Rajeewa Jayaweera, Island, 11 March 2019, where the title is “A Joke called Sri Lanka”
Sri Lanka has become a joke and is the laughing stock of the world. Four months ago, Sri Lanka had two Prime Ministers, then two Leaders of the Opposition. It is now fielding two teams to the 40th Session of the UNHRC with two contradictory messages.This is chiefly thanks to the falling out of Laurel and Hardy of current Sri Lankan politics, President Sirisena, and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
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This article in a web site in 2016 reveals the mix of dissimulation. half-truths, truths and lies amongst well-meaning, but gullible British do-gooders and reporters that are perpetrated by some members of the diaspora including new British-born generations who have absorbed a variety of tales, inclusive of half-truths and concoctions, related by their parents (all this apart from but not unrelated to active LTTE network activity throughout UK and Europe) … Michael Roberts
The end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, and the ongoing oppression of the Tamil community by the Sri Lankan government should make it harder for the UK to ignore the needs of London’s Sri Lankan refugees and incoming asylum seekers. But community spaces that support London’s Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora are struggling in the face of ongoing cuts to local governments.
The Sangam center, founded in 1936, is one of the oldest Tamil organisations in London
“I want to show you a cemetery”. This was an unexpected endnote to an interview about teaching the Tamil language in the borough of Newham. Lashani pushes open the door of a disused room, three flights up. Light enters from a window yawning over a communal space, encased by a block of houses. Our viewpoint is through the back of the London Tamil Sangam of which Lashani is the head teacher. Continue reading
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A year ago, the peaceful village was an unrecognisable hotbed of hate and violence and this street on which Samsudeen’s home now stands reconstructed, was filled with concrete and glass, debris from the attacks on Muslim-owned homes and businesses around town. The shoe merchant Samsudeen lives in a newly built house in the middle of town. The man in his 60s invited us into the bedroom cum living room of his modest home, and motioned to his wife to bring refreshments for his guests.
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Michael Roberts
In recently facing up to internet challenges and clarifying the term “chauvinism,” I proceeded at a general level and presented definitions within a comparative framework that brought the concepts of “racism” and “tribalism” into our framework of analysis.[1] I now provide instances of ethno-religious confrontation from Sri Lankan history that illustrate this phenomenon.
Pics from Gerald Peiris 2017 
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Michael Roberts
After I presented an old article in which I displayed and criticised the rantings of a Sinhala extremist named Chand Wijeywickrema (a Peradeniya graduate of my vintage), I was directly challenged by two Facebook members to clarify my depiction of Wijey (and like others) as “chauvinists” – or, in this situation, as Sinhala chauvinists.
Rather than heading immediately for a dictionary, I decided to explore the issue by raising the question with my tennis mates, mostly Australians from university or professional backgrounds and thus from the West. The term “chauvinism” generated puzzlement. It was not part of their immediate political vocabulary and a few of them referred to “male chauvinism” – immediately referring to recent trends of female emancipation and the feminist criticism of male dominance.
Ah, dominance! That is one clue in our assessment of the term.
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ONE =Kim Willsher, “Returning jihadists ‘threaten new wave of terror in Europe” 20 December 2018,
Europe is facing a new wave of terrorism as radicalised individuals return and jihadists are released from jail, the general secretary of Interpol has warned. Jürgen Stock, Interpol’s chief, who is also a criminologist and law enforcement officer from Germany, said: “We could soon be facing a second wave of other Islamic State linked or radicalised individuals that you might call Isis 2.0.”
“A lot of these are suspected terrorists or those who are linked to terrorist groups as supporters who are facing maybe two to five years in jail. Because they were not convicted of a concrete terrorist attack but only support for terrorist activities, their sentences are perhaps not so heavy. In many parts of the world, in Europe but also Asia, this generation of early supporters will be released in the next couple of years, and they may again be part of a terrorist group or those supporting terrorist activities.”
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The primary objective of this short article is to examine and evaluate the social impacts and legal consequences of Shamima Begum’s case. It has been reported that Home Office has already sent a letter to the family of Shamima saying that it has decided to revoke British citizenship of Shamima. According to INDEPENDENT newspaper “The Government has deprived Shamima Begum of her British citizenship, allegedly making her stateless and violating international law” (19/2/19). Yet, her new born baby has been given every right to settle in the UK. However, the secretary for justice has said that Shamima Begum has right to return to UK, but she should face the court of law in this country. This contrasting view has created some legal debates in the UK about this issue.
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Jayadeva Hettiarachchi, in Sunday Times, 17 February 2018, where the title is “Genuine desire to find the truth about what ails our country.” .…. a review of Daya de Silva: Pearl to a Tear Drop”
There couldn’t have been a more opportune time for me to read and review this book written by Daya de Silva: namely, that moment when Sri Lankan parliamentarians were vying for power, pushing and shoving, throwing chairs, chili powder and even attempting to stab their opponents.
| ISBN Number | 978-955-30-8985-4 |
We humans have a deep association with our motherland even when we live in other parts of the world. A person born and bred in a given country can be separated from that country, but that country cannot be completely eradicated from that person’s mind as clearly seen in the sentiments expressed by the author of this book about her life in Sri Lanka. As is always the case, foreigners/expatriates do perceive things quickly and more comprehensively than those who live in a country. Of course, the interest, passion and a genuine desire to find the truth beneath what appears on the surface has prompted Daya de Silva to write this book as I see it.
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Nate White responding to the Question:“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”
“A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.
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Item in The Island, 8 February 2019, entitled “UK demands full implementation of Geneva Resolutions on Lanka …Says US pullout from Geneva body irrelevant
The UK government has again dismissed Lord Naseby’s call to terminate Geneva Resolution 30/1 in 2015 and Resolution 34/1 in 2017 on the basis that the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government didn’t perpetrate war crimes as alleged by the UN. Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con) on Wednesday (Feb. 05) during a House of Commons debate on UNHRC Resolution declared that the UK expected the full implementation of both Resolutions.
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thuppahi
