Sri Lanka’s constitutional gulag
“The SLFP, and the millions who support it, will never be a party to robbing the people of Sri Lanka of their sovereignty.†Lakshman Kadirgamar, 4 November 2003 It is only through…
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Groundviews system upgrade: Snap Shots
The website preview feature on Groundviews, powered by Snap Shots, is now enhanced with a bigger preview screen. Hovering on a link such as this results in a pop-up window with a…
On “traitors” and federalism: Beyond the hypocrisy, towards collaboration
Bear with me and read the following carefully: “The problems of the Tamil community are best known to the Tamils than any others. Any solution to our problems put forward by us…
Self Colonising …
Recently, I noticed an Q&A style article titled “India Is Colonising Itself” by Arundhati Roy and Shoma Chaudhuri. I thought the first Q and A was very interesting, and perhaps parts of…
The Amnesty Campaign: Taking the Eye Off the Ball
A lot of heat and indeed anger has been generated by the Amnesty International campaign‚ – Sri Lanka: Play By the Rules – timed to coincide with and targeted at the Cricket…
Any More Separation For TMVP?
TMVP is remembering their 3rd year of separation from the LTTE on April 10th 2004 when 175 Karuna cadres, including female cadres, were massacred in Verukal in an attack by the LTTE…
Language Barriers
When looking at the root causes of the Sri Lankan conflict, one issue that comes up time and time again is language. According to The Constitution, Sri Lanka’s national languages are Sinhala…
Robberies Increase In Jaffna
Gun-point robberies have increased in Jaffna. Town area houses are robbed day or night and even during curfew time. Last week some robbers went to a house during the day, introduced themselves…
නà·à¶œà¶±à·„ිර යූද්ධය à¶à·–ල à¶à¶±à·“වූ à·ƒà·à¶¸à·™à¶ºà·Š නගරය.
à·à·–ීලංකà·à·€ à¶à·–ල à¶à·€à¶¸à¶à·Š අà·à¶¯à·“යන ෙමි ඊළà·à¶¸à·’ යුද්්්්ධය ට දà·à¶±à·Š වසර 26 ක් ගà¶à·€à·’ à¶à·’ෙබි.ෙමම වසර 26 à¶à·”ල යුද්ධෙයන් බà·à¶§ කෑ අහිංසක ඡනà¶à·à·€à·™à¶œà·Š අවසන් බලà·à·™à¶´à·à·™à¶»à·à¶à·Šà¶à·”වද දà·à¶±à·Š ෙකෙමන් ෙකෙමන් දියෙවන්නට පටන් ෙගන අà·à¶. ෙමම…
Human Rights and a Political Settlement: Regime Defences Wearing Thin
The two main criticisms against the Rajapaksa regime relate to human rights and a negotiated political settlement of the conflict. In summary the charge is that the regime is unwilling to do…
Amnesty Campaign: Some quick thoughts
I never thought I’d say this, but I think Amnesty International has made a big mistake in launching its latest human rights campaign against Sri Lanka against the backdrop of the World…
Which comes first – Human Rights, Media or Terrorism?
Judging by his own standards and those laid down in public by his government, our incumbent President is Sri Lanka’s No. 1 “traitor”. In branding those who champion human rights in Sri…
A Marxist Perspective on Constitutional Reforms
Erik Olin Wright, in his interesting and insightful article entitled “Compass Points: Towards a Socialist Alternative†(in New Left Review No. 41, Sep-Oct, 2006), dissects the term “social†that has been present…
Peace professionals and War professionals
By Rajan Philips There has been a spate of writings on the political economy of war, particularly relating to the war on terror that President Bush has imposed on the world as…
Hypocrisy defined: Mahinda Chintanaya and Ranil in the 90’s and today
I am variously labeled in the media and was most recently called a traitor. Not the first time I’ve heard it and won’t be the last, but this time, it was because…