Posted By:  yajitha Posted On:  Oct 1, 2008	Put back missing chairs and stop the APC musical chairs game!
For all intents and purposes, the All Party Conference (APC), has been a waste of time by playing for time, all the time. Periodic boycotts and exits of parties based on their factional agendas have indirectly helped the procrastination, supported by the lack of political will and courage on the...... [view]

Posted By:  yajitha Posted On:  Oct 1, 2008	A brief note on the attack on J.C. Weliamuna
by R.M.B. Senanayake The attack on the human rights lawyer Weliamuna in the night where he is living with two small children show that danger is not far away from all citizens who uphold human rights and democratic norms. We the educated and influential in society have been silent when white...... [view]

Posted By:  yajitha Posted On:  Sep 29, 2008	A short note from the Vanni
By Witness I traveled to the Vanni on 17th September, with the hope of getting a lorry load of foodstuff from Vavuniya to Vanni, but it was impossible, as the Killinochchhi Government Agent’s convoy had been stopped at that time. From Omanthai exit - entry point to Killinochchi, the...... [view]

Posted By:  yajitha Posted On:  Sep 27, 2008	Email and content sharing upgrades on Groundviews
Groundviews is pleased to announce improvements to its back-end email subscription service. You can now enter any email address and have new articles emailed to you, in full, as soon as they are posted on the site. You can sign up by entering your email here . We’ve also...... [view]

Posted By:  yajitha Posted On:  Sep 22, 2008	Is Sri Lanka China’s Georgia?
Seven years after 9/11, we’re in between world orders. And winds of systemic change grip all nooks of the globe: the overstretch of America, geopolitical quicksand which is the Middle East, the benign growth of Brazil and Japan, rise of China and India, resurgence of Russia, expansion...... [view]

Posted By:  yajitha Posted On:  Sep 16, 2008	Dhamma or Violence in Sri Lanka
A few weeks ago while in the Uda Walawe area I met an opposition party MP who had come to help in the provincial election campaign for the local candidates.  As I listened to the interesting stories he was relating, I could not help but be amazed as to what we have come to accept as normal,...... [view]

Posted By:  yajitha Posted On:  Sep 10, 2008	Hearts and Minds: the forced exit of humanitarian agencies from the Vanni in Sri Lanka
The day before yesterday, the government of Sri Lanka ordered all humanitarian organisations to cease all operations and remove all personnel (except Vanni residents) and assets from the LTTE controlled part of the Vanni. The question this observer wishes to explore is why the Government of Sri...... [view]

Posted By:  yajitha Posted On:  Sep 9, 2008	The Politics of Winning in the Vanni
Fascists launch a final surge before they lose wars. The Kamikaze pilots were a last card against the US fleet. The Nazis developed the Tiger tank, launched the V-1 and V-2 rockets and fought the Battle of the Bulge in the closing stages of the war, when they had already lost in the strategic...... [view]

Posted By:  yajitha Posted On:  Aug 28, 2008	WOMEN IN CONFLICT - An interview with American filmmaker based in Sri Lanka, Lisa Kois
[Editors note: This interview was conducted in April 2006]   Lisa Kois is a brave filmmaker, working right at the heart of today’s dangerous and on going civil conflict in Sri Lanka. Her movie and television series on Sri Lanka’s war have won her numerous international awards;...... [view]

Posted By:  yajitha Posted On:  Aug 28, 2008	WOMEN IN CONFLICT - An interview with American filmmaker and UN Rapporteur based in Sri Lanka, Lisa Kois
Lisa Kois is a brave filmmaker, working right at the heart of today’s dangerous and on going civil conflict in Sri Lanka. Her movie and television series on Sri Lanka’s war have won her numerous international awards; she talks to Hugh Bohane, about her experiences making her first...... [view]

Posted By:  yajitha Posted On:  Aug 26, 2008	Our very own Blackwater? Sri Lankan mercenaries in Iraq
I walk into the bar at the Sapphire, knowing I’m early for this interview, but I don’t want to keep my contact waiting. He’s obviously a busy man, but has been convinced by a mutual friend to give me half an hour of his time. The bar itself has a certain well-worn charm that...... [view]