DO WE NEED A CHANGE?
At a time when so many urgent tasks are pending – not least that of rebuilding the war-ravaged areas of the country and resettling lakhs of IDPs in proper homes with proper…
Search Results for: freedom of expression
One year later: A murder unresolved, a government unashamed
Maybe we are numb too Though it’s warm and all we have today Is a cloudy sky , Vivimarie Vanderpoorten Lasantha Wickremetunge, the Editor of the and one of Sri Lanka’s best…
Concerns of first time voters in the 2010 presidential elections
In the upcoming presidential election a new voter base will be in play. A generation of first time voters whose futures will depend on the winner of next month’s election, are faced…
Prospects for post-war human rights in Sri Lanka: Interview with Sunila Abeysekera
To commemorate Human Rights Day 2009 (falling on 10 December)Â interviewed a number of leading activists in Sri Lanka to find out their perspectives on current challenges facing human rights in post-war Sri…
The Battle of the ‘Commons’ and (De) militarizing the Sri Lankan Society – Part 2
Continued from Militarization is a product and integral part of the neoliberal economy. The contribution of well meaning liberal constitutionalists and peace activists to demilitarization is limited because they ignore (even legitimate)…
100 days in hard labour and counting: The plight of J.S. Tissainayagam
Today is Human Rights Day, which honours the UN’s adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on 10 December 1948, the first global enunciation of human rights. Today is…
The Battle of the ‘Commons’ and (De) militarizing the Sri Lankan Society – Part 1
“Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin “Common candidate” Gen. Fonseka and “common man” Mahinda Rajapaksha must both face,…
Manufacturing of a ‘Common Candidate’ and Our Collective Political (Un)Conscious
— Karl Marx — Paulo Freire As news of the upcoming election unfolds, I find myself considering the meaning of the notion the “common candidate” in general, and its application to General…
Media, Civil Society and Social Mobilisation
by Arjuna Ranawana[i] and Anupama. M. Ranawana[ii] Think to that place that this country has now come to, – the chaos of impunity, the failure to protect human rights and the hysteria of…
GSP+, SOVEREIGNTY, DOUBLE STANDARDS AND TERRORIST TRAITORS
It is worth clarifying here the situation regarding the EU GSP+ facility, given the confusion prevailing in the mainstream media. The EU has NOT threatened trade sanctions against Sri Lanka. The GSP+ facility…
Lazy Academics and a Diaspora Without Direction
The recent Amnesty International sponsored forum “Sri Lanka: Human Rights Issues and Media Representation” held last week in Melbourne was a missed opportunity. The forum could have signposted the strategies needed to…
Caught between the real and virtual in Sri Lanka
Dear GROUNDVIEWS, I congratulate you on your continued publication on the web! I am truly happy that Sri Lanka’s contributions to the global community has not been merely such things as the…
Eyes Wide Open
“On my instructions, due to the priority given to the policy of zero civilian casualties the security forces are limiting themselves to rescue operations of the entrapped civilians held hostage as a…
What others say
Highlighting growing Internet and web censorship in light of content critical of governance and government, increasingly only available online, Freedom of the Press 2013 by Freedom House marks out , – Grand Jury,…
The way forward in Sri Lanka: Demilitarisation, the rule of law and democratisation
The way forward in Sri Lanka involves demilitarisation, restoration of the rule of law, and democratisation. These are interlinked so closely that it is impossible to separate them, and on their fulfilment…