Kalani Kumarasinghe, in Daily Mirror, 9 July 2020, where the title is “Change? Let’s start from the Cabinet”
Category Archives: constitutional amendments
Verite Research Findings: Lanka’s Cabinet and MPs …. Historical Blunders and Issues
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, constitutional amendments, coronavirus, democratic measures, electoral structures, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Constitutional Knots and Tamil Politics within the Indian Shadow
DBS Jeyaraj in Daily Mirror, 25 July 2020, where the title is “TNA Must Seek India’s Help To Protect 13th Amendment”
- The TNA may glibly say that everything is hunky-dory with India but this is not so. The reality is that of the Indian establishment being extremely disappointed with the TNA over the northern provincial council issue
- Nowadays, India is more interested in getting closer to the governments in power in Colombo. Therefore New Delhi would not let the “Tamil issue” spoil a potentially beneficial “new” relationship with Colombo.
- Sri Lanka was embroiled in a three decade long civil war that left the Tamils a battered and shattered people. Instead of opting pragmatically for the “next best”, the Tamils chose to pursue what could be termed with the wisdom of hindsight, as a “far worse” one
- Instead of day-dreaming about getting quasi-federalism through discussions with the Rajapaksa regime, the TNA needs to safeguard and consolidate what has been gained so far
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, economic processes, electoral structures, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, parliamentary elections, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, TNA, world events & processes
Momentous Changes in Ceylon instituted by the Donoughmore Commisison
Leelananda de Silva, in Sunday Times, 5 July 2020
The Donoughmore Commission which came to Sri Lanka in the late 1920s made far reaching and far seeing recommendations, which changed the political, economic and social landscape of Ceylon. The present generation is largely unaware of its role and it is time that they refresh their understanding of the tremendous changes brought in by Donoughmore.
The Earl of Donoughmore
It was a commission consisting of three Britons — the Earl of Donoughmore, Drummond Shields and Burrows. They were political personalities well known in Britain at the time and were not colonial civil servants. They had the political and social vision to overcome the objections of both the colonial masters in Sri Lanka and the local dominant political personalities who were also not in favour of radical reforms.
Filed under British colonialism, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, devolution, education, electoral structures, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, language policies, life stories, modernity & modernization, parliamentary elections, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, Uncategorized, unusual people, world events & processes
A Voyage into the National Archives via Experienced Hands Speaking on You Tube
ABSORB THIS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz6zMy9Hf1U&t=924s
ජාතික ලේඛනාගාරයේ විකාශය හා වටිනාකම 22 June 2020
වර්ෂ 2017 දෙසැම්බර් මස ජාතික ලේඛනාගාරයේ වාචික ඉතිහාසය සුරැකීමේ වැඩසටහන යටතේ, පර්යේෂකයන් සහ ජාතික ලේඛනාරක්ෂක දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ විශ්රාමික නිලධාරීන් පිරිසකගේ අත්දැකීම්, පටිගත කරන ලදී. ඒ ඇසුරින් ජාතික ලේඛනාගාරයේ විකාශය සහ එහි වැදගත්කම, ලන්දේසි, බ්රිතාන්ය සහ නිදහසින් පසු කාල වකවානුවල රාජ්ය ලේඛන සහ වෙනත් ලේඛන එකතූන් එනම්, පුවත්පත් එකතූව හා ශ්රව්ය දෘශ්ය ලේඛන, අධිලේඛන පරිශීලනය කළ යුතු ආකාරය, අනාගතයේ දී නව තාක්ෂණය තුළින් ලේඛනාගාරය වෙනස් විය යුතු ආකාරය පිළිබඳ ඔබට ඉතා වැදගත් අදහස් ඇතුළත් සංක්ෂිප්ත වාර්තා වැඩසටහනක් ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලදී….. VIZ = The Development and Worth of the Department of National Archives
Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, British imperialism, Buddhism, caste issues, commoditification, communal relations, constitutional amendments, cultural transmission, education, evolution of languages(s), heritage, historical interpretation, immigration, Indian Ocean politics, Indian religions, insurrections, island economy, Kandyan kingdom, land policies, language policies, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, nationalism, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Professor KM de Silva’s Publications
Born in 1931 — on 31st December no less — Kingsley Muthumuni de Silva, is still batting … with a pen. This compilation has been assembled by Iranga de Silva of ICES Kandy…. and is arranged in reverse chronological sequence.
Filed under British colonialism, British imperialism, Buddhism, caste issues, communal relations, constitutional amendments, devolution, education, electoral structures, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, insurrections, island economy, land policies, Left politics, life stories, LTTE, modernity & modernization, Muslims in Lanka, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajiv Gandhi, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Jehan Perera evaluates New President’s Cautious Approach
Jehan Perera, in Island, 28 January 2020, where the title is “Adopt a problem solving approach for the north”
Contrary to expectations the government is treading a cautious path with regard to past commitments on controversial matters made by the previous government. This may be disappointing to its more nationalist supporters. They might have expected an immediate change of approach and rescinding of agreements they see as unfair or not in the national interest. In the run up to the presidential election campaign, the present government’s front line campaigners claimed that the MCC grant of USD 450 million by the US government that had just received cabinet approval would endanger the country’s national security. Members of the government and their nationalist supporters were emphatic in saying that the former government had betrayed the country. This effectively sank any prospect of election victory that the former government’s presidential candidate may have had.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, communal relations, constitutional amendments, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, world events & processes
Becoming and Being Sri Lankan: The National Anthem in Our Mother Tongues
Eranda Ginige, on in Lanka News Web, 6 January 2020, where the title is “The Language of the National Anthem”
The Dominion of Ceylon was formed on 4 February 1948 with the singing of Britain’s national anthem “God Save the King” and it continued to be the anthem for another four years
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, communal relations, constitutional amendments, cultural transmission, discrimination, education policy, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, language policies, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people, world events & processes
The Decline of the LSSP in 20th Century Sri Lanka: Sivasambu’s Question
Fr l-to-r= Philip, Colvin R, NM and Reggie Perera
ABOUT Nathan Sivasambu: Nathan Sivasambu is an old-school Trotskyite and a Sri Lankan to the core. After his undergraduate degree from the University of Ceylon in the 1950s he migrated to England. He has sustained his interest in island politics as well as the literary world associated with the Bloomsbury Group and Leonard Woolf. His batchelor-flat near Russell Square placed him close to the Bloomsbury arena in London… and the British Museum as well as SOAS and its Sri Lankan stock of books.
Filed under authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, economic processes, historical interpretation, island economy, language policies, Left politics, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, working class conditions, world events & processes
The Rajapaksas as Pillars of Populism and Authoritarianism
Kanishka Jayasuriya, in East Asia Forum, 27 November 2019, where the title reads “The Sri Lankan election and authoritarian populism” … with highlights initiated by The Editor, Thuppahi
The election on 16 November 2019 of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa — the brother of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa — ushers in an authoritarian populist regime that upholds a form of ethno-religious nationalism. The foundation of such a regime is in the new bourgeoisie that has emerged over the last two decades.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, Bodu Bala Sena, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, China and Chinese influences, communal relations, constitutional amendments, disparagement, economic processes, electoral structures, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, Muslims in Lanka, politIcal discourse, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, world events & processes
Lord Naseby on Johnson’s Brexit Deal: “Bite the Bullet” good Lords!
On Saturday, Oct 19th the House of Lords debated the Brexit deal that the UK’s PM Boris Johnson had recently successfully concluded with the EU. Conservative Peer Lord Naseby, who founded the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sri Lanka, joined this debate and highlighted the opportunities that Brexit offers for strengthening economic and trade relations between UK and Sri Lanka.
