September 21, 2015 · 9:25 am

The UNHCR’s H-word: Rajan, GL and Jehan’s Thoughts

I. Rajan Philips: “The Report on Sri Lanka: Horrific vs Ethnic Facts and External vs Internal Hybridity,” in The Island, 19 September 2015

rajan philips Philips

G.L.Peiris1 Peiris  jehan P 22 Perera 

Two h-adjectives have come into circulation after the release of the UNHRC Report on Sri Lanka, last Wednesday, in Geneva: horrific and hybrid. There is nothing new in the facts stipulated as horrific in Geneva, but stipulating them as horrific does not bridge the ethnic gap in the agreement about those facts. What is new is the recommendation to establish a hybrid court having international jurists collaborating with their local counterparts. But can international hybridity overcome Lanka’s nationally divisive ethnicity? Would it make more sense to promote internal hybridity while privileging external hybridity? Internal hybridity must involve Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim judges and lawyers and other officials professionally working together rather than politically fighting one another. Just as important, transitional justice must involve a more inclusive and reflective process instead of the usual adversarial court room drama. Hybrid or otherwise, an adversarial court process will invariably degenerate into a pettifogging theatre generating mutual recriminations rather than facilitating inter-ethnic reconciliation. In Sri Lanka’s litigious culture there are quite a few legal luminaries itching to argue the case for patriotism with or without a political brief. Continue reading →

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September 18, 2015 · 3:12 pm

Abbott stumps Costello in Australia

A and C - Pic from http://www.britannica.com

COSTELLO   :  I want to talk about the unemployment rate in Australia.

ABBOTT: Good Subject…..Terrible Times.  It’s 5.6%.

COSTELLO:  That many people are out of work?

ABBOTT: No, that’s 23%.

COSTELLO: You just said 5.6%

ABBOTT:  5.6% Unemployed.

COSTELLO:  Right 5.6% out of work.

ABBOTT: No, that’s 23%. Continue reading →

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September 18, 2015 · 1:52 pm

Diannah Paramour arouses an Australian Tamil Tiger Nest, Mid-2015

Michael Roberts

Diannah Paramour is a lady in her sixties who sees herself as “a humanitarian” and an Aussie patriot vehemently opposed to all forms of terrorism nesting within the Australian continent. Arising from circumstances that I have yet to fully decipher,[1] the following sequence of events unfolded in mid-2015:

  • Paramour took umbrage in May 2015 at the display of an LTTE flag at an Australian institution (see image of Geelong Trades Union Building below) and
  • When she discovered that a Tamil organisation was holding a public meeting at the Springvale Town Hall in Melbourne on the 18thMay 2015 in association with the Australian Trades Union to mark the “genocide” of the Sri Lankan Tamil people, she used her own resources to fly there[2] and attend the meeting with her daughter Caterina as companion.
  • After watching and listening to the speeches and dramatic performances watched by an audience of circa 450 at the Town Hall, she was aroused by the display of a Tamil Tiger flag alongside the Australian flag and challenged the performance by walking up to the front and displaying the Sri Lankan flag and some pictorial illustrations of LTTE atrocities.[3]
  • She was immediately surrounded by a lot of men and became the victim of a scuffle where the yanking and jostling left her injured. In a recent email she elaborates upon these consequences: “One fracture right hand when the man bent my hand after grabbing it and holding it tightly backwards, he didn’t let go even when I called out ‘you’ve broken my finger’ because I felt a snap and sharp pain in my little finger so I assumed it was my finger. Broken rib left side caused by two men pushing me back against the stage. Tendon left shoulder broken trying two times to hold onto my flag, as I pulled back my flag the first time his second successful attempt was more violent. My bones are easy to break, so is my heart but not my duty to serve Sri Lanka, no one will break that” (email, 19 September 2015)
  • Police had been called and she was taken to a nearby police station where she accused Tim Goodman (Secretary, Australian Trades Union, who was one of the organisers) of assault.

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September 18, 2015 · 3:44 am

Endgame for the Rajapaksas says Hodge

Amanda Hodge, Courtesy of The Australian, 18 September 2015, with the title “UN report on Tamil war marks beginning of end for Rajapaksas”

Sri Lanka’s new national unity government is expected to seek international support for a watered-down version of a “hybrid” war crimes court, using local judges but foreign investigators, in a process that could mark the beginning of a reckoning for the former ruling Rajapaksa family. The UN Human Rights Council report released on Wednesday found reasonable grounds to believe the Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tigers committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during and directly after the long civil war, though it did not identify suspected perpetrators as some had speculated it might.

MR atmatara 2014--AFP Then Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse at a Victory Day parade in the southern town of Matara on May 18, 2014. Source: AFP

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September 18, 2015 · 2:41 am

Young Suriyapperumas at the Digital Cutting Edge

Dave Rush, in news item dated 23rd April 2014  with title “Sri Lankan brothers become youngest ever app developers”

Mihil and Ruvin Suriyapperuma have published two apps on the Google Play Store under the brand “RAMPS” (Ruvin And Mihil – Play Smart). CoolTimes is a multiplication app described as “A fun way of learning multiplication for kids”, whilst FamilyPhoto is a photo album app. The brothers, who both study at Gateway College in Colombo have also published an app specifically for their schoolmates.  All three apps are free to download.

According to the Daily FT, the previous youngest developers were a pair of brothers aged 10 and 12 who produced one IOS app for Apple devices.  That makes Mihil and Ruvin the youngest yet, and it is certainly a bright sign for Sri Lanka’s future in the tech business – and a very cute story.  Although two young men who already seem to have pretty clear ideas about life probably wouldn’t want it described like that.

SURIYAPPERUMA BOYS

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September 18, 2015 · 2:34 am

Ho-Hah and Propaganda around the OHCHR Report

IMG_20150915_134419 M Sumanthiran of TNA with Zeid

I. Tamil National Alliance: Press Release, 15 September 2015

TNA Spokesperson and Member of Parliament for Jaffna Mr. M. A. Sumanthiran met Hon. Hugo Swire, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom on the sidelines of the Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva yesterday, 14 September.  Mr Sumanthiran explained the TNA’s position concerning the importance of full international participation in all mechanisms established to advance Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka. He also stressed the need for the full implementation of the recommendations of the forthcoming OISL Report by the government of Sri Lanka.  The meeting was part of the TNA’s continued efforts at engaging a wide range of stakeholders including Human Rights Council member states, other governments, the government of Sri Lanka and others with respect to accountability and Transitional Justice.  Continue reading →

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September 17, 2015 · 11:20 am

The Borulagoda Gunawadenas via A Requiem for Indika Gunawardena

Senaka Weeraratne: “A Very Personal Memoir”

I came to know Indika in 1960 when I entered Royal College as a student of ‘1B’ class under Mr. Lennie de Silva (Class Master). Dinesh Gunawardena, Malik Samarawickrema, R.J. de Silva, Ruwan Ratnatunga, Jayantha Jayasinghe among others were all in ‘1B’ class. It was through Dinesh that I first came to know his brother Indika. Dinesh was seated next to me in that class as we had a lot in common those days. My father was a strong supporter of Phillip Gunawardena and the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) which won 10 seats at the General Elections held in March 1960. Ranil Wickremesinghe and C.R. de Silva were in Class ‘1D’ which had Mr. Harold Samaraweera as the Class Master. The composition of these classes was mixed, however since several subjects such as Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry were then taught in Sinhala the  classes were rearranged for these subjects. Ranil and Chitta Ranjan( Bulla) joined the class in ‘IB’ class room for these subjects, ‘Bulla’ who was a very close friend of mine from the Kindergarten days was seated next to me on the right hand side in class IB for the subjects taught in Sinhala.  GUNAWARDENAS left to right (clockwise) …Dinesh, Prasanna, Indika, Kusuma, Lakmali, Phillip and Gitanjana

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September 17, 2015 · 10:45 am

With the Samasamajists out in the Cold, Tissa Vitharana surveys the Scene in Q and A with Chandraprema

Courtesy of The Island, 17 September 2015, under the title “We warned Mahinda of international regime change conspiracy – Prof. Vitarana”

When it came to the presidential elections, we warned Mahinda that an American led regime change conspiracy was afoot in this country and we suggested ways out of this trap. But astrology outweighed scientific socialism and the country is now faced with this situation.

Chandraprema-147x150TISSA V

A part of the conventional political wisdom in this country was that the SLFP loses when they contest elections on their own but wins when they contest together with the political parties of the traditional left. This was the pattern from the first SLFP victory in 1956 where they had no-contest pacts with the LSSP to defeat the common enemy the UNP. What started off as no-contest pacts later developed into coalitions and this partnership with certain ups and downs has continued for the past several decades. But for the first time since 1975, the traditional left has now been deliberately left out in the cold by an SLFP leadership. In this interview, LSSP leader Prof. Tissa Vitarana speaks to C. A. Chandraprema about the future of his party and the trajectory the country has taken after the August 17 parliamentary election. Continue reading →

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September 16, 2015 · 2:59 am

PK Balachandran on Overt and Covert Paths in Indian and American Policies towards the Sri Lankan War, 2008-09

P.K.Balachandran, Correspondent, The New Indian Express

I. Preamble:

I have met PK Balachandran on a couple of occasions in Sri Lanka in connection with its political developments at specific points of time. I have always found him a straightforward and earnest person. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and a Masters in Sociology, both from the University of Delhi.  He has resided in Sri Lanka since 1997, working initially for The Hindustan Times before moving to the Indo-Asian News Service for a short while and then joining The New Indian Express. He therefore brings a depth of local experience that few foreign reporters will match. When I came across US Ambassador Robert Blake’s Address in Chennai in late October 2008 and decided to present a critical essay on its implications as one facet of a critique of Blake’s readings of the ongoing war in early 2009 that was already in the public realm (with a caustic title “Blake in Never-Neverland”), I sent that article as well as Blake’s Address to Bala. Typically and efficiently, Bala replied at once. The outcome has been a series of short and long ‘notes’ of immense value.

I reproduce them in full in temporal order, with my inquiries included where requisite, because of the empirical data in the form of Bala’s recollection of events and, last but not least, Bala’s assessment of the overarching political and foreign policy scenario. Indeed, they bring into question some facets of my own interpretation I conveyed in an article that appeared yesterday. Continue reading →

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September 15, 2015 · 6:38 am

American Action and Inaction on Sri Lanka, 2008/09: A Critical Evaluation

Michael Roberts

A. Preamble

Robert Blake reached Sri Lanka in early September 2006[1] and served in that capacity till he succeeded Richard Boucher as the Assistant Secretary for Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in Washington on May 26, 2009.[2] He was therefore directing USA’s programmes in the island during the crucial last phases of Eelam War IV. The Wikileaks disclosures have opened the official correspondence to the world (Wikileaks 2014). My initial studies of this material will result in at least two scathing commentaries (one is already in the public realm). My survey indicates that Blake and the US Embassy were at the centre of continuous and unrelenting pressure on the Rajapaksa government in a number of arenas relating to the ongoing war and its by-products (including the detention and welfare of IDPs). This was, I stress, coordinated activity, often involving ambassadors from several Western nations as well as the UN agencies in Colombo and/or New York.

bLAKE AT us-iNDIA DIALOGUE-csis.org Robert Blake

A cautionary caveat is called for here. Guided by SWR de Samarasinghe, “Sam’ to his friends,[3] I note that Blake’s thinking does not constitute the sum total of American policies towards Sri Lanka. The US governmental structure is multi-faceted and labyrinthine. The US Congress, the State Department, the Pentagon, and CIA do not always work in unison. Indeed, it is arguable that at times they run with both the hares and the hounds and even occasionally work at cross-purposes. Continue reading →

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