Travels in a Militarised Society.

January 29, 2008 1:50 PM

groundviews is Sri Lankan citizen journalism initiative.

There is a lot of good stuff here. I started by reading Travels in a Militarised Society (Part one and two). What Liberation, on the government taking control of the East, is also an interesting read.

posted by chunking express (5 comments total)

Very interesting. The first post, discussing the bright cheer that so many villagers have towards the increasing conflict, is fascinating.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 2:12 PM on January 29

Nice nice nice find ! The first articles are very interesting :

On every corner of the busy crossroads large posters bless our three military forces – air, land and sea — faithfully pursuing their duty until the final victory

There you have it , propaganda.

Can I check your ID?” I am taken aback for a moment; then ask politely, “Who are you?” “You don’t have to know who I am. I am a Boralla Junction Civil Guard. We work for the Police.”

And the dreaded right to stop a citizen to ask him for an id without a demonstrable probable cause, which is temporary detention light + fear mindset

I spot my bus with its slogan: “This is The Nation of Buddha” and climb up. Inside a sticker reads, “This bus does not charge for Buddhist Sunday School children or Buddhist monks”

SiddarthaShake ! Religion used as an excuse for privilege ?

It’s a beautiful ad; with emotive music and spectacular images it summons our brave population to join the armed forces and defend the motherland. (This highly respected filmmaker has also recently published a book for the peace industry that analyses the relationship between the nation’s conflict and its cinema.)

Mercenaries...

I mean, Religious Right, Some Politician, The SandNiggers ....it's the same shit, exactly the same shit !
posted by elpapacito at 2:45 PM on January 29

I have to read a bit more to get a more concrete view of the site but so far it looks very interesting. I'll certainly be showing this to my family who rely on the Daily News website for their Sri-Lankan information, and this seems to handle the issues much more fairly. It's somewhat of a contrast though, my personal experience there and the way these citizens talk about life where they are.
posted by liquorice at 3:17 PM on January 29

"Of course, given that 28% of the country’s women are war widows"

Wait, what? Is this true?
posted by liquorice at 3:20 PM on January 29

That figure struck me as really crazy too. Not sure where it comes from. The site looks to be fairly left-leaning, anti-war, etc.
posted by chunking express at 5:58 AM on January 30