Archive for Colombo
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 …
July 3, 2009 at 10:39 am · Categories: Colombo, English, Human Security, IDPs and Refugees, Poetry, Post-War | by Thiru Sambandar
You claimed to liberate
hostages, to conduct
the largest rescue
operation in history.
In other countries
people robbed
of freedoms,
rescued,
are treated
by doctors, then
sent home
to be greeted
usually by feisty
and jubilant
crowds. They are
welcomed as heroes.
Here, 100 Tamils
share one latrine,
women don´t eat
so they will not
defecate until night
covers them
squatting in bush by
the perimeter fence
conquering fear
of snakes. Here boys
and girls are picked
up by goon squads
who roam camps
demanding bribes
for teenagers they
choose to leave alone
for now.
Part of the Writers Under Siege collection on Groundviews. For more information, click here.
July 3, 2009 at 10:19 am · Categories: Colombo, English, Foreign Relations, Human Rights, Media | by Nalaka Gunawardene
Located strategically in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka was a hub in the maritime silk and spice routes for millennia. It drew traders from the east and west for both business and pleasure. Notable among the attractions were spices, whose many aromas and flavours formed an integral part of the tropical paradise experience.
The traditional Lankan curry contained up to 13 spices and herbs. Most plants were not native – cardamom came from South India, cloves from Indonesia and chilli all the way from the Americas. Cinnamon was Sri Lanka’s unique contribution to this delightful mix. The origins didn’t really matter: the islanders knew just how to mix the native and the foreign to achieve legendary results.
As Sri Lanka embarks on …
July 3, 2009 at 6:15 am · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, English, Human Rights, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Post-War | by Lionel Bopage
[Editors note: This is a detailed response to over 30 comments left on Sri Lanka: Is the war really over? and read over 2,500 times to date.]
Though several comments made on my article were not directly related to the topic, I wish to respond to some of the issues that have been raised.
The lop-sided comments about the JVP do neither take into account the context nor the causes for their insurrections. Political violence in Sri Lanka cannot be properly understood without recognizing its complex relationship with the socio-political establishment. When social groups vied for access to state power or when they demanded their just rights, the state used repressive and violent force against them. The political …
June 22, 2009 at 6:32 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Human Security, IDPs and Refugees, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Post-War, Vavuniya | by Rohini Hensman
Image courtesy IRIN
Throughout the last stages of the civil war, the government of Sri Lanka claimed to be engaged in a hostage rescue mission on behalf of civilians in the Vanni who were being held against their will be the LTTE. How far are its words borne out by its actions?
It is certainly true that the LTTE was keeping hundreds of thousands of civilians hostage and using them as forced labour, a source of child and adult conscripts, and a human shield from behind which they could engage in offensive operations against Sri Lanka’s armed forces. It has also been confirmed that in general the soldiers showed compassion to the escaping civilians, and some even …
June 20, 2009 at 7:46 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Post-War | by Vasantha Raja
Sri Lanka’s present administration is a “dictatorship masquerading as democracy” observed Prof. John Neelsen from the Institute of Sociology in Tuebingen, Germany. His judgement is not far from the truth. In this paper I shall argue that a virtual ‘Sinhala-Buddhist dictatorship’ has emerged in Sri Lanka as the outcome of the brutish military campaign that resulted in a humanitarian tragedy of scandalous proportions. Also, I shall show the colonial connection, particularly the British rule that sowed the seeds for the present political impasse in Sri Lanka.
Let me start with a brief description of the war that culminated in the destruction of the Tamil Tiger leadership along with its Tamil mini-state in Sri Lanka’s Tamil habitat.
Successive administrations in Sri Lanka succeeded …
June 19, 2009 at 4:47 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Post-War, Trincomalee | by Tanuja Thurairajah
It is a much analysed fact that the Tamils of Sri Lanka under the guidance of its leadership have missed many historically defined opportunities, in laying the foundation towards creating a decent future for their political aspirations and self determination. The 50 – 50 representation in Parliament instead of a federal constitution, a claim that seemed rightfully unreasonable to the Sinhalese; the vote in favour of the Citizenship Act of 1948 that deprived the citizenship of the plantation Tamils which was instrumental in conceiving the impression of the Tamils as lacking moral conviction and as being egocentric; the Sinhalese Only law of 1956; the Referendum of December 1982 leading to the subsequent 1983 racial riots and the Indo-Lanka Accord …
June 15, 2009 at 6:35 am · Categories: Colombo, English, Media, Peace and Conflict, Post-War | by Muttukrishna Sarvananthan
Both in life and death, Veluppillai Prabhakaran divides rather than unites the Tamils in particular, Sri Lankans as a whole. Therein lie the enigma of Prabhakaran (Thambi Anna to me), whom I first met almost thirty years ago in August 1979, and the Tamil Tigers.
“Assuming the LTTE finished is fantasy masquerading as fact”, exclaimed a self-styled ‘leftist’ academic (Sri Lankan born American), namely Qadri Ismail, on March 1, 2009. Qadri Ismail is not alone in fantasizing about Prabhakaran and the Tamil Tigers. Anita Pratap, a veteran Indian journalist, too fantasized about the invincibility and immortality of Prabhakaran and the Tamil Tigers in an article published on May 03, 2009 claiming that the Tiger is just “crouching”, not dying. …
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 …
June 13, 2009 at 6:24 am · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, English, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Post-War | by Dayan Jayatilleka
The warning about the risk of triumphalism came days before the 65th anniversary celebration of D Day, by the leaders of the US, UK and France. In the USA there are annual re-enactments of the battles of the American Revolution – the War of Independence against Britain —and of the Civil War against the Secessionist Confederacy. While the risk of triumphalism does indeed exist and must be cautioned against, I think there is yet another risk, an opposite one, which we must avoid. The USSR which triumphed over the bulk of the Nazi fascist army, collapsed without a shot being fired, and that collapse was preceded by an ideological surrender in which everything positive in its history was turned …
June 8, 2009 at 12:09 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Peace and Conflict, Post-War, Reconciliation | by Sophist
I think it’s stupid…
To think that the trauma and suffering of thirty years can be extinguished by one bullet to the back of one guy’s head.
I think it’s stupid…
To celebrate the death of those who didn’t want to die; and especially those that didn’t deserve to die.
I think it’s stupid…
For the Buddhist flag to be seen anywhere at any time during any celebration of the end of the war.
I think it’s stupid…
To call for a homeland without having any inkling of moving into it.
I think it’s stupid…
To expect there to be no civilian casualties.
I think it’s stupid…
After all that’s gone on to expect Sinhalese and Tamil people to live together in peace and harmony overnight.
I think it’s stupid…
Not to learn …
June 3, 2009 at 8:35 am · Categories: Colombo, English, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Post-War | by groundviews
For live updates / tweets of the President’s speech at the National Victory Parade today in Galle Face, Colombo, click here or follow #srilanka on Twitter.
The speech is scheduled to begin at 9.10am local time (+5.30GMT).
June 1, 2009 at 4:00 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Foreign Relations, Peace and Conflict, Post-War | by thekillromeoproject
I was just watching a past episode of the ‘Riz Khan’ show which is available on YouTube and the subject for discussion was what the future holds for the Tamil people.
The three panelists consisted of the former Sri Lankan ambassador to the US and Mexico, a human rights activist and a spokesperson (Ms. Janani Jananayagam) for London based ‘Tamils against Genocide’. Ms. Jananayagam is also in the running for the European Parliament elections according to TamilNet.
Now while the entire aim of the panel discussion seemed to be on looking at what the future holds for the Tamil people now that the war’s over, I was pretty surprised to see the spokesperson for ‘Tamils against Genocide’ seemed only interested in talking …
June 1, 2009 at 8:12 am · Categories: Colombo, English, Satire | by Banyan News Reporters
31 May 2009, Colombo, Sri Lanka: Genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes may have been released in the Greater Colombo area this year and can wreak havoc on public health, scientists and activists warn.
These mosquitoes are larger in size, and far more resistant to insecticides and other repellents. “They will not be deterred by mosquito spray or coils – in fact, these methods will have no effect on these new breeds,” a top entomologist, who did not wish to be named, said.
It was not immediately clear as to what species of mosquito has been genetically modified to make them withstand eradication measures. This news comes in the wake of a losing battle that local governments and …
June 1, 2009 at 4:21 am · Categories: Colombo, English, Foreign Relations, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Post-War | by Dayan Jayatilleka
“Sri Lanka forces West to retreat over ‘war crimes’ with victory at UN”
- The TIMES (London), May 28, 2009
“Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
…Mmm, I’m gonna try with a little help from my friends”
- The Beatles
Was Geneva the last battle of the Thirty Years (hot) war, the first battle of the next war – a long Cold War against Sri Lanka — or was it a combination? Only future history will tell.
When we aren’t involved, our arithmetic goes awry. We speak of four Eelam wars when there were five, because we omit the important one fought between the LTTE and the IPKF. There were five Eelam wars fought on the soil of our island: 1978-1987, …
May 30, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, English, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Post-War | by Publius
In response to a call by the Opposition and civil society to lift the state of emergency and to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in consequence of the end of the war, the Leader of the House Nimal Siripala de Silva informed Parliament last Tuesday, 26th May 2009, that the Government has no intention of doing so at present. The stated reasons are that the threat of terrorism continues, remaining LTTE cadres in hiding need to be weeded out, and investigations regarding those already in detention are incomplete.
This is a predictable and even unsurprising response from the government, because as students of states of emergency will know, the present government is acting in broadly comparable terms with both …
May 29, 2009 at 12:36 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Post-War | by Inside Outsider
After a war is won, there is always the after thought. Leaders from conflict parties, either dead or living, will be portrayed either as martyrs, heroes, traitors, terrorists….the list is endless. Which ever side one takes on the debate of romanticising the vanquished or demonising him, it is always interesting to see what the other party has to say.
Have been observing the way in which people reacted in the post-war (can we say that yet?) context. Nationalistic spirit knew no bounds. Even the ardent opponents of the government praised its military campaign and the subsequent victory of annihilating the LTTE. The President would have been in a mental state, where ANY world leader would aspire to be in. Enviable position. …
May 28, 2009 at 12:12 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Post-War | by Island Girl
Well it’s not exactly a hero. What we are really holding out for is a statesman - but that wouldn’t have made a catchy title. Yet it is a statesman that is needed in Sri Lanka at this juncture in its history. Having finally made it over the daunting hurdle of terrorism, which had us mired in a mud heap for so many decades, Sri Lanka is now emerging, scarred but optimistic, out of the wasteland of war. As flags fly in a uniting show of joy - a vast majority of people look forward with hope to a new dawn - a new country and another chance to catch up with the economic success of the nations around us.
To …
May 27, 2009 at 12:00 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Peace and Conflict, Politics | by Rohini Hensman
This year marks the twentieth death anniversary of Rajini Thiranagama, doctor, lecturer, feminist and human rights defender, and the first death anniversary of human rights lawyer and political activist Maheshwari Velauthan. The former was shot dead by the LTTE as she cycled home to her children after presiding over an Anatomy examination, the latter shot dead by the LTTE as she cared for her sick mother. They were among thousands of Tamils killed by the LTTE simply because they did not agree with it. For Tamil progressives like them, the defeat of the LTTE mitigates one source of terror.
The LTTE’s claim to be the sole representative of Sri Lanka’s Tamils could be sustained only by the physical liquidation of all …
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