Courtesy of Richard Koenigsberg in New York
HITLER: “If I don’t mind sending the pick of the German people into the hell of war without regret over the spilling of precious German blood, then I naturally also have the right to eliminate millions of an inferior race that multiplies like vermin.” …..
Adolf Hitler raises a defiant, clenched fist during a speech.
circa 1933: German Dictator, Adolf Hitler addressing a rally in Germany. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Filed under accountability, anti-racism, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, communal relations, disparagement, ethnicity, Fascism, historical interpretation, Hitler, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, military strategy, nationalism, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, violence of language, war reportage, world events & processes, World War II, zealotry
Uditha Devapriya, in The Island, 9 December 2022, where the title runs thus: “Some reflections on nationalism, extremism, and warfare”
“Ethnonationalism was not a chance detour in European history: it corresponds to some enduring propensities of the human spirit that are heightened by the process of modern state creation. It is a crucial source of both solidarity and enmity, and in one form or another, it will remain for many generations to come. One can only profit from facing it directly.” …. Jerry Muller, “Us and Them: The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism”, Foreign Affairs (Council on Foreign Relations), March 2008 The first Human Security Report, published by the Human Security Centre, released in 2005, and subtitled “War and Peace in the 21st century”, strikes a dissonant chord in a world still reeling from the horrors of the September 11 attacks. Noting a decline in armed warfare since the end of the Cold War, its authors dismiss worries of increasing conflict in a section tellingly titled “Myths and misunderstandings.”
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, economic processes, European history, foreign policy, historical interpretation, life stories, military strategy, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, religious nationalism, security, self-reflexivity, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes
Michael Roberts
Padraig Michael Colman is an experienced journalist and writer who pursued his trade in England and Europe before moving to Sri Lanka with his vivacious Sri Lankan wife Tiny and a coterie of dogs. They settled down awhile in Uva district; but have moved to the outskirts of Colombo in more recent times…. and have since moved back to Great Britain.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, economic processes, Eelam, ethnicity, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes
Joe Simpson, in Email Note responding to the Thuppahi Item https://thuppahis.com/2021/05/23/percy-colin-thome-and-the-composition-of-the-book-people-inbetween/
Most interesting, Michael. I’ve had the privilege of periodic correspondence with the estimable Ismeth Raheem in the past, and thanks to the kindness of Vancouver, BC-resident Ranil Bibile who agreed to be courier, once sent Ismeth a Giclée reproduction of a previously-unknown 1840s painting by Andrew Nicholl from his outbound voyage to Colombo, the original of which has been purchased by a British Columbia collector with whom I’d been in touch.
In regards to your attached bibliography, specifically the scholarly article on the 1915 communal riots that particularly affected the Galle-Tangalle area, while I was on VSO teaching at Richmond College (1973-74) some RCG colleagues and I were in Matara on our way to visit a rural jungle primary school in the Moneragala area, when we fell into conversation with an elderly local, who had been a fisherman all his working life [photo taken then].
Filed under accountability, Africans in Asia, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, demography, disparagement, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, insurrections, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, riots and pogroms, security, sri lankan society, trauma, unusual people, vengeance, world events & processes
A Simple Silva
Shehan’s intervention with his prize-winning book at the present juncture is significant. He states the obvious re corruption, cronyism and expresses thumps his bleeding heart for the suffering people of Sri Lanka (and YES, Shehan, do please gift the prize money of 50,000£ to the suffering masses in the island).
In an article published in the Financial Times, he laments that “I would like to write from a Tamil woman’s point of view. I mean, that would be calling in a lot of grief if I get it wrong”. (Financial Times) …. … …………………………………. https://www.ft.com/content/fa8c6ebb-7c93-4b54-8337-b6f568234d78
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, cultural transmission, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, trauma, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes
Mr X:
A: Please listen to Putin at the Valdai Club: https://www.rt.com/russia/565476-putin-valdai-club-takeaways/
An extraordinary speech for our times by Vladimir Putin at the Valdai Club to an audience of dignitaries and intellectuals from 47 countries including the former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Moscow who presented a question directly to Putin. Questions also came from India, China, Indonesia, Korea, Armenia, Canada, South Africa, Venezuela, to name a few.
https://konstantinkisin.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, disparagement, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, law of armed conflict, life stories, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, truth as casualty of war, Ukraine & Its Ramifications, unusual people, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes
Michael Roberts
In a recent email message, a good friend of mine residing in Sri Lanka, Richard Simon, contended that he was “particularly concerned to open Facebook this morning and find two posts sharing Thuppahi articles.” One of these references was to the item “Is Sri Lanka Creating a Dungeon for Itself?”
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, China and Chinese influences, disparagement, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, law of armed conflict, military strategy, modernity & modernization, Pacific Ocean politics, politIcal discourse, power politics, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, world affairs, world events & processes
Mahil Wijesinghe, in Sunday Observer Epaper, 23 October 2022, with this title “Dutch Legacy of Galle fort“
The Galle city is home to a population of around 100,000. Easily reached via the Southern Expressway, the A2 Highway or the coastal rail track, Galle is indeed a place worth a stop. A quick walk through the chip-stone laid busy streets, you will discover the rich history of the colonial period and the natural beauty of the seascape.
Filed under ancient civilisations, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, cultural transmission, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, military expenditure, military strategy, modernity & modernization, patriotism, photography, religiosity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, VOC, world events & processes
Brian Victoria, in Countercurrents, 9 October 2022, where the title runs thus: “Japan: Fooling all the People!”
Many if not most readers will be familiar with the following saying attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” While this saying may hold true in most situations it’s most definitely mistaken in today’s Japan, for the government, with the enthusiastic support of the media, has found a way, ever since the Korean War of 1950-53, to convince the Japanese people that North Korea and China are Japan’s implacable enemies, ever ready to strike Japan should it remove itself from the “nuclear umbrella” so generously provided by the United States.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, military strategy, Pacific Ocean issues, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes
Natasha Gooneratne, an item entitled “Under the Guise of Protecting Human Rights and Establishing Democracy: US Intervention in Sri Lanka,” …. presented in 2015 or 2016 (?)
Introduction
The discourse regarding Sri Lanka within international media has intensified since 2009, when the then government of president Mahinda Rajapaksa announced that it had defeated terrorism in the form of the armed non-state group known as the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) [recognized as an international terrorist organisation by the US in 1997], that Sri Lanka had been in armed conflict with since the early 80s. Sri Lanka’s announcement prompted widespread reports of humanitarian law violations, and human rights abuses by both sides. A week after the announcement, on May 26th, the UN Human Rights Council held a special two-day session on the situation in Sri Lanka, concluding in the adoption of a resolution commending the state for the policies it had adopted. The resolution passed with 29 votes in favor, 12 against, and 6 abstentions.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, demography, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, military strategy, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, unusual people, world events & processes
thuppahi
