Author Archives: thuppahi

About thuppahi

Sri Lankan and Australian nationality; student of Sri Lankan society and politics; sociology of cricket;
May 30, 2012 · 6:24 am

People-smuggling a Tamil propaganda plot: Sri Lanka

Paul Maley, in The Australian, 29 May 2012

THE Sri Lankan government has accused the remnants of defeated terrorist group the Tamil Tigers of funding the passage of asylum-seekers to Australia. Sri Lanka says it is part of a campaign to convince the world that Sri Lanka is not safe for Tamils.

The claim — dismissed by the Tamil community and doubted by the Gillard government — came as authorities in Sri Lanka detained 113 asylum-seekers and six organisers as they prepared to leave for Australia. Continue reading →

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Filed under asylum-seekers, australian media, historical interpretation, immigration, island economy, life stories, LTTE, people smugglers, politIcal discourse, propaganda, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, world affairs

May 30, 2012 · 6:16 am

Heights of Madness on Mount Everest

Nicola Smith, in The Australian, 29 May 2012

LEANNA Shuttleworth, a veterinary student, was still eight hours from becoming the youngest British woman to scale Mt Everest when she came across the first body. Attached to a rope above her on the mountainside was Shriya Shah-klorfine, 33, a NepaleseCanadian businesswoman who had died from exhaustion and altitude sickness the previous day. Ms Shuttleworth, 19, and her father Mark, 48, had no choice but to use the same rope on their route to the top. They clipped themselves to it, unclipped to pass Shah-klorfine, then clipped back on to continue climbing, buffeted by bitter winds in temperatures down to minus 25C. Continue reading →

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Filed under accountability, cultural transmission, fundamentalism, unusual people, world events & processes

May 29, 2012 · 2:27 pm

GL Pieris’s offspin about economic growth in the north

Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, in The Sunday Times, 29 May 2012, where a different title was used.

Before the meeting with the Secretary of State Hilary Clinton on May 18, 2012, Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris made some remarks which included the following: “The most striking developments have really been in the northern province of Sri Lanka where the economy is growing by as much as 22 % in comparison with the average for the rest of the island, which is about 8 %. Now this is the result of an emphasis on the development of infrastructure to a degree that is really without… at any other time in the island’s history.”

The foregoing statement by Prof. Peiris is only partially true and cunningly deceptive. The latest Provincial Gross Domestic Product (PGDP) is available for the year 2010. There it is true that the Northern Provincial Economy (Provincial Gross Domestic Product – PGDP) grew by 22.9% in NOMINAL TERMS in 2010 (Rs 191.6 million at current prices – the latest year for which data is available) compared to 2009 (Rs 155.8 million at current prices); the highest provincial growth rate in NOMINAL TERMS. Continue reading →

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Filed under historical interpretation, island economy, news fabrication, politIcal discourse, propaganda, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, welfare & philanthophy

May 29, 2012 · 9:33 am

Reading Sampanthan: The ITAK’s Aggressive Blueprint

Dayan Jayatilleka, courtesy of Sri Lanka Guardian and other sites where the title reads “Breakout Blueprint: ITAK’s Attack Plan.”

The keynote speech by Mr. R Sampanthan, the leader of the main Tamil parliamentary party at the recent congress of that organization is in many respects a landmark event. It sheds light on a number of key strategic issues and should make clear to the international community that the matter of political dialogue leading to ethnic reconciliation is, has become or is becoming rather more complex and fraught than is customarily thought.

The senior political leader of the Tamil community in the island’s strategically sensitive Northern Province reconfirms the political aim and goal of his party. Perhaps more importantly he clarifies the international strategy that is being, and is to be, adopted in furtherance of that political project, as well as the interconnection between the international strategy and domestic tactics in support of the project. It is not so much a strategy for breakthrough as for ‘breakout’. Continue reading →

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Filed under accountability, communal relations, Eelam, ethnicity, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, LTTE, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, propaganda, racist thinking, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, truth as casualty of war, violence of language, world events & processes

May 28, 2012 · 1:31 pm

An Idea to surpass the language impasse in Lanka

Rohan Samarajiva, courtesy of Choices Ideas, 9 March 2009, where the title is “Ideas for Sri Lanka after the War” http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?nid=1364249603 and where some useful blog comments  will be found; while one from Maskara has been borrowed and inserted here at the end.

I have been asked why I do not write about the war. I did not, because I could not see the clear value addition. But now, as the LTTE’s 18-year control of territory is about to end, things must change. And ideas can play an important role.

There has been consensus across the political spectrum, except at the lunatic fringes, that the legitimate demands of the Tamil speaking people must be addressed.

Deeds, not words:  D.S. Senanayake understood this when he inducted the then political leader of the Tamil community and the proponent of 50:50, G.G. Ponnambalam, into his Cabinet.

S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike knew this when he signed an agreement with the then leader of the Tamil community, S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, as did Dudley Senanayake a decade later. Continue reading →

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Filed under communal relations, ethnicity, historical interpretation, language policies, politIcal discourse, reconciliation, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, tolerance, unusual people, world events & processes

May 27, 2012 · 10:31 am

Ethnicity, Pluralism and Human Rights: Neelan Tiruchelvam Commemoration Conference

edited by A. J. Canagaratna, Colombo: Unie Arts Pvt Ltd for ICES, 2004, 273 pages

SEE http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/tdrc/ag_sozanth/downloads/Nepals_Multicultural_Society.pdf

Contents : Introduction: Accountability for Human Rights Abuses of both state and non-state Actors-by- Judge Navanethem Pillay// Comparing Notes on Sri Lanka and Malaysia: the Quest for Inter-Ethnic Harmony–Chandra Muzaffar // Diversity and Pluralism-Alan Phillips // Constitutionalism: Some South Asian Reflections–Kamal Hossain // Antigone, Constitutionalism and Political Change — Vasuki Nesiah// Free Will and Radical Politics: Negotiating an Impasse in Constitutionalism — Nivedita Menon// Human Rights and Military Intervention — Ian Martin// Human Rights Defenders and the Defenders Declaration — Laurie S.Wiseberg// (Im)moral Citizens: Sexuality and the Penal Code in Sri Lanka — Yasmin Tambiah// Prejudice and Hate in Pluralist Settings: The Kingdom of Kandy — Michael Roberts// Beyond Settler and Native as Political Identities: Overcoming the Political Legacy of Colonislism — Mahmood Mamdani// The costs of Belonging: International civil society and feminism —Malathi de Alwis// International Civil Society: An Assessment — Dharm Ghai// Nepal’s Multicultural Society: Negotiating Rights in the National Space — Joanna Pffaf-Czarnecka// A Civil Society Approach to Peace work — Jehan Perera //About the Editor and Contributors.

TRY (a) ICES, Colombo;  (b) http://www.marymartin.com/web/selectedIndex?mEntry=64009; (c) http://www.printsasia.com/book/Neelan-Tiruchelvam-Commemoration-Conference-Papers-Ethnicity-Pluralism-and-Human-Rights-955580088X-9789555800884.

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Filed under cultural transmission, democratic measures, discrimination, historical interpretation, island economy, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

May 27, 2012 · 8:12 am

Tamil testimonies from 2009: UTHR versus LLRC

Darshanie Ratnawalli, in The Nation, 27 May 2012, where a different title was  used: “Hoole is not cool.”

“When you stare into the abyss the abyss stares back…..” — Friedrich Nietzsche

The testimonies of the hoards of civilians who recounted their NFZ experiences to the LLRC contradict the set of testimonies culled by Rajan Hoole and Co and included in the UTHR(J) special Report 34. It’s not a case of a lot of blind men trying to describe an elephant. The two batches of testimonies are plain irreconcilable. They do not complement but contradict each other on the most fundamental level.  Continue reading →

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May 27, 2012 · 8:04 am

A return to the Mahavamsa era? The game of thrones

Indi Samarajiva, in The Nation, 27 May 2012

The Mahavamsa (a history of Sri Lanka) is full of conflicts between generals and kings. Usually, the more bloodthirsty and unscrupulous would win. Our current elected ruler Mahinda Rajapaksa has had his own general conflicts, namely with one Sarath Fonseka. In the old days, Fonseka would have staged a coup, as in literally try to cut Mahinda’s head off, and Mahinda would – if that failed – tie him to four elephants and split his parts asunder. Can’t do that anymore. Instead Fonseka ran for office and lost and Mahinda tossed him in jail. Now, however, Fonseka is out. Which is weird. Continue reading →

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May 27, 2012 · 4:11 am

The Fonseka Saga: Who shall cast the next stone?

Captain Elmo Jayawardena

Elmo’s Covering Note: “Sarath Fonseka is out of jail. that is what matters. I do not know his politics – I do not know anybody’s politics as that has been the biggest sadness of our home land: POLITICS. I wrote this attached article in appreciation of General Fonseka and his contribution to win the war so that you and I can now live without the fearof bombs and such
Blue skies
Elmo

General Fonseka is out and free, ‘Hurrah for the Mary, hurrah for the lamb’ he sure is “shouting the battle cry of freedom” in the loudest voice and very rightly so. Of course there will be a hundred fathers who will now look to collect some borrowed credit for making the so-called ‘prodigal son’ walk out of the Welikada Jail to life and his loved ones. Yes, we all know the rank has been stripped and his name has been erased from all military records. He is no chalk mark on a black board that has been wiped out. He is The General and he shall always remain the General in the minds of the proletariat. The question now is what path he will take in the current political quagmire. Good luck to you General, I am no expert on politics but even in my naivety I am well aware that Paradise today is full of Cardboard Sandos, self promoted heroes and false prophets who for some unbelievable reason seem to be the flavour of the day. Continue reading →

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May 27, 2012 · 2:43 am

Sanderatne reviews Kapi Kannangara’s book on caste and class transformations

Nimal Sanderatne in Sunday Times, 27 May 2012

A.P. Kannangara’s, A Survey of Social Change in an Imperial Regime, is a fascinating narrative of how different segments of society in British Ceylon responded to the changes in economic opportunities and administrative changes brought about by the British. It is an absorbing documentation of the caste and class transitions that occurred during British rule. The descriptions of these transitions and transformations of caste and social status are intriguing and captivating. Continue reading →

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