Chandre Dharmawardana, in a COMMENT directed at the moderate voice of Daya Wickramatunga in Thuppahi Commentary, 5 August 2020 …. here raised in status because of its salience and wisdom
Daya Wickrematunga is said quoted to say: “Our Constitution should include that amendment. The 13th amendment that prescribed equal powers to the provinces, with equal status to the Sinhalese and Tamil languages, was aimed at that. It went to show that the ‘Sinhala Only’ policy of SWRD was wrong.”
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, constitutional amendments, cultural transmission, education, electoral structures, evolution of languages(s), governance, historical interpretation, language policies, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, tolerance, unusual people, world events & processes
Daya Lelwela, in Sunday Island, 2 May 2010
Having lived past the biblical span of three score years and ten, I thought it opportune now for me to make this reminiscent journey back in time to my days in school [viz. S. Aloysius College] before my fading, patchy memory were to rob me completely of those golden moments that I have cherished all my life and wish to share with you.
Filed under accountability, economic processes, education, education policy, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, language policies, life stories, performance, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes
Gerald Peiris
The concept of the ‘Traditional Tamil Homeland’ as promulgated by its exponents is based on the notion that, from the distant past, the island of Sri Lanka comprised the territories of two distinct nationalities that were arbitrarily unified in the formation of British Ceylon in the early 19th century. My survey, which draws from several authoritative writings, some of which have been authored by reputed Tamil scholars, shows that such a notion does not conform to known facts and unbiased interpretations of the country’s history.
Filed under accountability, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, conspiracies, cultural transmission, devolution, doctoring evidence, economic processes, Eelam, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, irrigation, island economy, land policies, landscape wondrous, language policies, legal issues, literary achievements, nationalism, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, power sharing, prabhakaran, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
Javid Yusuf, in Island, August 2020, and also PRESSREADER where the title is “Resolving the Ethnic Conflict- making a difficult task that much more difficult”
One of the most complex problems faced by the country after independence has been the “ethnic conflict” that resulted in a civil war that consumed the country for over three decades. Although the conflict was not between two ethnicities (the Sinhalese and Tamils) but in reality between the State and the Tamil community, the label “ethnic conflict” has become the common parlance used to describe the events around this long drawn out conflict. Basically it has been an attempt by the Tamil politicians to persuade successive Governments to restructure the State so as to address Tamil concerns.
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, insurrections, language policies, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, parliamentary elections, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, world events & processes
I sent the Article by Asanga Welikala and de Silva-Wijeyeratne to 24 personnel** in various parts of the world on the 29/30th August inviting Comments ….. and these THREE comments from Hugh Karunanayake, Gerald Peiris and CR de Silva are the first ‘burst’ ….. Michael Roberts
Filed under accountability, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, disparagement, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, language policies, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, parliamentary elections, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, Rajapaksa regime, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Jehan Perera, whose favoured title runs thus: “Complement Inclusive Nationalism with Equality-Based Pluralism for Citizens”
During the election campaign the ruling party and its allies legitimized their call for a 2/3 majority in parliament on the basis that a change of constitution was needed to empower the future government. But there was limited information about what needed to be changed. The focus was on the 19th Amendment that shared power more equitably between the president and parliament, protected state institutions from political interference and banned dual citizens from contesting elections. There were also references to the need to do away with the 13th Amendment that devolved power to the provinces, or at least abolish the devolved powers over police and land.
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, language policies, legal issues, life stories, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, tolerance, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Michael Roberts
Recent mail exchanges with a British gentlemen seeking information on British plantations led me to Tom Barron and his stay at Peradeniya University and to the Ceylon Studies Seminar of the late 1960s and early 1970s. While my essay on the latter has been aired before, the emphasis then was directed towards highlighting the inspirations behind this intellectual activity and identifying the many hands invloved in the ‘works’. However, it has dawned on me — today — that there is a subsidary stream within my review that demands emphasis …… in fact a gasp of amazement and exasperation. When leading intellectuals with substantial input within the governing circles of the day could be so blind, is it a wonder that the ethnic split between Tamils and Sinhalese developed astronomically!
Sathiah
Sam
CR Gerry … every one of them alive to the developing undercurrents of ethnic hate
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, communal relations, education, fundamentalism, historical interpretation, island economy, language policies, Left politics, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, teaching profession, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, world events & processes
Jehan Perera, in The New Age, 20 August 2020, with this title “Opening door to Lanka reconciliation”
Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapakse, second from right, and prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse, second from left, along with new cabinet ministers stand for the national anthem during the cabinet swearing-in ceremony at the Buddhist Temple of the Tooth in the ancient hill capital of Kandy on August 12.— Agence France-Presse/Lakruwan Wanniarachchi
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, language policies, legal issues, life stories, nationalism, parliamentary elections, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, Rajapaksa regime, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes
Raj Gonsalkorale, in DailyFT, 4 August 2020, with this title “The Northern Province: The centre for Tamil culture in Sri Lanka”
As much as the Sinhala Buddhist culture and its richness should be recognized, the Tamil culture, in particular the Tamil Hindu culture and its universality, too needs to be recognized. All Sri Lankans should be proud that the country has two such ancient cultures as its foundations.
– Pic by Shehan Gunasekara
http://www.ft.lk/columns/The-Northern-Province-The-centre-for-Tamil-culture-in-Sri-Lanka/4-704036
Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. … The word “culture” derives from a French term, which in turn derives from the Latin “colere,” which means to tend to the earth and grow, or cultivation and nurture.
Filed under Australian culture, australian media, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, education, governance, heritage, Hinduism, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, language policies, life stories, politIcal discourse, reconciliation, religiosity, Saivism, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, tolerance, welfare & philanthophy
thuppahi
