Traders on Jaffna Stanley Road are badly affected by the closure of the road. The road is closed for public usage for security reasons and only pedestrians are allowed to use it. Even bicyles are not allowed by forces.

Two major offices are situated on the road. One is the EPDP Jaffna office. The other is the 512 brigade (town commanders office). But otherwise, there are hardware shops, motor spare parts shops, paint shops, motor bike show rooms etc. Officials at the Chamber of Commerce in Jaffna said more than 200 shops lost their business. It is the Wall Street of Jaffna.

One leading hardware owner said he had 62 employees but now just 14 people as he had to terminate jobs …

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ගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමනි. අධ්‍යාපන ඇමතිතුමනි විශ්ව විද්‍යාල ප‍්‍රතිපාදන කොමිසමේ සභාපතිතුමනි විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයට යෑමට සියලූ සුදුසුකම් තිබු මේ දැරීයට එය අහිමි වුයේ පදිංචි දිස්ති‍්‍රක්කය වැරදීම නිසාද? එය මකා දමා හෝ නැවත අයදුම් පතක් ගෙන්වා ගෙන හෝ මේ තරුණියව විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයට ගන්න යුතුකමක් අදාල නිලධාරීන්ට නොසිතුනේ මන්ද? මෙවන් දුප්පත් දරුවන්ට මේ රටේ ඇති එකම අවස්ථාව ඉගෙන ගැනීම නොවන්නේ ද? ගුරුවරු රැුකියාවට නොයන ඇගේ ප‍්‍රදේශයේ දරුවන්ට ඉගෙන්වීමට ඇයට හෝ අවස්ථාව නොදෙන්නේ වැලිකන්දේ ඊළඟ පරම්පරාවන් නුගත් කමේ ගිල්ලවත්නට ද? නො එසේනම් ඔවුන් අධ්‍යාපනය ලබා ලෝකය පිළිබඳව අවබෝධ වූ විට මේ රටේ බලධාරීන් ලෙස ඔබලා ඔවුන්ට කළ අසාධාරණය ඔවුන් තේරුම් ගත්හ නිසාද? මේ අහිංසක දැරිය වෙනුවට කාගේ හෝ හෙංචයියෙකුගේ නුසුදුසු කෙනෙකු අද විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය තුළ ඉගෙන ගන්නා බවද අපි දනිමු ඇයට ඔබලා සාධාරණය ඉටු කරන තෙක් …

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මළ ජූලි හතකින්වත් පාඩමක් ෙනා ගන්නා…

Photo credit: Tamilnation.org

My article deals with the social and political after-effects of one of the most despicable episodes in Sri Lankan history – the ethnics riots of July 1983. I examine how in the intervening years, Sri Lanka’s political establishment has failed to address the growth of hate and violence, and how even certain sections of the religious establisment now see and promote war and violence as viable means to peace. Sections of the Buddhist clergy are notable in this regard.

We also see that in combatting the terrorism of the LTTE, we have now already unquestioningly entertained the growth of political terrorism. Terror against terror defines the age we live …

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ඉන්දු ලංකා ගිවිසුම (1987 ජූලි- 2007 ජූලි):
අවස්ථාවක්ද? බලහත්කාරයක් ද?

“ඉන්දු ලංකා ගිවිසුමෙහි දසවන සංවත්සරය අවස්ථාව පෙන්නුම් කරන්නේ එහි අරමුණ වු ජනවාර්ගික ගැටළුවට දේශපාලන විසඳුමක් සොයා ගැනීමෙහි ලා ශී‍්‍ර ලංකාව ඇදහිය නොහැකි තරම් ආපස්සට ගමන් කර ඇති අන්දම ය.”

In this article I go back in time and look at the Indo-Lanka Accord the the dynamics of State power against the LTTE that was the lasting result of it. I speak of the battles that followed, examine the constitutional dynamics of the Acoord and the resulting system of governance, the political regimes in the South who variously interpreted the 13th Amendment, the way the Accord influenced war and peace in Sri Lanka and finally, a series of lost opportunities in the past …

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වික්ටර් අයිවන්ට පිළිතුරක් : තවත් බොහෝ දේ තිබේ
උවිඳු කුරුකුලසූරිය

“සාපරාධී අපහාස නීතියට එරෙහිව මෙන්ම ජනමාධ්‍ය නිදහස වෙනුවෙන්ද වික්ටර් අයිවන් විශාල වැඩ කොටසක් කර ඇති බව අවිවාදිතය. එහෙත් ඒ සියල්ල තමන් තනිවම කළ ඒවා ලෙස සැලකීම හොඳ නැත. අනෙක් අතට පසුගිය වසර වන තෙක් වික්ටර් අයිවන් නිදහස් මාධ්‍ය ව්‍යාපාරයේ ලේකම්, කැඳවුම්කරු, උපලේකම් ආදී විවිධ තනතුරු දරා ඇත. එමෙන්ම
කර්තෘ සංසදයේද සාමාජිකයෙකු ලෙස කටයුතු කර ඇත. ශී‍්‍ර ලංකා පුවත්පත් ආයතනයේ අධ්‍යක්‍ෂවරයෙකු ලෙස කටයුතු කර ඇත. මාධ්‍ය සංවිධාන යමක් නොකළා යැයි කියමන සත්‍යයක් නම් එයට ඔහුද වගකිව යුතුය.”

My article is a response to Victor Ivan’s recent spate of letters in Ravaya on criminal defamation in Sri Lanka. I suggest to the reader that Mr. Ivan’s submission that he was the sole voice of dissent …

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A litany of socio-political problems we face today can directly or indirectly be traced back to the existence and growth of corruption. Bordering on criminality, exacerbating extreme poverty, stifling economic development and ultimately frustrating democracy and good governance, corruption – from bribery and extortion to fraud and nepotism – is a wretched phenomenon that progressively wastes Sri Lanka’s social, economic and political potential. Addressing it requires a holistic approach that looks at the interdependence of the Executive, Parliament, Judiciary, public institutions, private interests and civil society initiatives.

This video, part of a larger media campaign conducted by the Anti-Corruption Programme of ARD has details of a …

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Shanthi Sachithanandam

“There is among the Ceylon Moors diverse opinion on this question in this house and throughout the country. Those who are living in the Sinhalese areas are definitely for the Bill. Some of them are most enthusiastic. But my own view is that, in the final analysis the choice for us is between two masters one of whom is not so hard a task-master…”
A.H. Macan Markar, MP Kalkudah electorate
Speaking on the Sinhala Only Bill in 1956.

This was during the post colonial period. The Southern Muslim political leaders, who formed the mainstream of that community’s politics, did choose their master, whom they considered not so hard a task master; or rather, to put it in another way, the master who …

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In the past two months Hugh Masekela and Afroreggae have given sold-out concerts in the Barbican. But this note is not about jazz or reggae; it traces some reverberations and reflections these events evoked.

Hugh Masekela, the famous trumpet player, used his music as a channel of contribution to the freedom struggle of his people. He was a significant figure in the group of exiles who brought the evils of apartheid to world-wide attention. His rhythms, derived from South African traditions and integrated into jazz, were a soundtrack for the decades of resistance and rebellion that finally brought freedom to South Africa. Now 68, his passion and commitment have not declined and that spirit continues to resound powerfully through his …

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Here is an extract from “Emergency ’58 – The Story of the Ceylon Race Riots”, a book Tarzie Vittachi wrote in 1958.

Between eight and ten o’clock that morning the situation all over the country, notably in Colombo district, Kurunegala, Polonnaruwa and the Batticaloa—Eravur area had deteriorated so badly that even the stoutest heart and most cynical mind could not possibly help quailing at the continuance of this barbarism. In Colombo Fort, Pettah and Colombo South the thugs ran amok, beating up people who wore their shirts over their vertis, Tamil fashion. They stopped pedestrians and passing cars looking for ear-ring holes in men’s ears. It was impossible to disguise these marks of early parental affection and many Tamils …

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R.M.B Senanayake

The Supreme Court is looking into the Education Ministry circular on School Admissions. According to a writer in the Daily News the court wants to ensure equal treatment for all children. Presently the school admissions are based on several quotas – for children of past students, neighborhood or area based quota, preference for siblings of children already in the school etc.

There is no doubt that the best principle would be to admit on ability. But ability cannot be checked at the primary entrance level since the children are too small.

To my mind the principle of equality of opportunity cannot be ensured in the present scheme of things unless there is fairness in allocating public money, teachers and other resources …

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All videos posted on Groundviews (and hosted on Youtube) can now be found at Video Stories. We will add new content to the Groundviews channel regularly from videos uploaded by other content providers as well as those created specifically for Groundviews.

Stay tuned!

Donna E. Chung, Ph.D.
International Trade and Labour Compliance Advisor
Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.
Washington, D.C.

20 July 2007

On 15 July 2007, just one day before the deadline, a judicial appeal was filed to save Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan teenager, from facing execution in Saudi Arabia. Had this deadline passed without an appeal, the nineteen-year-old would have faced public beheading, after receiving no legal representation and accused of a crime she, at most, became party to through a tragic accident while working as a child in a foreign country.

Compared to another case in which three Sri Lankans were sentenced to death two years ago and executed last February in Saudi Arabia without any legal representation, it is good that Rizana …

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පුරවැසි සටහන්: ඩලස් ඔබට ඇහෙනවාද?

My first post on public transport in Sri Lanka (see Dallas – Are you listening?) ended with a challenge to the Minister of Transport to do something about the dilapidated public transport mechanisms.

Part 2 brings out more examples of a dysfunctional system that subjects thousands of citizens to hellish commutes every single day. I point to the existence of mafias of private bus owners as well as political ineptitude that has led to the dramatic decline in transport services. No amount of complaints by the general public seem to alleviate their suffering. All promises to reform the system have failed.

Once again I appeal to the current Minister of Public Transport – try to make …

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The 28 minute documentary “Wars and Waves: Sri Lanka’s internally displaced” that was produced by COHRE, and directed and written by me, is available online.

There was a small private launch a week ago in Colombo. COHRE plans to do a larger public screening followed by a discussion in the coming weeks.

The purpose of the film is to highlight Sri Lanka’s IDP issue. The film will be used by COHRE as an advocacy tool, and by its network partners to provoke discussion about the issue. It’s primarily aimed at an international audience.

Description of film:
In Sri Lanka, a natural disaster and ongoing conflict have displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Those who lost everything to …

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“I have a moral duty to pacify wherever there is irritation given to the Sinhalese. I have a duty to pacify them and tell them our people are at your mercy. They are running away from the LTTE’s atrocities – you have a duty to protect them” says Anandasangaree in this Al Jazeera video that has sparked some interesting commentary on its channel on YouTube.

“Then why the hell are we at war?”

So blurted out a person next to me at a meeting recently on Federalism in Colombo, at which Bimal Ratnayake said that even if the last member of the LTTE was killed, Sri Lanka would never attain peace. For my thoughts on the capture of Thoppigala and the context to Bimal’s statement, read my article in full here (in Sinhala).

Ranil Wickramasingha and his party spokespersons are quite worried these days about the way in which Toppigala operation was carried out by the security forces. Wickramasinghe’s initial position is capturing Thoppigala is useless exercise as it is worthy only for collectors of fire-woods. As I have no knowledge in military strategy and I have no idea to get access to that sphere of knowledge, I do not wish to comment on that. Ranil Wickramasinghe and his associate Lakshman Kiriella, MP for Kandy, came up with another criticism about Thoppigala operation. They alleged that the security forces allow the LTTE leaders including Ramesh and its cadres to escape from Thoppigala with all military hardware that includes multi-barrel …

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This columnist has been associated for the past several years with that much-maligned minority that can be broadly labelled ‘liberal federalists’ on the question of peace and constitutional reform in Sri Lanka. Allowing for individual nuances of emphasis and premise, Sri Lankan liberal federalists are those who have advocated (a) a negotiated resolution to the ethnic conflict (b) along the lines of a federal-type constitutional settlement that accommodates the secessionist ethno-territorial Tamil minority in the North and East (c) within a united Sri Lanka through regional autonomy and power-sharing at the centre. The key assumptions of this worldview are that a politically liberal conception of a unified Sri Lankan citizenship is both possible and desirable, that this notion of citizenship …

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Source of cartoon: Daily Mirror July 14 2007

So, Thoppigala the seemingly last bastion of the LTTE in the East has been liberated and now the East is ‘open’ for ‘development’. In the usual brash manner this victory was celebrated with little sensitivity to those civilians in the East who have been in the direct line of fire during the last few months. The military victory however comes with a heavy price tag.

Firstly the LTTE have made public threats of attacks against economic hubs on the island in the coming days. This causes further social instability, fear and hysteria among the local civilians, feelings of unrest and pressure on the security forces protecting Colombo. An already reeling economy …

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Groundviews was able to obtain footage of a scene the Public Performance Board of Sri Lanka seeks to completely remove from Sathyajith Maitipe’s film Scent of the Lotus Pond. In a review of the film on Groundviews recently, Prassana Ratnayake (Protecting Culture or Fishing in Troubled Waters?) avers:

The Sri Lankan Public Performance Board operates under the Ministry of Defence. Their brief is to keep an eye on anything they considered might damage Culture or interfere with National Security. It strikes me as ironically amusing that this authority thinks it can protect national culture and security by banning several sex scenes from a film. Whose culture are they trying to protect? Who’s security? The fantasy that the Public Performance …

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