Archive for December, 2009
December 31, 2009 at 11:43 am · Categories: Colombo, Diplomacy, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance | by Dayan Jayatilleka
[Editors note: This is a response by Dayan Jayatilleke to a recently published article by Prof. Peter Schalk of Uppsala University, Sweden, who identified four western educated individuals hired by the Government of Sri Lanka to defend Colombo's decisions and criticisms from the West, labelling them "mercenary intellectuals". In the spirit of engagement, Groundviews invited two of the four mentioned in the article, no strangers to regular readers of this site, to respond. One politely declined. Prof. Schalk's article on Tamilnet is here. If you are in Sri Lanka, where Tamilnet continues to be blocked by all ISPs, click on the proxy here to read the article.]
Prof Schalk should spend his time analysing how the armed movement and the leadership …
December 31, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Disaster Management, Media and Communications, Politics and Governance | by Nalaka Gunawardene
Five years ago, in the immediate aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, amateur radio helped revive emergency communications with some of the worst affected locations.
The decades old practice was hailed as the ‘low tech’ miracle that literally helped save lives. Where electricity and telephone services — both fixed and mobile — had been knocked down, amateur radio enthusiasts (or ‘radio hams’) restored the first communication links.
They were at the forefront of relief efforts, for example, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India, and in Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka.
[caption id="attachment_2343" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="When all else fails, shortwave persists…"]
[/caption]
Within hours …
December 30, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Elections, Jaffna, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Aachcharya
Aachcharya writing from Jaffna
Two Tamil Dailies Thinakkural and Uthayan (Jaffna) carried yesterday a headline report of retired Supreme Court Justice C.V. Wigneswaran’s opinion on whom the Tamils should vote for at Presidential elections. (Justice C. V Wigneswaran is a highly respected member of the Tamil intelligentsia and while on the Supreme Court was known to be extremely independent and forthright in his views. He was named by TNA as their nominee for membership in the Constitutional Council)
Though the report is filed in a manner as if though the newspapers contacted Justice Wigneswaran to get his response regarding rumours that some sections of the diaspora had contacted him about contesting at the presidential elections, the two reports are …
December 30, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Economy, Elections, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War, War Crimes | by Sudat Pasqual
Over 6 decades of independence and universal adult franchise and SL has reached probably the lowest points of its political life.
Listening, reading and drawing inferences from what’s coming out and not coming out of the 2 main camps in the presidential foray; I cannot help but come to the conclusion that the people of SL has the unenviable choice of electing either the biggest swindler in the country’s history or the most decorated military dunderhead in the country.
So far, the sitting president has made the earth shattering declaration that he will not accept campaign contributions from Prabakaran’s parents and has admitted that he may have made a few errors of judgment in appointing one or two people during his presidency. …
December 29, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Elections, Language, Media and Communications, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Basil Fernando
The SLPC Chairperson, Hudson Samarasinghe, is using vulgar telecasts and thereby contributing to the degeneration of language and public discourse within the country. The rudest forms of language used to refer to persons and the manner in which people are referred to publically are those which are considered in the language as most unacceptable. Such telecasts which last for hours are aired every day and the resultant adverse impact on the public discourse and the mentalities of person is enormous. This particularly has an adverse effect on young children who would use the language habits that they learned in the school by watching such public discourse. The language that is use is such that angry people use when they are …
December 29, 2009 at 1:36 am · Categories: Colombo, Identity, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Vasantha Raja
[Editors note: This article responds to key points raised by several noted commentators on the author's previous article here.]
There’s one important lesson to be learnt from the presidential campaign so far: It’s becoming increasingly clear that the Mahinda-Regime is determined to hang on to power by hook or by crook. Ominous signs of thuggery against all opposition are widespread; the state-media’s shamelessly transparent propaganda is making a mockery of all journalistic principles. Over one and a half million Tamils have been deprived of their right to vote.
The obvious truth is: forces of the establishment, including the military leadership, have ganged-up to defend the regime. Newly appointed military leaders have a vested interest in doing this. They probably think …
December 28, 2009 at 9:04 am · Categories: Colombo, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Dayan Jayatilleka
In hard science when an experiment repeatedly fails and finally blows up the lab with it, the very assumptions which form the basis of the experiment are reassessed and often abandoned. The empirically evident track record of Tamil nationalist politics in Sri Lanka is that of repeated failure capped by defeat. However the dominant tendency in Sri Lankan Tamil nationalist politics, including in this postwar moment, has been quite other than one of critical self scrutiny.
As I explained in several articles during the CFA and at Georgetown’s CSIS in November 2005, when placed in a comparative historical context, even the dramatic military victories of the Tigers disguised a great strategic failure. First rate guerrilla movements of national liberation (Mao’s PLA, …
December 28, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, Elections, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Kanishka Ratnapriya
The 26th of November 2009 went by without Vellupillai Prabhakaran making his annual Mahaveera Speech. We can effectively say that he and the LTTE died on the beaches of the Nandikandal Lagoon in May 2009. The Sri Lankan Government won the war against the LTTE and declared that Terrorism had been defeated. Some Sri Lankans danced in the streets, ate Milk Rice and lit fire crackers celebrating that Terrorism had been defeated. The wiser sections of Sri Lankan society knew that the defeat of the LTTE gave Sri Lanka only a glimmer of hope and that there will be much more to do in a post war Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. They bowed their heads, said a quick …
December 27, 2009 at 1:35 pm · Categories: Human Rights, Human Security, IDPs and Refugees, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War, Religion and faith | by Veritas
Last Christmas, together with few friends, we prayed desperately, hoping a bloodbath would be avoided
This Christmas, we prayed and lit candles for the thousands killed and missing during the war, the ones who doesn’t have a grave as their family members had to run over the dead (and sometimes dyeing) bodies to save their own lives.
Last Christmas, we prayed for a stop to political killings, disappearances, forced recruitments, unjust arrests and torture. And for families of those detained, disappeared, killed.
This Christmas, we did the same.
Last Christmas, we prayed for easing of government restrictions on food, medicine, shelter and access for aid agencies to help the people affected by war.
This Christmas, we prayed for those injured & sick – as they …
December 26, 2009 at 2:45 pm · Categories: Ampara, Disaster Management, IDPs and Refugees | by Dushi
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou, 4 April 1928
Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai in Saainthamaruthu
Today is the 5th anniversary of a tsunami that devastated our country.Five years on, but how many of us still care for the people who suffered?
The tsunami hit the Indian Ocean, killing nearly hundreds of thousands in eleven countries and inundating coastal communities with waves unto one hundred feet. According to experts, it was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India were the hardest hit.
About thirty thousand people were killed in tsunami, millions injured and many more left homeless …
December 26, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Disaster Management, Media and Communications | by Nalaka Gunawardene
On 26 December 2009, we mark the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, one of the biggest and deadliest disasters in history. It left a trail of destruction across South and Southeast Asia, killing over 225,000 and shattering the lives of millions more.
For many of us in the media and communication sectors, this was the biggest story of our lives. Because the killer waves hit numerous coastal locations in several countries, this disaster’s ‘Ground Zero’ was scattered far and wide. Not even the largest news organisations could see, hear and capture everything. Everyone had to choose.
And not just geographically, but thematically too, the tsunami’s impact was felt across sectors, issues and concerns. That provided both ample scope and many …
December 24, 2009 at 2:00 pm · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Kannan Selvaratnam
I have been following Mr. Jayatilleka’s articles both on Groundviews and Tamil Week. While I do agree with some of his ideas such as a multi-ethnic Sri Lanka where citizenship is not defined by ethnicity, I disagree with his argument that mostly puts the onus on the Tamil minority to tread the line based on his definition of what constitutes a reasonable approach in their struggle to gain equal citizenship in Sri Lanka.
In his latest article essentially he claims that the 13th amendment is the best the Tamils can expect and they should not push for more because it was offered at a time (1987) when things were more favorable towards the Tamil cause. He also rightly points out …
December 24, 2009 at 6:29 am · Categories: Colombo, Elections, Politics and Governance | by Vasantha Raja
[Editors note: The author and the commentator Doomed to Repeat had a length exchange of ideas on the author's previous post Sarath Fonseka – A potential De Gaulle or Chavez? This article refers to the specific comment by Doomed to repeat published here.]
Dear “Doomed to Repeat”,
Despite my disagreement with your ‘anti-dialectical’ approach to a world in transition, I must say, I enjoyed reading your comments for their rather simplistic clarity. I’ve heard exactly the same kind of sentiments from my beer-loving middle-class friends who love discussing politics (or any other subject under the sun) as a pastime. After all, the world is full of petite bourgeois cynics who’re quite satisfied with their own comfortable lifestyles and least bothered …
December 22, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Elections, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Dayan Jayatilleka
With “Sinhala hegemony” in its most dramatic form, the advancing Sri Lankan armed forces, closing in, Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism could not convince the Tamil Nadu voter of its cause and case, then surely it is imperative that that cause and case be identified as fatally flawed?
If India with its 70 million Tamils could not be budged from its stance of low key but decisive support for the Sri Lankan state, surely there is no chance of leveraging any strategically significant Western support for Tamil nationalism, given that the main Asian partner of the USA is India?
Given that MG Ramachandran was alive and one of the causative factors of the Indo-Lanka accord with its resultant the 13th amendment, it is …
December 20, 2009 at 10:00 pm · Categories: Colombo, Media and Communications | by Groundviews
21 December 2009, Colombo, Sri Lanka: We are honoured and extremely pleased to win a prestigious Manthan Award South Asia under the e-news category. The award was presented to us at a ceremony held in New Delhi on Saturday, 19th December 2009.
The Manthan Award South Asia is organised by the Digital Empowerment Foundation with the support of World Summit Award (WSA) and the Department of IT (DIT) of the Government of India. The award recognises the best digital and technology innovations to empower communities and is South Asia’s biggest event on ICT for masses, governance and rural development.
The grand jury’s evaluation of the site noted,
“What no …
December 20, 2009 at 7:08 am · Categories: Colombo, Education, Media and Communications, Science and Technology | by Nalaka Gunawardene
On 20 December 2009, we mark the 15th death anniversary of Professor Cyril Ponnamperuma, one of the best known scientists produced by Sri Lanka during the Twentieth Century.
He was both an internationally recognised researcher on the origins of life on Earth, and an early promoter of science and technology for development. His interests and involvements transcended his own discipline and homeland. He worked closely with the Pakistani Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam to promote science and infrastructural facilities in developing countries.
Dr Rajendra K Pachauri, director of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in India (and now chair of the UN climate panel, IPCC), said upon Ponnamperuma death: “I don’t know of another single Third World scientist who has done …
December 19, 2009 at 2:00 pm · Categories: Human Rights, Human Security, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance | by Kalana Senaratne
Recently, the world celebrated the ‘Human Rights Day’, on 10 December. It comes to us, every year. It is a day that commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Various events, seminars and workshops are held, various programmes launched, on that day. There are advocacy programmes, awareness programmes, lectures and such kind. Nice stickers, well drafted pamphlets, are distributed. It is considered to be a special day.
But from the citizen’s perspective, all these things are of secondary importance. For the citizen, what matters, principally, is whether his/her rights are effectively protected; whether violations of his/her rights can be effectively investigated; whether the government is seen to be taking, and ultimately takes, action to improve …
December 19, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Foreign Relations, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Chaminda WEERAWARDHANA
A week ago (Saturday 12 December 2009), I came across a news report about a referendum organised by Tamil nationalist activists in France, in order to [quote] say yes or no for independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the island of Sri Lanka [unquote]. The article, published in Tamilnet, further said that polling was to take place in 30 centres in Paris and suburbs and in five centres out of Paris. A so-called [quote] Formation committee for the country council of Eelam tamils in France [unquote] was mentioned as the chief organisers of the referendum, supported by [quote] 61 Eezham Tamil organisations and two NGOs in France [unquote].
This is not the first occasion that a referendum of this nature has …
December 18, 2009 at 1:00 pm · Categories: Colombo, Human Rights, Human Security, IDPs and Refugees, Media and Communications, Peace and Conflict, Post-War | by Groundviews
“Governments usually don’t take notice of silent majorities” says well known investigative and environmental journalism Dilrukshi Handunnetti in this video interview with Groundviews.
To commemorate Human Rights Day 2009 (falling on 10 December) Groundviews interviewed a number of leading activists in Sri Lanka to find out their perspectives on current challenges facing human rights in post-war Sri Lanka. In general, activists featured were asked to comment on the Sri Lankan State’s protection of human rights, the nexus between human rights and human dignity and opportunities for greater human rights protection over the coming years.
Dilrukshi is a lawyer by training having specialized in international law. A journalist for over 17 years, she has extensively covered the areas of politics, conflict, environment, …
December 18, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Elections, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War, War Crimes | by Surendra Ajit Rupasinghe
This up-coming presidential election would be comical, if not for the fact that it is deceptively diabolical. The contention between incumbent president Mahinda Rajapakse and retired General Sarath Fonseka and the arguments being drawn up by both sides are simply degenerate. They expose the depths to which this political order has been despoiled and degraded.
Threat Projections:
The ‘Mahinda’ camp brings out the threat of an imminent military coup, to be led by Sarath Fonseka and urged by the JVP. These guys are not beyond this type of treachery. The Mahinda camp claims that such a coup was being attempted recently, only to be averted by alerting India. They portray Sarath Fonseka as a tool of US and Western imperialist powers. They …
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