Category Archives: performance

November 7, 2018 · 12:26 am

Sri Lanka: Lord Naseby canes Lord Swire for Overstepping Limits

Item in DAILY MIRROR…http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/SL-s-Political-crisis-Lord-Naseby-unhappy-over-Sir-Hugo-Swire-s-statement-157970.html

Commenting on the political situation in Sri Lanka, British Parliamentarian Lord Naseby has said he was unhappy that former British junior minister put down a question suggesting what happened in Sri Lanka was unconstitutional. “That is not the law, I believe, of the UK Parliamentarian. You have your own Constitution. I have been very careful in my fifty years of service. I have never been supporting any one party nor doing any business. I would suggest my colleague that they should do exactly the same,” he said.

Former Foreign Secretary Sir Hugo Swire in the House of Commons earlier drawing attention to the political crisis in Sri Lanka asked the Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt to point out to the Sri Lankan President that the international community recognizes Ranil Wickremesinghe as the legitimate Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and only a vote in parliament can change his status.

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November 4, 2018 · 3:33 pm

Sorcery, Premeditated Murder, and the Canalization of Aggression in Sri Lanka

Gananath Obeyesekere, being an academic article [1] published initially in 1975 in the American Ethnologist, Vol. 14,  pp.1-23 …. and is also available in pamphlet form as No. 11 in the Studies in Society and Culture Series organised by the late Ananda Chittambalam and Michael Roberts … ISBN 955-9195-10-7 … while the illustrative snaps are impositions by the Editor, Thuppahi  and are intended to suggest the atmosphere called into being by the supplicants seeking support and/rt vengeance at the shrines

It is my intention in this paper to deal with a series of interrelated problems. First, we will consider the following specific questions and propositions: (a) How far can we make inferences about personality and social structure from official statistics computed by government agencies, in this case statistics on homicide and crimes of violence ?

Criminology as a discipline is especially concerned with this problem, and recent criminological studies in Sri Lanka have made social structural, cultural, and personality inferences from the statistical data (Wood 1961; Bloch 1960; Jayewardene and Ranasinghe 1963). At the outset, let me emphasize that I am not concerned with the conventional debate about the accuracy of governmental statistics. I agree with the criminologists who have worked on this problem that Sri Lanka’s official statistics on homicide and violent crimes are reasonably accurate, and on the face of it there is perfect justification for using these data for social analysis (see Wood 1961). Continue reading →

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November 1, 2018 · 3:15 pm

Young Tamara Kunanayakam in Central Europe, 1970s-to-1980s

Michael Roberts

 With Tamara Kunanayakam what you see and hear is what you get: no subterfuges, straight-talking without frills or obscurantisms. Seeking to explore the events in Geneva from 2011 when she was our Permanent Representative there for a short spell, I met her in her rented home in Battaramulla in June 2016 in the convivial presence of her French husband and their dog Hombrito.[1]

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October 30, 2018 · 2:45 pm

Galle Literary Festival 2019: The Stars

Sunday Times, 26 October 2018:  “Fairway Galle Literary Festival 2019 : Attending Authors Revealed”

The Fairway Galle Literary Festival is set to take place from January 16- 20, 2019. This marks the tenth anniversary of The Festival,  establishing itself as a much anticipated and highly acclaimed fixture on the South-East Asian cultural calendar. The list of attending authors was revealed yesterday at a media briefing. The author briefs are given below

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October 24, 2018 · 10:30 am

Ranil Wickremasinghe at the Oxford Union delineating the Geo-Politics of the Indian Ocean over Time

Today I had the opportunity to speak at two hallowed British institutions: the London Stock Exchange founded in 1698, and now at the Oxford Union born in 1823. Many Sri Lankans educated at Oxford have made an impact in Sri Lanka. Among them were two Presidents of this very Union – my colleagues – Lalith Athulathmudali – we studied at the same school, we entered Parliament at the same time in 1977 and we sat in the same Cabinets. Lakshman Kadirgamar, who like me, studied for the LLB at the University of Colombo, and then came to Balliol. They were both Presidents of the Union in the Hillary terms of 1957-58 and 1958-59, respectively, and both their lives were cut short by the violence perpetrated by the LTTE.

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October 24, 2018 · 5:58 am

Natural Wonders: Replicating Male Potency

This boating cameraperson was surely inspired!

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October 15, 2018 · 2:01 am

Ehaaa. Mehaa. Presidential Manouevres in Sri Lanka

Rajan Philips, in The Island, 13 October 2018 where the title reads “Checkmate Politics II: Diminishing Options for MS, MR and RW

There is no presidential checkmate after all as many of us were alerted to last week. President Sirisena is in no position to checkmate anyone. No surprise there. He has burnt his boats with the UNP, and even Mahinda Rajapaksa cannot rally everyone in the JO to support a new political arrangement with the old defector. It is now reported that Maithripala Sirisena first approached the UNP to canvass for a second term as President with UNP support, and only after being rebuffed by the UNP that he sought an alliance with the Rajapaksas. It is also known that there were quite a few meetings between Maithripala Sirisena and Mahinda Rajapaksa, which would only confirm that the former President has been quite serious about pursuing a deal with the current incumbent. And obviously because a second term Sirisena presidency is the only way to secure a path for the now underage Namal Rajapaksa to become president in 2024. That the former President could not get others on board for this scheme shows how tenuous and tentative are the loyalties within the Joint Opposition. Be that as it may.

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October 15, 2018 · 1:25 am

Service Across the Length and Breadth of Sri Lanka: FOG

 the Matara  VHE  …

and the Jaffna VHE

The Foundation of Goodness’ 10th Village Heartbeat Empowerment (VHE) Centre opened its doors on Sunday 1st July, 2018. Situated in Bindunuwewa- Bandarawela District, this marks the Foundations’ first VHE Centre in the central region of the island, following the establishment of three Centres in the South, three in the East and three more in the North, in steady progression, with plans to establish 15 more in addition to our flagship model in Seenigama (The MCC Centre of Excellence and Sports Academy) the one of a kind holistic rural community initiative encompassing 30 empowerment activity sectors wish serve 15,000 beneficiaries from 300+ villages monthly, free of cost.

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October 7, 2018 · 12:20 am

Dharmasiri Bandaranayake’s Message for Reconciliation and Oneness

Kamanthi Wickramsingha in Q and A, in Daily Mirror, 14 March 2018, where the title runs “Peace and unity should be in everyone’s heart”

Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, the maverick of Sinhala cinema and theatre, has attempted to portray the reality of the state in every production. From Hansa Vilak to Bawa Duka, Bawa Karma and stage plays such as Eka Adipathi, Dhawala Beeshana,  and Makarakshaya [he has] addressed issues from the 1980s riots to the dogma of Buddhism in Sri Lanka to other issues of national and political importance. “If the perpetrators of previous riots and crimes were identified and punished, what happened in Digana would have never happened,” said Bandaranayake in a candid interview with the Daily Mirror. He recently directed ‘Paradise in Tears’ a documentary film which portrays the historical evolution of the ethnic crisis in the country through its various phases. During the interview, Bandaranayake expressed his concerns over the manner in which the country’s rulers have treated people and how they have suffered as a result of ethnic violence, the role of artistes and how people should respond during incidents such as what happened in Kandy.   

  • There is no punishment for perpetrators
  • People should refrain from promoting separatist agendas
  • Violence should never be in the vocabulary of artistes
  • Reconciliation shouldn’t be on billboards   

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October 4, 2018 · 10:37 am

British Minister stresses Importance of Reconciliation

Mark Field, in Daily Mirror,  where the title is “Why does reconciliation in Sri Lanka matter to the UK?”

Next year Sri Lanka will have enjoyed 10 uninterrupted years free from the misery of armed conflict. Whatever your view on how Sri Lanka has progressed since, that very fact alone is one to cherish. I know how deep the scars from decades of conflict run. When I visited last year I heard first-hand from the families of disappeared persons. It was a stark reminder of how much all communities in Sri Lanka have suffered.

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