Category Archives: democratic measures

November 10, 2022 · 3:22 pm

The Suriya Mal Campaign of the 1930s and Doreen Wickremasinghe nee Young

An Item at Roar.lk, where the title reads “We must remember Suriya Mal, even in this era of Manel Mal”

Doreen Wickremasinghe was a British leftist who became a prominent Communist politician in Sri Lanka and a Member of Parliament (MP). She was one of the handful of European Radicals in Sri Lanka.

Doreen & the Rodi lass she ‘rescued’

Doreen Wickremasinghe was the daughter of two British ‘ethical Socialists’. While a student in London in the 1920s, she became involved in the India League and carried out other anti-imperialist work. Here she met Dr S.A. Wickremasinghe, then a radical Sri Lankan moving in Communist and radical circles while a post-graduate student in London.

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November 3, 2022 · 11:10 pm

Violent Attack on Imran Khan’s Party Rally

Item in Washington Post

Islamabad— Pakistan’s top opposition leader, Imran Khan, was shot in the foot Thursday during a protest march and was lightly injured, party officials said.

A gunman opened fire on the truck carrying the former prime minister and several other party officials taking part in a protest convoy. The attacked occurred near the eastern Pakistani city of Wazirabad, where hundreds of Khan’s supporters were marching with his convoy.

Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan addresses supporters at a rally in Lahore, Pakistan, on April 21. He was forced from office by a parliamentary vote of no confidence on April 10. (Mohsin Raza/Reuters)

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October 31, 2022 · 11:57 pm

Ceylonese Precursors ‘anticipating’ Sunak’s Ascent to the Top in Britain

Rifat Halim, whose preferred title is “Sunak’s Path to No. 10 may have begun in Ceylon” Acres of newsprint have been devoted to Rishi Sunak’s rise. He is said to be the first Asian to occupy No. 10 Downing Street.  This is not correct. Asia begins with the Tigris river. Boris Johnson’s great grandfather was a Turkish politician. He should have been called Boris Kemal, as Johnson is the maiden name of his great grandmother.   Continue reading →

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October 31, 2022 · 4:10 pm

Mrs. Rushira Kulasingham breaks New Ground as Principal of Jaffna College

DBS Jeyaraj, in his website  = https://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/80044?fbclid=IwAR2GGyIjtQCq6lqAwL_R4u87OXaFqx3FWNKwq50r5IxGEpv7xsbnDhicZ5A 

 

The Jaffna College Alumni Association wishes to announce to the alumni across the world that the Board of Directors of Jaffna College have appointed Mrs. Rushira Kulasingham as the Principal of Jaffna College with effect from the 1st of January 2023.

Mrs. Rushira Kulasingham

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October 22, 2022 · 12:22 am

Enhancing Protection in the Face of Pandemics

Dr. Laleen Jayamanne:** in The Island, 19 October 2022, where the title reads thus: “An Insider’s Guide to Pandemics and Biosecurity”

“June Twenty Second Sixteen Thirty-three
A momentous day for you and me
Of all the days that was the one
An age of Reason could have begun”  …. The Life of Galileo, Bertolt Brecht, 1939

“June Twenty Second Sixteen Thirty-three
A momentous day for you and me
Of all the days that was the one
An age of Reason could have begun”

The Life of Galileo, Bertolt Brecht, 1939

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September 26, 2022 · 11:52 pm

Macron’s Warnings: France’s Immediate Future Bleak

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September 24, 2022 · 1:45 am

Deeply Wounded. Also Divided? Sri Lanka Today

Neloufer De Mel, in History Today, Vol 72/8, September 2022, where the title reads “Sri Lanka’s Deep Wounds” **

On 31 March 2022 a public protest occurred in the vicinity of the home of the Sri Lankan president Gotabhaya Rajapakse. The protest marked frustration at the shortages of essential commodities (gas, medicines, fuel) and the gruelling ten-to-13-hour power cuts imposed by a cash-strapped government with insufficient dollars to pay for imported fuel. The protestors also sought answers as to why certain neighbourhoods (such as Mirihana, where the president lived) continued to enjoy uninterrupted power.

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August 22, 2022 · 7:44 pm

Standing Firm: Authoritarian Forms of Governance challenged by Sri Lankan Professionals

Item in Colombo Telegraph, 19 August 2022, where the title is as follows … “Saying no to Authoritarian Governance”

We the undersigned individuals from academia, the professions, the corporate sector, the clergy, and civil society organisations, join all those citizens and groups in condemning the abduction, arrest, detention without due process, and other acts of abusive Presidential and State authority committed against persons who participated in the Aragalaya Peoples’ Movement. We condemn the acts of violence that occurred during this time.  However, we reject the narrative that the Aragalaya was responsible for the violence and that it has been transformed into a “fascist,” “anarchist,” “terrorist,” group, that has destroyed State and private property, and is determined to destabilise our country. 

Ranil Wickremesinghe

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August 17, 2022 · 1:40 pm

China lands on the Moon in Hambantota

Fair Dinkum, with the highlighting being her/his emphasis not The Editor’s 

Captain Zhang Hogwang of China’s research and survey vessel, the Yuan Wang 5, waves after disembarking from the ship upon arrival at Hambantota port on August 16, 2022. Photo: VCG

The docking of the Chinese research vessel Yuan Wang 5 at Hambantota port was a momentous occasion in the history of Sri Lanka, having gained global attention like it was the first moon landing.  All of this attention is due to the unnecessary meddling into Sri Lanka’s internal affairs by India and the United States.

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August 14, 2022 · 2:57 pm

The Political & Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka and the Aragalaya Protests

Uditha Devapriya, in The Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs,  August 2022, a refereed article with this title  “The Crisis in Sri Lanka: Economic and Political Dimensions”

This article seeks to chart the trajectory of the Sri Lankan protests that began in early March. The first section will examine the causes of the crisis and how the government contributed to it. Economists, policy makers, and commentators cite different reasons for the economic crisis. This article classifies these reasons under two headings: orthodox and heterodox. The orthodox camp generally criticizes the government’s fiscal and monetary policies, including a series of tax cuts in 2019. The heterodox camp traces the crisis to longer-term structural causes, like Sri Lanka’s failure to industrialize and to diversify into manufacturing. The article concludes that we cannot view these two sets of causes in isolation from each other, and that whatever side one takes, we must consider the political dimensions of the crisis as well.

  Aragalaya Six Demands-! 2 July Thuppahi Protesters at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo on 9 July 2022. (Photo by Dhananjaya Samarakoon) 

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