See WSWS's photo gallery here , taken on the once heavily fought for A9 highway through Vanni to Jaffna. Despite the end of the war, foreigners need permission to visit the Vanni region, once home to 300,000 Tamils, all of whom were displaced in Sri Lanka's onslaught. The UN says 160,000 houses in Vanni were destroyed or damaged in the final phase of the war (2006-9). None have been rebuilt. Most of the 'resettled' live in tents or fragile shacks. Some people struggle to make a living through rickety tea stalls for travellers - but have to compete against the Army's. See also our earlier...
Whilst Sri Lanka and its international allies labour to present an image of emerging 'post-conflict' normalcy - and even of 'reconciliation' in the offing - events in Jaffna this week made clear the country's future is exactly the reverse. The military's desecration of the ashes of LTTE leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan's mother, and its anxious, violent efforts in preceding days to prevent public mourning of her death underline not only the popular sentiment amongst Tamils, but the state's unshakable insecurity. In short, the seventy-year long antagonism between the Sinhala ethnocracy and the Tamil people will endure and grow. This is not a matter of ancient hatreds, but of state policy and the politics to come.
“ Sixes hit (by Sri Lankans) shatter the roof of the English palace and things in it tumble .” - verse from Sri Lanka’s official song for the cricket World Cup. Well after the start of the cricket World Cup, President Mahinda Rajapaksa Wednesday ordered his country’s official song to be taken off air. Rajapaksa told reporters he was displeased with its contents because it insults foreign teams. See Canadian Press’s report here and AFP's here . Apart from the verse about England above, the song warns that Australians will end up as bird food while New Zealanders, still reeling from the...
Sri Lankan state media's reports on (above) President Rajapaksa at Libya's celebration in 2009 of the 40th anniversary of the 'Great September Revolution' and (below) Sri Lankan troops in the parade.
“In the one and a half year period [since the end of the war] there has not been evidence of higher foreign direct investment, in fact foreign direct investment has declined rather than increased . “ Despite the IMF and World Bank giving favourable assessments of the economy, … the international investment community does not appear to consider Sri Lanka a favourable destination for investment .” See here an analysis this week by the SundayTimes’ Nimal Sanderatne of the possible reasons why. Also, see our earlier posts: ‘ The limits of possibility ’ (Jan 2011) ‘ Doubts over Sri Lanka's pledges...
When Sri Lanka resumed its war against the Tamil Tigers in mid 2006, the first offensives were directed at Sampur and nearby areas in Trincomalee district. Over 40,000 Tamil civilians were driven from their homes , which were razed to the ground . The vast majority remain displaced. President Rajapaksa hailed the capture. Sri Lanka then pledged the land in Sampur to India to build a power-station on it, and designated it another 'High Security Zone' . Delhi was a strong backer of Sri Lanka’s military campaign, and the power station project has long been billed as a major milestone in...
Sri Lanka's Ministry of Higher Education has brought in new measures to make universities responsible for ensuring their graduates can be 'guaranteed' to get jobs anywhere in the world. See report here . “If they cannot accomplish this what is the use of having such universities?" Secretary to the ministry Sunil Jayantha Navaratne argues. Needing to spell out the obvious, Dinidu Hennayake, convenor of the Joint Union of Unemployed Graduates, says: "Nowhere in the world has a university's academic staff been held responsible for its graduates being unemployed. We see this as a move to palm off...
“The [Sri Lankan] authorities continue to execute policies in line with the IMF programme's goals” - Brian Aitken, head of IMF review mission, Feb 18. See reports by LBO , The Island and the state-owned Daily News . Interestingly, the IMF said again this week that there was no “demand driven” inflation of food prices in Sri Lanka. But see this analysis by LBO of Sri Lanka's food insecurity . See also our earlier posts, ' Sri Lanka taking its medicine - IMF ' (Dec 2010) ' Food for Thought ' (Nov 2010)
Sri Lanka swapped a Chinese-made train for the Indian ones to be used on the service when the Galle-Matara high-speed line was inaugurated Wednesday. The track, destroyed in the 2004 tsunami, has been rebuilt by Indian firm IRCON, and was entirely funded by Indian credit. The Indian-made locomotives to service the route have arrived in Sri Lanka, but railway officials said they were “not ready”. So Indian High Commissioner Ashok Kantha and the other dignitaries traveled in a Chinese-made train on the maiden run. The train hit 100km/h - but started and arrived late. See LBO’s report here Photo...
Senior police officers in Tamil Nadu this week dismissed claims that LTTE cadres would attack top political leaders during the forthcoming state Assembly elections On Sunday The Hindu newspaper quoted Indian intelligence sources as saying the Ministry of Home Affairs had sent alerts about possible attacks. However, in response to the reports, Director General of Police Letika Saran told reporters Wednesday that the police have confirmed that there were no LTTE elements in Tamil Nadu. (See the Times of India report here) Meanwhile, another senior police officer told The Hindu: “ Sri Lankan...