Author Archives: thuppahi

About thuppahi

Sri Lankan and Australian nationality; student of Sri Lankan society and politics; sociology of cricket;
October 11, 2012 · 12:49 pm

Uneven development in former war zone

IRIN News

TUMAGASKODA, 11 October 2012 (IRIN) – The Sri Lankan village of Atumagaskoda is only 6km from the town of Vavuniya — the financial and business hub in the north since the end of the country’s long civil war – but in development terms it is years away. Village roads here were cleared of jungle shrub and made suitable for vehicle travel only last week, almost three and half years after the war’s end. “We have waited long for this. Finally, we got our roads cleared,” Punchirala Ranbanda, a village elder, told IRIN.
Rural residents in Sri Lanka’s former northern war zone (locally known as the Vanni) express frustration at being left behind in the fast-track development taking place near main towns and highways like the A9, A32 and A35, all of which are being widened. Continue reading →

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Filed under economic processes, population, Rajapaksa regime, rehabilitation, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, welfare & philanthophy, world affairs

October 11, 2012 · 7:41 am

Kumar and Mahela …. Cricket and Reconciliation… Northern Empowerment … via Alison’s Tea Break

Alison’s Tea Break … SEE  http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/video_audio/585472.html

  Kumar Sangakkara talks about his relationship with Mahela Jayawardene, using cricket to give back to the community, and administration ambitions (26:21)

Summary Points extracted from this interview by the Web Editor:

* ICC invested 100,000 dollars towards the Murali Harmony Cup

* MCC continued its support for the Foundation of Goodness. Continue reading →

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October 9, 2012 · 2:09 am

Sob Stories from returned Sinhalese Boat People…… with some chillie added by Hodge and Perera

Amanda Hodge in The Australian, 9 October 2012, where the title runs: “Hardships after a long trip home“

JOSEPH Fernando has been fishing every day since he returned to Sri Lanka 17 days ago, a failed asylum-seeker.His total income since his ignominious homecoming is about $120. His decision to return to Sri Lanka — after hawking the family gold and borrowing steeply from money lenders to pay his passage — was driven by the news on arrival that Australian laws had changed. Unlike the many who went before him, Fernando discovered only after reaching Australia that he could not earn money while his appeal for asylum was considered. Instead he would be sent to Nauru. Faced with two stark choices, Fernando abandoned his thin asylum claim rather than leave his family with no support while he awaited adjudication on a Micronesian island best known for pigeon stool. Continue reading →

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October 8, 2012 · 1:54 pm

The Fake Memoirist’s Survival Guide

   on “How to embellish your life story without getting caught” ….  

……… SEE http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/low_concept/2008/03/the_fake_memoirists_survival_guide.html

See JUDY MARIAMPILLAI IN http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2012/09/21/unfolded-truth-about-the-tamil-tigress-book-written-by-niromi-de-soyza-sri-lankan-born

The Fair Niromi

Especially recommended for DBS Jeyaraj, Nikki Barraclough, Shanika Sriyananda and all those who have swallowed the performance of Niromi de Soyza in presenting her so-called autobiographical memoir, Tamil Tigress, wth the assistance of Allen & Unwin [of Demidenko fame]. A careful study will probably indicate, as Arun Ambalavanar suggests, that she has at times leaned on the work of Narayan Swamy — thereby repeating  the same little mistakes that he made in relating a few incidents [mistakes that are inevitable in relating a complex story from afar, but are less likely if one is a bystander or participant in the events]

. The real Niromi , namely, Subothini Mariatta Anandarajah

SEE ** Judy Mariampillai in http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2012/09/21/unfolded-truth-about-the-tamil-tigress-book-written-by-niromi-de-soyza-sri-lankan-born/

** Michael Roberts: “Clouds of Deception: Jeyaraj anoints and cloaks Niromi Tigress,” in www.groundviews.org

** Michael Roberts: “Niromi de Soysa’s Path of Redemption with Deception? or Both?” 27 October 2011, http://thuppahis.com/2011/10/27/niromi-de-soysa%E2%80%99s-path-of-redemption-with-deception-or-both/

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October 5, 2012 · 2:24 am

High Court judgment pending on Tamils deemed security risks

Michael Gordon with Daniel Flitton, in The Age, October 2012, where the title reads  “Freedom or a life without liberty”

The High Court will today determine the fate of pregnant mother Ranjini and 50 other refugees deemed security threats by ASIO. MY feelings are dead. I have my body and my soul only. All my parts of the body are now stopped working properly. Hearing, looking, tasting and all the feelings are gone and I am living without anything. So says Arjuna. Arjuna writes to stay sane, but feels like he is losing the battle. He survives on  a diet of sleeping tablets and tries to keep thoughts of self-harm at bay by thinking of the wife and child he was forced to leave behind in Sri Lanka. Continue reading →

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Filed under asylum-seekers, Australian culture, australian media, ethnicity, immigration, Left politics, life stories, LTTE, people smugglers, politIcal discourse, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Uncategorized, world events & processes

October 5, 2012 · 1:36 am

Jaffna Fort Renovation on Course

Priyanka Kurugala in the Daily News, 6 October 2012

The Department of Archaeology will build a museum at the entrance to Jaffna Fort. The work is to be completed before the end of this year, Archaeological Director General Senerath Dissanayake told the Daily News.

Continue reading →

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Filed under heritage, historical interpretation, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, world affairs

October 4, 2012 · 6:55 am

An Imperial Saga: The Kandyan Sinhalese Prisoners in Mauritius, 1819-1832

Michael Roberts, reviewing Raja C. Bandaranayake:  Betwixt Isles: The Story of the Kandyan Prisoners in Mauritius, Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2006. 360pp, ISBN 13 9789551266417 and 10 955-1266-41-2

 Ähalēpola – a contemporary etching and his gravesite epitaph (with contradictory dates in Sinhala and English) as photographed by Bandaranayake  recently

Raja Bandaranayake ventures bold. He unravels and describes the story of the 29 Kandyan prisoners and 11 convicts who were sent to Mauritius by the British authorities between 1819 and 1832. This ‘contingent’ also extended to others, namely, (1) one convict named John Herman Haas; (2) an English speaking gentleman “Translator” with his retainer; and (3) a few retainers for Ähalēpola Nilame when he was sent there in 1825 without facing prosecution simply because the British Governors were fearful of his capacity to incite discontent.

The British Empire, as we know, was far-flung. They used manpower from one area, notably India, to conquer and control other areas. They also used some of their colonial territories as a “repository’ for rebels and recalcitrant from other colonies. Sending Arabi Pasha and his lieutenants to Ceylon in 1883 and a large contingent of Boer prisoners of war to Ceylon in 1900 are perhaps the best-known of these instances. Now, Bandaranayake has placed the saga of the Sri Lankans on the imperial map. Continue reading →

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Filed under heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, military expenditure, politIcal discourse, power politics, unusual people, world events & processes

October 3, 2012 · 11:01 pm

ICC Umpires assist a noble cause in Lanka

Courtesy of the Island

The Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires today made a donation of one million  Sri Lanka Rupees to the Chitra Lane School for the Special Child & Children  Resource Centre in Colombo. The cheque was presented by the umpires during a visit of the centre where  they also spent considerable time with under-privileged and disadvantaged  children, as well as the dedicated staff. The Chitra Lane organisation is an approved charity which first started in  1968 as a day school for children with special needs. It has now reached out to  over 2,000 children and young adults annually from across Sri Lanka providing  much needed services and facilities for the early detection of disabilities.

“We are delighted to visit the Chitra Lane School for Special Child &  Children Resource Centre. We have been extremely impressed and touched with the  outstanding work which is being done here and surprised at the same time on how  this service to local community has gone unnoticed.

“Our visit to this centre is a show of support, solidarity and commitment  that we are with them in this noble cause, be it in terms of contribution,  creating awareness about their great work in the masses or increasing their  profile. Not only do the umpires wish to contribute towards a successful  cricketing event in Sri Lanka but also towards some of the disadvantaged within  the local community,” a spokesman of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires  said after the visit.

(ICC)

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October 3, 2012 · 4:35 am

Disparaging Ethnic Epithets in Lanka: A Chat – Van Arkadie and Roberts

I: Preamble:Alex Van Arkadie is not known to me but seems to have received a stack of reports on the humanitarian side of the IDP camps [2009-12], which had recently been posted in http://thuppahi.wordpress.com from some circuits of email, perhaps that generated by Victor Melder. This conversation was an incidental outcome. Michael Roberts.

II: Alex Van Arkadie to Michael Roberts, 30 September 2012

Pardon me for the intrusion. Tell me please, what relevance does the word ‘thuppahi‘ have in relation to your works of mercy for the abandoned, helpless and needy?  I am rather concerned, because not all of the contemporary Burghers in Sri Lanka would consider it user-friendly? Continue reading →

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October 1, 2012 · 2:46 am

An Overview: Setunga V, 22 July 2009

Myrna Setunga, 22 July 2009 …. providing a summary description of conditions in early June when Zone 4 was being set up and moving on to circumstances in July. Web Editor.

Dear family and friends,  This is the second part of the report on my visits to Vavuniya. I had intentions of printing this report and posting it to selected people because I do not want this report to be circulated. Please think twice before you pass this on, because I could get into trouble. Some of this information could be seen as sensitive. My printer is refusing to obey my commands – so here it is in the form of an email. Your comments are welcome.

As I said in the emailed report we went to Menik Farm on the 1st of June. We were in the temporary camp [in Zone 4] which consisted of tents and could see the semi- permanent zinc structures in the distance. These are similar to the ones constructed after the Tsunami. There is a barbed wire fence separating the two parts but I saw a woman quietly creeping through the fence to get to the tent section. Any relative from the outside who wants to visit an IDP in the camp has to wait at the gate till the person is summoned over the loud speaker. The visitors and their parcels are thoroughly searched. I saw this happen at all the camps I visited. The visitor is not allowed into the camp and can speak to the IDP in a special shed which is in full view of the Military Police who guard all the camps. The reason given for this is that there are still LTTE members among the IDPs. They have found the wife and children of Tamilshelvam among the IDPs. Prabakaran’s parents too are in the Menik farm Camp. One has to therefore understand why these people are like prisoners behind barbed wire. Continue reading →

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