Chandre Dharmawardana, whose preferred title is “Political Rhetoric, or Sounding the Death Knell of Sri Lanka’s Agriculture?”
A quote attributed to the Greek play write Euripides says that “ Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad”. Reading the news from Sri Lanka, one can only wonder if a prescient Euripides had Lanka’s successive rulers since 1970 in mind.
Filed under accountability, biotechnology, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, environmental degradation, governance, irrigation, island economy, land policies, life stories, medical puzzles, patriotism, politIcal discourse, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes
Asoka Bandarage, in Asia Times, 3 April 2021, where the title runs thus: ‘Human rights’ and Sri Lanka’s ecological crisis “
A UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution of March 16 brought extensive charges against Sri Lanka over alleged human-rights violations, but is arguably seriously flawed. Opportunistic and strategic use of human rights by the Western powers to maintain hegemony continually ignores violations of the rights of nature and humanity rooted in the destructive model of economic development the same powers introduced to the world.
Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, economic processes, environmental degradation, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, population, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, taking the piss, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
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Prasad Abu Bakr, in Sunday Observer, 7 July 2019, …. http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2019/07/07/art/book-review-slow-cooked-thoughts
This is a ‘must-read’ book for those who lived during that glorious past, which is quietly slipping out of our grasp. It is also one for the next generation, who live in a world of make-believe – thinking that demolition of that glorious past and the pristine environment that was there, in the name of ‘development’ is aimed at making the world a better place to live in.
In her Foreword, Jill Macdonald refers to Slow-cooked Thoughts as a compelling compilation of writings both occasional and various, linked by a common motif of the writer’s passionate and unwavering belief of what constitutes a right relationship with the world around us.
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Captain Chandra Godakanda Arachchi**, in Island, 31 December 2018, where the title is “I cry for Galle Fort”
The sun rises magnificently above Rumassala. The wind roars during Monsoon with white horses beautifully rolling over. Catamarans are in the bay and children straggle to school. Tourists roam around in Fort. What a beautiful place the Galle Fort used to be when I grew up in the 1960s and first half of 1970s. My days in Galle were very special and precious to me and, therefore, I make it a point to visit Galle regularly even though I have been out of the country, most of my life, since I left Galle in 1975.
Sudath Gunasekara, in The Island, 16 December 2018, were the title is “ Vision and mission on water management in Sri Lanka!”
A recent study on Sri Lanka has identified it as one of the six countries that share one half of the 0.3% drinkable water this planet has. What is even more important and surprising is that ours has been identified as the only country in the world that will have drinking water even if there is going to be a shortage of drinking water in the whole world. This news has made water the biggest asset and the most valuable commodity of Sri Lanka that has put it on the top of the world.
Neelima Vallangi, 18 March 2018, “http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180308-a-ghost-island-in-the-middle-of-the-indian-ocean … where the original title is “A Ghost Island in the Middle of the Indian Ocean”
Situated in the Bay of Bengal, India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands are an isolated group of 572 tropical islands, of which only 38 are currently inhabited. Nautically located closer to South East Asia than India, they are known for stunning beaches, thriving marine life, rich coral reefs and largely undisturbed primary forests. But beyond the idyllic views lie a dark past. (Credit: Neelima Vallangi)
Eerie remains of a colonial settlement
Jordana Narin in Daily News, 2 February 2018, with title as “Colombo’s Wetlands at Risk”
There is a breeze in Diyasuru Park that feels distinctly un-Colombo. The air is more lush, the birds more diverse, the grass more green. The park, located near the Parliament building in Thalawathugoda, is 18 hectares of urban wetland. And it’s one of the few the city has left.
Colombo is drying up—literally. Since the 1980s, the city has lost almost 60 percent of its wetland area. Today, on World Wetlands Day, it’s more crucial than ever to consider why all of this matters—and why the fight to save Colombo’s remaining wetlands is one that should involve each and every one of us.
thuppahi
