Groundviews contrasts ground reality in Sri Lanka today providing quotes form published features / reports and relevant sections of the Presidents speech on 'War Victory Day, 19th May.
“There is no State of Emergency today.” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012
vs.
“Therefore, the attempt of the Sri Lankan government to
replace emergency laws with another set of laws under a different name,
yet meant to do the same task is not surprising. State of emergency is
not only a particular set of laws. Removing emergency regulations while
continuing with militarisation and a massive project of policing in
socio-cultural arenas do not indicate a journey towards normalcy.” –
Amali Wedagedara, Groundviews, 5 September 2011
“It is no secret that through 30 years there were
armed groups and militias operating, especially in the North and East.
All such groups have now been disarmed.” – President Rajapaksa’s Address
to the Nation, 19 May 2012
vs.
“March 3, 2012 marked a very dark ebb in our society as
it saw the horrific rape and murder of little Jesudasan Lakshini (13),
allegedly at the hands of former EPDP cadre, Kanthasami Jegatheswaran
(alias Kiruba) (31), from the Delft Island, Jaffna. Currently being held
in remand at the Jaffna Remand Prison, the accused was produced before
the Kayts Magistrate this week (30). However, the hearing was further
postponed to April 9, 2012, as the Delft Police had failed to conclude
their compilation of eye witness statements, said attorney-at-law K.S.
Ratnavel, who is appearing on behalf of the victim’s family. The pending
statement is the last of four eye witness statements attesting to
having witnessed Lakshini being intercepted and taken by the accused on
her way to the market, he added. This raises the glaring question as to
why the Police was unable to obtain a mere four eye witness statements
in the course of almost a month following this incident, unless of
course exterior political forces are in play.” – Marissa de Silva, Groundviews, 2 April 2012
“We have systematically removed from our
vocabulary the references of refugee camps, land mines and villages
under threat. ” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May
2012
vs.
“Back at the destroyed camp, we learned that earlier the
same morning, the industries and commerce minister, Rishad Bathiudeen,
had also paid a visit to the site. Upon his arrival, bombarded by
residents’ desperate pleas to finally be allowed to return to their
homes, he responded that he had only come to see what could be done to
help them after the storm and ordered, “don’t try and turn this into a
political issue”. Unfortunately, what Mr. Bathiudeen does not seem to
know or acknowledge is that the reason for not allowing these people to
return to their villages for almost three years is a political
decision.” – Watchdog, Groundviews, 7 April 2012
“There were limits imposed on fishermen under
which they could not go beyond a certain distance. These restrictions
are also no more.” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May
2012
vs.
“Many problems regarding the fishing industry in the
North in many ways related to the militarization that was strengthened
during the last phase of the war but not completely relaxed even after
the end of the war. For instance, some coastal areas, which are very
significant to fishing, still remains as High Security Zones (HSZ); and
therefore fishermen are banned from engaging in their livelihood
activities in those areas; in many areas, fishermen were allowed to go
to sea only within a permitted corridor, and even for that they had to
get passes from military forces.” – Sumith Chaaminda, Groundviews, 31 March 2012
“The check points and road blocks that we had
through every two or three kilometers, and even on this Galle Road, are
not there anymore… We are aware that the armed forces do not participate
in the administration of the North or East. These regions are
administered by the public service and the police. ” – President
Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012
vs.
“The reality that most, if not all the soldiers manning
the Omanthai Checkpoint are not proficient in Tamil, is also quite
telling in terms of the complete non-recognition of, and lack of respect
for the Tamil community. More often than not, Tamil passengers
unfamiliar with the routine have to rely on the Tamil translation of a
more seasoned traveller. This indignity is further heightened when each
of these passengers are made to have their personal belongings rifled
through, until such time that the army personnel is adequately satisfied
of the innocence of the specific passenger in question.” – Marisa de
Silva, Groundviews, 16 April 2012
and
“The ubiquitous presence of armed security forces,
weapons drawn, fingers on the trigger was fearsome. Every 100 metres on
the Jaffna highway there was a security picket; every three kilometres,
an army post; every 10 km, an army camp. The army was everywhere,
running roadside shops, hotels and hospitality businesses. Even funerals
or marriages or social functions in Tamil areas needed army permission
in advance.” – The Hindu, 21 March 2012
“You will recall how terrorism compelled us all
to live in the midst of much restrictions and obstructions, through 30
years. It is just three years since the war ended. Today, the country
that faced such restrictions has returned to normal.” – President
Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012
vs.
“Especially for those living in the North, normalcy is
far from reality. Only a part of these are the deciduous problems
encountered, unfortunately but unavoidably, by people living in former
conflict zones in the aftermath of war. It is now disconcertingly
apparent that the militarisation of all spheres of life in the North is
becoming increasingly institutionalised, and moreover, that this is the
deliberate policy of the government. The regime is able to implement its
policy with regard to the North, and more generally the continuation in
force of disproportionate and repressive wartime national security
measures, with virtually no meaningful democratic opposition.” – Asanga
Welikala, Groundviews, 29 April 2011
“We are a country that is a member of the United Nations,
working with friendship with all countries and sit with equality with
all its members.” – President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May
2012
vs.
On 30 June [2010], senior Government Minister Wimal
Weerawansa urged the public to surround the UN office in Colombo and
hold its staff hostage until moves by the UN to appoint a panel on Sri
Lanka is dropped, putting the UN in Sri Lanka on high alert. On the same
day, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said that when the UN contacted the Sri
Lankan government over this statement, the government assured they were
Minister Weerawansa’s “individual opinion”. On 2 July, it was reported
that the government may tender an apology to the UN over the Minister’s
comments. Any communication to this effect by the government to the UN
is, to date, not in the public domain. On 4 July, Minister Weerawansa
said he stood by his comment, and clarified that he made it as the
National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and not in his capacity as a
Government member. He also reiterated his call for the public to
surround the building and protest against the UN panel. On the morning
of 6 July, the NFF surrounded the UN compound in Colombo… Related to
this, the Lanka Truth website runs a story on an alleged phone
call with the President’s brother, the churlish Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in
which he directly orders the Police to withdraw from the vicinity of the
UN compound. – Groundviews, 8 July 2010
“We are already carrying out what we can agree to and can
implement among the recommendations of the LLRC.” – President
Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012
vs.
The official media page of the Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) tells its own story. It’s blank.
There’s literally nothing on the official website of the LLRC that
provides information on public statements by the LLRC and coverage of
its proceedings in the media. Furthermore, it’s impossible to find the
interim recommendations or the final report of the LLRC on the official
website… What remains of the LLRC’s proceedings and output – its interim
report and recommendations, the accessibility and translations of its
Final Report, most of the public submissions in Tamil, Sinhala and
English, audio recordings and detailed records of media reports – are
all, without exception, carefully curated and published online for
public access by the very NGOs and platforms, including this site, that
have been openly and repeatedly vilified by those in and partial to
government. And all the government itself has managed to do was to
establish a website for the LLRC – that too rather late into the LLRC’s
activities and bereft of vital records. – Groundviews, 20 March 2012
“National political parties are today able to work and
function freely in the North in absence of fear.” – President
Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation, 19 May 2012
vs.
The bizarre responses to what was a brutal attack,
post-war, in broad daylight, against unarmed Parliamentarians engaging
in nothing more subversive than the democratic process and it’s
subsequent denial by the President himself – essentially shutting the
door on any investigation or punitive measures – reflects a desire by
government to, unilaterally and violently if necessary, define Tamil
politics and moreover, throttle the growth of a more plural Tamil polity
and society. These attacks are justified by senior government
ministers, who believe that “the UPFA and other political parties
represented more Tamils than the TNA”, which means that more can be
expected in the future. The resulting humiliation of the TNA MPs is
keenly felt and watched by a larger Tamil community, domestic as well as
international. – Groundviews, The attack on TNA Parliamentarians in Jaffna: A timeline of outrageous denials (Updated), 5 July 2011
“Sri Lanka would soon pull out its remaining troops from
areas still under military control in the Tamil-dominated northern
province that was once an LTTE bastion, a prominent Tamil minister has
said. ‘We have successfully taken the military presence off in most of
the areas in the Northern Province. Only two in tenth of the areas are
still under military control. We will soon make this area free of
military presence. I need a month’s time from you to work on this,”
Minister Douglas Devananda said while addressing people at Mathagal.” – Press Trust of India, 10 February 2012
vs.
“Sri Lanka’s president has rejected a call by Indian
legislators to withdraw soldiers from the island’s former war zone in
the north where minority Tamils are concentrated, his spokesman…
President Mahinda Rajapakse told a delegation of visiting Indian
lawmakers that troops could not be pulled out despite the end of the
decades-long Tamil separatist war in 2009.” – AFP, 22 April 2012
and
“President Mahinda Rajapaksa speaking at the Victory Day
celebrations today said that it was not advisable to remove or reduce
military camps in the North as the Tamil diasporas had not given up its
attempts to win Eelam.” – Ceylon Today, 19 May 2012
GV
