In response to the appearance of posters in Colombo promising generous cash rewards for would be suicide bombers who gave themselves up, Sri Lanka’s military spokesman, Brig Udaya Nanayakkara, said last Friday (28th March) in a BBC news report that the police were investigating the posters.

“He said there was no answer when he had called the number himself and he suspected it was a hoax.” (Emphasis mine)

In an absurd turn of events that beggars belief, the Daily Mirror reports today that it was in fact the Defense Ministry itself that had put up these posters!

“Those posters had been put up by the Ministry of Defence and accordingly, now there is an opportunity to all would-be suicide bombers to …

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Responding to a friend’s inquiry on my silence I realised how much I valued being away from home. I actually responded saying I was out and glad to keep away from the madness when he asked me how I was keeping and why he hadn’t heard from me.

Of course I was looking forward to seeing my family and friends. But I hurriedly forwarded the various mails to a few interested contacts and deleted them without reading them myself. I wanted a respite from the situation reports from this or that place, the press releases by this or that body condemning this or that attack.

I felt the reverse of what someone returning home after a stay abroad would probably feel. I …

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This video clip contains a brief interview with A.L Thavam – Chairperson of Akkaraipattu Pradeshiya Saba (local government).

It is presented here as is, without analysis or comment.

Summary of the interview.

• Feels that Batticoloa election was successful because of the lack of incidents, and says therefore Government has been successful in liberating the Eastern Province.
• Acknowledges there may have been ‘little incidents’ but says these do not carry significance when the bigger picture is considered.
• Says that if the people did not want to vote, they could have made a mark on the ballot paper and submitted it – in effect, just pretended to vote. But says the number of these …
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By K. Ratnam

It is as if the city of Batticaloa has become a red hot furnace due to the scorching sun. Yet at high noon there is a pall of gloom that hangs over the city. People who have come to attend to their requirements are wandering about hither and thither in a mighty hurry to get back as if a storm were expected any time.

It is likely their only objective is to achieve their needs and leave the city as fast as possible.

What is happening in Batticaloa these days?
If the Government is asked this question, a probable response would be: “these days we are sowing the seeds of democracy.” In other words, they hope to widen the limits of …

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Prominant Civil Socity activist and Lawyer Nimalka Fernando speaks on the withdrawal of IIGEP (International Independent Group of Eminent Persons) and its implications for human rights protection in Sri Lanka.

An armed group abducted my younger brother this month. He was 25 years old. They came in a van in early February at around 8.30 in the night.

I am the eldest son in my family and I returned to Mannar after my marriage. After one year I told my parents to come down to Sri Lanka since a ceasefire agreement was signed between LTTE and the government. They returned to Mannar after 12 years from India.

As soon as he was abducted I informed the ICRC, FCE, Citizen Committees and CHA. My abducted brother is the youngest in our family. He neither knows nor has any connection with any militant group.

Yet he was abducted.

We searched all over but we could not …

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I am the director of a convent in Madhu. Our convent was shifted from Adampan to Madhu at the end of January this year due to the heavy shelling & aerial attacks by the security forces. There were 25 school children with me in the convent in Madhu including 300 families also sheltered at the Church compound. The students at the Madhu Church used to travel in the bus that used to set off at Madhu at 7.30am toward Thadchanamadhu School.

On 28th January this year, I had to go to Killinochchi to get a pass. I told the convent children not to go to school in my absence. Only one student from my convent went for basketball practice. On the …

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Puthiyavan

A recent survey conducted by a social organisation in Savatkadu, Anaikodai Jaffna under a the supervision of a psychiatrist, revealed the silent suffering of generations who’ve witnessed the war first hand.

The killings, abductions and disappearances that take place daily have contributed to decades of mental agony which are finally taking its toll in the manifestation of an aggressive society.
The survey revealed that the majority of young widows had lost their husbands due to killings or abductions. All the young widows were with mental depression.

Their children in the age group of 1- 10 years displayed signs of stubbornness, urinating in the bed, and pain in the limbs. However it was indicated in the survey that these disorders were purely psychological impacts …

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‘Cries from Puttalam’
For those familiar with the fairytales of the Grimm Brothers, the story of the young girl who equals her love for her father to her love for salt is no doubt a resounding one. Banished from her home by a wounded father who assumes her love for him to be trivial, she later gains grace when he realises the true depth of her love for him.

However, for the Muslim refugees of Puttalam, life is no fairytale. The situation is certainly grim, and the taste of salt is now bitter.

For these Muslims, who once led peaceful and productive lives in the north of the country, their lives were shattered when they were ordered to leave their homes in just …

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The history of democracy is a history of evolution. In Britain the King was the Head of the Executive. There was the legal principle that ‘the king can do no wrong’. It was a Royal Prerogative to appoint Ministers and officials and dismiss them at his will and pleasure. But Parliament got the King to agree to the principle of ‘no taxation without representation’.

But what if the tax revenue was wasted by the King and his Court? That would be unfair by the people. But Parliament could not punish the King for such misdeeds. So Parliament hit upon the principle that although the King had an absolute privilege to appoint his officials Parliament could hold them accountable for financial misdemeanors …

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There is much hype by the government spokesmen about how they held an election in the East for local authorities and restored democracy. Now the government is holding a Provincial Council election. They argue that however imperfect the democracy it is a step in the right direction. But how valid is this viewpoint.

The basic premise of democracy is that the people decide who will be their rulers. But this choice must be freely exercised. If there is no freedom of choice then it can’t be considered as an expression of democracy. The former Soviet Union held regular elections to decide on the members of the Parliament. But no one considered such elections a free exercise of choice. Why? Because freedom …

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What do enlightened citizens make of the happenings in our country today- the antics of Dr Mervyn Silva, the failure of the IGP and the Polcie to arrest him or even question him and stop his path of inflicint terror on media personnel firstly on Rupavahini workers and now on Sirasa reporters?

Any criticism of the government and its record of violations of human rights media freedom and norms of good governance is met with one answer by Government spokesman. It is a conspiracy with the LTTE by the opponents to discredit the government which is winning the war against the LTTE. It is all a conspiracy by foreign powers to stop the war. Those who stand up against the …

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The news that a retired SLA General is considered as chairperson of Rūpaváhini (SLRC) comes as a terrifying antidote to the remaining freedom of expression in the decomposing democracy in Sri Lanka. The background leading to this decision and the way the current regime has decided to respond is a decisive reflection of the strategies preferred by the rules of Lanka and their advisors.

There is little doubt, that media is one of the most interactive civic passages in any modern secular democracy. It is for this reason that illiberal and anti democratic rulings is often reflected in their desire to manipulate and construct a pretentious freedom. Dictatorship towards media is an early sign of a rule that has a demonstrative …

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Lionel Bopage speaks on the evolution of the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE) and Prabharakan’s role in making the outfit what it is today. Lionel Bopage was a former General Secretary of the JVP and was involved with the party since 1968 until his resignation in 1984.

Other related contributions by Lionel Bopage to Groundviews can be found here.

See also Prabakaran’s Role in Tamil National Struggle: Interview with Shanthi Sachithanandan.

For other compelling videos with alternative perspectives on war, peace and governance, visit the Vikalpa Video Channel on YouTube.

I remember an evening
flavoured by my mother’s
cooking, bringing
two smart patriots
together, to speak
about devolution
not yet realized,
accommodate
what makes sense
seeing the island
from afar, the only
way forward,

two dear friends
who met then
for the first time.
Now, one is laid
to rest, and
the other engages
readers still
to think afresh
about slow or fast
bombs, double-speak,
cynical tongues, how
to bring more than

twenty five years
of war to an end
before all our parties
break up and families
gather, with shot-gun
shells and confetti
to scatter, at weddings
held on holy ground
beside gravestones
where fathers and
brothers, mothers
and sisters are buried.

Indran Amirthanayagam, March 16, 2008

Dr. Rohan Edirisinghe, in a recent paper he compiled quoted G.K. Chesterton in ‘The Point of a Pin’ – it isn’t that they don’t see the solution, it’s that they can’t see the problem. This line echoed in my head for all the nights that I sat on stage observing the audience during Ruwanthie De Chickera’s ‘Forum at the Punchi’ last week.

For the unitiated forum theatre is a dramatic genre which compels the audience to involve themselves in the action on stage, suggesting methods in which the plot and characters can develop. Ideally, the play begins with what is known as a ‘stem’ scene, which leads the characters upto a point of crisis, which the audience is then presented with. …

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The Rupavahini workers are being assaulted by goons. The workers allege that it is all the work of a Minister who stormed into their office a few weeks ago and intimidated their bosses for not publicizing his political speech. It is the fifth such attack and the politicized Police Force or Farce, seem to be in slumber. Hitherto it has been the Tamil and Muslim community that was at the receiving end of a murderous bunch cloaked with authority. Now it would seem it doesn’t’ matter if the victim is Sinhala Muslim or Tamil. All are fair game.

What has happened to the Rule of Law? Abductions, disappearances, extra-judicial killings are rampant. Journalists are being killed or assaulted. But the President …

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The Royal – Thomian is primarily about boys (including those disguised as older and wiser men). The general melee of a Royal – Thomian in our day would guarantee two things. More booze. More chaos. More riotous dancing. And then more booze. So I lied, that’s more than two – but in those days, we never kept count of anything during the Big Match. With fists flying at no one and everyone, the pitch was not the only place to crack balls. There were fights over girlfriends. There were fights over the last dregs of coconut nectar. There were fights over lyrics, deemed heretical by those who sang no better and on no less heretical topics. There were, however, never …

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