Author Archive
July 3, 2009 at 5:59 pm · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, Economy, English, Foreign Relations, Human Rights, IDPs and Refugees, Politics, Post-War | by Sanjana
Two weeks after I had interviewed Prof. Tissa Vitharana on, among other things, the full implementation of the 13th Amendment, I spoke with the Leader of the JVP Somawansa Amarasinghe for his take on constitutional reform.
During the course of our interview, Mr. Amarasinghe came out strongly in favour of the rights of all minorities, the need to meaningfully look into the well-being of Tamils interned in IDP camps and the importance of a secular State. Recalling the violent history of the JVP, he suggested that it was government that pushed the JVP to violence, yet saw little parallel between this violence …
July 3, 2009 at 5:52 pm · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, Education, English, Politics, Post-War | by Sanjana
I began my conversation with Prof. Tissa Vitharana, Minister of Science and Technology and Chair of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) by asking him about the state of play in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Sri Lanka, and what exactly the declaration of 2009 as the Year of IT and English meant. We talked about work force development, business service outsourcing, the sustainability of nenasala’s (cybercafes) established by ICTA and efforts by his Ministry to promote IT across the island.
Over half of the programme was devoted to Sri Lanka’s constitutional dynamics, and in particular, options for constitutional reform that included the …
June 14, 2009 at 4:02 pm · Categories: English, Foreign Relations, Media, Post-War | by Sanjana
In what may be a first for a Sunday newspaper in Sri Lanka, a reference from Wikipedia is used to buttress a case for the alleged pro-LTTE bias of Canadian Liberal MP Bob Rae, recently deported from Sri Lanka after first being issued a visa to enter.
The Sunday Times has a full page devoted to a rather long-winded story titled Lanka’s dual track foreign relations. My interest here is not to debate Bob Rae’s real or perceived partiality to the LTTE, but to briefly look at the manner in which a lengthy excerpt from Rae’s wikipedia entry is used to frame a flimsy argument.
The Sunday Times notes that,
…it was public knowledge that Rae had periodically …
June 13, 2009 at 12:44 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Media, Peace and Conflict, Post-War | by Sanjana
Jagath Weerasinghe is one of Sri Lanka best known and most influential artists (see bio here). He was commissioned by the Sri Lankan government to design the monument ‘Shrine for the Innocent’ as a remembrance for the innocent victims of the ruthless violence that the southern part of the country experienced in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was completed in 1999.
Jagath and I talked about art and politics, how for example the experience of witnessing the Tamil pogrom in July 1983 and being abducted in the late 70’s shaped his political consciousness and in turn influenced his creative output. We …
May 13, 2009 at 3:34 pm · Categories: Peace and Conflict | by Sanjana
Mano Ganesan was recently featured on Rupavahini, the State and pro-government TV broadcaster, in a manner that suggested he unequivocally supported the LTTE and terrorism.This was noticed and taken up bloggers such as Voice in Colombo who challenged this site to answer a number of questions regarding our perceived bias towards Mano Ganesan and by extension the LTTE.
These questions included whether Mano Ganeshan violated the constitution of Sri Lanka by actively speaking on behalf of a separate state called a “Tamil Ealam”, whether he believes that Tamil Ealam is a reasonable idea or a “considered solution” in solving the problem in North, whether LTTE is responsible for massive human rights violations and if so, how he could justify speaking …
May 3, 2009 at 12:14 am · Categories: Constitutional Reform, English, Human Rights, Human Security, IDPs and Refugees, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Vavuniya | by Sanjana
“I would accept 50,000 dead to finish the LTTE. That’s what it comes down to. And I would, to end that war.”
This is a verbatim excerpt from an email I got today from a prominent blogger in Sri Lanka. Truth be told, we have all heard this argument of late - sometimes in hushed whispers, at other times a loud and bold statement of patriotism. Some see merit in it, suggesting that since the LTTE is inextricably entwined with the civilian population, only a scorched earth policy can guarantee remaining cadres in the Vanni will be eliminated.
Others are outraged by the idea, and point to sickening videos of injured and dismembered children, the LTTE’s use of thermobaric weapons, and …
April 26, 2009 at 12:55 am · Categories: Constitutional Reform, English, Human Rights, Human Security, IDPs and Refugees, Jaffna, Media, Peace and Conflict, Politics | by Sanjana
I recently interviewed Dr. Jehan Perera, Executive Director of the National Peace Council. Jehan is also a columnist for the Daily Mirror and the Lanka Monthly Digest in Colombo. He holds a Doctor of Law degree from Harvard Law School and a BA in economics from Harvard College.
Based on his significant experience as a civil society activist, I asked Jehan whether NGOs in particular had fostered any appreciable difference in the quality of governance in Sri Lanka. Jehan stated that after a quarter century of working in civil society, he was acutely aware how little impact it had in shaping the …
March 18, 2009 at 7:55 am · Categories: Advocacy, Colombo, English, Media | by Sanjana
This sadly is not an unusual sight in Colombo. Despite well-known problems arising from industrial and vehicular emissions and the Central Environment Authority’s Vehicle Emission Testing Programme, we see a number of these wretched vehicles on the road.
This bus belonged to (or was operating under) one of Sri Lanka’s best known travel agencies. Weathering financial woes, it may be the case that they cannot maintain their vehicles as best they can. But should they care about more than just their bottom line?
Pulling up behind this bus and switching off my A/C because it was pulling in all the smoke, …
March 10, 2009 at 11:00 am · Categories: Colombo, English, Peace and Conflict | by Sanjana
14 years ago there was cricket, but no SMS.
The challenge then was to communicate a ball-by-ball account of Royal’s tawdry batting and its inevitable and ignominious defeat to an enthusiastic Thomian old boy network outside the grounds and abroad on the days of the Big Match. Things were simpler then.
A few of us had a bottle of Mendis Arrack stashed in a safe place, ensconced in more newspaper than was necessary (a broken bottle was to be avoided at all costs), and checked up on more frequently than consumed. We were College or House Prefects then, and drinking alcohol in public was to undermine an existing social, political and moral order. We were also young, our live(r)s fresh, …
February 21, 2009 at 1:17 am · Categories: Colombo, English, Peace and Conflict | by Sanjana
I had just posted The psychopathology of the LTTE suicide bombers here when the first JNW SMS news alert came of an LTTE air raid in the environs of Colombo. A friend called in to say that air defences had been activated and my wife called to ask whether I had electricity. All of Colombo was in darkness, but beyond the Nugegoda junction there was power.
Packed hurriedly and gave a call to Airport Express to advance my pick up time by an hour.
Gave the following update to a friend at around 11pm.
I am typing this on my Blackberry en route to the airport. Around an hour ago, the LTTE launched an air raid on Colombo. One bomb suspected …
January 8, 2009 at 5:04 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Peace and Conflict | by Sanjana
Watch reactions to Lasantha’s murder in Sinhala here.
The Editor in Chief of the Sunday Leader and one of Sri Lanka’s best known journalists Lasantha Wickremetunge was murdered this morning en route to work. He was shot repeatedly and succumbed to his injuries at around 2.15pm. The murder of Lasantha comes just two days after after the arson attack against private TV broadcaster MBC / MTV networks that destroyed their Main Control Room and studios.
On both counts, the Rajapakse administration points to some mysterious armed force hell bent on discrediting the government. It has done what it does best - expressed outrage, ordered …
January 6, 2009 at 11:05 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Jaffna, Media, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Trincomalee | by Sanjana
“There will be times when organised violence has to be exercised as a last resort. People will resist with violence. States will use violence against various foes. But there is a right way and a wrong way to use violence.”
Watch Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka’s first video interview, conducted over Skype, after presenting his credentials as Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland on 6th June 2007.
Topics discussed in our interview ranged from future scenarios arising from the capture of Killinochchi last week and media freedom to international relations and the timbre of democratic …
January 4, 2009 at 12:00 am · Categories: Colombo, English, Poetry | by Sanjana
An interview with Vivimarie Vanderpoorten, the Winner of the Gratiaen Prize in 2007. Vivimarie is also a Senior Lecturer in English, Dept of Language Studies, Open University of Sri Lanka. The interview covers, in addition to her poetry, identity, culture and creative writing in Sri Lanka.
For a taste of her poetry, read The Day After Tomorrow. Groundviews has also published the poetry of Vivimarie’s sister, Yichaelle Devendra.
Vivimarie will also be part of the Galle Literary Festival 2009.
November 6, 2008 at 5:05 am · Categories: Colombo, English, Media, Politics | by Sanjana
“Obama avoth LTTE ekata vasiyak venewa kiyala kathawak ahala nedda?” (Haven’t you that if Obama wins, it may be advantageous to the LTTE?)
Emigration and Customs official, Katunayake International Airport
The discovery that I am interested in peacebuilding by an emigration or immigration officer at Katunayake is always an invitation for the brief discussion of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict, the articulation of their unswerving (and I believe genuine) confidence in the incumbent regime to bring peace and my own parting appeal for them to look beyond military victories to the need for a political solution. As I was heading out of Sri Lanka on the 3rd of November to visit the US, the conversation also turned to the US elections and the …
March 31, 2008 at 6:07 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Peace and Conflict | by Sanjana
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 …
March 13, 2008 at 3:02 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Uncategorized | by Sanjana
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 …
March 5, 2008 at 5:48 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Media | by Sanjana
Mainstream journalism in Sri Lanka is not without its lighter side.
The headline of The Island newspaper today offers a refreshingly original take on corruption in Sri Lanka. Sadly, the same story on their website goes with a different title.
February 13, 2008 at 1:08 am · Categories: Colombo, English, Peace and Conflict, Politics | by Sanjana
I don’t oppose all wars… What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war… A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.
Speech by Sen. Barack Obama, delivered on 26 October 2002 at an anti-war rally in Chicago
I’m often asked in person and through feedback on the citizen journalism website I edit, Groundviews , whether I am against war. By this most of my interlocutors implicitly wish to ascertain whether I am opposed to the war waged by Mahinda Rajapakse’s administration against the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE). Many have their minds already made up that I am a (Sinhala Buddhist) disbeliever in …
February 5, 2008 at 3:49 am · Categories: Batticaloa, English, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Trincomalee | by Sanjana
In the backdrop of a country at war and democracy that’s hostage to the whim and fancy of a President and his coterie of murderous brutes, it’s hard to be even cautiously optimistic about the upcoming elections in the East. For the average voters in the South however, the fact that they are being held at all is a marker of the success of this government in eradicating the scourge of the LTTE from the East.
The East is a region of significant ethno-political and cultural complexity and violence where each community harbours grievances against the other. Even during the ceasefire, violent hartals and communal clashes coloured the social and political dynamics in the East (the extremely violent communal clashes in …
January 21, 2008 at 10:37 pm · Categories: Disaster Management, English | by Sanjana
On the loose since 12th May 2007, I spotted this Iranian barge banging against the Galle Fort ramparts just opposite the Fort Dew guest-house, adjacent to the Buddhist Temple, over the weekend. Clearly, the thing keeps shifting with the tide since it’s moved on from where is was spotted last year.
Cerno also has a picture of it here.
In a recent meeting with the President of Sri Lanka, Iran’s minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Dr.Daawood Danesh Jafarji has assured Sri Lanka of its continued support in the development of the island’s economic social and cultural activities.
One wonders if the destruction of Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage by Iranian property was …
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