My article is in solidarity with the on-going peoples uprising in Myanmar (Burma), led by the Buddhist clergy. In their hundreds of thousands, they have marched across the country and in the capitol Rangoon, to demonstrate against the brutal military junta that denies them democratic governance and basic human freedoms.

I examine the history of the democratic struggle in Myanmar and begin my article with a statement by Aung San Suu Kyi speaking at the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995. I note that her house arrest is a damning indicator of the junta’s intolerance of democracy. As another author on Groundviews notes:

Seventeen years since elections, the elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has since been …

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The United National Party has changed its policy on ethno-political question and stated that it would withdraw from a federal type solution to a unitary solution that would be based on the 13th Amendment to the Second Republic Constitution. Clarifying this change, its spokesperson, Ravi Karunanayake, even used words decentralization and devolution as synonym. At a meeting in Monaragala, Ranil Wickramasinghe talked about adopting a policy framework that is doable. This change in UNP policies may be a shock to Colombo civil society, but it would not be a shock for someone who carefully observed the political line of Ranil Wickramasinghe since 1987. He took anti-Indo-Lanka Accord position in 1987; he refused to participate fully Parliamentary Select Committee procedure in …

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(This article was partly inspired by this article on Homosexuality, Buddhism and Sri Lankan Society)

Quote from cited article:

“A noble disciple should reflect like this: ‘If someone were to have sexual intercourse with my spouse I would not like it. Likewise, if I were to have sexual intercourse with another’s spouse they would not like that. For what is unpleasant to me must be unpleasant to another, and how could I burden someone with that?”

This is also the kind of thinking embodied in the “Golden Rule” – “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you”.

The problem that I see with this philosophy (am I taking things too literally?) is that it prescribes a process where an individual …

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TMVP leader V.Muralitharan alias Karuna leaves country to Briton few days ago leaving Pillayan for TMVP administration says several sources. At the same time Moulana reappointed as TMVP spokesman in place of Mahesh. Karuna, Pillayan issue was big headache for government and other anti LTTE groups earlier, as well as inside the TMVP.
Few cadres were killed from both sides in last few months. Finally Pillayan controlled the Trincomalee District, while Batticaloa, Ampara was under control of Karuna’s faction.
The TMVP cadres were mentally tired regarding the deviation.
However Pillayan mostly focused on political wise as well as military from beginning. He received the goodwill and trust from the Tamil, Muslim communities and within the TMVP.
After the deviation few Karuna cadres created …

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Peace and normalcy are two essential or even sole ingredients for individual and family happiness and community development. Conflicts and commotions, social upheavals and political unrest denial of equal opportunities and inequality, suppression or oppression of one community over other are some of the dangerous social evils that barricade the social, economic and cultural development of nations. Further if this situation is to persist for long, it severely affects the mental and physical activities of the entire communities.

Before the out break of the current internal strife, more than two decades ago, there was comparatively peace and normalcy, leaving aside the peaceful political agitations. We have witnessed a wider window of openings for social, cultural and religion activities which promoted a …

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Suren Raghavan

In the recent past, once again, the conceptual debate of a (direct) international intervention in the ethnic conflict of Sri Lanka has emerged with some raciness. What began with the international campaign by AI1 during the Cricket World Cup season has advanced to a translucent rationalization by advocates like Gareth Evans2 and the last addition, a haunting episode around the interview of John Holmes the UN under secretary for human rights?3 Disparate reactions have filled the political air. There are at least four manifestations.

1. The nationalists in the south have damned the thought as another ‘jathyanthra kumantranayak’ while their northern counterparts have espoused it.
2. The GOSL, led by its flagrant defence secretary and the uncouth members of the cabinet …

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Fear of the “Other” has been systematically injected into the Sri Lankan population. Fear is the tool wielded by the political elite to control the masses and is created mainly through conditioning the masses to believe that their identities, cultures and ways of life are constantly under attack by the “Other” and creating a need to be “protected”. The political elite altruistically volunteer to “protect” the masses against these attacks by any means necessary. In Sri Lanka the means chosen is military.

The high military presence in and around Colombo, check points, house to house searches, raids on lodges and rest houses, parcels of explosives and a highly visible presence of weapons and artillery along the main streets of commercial Colombo …

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My article deals with the decrepit condition of the medical profession in Sri Lanka today. Notwithstanding the dedication of some in the profession, the overwhelming perception is that the profession is reaked in corruption and malpractice. I include in my article several anecdotes I heard recently regarding the levels of corruption amongst doctors. There are strong rumours that those who have stood up against the corruption have been killed.

I ask what can be done in this situation to address this growth of corrupt practices. Please read my article in full, in Sinhala, here or download it as a PDF here.

In Vilunthamavadi, one fisherman said he saw a baby goat tied to the sand swept atop a 100-foot high water tank, 50 meters away in the blink of an eye. In P.R. Puram, another said the second wave, blurred ocean and sky in a sheet of indigo-noire, and the third wave’s aftermath left human and cattle corpses strewn in coconut trees, on the beach, on tea shop roofs, over potholes, in the ponds, swallowing villagers like a hungry elephant, its tide dragging them out to sea like the elephant’s trunk while it eats.

The 2004 tsunami, causing much devastation to coastal districts of South India, almost 4 years later, still afflicts a string of Panchayats along Tamil Nadu’s southeastern coast. Local …

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I started off this piece as a comment to Mr. Liyanage’s post which appeared on Groundviews yesterday (13 Septmber 2007) titled ‘Are we going to make the same mistake after 35 years’ but decided to post it in separate given its lengthiness.

Regarding Mr. Liyanage’s wishful thinking that Mahinda is not stead fast on maintaining the unitary character of the state.
While the interpretation given to the Mahinda Chinthanaya is fairly interesting unfortunately I don’t think we need to go into a finer details and employ tools of interpretation of what the Chinthanaya says in this regard - reading this part of the Mahinda Chinthanaya with that part of the Mahinda Chinthanaya and so on. It was quite clear what the populist …

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Chamath Ariyadasa

The coverage by the media of yesterday’s earthquake near Indonesia might be of interest to some readers, and as the editor of JNW, Sri Lanka’s first SMS news agency, I thought of penning my personal opinion and raising some issues that could be discussed further.

My biggest concern at the moment, as a journalist, is getting access to the initial tip off from authorities on an impending disaster and the subsequent official news messages in a timely manner so that they can be passed on to the public as fast as possible.

There isn’t an email or SMS alert system in place, that I know of, that could easily meet this need. I know of the Met Dept website (http://www.meteo.slt.lk/Tswarn.html) …

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The discussions at the All-Party Representative Committee (APRC) have taken a significant turn in the last two three weeks and its indefatigable chairman, Minister Tissa Vitharana, appears to have given in to the pressure of the Sinhala nationalist elements. All the signals show that the APRC final report would suggest that the unitary character of the Sri Lankan state be preserved. The expectations that Minister Vitharana would at the end of the day be able to reveres the incorrect move taken by his senior colleague, late Dr Colvin R de Silva, 35 years ago would remain unfulfilled. The pressure has come from the three Sinhala nationalist parties, Janata Vimikthi Peramuna, Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and Jathika Hela Urumaya, …

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12 Sep 2007 12:31:03 GMT
Source: Reuters

COLOMBO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka issued a tsunami alert on Wednesday for its north, south and eastern districts following a major earthquake in Indonesia, the National Disaster Management Centre said.
“We have issued a warning for the south, north and east after the quake,” Keerthi Ekanayake, an official at the centre told Reuters. Sri Lanka was battered by the 2004 tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean rim.

- Reuters story ends -

Update #1 (7.00pm): Read the alerts issued on JNW and also visit their site for updates.

Update #2 (7.15pm): Reuters news alert SMS thru Dialog says “Small tsunami hit Indonesia’s Padang, Sri Lanka expects small tsunami by 7.30 - Disaster Management Centre”

Update #3: (7.34pm): …

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The diplomatic offensive of the government is in full swing even though there continues to be confusion as to who speaks authoritatively for it on the matters of war, peace and human rights – the Foreign Minister, other assorted cabinet ministers, the defence secretary, the foreign secretary, the secretary general of the peace secretariat or the ambassador in Geneva. It would not matter much if they all had their role to play in the communication of government policy as long as they all said the same thing. This though is not the case and it is not merely restricted to the dishing out of invective and verbal abuse to international officials a la Fernandopulle. There is also …

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Recently, the group Beyond Borders – a networking initiative of the British Council for young people in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, UK and Sri Lanka - organised a presentation by Professor Christopher Lingle in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Being a fan of cultural globalisation and liking the idea internationalisation – I was eager to attend.

Sadly, Lingle’s presentation, titled “Globalisation and Cultural Change”, came across to me as a rant by a neoliberal-aligned ‘evangelist’ than a talk by a neoliberal-aligned academic. I don’t have a problem with academics presenting their views and ideas, but Lingle’s style and substance was superficial and very disappointing.

Globalisation and culture are fascinating fields. Unfortunately, Lingle simplified the topic by asserting at the very beginning that the only way …

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The tragedy of Sri Lanka today is such that the government’s shrill response to the assessment of Sri Lanka’s dire humanitarian and human rights situation by Sir John Holmes, Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator was, regrettably, expected – only the degree of the petulance was surprising. While the Government’s war efforts continue apace and North-bound, its interest in strengthening and securing human rights mechanisms continues to wane. That this erosion in human rights mechanisms in Sri Lanka is taking place with near total impunity and in the full glare of international actors poses significant challenges for conflict transformation. It is argued that the most virulent of criticism against NGOs, INGOs, humanitarian organizations including the UN and international …

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President Mahinda is checking the Jaffna peoples’ pulse. Now security forces take census in Jaffna. They collect all the informations Address, ID No, educational qualifications, designation, phone No, mobile No, Bicycle, motorbike No, everything from each family members. The last question soldiers asked each house, future election you will support to whom?
Separately, sometimes security forces are doing local administration works also. Jaffna town Commander ordered all the bicycle holders should take bicycle licences before 10th of this month. If anyone ride bicycles without, the bicycles to be taken by forces. All the bicycle holders hurry to take the licences. One pradeshiya saba clerk said he issued more than 150 bicycle licence daily, some times he can’t control the crowd.

It has now become evident that the govt. is pursuing a silent policy of attempting to capture the Northern-held rebel territory (contrary to our travelling Foreign Minister’s remarks - no surprises there, of course). But a thinking citizen may ponder on a number of significant questions which arise out of this strategy.

First and foremost would be is ‘is our military - our Air Force, our Army and our Navy - capable of actually capturing the Wanni?’ In my opinion, the only notable credit to this govt. is the capture of the East and hats off to our Armed Forces for that. One, then, would not fully blame the govt. of being confident of doing the same in the North. Of course, I am assuming that the …

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My article රෑපවාහිනය, රනිල් සහ ජනමාධ්‍ය (Rupavahini, Ranil and the media) brings to light the decrepit nature of State media through a recent personal encounter.

Promised that my response to Rupavahini on a recent statement made by Ranil Wickremesinghe criticizing three key Editors of newspapers, I was deeply saddened to note that the broadcast censored what I had to say about the deterioration of media freedom and the severe intimidation many journalists have to face. I also noted that the Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association, Sanath Balasooriya, also had his statement to Rupavahini severely censored.

By attempting to teach Ranil a lesson or two in media ethics, what was evident is that Rupavahini itself is in dire …

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