Author Archive
December 13, 2007 at 3:08 pm · Categories: Batticaloa, Colombo, Disaster Management, English, Galle, Hambantota, Trincomalee | by Montage
Shanaka Amarasinghe
Nearly three years have passed since the devastation of Boxing Day 2004. Those three years should have sufficed for grief to transform into resolve, for shock to become measured response and for altruism to become tangible benefit. It is impossible to quantify, despite the diverse and often varied reports available, how much has been done, and by whom. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile considering the societal impact that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), and the good and/or evil that has been precipitated by their presence.
The aftermath of the tsunami saw a global outpouring of shock and dollars. The amount of tourists and expatriates affected in the South Asian region saw the world unite in its reaction to …
November 19, 2007 at 12:45 am · Categories: Colombo, English, Peace and Conflict, Politics | by Montage
By Muttukrishna Sarvananthan Ph.D
The government has tabled the Appropriation Bill for the fiscal year 2008 in the Parliament on October 10th. This short note is intended to highlight the apportioning (or rather mis-apportioning) of the public expenditure for year 2008. The overall public expenditure will increase by 15% to LKR.925 billion in 2008 from LKR.805 billion earmarked for 2007. Similarly, the defence expenditure would increase by 19% to LKR.166.5 billion (USD.1.5 billion) in 2008 from LKR.140 billion (USD.1.4 billion) earmarked for 2007. The actual expenditures would be greater than the foregoing earmarked figures going by the past experience. Besides, the total public expenditure for 2007 and 2008 indicated in Table 1 does not include public debt repayments, which is …
November 16, 2007 at 3:27 pm · Categories: English, Human Security, Peace and Conflict, Trincomalee | by Montage
By Shanthi Sachithanandam
Vakarai division, largely jungle tracts crisscrossed with 14 or so villages and little hamlets, situated along the northern border of Batticaloa District. The people of Vakarai are engaged in subsistence farming and fishing, with a small element of those who are traditionally hunter-gatherers.
It was somewhere in December 1995; I was in the middle of conducting a meeting at a village called Paalchenai, in Vakarai, when suddenly a visibly distraught man from the same area burst into our meeting with a tiny transistor in his hand. âAmma, the army has entered Jaffna town,â he blurted out.
All of us, the Paalchenai villagers and I, exclaimed in horror. We quickly gathered round him to listen to the news of the conclusion …
October 25, 2007 at 8:09 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Politics | by Montage
By Victor Ivan
The forthcoming budget will be decisive to the United National Party (UNP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).
The 1978 Constitution gave absolute power to the president. Defeating an incumbent president is all but impossible. The only realistic possibility of throwing out the current President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to defeat him in the next presidential election of 2011.
In spite of all the allegations — corruption, large scale human rights violations, unprecedented nepotism and rising cost of living — the President will remain in office until the end of his term. This pattern cannot be altered except by a crisis caused by a complete collapse of the political system, and certainly not by political manoeuvering by the opposition.
At this time, …
October 24, 2007 at 9:26 pm · Categories: Districts, English, Peace and Conflict | by Montage
“The guerilla fights the war of the flea, and his military enemy suffers the dog’s disadvantages: too much to defend; too small, ubiquitous, and agile an enemy to come to grips with,” said Robert Taber, who was the only American among Fidel Castro’s defending forces at Playa Giron.
It is a well-known fact that unconventional forces thrive on the support of the local populace. If a wedge could be drawn between these two factions, the task and the chances of conventional forces achieving success are rendered much easier.
Of course, this is well known to all operational commanders, but, unfortunately owing to a lack of supervision or control, instead of winning the ‘hearts and minds,’ the average Tamil population is being very …
October 24, 2007 at 2:28 am · Categories: Districts, English, Peace and Conflict, Politics | by Montage
On a first reading of the poll results, what emerges is the gap between what people perceive as the hard realities of the conflict and what they desire as the ideal outcome. What is striking is that in the midst of the contradictions in the responses, the overarching commitment to the fundamental principles of peace is almost universal
By Godfrey Gunatilleke
What are the fundamental principles that should govern a process that seeks to achieve a lasting peace? How does the public view the present military strategy of weakening the LTTE and what are their expectations of the LTTE?
What are the constitutional reforms that are likely to be most acceptable to the Sinhala majority and the Muslim minority? How can peace and …
October 20, 2007 at 9:55 am · Categories: English, Human Rights, Human Security, IDPs and Refugees, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Politics | by Montage
By Shanthi Sachithanandam
“Last night was full moon
Oh you Sinhala Buddhist
For whom breaking even an egg on a full moon day is Adharma
How come lives of Tamil people became
More trivial than mere eggs?
Oh Venerable Monks
Walking with shaven heads
within yellow robes
discoloured,
splashed with blood and sprinkled with ash
Don’t open your scriptures but your hearts
Tell me, is this your Dharma?
Is it just,
To deem the lives of Tamil people
more trivial than mere eggs?”
– V.I.S Jeyapalan
It was 1997 and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) had captured most parts of Jaffna peninsula as a result of the ‘Riviresa’ operations. The aid organisation I was working for decided to start its work in Jaffna.
As were and are the regulations, we had to seek military permission to travel to, …
August 4, 2007 at 12:29 pm · Categories: English, Human Rights, Human Security, Peace and Conflict | by Montage
By Frederica Jansz
Thevani Yogaraja holds a photograph of her family while grieving for her missing husband Emanuel and two sons Daniel and David, during a gathering to demand investigations into the disappearance in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007. Relatives of more than 100 civilians who went missing after being abducted, participated in a rally organized by the Civil Monitoring Committee, a group that campaigns against abductions. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
It was around 8 p.m. Weary after a days work and looking forward to going home to his bride of just one month, 26 year old Subramaniam Raveesh stepped out of his telephone repair shop at Kochchikade and turned his …
July 25, 2007 at 1:45 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Human Rights, Human Security, Peace and Conflict | by Montage
Shanthi Sachithanandam
âThere 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…â
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 communityâs 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 …
