Binoy Kampmark, in Countercurrents, 26 April 2023, where the title reads “Politicians and the Anzac Tradition: A Story of Manipulation and Mythology”
While the mass slaughtering of, and slaughter by, soldiers, is always a touchy subject of commemoration, a tension has existed between those who did the fighting, and those who ordered it. Comfortably secure in furnished rooms and battle props, planners would, as they still do, draw up the blueprints, concoct the strategy, and give the orders.
Filed under accountability, atrocities, Australian culture, australian media, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, disparagement, Empire loyalism, ethnicity, European history, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, martyrdom, military strategy, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry
David Page & Manisha Ganguly, in The Guardian, 6 April 2023, with this title “India archive reveals extent of ‘colonial loot’ in royal jewellery collection”
File from India Office archive details how priceless items were extracted from colony as trophies of conquest. Five years ago, Buckingham Palace marked its summer opening with an exhibition celebrating the then Prince Charles’s 70th birthday with a display of his favourite pieces from the royal collection, Britain’s official trove of items connected to the monarchy. “The prince had a very, very strong hand in the selection,” the senior curator said.
Among the sculptures, paintings and other exhibits was a long gold girdle inlaid with 19 large emeralds once used by an Indian maharajah to decorate his horses. It was a curious choice to put into the exhibition in light of the violent means by which it had come into the hands of the royal family.
Emerald girdle of Maharaja Sher Singh, c 1840. Photograph: Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2023
VIEW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNJyW-rdZPQ …. entitled “The Modern Origins of Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Conflict”
4.87K subscribers
Filed under accountability, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, Colombo and Its Spaces, communal relations, cultural transmission, demography, doctoring evidence, economic processes, European history, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Indian traditions, island economy, Kandyan kingdom, language policies, life stories, Muslims in Lanka, performance, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, riots and pogroms, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, transport and communications, trauma, truth as casualty of war, war reportage, world events & processes
Phil Miller, in Declassified UK, March 14, 2023
A former SAS commander whose mercenary business in Sri Lanka is under investigation for war crimes has left millions of pounds in his will.
Attached photo of Colonel Johnson leading an SAS parade in 1960. (Image: Imperial War Museum)
One of Britain’s most rapacious mercenaries amassed a fortune worth £4m before his death in 2008, an investigation by Declassified UK has found. The soldier of fortune, Colonel Henry ‘Jim’ Johnson, was once described by a senior British diplomat as having “political ideas [that] are probably to the right of Genghis Khan” – a reference to the infamously brutal Mongol emperor.
Filed under accountability, atrocities, Britain's politics, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, disparagement, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, social justice, sri lankan society, taking the piss, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, unusual people, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry
Saturday, November 26th, 2022
By Dharshan Weerasekera Courtesy The Island On 18 May 2022, the Canadian House of Commons adopted without opposition a motion introduced by Rep. Gary Anandasangaree recognising 18 May of each year as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day” (www.parliament.ca). This follows a Bill adopted by the Ontario legislature in May 2021 calling for the week following May […]
Filed under accountability, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, communal relations, economic processes, education, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, IMF, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, modernity & modernization, parliamentary elections, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, press freedom & censorship, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil Tiger fighters, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
Chandani Kirinde, in Sunday Times, March 2023. where the title runs thus: “Pride and tears of Uva Wellassa”
200 years after what is considered one of the bloodiest chapters in the history of colonial rule here, Chandani Kirinde visits the area that saw an uprising by its people that was brutally crushed by the British
A British cannon recovered from Wellassa. Pix by Indika Handuwala
The awe-inspiring cloud covered mountains, lush forests, formidable waterfalls and clear streams of Uva Wellassa bear little testimony today to the darkest and bloodiest chapter in the country’s history under British rule. There is little sign of the burnt hamlets, scorched paddy fields, broken tank bunds, felled trees and the skeletons of the thousands of men, women and children killed or starved to death when the military might of the coloniser was turned on the population of the Kandyan provinces to put down a rebellion against British rule.
Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, disparagement, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Kandyan kingdom, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, martyrdom, military strategy, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, sri lankan society, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance
This article was originally written and published by Louis Frederick Obeyesekere’s great grandnephew, Sheannal Anthony Obeyesekere at: https://medium.com/@
Louis Frederick (Freddy) J. Wijeratne Obeyesekere was born in the early 1890s. He was the forth and youngest child of Mudaliyar Henry Ferdinandus Wijeratne Obeyesekere and Henrietta Isabel (Ellen) Perera Wijesinha Goonetillaka¹ who had married in 1881 at All Saints Church, Galle.
F Obeyesekere’s name is engraved on the Cenotaph War Memorial at Viharamahadevi Park, Colombo. Photo credits: Mithila Gunathilake and Quintus Andradi
Filed under British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, Empire loyalism, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes, World War One
DBS Jeyaraj, in The Daily Mirror, 4 February 2023, where the title reads “75 Years of Independence and the Tamils of Sri Lanka“
A SUMMARY: They invited Indian political leaders to the peninsula and held mass rallies and processions. Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachariar, Sarojini Nayudu and Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay are some of these.
It was only in 1833 after the Colebrooke-Cameron Reforms of 1832 that predominantly Tamil territories were integrated into a unified Ceylon. Until then they were administered separately.
The rationale was that independence from the British had only resulted in being ruled by the Sinhalese. There was only a change of masters. So, Independence Day was nothing to celebrate, but only to be observed as a black day, it was argued.
****
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, demography, disparagement, doctoring evidence, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, language policies, law of armed conflict, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, modernity & modernization, parliamentary elections, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, taking the piss, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes, zealotry
Hugh Karunanayake, whose choice of title reads as “Nineteenth Century Opulence: The Story of Alfred House” … presented here with highligting emphasis imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
Nineteenth Century Ceylon boasted of many stately homes such as Queens House, Horagolla Walauwwa, and Alfred House. Alfred House achieved considerable fame as the venue for a much-remembered dinner in 1870 to the visiting Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred then titled the Duke of Edinburgh.
Alfred House –-by Slimm & Co
Filed under architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, Colombo and Its Spaces, cultural transmission, economic processes, Empire loyalism, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, photography, sri lankan society, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
thuppahi
