When vising Francis Pietersz and his daughter Coralie about two years back I was given access to his photo album containing old photographs of play presented at one of the residence halls at Peradeniya Campus in the mid-1950s. I believe that one can identify Revd Fr. Pinto in the front row of the audience.
Michael Roberts, in SOUTH ASIA¸ Sept 2008, 31: 394-96 reviewing Ethnic Warfare in Sri Lanka and the UN Crisis (London: Pluto Press, and Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2007), 296 pp.
This is an unusual book and essential reading for those interested in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. William Clarance was head of UNHCR’s relief mission in Sri Lanka from 1989 to 1992. He kept a diary and has waited until he had left the arena of international administration before recounting his riveting experiences in the field.
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Rajeewa Jayaweera, in Sunday Island, 18 August 2019, where the title reads “The Gotabaya Rajapaksa quandary”
On August 11, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) or Pohottuwa held its inaugural convention at the Sugathadasa Stadium. Former President and current Leader of Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR), who minutes earlier had been declared leader of the SLPP formally announced its Presidential candidate. As expected, it was MR’s younger brother, a former soldier and onetime Defense Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR). Amidst thunderous applause and fireworks, GR declared, “I love my country, I am proud of my country.” Outlining his vision for the country, he pledged; “I will not allow anyone to interfere with the sovereignty of Sri Lanka” and “I will protect you and your children.”
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, Bodu Bala Sena, chauvinism, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, Islamic fundamentalism, island economy, legal issues, life stories, Muslims in Lanka, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, Rajapaksa regime, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes
CID Director SSP Shani Abeysekara yesterday disclosed that 63 suspects are currently held in custody over their links to Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, including 12 hard core terrorists. He said among them are about 4 to 5 suicide attackers who had not detonated their bombs on the Easter Sunday.
Army Chief Mahesh Senanayake cannot claim he had no knowledge about the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), the CID Director argued yesterday. Abeysekara told the media at a press briefing held at the CID yesterday that Army Intelligence officials had attended the initial investigations when CID sleuths initially discovered a haul of explosives of the NTJ in Wanathawilluwa on January 17, 2019.
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Elmo Jayawardena, in Island, 15 August 2019, … http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=209019
The phrase BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES took life more than 500 years ago, 1497 to be precise, in the Italian city of Florence. The unusual practice was started by the followers of Franciscan priest Girolamo Savonarola. He denounced corruption, despotic rule and the exploitation of the poor. These were un-abated traits of Florentine rule, which were evenly spread among the rich and the powerful. Friar Savonarola waged war on vanity and preached to his followers to discard anything that was vain for a simple life of a man or woman who sought lasting contentment and happiness. To this end, he encouraged people to bring all their items of vanity and burn them. The bonfires of the vanities became a rallying call of the followers of Padre Savanarola so much so the Pope excommunicated the rebel priest and imprisoned him. He was later hanged along with two of his assistants and their bodies were burned. So ended the Bonfires of the Vanities, and Florence went back to abusing power.
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Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa (L) and SLPP Presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa (R) wave at supporters during the party’s National Convention, Colombo, Aug 11, 2019Filed under accountability, american imperialism, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, China and Chinese influences, economic processes, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, military strategy, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, unusual people, world events & processes
News Item in
Mainstream print media in Toronto including News Agencies and television broadcasting stations were quick to break the story that Halton Region police deputy chief Nish Duraiappah has been named Chief of Police of the Peel Region. Duraiappah, who has been a member of the force for 25 years, will take over from interim chief Chris McCord in October.
Bhante Dhammika of Australia, in Island, 14 August 2019, where the title runs “Bharhut Stupa; Majesty and Mystery”
The British Major had ridden for days from Allahabad while on his way to Nagpur and had arrived in the small village of Bharhut just before sunset. That evening while resting in a villager’s house he noticed some carved stones paving the floor and suspected that they had been taken from some ancient structure. Inquiring about this he learned from his host that there was a half-buried ruin a little beyond the eastern edge of the village. So in the morning the major went to have a look at this overgrown mound of bricks and stone. The time was November 1873, the major was Alexander Cunningham and he was about to stumble upon one of the most important archaeological discoveries ever made in India and one that is testimony to the artistic genius of the early Buddhists.
The Lionel Wendt Memorial Fund (LWMF) is presently engaged in creating an archive of Lionel Wendt, his work and the Centre for the Arts built in his memory. The LWMF is the only officially appointed organisation in the world established with the purpose of perpetuating the legacy of Lionel Wendt.
thuppahi
