I begin my article with some quips and observations from friends and colleagues on Mangala’s new political party and his political vision as articulated by him to the media recently. Clearly, the field is not united in their appreciation of Mangala - some see him as a bold new visionary, others see old wine in new bottles. What is clear however is that his dramatic statements of late have created a stir in polity and society and people are talking about what this all means to the future of government in Sri Lanka as we know it today.

What is the true direction of Mangala’s aspirations? Is it possible, as reported in today’s Daily Mirror, that one can really expect …

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“Ignorance and prejudice are the handmaidens of propaganda, and in most modern conflict, the men of war prey on the ignorance of the populace to install fears and arouse hatreds.”
Sashi Tharoor, Bookless in Baghdad

Mark Whitaker captures well the perversity of Sri Lanka today in a compelling biography of murdered Tamil journalist Sivaram Dharmeratnam (Taraki) published recently. He writes that “…it is one of the peculiarities of Sri Lanka that a nation so lacking in effective political solutions has been, nevertheless, so replete with subtle, heartfelt and often accurate analyses of its own failures”. There is something terribly wrong when the politics of hate have and war have erased a wider appreciation of democracy and the vital cross-currents of …

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Unveiling his political vision for a ‘new Sri Lankan order’ this week, Mangala Samaraweera challenged Sri Lankans to envision a better future. Dare, he said, to dream which, as a rallying cry in these miasmic times, has an even more piquant ring to it in the Sinhalese ‘Sihinaye Abhiyogaya’.

The SLFP-Mahajana Wing’s discussion document is remarkable, both for its length, breadth and depth, and the fact that it has been produced by a Sri Lankan political party. Ideological conviction, articulacy, ideas, and policy debate – in short the pith and substance of democratic political leadership – are not things usually associated with the Sri Lankan political culture, and certainly not with its political parties. Yet this is …

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Last week’s revelation that Tamilnet had been blocked to Sri Lankan citizens took the country yet another step further away from media freedom, posing the question: How much worse must the situation become before things start to improve? It was against this bleak backdrop that journalists, academics and human rights activists and colleagues gathered at a memorial lecture which drew lessons from the life, as well as the death, of journalist Dharmaratnam Sivaram.
On the 28th April 2005, the 46 year old was abducted in broad daylight outside Bambalapitiya police station and his abandoned body was discovered the following day. Sri Lankan media and international journalists’ organizations condemned the murder as an attack on press freedom but one year later, the …

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To recap what has happened recently, 15 LTTE bodies were recovered on 22nd June in Toppigala while the government forces and LTTE both launched heavy artillery and mortar strikes at the front line. Kumburumoolai, Kinnayadi, Meeravodai in Valaichchenai and Chenkaladi army camp were also targeted by LTTE mortar strikes, according to military officials and residents in the area.
At the same time the TMVP landed cadres through the Pulipanchchakal Bridge in to the LTTE controlled area. There were confrontations between LTTE and TMVP. A TMVP cadre was injured and the LTTE withdrew from Pulipanchchakal, Ponduwalchenai, and Saaraweli and part of Vahanery south, according to the TMVP.
Government forces also landed through the Pullumalai area toward Toppigala LTTE base. Over 65% of LTTE-controlled …

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“There will be a political vacuum in the ethnic relations of this country as long as devolution is a non-starter, a mere word in the south. Despite the balance of forces, the cease-fire cannot survive for long in this political vacuum.”- Dharmeratnam Sivaram, 25.8.2004, ISGA Bashing: Much Ado about Nothing

Almost three years later, all’s manifest. Optics vis-à-vis the humanitarian dimension, are nothing short of egregious. The 2002 cease-fire agreement, as legit today as Eelam IV is undeclared, has taken shrapnel in every clause but 4.4, as the SLA pushes North, violence of the Tigers remaining silent, docile, implying guerilla strategy, weakness, or both.

In the contemporary context, there’s no trust between the parties or mutually recognized platform for talks, thus no …

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War, Abductions, killings, human rights violations, and evictions are synonyms widely used to describe the current situation in Sri Lanka especially in the international area. Are we facing the gravest period of Sri Lanka history? One would say the accusations lodged against country are accurate and the situation demands immediate intervention and another would argue that the situation in Sri Lanka is over played by Diplomats, NGO’s and the so called civil society activists who fill their coffers with dollars and euros showcasing a dire situation in the county.

As a Sri Lankan, then a Sinhalese and a Buddhist what ideology should I represent is a question that has been tormenting me for a while. To clarify my stand I referred …

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R.M.B Senanayake

Photo credit: Dinidu De Alwis

Hundreds of Tamils temporarily resident in Colombo in lodges were summarily bundled into buses and forcibly taken to the towns in the North & East. The Supreme Court has however issued a stay order on such evictions as they are a violation of the Fundamental Rights of the victims. The IGP tried to make out that the victims had gone of their own volition. But the Prime Minister has denied it and accepted the government’s responsibility for this gross violation of human rights. We commend the government for owning up and apologizing to our fellow citizens.

They cannot be looked upon as LTTE supporters merely …

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From Al Jazeera’s channel on YouTube. Also read Causing a storm in a tea plantation.

From UNHCR’s video channel on YouTube. Also read Maps of Shame.