The Sri Lankan government has pressured Nepali authorities to block the screening of three documentaries about the island at the Film Southasia festival this month.

The films are ‘Broken’ and ‘The Story of One’, directed by Kannan Arunasalam, and No Fire Zone’ directed by Callum Macrae.

In a statement released on their website, Kanak Mani Dixit, Chair of Film Southasia, said,

“FSA protests this unwarranted intrusion into the cultural sphere, an action that goes against the freedom of expression and the right of documentary filmmakers to exhibit their work.”

The three films will now be screened outside the festival venue at ‘private screenings’.

Commenting on Sri Lanka’s actions, Macrae said in a statement,

“The government has constantly assured the international community – and in particular the members of the Commonwealth – that they will investigate the serious allegations war crimes and crimes against humanity which we exposed in No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka,” 

“In practice though, they seem more concerned with travelling the world attempting to suppress our film – and prevent anyone from seeing the evidence of these crimes... I am glad to say that so far they have not succeeded.”

"Once again the Sri Lankan government has shown its true colours. While telling the world that it is investigating the allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity  – it is in practice mounting an international campaign to deny the truth and silence the witnesses. Film South Asia deserves every credit for refusing to stop the screenings, instead moving them to another venue." 

“ it is at CHOGM where many of the landmark decisions and statements by this association have been made. In Lusaka, Zambia, in 1979, the Commonwealth united in the aim "to rid the world of the evils of racism", and condemned apartheid as an "affront to humanity". The 1991 CHOGM saw the realisation of the Harare Declaration, with human rights and democracy expressed as core principles of the Commonwealth. In the wake of the adoption of the new Charter earlier this year, the 2013 CHOGM should have been a time to celebrate the association’s renewal and to safeguard the Commonwealth’s future effectiveness.”

“However, this will not happen. Instead, we will be faced by the appalling prospect of a Government in clear violation of so many of the association’s values becoming the Chair of the Commonwealth for the next two years. Rather than focussing on its theme of “Growth with Equity; Inclusive Development”, the event will be eclipsed by the on-going human rights concerns on the island. An acrimonious and divided CHOGM is likely to unfold with the Canadian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, and I hope others, staying away, due to the human rights abuses and the lack of post armed conflict accountability and reconciliation.”

An Indian Minister of state, V Narayanasamy, suggested that India was still undecided with regards to its level of attendance at the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan Navy has towed a vessel carrying 70 asylum seekers from Sri Lanka to the southern port of Galle, after the boat on which they were attempting to flee on developed engine trouble and sent out a distress signal.

The group of asylum seekers, which included 17 women, 14 children and 42 men was stranded 215 miles south-west of Sri Lanka. According to the Sri Lankan Navy, the asylum seekers were

Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the UN, Palitha Kohona has been elected as the chair of the sixth (legal) committee of the United Nations General Assembly, after overwhelming support from the Asia-Pacific group.

The committee considers legal questions for the General Assembly in New York.

Canada’s foreign minister John Baird criticised the decision on Twitter, saying that it was ironic for Sri Lanka to be elected after it sacked its own Chief Justice.

A previously derelict statue of Queen Victoria will also be renovated and moved to a prime location in Colombo.

Last week, three young Tamils from Toronto, Montreal and London, published a piece on the website Tumblr, listing the 'privileges' of being Sinhalese. Since then, the piece entitled 'Check your Sinhala privilege', has sparked widespread praise, criticism and passionate debate online.

Tamil Guardian caught up with the writers, Ram, Ahila and Sinthujan, via Facebook, to find out more..


Tamil Guardian: What inspired you to write this piece?
 
Sinthujan:

We were just speaking about the concept of privilege in general, unrelated to Sri Lanka, and som e of the problematic things some of our friends would say. Even though many of them are well-intentioned and well-educated, they often neglect to see the issues in some of their statements. Most of them similarly don't see the ways the social, political, and economic arrangements of any given society are what systematically produce  existing inequalities between different social groups.

This neglect is especially prominent in discussions of Sri Lanka, for instance, when civil conflict is simply explained in terms of “ethnic hatred” rather than through a close examination of the ways societal arrangements in Sri Lanka have benefited some ethnic groups relative to others.

Tamil asylum seekers who have been deported from Christmas Island have stated that they would be willing to risk it all to flee from Sri Lanka once more, according to a report by ABC News.

A deported Tamil man, ‘Murali’ in Jaffna, had earlier paid over $3,000 to be smuggled out of Sri Lanka in a fishing boat packed with 80 people, to make the treacherous journey to Australian shores. He told ABC news,

The Supreme Court will hear a case filed against the Tamil National Alliance election manifesto, later this month.

The decision was taken after when summoned to court today, the TNA failed to argue why the case filed against the manifesto was illegitimate.