Injured kid, Vavuniya Hospital, April 4th 2009
There’s a lot of discussion on the UN Report on Sri Lanka. Short version: there may be blood. Most of the discussion, however, is academic. Malinda talks about the realistic effect of the panel and its jurisdiction. Lahiru talks about the legal pointlessness (though he does later get around to the point). That point being, the government did bad stuff and people died. And we should probably at least think about it. Instead everyone’s talking about bureaucratic niceties.
As the war was ending it was obvious that shit was going down. I went to Lady Ridgeway Hospital in Colombo because I’d heard that some war wounded were there. And there were. There was one little kid that was a double amputee. He couldn’t have been more than four. Another kid was covered in burns and just shivering. Downstairs there was a father outside an operating theatre, covered in his daughter’s blood. Later when I went up to Vavuniya Hospital, I saw a lot of kids that were amputees, a lot of kids that were orphans.
When Mahinda says that no civilian blood was shed, it’s a fucking joke. Civilian blood was shed. I’ve seen it. You can say that it wasn’t shed in vain, but to say that nobody was hurt or died is just a lie.
Within Sri Lanka, all the UN Report has stirred is a meta-discussion. We don’t talk about the truth, we just talk about the various strategy and tactics involved in the lie. Will the lie hold in International Court? How can you point at our lie when the UN is full of lies? We also talk about the basic bureaucracy involved in talking about the issue. How dare the SecGen appoint an ad hoc panel or, how dare Mahinda not allow inspectors in. It’s a fucking joke. There’s a major issue here. People did die, innocent people did die and it was a bad scene.
That the credible truth comes from the UN is not helpful because it comes with a heavy payload of diaspora Tamil vengeance in tow. In bits of the report you see that they think that the Tamil separatist cause is somehow legitimate and that the bad guys won. I don’t think it’s legitimate and I think the gooder guys won, but regardless, a bit off-scope and off-putting to anybody here.
But… whatever. If Sri Lankans were somewhat secure in their identity and in the world we could accept this sort of thing but we’re not, kinda for good reason. The international community was actually not insanely helpful and a lot of people that do get involved did support or ignore the LTTE and its atrocities and fundamental ethical vacuity. But that’s all besides the bloody point.
I saw a kid with no legs and he’s growing up in a country where that didn’t happen. He’s growing and politicians are telling him ‘you have legs, everything is fine’, but it’s fucking not, he still doesn’t have legs. Civilian blood was shed. Perhaps not in vain, but certainly in pain and we should at least acknowledge that.
And also, even though Mahinda and co won the war, they did it by doing a lot of shitty stuff and we should maybe acknowledge that too. And also, the UN and LTTE supporters abroad suck too, while we’re on the subject. So basically, everyone involved in the war is compromised and sucks (myself included), just to get that out of the way.
It would be nice if we had a safe space to talk about this war beyond the “It was a success LET US NEVER TALK OF IT AGAIN” (government) or “It should have never happened LET US TALK ABOUT IT FOREVER” (international community) but we kinda don’t. I mean, you can comment here but, really, I don’t think it’s going to come out until that kid is bigger and can be like, “Hey, still no legs.”
On point at last. Like this a lot. Just to add something, I don’t think “everyone” involved sucks. Mostly the people at the top who haver their own interests at heart. This is why the govt and the UN sucks. As far as these parties go a lot is at stake (power, reputation, cash etc.) and they can’t acknowledge the ground realities due to this very reason. I’d love to see them cut the BS and get down to brass tacks but this wont happen. The BS though annoys me a lot just like it seems to be annoying you. Things would be a lot simpler if we could all agree to cut the BS.
Once again well said :)
Another perspective: SL got Indian support during the war, on its promise of reconciliation and implementing a political solution.
Now, the Indians are fucking pissed…not just because 40000 were sent packing, but because the kind of long-term peace they envisaged is not happening & SL is pretty much meting out a victor’s justice system
http://www.thehindu.com/news/the-india-cables/article1571806.ece
That is simply not good in the long-term and the current peace may become unsustainable.
Meh highly unlikely that india really gives a fuck about long term peace or human rights in this country. Their interest here is two fold, 1) control Chinese expansion 2) just straight up investment.
If you think about it, India does not want another LTTE type terrorist organization in its wake. Particularly an organization whose cause might seem just to millions of Indians. Hence its interest in lasting peace.
Come on, let’s be honest, India doesn’t give a flying fuck about human rights.
India supported SL only when it seemed like the LTTE was going to get defeated.
India has no interest in “lasting peace” in any of her neighbours. India is quite happy to sponsor terrorism/insurgency in neighbouring countries as long as it doesn’t spill over into India.
India doesn’t necessarily give a shit, but Tamil Nadu does, and Delhi cares about Tamil Nadu, hence, ipso facto India gives a bit of a shit
well put indi. But as JC rightly points out the whole India, not just tamil nadu, doesn’t want another LTTE type up rising. But it’s pretty unlikely we will get another LTTE type up rising anytime soon. The government now has to ensure that the north east population gets enough and more economic development to disincentivize an uprising and incentivize more cooperation between the north and south.
That’s not true anymore, Zoid. It was true in the ’70s and ’80s when the only influence India had on its neigbours was via political and military muscle. Back then, India was a closed economy, building itself from within. It didn’t want competition for resources. Stable neighbours — particularly smaller countries which develop faster if stable — inviting western or far eastern investment was detrimental to India. So india exported instability in all directions, and largely succeded. Today, India is investing in its neighbours, and see its economic muscle as its best influence. Therefore it needs stability because today instability affects India and attracts competition like China, which comes in with weapons sales and stays on with other things.
If the sole purpose of the war was to defeat the LTTE, such an objective could (arguably) be justified. But as we are seeing now, there was/is much more to it. First and foremost, the war was a payday for the Rajapakse’s. This was their excuse to trample civil society – again, not just during the war, but after, as well. Look what’s been done to the Constitution. That was the probably the biggest thing, since it effectively precludes any Rajapakse from legal scrutiny. But these buggers have economic interests as well. There is a Rajapakse involved in every key phase of development, which implies the kickbacks and commissions are going that way, non-stop. Forget the thrice bankrupt Mihin Airlines venture (where Gothabaya sits on the Board of Directors and Sajin Vas was personally appointed by MR); focus on construction of roads, bridges, highways, and ports. Hell, what about the Commonwealth Games, Mahinda’s next bid. That will be a real goldmine for Rajapakse Ltd. Moving along, we see from the Sarath Fonseka fiasco that Rajapakse has effectively commandeered the Supreme Court (and by extension the judicary) for his own personal use. No one is safe. The Rajapakse vendetta can come for you anytime, fully sanctioned by the “law.”
After 20-25 years of war, Sri Lankans were okay with corruption. They were okay with disappearances, abductions, a lackluster economy, a dysfunctional judiciary, etc. These were all seen as a necessary evil to combat the evil of evils, the LTTE. It has gotten to the point where many Lankans believe this is the only way of life possible. And that, if you ask me, is the real danger. People have got to believe that real change is possible. But this requires strong leadership, where strong has little to do with battlefield ruthlessness. The reality is that the country needs people like Ranil W. right now, in positions of leadership – the sooner, the better.
Everybody fucking lie as they want, SL, UN, and who ever else. Just read the news around the world and we know what hypocrites we are. That has not changed for a while but what is at stake is the fate of kids you have depicted above.
What have we, anyone done about them? including UN?
I saw how these little ones suffered too, last December when I visited. I am too minuscule to do a lot but I am, mainly my family continue to support at least a few of those souls.
I just broke my knee while snow boarding and it hurts like hell, and yet I can only imagine what the poor kid above is feeling. Does a nurse come by and gives him a shot when he says it hurts?
Get out there and do your thing, you might relieve one of them of their pain.
Perhaps I am fucked up with vicodin I am loaded with
Well put, Heshan (until, perhaps, the final sentence). There’s no credible opposition to the current regime, if anything the opposition have largely rolled over and accepted cushy jobs, duty free cars and the rest.
From my perspective, the international community is pretty impotent when it comes to Sri Lanka. China has considerable investment in Sri Lanka and they will protect that investment. Furthermore, like Russia they don’t much care about human rights and continue to demonstrate brutal repression in their own borders, largely free from external influence. They have no interest in allowing any sort of investigation or condemnation of Sri Lanka just as they wouldn’t allow it domestically.
And, well, the government won this war. That’s the uncomfortable truth and it means that if the Security Council won’t sanction any action (China’s veto), then there’s not a lot the West can do. The EU removed the tsunami-related tariff reduction because the Sri Lankan government refused to engage with them, and that’s about it.
I’m sure that the EU, US and so on would prefer if they were able to exercise some muscle and impose an investigation on what happened, but if they can’t do that they would probably rather this were forgotten over time. The recent UN Panel report is a mixed blessing for them in justifying their previously expressed concerns and highlighting their weakness. With the economic chaos, wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lybia and so on, this just isn’t a top priority. Only if China, or perhaps India, voice concerns might anything now come of this.
Domestically, the situation is worse. Few people seem bothered by the way the war was prosecuted, many more seem angry that their mighty army might be accused of war crimes and the rest seem rather ambivalent. All the while the government basically got away with it and are now creaming in the cash. Pretty depressing state of affairs.
“Civilian blood was shed. Perhaps not in vain.” If it was your bloody legs Indi that were amputated or you kith and kin that were killed by the “Zero Casualties Armed Forces” you wouldn’t be talking like this. This is why this country is fucked! People no longer have a conscience! Everybody talks about bombs going off in Colombo…but nobody talks about the cluster bombs and other munitions dropped on civilian and non civilian areas in the North and East. Lasantha in one of his editorials once asked if you majority idiots would have stayed silent if bombs were dropped in Wellawatthe or Kotahena…since it was all happening far far away…it did not matter.
You also say that the Bad Guys were not justified in taking up arms…and the Gooder Guys won. Those bad guys could have been good guys if the gooder guys had let them live with dignity and equality. But Noooo the bloody gooder guys thought this country is theirs and theirs alone and you bad guys have to dance to our tune…speak our language…follow our culture…sing our Sinhala anthem and pretend it was your national anthem…and Yea that kid will grow up and say “Hey, still no legs!” All I can say is, Indi is 29 0r 30 and Hey! he still has no brains!
ps. I disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.
I’m 28. Fuck.
That original sentence was “Civilian blood was shed. I think not in vain.” Then I thought about it and I can’t say that, cause it’s not my blood or the blood of people I directly no. So I didn’t say that. I just said perhaps. The war is over. We were shedding blood for how long and not ending it?
The government is not the only people creaming in the cash, carasek.
Welcome to the reality of the 3rd world. People suffer, they die of starvation & governments are corrupt. All i see is a lot of people whining about the suffering, corruption & all these other symptoms. These narrow minded so called ‘liberals’ have no fucking clue about what conditions under which the liberal ethos can sustain itself. Human rights & just governance doesn’t come out of no where and flourish in any society. Mark my words if Mr & Co spontaneously combusted right now whoever replaces him, be it ranil or someone else, will be just as corrupt & thrice as incompetent.
Ok sorry, your a ripe old 28 then. All I am saying is, You don’t need to break between 20 to 40 thousand eggs to make ONE bloody omelette! Just imagine if the boot was on the other foot. Imagine between 20 to 40 thousand Sinhala eggs being broken to make ONE omlette? This war would have never happened if the Soulbury constitution was adhered to and every mothers son and daughter born in this country was treated as equals and not as minorities or majorities. Take Switzerland as an example.
ps. I see lots of people who were not allowed to voice their opinions freely on groundviews now moving over to your forum. that’s good. Censorship (the politically correct kind) that Sanjana practices on groundviews is duh! A few obscenities used now and then adds emphasis to what you want to say.
They did break like 70,000 Sinhala eggs in the southern JVP insurrections. Not that it’s a point I like to make, but there has been fairly equal opportunity killing over the past 30 years.
If we could all get together and figure out that the government is eating everyone’s omelette without dividing each other based on race or ideology that’d be great, but it’s not our history. The boot has been on the other foot. Over the past 30 years, everybody has been stomped.
“These narrow minded so called ‘liberals’ have no fucking clue about what conditions under which the liberal ethos can sustain itself…”
Bravo. A very good point. The conditions just don’t exist. Critical mass has not been reached :)
Some have been stomped more than others for the past 63 years…
Not really. India likes to portray itself as an oasis of stability and peace in a neighbourhood of failed states. It encourages instability in neighbouring countries as this way all the investment and prestige goes to India, and her smaller neighbours are begotten to India. The only reason it is “investing” in smaller countries such as Sri Lanka is because it does not want to lose face to China. India tries to control other countries by devious means, interfering politically and covertly through its intelligence agencies whereas China seeks influence over other countries through economic means.
Sri Lanka exports up 37-pct in February?
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?nid=246932597
Ranil W is clearly the the person to take this country forward.
ANEY HUKE!!!
Lankan economy looking up: ADB, IMF
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In less than two years since the crushing civil war ended, there’s been a sharp reduction in rural poverty in Sri Lanka, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday. In 2009, the year the war ended, rural poverty stood at 15.7 %. Within a year, in 2010, it had come down to 7.6 %, ADB economist Narhari Rao said on Wednesday. In terms of rural electrification, the country had progressed rapidly as well. In 2006, the coverage was 78.5 % and in 2009, it rose to 83.2 %. Rao forecast that Sri Lanka will experience around 8 % growth rate in both 2011 and 2012.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Lankan-economy-looking-up-ADB-IMF/Article1-681981.aspx
Peace, informal sector to boost Sri Lanka 2011 tourism 20 pct
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Tourist arrivals into Sri Lanka are expected to grow by 20 percent to a record of more than 780,000 this year, thanks to growing homestays and apartment rentals to accommodate a post-war influx of visitors after the end of a 25-year civil war.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/28/uk-srilanka-economy-tourism-idUSLNE73R04S20110428
Sri Lanka to raise this year’s tourists target to 800,000
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Encouraged by the high rate of tourists arriving in the country, Sri Lanka plans to revise its target of tourist arrival for this year to 800,000 from an earlier set target of 700,000.
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_11/Apr28_1303969149CH.php
Rubbish. Indian investment in its neighbours is primarily via the private sector. The private sector isn’t worried about losing face to China, but about making money. Investment in India will always overshadow Indian investment in its neighbours simply because the Indian market is worth a billion times the SL or Bangladeshi markets.
Stronger powers will always attempt to manipulate smaller countries, just as the US, China, Russia, and India did and are doing; there’s no argument there. How they do it is what counts. As I already explained, before India’s full entry into the open market it had to use its political and military muscle to do it. Today, it does it via its economic muscle. For the latter to work its neighbours must be stable and themselves capable of economic progress.
You can continue to bang the gonibilla drum if you like about India, but you’re about a decade or two behind the times.
Ha ha ha ! tamilnadu does not give a shit either, i am from tamilnadu and let there be no doubt that the only so called tamilnadu leader that actually cared was MGR only because he was born in Ceylon ! the rest have only used the Sri Lankan Tamil issue for political gains, not that it made a difference to the people. people here are the same as everywhere more concerned about where the next meal is coming from ! delhi does not care about tamilnadu either, madame sonia just wanted to make sure ol prabha boy was done away with before he spilled the beans on her husbands stupidity !
cheers guys
Most Indian ‘investment’ in Sri Lanka is carried out by the Indian government.
And no, India STILL tries to influence countries through devious means (creating conflicts, interfering in political affairs of neighbouring countries), whilst China does so through its economy.
Sorry for pissing in your bald face.
ANEY DEIYYANE!!!!!
SL IPOs may triple as Colombo Index beats Asian peers
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Sri Lanka initial public offerings may more than triple to a record this year after the nation’s stock index posted the biggest gain in Asia, according to managers of three of the five share sales since Jan 1.
The number of IPOs may jump to as many as 25 from seven in 2010, according to investment firms Acuity Partners (Pvt) Ltd. and John Keells Capital, which led three sales that accounted for 69 percent of the $28.9 million total raised in 2011.
Companies are lining up to sell stock after the Colombo All-Share Index soared more than threefold since the end of a 26-year civil war in May 2009 and climbed 11 percent so far this year.
http://print.dailymirror.lk/business/127-local/42152.html
The economy is not as rosy as you may think.
There has been a pick up after the end of the war but the biggest boost came from the tax cuts mid last year, which were expanded in November. These cuts do not seem to be sustainable, as the recent increases in prices show.
We have been lucky with apparel, labour trouble in Bangladesh and China and the Mid East unrest has sent orders to SL.
Inflation and growing volumes of debt are the main risks and can cause a big trouble in the medium term (2-3 year horizon).
Poor governance, corruption and arbitrary policy shifts are deterring investment. We will see a short spurt and then stagnation/decline unless these basics are addressed.
The stock market is running on manipulation, speculation and state intervention and is way overvalued. As long as the SEC goes easy on credit it can be sustained.
That’s just not true. The economy was growing at close to 10% even before the tax cuts. Even sectors that were effected by the tax cuts were growing rapidly. only now are we beginning to see the actual effect of the tax cut.
Inflation is actually slowing down, should slow down further provided we don’t have anymore large scale natural disasters. As far as inflation is concerned SL is doing better than most other countries. Our debt has slowed down by enlarge more over more than enough people are willing to finance our debt. Which also runs counter to your argument about investors fleeing this country. That’s simply not true There is lot of investment coming into this country and i can attest to this first hand.
Also this idea that corruption deters investment is a silly liberal myth, there is plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise. In fact the norm is quite the opposite and has been the opposite for the longest time. If corruption stifles growth then how come india & china grow at 10% while being two of the most corrupt countries in the world, as per corruption indexes. What corruption does for the most part is create inequality and that is certainly a problem this country has to solve.
Dodo, the statistics showed that growth was 7-8% but you must understand how these are computed. GDP is a measure of output, so major infrastructure projects like the Hambantota port, Southern Highway etc all get added in and boost the number. Normally adding in construction output is fine but there is a problem with the Chinese model – there is almost no employment created (majority of labour comes from China supplanted by ‘free’ labour from the security forces) and almost no local supplies either (all materials are imported from China). Thus the value added is minimal although the high value of the project boosts the GDP number.
There is also a problem with the way Central Bank measures inflation. The GDP numbers are ‘real’ numbers – ie after output less inflation. The CBSL has been messing around with the inflation numbers so if inflation is understated (which I think it is) then GDP is overstated. The CBSL removed bread from the index (after the price went up) and substituted biscuits instead. I think they have also removed alcohol and tobacco from the index – so its not very reflective of actual prices.
In anycase inflation, even by the official numbers has been creeping up, latest figure was 9.8% I think up from about 7-8% previously. Coconuts at Rs.60, bread at Rs.40+ , Rice 100+, cost of living is extremely high.
Coconut
Corruption does stifle investment. China is particularly inefficient in converting investment to growth but the sums that are invested in India and China are so vast that they grow anyway. The attraction in those countries is the cheap labour and vast domestic market. SL has neither.
FDI has been dropping fairly steady, the contraction in the telco sector (where there was over investment) is one reason but there is not much direct investment, apart from the mega Chinese projects, which as I stated above do little to create jobs.
The story about growth in sri lanka only being affected by government projects is not true. Revenue of all the large companies has gone up a lot. & the service sector of this country has expanded exponentially. Just look at the number of cargils that have opened over the past year. The same goes for the hotel industry and services attached to the hotel industry. It’s difficult to make the argument that jobs are not getting created.
I don’t see much issue with bread being replaced by biscuits. The price of both of these is primarily contingent on wheat. I don’t know much about the price variation of tobacco & cigarettes. But it’s silly to use items that have a massive excise tax on them as part of the goods basket as increases in excise taxes does not lead to inflation in any meaningful way.
It is not very useful pointing to the inflation of highly volatile commodities and then criticizing the government for not handling inflation well, those commodities will come down in price as the cause of their volatility subsides. The real danger is core inflation & the state of credit, and per the statement issued by the IMF on the 18th April core inflation in this country is under control. In any case, Inflation has topped off in april, we can come back to this page at the end of May to see if i’m correct. At which point I will gladly admit I’m wrong, if that would be the case. Provided all hell doesn’t break loose in the Middle East. :)
You can say China is inefficient at converting investment into growth. This is contestable considering how difficult it is to calculate how china could efficiently convert invest into growth. but the fact remain that despite corruption there seems to be little resistance to investment in china. This is the point, since we were discussing investment, not growth. I don’t know how the nature of the sri lankan economy, or the type of comparative advantage we have, has to do with corruption. The fact is, and i’m speaking from some personal experience here, that despite corruption being a hassle & a nuisance for us in everyday life it is a great convenience for large companies trying to win large tenders. for them corruption means the lack of a race to the bottom and the premium that is paid to corrupt officials often get eclipsed by the benefits.
FDI in 2010 was less than 2009, but that doesn’t mean FDI is stopping there are plenty of private investments coming in especially by indian. For example Lanka hospitals is most likely to be taken over, there is alot of interest in Hilton by foreign parties. There are also plenty of people interested in investing in the fort expansion project on top of tourism. Of course a lot of these investments are contingent upon stability in this sector so hopefully the government doesn’t muck up this durasmus report fiasco.
Sounds like someone can’t bear the fact that the Sri Lankan economy is pounding ahead under the Rajapaksa administration.
I think it’s called SOUR GRAPES.
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today said it was pleased with the progress in Sri Lanka”s economy.
“Pretty happy with the way (Sri Lanka”s) economy is progressing and how it is run,” Koshy Mathai, the IMF”s resident representative told reporters here.”
http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5101839
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ANEY MAGE PUKA!
Bullshit again. Your insistence on something being true doesn’t make it so. The gonibillah stories are good for a laugh, but that’s about it. Regardless of whether Indian investment is private or government, it is silly to think that India would want to destabilise the places it’s investing it — a guaranteed way to lose your money :D As I already said, India will always get the bulk of foreign investment, regardless of how stable its neighbours are; simply on size.
Don’t apologise for the pissing; at the moment it looks like you’ve dribbled all over your panties. Btw, my face isn’t bald ;)
Some have stomped more than others for the past 2000 years.