08/14/2010
|
The Island
Amidst the devastation and indiscriminate violence, the decades of war were also marred by targeted political killings. Here, many remember August 12th as the anniversary of two prominent figures assassinated by the LTTE; Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in 2005 and Tamil democracy activist Kethesh Loganathan in 2006. Lakshman during much of his engaged political life was at the helm of Government as Foreign Minister. Kethesh on the other hand, had a diverse past; as militant, journalist, NGO researcher and finally as an official in the Government Peace Secretariat. In thinking about the current political conjuncture, on the challenges of engaging state policies and state reform, I want to return to the politics of Kethesh, who was my mentor and my friend. Over the decades, I have relied on many Tamil activists to understand the challenges of Tamil politics and Tamil dissent. However, when it came to thinking through the questions of Tamil democracy, of transforming militant and militarised politics into the realm of social justice and democratisation, of drawing from displacement and exile into engaging the political process and changing our political culture, Kethesh was the formidable intellectual influence.
07/22/2010
|
Daily Mirror
The government today slammed US Assistant Secretary for South Asia and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake stating he has no right to dictate to Sri Lanka on how democracy must be protected or make comments on the 17th Amendment as it is entirely a domestic matter of this country.
07/22/2010
|
Agence France-Presse
COLOMBO — The United States pressed Sri Lanka on Wednesday to improve human rights and media freedoms amid charges that security forces committed war crimes during the last days of the island's civil war.
07/17/2010
|
Sri Lanka Guardian
(July 17, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The re-commencement of the practices of registering Tamils with the police and of conducting search operations that target them have been widely reported in the Tamil media in particular and have created a renewed sense of insecurity and injustice amongst the larger Tamil population that is detrimental to national reconciliation. The practice of registering of Tamils and security search operations of private residences even late at night was carried out during the period of war and terrorism. But today more than 14 months have elapsed since the war ended, and there have been no acts of militancy or terrorism in this period that would necessitate a revival of the harsh measures of the past. Two months ago Parliament approved the repeal of a large number of emergency laws which was projected worldwide as a sign that normalcy had returned to the country.
06/07/2010
|
Kafila
One of my friends in a discussion group in Colombo on ‘Democratising State and Society’ put forward the following challenge couple weeks ago. He said, a year after the end of the war, many of us who had been following the situation of the displaced people in the North, including the lack of freedom of movement and the militarization of the North have done little to engage the oppressive economic conditions of those affected by the war and now being resettled. That challenge was in the back of my mind as I visited Jaffna for ten days over the last two weeks. I tried to grasp what one could on a short visit. The following are very preliminary notes on the Jaffna economy, with a particular emphasis on agriculture and fisheries which ¬- despite technocratic and diasporic dreams of an information economy – continue to determine the economic life of the larger Jaffna population. These tentative notes I hope will stimulate some interest towards much needed research on the economy of the Jaffna District and the war affected Northern and Eastern Provinces.
05/02/2010
|
The Sunday Leader
Sri Lanka’s vibrant democracy 62 years in the making and indeed one of South Asia’s oldest democracies, has over the past four years caused international concern especially in the West who were clearly piqued at the flat refusal of President Rajapaksa to pander to Western ideas in solving the terrorist problem in the north of the island.
04/29/2010
|
Groundviews
This short essay will try to make some reflections on the future of the JVP on the basis of their political history and the current political moment.
Sri Lanka Elections Commissioner stops counting of votes from several polling booths in Nawalapitiya
04/09/2010
|
ColomboPage
Apr 09, Colombo: Sri Lanka Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dishanayake has called on the Kandy District Secretary to stop counting of votes cast in 12 polling centers in the Nawalapitiya area of the Kandy District.
04/08/2010
|
Centre for Monitoring Election Violence
At the close of polls at 4pm, the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) recorded 84 Major and 202 Minor incidents of election related violence. The majority of incidents recorded during polling hours related to campaigning and other election offences (189). Of the Major incidents there were 6 Assaults and 7 cases of Threat and Intimidation of which 4 involved the use of firearms. The majority of Major incidents related to the intimidatory presence in and around polling stations.
03/28/2010
|
Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice
The United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor criticized the Sri Lankan Government, pro-government paramilitary forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for blatant human rights violations in its "2009: Human Rights Report on Sri Lanka", released on March 11, 2010.