from Now Public [Editors note: Also read JAFFNA: BRUTAL ASSAULT OF CIVILIANS IN NAVANTHURAI and The attack on TNA Parliamentarians in Jaffna: A timeline…
The ‘Grease Devil’ Phenomena in Sri Lanka: A Brief Collation of Reports
A ‘snapshot’ visualized version of the ‘Grease Devil’ phenomena that emerged in Sri Lanka from the 7th of July 2011 to the 29th of August 2011. Incidents concern; sightings of Grease Devils,…
You Can’t Catch A Bogeyman
Image courtesy Amber Much of the recent discussion of the ‘Grease Yaka’ in the Sinhala and English language media or ‘Mystery Man’ as it is referred to in Tamil discourse has been…
Women and Media Collective Press Conference on Violence Against Women
The Women and Media Collective held a press conference last week to address the incidence of violence against women with regard to the ‘grease devil’ phenomenon. The Collective also stressed that it…
How can society protect vulnerable women from post war atrocities?
I just viewed a documentary produced recently by Al Jazeera titled ‘Civil war leaves Sri Lankan women vulnerable’. The film has left me deeply disturbed, shocked and ashamed particularly because as a…
De-greasing social speculation over “grease devils” in Sri Lanka: Part II
Read Part I here. ### Basically the whole plethora and all variations in media, from print to electronic to the web, from Sinhala to Tamil and English including the “updates” via SMS…
De-greasing social speculation over “grease devils” in Sri Lanka
Image courtesy Amber Whispering campaigns in Sri Lanka are the most speedy and penetrating campaigns that product promoting advertisers have not been able to make use of. Often in Sri Lanka these…
Fr. Jim Brown and Mr. Vimalathas: Five years after disappearance, where are they and what has happened to the investigation?
Fr. Jim Brown, a Catholic Priest from diocese of Jaffna in Northern Sri Lanka and his associate, Mr. Vimalathas, a father of five people, seem to be just two names and…
