Archive for June, 2010
June 30, 2010 at 6:30 am · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Leela Isaac
The present Sri Lankan government has proved that though Sri Lanka is a small country, it has been able to achieve many things that other countries, specially in the West have not been able to. Nowhere in the world has terrorism been crushed and destroyed using only force. “Destroying terrorism is not a crime” the Defense Secretary told Stephen Sackur of the BBC. What was implied is that the means we used cannot be questioned. In other countries a military solution goes hand in hand with a political solution. In Sri Lanka the government believes that there is no political problem and therefore a political solution is not necessary. If that is so what made the LTTE take up arms? …
June 29, 2010 at 6:30 am · Categories: A-Z Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language | by Michael Meyler
In the article “The bowl-or-ball dilemma of rubbishing English standards” (Sunday Observer, 6/6/2010), Dilshan Boange adds his voice to the growing clamour of protest at the idea of speaking English “our way”. He recounts the anecdote of a friend who called an Indian hotel and “had to face a lingual jumble of a marginally intelligible dialogue from the hotel staffer”, concluding that the problem was that the Indian was talking English “their way”. If only everyone learnt to speak English properly, such situations would never arise.
He goes on to discuss the pronunciation of the various ‘o’ sounds in English, and asks: “What happens when you ask for a ‘ball’ and are given a ‘bowl’?” It is difficult …
June 27, 2010 at 10:51 pm · Categories: Colombo, Development, Post-War | by Mihirini de Zoysa
It’s February 14th, Valentines day and I am browsing the net, going from one link to the other, without a particular destination, enjoying tidbits from the cyber world.
I happen to come across an interesting TED talk http://on.ted.com/88Xq. Its about a school in India (Riverside School) that starts a program called I Can, where children aged 8 – 14, in small groups are empowered and inspired to become change agents. It’s a simple concept. The children are asked to pick an issue that bothers them, that they want to change, and then they are given a week to make the change. The impact and results are amazing. From cleaning up garbage, to making cities child friendly, to stopping child …
June 27, 2010 at 3:30 pm · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Sumanasiri Liyanage
In Sri Lankan politics, things oftentimes turn topsy-turvy. When people asked for lower prices for basic food items, government lowers prices of luxury cars with absolutely feeble argument that the latter would in turn benefit people. The same thing appears to be unfolding in the sphere of constitutional reforms. In the last Parliamentary Election, one of the key appeals that the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance made was that the UPFA be given two third seats of the new Parliament so that it can amend the Second Republic Constitution changing the system highly criticized electoral system. People appeared to have accepted the necessity of changing the electoral system that have created intra-party conflict for preferential vote (manapa pore)with heavy campaign expenses …
June 25, 2010 at 8:56 am · Categories: IDPs and Refugees, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Poetry, Post-War, Vavuniya, War Crimes | by Indran Amirthanayagam
Murder cannot be hidden, bodies decompose but skeletons
remain; certainly they can be washed from beach into sea
and stripped clean by carnivorous fish yet the panel requires
just a few examples, sufficient to flesh out a theory of mass
slaughter; satellite shots will be investigated abroad and
conversations conducted with survivors of precarious boats
landing on Christmas Island or dragged into Jakarta. Scale
of killing poses a serious problem for management of disaster;
appointment of soft, suave diplomat to run damage control
at foreign ministry did not succeed. Murder will be revealed.
Macbeth is read also in Sri Lanka; it landed in the culture
before the current lot of customs inspectors; am sure
Saratchchandra contemplated translating …
June 25, 2010 at 6:30 am · Categories: Peace and Conflict | by Felix Baden-Powell
‘International responsibility for the alleviation of suffering is one of the most noble of human goals. Nobility of aim does not however confer immunity from sociological analysis or ethical critique’ (De Waal, 1997: 65)
Broadly speaking, humanitarianism refers to an ethic of kindness and sympathy extended universally and impartially to all of humanity. Those who profess these values can arguably be termed humanitarian. In the academic literature, a more precise definition remains problematic as it can be interpreted as humanitarian assistance, humanitarian intervention or a conflation of the two. I will be focusing on humanitarian assistance, which refers to the ways in which helping others is done (Allen and Schomerus, 2008: 45). The fundamental principles espoused by most aid …
June 24, 2010 at 3:53 pm · Categories: Colombo, Human Rights, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War, Reconciliation | by Sanjana Hattotuwa
My conversation with Lakshan Dias, Programme Manager, Centre for Human Rights and Development, was pegged to the issue of human rights in post-war Sri Lanka. Lakshan was in the news recently when he appeared for Sarah Malanie Perera, an author taken in custody over bizarre circumstances. While we touched on this specific case, the interview also looked at broader legislation that undermined human rights in Sri Lanka post-war. I also got Lakshan’s take on the government’s repeated assertion that continued vigilance is vital to thwart any re-emergence of the LTTE, on account of which anti-terrorism legislation is justified even post-war.
We …
June 23, 2010 at 6:30 am · Categories: Colombo, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance | by Publius
Editor’s note: The article below is an eulogy to the life and work of the Sri Lankan journalist and Editor, Mervyn de Silva. An edited version of this article was published in the Daily News on the 22nd of June 2010.
Image courtesy Transcurrents
The eleventh anniversary of the death of Mervyn de Silva, the great Sri Lankan journalist and editor, falls on 22nd June. I once had an extraordinary encounter with Mervyn, although sadly as it turned out, at the very empennage of his life. In a wholly spontaneous chat that lasted less than two hours, we (mostly he) talked about the international use of force for humanitarian interventions and Robin …
June 21, 2010 at 8:12 pm · Categories: Colombo, Media and Communications, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Dr. P. Saravanamuttu
Many readers may have seen if not read about Defence Secretary Gothabhaya Rajapaksa’s interview with Stephen Sackur of the BBC HardTalk programme in which he calls Sarath Fonseka a liar and threatens to hang him for his position on a war crimes investigation. Local opinion, not surprisingly, given the current political context, has been divided on the propriety of Mr Rajapaksa’s outburst and the damage it could do to the image of the regime and of the country internationally. There are the shocked and perturbed, albeit mostly in private, on the one hand and on the other, the hallelujah chorus of the apparatchiks. According to …
June 21, 2010 at 9:31 am · Categories: Colombo, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Poetry, Politics and Governance, Post-War, Vavuniya | by Indran Amirthanayagam
The Sun God disappeared from the scene in May, 2009
killed by advancing army units, not clear which brave soldier
pulled the trigger, for some reason government has kept quiet
about circumstances, but other magicians in splendid whites
are raising arms to salute on Galle Face Green’s reviewing stand
troubling peace-loving citizens. They stand before armoured carriers
while fighter jets fly over the head of Old Parliament at the annual
parade to celebrate the late rebirth of Dutugemunu into our democracy,
a spirit who appeared to have achieved beatitude centuries ago,
but has required one more round on his favourite hunting ground,
a touch of three kingdoms-in-one panache, obeisance of tens of
thousands marching past, and loyalty before judgment of the …
June 19, 2010 at 7:00 am · Categories: Foreign Relations, Human Rights, Human Security, IDPs and Refugees, International Relations, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, War Crimes | by Felix Baden-Powell
It must be acknowledged that international law, both customary and humanitarian, is undergoing significant changes with regard to crimes committed during armed conflicts. Thus it is difficult to assert that international legal measures for dealing with crimes against humanity should be assessed primarily in terms of successful prosecutions given that there is a paucity of empirical evidence to substantiate claims about how well criminal trials actually achieve the goals ascribed to them (Souare, 2009:377-381). More research needs to be done on the subject but I would suggest that decisions to prosecute should be tailored to the specific context and that in some cases an adherence to international legal fundamentalism may be counterproductive. Successful prosecutions may in some cases not be …
June 18, 2010 at 6:30 am · Categories: Peace and Conflict, Poetry, Post-War, Reconciliation, Vavuniya | by Indran Amirthanayagam
What a large and dramatic idea occurred to the brigadier in charge
of rehabilitation , to organize a mass wedding to spur former Tiger
troops into formation under a different philosophy and yet appeal
to their strengths to cohere as a group not any longer in waging war
against the State but to reveal their common humanity to agree
to a public celebration of private bonds, to ensure their co-habiting
led to proper inheritance for children, access to social welfare
payments when necessary, all to the good for these members
of a herd, now in white vershtis and magenta sarees eating cake
and chatting with relatives witnessed by the Bollywood actor
Vivek Oberoi, no less, before returning to detention camps,
now two by two, respectable members of the new unitary ark,
where …
June 18, 2010 at 6:30 am · Categories: Colombo, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War, Reconciliation | by Ruki
Today, 18th June 2010, has been declared a public holiday by the government. Many Sri Lankans, especially Sinhalese from the South are expected to respond enthusiastically to the government’s elaborate plans to celebrating the war victory over the LTTE. For several days, citizens in Colombo had to put up with closed roads in preparation. How much of our – citizens – tax payer’s money will be spent for this celebration is something I don’t know and dare not think.
Some media had highlighted on the fact that the General who led the war victory is likely to be in detention and not invited to celebrate the victory he led.
What seems to be forgotten, and what I do know for sure …
June 17, 2010 at 7:33 am · Categories: Colombo, Identity, Religion and faith | by Pearl Thevanayagam
In the black and white photographs of my childhood, my sisters and I look pretty smart, standing to attention under the spreading mango tree which Rajaratnam Uncle took every year to record our development for future reference.
But there was one major flaw. We all had hideous black pottus the size of an Orange Barley bottle top on our foreheads. The pottu is to ward off evil-eyes which could ruin our beauty. But then none of us were Ajantha frescoes but parents being parents obviously thought we were.
Then my father was cleaning the cobwebs in our rather ancient house with two kokkathadis ( two large poles tied together) to reach the ceiling-less roof on a Friday when our neighbour, Mr Jacob, …
June 16, 2010 at 6:30 am · Categories: Colombo, Economy, Science and Technology | by Nalaka Gunawardene
It happened 20 years ago, but I still remember the incident. In early 1990, as a young science journalist working for the Asia Technology magazine of Hong Kong, I was being shown around the Pakistani space agency SUPARCO premises in Karachi. At the time, they were readying the country’s first digital communications satellite, Badr 1 (Urdu for ‘New Moon-1’). There was great excitement about its impending launch (which took place a few weeks later on a Chinese Long March 2 rocket).
Being younger, eager and more idealistic, I asked the Pakistani space chiefs if the ‘New Moon’ would also usher in a new era of information disclosure for the hitherto secretive space programme. Pakistan had recently returned to civilian rule …
June 15, 2010 at 7:22 am · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, Economy, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance | by Muttukrishna Sarvananthan
[Authors note: This was a talk given at the International Conference entitled ‘Taking the Sri Lankan Peace Process Forward’ organised by the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi on May 11, 2010.]
Introduction
For too long, the political processes in Sri Lanka to resolve minority grievances have been preoccupied with the nature of the state (unitary versus federal), unit of devolution of political and administrative power (village, district, or province), language, land, police, and other administrative issues. Very little discussions have taken place regarding the division of financial/fiscal powers between the centre and the peripheries. All the previous political processes have failed on one political and/or administrative issue or the other.
Even the externally imposed provincial council system under the Thirteenth Amendment to the …
June 14, 2010 at 5:47 pm · Categories: Development, Economy, Human Rights, Human Security, Identity, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War, Reconciliation | by Groundviews
From the psycho-social trauma and destruction of the social fabric in Jaffna after close upon three decades of brutal war to the challenges of post-war development, entrepreneurship and economic revival, these two interviews focus on two leading Tamil civil society activists who have lived in Jaffna from when the war was still raging.
Dr. Muttukrishna Sarvananthan is the Principal Researcher at the Point Pedro Institute of Development and author of three well read articles on Groundviews. Our conversation was pegged to the socio-economic aspects of post-war scenarios in the North and East. Dr. Sarvananthan’s key ideas for post-war development are …
June 14, 2010 at 12:39 am · Categories: Colombo, Foreign Relations, Human Rights, International Relations, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Lalith Gunaratne
“Where you from” asked the precocious teenager from Jane, a World Bank official I was escorting to a remote hillside community in the middle of Sri Lanka to show a community based micro hydro system. She proudly said, “America”. She and I were both shocked at the response that followed; “Boo Bush Boo Bush!” accompanied by a thumbs down. Jane had just told me how embarrassed she was to call herself an American after Bush’s tragic unprovoked attack of Iraq soon after 9/11.
We were both amazed at this teenager’s knowledge in this remote corner, yet he knew and he had formed an opinion. Such is the result of a communications revolution that is making the world truly global village. No …
June 10, 2010 at 10:12 am · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance | by Rohan Edrisinha
Transcript of a presentation made at the session on Forms of Government at the International Conference on Dynamics of Constitution Making in Nepal in a Post-conflict Scenario held in Kathmandu, Nepal in January 2010. The other panelists were the Hon. Bob Rae Q.C. M.P.Canada and Justice Pekka Hallberg, President, Supreme Administrative Court, Finland. The conference was co-hosted by the Nepal Constitution Foundation (NCF), Tribhuvan University Faculty of Law and the Supreme Court Bar Association
Let me begin by thanking you Mr. Chairman and the organizers of the conference for inviting me to speak this morning. We in Sri Lanka watch with very keen interest the constitution making process in Nepal. Those of you who are familiar with the constitutional and …
June 7, 2010 at 2:54 pm · Categories: Human Rights, Mannar, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War, War Crimes | by MCM Iqbal
The recent discovery of mass graves at Ganeshapuram in Kilinochchi and at Nachchikuda in the Mannar Districts has been very much in the news during the past weeks. Such finds need not surprise anyone. Following an analysis of satellite images taken during the height of the war, the American Association for the Advancement of Science has already reported that on 19th April , 2009 the images showed the roads in the ‘Civilian Safe Zone’ to be mostly deserted. The images taken on the 24th April, 2009 showed a large grave yard in the same area. The report adds, that
the analysis identified three different graveyards, counting a total of 1,346 likely graves. The satellite images …
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