by D.B.S. Jeyaraj “Suthanthirapparavaigal”(Birds of Freedom)was the popular name by which the Women’s political division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE)was known in the past.Last week , saw a former woman political commissar of the LTTE tasting freedom after three years of detention and one year of rehabilitation.41 year old Subramaniam Sivakamy alias”Col”Thamilini became …
by Zacki Jabbar The on-going campaign to abolish the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was led by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera said yesterday. Addressing a press conference in Colombo, Samaraweera said that he did not think President Mahinda Rajapaksa wanted to go along with the plan hatched by Gotabhaya and supported …
by Dilrukshi Handunnetti Outspoken politician and Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne claims Sri Lanka should learn from her past political mistakes and cautions against drastic decision-making with regard to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. He feels such moves would be to the detriment of the country. Excerpts: Q: You …
by Dinouk Colombage With the pending announcement of the Northern Provincial Council elections, many people in the Jaffna Peninsula are already preparing for a sweeping victory by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). While the Commissioner of Elections is yet to set a date for the election, many residents of the region are convinced the government …
By Marianne David The conservation of sea turtles is becoming increasingly important, especially in the backdrop of the numerous threats posed to their survival. Sri Lanka has a major role to play in this regard, being home to five of the seven species of marine turtles in the world. Of these five, two are currently …
By Vishnuguptha “Winston Smith: Does Big Brother exist? O’Brien: Of course he exists. Winston Smith: Does he exist like you or me? O’Brien: You do not exist. ” ― George Orwell It’s time that the Government and all other political parties and fringe groups realized that holding the elections for the Northern Province would eventually …
by Brendan Brady As mobs wielding torches and machetes rampaged through his neighborhood, Abdul had a strangely candid encounter with one assailant. Recognizing the man as his long-time neighbor—the same man who had once showed great affection towards Abdul’s children—Abdul yelled to his would-be executioner: “‘Why are you doing this?’ He told me, ‘Sorry, I’m …
Continue reading ‘Burma’s Rohingya Muslims Viciously Targeted by Rakhine State Buddhist Mobs’ »
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “If a people is to pass away, Then will the furies will just send a man Who, spreading deceit all over, will indoctrinate The healthy people in crime…” Friedrich Hölderlin (The Death of Empedokles) Chathurika de Silva, the courageous magistrate who placed the rule of law above the law of the rulers, …
By Dr.Vickramabahu Karunaratne Those parties, who made use of the Provincial Council system for 25 years, are now up in arms at the thought of Tamils in the Northern Province having an elected council of their own, for the first time since Vartharajah was deposed by the President Premadasa. These parties used these councils to …
By Dharisha Bastians Last Wednesday, police officials paid a visit to the beef stall at the Bambalapitiya Market on Galle Road. They had a polite warning for the beef vendors at the market. The Sinhala Ravaya and Ravana Balaya march would pass through the Galle Road in Colombo early next week, they said, and the …
By Eran Wickremaratne M.P. Freedom of expression and the freedom to information are universally accepted values. The individual’s right to freedom of expression has had to be defended from time immemorial whether the threat was from the king or the ruling coterie in a republic. That struggle continues today. The media provides both information and …
By Dharisha Bastians It is quickly beginning to look as if the Government may have bitten off a little more than it can chew with regard to revising the 13th Amendment to the Constitution ahead of the Northern provincial council election. All signs show that the Rajapaksa administration is being pushed into a corner with …
By Marianne David INTRODUCTION A trade union for journalists in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Journalists’ Trade Union (SLJTU), was launched in Colombo on Tuesday. At its inaugural press conference held at the National Library Services Auditorium, the union announced that it would be commencing broad intellectual discussions on key issues faced by media personnel, …
By Lakna Paranamanna Starting his political career as a member of the Leftist movement, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Rajitha Senaratne has always cut a rebellious figure in Sri Lanka’s political arena. Despite being a Cabinet minister, his position against the move by the Government to revise the 13th Amendment to the Constitution has caused …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Brazen attempts are being made by vested interests to distort the truth about the incident where a Lady teacher was forced to kneel down in public by a United Peoples Freedom Alliance(UPFA)Provincial councillor from the North western province. Although President Mahinda Rajapaksa personally telephoned the lady teacher and promised that justice would be …
by Col R Hariharan Indian Ministry of External Affairs took the unusual step of issuing a strong press statement cautioning Sri Lanka not to dilute the 13th Amendment (13A) at the end of a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation’s meetings with Indian leadership including the Prime Minister on June 19, 2013. It was in response …
Continue reading ‘Nine Lives of Sri Lanka’s Thirteenth Constituional Amendment’ »
by Lauren Padgett (Editor) In 25 years of investigative journalism in Sri Lanka, Frederica Jansz has seen it all, and was forced to leave it all behind. She has a price on her head and can never return to her native country, after standing up to an oppressive government through journalistic expression. Jansz’ journey to …
By Megara Tegal The Niqab – a veil worn by conservative Muslim women – has been a frequent target of criticism by the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) when condemning the Muslim community. During a BBS convention in Baddulla last week (15 June), the controversial General Secretary of the BBS, Ven. Galagodaththe Gnanasara Thero; who was …
By Kath Noble Mahinda Rajapaksa has had another bright idea. A few weeks ago, he got one of his hangers-on in the ‘public service’ to float a draft code of ethics for journalists, which he no doubt expected to prove useful in strengthening formal mechanisms of control of the Fourth Estate. Unfortunately for him, the …
by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha M.P. (Text of a Lecture given to the Masters Course at the Kotelawala Defence University) Ethnicity and Religion are perhaps the most obvious elements through which people distinguish themselves from each other. They are not the only ones, and sometimes elements such as caste and class become even more important in …
by Nirgunan Tiruchelvam Puppetry is dying in Sri Lanka due to the rise of television. But, the cricket team may help revive it. The 26 year-old Angelo Mathews is a captain only in name. The team is controlled by the old firm of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, who are aged 36 and 35. The …
By M.A.Sumanthiran M.P. The Government of Sri Lanka recently revealed its agenda to further restrict minority freedoms and autonomy in the country. It seeks to: (1) repeal constitutional provisions granting people the freedom to determine administrative boundaries (2) amend the Constitution, so as to permit the Central government to freely and arbitrarily legislate on provincial …
By Nirmala Kannangara Following revelations on how former DIG Vass Gunawardena extorted money from the Parliamentary Affairs Secretary to Minister Mervyn Silva to avoid taking action against him for the possession of heroin and firearms; concrete evidence has now emerged as to how Minister Silva is having close associations with underworld thugs. Sarath Edirisinghe alias …
by Lorraine King A Brent MP is calling for the government to drop plans to charge some visitors to the UK £3,000 for a visa. Sarah Teather, Liberal Democrat MP for Brent Central, has slammed the proposals by the Home Office as unworkable and discriminatory. From November, visitors from six ‘high risk’ countries will have …
by Johan Galtung The atrocious Second World War left behind lasting damage by lowering our standards for what is marginally acceptable. War is bad; but if it is not nuclear, the limit has not yet been reached. Fascism is bad; but if it does not come with dictatorship and the elimination of a category of …
By John Pilger In his book, ‘Propaganda’, published in 1928, Edward Bernays wrote: “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.” …
by Gary Younge When Darrell Anderson, 22, joined the US military he knew there was going to be a war, and he wanted to fight it. “I thought I was going to free Iraqi people,” he told me. “I thought I was going to do a good thing.” Until, that is, he realised precisely what …
By Ranga Jayasuriya Two weeks back, during a Cabinet meeting, as some of his Cabinet Ministers exchanged verbal barbs over the proposed changes to the 13th Amendment, President Rajapaksa, who had been quietly listening to the heated exchange of words, broke the silence to remind them that he knows how to obtain the required two-thirds …
Rex Clementine Reporting from Cardiff Lapses in British intelligence and the security services were severely exposed after six supporters of the LTTE invaded the pitch during the Sri Lanka–India clash at the ICC Champions Trophy tournament. During the second semi-final of the tournament on Thursday, two LTTE supporters invaded the pitch, carrying the LTTE flag …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj A Muslim owned business establishment at Urukaamam in the Eastern Batticaloa district was subjected to an arson attack on Thursday June 20th 2013. A provision store cum eatery owned and run by Mr.Seeni Mouhammadu Fareed near the main street junction in Urukaamam was burnt down by an “unknown”gang at about 10. 30 pm …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj President Mahinda Rajapaksa has asked the Sri Lankan media to refrain from giving publicity to the anti-Muslim activities of Extremist Sinhala Buddhist organizations. The President made this request when he met the editors of Sri Lankan newspapers and heads of TV and Radio stations for breakfast at “Temple Trees” on Friday June 21st …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The secret behind the good health of Minister of Public Relations and Public Affairs Mervyn Silva is due to his emulating former Indian Prime minister Morarji Desai who lived up tp a hundred years It is now known that the controversial politician elected as MP from Gampaha district drinks his own urine every …
by Tisaranee Gunasekara 89th Birth Anniversary of President Ranasinghe Premadasa “…the social state is advantageous to men when all have something and no one has too much” Rousseau (Social Contract). Values are not constants. Different historical-times have different political, developmental and socio-cultural values. For centuries, beheading a murderer was an accepted practice across civilisational-divides. So …
By MERVYN DE SILVA – 14TH Death Anniversary June 23rd (Abridged text of lecture delivered at the Marga Institute in 1985, two years before the airdrop, the Indo-Lanka Accord, the IPKF and the 13th Amendment. Full text in ‘Crisis Commentaries: Selected Political Writings of Mervyn de Silva’, ed. E Vijayalakshmi, ICES Colombo 2001, pp68-78) This …
Continue reading ‘The Price of Folly: External Aspects of The Ethnic Issue’ »
OFTEN, when Sri Lanka’s ethnic-Sinhalese-dominated government appears to be offering a hand in friendship to the Tamil minority, it turns out to be a slap in the face. For example, in 2010 it appointed a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the final phase of the 26-year civil war. But many Tamils saw it …
Rex Clementine reporting from Cardiff The Sri Lankan cricket team has been the most consistent team in ICC events during the last six years. Since 2007, there have been eight ICC events and Sri Lanka has reached the finals in four of them, while there have been two semi-final appearances. The only instances when they …
THE INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT AGAINST ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AND RACISM (IMADR) Japan has condemned roundly the harassment of a Sri Lankan Human Rights Defender Dr. Nimalka Fernando by Sri Lankan Embassy staff in Tokyo. Fernando was heckled and interrupted during a seminar lecture delivered by her . Embassy staff also followed her and tried to …
by Col.R Hariharan [Full text of a presentation on “Managing India- China convergences and contradictions” made by Col. R.Hariharan at the China-South Asia Think Tank Forum meet held on June 6 and 7, 2013 at Kunming.] Introduction The 21st century is going to be the Asian century, if we go by the continued growth of …
By D.B.S.JEYARAJ Tamil political activists in Britain are preparing to conduct a massive protest demonstration on Thursday June 20th 2013 when Sri Lanka plays against India in the Champion Trophy cricket semi-final at the Welsh SWALEC Stadium also known Cardiff Wales Stadium. Tamil organizations such as the Tamil Youth organization of UK, British Tamil Forum, …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj A protest march conducted by the Extremist Sinhala Ravaya (sound or roar of Sinhala)organization against cattle slaughter has now turned ugly with a Muslim owned beef stall being set ablaze enroute in the Southern Province coastal town of Tangalle in full view of the Police. The incident has sent alarm bells ringing among …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Another incident of anti-Muslim violence has occurred in the Southern province of Sri Lanka during the course of the protest march being conducted by the Sinhala Ravaya from Kataragama/Kathirkaamam to Colombo. Preliminary reports indicate that a Muslim photographer authorised by the Police to record the Sinhala March had been assaulted with the Police …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Tension prevails in the predominantly Muslim area of Kinniya in the Eastern province district of Trincomalee due to an altercation between the Police Special Task Force and members of the public. Bullock carts in Kinniya-Oct 2010 pic by: Drs. Sarajevo The clash was sparked off when the Police began checking bullock carts carrying …
Bob Rae, the Liberal MP and former interim leader of the party, will resign his Toronto Centre seat. An emotional Rae, 64, told his Liberal colleagues of his decision at Wednesday’s party caucus meeting. He had previously announced he was taking on a job as chief negotiator for several First Nations groups in northern Ontario …
(New York, June 19, 2013) – A new media code proposed by the Sri Lankan government contains overbroad and vague language that could have a severe and chilling effect on free speech, Human Rights Watch said today. On June 17, 2013, the Ministry of Mass Media and Information officially proposed a Code of Media Ethics …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj A group of Christians belonging to the denomination known as Jehova’s Witnesses became the target of the ethno religious fascist organization “Ravana Balaya” (Ravana force)on Sunday June 16th 2013 at Mulleriyawa on the eastern outskirts of Colombo city. The Ravana Balaya is an extremist organization comprising members of the Buddhist clergy and laity …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The Sri Lankan Government headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been “advised” by the Government of India led by Prime minister Manmohan Singh to refrain from undertaking any rushed moves to make hasty changes to laws relating to the Thirteenth Amendment in the Sri Lankan Constitution. The 13th Constitutional amendment enacted in September …
By D.B.S.JEYARAJ Veteran Tamil Politician Veerasingham Anandasangaree celebrates his eightieth birthday today (June 15th). Sangaree as he is generally known was born on June 15th 1933 in Point Pedro. Though not in Parliament now, the octogenarian is yet active in politics and functions as the Secretary-General of the Tamil United Liberation Front(TULF).Earlier he was the …
Continue reading ‘Anandasangaree Must Retain His Self-Respect By a Dignified Exit From The TNA’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Tension prevailed in the Galle suburb of Karapitiya on Wednesday June 12th 2013 when Muslim women protesting the intended demolition of their homes by the Urban Development Authority(UDA)demonstrated in front of bulldozers and succeeded temporarily in prevented their dwellings being wrecked. View Larger Map The dramatic incident where around 25 Muslim women bravely …
By D.B.S.JEYARAJ Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is “extremely annoyed”by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s recent subtle efforts to undermine the quantum of devolution provided to the Island’s nine Provinces through the thirteenth Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution that was facilitated by India. According to informed Indian sources the usually mild –mannered Manmohan Singh …
By D.B.S.JEYARAJ President Rajapaksa’s proposed move to bring about urgent legislation to amend the Thirteenth Constitutional Amendment and circumscribe devolution suffered a major setback as the Government’s chief Muslim constituent party has resolved to oppose such arbitrary and ad hoc attempts to make Constitutional changes. The Parliamentary Group of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress(SLMC) met …
by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai Festival-goers getting drenched
The Catholic Bishops Conference in Sri Lanka (CBCSL) has called upon the government not to amend the 13th Amendment to the Constitution or repeal it but to discuss it with all parties to bring about a totally new Constitution. A statement issued to media yesterday signed by President of the CBCSL, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and …
(Former Tamil Nadu chief minister and leader of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham ,Muttuvel Karunanidhi has written a letter to Indian Prime minister Manmohan Singh urging him to prevent the repeal of the India-Sri Lanka agreement of 1987 signed by Rajiv Gandhi and JR Jayewardena and requesting him to ensure the speedy implementation of the pact.The full …
New York) – Sri Lankan authorities should challenge a parliamentarian’s claim as to the whereabouts of a political cartoonist who was forcibly disappeared in 2010 and provide information on his fate. Sri Lankan lawmaker Arundika Fernando told Sri Lanka’s Parliament on June 5, 2013, that Prageeth Ekneligoda, a cartoonist and government critic who has not …
Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras in Hong Kong The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden has been working at the National Security Agency for …
By Elias Groll The war over how to spin revelations of the National Security Agency’s latest spying program has officially begun. On the heels of media reports that the NSA has gained access to the servers of nine leading tech companies — enabling the spy agency to examine emails, video, photographs, and other digital communications …
By Ranga Jayasuriya The Media Ministry’s proposed Code of Ethics is the Rajapaksa administration’s equivalent to ‘newspeak.’ In the first place, a ‘code of ethics’ drafted unilaterally, and even clandestinely, by the spin doctors of the government, is not worth its salt. That is not how democracies work. Perhaps the best equivalent to this so-called …
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government” (US Supreme Court on Pentagon Papers) If the Rajapaksas succeed in turning their ‘media ethics proposal’ into law,Sri Lanka will have her very own Minitrue (Ministry of Truth). And the role of Lankan media will be redefined, from ‘watchdogs of …
Text and Pix by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai Chris Elms, the young Press and Information Officer attached to the US Embassy in Colombo had been doing more than his diplomatic job in Colombo. Captured in Yala He has been busy learning about the country he made his temporary home for two years, and busied himself with capturing …
Continue reading ‘US Diplomat “Connects the Dots” in Sri Lanka Through an Eye of a Camera’ »
By D.B.S.JEYARAJ In a remarkable display of political courage rarely seen among members of the Rajapaksa Government in recent times,Justice minister and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem, has protested strongly against President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s controversial move to circumscribe devolution by amending the Constitution. President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared open a DNA Department with state …
By Jonathan Marks (Jonathan Marks is a molecular anthropologist who teaches at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. He is author of Human Biodiversity and What It Means to Be 98% Chimpanzee) Introduction Anthropologists have been studying race for over 200 years now, and contrary to what seems to be conventional wisdom (at least as …
Continue reading ‘Race as Concept and Category: Reality and Realisation’ »
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Nemesis, the goddess of measure and not of revenge, keeps watch. All those who overstep the limits are pitilessly punished by her”. Albert Camus (Helen’s Exile) One of the most incisive analyses about Rajapaksa modus operandi was made not by a Sri Lankan but by an American Ambassador Robert Blake. Mr. Blake’s …
Text and Pix by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai Women’s Action for Social Justice (WASJ) recently organized a panel discussion on the theme Violence Against Women is ‘Violence Against Humanity,’ which was held at the Public Library auditorium. Signature campaign seeks public attention and participation Over 10,000 signatures, which have been gathered against Violence Against Women, from 10 …
Continue reading ‘Violence Against Women is Violence Against Humanity’ »
(Text of Statement Issued by the Centre for Policy Alternatives on Proposed Constitutional Amendments) 5th June 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is deeply perturbed by recent media reports that the government is planning on amending several provisions of the Thirteenth Amendment to the constitution. Over the past several weeks there …
By D.B.S.JEYARAJ (Aiyathurai Nadesan serving as Batticaloa correspondent of the Tamil daily ”Virakesari” was shot dead in broad daylight in the heart of Batticaloa town by assassins belonging to the Eastern breakaway faction of the LTTE on May 31st 2004. His killer was believed to be none other than Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan who was …
Continue reading ‘Aiyathurai Nadesan: Tragic Demise of a Dedicated Journalist’ »
By Jeanne Galatzer-Levy Sivalingam Sivananthan, professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has been named a White House Champion of Change. He was presented with the honor at a ceremony this morning (May 29, 2013) at the White House. The honor recognizes immigrant innovators and entrepreneurs—”the best and brightest from around the …