Comments on: Book censorship in Sri Lanka? http://lirneasia.net/2008/03/book-censorship-in-sri-lanka/ LIRNEasia Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:31:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Jasmine http://lirneasia.net/2008/03/book-censorship-in-sri-lanka/#comment-9572 Jasmine Wed, 07 May 2008 18:00:34 +0000 http://www.lirneasia.net/2008/03/book-censorship-in-sri-lanka/#comment-9572 i am doing a report on censorship in books and i found very little usable information in this article although if you click on the link below it may be of more help.... http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/whodecides/definitions.html otherwise you may as well ask a monkey. i am doing a report on censorship in books and i found very little usable information in this article although if you click on the link below it may be of more help….

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/whodecides/definitions.html

otherwise you may as well ask a monkey.

]]> By: A. Bandaranaike http://lirneasia.net/2008/03/book-censorship-in-sri-lanka/#comment-9573 A. Bandaranaike Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:43:29 +0000 http://www.lirneasia.net/2008/03/book-censorship-in-sri-lanka/#comment-9573 The objective of censorship is not to prevent access to a work. Even in the pre-Internet world it was impossible to completely bloc the access to any work the state saw unfavourable. The censorship is aimed more at (a) discouraging others doing similar work and (b) a threat. Banning Aksharaya did not prevent us watching it. Full movie is now available at You Tube. However, that does not help the producer Upul Shantha Sannasgala recovering the cost of production. Would have been a massive lost for him. Aksharaya has nothing to do with war, but banning it has already resulted in any young director (Ashoka Handagama, Prasanana Vithanage, Vimukthi Jayasundera, Sudath Mahadivulveva) doing any movie even remotely related to war. Even if they want to, it would be impossible to find any producer investing on a movie with an anti-war theme. So ban of Aksharaya was a low cost 'solution' for the state to remove a stumble block in its attempt of militarisation of society. Strictly speaking, Ashoka Hanadagama indirectly helped them to achieve that objective. Naïve. This is not to say Aksharaya is a good movie, but to explain how things work in this country. The objective of censorship is not to prevent access to a work. Even in the pre-Internet world it was impossible to completely bloc the access to any work the state saw unfavourable.

The censorship is aimed more at (a) discouraging others doing similar work and (b) a threat.

Banning Aksharaya did not prevent us watching it. Full movie is now available at You Tube.

However, that does not help the producer Upul Shantha Sannasgala recovering the cost of production. Would have been a massive lost for him.

Aksharaya has nothing to do with war, but banning it has already resulted in any young director (Ashoka Handagama, Prasanana Vithanage, Vimukthi Jayasundera, Sudath Mahadivulveva) doing any movie even remotely related to war. Even if they want to, it would be impossible to find any producer investing on a movie with an anti-war theme.

So ban of Aksharaya was a low cost ’solution’ for the state to remove a stumble block in its attempt of militarisation of society. Strictly speaking, Ashoka Hanadagama indirectly helped them to achieve that objective. Naïve.

This is not to say Aksharaya is a good movie, but to explain how things work in this country.

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