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ලුෂන් හා මරණ තර්ජන
Victor Ivan
Ravaya
If Fisheries Minister Mahinda Wijesekera threatened journalist Lucien Rajakarunanayake with death over something written about him, the editorial says, it must be condemned and investigated. It also recalls that as Lake House chairman under the PA, Rajakarunanayake justified the presidential guard's assault on journalists and deflected blame for the murder
In this article, Victor Ivan argues that decades of mass violence and rampant political corruption have paralyzed the collective conscience of Sri Lankan society. Drawing heavily on the psychological trauma outlined in Prof. Daya Somasunderam's book Scarred Minds, Ivan asserts that the psychological damage seen in the Tamil community is
The editorial describes Dr Gamani Corea, former UNCTAD head and Sri Lanka's most internationally respected intellectual, as effectively held under house arrest by a wealthy relative, identified in the allegation as Lalith Kotelawala, who is said to fear that Corea will leave his assets to a planned economics foundation. It
Drawing on Daya Somasundaram's 'Scarred Minds', Ivan argues that two decades of mass violence in north and south have numbed the whole society's conscience. He attacks FM radio stations for feeding the public trivia, likens the ruin of other sports and then cricket itself to the decay of an ageing,
Tracing the Development Lottery Board dispute back to the 1978 Constitution, Ivan quotes N.M. Perera's warning that split control of presidency and Parliament would paralyse the state and invite dictatorship. He recalls Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake turning against the executive presidency, the PA's 1994 pledge to abolish it, D.B. Wijetunga's
The editorial laments that officials who apply the law strictly go unprotected: a customs officer was murdered after pursuing a politically connected businessman's duty fraud, an audit officer was blinded after exposing fraud in the Central Provincial education ministry, and now a wildlife officer has been killed. It contrasts the
Calling the floods the worst natural disaster in half a century, the editorial says the disaster management system proved inefficient, relief was handed out without assessing need and marred by political and commercial rivalry and looting, and people were left living in known landslide zones. It calls for national policies
The editorial congratulates Commerce Minister Ravi Karunanayake on winning his long fight against the gas monopoly for the consumer's benefit, and urges laws, as in many countries, to prevent monopolies in any sector.
The President's reply to the Prime Minister signals that she will ignore her opponents' mandate and may reshape the Development Lottery Board or even the Cabinet at will. The editorial rejects the government's rowdy resistance but also her claim that the President's Fund was endangered, noting she diverted Mahapola scholarship
Ivan describes Mangala Samaraweera's push for the President to seize power quickly, possibly driven by a pending case over an attack on poster-pasting youths during the last election, and reads her takeover of the Development Lottery Board as a test of the Prime Minister. He warns that a clash between
Johan Galtung's prediction that a peace process built on the carrot of aid would fail seems to be coming true. The piece argues that people fight over grievances, not money, and cites Willy Brandt and Desmond Tutu on healing inner wounds through apology and truth. It says the LTTE, undefeated
With talks stalled and the LTTE rejecting the government's proposed authority in place of an interim administration, the Japan aid conference will go ahead without it. The piece argues that Ranil Wickremesinghe's strategy of holding on without resolving anything until the President's term ends in 2005 cannot satisfy the LTTE
The LTTE's withdrawal from talks is a setback the government must resolve quickly. The piece argues that an undefeated adversary cannot be handled with the carrot of aid, warns against using American backing to intimidate the LTTE or irritate India, and says the government should not seek LTTE help for
This article critiques the Sri Lankan government's flawed approach to peace negotiations following the LTTE's temporary withdrawal from talks. Author Victor Ivan argues that the government treats the conflict using a simplistic "carrot and stick" model appropriate for a defeated adversary, rather than treating the LTTE as an undefeated entity
The 17th Amendment was meant to make the police, elections, public service, judicial service, human rights and bribery bodies independent, but the PA distorted it and the UNP government is now quietly strangling the commissions. The editorial notes that the Police Commission has no staff, the Bribery Commission cannot function,
The editorial credits Ranil Wickremesinghe with opening roads, keeping calm in the face of the President's outbursts and internationalising the peace effort, but faults him for failing to discipline his team. It lists reports of ministers and MPs assaulting police, freeing detained supporters and demolishing a Matara sports club building,
The LTTE's temporary withdrawal from talks does not mean imminent war, yet the President appears to be stoking public fear of one, ordering roadblocks back in Colombo and extra guards for Anuruddha Ratwatte and state television. The editorial argues that she has no right to risk bloodshed for political advantage
With the talks stalled but likely to resume, the editorial calls the 'carrot' approach, peace for aid, the weakest element of the process: peace is needed because relations between communities have been uncivilised. It argues that a settlement must address wider democratic problems, since anti-democratic conduct is not confined to
Eighty days after Tony Fernando was jailed, the Bar Association has done nothing despite Param Cumaraswamy's appeal, though his case was raised at the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva and the Asian Human Rights Commission's petition has gathered over 3,000 signatures. Ivan argues that the President cannot act
At the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, shoppers say prices are the highest ever. For two decades governments blamed war spending for high prices and poor services, the editorial notes, but with over a year of ceasefire and aid flowing, excuses about defence costs no longer hold, and the government
