Category Archives: historical interpretation

The LTTE: Its Initial Founding and Funding

Dr Muralidaran Ramesh Somasunderam, in LankaWeb, 10 February 2o25, with this title The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam. Funding and Training of the Organization”

 The LTTE got their training and funding from the PLO, which is the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the arms they gained or got from Pakistan. This is why the Indian Central Government was very much against the LTTE and its leadership group.

In fact, the LTTE was an organization which diversified their businesses and even sold things like oils and soups to more dangerous items such as drugs and weapons. It is true that Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in overseas countries funded LTTE. The real fact was most of the Sri Lankan Tamils did ordinary jobs in the Western Countries and if the LTTE did not have diverse business interests and support from overseas countries, especially Palestine for tanning (sic) and Pakistan for military equipment, they would not have been able to carry out a civil war against the army of Sri Lanka for more than thirty odd years.  This is why if Kittu Master who was in the LTTE leadership group was able to smuggle the arms the government of Pakistan loaded in the ship he came on outside the port of Madras it would have been very hard to defeat and bring the LTTE down.

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, caste issues, communal relations, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, insurrections, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, sea warfare, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes

An Inspiring Sri Lankan Anthropologist: Gananath Obeysekere

Laleen Jayamanne & Nammika Raby, in The Island, February 2025

“People were nourished by stories….” (Kathandarawalinne minissu jeewathwune) Gananath

Man does not live by bread alone” Matthew 4:4

Dimuthu Saman Wettasinghe’s film Gananath Obeyesekere: In Search of Buddhist Conscienceopens with a bravura tracking shot moving past trees, water, a splash of saffron robes. These sunlit images are enfolded in a non-religious, rather melancholy male choral chant, but soon the singular voice of Professor Gananath Obeyesekere cuts through with a kind of Dionysian intensity. He tells us a story about Gauthama Buddha, as the camera encircles, at speed, what turns out to be the Kandy Lake. His tale is about a devastating war waged by the king of Kosla against the Sakya kingdom but of the Buddha’s unshakable belief that if folk get together and discuss matters in good faith (call it diplomacy), all wars could be averted. This carefully and deeply researched, imaginative, ‘Educational Film’ of 142 minutes, with its exhilaratingly dense overture and its subtle montage, is a loving tribute to an exemplary Lankan scholar/teacher and his life work (of some 70 years) as an internationally renowned Anthropologist.

The film shows Gananath’s empathetic ability to pay careful ethnographic attention to a variety of gendered states of mental distress and trauma and their traditional ritualised ecstatic expressions, especially with regard to women, well before some feminist scholars in the West began to be interested in the topic of ‘Women and Madness’ from a Freudian psychoanalytic perspective. Psychoanalytic theory became methodologically important for Feminist Film Theory, which I used in my doctoral thesis on ‘Female Representation in the Lankan cinema’.

Continue reading

11 Comments

Filed under art & allure bewitching, Buddhism, caste issues, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, language policies, legal issues, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, nationalism, patriotism, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, psychological urges, religiosity, religious nationalism, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, teaching profession, the imaginary and the real, theatre world, travelogue, unusual people, vengeance, world events & processes, zealotry

“Paraya” & “Parayo” as Vicious Epithets in the Sri Lankan ‘Circuit’

Michael Roberts

I came across an old article of mine entitled “Confronting Charlie Ponnadurai: Clarifying The Context Of Disparaging Ethnic Epithets In Sri Lanka Over The Last 180 Years.” Charlie happens to be a batchmate at Ramanathan Hall in Peradeniya University in 1957, but we had not encountered each other for decades before this verbal contretemps occurred in the year  2013.  SEE ………………………………………………… https://thuppahis.com/2013/08/18/confronting-charlie-ponnadurai-clarifying-the-context-of-disparaging-ethnic-epithets-in-sri-lanka-over-the-last-180-years/. 

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, caste issues, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, disparagement, economic processes, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Indian traditions, life stories, politIcal discourse, racism, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, world events & processes

The Parsi’s of Sri Lanka: A Small but Vibrant Community

Item in Daily Financial Times circulated by Keith Bennett

Very few people today have heard of the Parsi community in Sri Lanka, because there are only about 60 in all including men, women and children.Although small in number, the contributions to our nation by this intriguing community throughout the years, have left an indelible mark in the history of Sri Lanka. They have produced eminent citizens, including a Government Minister, a Judge of the Supreme Court, barons of business and industry, high ranking military officials, media and educational personalities and philanthropists, among others.

Continue reading

5 Comments

Filed under art & allure bewitching, Colombo and Its Spaces, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian religions, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, migrant experiences, performance, religiosity, sri lankan society, tolerance, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

Offensive Racist Place-Names face Offensive

A News Item in Australia, Today, February 2025

Black Gin Creek and Little Uncle Tom mountain are among the 43 place names in Queensland containing racial slurs with a traumatic history.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Aboriginality, accountability, anti-racism, Australian culture, australian media, British colonialism, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, disparagement, education policy, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, unusual people, world events & processes

George Frederick van der Hoeven: A Turbulent Career … Ceylon & Australia

Nick van der Hoeven

I wanted to write about a very complex man, one of my grandfathers …. George Frederick van der Hoeven. The main reason for doing so is because history has not been kind to him, especially the unwritten verbal history within our family. Born in 1901 in Colombo Ceylon — then under British rule — Grandpa (as we called him) died here in Melbourne in 1978. I was 6 years old.

Continue reading

8 Comments

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, art & allure bewitching, Australian culture, British colonialism, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, education policy, Empire loyalism, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, language policies, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

Responsibility … “Duty of Care” on the Cricket Field: Senake’s Thoughtful Essay

Michael Roberts 

In THIS MEMO inspired by Senaka Weeraratne’s article below, I present two striking photographs to illustrate the amateurish and rudimentary nature of treatment for those subject to serious injury on the cricket field in the 20th century in contrast with the jeep-ambulances and medical staff attending matches in recent decades. Howeer, these facilities did not prevent PHIL HUGHES from succumbing to “death-by-bouncer”  during a Sheffield Shield match.

Duleep Mendis bing carried off the field by Mevan Pieris & Dennis chanmugam (two teammates) after he was felled by paceman Jeff Thomson at the ODI match at Kennington Oval in London during the World Cup Prelims in summer 1975

When Phil Hughes wes felled in Sydney in 2014, there was a jeep with a stretcher available to carry him off …. Alas, he died in hospital; whereas Duleep suvived, played on and is still in the cricket circuit as a coach. C’est la vie.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, australian media, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, performance, politIcal discourse, security, self-reflexivity, trauma, world events & processes

CR De Silva: Basic Sources on the Advent of the Karava & Salagama Castes in Sri Lanka

CR De Silva in Memo responding to a Query from Shihan De Silva in UK

The evidence as to from what parts of India the KSD (Karava, Salagama, Durawa) castes arrived in Sri Lanka is not totally clear, but there are some indications in Portuguese sources. I have no data on the origins of the Durava.

However, here is what I have traced on the Salagamas. It suggests that the Salagamas came from the South Indian Malabar or Kerala coast and that the Karavas migrated from the eastern shores of the South Indian coast (currently Tamilnadu). Given that caste identity was connected to occupation, we should note that changes in occupation could have enabled some individuals to move from their caste identities especially during migration.

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, caste issues, commoditification, communal relations, cultural transmission, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, migrant experiences, politIcal discourse, religiosity, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, transport and communications, working class conditions, world events & processes

Stalwarts Three from Yesteryear: Sri Lankans of Distinction

Upali Obeyesekere, whose chosen title reads thus: “Tribute to ‘Sons of the Soil’ who made a huge contribution towards the Economy and Socio-cultural Aspects of Sri Lanka.”

Summa   

 Jackson Anthony

 

 

Lalith Kotelawela

Sri Lanka lost a few stars of yesteryear recently and it is our bounden duty to recognise these individuals in our popular monthly tabloid – The Sri Lankan Anchorman. They came from diverse backgrounds in terms of birth, schooling, and upbringing. But they all had one mission in life – to excel at what they do to exude a commitment of excellence in their chosen field and bring pride to our motherland – Sri Lanka.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, citizen journalism, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, modernity & modernization, patriotism, performance, Royal College, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people

A Resurrection of the “HOLOCAUST” in Palestine

… the PerpetraTors being Israel with Netanyahu as Today’s “Hitler” ….. Heil Himmler! 

The One Video Israel Doesn’t Want You To See: …….. “Gaza is a Holocaust” Holocaust Survivor EXPOSES Israel on Holocaust Memorial Day ……………

“Never Again means Never Again for anybody” …… 28 Jan 2025

https://youtu.be/Posmzxqx4HA  Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, chauvinism, demography, disparagement, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, Hitler, human rights, life stories, Middle Eastern Politics, politIcal discourse, power politics, racist thinking, religious nationalism, self-reflexivity, taking the piss, trauma, vengeance, war crimes, world events & processes, zealotry