Sri Lanka: testimony to state terror

Race & Class ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 71-84

There are two nations in Sri Lanka, both ruled by the Sri Lankan government - one, the Sinhala/Buddhist South, under civilian rule, and the other, the Tamil North (and increasingly the East), under a military dictatorship. Ironically enough, the cause of this separate dispensation is alleged by the Sri Lankan government to be the figirt for a separate state by the Northern (and Eastern) Tamils. That story however, has been told at length in the special issue of Race & Class ('Sri Lanka: racism and the authoritarian state') which appeared in Ju ly 1984 on the anniversary of the '83 pogroms. Here we wish to record a few of the 200 affidavits (sworn before justices of the peace) from witnesses testifying to the atrocities of the security forces in Jaffna in the period March November 1984. (A fuller dossier, from which these documents have been excerpted, is published by the South Asia Bureau. *)

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 93-100
Author(s):  
Gisa Jähnichen

The Sri Lankan Ministry of National Coexistence, Dialogue, and Official Languages published the work “People of Sri Lanka” in 2017. In this comprehensive publication, 21 invited Sri Lankan scholars introduced 19 different people’s groups to public readers in English, mainly targeted at a growing number of foreign visitors in need of understanding the cultural diversity Sri Lanka has to offer. This paper will observe the presentation of these different groups of people, the role music and allied arts play in this context. Considering the non-scholarly design of the publication, a discussion of the role of music and allied arts has to be supplemented through additional analyses based on sources mentioned by the 21 participating scholars and their fragmented application of available knowledge. In result, this paper might help improve the way facts about groups of people, the way of grouping people, and the way of presenting these groupings are displayed to the world beyond South Asia. This fieldwork and literature guided investigation should also lead to suggestions for ethical principles in teaching and presenting of culturally different music practices within Sri Lanka, thus adding an example for other case studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thilini Cooray ◽  
Samanthi Senaratne ◽  
Nuwan Gunarathne ◽  
Roshan Herath ◽  
Dileepa Neelangi Samudrage

Purpose This paper aims to examine the coverage of and trends in reporting content elements in the integrated reports of the Sri Lankan companies following the International Integrated Reporting Framework (IIRF). Design/methodology/approach Based on a comprehensive checklist developed on the content elements of the IIRF, 171 corporate integrated reports were content-analyzed over a period of three years. The results were theorized subsequently using the legitimacy theory. Findings The study identifies that the extent of and trend in the coverage of content elements of the IIRF have increased during the period under consideration despite some under-addressed areas. It indicates that Sri Lankan companies are making progress in the preparation of integrated reports in line with the IIRF, which provides evidence in support of both strategic and institutional perspectives of the legitimacy theory because of the proactive actions taken by managers to acquire legitimacy along with the other normative and mimetic pressures available in the IR landscape. Originality/value This is one of the first studies that evaluate the compliance of IR adopters with the IIRF overtime in the entirety of a single country. It also develops a comprehensive index to capture the disclosure requirements of IR and extends the analysis to a voluntary context using both strategic and institutional perspectives of the legitimacy theory.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Imran Mehsud ◽  
Azam Jan ◽  
Tariq Anwar Khan

The renowned water expert, John Briscoe, predicted a bleak future for India-Pakistan water relations across the Indus attributing it to Pakistan’s downstream anxieties vis-à-vis upstream regional hegemon-India. Do the other co-riparian states of India share the same bleak future across the South Asian rivers of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna or are the water relations across these rivers peaceful as compared to the Indus? To answer this question, this study first explores India-Pakistan water disputes on the Indus and then analyses India-Bangladesh water disputes on the Ganges and Brahmaputra, India-Nepal, India-Bhutan, and Pakistan-Afghanistan water relations. The methodology adopted for this study is descriptive, historical, and analytical in its nature. The study concludes that India has not only failed to adopt a conciliatory approach towards Pakistan on the Indus but has generated mistrust amongst other neighbouring countries over water sharing due to its hegemonic hydro-behaviour. It recommends that India should adopt a conciliatory approach to have peaceful relations across the rivers of South Asia.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thilini Saparamadu ◽  
Nesrine Akrimi

This study ascertains the determinants of Intra-Industry Trade (IIT) with particular reference to IIT between Sri Lanka and its major trading partners in South Asia; namely; India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The study uses secondary data published in World Development Indicators, Penn World Table from 1992 to 2017. The level of IIT is calculated by using data gathered from Comtrade Data Base. Using panel data regression, the study adopts Random Effect model to analyze the regression results. The study concludes that economies of scale measured by difference of value added in the net output of the manufacturing sector and market size measured by average gross domestic product exert a significant influence on the level of IIT in the South Asian region. Differences of per capita Gross National Income (GNI - difference in income level) and tariff rate (the proxy for trade barriers) poses a negative influence on the level of IIT. The policymakers should be concerned about the possibility to increase IIT in the South Asian region. Based on the findings of the study, the present research offers policy recommendations to promote IIT within the region.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 522 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-199
Author(s):  
INDRAKHEELA MADOLA ◽  
DEEPTHI YAKANDAWALA ◽  
KAPILA YAKANDAWALA ◽  
SENANI KARUNARATNE

Taxonomic revisions are the most reliable pathway in unfolding new species to the world. During such a revision of the genus Lagenandra in Sri Lankan, we came across two new species: Lagenandra kalugalensis and Lagenandra srilankensis from the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka. The two new species were studied in detail and compared with the morphology of the other species described in the genus, and based on field collected data conservation assessments were performed. A detailed description for the two new species and an updated taxonomic key to the Sri Lankan Lagenandra is presented here for easy identification. Recognizing two new endemic members enhances the number of Sri Lankan species of Lagenandra to eleven and global to nineteen. According to the IUCN red data category guidelines, L. kalugalensis qualifies for Critically Endangered category under Criterion B1ab (ii,iii,v) + B2ab (ii,iii,v) while L. srilankensis qualifies for Critically Endangered category under B1ab (iii, iv) + C2 (a) (i, ii). Hence, immediate conservation measures are imperative.


Author(s):  
Ward Keeler

Louis Dumont’s analysis of hierarchy in South Asia provides insight into how hierarchical assumptions inform social relations in Burma. Although Burmese society lacks caste, it still organizes everyone’s social relations on the principle that individuals enter into relationships because of their differences, and every relationship will place one person in a position of superiority, the other as subordinate. Benedict Anderson’s work on charisma in Java complements Dumont’s work by showing how assuming that power comes from above encourages people to subordinate themselves to concentrations of power. Marina Warner’s analysis of tales makes it clear that people who are structurally weak have no choice but to try to establish themselves as dependents of powerful others. Kapferer’s work in Sri Lanka provides further guidance for adapting Dumont’s analysis of hierarchy to other contexts outside India.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Abdi ◽  
Ali Abdi

CPI Welcomes Carol Lee’s Illustrated Anthology of Poetry:No ReturnCarol Lee’s Special Issue is well timed given the magnitude of the recent natural disasters experienced in several tropical and subtropical parts of North America, as well as in south Asia, and the toll on human lives as millions are forced to relocate or flee their homes and seek asylum elsewhere because of wars, persecution, and discrimination. With clarity and precision, Lee’s Special Issue, unapologetically specifically questions, responses by leaders and citizens in northern nation-states to impacts of man-made and natural disasters and tragedies, especially in the south.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ratnayake K. S. Dias ◽  
Warnakulasuriyage S. Udayakantha

The Sri Lankan Relict Ant, Aneuretus simoni Emery, survives in several wet zone and intermediate zone forests in Sri Lanka. Nests of this species and other ants were surveyed at 159 m and 291 m elevations in Indikada Mukalana Forest Reserve by laying 20 quadrats of 1 m × 1 m at two plots of each locality in December, 2015. The number of ant nests within each quadrat was recorded; then the frequency of nest occurrence out of 40 quadrats, percentage nest abundance and mean nest density of A. simoni, as well as associated ant fauna were calculated. Percentage frequency of worker ant occurrence was also investigated using pitfall traps. Eighteen genera and 21 species in Aneuretinae, Dolichoderinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae and Ponerinae were recorded from the two methods. Nests of A. simoni were found only in the locality at 291 m altitude in the forest; 17.5 % of quadrats with an A. simoni colonies, 9.7% of nest abundance in relation to that of other ant species and 0.18 m2 ofmean nest density were observed. Nest density of A. simoni had the fourth rank among that of the other species. Frequency of occurrence of A. simoni workers in the pitfall traps at lower and upper elevations was 2% and 3%, respectively. An actualized map showing the current distribution of A. simoni is produced.


Subject Sri Lanka's ambitions for its tourist industry. Significance Sri Lanka is aiming to attract 3 million tourists this year. The sector was, surprisingly, not much affected by the country’s constitutional crisis last October-December. However, Chinese tourist numbers dipped in 2018 for the second consecutive year. Impacts Sri Lanka will likely open the tourism industry to labour from the rest of South Asia and possibly further afield. There will be fewer tourists visiting the north and east compared to the south and west. The country’s poor international credit ratings will make fresh borrowing even more expensive.


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