Author Archives: thuppahi
Murali as a Sri Lankan Treasure
Upul Wijayawardhana in The Island 29 July 2016, with title Murali is no traitor
What cricketers do in retirement is their business; some take to politics and do a very bad job; others create Ministries, not of government but, of crab and make a great success of it; most do coaching, many of our cricketers having successful coaching careers. It looks as if it is the norm for most teams to have ‘foreign coaches’. Well, it was so even in 1996 when we won the World Cup; our coach was Dav Whatmore who though born in Sri Lanka, migrated to Australia and played test cricket for Australia but helped us defeat Australia in the finals. Murali should be free to coach any team that pays him well and we have no right to object at all if we never offered to employ him.
Unlike many Sri Lankans I am no cricket fanatic, may be because the first time ever I faced a cricket ball, in my schooldays, I ended up with an injury, though minor, to my right thumb diminishing my enthusiasm for the gentlemen’s game. I say I am not a fanatic because often I find that my English friends know more about our cricketers than I do. However, I have been a great supporter of our cricket team and have been very proud of their achievements. I have proudly failed the Norman Tebbit’s ‘Cricket Test’. For the sake of those who are too young to know what it is, I should reiterate what the Conservative politician said in 1990:”A large proportion of Britain’s Asian population fail to pass the cricket test. Which side do they cheer for? It’s an interesting test. Are you still harking back to where you came from or where you are?” Fortunately, my English friends are more understanding than Lord Tebbit and, in fact, many of them are ardent supporters of the Sri Lanka team, except when they are playing against England.
Striking Railway Photographs from the 19th Century
The construction of a road and rail network was one of the dimensions of British imperial activity in Sri Lanka. Directed in part by the need for military control in an ear when potential rebellions were at the back of their mind, the goals of surplus appropriation as well as administrative action guided the locale and pace of these developments. Some energetic souls have deposited a treasure trove of photographic images in my email box and I reproduce them here with some from my own collection.
We can begin with what I term “the hard yards of railway construction” — as seen in the two images below and in “A steamengine rounding the bend at “Sensation Rock” in Kadugannawa.
From http://lankapura.com/2009/05/undergoing-constructions-of-colombo-kandy-railway-line-1860/ #IMG 394 & #IMG366 at the British Library Board Continue reading
Where Majoritarian Part subsumes the Whole: The Ideological Foundation of Sinhala Extremism
Michael Roberts, courtesy of Colombo Telegraph
It is a commonplace in reviews of the ethnic conflict at the popular level of web comment for the blame to be heaped on our politicians in the past, and any perusal of web-commentary would turn up criticisms of politician A or politician B, or particular temporal moments/events. This is over-simplistic. Such processes are complex and demand a multi-factorial analysis.
Scenes from the mid-1950s depicting Sinhala activists at ‘work’ — see Roberts: Potency , Power & People in Groups, Colombo, Marga, 2011.
Besides such singular criticisms tend to obscure or downplay the critical influence of two fundamental causes, the one structural, the other ideological. Let me begin with A the structural before proceeding to B, the ideological. Continue reading
Filed under devolution, discrimination, heritage, historical interpretation, language policies, LTTE, plural society, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, Rajapaksa regime, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, world affairs
Post-War Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: A Reality Check
Jayadeva Uyangoda, being text of his talk at a Seminar in Colombo (see below)
I share the basic premise on which the theme of this seminar seems to have been constructed, that is, “peace and reconciliation are a prerequisite for nation-building in Sri Lanka.” I am also aware that there is a strong argument in political theory that war, conflict and violence are more important in nation building than peace and reconciliation. There is indeed no shortage of theorists in Sri Lanka who advocate this particular argument with passion and conviction. I don’t intend to take issue with that approach in my presentation today.
Filed under accountability, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, discrimination, education, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, power sharing, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war
Nation Building Today? Intelligentsia Address the Issues
Edmond Jayasinghe, from The Sunday Times, 24 July 2016, where the tile reads: “Much needs to be done to achieve lasting peace and reconciliation”
There should be a conscious and concerted effort to achieve reconciliation among ethnic groups to establish lasting peace in the country. This was emphasised at a seminar titled Peace and Reconciliation and Nation Building held at the auditorium of the Organization of Professional Associations on July 10, 2016. The seminar was organized by the Association for Social Development, a social service organization implementing projects and programmes aimed at enhancing social stability.
It was addressed by several eminent persons like Lal Wijenayake, Attorney at Law and Chairman of the Public Representation Committee on Constitutional Reforms (PRCCR), N. Selvakumaran, former Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo, Member of PRCCR and Member of the Panel of Experts assisting the Parliament Steering Committee on the drafting of a new constitution, Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda, former Professor of Political Science and Public Policy of the University of Colombo, Professor Sarath Wijesooriya of the Department of Sinhala of the University of Colombo, Victor Ivan, Senior journalist, Editor of the Ravaya Newspaper and Ambassador Javid Yusuf, former Head of the Muslim Peace Secretariat. At the panel discussion that followed were Dr. Fahmy Ismail, former Chief Veterinary Surgeon and Deputy Commissioner of Colombo Municipal Council and Consultant UN-HABITAT, Ambassador Laksiri Mendis, Former UN and Commonwealth legal expert and Salma Yusuf, Deputy Director, Policy and Law and Human Rights Office for National Unity and Reconciliation functioning under the auspices of the Presidential Secretariat. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, devolution, language policies, life stories, LTTE, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, press freedom & censorship, propaganda, reconciliation, rehabilitation, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, world affairs
Where Ratwatte and CBK Stood Strong: Coping with the Elephant Pass Debacle in April-May 2000
Michael Roberts, courtesy of Colombo Telegraph
General Ratwatte in 1990s
President Kumaratunga in BBC Interview at the end of 1999
Preamble:[1] When Generals Perera and Fonseka laid out contingency plans to evacuate the Jaffna Peninsula in April/May 2000 and appear to have been in panic, General Anuruddha Ratwatte, who was President Kumaratunga’s uncle and chief security advisor, stood sturdy and refused to countenance the planned evacuation of all troops from the Jaffna Peninsula.
Ratwatte had been among the chief architects of the disastrous military strategies in the period 1995-2000. But no one would dispute his fearlessness.[2] On this occasion in 2000 the bravado was backed with political sense: when President Chandrika Kumaratunga (CBK) caved in on the 18th May 2000 and accepted the request from the Overall Commander in Jaffna, General Janaka Perera, to sign the evacuation plans (via VVT and Point Pedro) drawn up with guidance from his immediate deputy, General Sarath Fonseka,[3] Ratwatte asserted that such a step would be the end of Sri Lanka.
SLA RM 70s firing
Filed under accountability, citizen journalism, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, military expenditure, military strategy, modernity & modernization, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, security, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil Tiger fighters, war reportage, world affairs
As Solid as Imposing. Senaratne’s History of the Armoured Corps
Michael Roberts, reviewing Sri Lanka Armoured Corps. Sixty Years of History, 1955-2015 by Dr. Jagath Senaratne
Sri Lanka Armoured Corps. Sixty Years of History, 1955-2015 prepared meticulously by Jagath Senaratne (Colombo, 2015) is a substantial volume of 346 pages which will dominate any book shelf in ways reminiscent of armoured vehicles on parade grounds. Insofar as military histories are unfamiliar terrain for aficianados in the Sri Lankan book world, it is hoped that this tome will be an eye-opener.
The numerous images which adorn the book will certainly attract interest. Of particular significance are the graphic maps in colour that provide details of particular battlefield situations. These are supported by a number of striking and useful photographs. It is an alarming fact of the power-plays in the world order dominated by the self-appointed “international community” (read as “cabal”) marshalled by the West that serious studies of Eelam War IV have been assembled by so called “experts” (for instance, the UN Panel that is sometimes identified as the “Darusman Panel”) who are raw amateurs in battlefield experience – individuals whose office-room outlook was further clouded by total unfamiliarity with the Sri Lankan landscape.[1] Continue reading
Ethnic Tensions and Cruelties …. and the Month of July
Rajan Philips, in The Sunday Island, 24 July 2016, with the title “July and its Cruelties”
It was not Sri Lanka that I was thinking of last week when I alluded to the months of April and July vying for mention in a universal cruelty context. But news after that from the Jaffna University that a gang of Tamil university students and outside thugs beat up on the Sinhalese students on campus, came as a rude reminder of the cruelties that July has come to be associated with in Sri Lanka. July 1983 has become a huge blot of blood in our history. Eerily, it was to this day 33 years ago that a pre-meditated ambush of Sinhalese soldiers in Jaffna by the LTTE provided the pre-text for the unleashing of no-less pre-meditated retaliatory violence in Colombo that quickly went out of control to become a massive pogrom against all Tamils. It was a UNP government that orchestrated the retaliation then until it blew in its face at home and abroad. The same government sent the Opposition TULF packing to India, and handed over the destinies of Tamil politics to the dictates of the LTTE.
Northern Province Governor Reginald Cooray visited H. A. T. Maduranga, an undergraduate wounded in last week’s attack now warded at the National Hospital (pic courtesy by Governor’s Office) Continue reading
Filed under accountability, communal relations, democratic measures, discrimination, economic processes, education, historical interpretation, language policies, life stories, LTTE, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, religiosity, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, teaching profession, tolerance
The 19th Amendment: Reflections One Year On
Asela Athukorala, whose preferred title is “Impact of the 19th Amendment One Year On” … http://aselaatukorala.blogspot.com/2016/07/impact-of-19th-amendment-one-year-on.html
This post is about the 19th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution which occurred a little over a year ago when it was passed on the 27th of April 2015. Before I mention the 19th Amendment, I will give some background to Sri Lankan Politics of the current decade that relates to it.
In 2010, Sri Lanka’s then President Mahinda Rajapaksa passed the 18th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution which made the President far too powerful and leading Sri Lanka towards dictatorship. The biggest problems of the 18th Amendment were its removal of the two-term limit for Presidents allowing him/her to contest indefinitely and bringing independent commissions under the President. Sri Lanka’s current Government led by President Maithripala Sirisena introduced and passed the 19th Amendment. Its changes include restoring the two-term limit & the power of independent commissions as well as further reducing presidential powers & increasing the power of the Prime Minister. Continue reading
