Choke on definitions

DEMOCRACY

Demos = people +  Kratia = power, rule

The modern definition of democracy is “Form of government, where a constitution guarantees basic personal and political rights, fair and free elections, and independent courts of law.”

Therefore the key elements of a Democracy are:

• Guarantee of basic Human Rights to every individual person vis-à-vis the state and its authorities as well as vis-à-vis any social groups (especially religious institutions) and vis-à-vis other persons.

• Separation of Powers between the institutions of the state:

Government [Executive Power],

Parliament [Legislative Power] and

Courts of Law [Judicial Power]

• Freedom of opinion, speech, press and mass media

• Religious liberty

• General and equal right to vote (one person, one vote)

• Good Governance (focus on public interest and absence of corruption)

The U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) defined democracy as: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

The Sri Lankan style democracy can be defined as “Form of government appointed by the people, where a constitution is just a piece of paper, governing body decides the rule of the country as the ignorant people are duped to accept all that is dished out to them by the anointed governing body”.

Unfortunately for Sri Lanka even the governing body is ignorant of the meaning of a democracy…the country is somewhat a monarchical oligarchy…!

await for more…

In these times of victory…

The whole senario of a long war coming to an end is indeed a cause for celebration, however thinking of the civilians and soldiers that were killed in the process of achieving this rather “premature” victory is daunting. Although I do not mean to disrupt the whole festive atmosphere and attitude, true peace can only be achieved when all Sri Lankans can live together without any discrimination on ethnic, racial or religious grounds.

It is hard to celebrate while fellow Sri Lankans are displaced from their homes, living in camps under very harsh conditions without adequate food, medicine and other basic essentials. While we celebrate we should also make this triumph of the soldiers worthwhile by extending a generous hand of help towards the displaced fellow Sri Lankans. To achieve peace one needs to change the perceptions and attitudes towards the “other”. What better way is there than extending a helping hand to those in need and proving not to anyone but ourselves that Sri Lankans are capable of taking care of their own. Through our actions we can change the perceptions and slowly contribute to the healing of all wounds and pave way to a lasting peace in the country. This effort needs to be supported by proper political solutions and actions of politicians. All the while effort must be taken to talk to the diaspora as well.

So we are at the brink of a decisive moment in time where everything depends on our actions and perceptions. As political beings humans can shape, change and transform the future.

Flames of dissent

“This late dissension grown betwixt the peers
Burns under feigned ashes of forged love
And will at last break out into a flame.”

- William Shakespeare

It boils down to the end now, this war of almost thirty years. Yet the end seem to be very decisive. The soldiers have a grave task ahead, what with the last of the terrorists hiding among the civilians and turning their weapons against the poor people trying to escape these clutches of madness. There is no easy way at least that is certain. Given the use of civilians as protection in the past there is a possibility that the sadist terrorist leader might attempt to pull off an eleventh hour battle amidst the innocent civilians.

Although it is easier said than done and most people have doubts whether a theory of dissent can be realised in a situation as such. It is apparent however that there are traces of dissent among the civilians who have gone through atrocities that none of the other Sri Lankans have gone through. The stories of the people who escaped from the reigns of terror hints of dissent. These ashes kindled to a soft flame can burn bright when the time is right. An uprising combined with the brave effort of the soldiers will give the innocent civilians as well as all Sri Lankans hope that this war could end soon.

A CARE harbour for terrorists or a sweet ride?

Yesterday I was reading the papers and was left with a sense of…uncertainty?… after reading two articles. The first article refers to the Ministry of Defence web article titled, “A CARE harbour for terrorists – Intelligence reports reveal” written with reference to a CARE International report issued on 18 March 2009. The second article I refer to is the actual CARE International report published on its website titled, “CARE Aid Worker Killed in Sri Lanka Conflict”. Now reading the Defence article the impression I got was that the government wants to make sure that we, the general public, understand NGOs and INGOs are all BAD. These organisations are all harbouring terrorists and they are up to no good and write pointless pro-LTTE reports. Furthermore the Defence Ministry article states that the CARE report points out that sheling from the government forces resulted in the death of Mr Sabesan, who was an aid worker working in the Mulativu district under CARE International. I quote the Defence Ministry article,

“The latest evidence of this abominable conspiracy against this island nation was bared when one INGO with the acronym “CARE” issued a press communiqué‚ that the one of its so-called “aid workers” was killed due to the shelling by the Sri Lanka Army during recent clashes in Wanni. According to the INGO, the killed “aid worker” one ” Mr. Sabesan, was amongst those staff members that were unable to leave the area” when the government asked the INGO’s other than Red Cross and UN affiliated bodies to leave the conflict zone in September 2008.”

Note: The conclusion given by the government is that this man died due to government shelling or is claimed to have been.

I was not satisfied with the way the Defence Ministry web article attemtpted to convince the reader that the government was being blamed and these organisations are all hoodwinking the rest of us. This attempt of persuasion actually led me to read the actual CARE International article as mentioned above. This article had no mention of who fired whom or whether it was the government to blame. I quote a paragraph of the CARE International article that relates to what the Defence Ministry has quoted above,

“Mr. Sabesan, 24, had been working for CARE as a caretaker in the Mulliativu District office since March 2005. Yesterday afternoon in the no-fire zone, Mr. Sabesan’s leg was severed as a result of shelling, and due to a lack of access to the necessary medical care, he later died. His funeral was held today.”

Note: No mention of whose fire killed this man in the actual report.

This led me to question why the government is attempting to whitewash itself when there is no requirement to do so. If it is to convince the general public that any NGO or INGO out there is against the government and needs to be condemend this sort of irrational ranting is not helping the government’s image at all. We know the government is doing a tremendous job in trying to end terrorism once and for all from this beautiful island country of ours. However in this process if the government intends to take the general public as deaf, dumb and dumber then it is not good. The public need not be convinced that the government is doing a good job and that there are others who are trying to give the government a bad name. With articles as such the public can actually put two and two together and realise who is telling the truth and not. It is this parrot-fed attitude that disowns the people of intellectual capabilities. We were trained to pass exams with the parroit-fed method and if the government thinks that they need to reiterate each fact to the public by parrot-feeding them I am afraid this only leads to a brain washed population who hangs on every word that drops out of the government. There is no requirement for the government to go into these extreme ends to convince the population.The population believes the government can stop the war. However the government will have to convinve the public by actual practice and example in areas of economic and social realms that it can provide. This argument is for another day getting back to the articles in question, what does the government intend to achieve by condemning these INGOs and NGOs? The ICRC which is an INGO is providing the means to transport not only the civilians who are being held by the LTTE but also mediating the transport of the bodies of fallen heroes. If not for this INGO what would the fate of the Sri Lankans trapped in the clutches of LTTE be? How can the government grant closure to the families of war veterans?

INGOs and NGOs will be of a great advantage once the government eliminates terrorism from the country. We need to have de-mining and clearing of land and sea in the North and Northeast. We need all the infrastructure work including housing, schools, industry, road work, railroads, water sanitation etc to be laid out for people to be able to return to their homes. These are just a handful of reasons as to why we would need the assistance of these INGOs and NGOs in the future. The work carried out by these organisations need to be subject to periodic monitoring and evaluation procedures where the government can have a tab on their progress. Accountability reports need to be completed. The government needs to have checks and balances in its actions.

We do not need this type of blame games to be convinced of the government effort taken towards the betterment of the country all the public need is proof of ACTION. So far we are convinced the government is heading in the right direction towards putting an end to this war and it has proved this in action; however we are yet to witness proof and action that the government can treat each person in this country as Sri Lankans who have the right to live, speak and work in this great island of ours no matter what ethnicity, religion, class or media company they represent.

Jay Leno interviews US President Obama

Click on this link to see the video: “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno – interviewing US President Obama”

The Tonight Show host Jay Leno interviewed the US president Obama on 19 March 2009. It is inspiring to listen to a leader who upholds the moral and ethical values in a society as oppose to making a quick buck on the expense of others. I would also like to quote a few lines from president Obama’s acceptance speech:

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity.

Those are values that we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours: “We are not enemies, but friends… though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.”

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too.

(Highlights intentionally done by the author of this blog.)

It is indeed refreshing to see a leader actually say that he needs to EARN the support of those who didn’t vote for him, which I think is a very good approach.