Category Archives: accountability

May 20, 2021 · 9:54 am

Appreciating Sunil De Silva: Urbane Master of Many Trades

Hugh Karunanayake, in an Obituary Appreciation in THE CEYLANKAN, Vol XXIV/2, May 2021 **

My acquaintance with Sunil De Silva was mainly after he migrated to Australia in the early 1990s when I encountered him at a Sri Lanka Association dinner which he attended in formal attire replete with a curved pipe, (ala Sherlock Holmes) firmly placed in his mouth. We immediately acknowledged each other, he  recognizing me as a senior student from his old school and as a fellow denizen of a small town in Colombo called Pamankade.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, Australian culture, cultural transmission, education, heritage, life stories, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

May 20, 2021 · 5:50 am

Lord Naseby on Global Britain and Its Sri Lanka Relations

House of Lords: The Rt Hon Lord Michael Naseby spoke in the Queen’s Speech Debate on Wednesday May 19, 2021 …. [with highlighting emphais here being the work of The Editor, Thuppahi]

My Lords, I welcome the gracious Speech. My comments will be on global Britain, specifically the Indo-Pacific tilt. My own background is that I have lived and worked in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and I know the rest of ASEAN quite well. I will specifically address Sri Lanka, and I declare an interest as joint chair of the All-Party Group (on Sri Lanka).

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, communal relations, discrimination, foreign policy, gordon weiss, historical interpretation, human rights, IDP camps, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, NGOs, Paranagama Report, politIcal discourse, power sharing, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, unusual people, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

May 19, 2021 · 3:11 pm

Bullshit Artists in Agricultural Science: A Raging Sri Lankan Email Debating Circuit

Chandre Dharmawardana

[Several personnel in this vibrant Sri Lankan EMAIL DISCUSSION CHAIN] have presented a conspiracy claim (that companies like Monsanto practically buys scientists by providing them scholarships and research grants). [This type of assertion] is easy to make, and was started in the mid 1990s when whole-foods supermarket chains began to clamour for a larger share of the market, and a well calculated disinformation campaign was launched.
Can we say that all the Nobel Laureates who believe that glyphosate is a very safe herbicide are all paid agents of Monsanto?
[alleged] Glyphosate injury on raspberries. Photo credit: OMAFRA.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, life stories, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people, zealotry

May 19, 2021 · 2:54 pm

In Appreciation of Ashley Halpe: A Man for All Seasons

Tissa Jayatilaka, in The Island, 19 May 2021, where the ttitle runs: “Remembering Professor Ashley Halpe”

As we mark the fifth anniversary of Professor Halpe’s passing, we remember him with gratitude and continue to celebrate his life and work. He was a teacher for over 50 years both at home and overseas. He also enriched us by his research, poetry, paintings and translations; as well as by his labours as a chorister, actor, director of plays and administrator. In addition, he was a guide, philosopher and friend to generations of students, many of whom have distinguished themselves in diverse fields of activity.

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, cultural transmission, education, heritage, life stories, literary achievements, performance, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, tolerance, unusual people

May 19, 2021 · 1:40 pm

Sri Lankan Tamil Rally in London: Protest in Commemoration

Tamil Guardian News Item, 18 May 2021

British Tamils rallied in London today to commemorate the tens of thousands of lives lost in Mullivaikkal in 2009. Protesters demonstrated at Parliament Square, demanding justice for the atrocities perpetrated by the Sri Lankan state in Mullivaikkal 12 years ago.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, chauvinism, communal relations, disparagement, Eelam, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, photography, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, press freedom, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, terrorism, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, violence of language, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

May 18, 2021 · 10:47 am

Whitewashing LTTE Genocide and Horrendous Partisanship in Canadian Protest Marches in May

Sudharshan Seneviratne, in Sunday Observer, 16 May 2021, where the title reads “Whitewashing LTTE genocide”

A recent announcement featuring the news, Tamil Genocide Education Week by Scarborough MPP Vijay Thanigasalam’s Bill 104, received third reading at Queen’s Park on May 6th. Let us look at the “messenger” first and his credibility and secondly, the nature of the Canadian State i.e. hidden political agenda Canada has for the dependent Diaspora as a cat’s paw. The man himself has a dubious history and was a one-time LTTE sympathiser even after the Elaam war ended in 2009.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, atrocities, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, discrimination, disparagement, doctoring evidence, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, life stories, power politics, propaganda, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

May 18, 2021 · 3:08 am

Deaths. Turmoil. Flights from India’s Covid …. and Lisa’s Mental Anguish

Lisa Sthalekhar, in The Australian, 18 April 2021, where the ttile runs thus: ‘I weep for India, and those left behind’

The past three weeks have changed me. Never again will I be the same person. I will never see India in the same light, once a place of excitement, vibrancy and opportunity. Its people are hurting at depths we will never understand. In my heart I may never forgive myself for what I’ve done.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, Australian culture, australian media, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, coronavirus, cultural transmission, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, life stories, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, trauma, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

May 17, 2021 · 3:58 am

Vignettes in Assessment of Angela Merkel, A Scientist become World Leader Par Excellence

 Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Staff Writer, in an article presented on 28 May 2019 entitled “German chancellor, Harvard’s Commencement speaker, explain her rise to longtime prominence”

Angela Merkel speaks from podium. “Merkel advises graduates: Break the walls that hem you in”  Angela Merkel speaks at Harvard.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, citizen journalism, democratic measures, economic processes, education, European history, female empowerment, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, modernity & modernization, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, unusual people, world events & processes

May 14, 2021 · 3:39 pm

Ceylonese in the Indian Independence League in Malaysia during World War II

Kumar Kirinde, drawing largely on work by PK Balachandran, in ana rticle he has titled as “fighting for Freedom from the British in the 1940s: …,”

Introduction: When the Japanese occupied Malaya and Singapore in 1942, a large number of Indians joined the Indian Independence League (IIL) and the Indian National Army (INA) headed by Subhas Chandra Bose*, the Indian freedom fighter who was striving to free India from the British, in collaboration with the Japanese armed forces.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, communal relations, ethnicity, Fascism, historical interpretation, Hitler, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, politIcal discourse, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes

May 14, 2021 · 2:56 pm

Indu and Anoma’s Reawakening in the Face of Covid

Indu Hewawasam & Anoma Gunawardena

Most of us usually find that we are distant physically & emotionally from disasters and crises that are reported from around the world. Early this year it seemed that was the case at first, with a new virus originating in a Chinese city, Wuhan, that many of us had not heard of until then. However, within a month or two, everyone around the world would be engaging with what seemed like a storm, or even a kind of Tsunami, with repetitive waves. The virus, soon labelled SARS- CoV-2, and its associated disease Covid-19, began to spread. Most of us focussed on its immediate impact on our little corner and concentrated on our selves or our family’s strategy for survival.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, coronavirus, cultural transmission, life stories, literary achievements, self-reflexivity, unusual people, world events & processes