Émissions sur la communauté québécoise tamoule hindoue originaire du Sri Lanka sur la chaine télé Art Tv les 11, 12 et 13 février 2014

La chaîne télé Art Tv diffuse ces jours-ci une émission sur la communauté québécoise tamoule hindoue originaire du Sri Lanka tournée à l’occasion de la fête annuelle du temple Thiru Murugan.

 La série s’intitule Voulez-vous fêter ? et l’émission a pour titre La fête du char.

La première a eu lieu hier soir et elle sera présentée en reprise à divers moments au cours des prochains jours : 

Mardi 11.02 à 19h00 / Mercredi 12.02 à 11h00 / et Jeudi 13.02 à 06h00 

 Voici le site web du producteur :  http://voulezvousfeter.artv.ca/episode-la-fete-du-char-5

 Et le site web de l’émission :  http://ici.artv.ca/emissions/voulez-vous-feter

“Why Sri Lankan children in north drop out” by IRIN Asia

Most of the dropouts are from poor families who find it difficult to make ends meet as humanitarian assistance dries up almost five years after decades of civil war ended. This situation is being aggravated by an acute lack of job opportunities and a rising cost of living. “It’s a vicious cycle,” said Sivalingam Sathyaseelan, Secretary to the provincial Ministry of Education.

“The main reason is the lack of jobs. There is no money in these families, and they need everybody that can work, to work,” Sathyaseelan told IRIN. “They are able-bodied and can find odd jobs or agricultural work more easily,” so there is growing pressure on children in their early teens, mostly at secondary school level, to leave the classroom.

The top public official in Kilinochchi District, Rupavathi Keetheswaran, the government agent, agreed. She described the situation for the estimated 40,000 households in the north that are headed by women, or those families with disabled members, as particularly dire, saying, “Sometimes the children don’t have any option but to work. There is no one else to make money for the family.”

Via http://www.irinnews.org/report/99606/why-sri-lankan-children-in-north-drop-out

source: www.irinnews.org

“Is Sri Lanka turning into a rogue state?” by Ameen Izzadeen

Underestimating the resolve of the big powers on the war crimes issue – as they themselves are accused of committing such crimes in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan – and highly overestimating its own diplomatic power, the Sri Lankan government committed blunder after blunder. It failed to strengthen its democratic institutions and win the confidence of the international community.

Sri Lanka has never been a rogue state. Its contributions to international law and international peacemaking are well known in the corridors of the UN. Still it is not too late to avert a rogue state label, but it needs courage to free democracy from all constraints.

Via http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/02/sri-lanka-turning-into-rogue-st-201427155047672139.html

source: www.aljazeera.com

“A traumatic past and a stifling present” by Meera Srinivasan

The realities facing the people of the north are way more complex. There is an acute need for jobs. With the rising cost of living, households — particularly those with women heading them — are struggling to make ends meet. Many public institutions, including those that lost land to the army’s high security zones in the Northern Province, are crying for attention and support. Fishermen of the north are badly hit. With the failure of successive monsoons, food security is emerging as a serious concern. The region is still heavily militarised.

The Sri Lankan government may not acknowledge these problems anytime soon, as the rhetoric, for both the government and those opposing it, seems to begin and end with war crimes — now an all-too-familiar game of allegations and denial. While allegations of war crimes and human rights violations keep surfacing from time to time — justifiably so after a brutal war that allegedly claimed several thousand civilian lives — it is important that we simultaneously shine the spotlight on some of these current challenges.

Via http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-traumatic-past-and-a-stifling-present/article5670838.ece?homepage=true

source: www.thehindu.com

““Sri Lanka: Reconciling and Rebuilding”: Framing the lies” by Groundviews

“From the presenter to the group that was paid to create it, from those featured in it from government – all men – to the outright lies and half-truths contained in it, this film is what the government believes will help generate positive spin on Sri Lanka’s post-war prospects.”

via: http://groundviews.org/2014/02/07/sri-lanka-reconciling-and-rebuilding-framing-the-lies/

“Surveillance and survival” by Sivamohan Sumathy

In post-war Sri Lanka, Sinhala cinema is all about triumphal cultural nationalism. What options does a Tamil film-maker have, faced with the twin threats of a surveillance state and a populist mainstream cinema from Tamil Nadu that dominates popular imagination?

via: http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-culture/cinema/surveillance-and-survival/article5652190.ece

source: www.frontline.in

“Making Provincial Administration Work in the North” by Austin Fernando

These days media often speak of conflicts between the center and provincial administration, especially between the Northern Provincial Council’s (NPC’s) Chief Minister (CM) / Members and the Governor of the Province. The CM had been known to me for some time as a gentle neighbor, Judge and the Governor as my subordinate and an “officer and gentleman.” Irrespective of their gentleness, now we hear of ‘official conflicts’ between them, much to the detriment of the NPC administration.

I must confess that the conflicting status has evidently seeped down to the administration too. This we observed when in Jaffna recently. As a retired public officer I cannot recollect such distanced and broken-down official relationship between the Government Representative (the Governor), political hierarchies (Provincial Councilors headed by the CM) and some administrators (headed by the Chief Secretary- CS). This does not speak well of all parties.

Via http://groundviews.org/2014/02/07/making-provincial-administration-work-in-the-north/

“Reconstructing the North and democratising Sri Lanka” by Ahilan Kadirgamar

Before getting into the main thrust of my argument, I want to be clear about the lost opportunity in post-war Sri Lanka. I am echoing here the words of the insightful Tamil intellectual Kethesh Loganathan, who critiqued the attempts to resolve the ethnic conflict during the first five decades after Independence, in his book Sri Lanka: Lost Opportunities. Tragically, the great opening that came with the end of the war has been squandered by the ruling Rajapaksa regime in the interest of consolidating power.

In the current situation, authoritarianism with centralised state power and militarisation characterises the state of affairs in the country. Militarisation is doubly oppressive in the war-torn North and East. There has been no serious movement towards a political solution. The reconstruction process has failed, particularly in relation to livelihoods, and a food security crisis is looming over the North.

Via http://himalmag.com/component/content/article/1-web-exclusive/5232-reconstructing-the-north.html

source: www.himalmag.com

“New Inquiry on Sri Lanka Points to Possible War Crimes” by Nick Cumming-Bruce

some of the alleged crimes were committed with “such flagrant and reckless disregard for the laws of war which strongly suggests there was intent to commit those crimes.”

The structure of the Sri Lankan Army was so well-established, the report adds, “that criminal responsibility for certain crimes if proven at trial could lead to convictions of senior military commanders and Sri Lankan government officials” as well as senior surviving members of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Via:http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/05/world/asia/new-inquiry-on-sri-lanka-points-to-possible-war-crimes.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140204&tntemail0=y&_r=1

source: www.nytimes.com

“Sri Lanka bars US envoy as president lashes out at proposed UN war crimes resolution” by South China Morning Post

Sri Lanka has refused a top US rights official entry to the country, just days after another senior envoy alleged Colombo’s rights record was deteriorating, the US embassy said on Tuesday.

via: http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1420656/sri-lanka-bars-us-envoy-president-lashes-out-proposed-un-war-crimes

source: www.scmp.com

“Tamils’ Smuggling Journey to U.S. Leads to Longer Ordeal: 3 Years of Detention” by Frances Robles

Five Sri Lankan men left hometowns reeling from the remnants of a ruthless civil war and embarked on a monthslong human-smuggling journey that spanned seven countries.

They each paid $55,000 for a ride by air and sea to a fresh chance in the Americas. They were captured within hours of their arrival in South Florida and served as witnesses for the F.B.I. in the investigation of their smugglers, cooperation that the men were led to believe would work in their favor as their cases made their way through immigration courts.

Three years later, they are still waiting for their cases to be resolved

via: Via: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/us/tamils-smuggling-journey-to-us-leads-to-longer-ordeal-3-years-of-detention.html?_r=1

source: www.nytimes.com

“Who Really Killed Mel Gunasekera?” by Nalaka Gunawardene

So it was a known construction worker cum odd job man who killed senior Lankan journalist Mel Gunasekera.

The man, hunted down within the same day Mel was stabbed to death in her suburban home, was apparently familiar with the place and the family’s routine. When she recognised him, burglar had instantly turned killer.

Case closed? Prima facie, it seems so. But in a land where so many crimes are simply not solved and culprits never caught, some can’t believe this swift and efficient crime investigation. Public trust in institutions, once lost, is hard to regain.

Via http://groundviews.org/2014/02/04/who-really-killed-mel-gunasekera/