The Dragon, a drama written by the late Russian playwright Eugene Schwartz, is a modern day political fairytale. It tells the story of Lancelot, who on his quest to slay the dragon, stumbles upon a community governed by a hierarchy of bureaucratic clowns who are using the dragon to cover up their own desire for power. Sound familiar?

It’s unlikely to be coincidental that the Sri Lankan Janakaraliya group of dramatists chose this piece as one of the adaptations that were performed when they took to the stage in Colombo, after two years of touring more remote areas of the island. In the same way that Schwartz himself demonstrated the repression, militarism, racism and brutality of his homeland under Stalin’s …

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During this year’s Vesak week in Sri Lanka, Buddhists celebrated the birth, life and death of their Lord. Principles were recalled: that it is a bad thing to drink alcohol, to eat meat or fish, to commit any crime against living beings. However, there were no messages about the protection of human life, or references to the principle of ahimsa for people; revealing a curious absence of concern or interest in the humanitarian disaster raging in the country. The last few months of undeclared war in the North and East have generated 300,000 IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) and, according to reports by human rights organisations, more than 4,000 people have been abducted and killed; while in the South families …

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By Kumar Rupesinghe

Normally it would seem that nobody wants to have war. War is so horrendous and so devastating that nobody in their right minds would want a war. But unfortunately, this is not the case. There are those who benefit from war and make enormous amounts of money. They are called the Merchants of Death.

Today, we will look at the Merchants of Death. These are companies and individuals who profit from war. They are very powerful in the world arena. There are large corporations and companies which focus on the manufacture of arms. These range from the Kalashnikovs to lethal weapons which can harm many. The range of weapons produced by the manufacturers is getting deadlier and more effective. …

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“Australia should add its voice to this call and put real pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to accept an international monitoring body. The conflict can only be resolved through dialogue, but peace talks won’t happen until there is effective and continued pressure applied by Australia and the international community to stop the human rights violations committed by all sides.”

Sam de Silva’s article Diaspora dilemmas: Australia and the Sri Lanka conflict, first published by the Nautlius Institute at RMIT in Australia, sketches the background of the conflict in Sri Lanka and the Australian government’s increasing concerns. The Tamil diaspora in Australia, de Silva argues,

“faces three main options: continue to promote their claim that the men were raising …

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My article is based on an encounter with two Sinhalese youth in Puttlam recently. Both had served in the Army. Both had lost limbs, though we didn’t find this out till much later. We listened silently as we sat on the bund and they recounted their stories of war, and their aspirations for peace.

When so many are clamouring for war and violence in Colombo, these two youth offered us a different viewpoint. Instead of hatred and violence, having seen enough of both perhaps, they told us they were sick of war and just wanted to live in peace.

It’s a simple message, but are we listening?

Read my article in Sinhala here.

Information sharing on various levels has become something of a modern day phenomenon, no doubt fuelled by the extensive use of the internet. Perhaps it is also a result of a heightened sense of anxiety that has taken a firm foothold since September the 11th, but the premise that the sooner we are aware or informed, the better positioned we will be to preempt bad things from happening to us, is a notion that practically everyone is familiar with. Of course, information sharing existed long before this, but the incident certainly played a part in pushing it to the forefront on such a global scale. However, this tool is not only used by intelligence, security and law enforcement agencies, but …

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The recent massacre of a family in Delgoda gripped the attention of the media recently. Reports today indicate that several houses of those suspected to be behind the massacre were torched by the local community. I link this senseless violence and brutality to society that is no longer moved by these events.

Sensationalism aside, do we really care? The Delgoda incident, the numbers of those killed in the battlefield, criminals shot by the Police, those abducted and murdered by persons unknown – we seem to be drawn to the events themselves, but are unable to see the clear erosion of a larger humanity.

All this, I argue, at a time when religious fervour is at unprecedented heights.

This is a sombre reflection, …

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The full title should have read, “I am an enemy of the State as defined by the Rajapaksa administration”. Truncation was not meant for sensational optics alone. The accusation is increasingly made by those in government that civil society and rights activists who question its bona fides are enemies of the State. Branded traitors and pariahs, activists have over the past year alone faced not just a hostile government, but an increasingly hostile public in the South, who starved of information in the public domain on the actions of this government that have seriously eroded the democratic fabric, do not understand why we stand in opposition to it. To be an enemy of the State is clearly not the …

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Update to the story published earlier.

FMM is relieved to report that former Journalist Pakkiyanathan Vijayashanthan who went mission yesterday noon, reported to Badulla Police station some 200 KM away from Colombo.

He had phoned his wife around 4.00 am this morning to say that he is at Badulla bus stand and colleagues who were waiting for nay news had advised him to report to the closest police station when he called again around 6.00 am.

According to our information he had been abducted by a group of people in a van, but how he found himself at Badulla bus stand is not yet known to the FMM.

FMM thanks government ministers, human rights organization here and abroad and especially media for their …

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From a Free Media Movement statement released last night:

Pakkiyanathan Vijayashanthan alias Vijayan, who had been a journalist and actor was reported missing today, 18th may 2007. He worked for a Tamil daily as a Trincomalee correspondent and later edited Samaadana Nokku, Tamil edition of Peace Monitor, a publication of the Centre for Policy Alternatives up to 2004. He was a part time actor, played a lead role in Tamil political drama. He left the country because of threatening environment and came back few months ago.

Vijayan (32) is married and father of two children.

FMM is shocked and dismayed that Vijayan who is a peaceful citizen, who was never involved in politics of violence, has been abducted in the broad daylight …

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රාතුි ඝනඅන්ධකාරය කපා හරිමින් , අවට වායුෙගා්ලය ෙදදරැමි කවමින් පුනරින් පුෙද්ශයට ඵල්ලවු ෙෂල් පුහාරයත් සමග මාෙග් සිෙත් යමි බියක් අැතිෙනාවුවා ෙනාෙවි.ෙකාළඹ පුෙද්ශෙය් ජිවත් වන අපට ෙමම පුහාරයන් අඵත් වුවත්,ෙමම පුෙද්ශයන් හි ජිවත් වන අපෙග් සෙහා්දර ජනතාවට ෙමම ශබිදයන් ඔවුන්ෙග් ජිවිතවල තවත් ඵක් ෙදයක් පමනි.
මා ෙමි සිටින ස්ථානයට මිට සති ෙදකකට පමන ෙපර ඵල්.ටි.ටි.ඊ.සංවිධානෙය් ෙෂල් පුහාරයක් සමග ගුවන් යානයක් උපෙයා්ගි කරගනිමින් ඵල්ල කිරිමට දැරෑ උත්සහය ලත්තැනම ෙලාප් විය.ඵල්.ටි.ටි.ඊ.ෙය් ගුවන් යානයට ෙමම අධිඅාරක්ෂිත කලාපෙය් අසලටවත් පැමිණිමට ඉඩ ෙනාදූන් බවඋසස් හමුදා නිළධාරිෙයක් මාහා පවසා සිටින ලදි.මා ෙමි පැමින සිටින්ෙන් යාපනය යුධහමුදා සංකිර්ණයටය.
අපෙග් ෙමම යාපනය සංචාරෙය් මුලික අරමුණ වුෙය් යාපනය වැසියන්ෙග් ඵදින් ඵදා ජනජිවිතෙය් පවතින ගැටලු ෙසායා බැලිම හා පුෙද්ශෙය අාරක්ෂක අංශ සහ මහජනතාව …

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These thoughts are triggered by the call for a Sri Lankan identity.

I am not convinced that Sri Lanka’s problems will go away if the people who live there identify themselves as Sri Lankans first. In fact, I find that idea quite problematic. A society should be able to live peacefully, respecting their neighbours despite their cultural differences.

In a past article on GroundViews, India was cited as an example of a ‘united’ people. I don’t know enough about India to comment too much – but I think in India, the critical mass (ie. population) of each of the cultural groups that make up the place ensures some kind of balance. And I bet there’s many small minorities that end …

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“But time is always guilty. Someone must pay for
Our loss of happiness, our happiness itself.”
(W.H. Auden, from ‘Detective Story’ in Collected Poems, 1991)

It would be interesting to ask W.H. Auden, who called the 20th Century ‘the age of anxiety’ how he would have seen the first years of the 21st Century. While the possibility of a World War is remote, the world remains a very different place to what visioned as recently as 1992, in the UN’s Agenda for Peace.

Today, fighting against terrorism has become the facetious couture of a seemingly bi-polar world which is either “with terrorists or against them”. Rhetoric and actions that claim to wipe and root out terrorism often disguise a vacuity in some of anti-terrorism’s …

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The general consensus at this year’s World Press Freedom Day celebrations was that there was, in fact, very little to celebrate. Instead, it was brought home once again how reporters, journalists and media personnel in this country continue to be assassinated and abducted and how not only individuals, but entire institutions are subjected to intimidation far too frequently. Four days before World Press Freedom Day 2007, at a time when journalists should have been reflecting upon achievements of the past year, Selvarajah Rajivarman, a journalist who joined the Jaffna based Uthayan newspaper four months ago as a reporter, was ruthlessly gunned down in the street. He had previously worked for Nawadu Eelanadu, which had to be closed down after …

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Pradeep Peiris, Anupama Ranawana, May 2007

The much awaited political proposal of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in now out. Even before the ink has dried it has attracted fierce criticism from every corner including the party’s past and present allies. Interestingly, and quite strategically, the government has attempted to present the proposal as something formulated only by the party – thereby distancing the administration from any kind of responsibility and/or blame. However, the JVP’s firebrand, Wimal Weerawansa has pointed out the pertinent fact that it is not only the SLFP’s proposal but also of that of the government as Rajapakse is the leader of both the party and the government. Some political analysts say that it …

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By R.M.B Senanayake.

Buddha preached ahimsa or non violence against all beings including animals. He intervened to settle a dispute between two rulers using negotiation instead of allowing war to take place.

Jesus Christ said “love your enemies, do good to them that hate you” Are we to ignore these teachings? My friend Thilak Wijesinghe’ seems to think so. He argues that Buddha only provides a way of individual salvation. It may be true that Buddhism has not engaged itself in social questions although I don’t agree entirely. But is religion to be confined to the private realm and not exercise any influence on social questions and their resolution. The monks do not often take this stand consistently. Some agitate for banning …

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This article is based on the recent case on the Pay Hike for MPs. The Supreme Court was divided in rejecting the application made by Weliamuna. The S.C did not give reasons as they should. This response is based on an article which was published in the Island newspaper as a letter from me on the judgment on case. The case was filed by Weliamuna on behalf of trade unions. I give below an opinion received from a lawyer in Australia- M/s Sonali Fernando, formerly from Sri Lanka.

The MPs Pay Hike Case – An Opinion from Australia
I refer to Mr R.M.B. Senanayake’s letter requesting for advice from lawyers about the S.C. judgment in the Pay Hike which was published in …

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Taken from the Editorial in the Catholic Messenger of the 29th April 2007

The Indian newspaper Hindustan Times commenting on the statement issued by the Vatican quoted thus: “According to the Vatican communiqué, the Pope told President Rajapakse that in the light of the current situation in Sri Lanka, there was a need to respect human rights and restart negotiations, as this was the only way to put an end to the violence that had “bloodied the island”. Furthermore the Vatican Communiqué states “The Catholic Church which offers a significant contribution to the life of the community will intensify the commitment to form consciences, with the sole aim of favoring the common good, reconciliation and peace.”
We reluctantly and sadly refer to …

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Click here for a larger version.

Graphed from data on Reuters Alertnet, the chart above covers the period from 21.9.2006 to 10.5.2007.

It’s an wretched contest to be in, but over the past couple of months, reportage on Sri Lanka’s humanitarian crises have on several occasions overshadowed that of Darfur. What does this war mean to the people behind the statistics?

I graphed this after chancing upon an old Groundviews post of mine, Maps of Shame.

The photo above was taken at a busy intersection in Colombo.

How much are we willing to sacrifice to root out the LTTE? Are they the only terrorists in Sri Lanka? What of the President’s own countenance of human rights abuses? What about the allegations of child conscription in the East? What about the President’s brother and his behaviour? Does anyone in this government have their children fighting this war (apart from we all know who, now comfortably residing in England)? Why doesn’t the JVP mobilise its young supporters to go fight and win the war? Why doesn’t at least one monk from the JHU immolate himself to support the violence that they …

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