The ostensible powerlessness of words to combat this growing vigilante nationalism must not prevent us from speaking against such virulent anti-democratic views with the steadfastness that has underpinned all democratic reform championed by civil society, progressive media activism and on rare occasion, by the State in Sri Lanka.

Sanjana, I agree with you 100%. But what happens when words are not enough? The PRRA did serve a purpose in the late 80s.

If you read the top left hand corner of the original letter you will see it says Notice No 1. Were there more notices? Or will there be more notices in the future, when they let us know who else they have killed?

Morquendi, are you in favour of creating another PRRA?

Such a strategy may mirror Dayan Jayatilleka’s comments here http://www.theacademic.org/feature/115545451080368/index.shtml:

“If we Sinhalese have any brains we would imitate the big boys, the USA and the USSR during the Cold war, the Indians and Pakistanis today, and adopt a multi-track policy of containing the enemy by engaging and enmeshing it in negotiated agreements while undermining it at the periphery through low intensity proxy war, and building up the military strength of the state. We would (a) sign the joint mechanism while (b) training and equipping our military so as to defeat any LTTE threat, and (c)covertly supporting, or at the least, not selling out and suppressing, the increasingly effective armed resistance by the Karuna forces.”

Thimal brings up a number of interesting points with regard to this here -http://indi.ca/2005/05/taraki/

I tend to agree broadly with Thimal, but this may because I still believe that words are more powerful than weapons. We just haven’t used them appropriately to turn swords into ploughshares in SL.

The Announcement No. 1 reminded me of the announcements made by the FLN in Gillo Pontecorvo’s classic ‘The Battle of Algiers’. The two contexts and groups are obviously different, but I do hope that by highlighting the extremism in this letter, we are able to create, expand and sustain more moderate voices that support democracy and sanity.

Sanjana, a few very basic examples:

You know how many poster campaigns by the pro-peace groups have been foiled by the nationalists. Either they attack the people who’re putting up the posters. Or stalk the group removing the posters minutes after they are put up so they won’t be there the next morning.

You know how many meeting have been disrupted by their mobs.

All I’m saying is use their tactics against them. All it takes is a few comitted people and a little bit of creative planning to keep things from turning violent. This can be done. You know it.

Yes, that will raise the level of the confrontation, and will possibly lead to an escalation of the violence which is something we do not need at this point. But like Sunanda said at the Fort Station rally on the 3rd, we have to let the fascists know they are not the only ones who can block a street.

We need a pro-peace movement. But we also need a strong movement with a non-pacifist, anti-nationalist agenda.

Like someone once said (I can’t really remember): If, to fight the evil, you need to let a bit of the evil into you, then so be it.

Morq machang,

I know full well what you’ve personally been through and the import of the arguments you bring up here. I don’t wish to belittle your chosen method of a possible response to the madness is increasing in SL, but neither do I agree with you. I believe the greatest danger of a violent society is that it encourages moderates into increasingly extremist positions as well. This is also the danger of a peace process in stasis – going nowhere, with an elusive (one might say entirely invisible) ‘peace dividend’ and growing extremism and violence, it is easy to begin to despair that non-violence and words alone can bring about a modicum of sanity into our lives and communities.

The danger of a non-pacifist (we must be careful how we use ‘anti-nationalist’ though…) campaign to weed out the extremist elements is that however well intentioned, the evil that you let in to fertilise your goals will ultimately grow into a force of its own. It is cancerous with illusory control over it.

As I argue, the efforts here should not be to let the evil into us, but to expose it for what it is. To hold it up against public scrutiny, to talk about it openly with the masses, to drum up dialogue and support against such rhetoric and then to sustain that dialogue to create, at the end of the day, a large movement against extremism, violence and regressive / garrison nationalism.

I personally believe that if we are to use violence against violence, we cannot then espouse support and allegiance to the larger ideals of democracy. I know full well that there are a 1,001 quotes to prove that democracy can only be established and kept alive by the blood of revolutions, patriots and such like – but in a country / context / polity / society like Sri Lanka, any move to use violence, even with the best of intent – as a means to an end that is for the greater good of the country – we run the risk of letting that violence take over and become a ‘spoiler’. With all the creative planning in the world, all it takes is a single incident by a single individual to mar an entire campaign. Sunanda’s statement was not a battle cry for violence, but a plea for those against violence to raise their voice.

As you correctly say, a non-pacifist agenda may also escalate violence – and even if you are able to control your own, its ripple effect will increase the instability, forcing you to react with even greater violence, leading to a telos that you and I both, I think, want to avoid.

I share the very frustration as you do, but I fear that while respecting your thoughts on this matter, I cannot support your call for a non-pacifist movement – lest we become the very things we are fighting against.

Stay well,

Sanjana

I think violence is just weak, lazy and – worst of all – boring. It’s for when you run out of creative ideas. If you’re going to do it organize some rabid monkey army or something. Perhaps with headbands and tricycles. Surprise me. That violence shit is done to death.

Indi, would you say the same thing to those who regard the LTTE as their voice against the oppression (whether real or imagined) of the Sri Lankan State? For example, is the violence of the LTTE “shit” (to use your words), or is it legitimate? How would you go about convincing the LTTE and its avid supporters that “violence shit is done to death” and that it is weak, lazy and boring?

It seems that you have been deeply disturbed by the Sivaram death. Of course we all must condemn killing people like this. But I don’t understand why our concern is limited to a selected group of people rather than to all member of our society. I would join you to condemn his killing.But I overwhelmingly reject the fact that he was a journalist no way… he was a terrorist ( If you need facts yes I can give you….)…

Following is an excerpt from the special report “Political Killings and Sri Lanka’s Stalled Peace” released by university teachers for human rights ( Jafna)on 28th March 2005.

The role of the TamilNet and its editor has been questioned here…and they clearly show you for whom he had been serving…

“LTTE gunmen shot dead Kirubeswaran early morning on 8th March when he waited for a bus opposite the Batticaloa Police HQ, to take him to Colombo and then to fly to Qatar. It was another totally callous and unwarranted routine action of the LTTE’s killing machine.

The second is a replica of TamilNet except for the switch of ‘LTTE’ for ‘unidentified’.M Ironically the editor of TamilNet was a leading member of PLOTE, now whitewashing the murder of his former comrades trying to lead ordinary civilian lives.

dandanayake

dildonayake: damn it, I’m not going to shut you up, give me the same respect. If I listened to every pompous commenter I wouldn’t be saying anything anymore. If you want to drown me out with reason, then do it, but you’re not going to shut me up.

heshan: yeah, I would say that LTTE violence is boring, not that my opinion is very consequential. If there was a non-violent Tamil movement I would be more interested. There’d be more diverse voices and people like Neelan wouldn’t be dead. The country would be richer for the debate. Violence is pretty good for seizing power and shutting people up, but that’s the last thing I’m interested in.

For LTTE supporters, I’d ask whether LTTE totalitarianism and international isolation really increases their quality of life. Non-violence preserves life, which is the most basic quality. I guess they could look to Gandhi or Martin Luther King as successful civil liberties struggles. They made life better for everybody, and they didn’t kill anybody. The Tamil people had their own bright voices like Neelan, but those are gone. Hopefully there’ll be more.

I don’t want you to stop anything….all I ask you is to prevent yourself using your talent, energy to promote/defend terrorists or supporters of terrorists ( they have many faces some appear as journalists some appear as businessmen but end result of their action converges to the same passion) …I beg you again please do your own research before you comment on anything.
The funny side of the modern day journalism is anyone with enough resources can create lies/myths at their will and make the common believe them. Please don’t fell pray to them…please

dildonayake(Dildo-nayake= the leader of dildo’s)
heheheh ;-)) .Wow. (great name for a Sri Lankan Lesbian porn star ! like in Electra Dildonayake or something.what a name!)

Dandanayake, in all the cases you have mentioned, the shootings were indeed carried out by unidentified gunmen. Unless the LTTE owns up to the killings, or the gunmen are arrested and they are proven to be members of the LTTE working under orders, they are unidentified gunmen.

If Sivaram had said that they were LTTE members who did these killings then he would have been wrong, and he would have been a lousy journalist.

Yes Tamilnet is wrong to say ‘paramilitaries supported by the army’ or other such things when an LTTE member is killed by the Karuna faction or other groups. Like when Kaushalyan was killed. As far as the truth is concerned it was unidentified gunmen who carried out that attack as well. So it was wrong of Tamilnet, and if Sivaram if he was involved in that editorial discussion, to say what they did.

But do you notice how the Dinamina, Divaina and the Island all flash big ‘LTTE kills’ so and so on their headlines? When it hasn’t been proven by anyone that the LTTE had anything to do with the killing? They are doing the same thing Sivaram was doing. So in this regard the Island and the mainstream Sinhala newspapers are no different from Tamilnet.

Oh you might say ‘well everyone knows the LTTE killed them’. Well I say ‘everyone knows that JVP killed Sivaram’ but I don’t put that on a headline do I? What everyone knows is not news, and is most often not quite true.

Remember, everyone once knew the earth was flat.

So, whatever you accuse Sivaram of, please also accuse the editors of the Sinhala dailies and the Island of the same. Only then do you have any right to claim any impartiality.

We have just put up an English translation of the letter. Letting you know, in case your visitors would be interested.

Sorry messed the first one up.

Here’s the plain link http://unspun.mithuro.com/content/view/121/43/

Agreed! As Tamilnet is ready to justify everything LTTE guys do, our state run media is ready to forget about all accepted norms and standards of journalism and defend their masters…and crush their the enemies. That’s why I wrote anyone/any party with adequate resources can create lies/myths and make common believe them. This is where the importance doing our own studies and verifications important. These reports from UTHR are unbiased and free from prejudice, I believe. I rely on them to get the Tamil’s point of view on what is going on this country.

Leave aside these killings of army informants and paramilitary carders. Where were these media gurus when EPDP media coordinator was gun downed in Colombo? What did they do when technical staff members of SL Rupavahini were killed by LTTE in Mankulam, where were their slogans and banners when Baticalo verakesari reporter was killed by LTTE? I can go one writing like this but we all know about these incidents.

I agree we must condemn political killings such as Sivaram’s but then we should condemn “all” of them not some selected. This is where I lose my faith in Free Media moment of Sri Lanka

Just for yourt information Dandanayake, the Free Media Movement did respond to the killing of the EPDP’s media coordinator Balanataraj Iyer. So please get your facts right. And also, the SLRC crew was killed at a time when there was no Free Media Movement. Sorry.

If you think the UTHR(J) is unbiased you must be out of your mind. They are good. And they do good work. And I read their material when I can. But to call them unbiased is lunacy. And the kind of people who continue to believe that the UTHR(J) is the proper voice of the Tamil people are the Sinhala Nationalists.

If you want the proper voice of the Tamil people the only thing you can do is go to the North and talk to them, if you have been anywhere North of Anuradhapura ever. From the three years when my work took me to Kilinochchi on a regular basis (at least once a month), my experience has been that the people don’t share the opinion of the UTHR(J) in any way.

They might not like the LTTE, but they have accepted the fact that the LTTE can give them certain things the Government of Sri Lanka was not able to give them. They might not like their children being recruited to the LTTE, but they do it because if they give one child to the LTTE, the LTTE will provide security for the whole village and for all the other children in the village. The LTTE does meet the needs of these people on more occasions than not. Their ‘legal’ system is fairly comprehensive and it works and the people who live under it are happy with it. These are people who for generations were neglected by the Government in Colombo. If I lived in the Vanni I would most definetely be appreciative of what the LTTE gives me.

So please understand that while some Tamil people who live in Colombo and in other countries may not like the LTTE and the way the LTTE works, and may yell foul when the LTTE declares that they are the sole representatives of the Tamil people, a majority of the people in the Vanni have learnt to live with the LTTE and appreciate what the movement has done for them.

As long as the LTTE has the support of these people it is futile to fight them militarily, because you can’t really kill all the Tamil people of the North and East like the extremist Sinhala Nationalists propose, can you?

So next time you want the Tamil people’s point of view go to Kilinochchi and ask them what they think, instead of reading propaganda put out by the Hooles.

Also, if you had been at the Free Media Movement led protest in front of the Fort Railway Station on World Press Freedom Day you would have seen the names of journalists who are thought to have been killed by the LTTE also mentioned along with Sivaram and others.

You believe a common myth propagated by the JVP and the JHU and the NPM and other anti-Tamil anti-LTTE Sinhala Nationalist extremist groups in the South. They want to paint the FMM (and many other NGOs and journalists as well) as a pro-LTTE organisation so they can target them. No one from these groups ever comes for a FMM protest. So they do not know that the FMM stands for journalists who have anti-LTTE politics as well. Even if they did know this they would continue to accuse the FMM and other NGOs of only speaking out against the killing of pro-LTTE journalists because that is what serves their purpose.

I have many problems with the way the FMM works, but this is not one of them.

So please, I would ask you to check your facts before you speak.

Thank you very much for reminding me about checking my facts before I speak.

During the late 1980s JVP was giving the same impression what LTTE is giving ;that is they have the support of the common. For an example the common people believed that the entire university student community was favoring JVP and unanimously agreeing to JVP polices. But the truth was JVP supporters never allowed anyone to present a second opinion. Those who had the courage to go against them had to pay heavily…LTTE is doing the same and TULF leader Ananda Sangaree has written extensively on this matter and I don’t think further explanations are required…

If the legal system practiced in LTTE control area is comprehensive and practical, the Tamil people should be able to seek justice against all crimes committed by LTTE as well. (the same way people in the south go to a court of justice against the state). But we all know it’s not the case with LTTE controlled areas. So your comment on the LTTE legal system is unacceptable

You can have whatever opinion you want to have about UTHR. I have read many publications by them and I haven’t come across anything that Sinhala nationalists can be happy of. You cannot blame them for not going to LTTE controlled areas. They saw what happened to one their founder members, Dr Rajini Thiranagam, and I think they to want to live as long as they can and have a natural death…

Talking about FMM and other media gurus…yes I remember FMM condemning the killing of EPDP member but anyone can see the difference between the intensity of the two protest campaigns … classic example of duplicity of these people can be found within this site itself. Writing on Therapuththabaya balakaya claiming responsibility of Sivaram’s death Sanjana says

“Given the sweeping damnation of anyone associated the ‘infamous imperialist forces’ it is also unclear whether any section of Sri Lankan polity and society can effectively engage in a constructive dialogue with the likes of the Therupuththabhaya Brigade”

Against vigilante nationalism by Sanjana Hattotuwa)

See how quickly he decides to express his doubts about having constructive dialogue with sinahal extremist group Therupuththabhaya Brigade. For him just one letter is enough to come to the conclusion…

Think about the thousands killed by LTTE for a second. Exclude the members of security forces. Just think about the Tamils (from Alfred Doreappa to Neelan Theruchchelwam) killed by LTTE.

Now is Sanjana ready to come to same conclusion he came on Therupuththabhaya Brigade?

I don’t want to defend Therupuththabhaya Brigade or any other extremist group but I have observed this duplicity everywhere and I’m sure it has given a lot of weight to what JVP and JHU is saying.

I don’t accept what JPV is saying about NGOs. Some time back, they were too seeking support from the same NGOs they are trying to crush today. But I also have bit of my own experience with NGOs…Some are doing an excellent job and they should be commended and given every support they deserve. But for some, the sole objective of is to depict a picture of Sri Lanka as an unstable state similar to one you get in African Continent. I don’t think we cannot accept this.

I personally don’t like the policies of UPFA (well if they have a few) but I cannot deny the fact that this government was elected through a free and fare election (compared to the previous elections). So no one has the right to go before the international community and ask not to support the present government as some of the leading NGOs did during the past few months.

If you read a bit about the recent history about sri lanka, you can find enough examples of the consequences of seeking foreign support to defeat local opponents. History repeats, some say

My dear Dandanayake,

You really must read more before coming to your conclusions?

With regards to the LTTE, I’ve said this: “Hypocrisy is also shown, by the LTTE’s own condemnation of Sivaram’s murder. Lest we forget, the LTTE is not known for its openness for diversity and pluralism, much less democracy. Conferring titles posthumously does little to uplift an image of intolerance to voices within the Tamil community that questioned its modus operandi in addressing legitimate Tamil aspirations. Again, while censure is easy, and the reasons for it are many, more difficult is to ask ourselves how to engage, without appeasement, the LTTE in dialogues that prise open democratic debate and weakens its role as a hegemon in the NE. While acknowledging the difficulties involved in a transition from sub-state secessionism to the democratic mainstream we cannot condone the LTTE’s intolerance of opinions contrary to its own set of beliefs – put simple, it’s self-definition as the sole representatives of the Tamil people is as dangerous as accepting the JHU’s voice as the voice of the Sangha, or the JVP’s rhetoric as that of the majority of people in the South.”

Please see http://www.theacademic.org/feature/115544901079193/index.shtml. Your own observations of duplicity seem to exist on account of your limited reading, partial comprehension and / or selective memory – all of which are less than desirable qualities.

However I admire your unwillingness to paint ALL NGOs as bad and agree with you that there are some better than others. Having spent over 3 years in the thick of NGO / donor politics in Colombo, the corruption and mismanagement of funds in the guise of peacebuilding by some NGOs is morally indefensible. And saddening.

But in Sri Lanka, we really have a restricted notion of civil society, a term often taken to mean only Colombo based English speaking NGOs. Civil society is much broader than this blinkered understanding. If you want to push some of your ideas further, I think it is incumbent upon you, and the rest of us, to take our ideas to the people – creating dialogues that engage with the important issues that you bring up.

Is history really cyclical? I hope not, for the last thing I would want to see in our country is another ’83 or ’89.

Stay well,

Sanjana

Hey Danda,

This is not entirely besides the point, but if you want to call Sivaram a terrorist because he was a member of the POLTE way back when, perhaps you should also call Somawansa Amarasinghe a terrorist for being a member of the JVP in 88-89. We don’t know for certain whether Sivaram did directly participate in terrorist activities, but we know for sure Somawansa did.

Get what I mean?

Thank you very much for the piece of advice. True I may haven’t read enough…I’m not journalist or a political analyst by profession…but I’m not a person who comes to the conclusion first and then search means to justify it. I try my best to analyze the problem in hand based on what I can gather and then come my conclusion.

The point I wanted to make was that you were very quick to express your doubts about having a constructive dialog with this Sinhala extremist group Therupuththabhaya Brigade but you want to push us to sit with LTTE for talks. You only have one killing plus a letter on Therupuththabhaya guys account and we all know how big the LTTE’s account. For me this looks duplicity.

Two years ago some business tycoon in Colombo organizes a peace promotion campaign and organized a day of solidarity. All government and private institutions, offices were informed about this and requested to join. I alone with a few of my colleagues, which included two Tamils and a Muslim, took part despite the criticism of many. Later in the evening on the day I sat down to watch TV news and found out that some group of Sihala Urumaya had clashed with the organizers of the campaign. They reported that one of the female campaigners was slapped by one of the intruders. Finally they showed the clips from the press briefing held by this businessman, who organized the event, and there he wowed to teach a “good lession” to “the sinhala extremists”. The same person who urges us to sit with LTTE, forgetting all what they have done, now declares war against Sinhala extremists…to tell you the truth I’m frustrated with these acts of duplicity.

Read what Morquendi wrote on (May 14th, 2005 at 4:11 pm) dealing with the fascists…( Sanjana you was very quick reject his suggestion and I appreciate that I wonder what type of a civil society activity Morquendi is )

“Like someone once said (I can’t really remember): If, to fight the evil, you need to let a bit of the evil into you, then so be it.”

Now if some Sinahala group or anti LTTE Tamil group decides to adopt this concept, what would you say????

Sanjana, you may see what I write here is ridiculers…but please remember that what I write here reflects a bit how ordinary people look at these things…it will be them decide who rules this country…I’m not asking to play for the gallery but please understand that the message you want to convey has not reach the common.

Finally, you wrote

“Is history really cyclical? I hope not, for the last thing I would want to see in our country is another ‘83 or ‘89.”

I would like to share you with the same hope. But I can clearly see the root causes which triggered these tragedies still exist and therefore I repletion of them.

Morquendi

I agree to, a certain extent, what you say about Somawansha Amarasinghe. JVP is yet to publicly admit the atrocities they committed. I cannot stop myself laughing whenever I hear a JVP guy talk about democracy.

I tend to agree. I feel that there does tend to be a quite a lot of hypocrisy among certain sections of the NGO crowd. Many of them like to gloss over the facism of the LTTE and appear unable or unwilling to critisize the LTTE. Sadly, they will happily lambast the so-called “Sinhalese extremists” like the JVP, who, mind you, are working within the Sri Lankan constitution unlike a certain other group that has illegally usurped part of Sri Lankan territory. Apparently the LTTE are not “Tamil extremists” despite suicide bombings, child soldiers, murders of political opponents, ethnic cleansing of Muslims, extortion – you name it. It is probably fair to say that unless this hypocrisy is addressed, these NGOs will find it difficult to win popular support for their agendas. Speak a word against the LTTE and you will be branded as “anti-Tamil.”

Morquendi – so the FMM had to wait for the death of Sivaram to protest and condemn the murder of other journalists by the LTTE?

Interesting indeed…

Morquendi

Read the following lines extracted from one of the reports published by Center for policy alternatives

“The LTTE has its own media structure including a major radio operation ( voice of Tiger Radio), a small news paper, an extensive video production unit, and an extensive TamilNet website”

Source: A study of Media in the North-East of Sri Lanka, conducted by Centre for Policy Alternatives in collaboration with International Media Support, Denmark. This study was conducted from May to June 2003 by Mr. Sunanda Deshapriya and Mr. Sanjana Hattotuwa < .B>

According to this, TamilNet is a part of LTTE media network…(or am I not understanding correctly what these gentlemen say??)
Now tell me, how would you stop us calling Sivaram who served TamilNet a terrorist? You might argue that he didn’t handle guns for them…then people like Gobbels should not be blamed for what Hitler did ?

For chirssake Heshan please read the whole conversation before you make statements like what you did about the FMM.

Dandanayake, Ok fine I made a very brattish statement about ‘letting a bit of the evil in’. I take it back. No I do not accept violence in any form. But I am interested in it in a very ‘looking in from the outside’ kinda way, if that makes sense to you.

Great! Morquendi, only the courageous can accept their mistakes and this is the quality, we as a society lack a lot.

Here’s a confession Dandanayake, I’ve done teeny weeny bit of work in the Vanni with the LTTE’s video production unit. Does that make me a terrorist?

And what Gobbels did was propaganda. Sivaram did not push propaganda. He brought the Tamil people’s point of view, and sometimes the LTTE’s point of view, into debates in the South. There is a very clear difference. If you think the LTTE’s point of view is not important because they are terrorists then it’s ok. But I believe we need to factor in the LTTE’s opinion, and the Tamil people’s opinion, in any political debate in the country. This is why I spent so many days and nights in Kilinochchi trying to get interviews from every tom dick and harry in the LTTE. I hope this does not sound like I am equating myself with Sivaram (I’m just a small fish), but I have been involved in putting the LTTE’s point of view on TV for the past 3 years, starting one month before the ceasefire. Does that make me a terrorist? And should I be lynched and killed for it?

Morquendi

Sivaram was not only presenting us the LTTE point of view. He was interpreting, reinventing news and views for them. That is propaganda and that’s why I called him a terrorist.

I don’t know what you were doing with LTTE in Vanni, but ‘if” you have helped them in waging/defending violence, then I don’t hesitate to call you a terrorist.

It seems that you deal with a FMM lot and know a lot about them. I have a question for you and I hope you could give me an answer…

I have seem many poster campaigns, protest marches, seminars etc etc on freedom of press, democratic rights, human rights sponsored/organized by FMM, NPC in Colombo. (In fact one of my Tamil friends once suggested that we should rename Lipton Circle as “Varjana Handiya” ).

The question I want to raise is…can you enlighten me about any of the similar campaigns held in Jaffna, Killinochi, Trincomalee, Vavunia ,Baticalo in any of the LTTE held areas ,asking LTTE to denounce vilolence, stop recruiting child solders and killing political opponents ??

Have you seen any “anti-war” billboards ,in any of the LTTE held areas( Similar to the ones you can find in Colombo) ??

Has Mr. Sunanda Deshapirya or any other member of FMM given strong speeches (like the ones what we often here in Colombo) in any of the LTTE held areas ??

I really want an answer, pls

The question I want to raise is…can you enlighten me about any of the similar campaigns held in Jaffna, Killinochi…

Let’s say a man’s house is on fire. He’s going to save as much stuff as he can, but he can’t save everything. You’re sitting there asking ‘What about the stereo! I can’t believe you left the TV!’ Man, the damn house is on fire. Stop yelling at the firemen and help out.

I agree we must condemn political killings such as Sivaram’s but then we should condemn “all” of them not some selected. This is where I lose my faith in Free Media moment of Sri Lanka

Everybody’s doing what they can. The fact that you get killed for Free Speech in LTTE Territory makes FMM type movements more dead. I fail to see why that means people should shut up here. If you think the LTTE isn’t being condemned enough then condemn them. You, D-Nayake, get on a bus, go to Killinochi and protest. Telling other people what to do is just lazy. If you want to make a change then go out and do it. If you want perfection you might have to wait for Jesus or Buddha to come back. Until then everybody does what little we can.

Dear Dandanayake,

My apologies for the late reply.

Firstly, I wish not to be drawn into a personal battle between what you believe vs. what I hold true. Based on a shared vision for a war-free Sri Lanka, it might be useful for the both of us and in your interactions with others in this forum, to try to explore ways in which we can work, best we can (we are fallible humans, make mistakes) to help those who are trying to make a difference.

My comments against Morq’s suggestion on the use of violence was not a reflection of his activism. It is his inviolable right to believe what he does, as it is my own to refute it. I don’t know what type of “civil society activity” (sic) Morq is, but I respect what I know of his work.

Perhaps you can tell us the ways in which you have actively engaged with peacebuilding, with actors in the South, NE and the Vanni and in what capacity?

As for my writing, it is not intended for the masses. Recognising the importance of their participation in the peace process, I also recognise my own limitations in reaching out to them. My ideas and thoughts are directly at the centres of power in Colombo, who like it or not, will continue to shape our ‘trysts with destiny’ well into the future. This said, for around 5 years, I have been involved in trying to build the capacity of a wide spectrum of stakeholders in the peace process, from NGOs and mainstream media to provincial journalists and journalists both partial to and opposed to the LTTE in the NE. This work is rendered insignificant by others who have been at this herculean task for far longer. But the work continues, and is underpinned by a firm belief that open channels of communication, which takes knowledge from Colombo and helps those in the outlying regions to interpret and disseminate it, helps processes of democracy and the creation of a just and sustainable peace.

You don’t need to write for the masses to create a mass movement. We can all do our part, best we can, to the audience we feel most comfortable addressing. In sum, I agree with you that the message has to reach the common man, but the author of that message does not necessarily have to be the channel through which this happens. The Centre for Policy Alternatives Vibhasha programme – http://www.cpalanka.org/translation.html – is an interesting effort to create a corpus of translators who are able to do just this – take ideas and translate them into those which the common man understand, going beyond just literal translation without any understanding of the concepts or context.

Heshan, I don’t understand your comment – Speak a word against the LTTE and you will be branded as “anti-Tamil.” I know plenty of people who speak against the LTTE and are committed tamil nationalists. I know many who are deeply critical of the LTTE, who maintain the incompatibility of the TNA’s stance of a ‘sole representative’ of the Tamil people writ against the plural fabric of true democracy which allows for multiple voices. There is much writing that accepts the LTTE’s control of the NE as less than desirable. You also display a remarkable ignorance about media activism in SL.

A peace process requires a principled approach to negotiations – the very same yardsticks that you apply to the LTTE must apply to the SL State, in fact, more so, because we are the ones with a modicum of democratic credentials. In this light, the JVP’s role in ’89, the complicity of the UNP in the ’83 riots, the political responsibility of the SLFP and its leading dynasty for the way in which it divided a country using language (’56 and ’61), the statements of the JHU and PNM without a hint of ahimsa in sight, the brutal acts to quell the JVP uprising, the role of senior members of the JVP in the violence, the corruption of the police, the human rights abuses of the armed forces and police – these and many other instances of State sanctioned violence (in the fullest sense of the word), lest we forget, played a large role in creating the LTTE.

Which brings me back to Dandanayake’s comments about terrorism. OK – so Sivaram was a terrorist. So is Morq. Because I have worked with journalists partial to the LTTE in the NE, perhaps so am I. The debate is surely not about Sivaram as a terrorist, good / bad journalist, LTTE sympathiser, arsehole or prophet, democrat or tyrant. It is about the inability or unwillingess of the State to find his killers and the sheer stupidity of silencing a voice that we should have allowed to blossom, if only to prove that we are better than the intolerance in the Vanni. Surely, what is at stake here is larger than Sivaram or any individual – it is the very fabric of our society, what we call home.

Finally, if we continue to draw parallels to Gobbel and Hitler, collectively we must then also bear the political responsibility of those we elect to power and choose to align ourselves with in the South, who then go out to and spread hate speech, intolerance, extremism and outright violence.

Finally, as Indi indicates, it is really very easy to criticise. Far more difficult to get your hands dirty practicising what you preach.

Stay well,

Sanjana

Might be useful if some of us continued our discussion into the future here – http://www.theacademic.org/forum/?

I feel like I’ve been wasting your time. Because I’m not a member of the power centers of Colombo you want to address. I think you have selected a proven, success assured path to reach your objective. It was this centers of power Colombo (and Jaffna) our colonial rulers used to tame all communities of this country.

While thanking you all for spending your time on replying to my comments, I would like to remind you that none of you have answered to questions I asked…

I see lot of duplicity in the way you guys react to events related to war that’s the point i want to stress here…when this approach is questioned you say ” ok we do what we can do… get on a bus, go to Killinochi and protest if you want more…” thank you for at least admitting your inability to reach Kilinochchi……( so beat the feeble and voiceless next to you…)

Sanjana wrote “the very same yardsticks that you apply to the LTTE must apply to the SL State….”

I agree. For an example i denounce JVP for what they did in late 80s, the same way I denounce LTTE…they may argue that there were reasonable reasons for them to seek support of violence as strategic tool. But I refuse to accept their reasons as I don’t believe in the concept “the end justifies the path”.

Sanjana, thank you for the pointer to the academic forum.

Dear Dandanayake,

I’m sorry if I wasted your time, but I assure you that you haven’t wasted mine. I feel however that I am unable to get across to you – for instance, my last message is far from supporting a “a proven, success assured path” to reach my objectives. I believe that after half a century of independence, we need to take the responsibility upon ourselves for the mess that we are in and not just blame the ‘para suddha’ for all our socio-political evil.

It is unfortunate that you see duplicity in all that you have read here. I do not want to engage in a battle of heated words with you, but wish to humbly stress that after a number of years of engagement with low, medium and high level journalists, from Colombo, the South, NE, Jaffna and the Vanni, from all manner of political leanings, having been burnt by Sinhala / Tamil and English media alike for our interventions, there is a lot of work behind the spotlight of mainstream media that tries to prise open democracy where none exists (for instance, in the Vanni), and at the very least, maintain whatever we have left of it in other parts of the country.

Not all media activism is in the form of protests. Not all media activism can be. A protest march is meaningless in a context where participants have grave issues of personal security. Far more useful are other modes of engagement, which take a longer time, but are subversive in nature, and use the voices of dissent and democratic urges within all communities to slowly erode away the regimes which thwart such progress. If you are genuinely interested, critically engage with those who are already doing such work – learn from them, help them do their work better, give your voice, experience and intelligence to processes that actually help, instead of just words on a webpage.

There is no guaranteed success – much of our work will require many generations to bring healing to communities who will never lend their voice to blogs such as this, but who have lost everything worth living for. If you think your voice, it leads me to believe that you really haven’t spent any time at all in engagements with communities at the butt end of conflict – from the pockets of poverty in the South, to those in the frontlines / FDL / border villages in the NE.

There is much sound and fury to go around – as posts in other sections of this blog so amply demostrate. But translating that sound into action, from armchair criticism to direct intervention, from remote diaspora critique to actually working in Sri Lanka, requires much greater courage, vision, sincerity and a willingness to get down and do the dirty work instead of just sitting around lazily pelting stones at those who do.

Thank you, again, for your input.

Stay well,

Sanjana

Sanjana I didn’t know that you have a divine eye to see what others do :)

If it wasn’t for the risk if losing my job ( I have a fatherless family to support otherwise I wouldn’t dare), I would reveal who I am and what I’ve been doing…

You know there is great possibility of meeting you and me in person, some day (If you are to stay in Sri Lanka and work). On that day I’ll introduce myself to you and I’m sure that you’ll regret for calling me an armchair critic.

Indi has already indicated his displeasure with what I’ve been doing inside his “kitchen”. So this will be the last posting of mine.

Sanjana I have been reading what you write for some time. We have differences in how we see things but if your dream is a trouble free country where human values are upheld then we share the same final objective. I admire your skills and appreciate the respect you show for your opponents.

Indi, thanks for letting me using your “kitchen” :)

No divine eye here ! :)

Just hope.

You shouldn’t leave our kitchen – I will personally find it quite boring without the sometimes hilarious (for me at least) heated exchanges between people here. The one world worse than the one we inhabit would be one in which everyone agreed with everyone else.

I hope to regret calling you an armchair critic as well and hope I live to see the day I do.

Stay well,

Sanjana

Sivaram is an advocate of Tamil Tiger Fascism. An agent of LTTE whose duties among others is to run the LTTE news agency Tamil Net which is exactly the same as Langapuwath( Buruhu puwath) of the eighties. Sivaram betrayed all his PLOTE mates including his wife’s brother- in- law Vasudeva of PLOTE.

Sivaram an unprincipled socio path. Who has never been loyal to his wife. Killed two innocent blokes of PLOTE Ahilan and Selvam. Had a woman in every port. An anti social personality. An anti libertarian whose duty is to enjoy his life at the expense of others freedom and bigotry.

Seelan, you knew the man?

I know Sivaram inside out. I am also From Eastern Sri Lanka. I joined PLOTE 6 months after Sivaram Joined.

I am 2 years senior to him. I left PLOTE soon after found out PLOTE is a Torture Camp. Later I joined with the PLOTE breakaway “Theepory”. Ever Since I was keeping an eye on People Like Sivaram and their actions.

Now I married to a Sinhalese woman and living in a sinhalese village deep interior Sinhalese traditional land, running my wife’s family business Bakery.

And here we all were dismissing Seelan as just being full of angst. This is what happens when you don’t take peoples opinions on board – regardless of how distasteful they may seem to you.

This blog is a microchosm of the reasons for the failure of the peace process. People don’t give a rat’s arse what the others are saying. They pretend to – and that makes it worse. Kaata kiyannada?

I agree with Dandanayake that Sivaram was performing a function similar to that of Goebbels. It’s just that he used the newspapers and the internet and didn’t drop bundles of paper from a Messerchmidt over North Africa. Having had to read, digest and verify Tamilnet reports as compared to their newsagency counterparts, one would have to be fairly naive not to perceive a slight hint of bias. Similarly news on Rupavahini approaching election time is no better. Probably worse as it wears the guise of being a true democratic, representative organisation.

This makes pamphlateers bad journalists. To those who have the ability to sift the wheat from the chaff.

The only consensus we can probably glean from this discussion is that the killing of any journalist for whatever reason is wrong. Whether or not Sivaram was a ‘journalist’ in the bona fide definition of the word is something that we have to individually decide.

No Morq. Your work doesn’t make you a terrorist. However, it doesn’t make you a gospel writer either. To the LTTE you were nothing more than conduit to the media. Don’t take yourself too seriously. What he does doesn’t make Brian Thomas a cricketer – extend the analogy. You couldn’t have failed to notice that the organisation you work for – or used to work for…not sure where you are now – did have an agenda. Regardless of how altruistic or bona fide that agenda maybe it still is an agenda. The same Hatts sadly goes for NGO’s. While I do respect the work that you do…I can’t help feeling you can do more. As you said to Dandanayake, there are limitations in reaching out to the grassroots. These limitations I feel need to be overcome. While the intellectual discourse maybe confined to the power centres of civil society, it serves no practical purpose. And that is pointless. Is it not?

Seelan, let me check if the information you have provided about Sivaram thus far is correct. Let me ask you a question, if you knew him inside out, which University did he go to, what was he studying there, and more importantly, where was he during the July 83 riots?

Also, considering the relationship between PLOTE and the LTTE, from the time of the Tamil New Tigers to Uma Maheshwaran’s murder to Manikkathasan’s murder, to Sidharthan saying what he did in 2001, the relationship between PLOTE and the LTTE has never been stable or predictable.

As for the Bakery story from the sinhalese village deep interior Sinhalese traditional land. Come on, get real. I can hardly find a bloody internet connection in Galle, so give up. Please, you just lost whatever respect I had for you. This is not a Hindi movie.

Sophist, much as I agree with what you say (and I do, wholeheartedly), I have no regret for not taking Seelan at face value. Should I (or any other person) accept his opinion at face value ? Leaving aside that this is the intarweb and anyone can drop in, say s/he is anyone and move on.. leaving aside that, why do you think I should listen to any one person who tells me “listen to me. I know what I’m saying and what I say is true” ?

Would you prefer blind faith because someone says you should trust them ? I don’t.

Shanaka,

Criticism taken on board and fully acknowledged. Thanks.

The limitations of Colombo-centric NGO activism, however, is something I have already written about and realise the limitations of. One cannot wholly / carte blanche dismiss such activism, but again, it would be, as you correctly point out, folly to think that cosmopolitan peacebuilding can engender a wider grassroots support for the peace process. My ability to reach out to the grassroots is limted by, inter alia, the perception of our shared alma mater, my English Lit. education, the inability to speak Tamil (which I hope to make a concerted effort to learn – goddamit, I know more French than I do a language of my own country).

I am deeply aware of my limitations and humbly recognise that my presence will be inevitably coloured by factors such as race, ethnicity, caste and education which I have had little or no control of.

Peacebuilding is so damn difficult machang. It’s tough to see the good that can come out of the projects that one champions and also see the corruption that resides in the very circles that one is inevitably part of. My own answer is to approach this on the basis of the inviolable principles of honesty and integrity – that the very yardsticks one uses to judge the State / LTTE / JHU / JSS / PNM / Taraki’s killers / Karuna / EPDP / or whatever else,are the same yardsticks of accountability and transparency that are needed to undergird one’s own work in NGOs.

I agree, I can and must do more.

But I need your help machang, for this is not a process that can be undertaken by any one individual. The ideals we are fighting to preserve or engender – democracy, pluralism, the celebration of a multicultural polity & society, peace – are surely larger than any single individual or organisation.

With all the venom, accusations, and four letter words, I still find this blog, and some similar to this, to be valuable repositories of debate of a new generation in whose hands, 20 – 30 years hence, the fate of SL lies.

We must step up to the challenge. Together.

Take care machang,

Sanjana

Thimal granted machan. I’m not asking you to trust everyone that says he is who he is. But everybody comes to the table with something. Taste it first before deciding whether or not you don’t like it. That’s all I’m saying. Seelan – whether his credentials are accurate or not – brought a different worldview to the discussion. And as Hatts says we are sometimes guilty of shooting down an argument for the way its presented and articulated rather than for its merits.

I’m not saying Seelan is right or Hatts is right, or Danda is right or whoever. I’m saying ALL opinions regardless of their incredulousness sometimes must be heard. For instance G Man on the Brass Monkey thread, is representative of a (hopefully) small section of society. And he must be acknowledged as existing before he is culled.

Hatts, don’t in anyway think that I don’t appreciate the difficulty involved in your type of work. Yet, for all the money and time spent in ‘peacebuilding’ I am of the (perhaps confounded) opinion that there should be something more tangible to show for it. If something doesn’t even look like achieving some form of tangible result…why do it? I’m playing devil’s advocate here – but at the same time you must admit there are a fair amount of dodgy NGO’s.

Dear MORQ
which University did he go to, what was he studying there, and more importantly, where was he during the July 83 riots?

Siva went to Peradenia studying English, Philosophy and Tamil. Profs. Asley Halpe (English) and Thiru Kandiah (Philosophy) had initially detected Sivaram’s Talents. Siva was a irregular visitor to Lectures. He was more interested in Booze and Woman than his studies. He spent only one year in University and He didn’t sit for the first year Exams.

In 1983 Probably Siva was in Kandy Town. Born in a Karaiyar Caste( Karawa/fisherfolk) Siva carried a lot of myths about his caste. The important one is that he thought his caste is the warrior-valour caste. His tribal instincts made him come close to Prabhakaran another Karawa caster. He tried to join LTTE initially though rejected. As a result he later joined PLOTE.

As for the Bakery story, I was worried about my safety. Thats why I couldn’t give my Identity. Who told U Galle doesn’t have a internet cafe? Haven’t U come out of Colombo?

Dear Shanaka,

Nothing confounded about it. I can only answer you with a personal understanding that peacebuilding is not about showing something, but the absence of what you already see around you. The central problem / tension in this field is that, in donor parlace, you need to sow measurable indicators of success for each peacbuilding activity, with outcomes resulting from project output etc. While recognising the need to develop such yardsticks of measurement, it is also imperative to remember that the success or failure of peacebuilding interventions cannot easily be determined as an advance projection. So much of the success depends on the aspects that are beyond our control – a bad hair day for CBK, Wimal’s indigestion etc – and the culture of zero-sum politics that for all the potential benefits of a single project, it is lost in the larger context of parochial politics. Nevertheless, it is essential that you keep at it – to develop the capacities of those who can act as a bulwark against a descent into total war – women, grassroots, Sinhala / Tamil activists, journalists, children, teachers etc. So a tangible result lies in one’s inexhaustible search for non-violent conflict transformation – the ability for us to resolve differences without resorting to hartals, riots, pogroms, hate speech and violence.

Micheal Edwards, in his excellent tome, Civil Society, describes three different, but interlinked, uses of the term:

* as a description of varieties of association
* as a value advocating the advantages of cooperation
* as democratic ecosystem – a public sphere in which engagement with the whole future and shape of society takes place (or could take place).

In Sri Lanka, one sees all three, even if, as I have warned in the past, civil society is oftentimes erroneously conflated with NGOs. I believe in the power of civil society to open up public debate and rid our society of an unhealthy fascination with dynastic politics and the leadership cults. In the same breath, I concur that there are a fair amount of “dodgy NGOs”.

But be careful to not throw the baby out with the bath water!

One more personal understanding about peacebuilding. It has to be a self-effacing activity – in short, peacebuilding is about a committed and sincere attempt to work oneself out of a job. To transfer knowledge to local actors. To eschew the creation of new dependencies which may create new faultlines between and within communities. To build systems and social networks that function long after donor aid has dried up.

Again, not all NGOs in particular, and civil society in general, thinks in the same way. But this takes us into the politics of donor aid and the ideological imperatives of peacebuilding that are beyond the scope of this blog. Suffice to say that there are lots of good men and women out there who are supporting peace against not just the actions of political leaders, but also against the actions of a few corrupt and despicable characters in NGOs.

And despite my disgust and opprobrium for so much of the corruption that I have seen around me for the past 5 years or so, it is the work of this silent majority, and the hope which one sees in the eyes of those in the field when you do something they think is genuinely useful, that keeps me going.

Stay well,

Sanjana

P.S. Dil’s in London till the 24th.

Sanjana – I think you are too close to me reading my thoughts. Here I was thinking about colombo cosmopolitans, western educational influences, religion, class, caste backgrounds in regards to NGOs. That’s it, I’m going to encrypt all my thoughts from now on. I was wondering if it even mattered anymore in SL. There is only so much that can be imagined …sigh!

Anyway, I’m not privy to the colombo NGO talk. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble so if your future may be affected by aswering these questions please don’t comment.

Could someone please explain the difference between the good and bad NGOs? I’m not sure what a NGOlogist is but why are the different organisations ranging from Humanitarian Relief to Development to Think Tanks to Interest Groups all tarred with the same brush? I mean why not call a spade a spade? It seems to be a blurring of reality to me.

Ivap your questions are loaded. I claim no enlightment and will therefore leave them to be answered by those who have the answers. At least more than I do.

Hatts yes machan. I am not carte blanche dismissing NGO’s. I just think there’s a lot more work to be done. It’s just that NGOlogists (and I use the word loosely) have become career minded. Can peace building ever BE a career. Can something that must be a passion be reconciled with ones livelihood? My problem is not that not enough is being done at the grassroots. My problem is that a lot of people don’t realise the neglect of the grassroots and that they are the one and only segment that can be an answer to our problems. People need to get out there. You can’t. I can’t. But we need to find people that do. So the less money spent on workshops and conferences etc., the better – I think.

It’s a difficult compromise but I think it has to be made. Either that or most NGO’s must strip themselves of their altruistic vestige.

Life is hard. There’s just too many shades of grey.

Yes – met her just a little while ago. Tried to talk her out of the diabolical decision she has made. Think I made some headway. I will continue when I come back. You really have outdone yourself my friend….:)

Indi…thanks (for asking me to stay…)

It’s the net man, you don’t need permission from anybody. I react aggressively to personal criticism, but your points on the LTTE are valid.

Sanjana – Not sure if you are still reading this blog. I just wanted to say that my question has been answered by your latest article at PressEsc. Between this and last weeks debate with HLD at TLA I have a better picture of the situation in SL. Keep it up.

fuck you!!