Comments on: Indian Activism Vs. Sri Lankan Fear

By: The way of the Dodo

The way of the Dodo — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:14:12 +0000

@indi: The rape analogy is completely non sequitur. Journalistic integrity doesn’t mean you close shop and prostrate in front of the politicians. It’s means you engage responsible journalism and hold yourself accountable. Here’s a question, how many journalists have been successfully sued in this country for slander and defamation? And how many of these journalists have sincerely apologized and owned up to their mistakes?

“Freedom exists in a vacuum” What nonsense is this! There is nothing that exists in a vacuum, everything exists within a human society with competing interests. The varying degrees of Freedom we enjoy are privileges that we can afford because of mutual trust, cooperation and interdependence between all elements of society.

Also their is a lot of talk about media suppression, and violence against the media, but how many journalists have actually been assaulted/killed/kidnapped?

By: I witness

I witness — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:00:57 +0000

“The real elite is the political elite and the freedoms they are taking away affect all classes.”

That is the self serving myth that drives the anger against MR.

The whole point of having a democracy is to get a ‘political elite’ to rule over the country, instead of a self appointed bunch of NGOs and partisan media who are answerable to no one.

By: indi

indi — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:21:28 +0000

I don’t really trust any argument that depends on dividing people. It’s not right to say lower class people are stupid and it’s not right to say ‘upper’ class people are ill-intentioned.

Freedom does exist in a vacuum, it is self-evident. Just because most people don’t seem to believe in it doesn’t make it any less of a value. Blaming it on the ‘damn journalists’ is a bit like saying a girl would stop getting molested if she dressed differently.

The real elite is the political elite and the freedoms they are taking away affect all classes.

By: The way of the Dodo

The way of the Dodo — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:08:38 +0000

touche. I just love how the microcosm of the Colombo upper/upper middle class are oblivious to objective reality as well as what the rest of believes in. The concepts of a civil society & civic duty have no value unless these supposed good samaritans who engage in “civic duty” understand how their actions impact society as a whole. Concepts such as media freedom are not divine edicts or absolutes that can exists in a vaccume, this country will never get media freedom unless these damn journalists understand the concept of journalistic integrity.

By: I witness

I witness — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:46:48 +0000

Yo jcnars,

Aren’t you glad that Indi is confirming your favourite biases… It only shows how much you both know about Sri Lanka that doesn’t live on the Internet.

Our Colombo chattering class are suckers for melodrama, and more juicier and convoluted the better it is.

You can believe these stories, which many people do, but then you really miss out on the plot, like during the recent elections.

Indi is honestly confused and this is his blog.

By: mistermister

mistermister — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:07:44 +0000

i’ve always felt lik india has something goin on in terms of bond with their country and ppl than Sri Lankans.
but, as you noticed, the numbers make it a little more visible in one town, than say a similar move in a sri lankan context. but, i think it is actually more to do with Sri Lankans always wailing their hands are tied rather than actually havin it so. after all, it’s not like the political and civil culture of india is less ruthless than here.

By: jcnars

jcnars — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:11:50 +0000

Right on the head !

By: xyz

xyz — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:26:55 +0000

I stumbled on this quite by accident and it was nice reading it… about Indian activism, civil society and media by a Sri Lankan! I lived in Sri Lanka for a few years and just moved back to India and I reckon you’re right. Yes, we have HUGE problems but we can talk about and debate (most of) them in the media, our politicians can’t get away with murder anymore, and NGOs do do some good work, though like you said there is the whole aspect of the ‘apparatus’, funding, etc. And most of all, there is activism in a way I saw very little of in Sri Lanka… It’s not about it being proportional to problems but more about a system that provides the space for it – perhaps you could call it democracy?

By: I witness

I witness — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:15:53 +0000

On paper, all NGOs are good guys.

By: Anandawardhana

Anandawardhana — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:14:03 +0000

I really enjoyed reading this series of posts. Excellent observations and commentary.

By: Santhoshi

Santhoshi — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:02:38 +0000

Deccan chronicle is the paper I read when I am in chennai, i always feel its like the daily mirror here or something. My parents read the hindu..
Nice posts on india..

By: whacko

whacko — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:15:14 +0000

isnt the deccan chronucle owned by vijay malllya? Anyway, interesting analysis. Far as i know india’s problems ARE huge. Compared to ours that is. So maybe our civil society activism quantitatively is proportionally equal?