saturday reds - 8/3/2008

weelllllll, shiver me timbers and rattle me bones! things are looking up for sri lanka. we kicked out rama mani who headed the international center for ethnic studies, for questioning us on human rights. if the human rights watch last week said sri lanka has the worst human rights abuse in the world, they are just a part of this big international conspiracy. as for the group of eminent persons appointed by the government to overlook the massacre of those 17 aid workers in the east and the killings of schoolgirls et al, and who flew out of sri lanka last week in disgust, well they were just a part of this thing to discredit sri lanka. and besides, look, we supply food and other aid to the people in the north. what other country supplies terrorists, as the prime minister said last week? these internationals are talking cock, men. what human rights abuses? we love the tamils.

and, it's this bloody free media. we are going to pass a bill to ensure that the free media is free.

see, a boat load of bangladeshis and burmese ended up in trinco last week. obviously things in sri lanka are much better than in those blighted countries. the economy is doing well. don't listen to those who say it it isn't. cost of living high? no. no. we have re done the calculation and now people actually have excess cash. inflation? i shay, what for the telling? these people are just buying plasma tv's and motorcycles they don't need. we can grow rice and manioc, no? enough to eat. and this corruption thing has always been there. it's just that the money is more, so have to bribe more, no? yes, men. the politicians have got to live well and show off to the internationals. can't do this in a mazda. we will borrow more money, men, from the internationals and everything will be ok.

and, then there is india. the jvp is absolutely right in trying to kick out all indians from sri lanka. we don't need india either. they are just trying to get the trinco port. look, indian oil is already owning the tank farms in china bay. soon it will be parliament. must stop this men. yendiya for de yendians. sri lanka for sri lankans. and, we really do love the tamils. but we must not feed the terrorists in the north. we are killing 50 to 60 everyday. we will walk into killinochchi soon. no . no. not april or august this year. rains you know. maybe december next year. oh. by the way, last month, 108 sri lankan soldiers died and 800 odd injured. very little. but, we love the tamils.

things in sri lanka are good, men. paradise. government is doing a good job. we are winning the war. economy is good. only thing is these internationals interfering. they should all go away and give us the money everytime we ask for it. put a little in our own account. only a little.

one problem. the cricket team must be sacked. but we love murali.

saturday reds - 16/2/2008

today's daily mirror says that in modara the police have distributed forms asking for household information including details of bank accounts and balances. a few months i go, two forms were delivered to our home asking for different bits of similar information ( but not bank account details). as i wrote, i threw them in the garbage bin. a pal of mine in office told me that if a bomb goes off in colombo it will be my fault for not giving the information.

i simply cannot believe that essentially good people can take this kind of stuff without even the semblance of a protest.

( this is translated from a German poem)

When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent;

I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,

I remained silent;

I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,

there was no one left to speak out.

- Pastor Martin Niemoller ( 1892 - 1884)

History

An early supporter of Hitler, by 1934 Niemöller had come to oppose the Nazis, and it was largely his high connections to influential and wealthy businessmen that saved him until 1937, after which he was imprisoned, eventually at Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. He survived to be a leading voice of penance and reconciliation for the German people after World War II. His poem is well-known, frequently quoted, and is a popular model for describing the dangers of political apathy, as it often begins with specific and targeted fear and hatred which soon escalates out of control.

from wikepedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...

the mid week blues - 30/1/2008

"heaven", as the bishop said to the chorus girl, "is a state of mind."

we, in sri lanka, or at any rate we lot in the western and southern part of the island, are on cloud 9. prabarakan is dead or at least badly injured (by all accounts), daily around 30 to 40 ltters are being killed ( at this rate the blighters will be all gone by october), we are gaining ground on a three pronged encircling of kilinochchi - and terrorism will be over in months. sri lanka it seems is well on the road to untold riches and prosperity. yeah, gods and little fishes.

sorry to rain on the parade, poop on the party and throw a spanner in the works but i beg to differ. the other day i was called an ltte sympathizer by two separate people for expressing reservations about current developments in sri lanka. "no!" said i, spiritedly " i am sympathetic to the tamil point of view".

"ah, but are you sympathetic to the singhalese point of view" shot back the lass in question. i was miffed but held my peace ( the lass has considerable clout so to speak) but truth be told i am sympathetic to the sri lankan point of view i.e. a united sri lanka. i think current developments and war without an offer to address the issues of the tamils will eventually be meaningless. denzil kobbekaduwa, at the height of his successful campaign on jaffna in the mid 1980's gave an interview to the press in which he said that the problem with the ltte cannot be solved militarily and that the issues of the tamils have to be solved politically. we all know what happened to that particular patriot.

i think the abrogation of the ceasefire agreement was silly, and together with human rights abuses will cause untold damage to the country in the eyes of the international community in the years and decades to come. the actual toll of the current war is probably far higher than is being reported in the press. it's not our kids who are dying on the battle fields, our kids are safely in overseas schools and universities. it's the guy in the south and the north who are doing the fighting. and, don't we care how many civilians die in the north and east anyway or are they acceptable collateral damage? yesterday a school bus in mannar was targeted killing 9 kids and the news on the colombo airways was about heath ledger's death and the upcoming cricket tournament in oz.

the level of corruption in sri lanka does not give me much confidence that war is being fought for noble causes either. what's noble about dollars in a swiss account?

look at the world around us. nowhere ( apart from the punjab and in chechnya and both of those were fought by super countries with more resources than we have) has a conflict like this ended up in total defeat of one side. conflicts of this nature have always ended up on the negotiation table. i believe that the overall risk on the road we are traveling on ( and it is the one more traveled not less) is the very thing we are fighting to prevent. and, i believe that particular risk can and should ( and ultimately will - after much grief) be addressed differently. is there a time for war? unfortunately the answer is yes.

and, what options are we leaving the tamil community? who talks or represents them?

it was at this point that the good lass accused me of being an ltte sympathizer. nothing of course could be further from the truth. i am a sri lankan and believe in a united country including jaffna (and trinco, please note) but one in which the tamils will have a level of self determination. i believe that this simple thing is what will hold the country together. it is absolutely depressing to me that after 30 years of carnage, the majority in sri lanka think other wise.

i fear otherwise.

"a state of mind", said the chorus girl to the bishop rather tartly, " is anything you want it to be. "

the monday blues bulletin - 31/12/2007

ams and the plasma tv never arrived.

in sri lanka, we are in one of the deepest holes that we have ever been in. even the government newspeak says there will be open war as they attempt to crush the ltte. gone is any semblance of peace. gone too is the need to address grievances of the tamils ( not necessary, "they" say. the ltte will be defeated by august). posters around colombo tell us that we must be prepared to make great sacrifices for the glory of the motherland. down with the international imperialists. who needs foreign aid? as for corruption at the highest of levels, prove it if you can. after all "they" are safe guarding the country. dutugemunu rides again.

the other night there was an impatient knock on the gate. cops, again. (rr seems to be a magnet for cops.) they were looking for number 25. i told them that it was now a bare land but that there was a watcher in a tin hut living there. the cops said they had an emergency call to say that some people were speaking tamil. i watched them as they drove up to the land and saw them bundle some people into the back of the van.

a few weeks ago someone dropped of an official looking form at home. it reads ' survey of households for the greater security of sri lanka" or something like that. in it, one has to declare all kinds of personal details of everyone staying at the address. no covering letter, no explanation of who is collecting this information or what is to be done with the info. i put it in the dust bin and i may disappear as a consequence. this is only half a joke.

the mervin silva saga ( type mervin silva into google's news engine and enjoy) is an excellent reflection of sri lankan's plight. the real story is why the powers that be do nothing to remove the idiotic man despite this dangerous antics over the years.

inflation is now officially at 20%.

doom and gloom bulletin is what this rag is turning out to be. but, the bleakness of the future makes it so. and, if that was not enough, ams and the plasma tv never arrived. ( did i mention that before?)

having said that it is in the human experience to hope. the supreme court ruled that permanent road blocks are unconstitutional. a few days ago a magistrate told the police that they will have to arrest all those involved with the mervin silva invasion of rupavahini. the west, it seems, is making some serious noises about holding people in sri lanka responsible for atrocities. anyway, hope 2008 will be peaceful and bright for the rest of you yahoos. it will not be for sri lanka - that's a prediction.

by the way, has anyone, i wonder, seen ams with a 52" plasma tv?

saturday reds - 15/12/2007

how long? how long? ( as the eagles say. check out their new album. good karaoke stuff.)

...anybay....

how's things? yeah. yeah. i know. at this age they do tend to be that swing-low-sweet-chariot thingy. but such is life. sri lanka, is much the same. a pack of muppets in parliament as well without any of the humor. yesterday for instance the country was all agog with the possibility of the ruling party losing the budget debate. anura bandaranayke, the old miss piggy that he is, dramatically crossed over to the opposition and then found himself on the losing side of a 114 - 67 score line. no doubt, the previous evening saw the international banks involved with a rash of activity as money moved. the few days before, some tamil politicians had their family members abducted by unknown persons. eventually, it was a non event as the government won handsomely. late evening with the noise of crackers going off, it must felt like a new years morn. and, perhaps, it was for us as well.

a few weeks ago, the supreme court ruled that permanent check points were an infringement of personal liberty. in a fit of pique, the government has dismantled all the check points in the city. this means that every cat and a pipe bomb is probably roaming around and waiting to blow me up. we do not get much news of what is happening up in the north but people ( i mean all communities and races) are continuing to die. not that many in colombo care. the situation today is no different to what was 20 years ago. we have not moved forward towards a solution, even an inch. the politicians and the arms dealers have of course gotten seriously rich. i mean to say, a VVVIP's son ( a teenager) is supposed to have bought a Rs. 750 million (USD 7 point 5 million) house in colombo. 'nuff said. we are happy eating cake.

in galle, a few weeks ago, the city was bustling with activity as usual. it hasn't grown much but has just become more crowded. the cricket stadium is being reconstructed and the area in front of the old gray fort is a hive of activity. some tsunami camps are still there. the sea at this time of the year looks like blue green glass and the yellow beaches gave the scene a painted, still, look. people were going about their business of living however limited that might mean. in sri lanka, over the years, we have learnt to make do with small measures.

it rainy and cold in colombo these days. lots of christmas songs and carols on the radio. there is peace and goodwill, it seems, in radioland. houses are being painted and furniture varnished. shops are crowded. there is gold and silver tinsel all over the place. heaps of silver stars piled on the ground by vendors selling all kinds of multihued shirts and blouses. two millennia ago a child was said to have been born in a manager.

merry christmas to all of you and your families and a peaceful new year.

worse

the problem with room four
is that it seems to come and go
unlike the millipede on the floor,
squashed, now part decor,
or the ghostie in that gloomy room
who can be heard howling at noon.

jc 9/11/2007

there isn't a room 4!!!

- ams 8/11/2007

now the ghostie made up four,
(not including the milipede on the floor)
and so he had she
and i had my ghosti(sh)e
I hope thats not the way it's going to be
for all eternity

- two cents 8/11/2007


in rakwana there were three,
the verandah lamp, he, she, and me,
not counting the ghost in room four
or the bloated millipede on the floor.
alas! he fled, face ashen, leaving she with me,
and the indignant ghost in room four
and the squashed millipede on the floor.

- jc 8/11/2007