Category Archives: life stories

September 16, 2019 · 2:28 pm

A Tamil Diaspora Delegation Evaluates the Situation faced by the Northern Tamils in early April 2009

This tiny cluster of Tamil personnel came from Australia, Germany, UK and Dubai and were clearly not enmeshed in the tales predominant in the LTTE networks abroad.  Though Dr Narendran Rajasingham was working in Saudi Arabia at this point of time, note that he had a house in Colombo and stronger roots in the island than the others (as far as I can work out). This report, it seems, appeared first in German in ”LTTE watch” (see the Google reference —  https://lttewatch.wordpress.com/2009/04/13/ltte-ist-immun-gegen-internationalen-druck/). To stress this flavour’, the last section is also repeated in Deutsch.

Internally displaced people reach the camps in the hope of returning to their villages and homes soon. Photos from Rukmal Gamage

Manjula Fernando in April 13, 2009• lttewatch

Most issues that have plagued Tamils ​​thirty years ago have become irrelevant. Security, law and justice are the most important issues now. The people of the north are ready for political change. If you talk to people in Jaffna, they will tell you that they no longer want the LTTE in their vicinity.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, charitable outreach, communal relations, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, IDP camps, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, refugees, rehabilitation, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, trauma, unusual people, war reportage, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

September 16, 2019 · 12:50 am

Recalling Professor Hasbullah’s Educational Work

MA Nuhman, in Colombo Telegraph, 11 September 2019, where the title is “Remembering Professor S H Hasbullah”

Remembering my dear friend Hasbullah (11.09.1950–25.08.2018) is personally a very emotional, difficult and painful task for me. We were very close and intimate friends for nearly three decades.   Hasbullah’s untimely sudden death was a great loss to me. Even after one year of his demise my memories of him are fresh and heavy in my mind. It may take a long time for me to recover, for he made an impact on my life.  He was such a dynamic personality.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under cultural transmission, education, heritage, life stories, literary achievements, patriotism, politIcal discourse, refugees, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people, world events & processes

September 15, 2019 · 2:36 pm

Gotabaya read as An Autocrat in the Wings

Sarath De Alwis, in Sunday Observer, 14 September 2019, where the title runs “Death of Truth at Shangri-La”

Actioning the Blueprint’ was the title of the presentation. The venue was the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo. The packed audience included everybody who was somebody in industry, commerce, and other professional disciplines.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a determined contender. He is well on his way to the presidency; a hazardous prospect that should send chills down the spines of those who cherish essential human freedoms, specifically the freedom from fear that interferes with the citizen’s right of democratic dissent. This essay is intended for my fellow citizens who are not morons to be mesmerized by the magic of a monster.Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a determined contender. He is well on his way to the presidency; a hazardous prospect that should send chills down the spines of those who cherish essential human freedoms, specifically the freedom from fear that interferes with the citizen’s right of democratic dissent.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, democratic measures, disparagement, electoral structures, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes

September 15, 2019 · 11:24 am

Brits who bat for Sri Lanka on the Political Front: FOSLA

Rajeewa Jayaweera, in Sunday Island, 14 September 2019, where the title is “FOSLA batting for Sri Lanka”

Friends of Sri Lanka Association (FOSLA) is a non-political association comprising of a diverse group of British nationals. They all are drawn together by a shared common interest in Sri Lanka. In 1987, several leading Englishmen including Sir John Nicholas, a former British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka (1979-1984) and a Sri Lanka-born lawyer had been invited to the High Commission by the then High Commissioner Chandra Monerawela. Former Foreign Minister ACS Hameed had met them and urged this group of Sri Lanka enthusiasts to form an association. FOSLA was the outcome of this meeting (http:/HYPERLINK “https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fosla.org.uk%2F&data=02%7C01%7 %7Cbe1c60dbcb2e4ec2a3e008d730ce3620%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637031534534473663&sdata=RK%2BwgG%2BswgbtzHwoZn0JowKSMsy6L1FQSDsriV%2FwFjA%3D&reserved=0″/www.fosla.org.uk/).

L to R: John Field (BHC 1991-6), HE Manisha Gunasekera (Sri Lankan HC to the UK), Sir Peter Heap (FOSLA Chairman), Linda Duffield (BHC 1999-2002) and Jame Dauris (BHC 2015-19) at the recent luncheon.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, cultural transmission, economic processes, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, life stories, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, sri lankan society, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

September 15, 2019 · 9:31 am

The Loch Ness Monster Emerges Again … To be Undermined

Matthew Weaver, in The Guardian, 6 & 9 September 2019 with this title “Loch Ness monster could be a giant eel, say scientists”

The Loch Ness monster could be a giant eel, according to a fishy new theory that will keep Highland tourists guessing. In one of the biggest DNA studies of its kind, a team of scientists from New Zealand’s Otago University found the presence of about 3,000 species in the deep murky waters of the Scottish loch. Most of the creatures were very small, and while they did detect DNA from pigs, deer, sticklebacks and humans, there were no monsters. But Prof Neil Gemmell, who led the study, said he couldn’t rule out a theory that eels in the loch have grown to an extreme size.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, communal relations, conspiracies, cultural transmission, life stories, news fabrication, performance, photography, pulling the leg, slanted reportage, the imaginary and the real, tourism, unusual people, world events & processes

September 13, 2019 · 3:25 pm

Namel Weeramuni: Life and Theatre, Theatre as Life

Nandasiri Jasentuliyana aka “Nandi,” in Sunday Times, 1 September 2019, where the title is “A Legendary Author’s Autobiography”

Namel Weeramuini’s compelling autobiography was launched on his 85th birthday, before a large audience at the Namel Malini Punchi Theatre yesterday.We live in a global village where the main road has many forks and takes us on many incredible journeys. It is increasingly difficult to know the final destination of these journeys. It means we choose the life we want for ourselves often amid uncertainty.

 Namel Weeramuni Attorney at Law

 

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, cultural transmission, education, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, literary achievements, meditations, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, world events & processes

September 13, 2019 · 10:10 am

Dr Narendran Rajasingham: A Tamil Sri Lankan Indomitable and Sincere

 Michael Roberts, courtesy of Colombo Telegraph, 13  September 2019, where it has a different title

This NOTE is a felicitation of Dr Rajasingham Narendran – a presentation that is long overdue. Narendran was a graduate from Peradeniya University’s Agriculture Faculty, a food scientist with international expertise who was also a fearless advocate for the Sri Lankan Tamil peoples circumscribed within a firm Sri Lankan perspective. He stood for truth in reportage and brought a clinical mind to the appraisal of horrendous circumstances – among them the decomposition of dead bodies in war-torn locales. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, citizen journalism, communal relations, historical interpretation, human rights, IDP camps, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, world events & processes, zealotry

September 11, 2019 · 1:50 pm

Ceylon University College Dons in 1933: A Photo that is A Treasure Trove

We are indebted to Thiru Arumugam and the latest issue of THE CEYLANKAN produced by the Ceylon Society of Australia for the two photographs reproduced here. I invite readers and old University personnel to provide pertinent bio-data on any of the individuals here who served the University and society over the next few decades.  I will be initiating this task below as time goes by.

Continue reading →

9 Comments

Filed under British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, education, education policy, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, modernity & modernization, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people, world events & processes

September 11, 2019 · 11:03 am

Send them to Lanka? Aussie Opinion Poll on the Nadesalingam Murugappan Case

Geoff Chambers in The Australian, 10 September 2019, where the heading runs “Most back kicking out asylum-seekers who aren’t refugees”

Most Australians believe that asylum-seekers deemed not to be genuine refugees should be deported regardless of other considerations. A Newspoll survey conducted last week showed 64 per cent of voters believe asylum-seekers who are considered by the courts to not be refugees should be deported, with 24 per cent saying they should be allowed to settle in Australia.

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, Australian culture, australian media, economic processes, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, refugees, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, taking the piss, tamil refugees, tolerance, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

September 11, 2019 · 10:49 am

A Testing Issue: The Nadesalingam Murugappan Asylum Claim

ONE = Simon Benson & Rosie Lewis, in The Australian, 4 September 2019, where the title runs “Tamil asylum case sets path for 6000 others”

Scott Morrison has vowed to send home more than 6000 illegal immigrants who have had their refugee claims rejected, as he brushed off Labor attempts to drag his religious faith into the debate over the deportation of a Sri Lankan family. The Australian revealed on Wednesday that those 6000 asylum-seekers are engaged in similar legal ­appeals to that of the Tamil family who will learn today whether their ­eleventh-hour Federal Court bid to prevent their ­deportation has succeeded.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, Australian culture, australian media, communal relations, disparagement, doctoring evidence, economic processes, ethnicity, historical interpretation, human rights, immigration, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, religiosity, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, tamil refugees, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, trauma, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, women in ethnic conflcits, world events & processes