April 24, 2015 · 2:57 pm

Combat Trauma and Shell Shock in the Sri Lanka Army: “Palali” as Its Metaphor

Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge, courtesy of Lankaweb 15 April 2015, where the title is  “Shell Shock To Palali Syndrome,”  http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2015/04/15/shell-shock-to-palali-syndrome-2/

“In war, there are no unwounded soldiers” – Jose Narosky

Palali is a well-known area in the Jaffna Peninsula in the Northern Sri Lanka. Palali has an important airport that serves as the main lifeline in the North. A large number of soldiers travel to the Northern Peninsula through the Palali Airbase. During the Eelam War, Palali Air Base played a key role (like the Tan Son Nhut Air Base during the Vietnam conflict) providing essential food items, medicines and ammunition to the troops. Throughout the Eelam War, many battle casualties were transported to Colombo via Palali.

PALALI 22Therefore, Palali is a part of the combatants who fought in the Eelam War for nearly three decades. Palali is in their memories, sometimes in their intrusions. Palali has become a symbol and metaphor that recounts combat trauma in Sri Lanka.  Palali represents the symptom complex of battle stresses that has been experienced by the new generation of combatants. It has developed in to a syndrome.  Palali syndrome describes various clinical and psychosocial ailments experienced by the Sri Lankan combatants and in the final score how it affects the society at large. Continue reading →

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April 22, 2015 · 3:27 am

Eelam War IV and Issue of Collateral Damage & Civilian Deaths in International Law: Laduwahetty summarizes Desmond De Silva’s ‘Treatise’

Neville Laduwahetty, in The Island, 19 April 2015, where the title is “War crimes: A comment on what experts say” … with illustrations and emphases in the text added by Thuppahi

The comments presented below are in response to an edited and abbreviated version of a legal opinion by Sir Desmond de Silva on “Permissible parameters of collateral damage” carried by The Island of April 10, 2015. The article states: “Currently whether or not an attack that results in civilian deaths is legal under international humanitarian law depends on whether the attack meets the requirements of three principles: (1) Distinction; (2) Military Necessity and (3) Proportionality. A violation of international humanitarian law only occurs if there is an intentional attack directed against civilians, or if an attack is launched on a military objective with knowledge that the incidental civilian injuries would be clearly excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage”.

WAR ZONE- late April ICGThe War Theatre in mid-late April 2009 and Illustration of the Penultimate SLA Operation in Late april 2008 —Map courtesy of International Crisis Group

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April 17, 2015 · 2:30 am

Jayampathy’s Q and A on Supreme Court Decision on 19A

Exclusive interview with Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, President’s Counsel and member of the Government’s constitution drafting team … courtesy of The Island, 16 April 2015

JAYAMPATHY

In your view, what are the main points of interest in the Supreme Court’s decision on the 19th Amendment Bill? For some time, various views have been expressed regarding the extent to which the executive power of the President can be restricted without having a referendum. Article 3 of the Constitution states that ‘sovereignty is in the people and is inalienable. Sovereignty includes the powers of government, fundamental rights and the franchise.’ Art. 4 (b), which is the provision relevant to us, says that ‘the executive power of the People including the defence of Sri Lanka, shall be exercised by the President of the Republic elected by the People.’ Art. 3 is in the list of provisions that require referendum but not Art. 4. In the Thirteenth Amendment case, a decision of a Full Bench, CJ Sharavananda stated for the majority that Article 3 would be violated only if there is a ‘prejudicial impact’ on the sovereignty of the People. But in 2002, in the earlier 19th Amendment case, the Court presided over by CJ Sarath Silva held that Article 4 must be read with Article 3 and this was interpreted by many to mean that every violation of Article 4 would require a referendum. In the present case, the Court used the phrase, ‘prejudicial impact’ and made it clear that ‘not all violations of Article 4 will necessarily result in a violation of Article 3.’ Continue reading →

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April 15, 2015 · 2:52 am

Where Liberal Fundamentalism opens the Door for Extremism in the Heart of Western Society

jennifer-orielJennifer Oriel, courtesy of  The Australian, 14 April 2015, where title is “Political Correctness shackles the War on Terror” … and where reader comments will be found

Guilty on all charges. When the Boston bombing trial jury handed down their verdict against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev last week, the courtroom was silent. The most important legacy of the trial was not the verdict, but the sombre realisation that the West must jettison political correctness to win the war against terror.

Boston_marathon_bombing_22The Boston bombings constituted a horrific slaughter of innocents and a radical failure of the state to fulfil its primary duty of care to citizens. Counter-terrorism should have stopped the Tsarnaev family at the border, rejecting their plea for political asylum on the advice of Russian authorities. Counter-radicalisation should have stopped the brothers at their mosque, part of a government-funded outreach program. Intelligence agencies should have caught the thugs online after they posted viciously anti-Western tracts. Continue reading →

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April 13, 2015 · 3:00 pm

The Present Contretemps around Cecil Rhodes. The Warden of Rhodes House expands Our Horizons

A Letter from  Charles Conn to Rhodes Scholars, 7 April 2015

With the debate at University of Cape Town around the statue of Cecil Rhodes still very active, and spilling over to other sites in South Africa, I wanted to send you a short note.  There is a diversity of legitimate opinions around this issue, and we do not propose an official Rhodes Trust position.  We expect that Rhodes Scholars around the world will want to find their own way of thinking about and addressing these questions and there is an active debate on the Rhodes Scholar Network. For those not aware of the debate, a piece from The Guardian provides a quick overview. We believe that it is important to bear in mind that the historical legacy of apartheid has left a complicated set of efforts to address its pervasive injustices, and this must take place in South Africa, by South Africans. AA--writ large

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April 13, 2015 · 2:38 pm

Epicentres Adventurous Step: Mapping Sri Lankan Migrants with Their Aid … so step up

Mapping the Relationship between Sri Lankan and Tamil Diasporas with Communities in Sri Lanka

Many Sri Lankans and Tamils living outside Sri Lanka share deep relationships with communities in Sri Lanka. While complex, these relationships are grounded in a profound commitment to the communities they call their own; a commitment expressed by the various ways that the Diaspora assist communities in Sri Lanka in overcoming difficult challenges. In the past few months, members of the Sri Lankan and Tamil communities living outside Sri Lanka have begun exploring the possibility of working across cultural, ethnic and geographic boundaries to develop initiatives that benefit all communities in Sri Lanka, using this genuine commitment to communities in Sri Lanka as a foundation for these conversations. Migratory-Birds

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April 6, 2015 · 1:30 pm

Namo Namo: Its History from Jeyaraj and Constitutional Technicalities from Laduwahetty

I. DBS Jeyaraj:  “History of Sri Lanka’s National Anthem mired in Controversy,” in Daily Mirror,  http://www.dailymirror.lk/67545/history-of-sri-lanka-s-national-anthem-mired-in-controversy

A very effective message regarding the contentious  issue of the National Anthem being sung in Tamil was sent out earlier this week  to the  nation in general and the Tamil people in particular in the form of exemplary concrete action by the  triumvirate  comprising President Maithripala Sirisena, Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga. A symbolically meaningful event unfolded last Monday, March 23  at Valalaai in the Jaffna Peninsula where  a number of dignitaries participated. Chief among them were President  Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister  Ranil Wickremesinghe and former Premier cum President Chandrika  Bandaranaike  Kumaratunga. Over 400 acres of land taken over by the Sri Lankan armed forces to maintain a high security zone was handed over to the long deprived rightful owners on the occasion. The participation  of the ruling triumvirate of Maithri-Ranil-Chandrika at the event conveyed the message that the new dispensation was committed to the gradual downsizing of the military presence in the north and east and the re-settlement of internally displaced people in their  original habitat. The presence of the top trio at such a simple ceremony in the north  demonstrated the avowed sincerity and goodwill of the new govt in bringing about ethnic reconciliation and amity.

Ananda SAMARAKOON 1 Continue reading →

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April 6, 2015 · 11:40 am

Two Tributes in Appreciation of Anne Abayasekara

ONE. Ranmali Ponnambalam: “Amma, we thank God for your life”

It is with a heart full of thanks to God for our beloved Amma that I write today on behalf of our family. Ever since Amma passed away on January 4, after a brief illness, the tributes have poured in from near and far from family and friends Annette Aurelia Ameresekere was born on April 3, 1925 to a humble family -Justus and Frances Ameresekere, in the village of Madampe where she spent the first few years of her life. Her parents struggled to make ends meet and moved to Colombo with her and her older brother when she was still a little girl, and opened a boarding house in Colombo.

Anne Abayasekara Continue reading →

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April 3, 2015 · 5:44 am

Emotional Turmoil and Rumour-Mongering: World Cup Defeats, Pogroms & Elections

Michael Roberts

Though hardly surprising,** Sri Lanka’s ignominious exit from the World Cup in ODI cricket this year has inspired some ridiculous criticisms of team selections from cricket enthusiasts who have not evaluated the difficulties posed by a series of unfortunate injuries or the questionable alternatives facing the Selectors in every instance of player position/selection. Such waves of criticism are not uncommon from fans of particular sides in many parts of the world. However, the Sri Lankan story this time round is reminiscent of the malicious rumours swirling around the World Cup selections before and after the final match at Mumbai in the World Cup 2011 (some concocted by Rajapaksa-haters and/or opponents). It is therefore appropriate that I reproduce the essay*** that I penned on that occasion and place it within a political space — not least because it dwells on the horrendous crimes inflicted in 1915, 1958 and 1983 upon minority communities who were Sri Lankan through and through. Continue reading →

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April 1, 2015 · 11:34 am

Science Nay-Sayers in the West and their Cultural Counterparts in Sri Lanka

Chandre Dharmawardana, Ottawa, Canada

Galileo nearly got burnt at the stake for heresy when he claimed that the Earth orbited around the sun instead of being the fixed center of the God-created Universe. At that time most people were science Nay-Sayers. A century before Galileo, when Christopher Columbus defiantly sailed  West seeking Eastern India, most people  believed that the Earth was flat, as was evident to the eye. This view was common to almost all cultures, be it Hindu, Buddhist, Chinese or Hebrew. Today many of us happily believe that people are well informed in this age of the internet and Google.

flat_earth motis.blogspot.com

Amazingly, the very opposite  is also true. Rich counties like the USA  or the Oil Kingdoms are not educated societies. Fundamentalist religions remain powerful and science Nay-Sayers are well funded and articulate. While the Western nations spend billions on scientific research, the average citizen prefers to use the fruits of science (i.e., technology) while refusing to come to terms with  what he/she finds incomprehensible, counter-intuitive and often going against traditional beliefs and practices. Instead of expecting to build an improved world using science, Science Nay-Sayers take a very distopian view of   modern knowledge.  They, like their counterparts during Galileo’s times,  seek  to find solace in returning to “traditional ways”, even though Humpty-Dumpty cannot be be put back, with some 22  million new people ( population of Sri Lanka!) added to the global population every two months! Continue reading →

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