Michael Roberts, 4 February 2021
Today, 4th February 1948, as we mark the day when Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon) secured political independence, I present a cohort of photographs marking the moment when Sri Lanka’s cricketers battled through fire to claim adulthood in the field of cricket.
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KLF Wijedasa, in The Island, 3 February 2021, with this title “A Historic Day for Ceylon”
Duncan White, Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sharm Mustafa and Oscar Wijesinghe are seen in this picture which appeared in The Ceylon Daily News decades ago. Duncan White, Lakshman Kadirgamar, Oscar Wijesinghe and M.A.M. Sherrif represented the four communities when they brought four scrolls to the Independence Square to be handed over to the Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake to be read for the public to hear.
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Suri Ratnapala, in The Australian, 2 February 2021, where the title reads thus “Proof of life on social media to screen out evils” …. with highlighting emphahsis imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
The suspension of Donald Trump’s accounts by Twitter and Facebook and the shutdown of Parler by Amazon following the events of January 6 heighten concerns about the power of the Big Tech firms to censor political information and debate.
First, a full disclosure. I am a critic of Trump of a classical liberal disposition. I am a social network recluse with only an email account. I believe the silencing of Trump by Facebook and Twitter may have served the immediate public interest but has troubling consequences for liberal democratic government.
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Vidya Balachander writing in December 2014 with this title “History Baked in Banana Leaf” ……………… How a savory rice and meat dish remains a fragile thread between modern Sri Lanka and 16th century Dutch Burgher settlers.
With the lamprais in the backseat, I could barely focus on anything else. The modest parcel of food wrapped in a banana leaf, freshly baked and still warm to the touch, was demanding my complete sensory attention. The mildly woody smell of the banana leaf mingled with the unmistakable aroma of meat, and like a gentle cloud the fragrance wafted up and settled comfortably in the car for the remainder of my journey home. They say you eat with your eyes first, but in this case, it was the aroma of the lamprais in my backseat that had me hooked.
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Daya Gamage in Email MEMO entitled “Enlightening Foreign Secretary Colombage & Lobbying from Far-away Lands” …. that is addressed to “Mr. Chandre Dharmawardana & Our Friends in the Forum,” **
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Admiral Columbage’s Interview in his capacity as Secretary for Foreign Affairs has drawn a Sharp Critique from Daya Gamage and an Interpretative ‘Dogfight’ between Gamage and Chandre Dharmawardena ….. so this presentation of the FULL COLUMBAGE INTERVIEW is food for thought ….and perhaps more sabre rattling. .… Editor, Thuppahi
Core-group working on SL seeks consensual resolution at UNHRC – Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage: The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will have its 46th session between February 22 and March 19. Sri Lanka is on the agenda this time and will come under review based on the resolutions 30/1 adopted in 2015 and two other subsequent rollover resolutions. Sri Lanka co-sponsored these resolutions under the previous government. However, the new government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa withdrew from co-sponsorship in March, last year. Against the backdrop, Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage shares his views with Daily Mirror on the preparation for it. Excerpts of the interview with him:
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Prabhath de Silva in The Daily Mirror, 20 November 2020 with this title “Christians in Sri Lanka Living in harmony amidst challenges after the Easter Terrorist Attacks of 2019 and their contribution to society”
Sri Lanka has attracted the attention of ancient and modern colonial empires, foreign countries, merchants, travellers and missionaries and emissaries over the centuries owing to its strategic and prominent location at a crossroads of maritime routes traversing the Indian Ocean.
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Daya Gamage in Email Circular
I want to bring to your notice what Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary Colombage told the Daily Mirror to interviewer Kelum Bandara.
Here’s the quote in response to the QUESTION “How do you see the political change in the United States on this matter?”
“Right now, I don’t think any bearing on Sri Lanka. The US is not a member state of the UNHRC. It left the UNHRC calling it a cesspool of political bias. Yet, they influence through their proxies. I guess the US needs a lot of time to rebuild its image of America, to rebuild the democratic institutions, to bring back law and order and to battle Covid-19. I think they will be focusing on making corrections and things better for America.”
Gerald Peiris in Kandy, in Email Note dated 25th January 2021:**
“Yes, Michael, ……………… I agree. There is a lot of overlap between what I have been trying to convey [in public and/or govt forums] and what young Shukra is supposed to have said (though I didn’t see her perform).
You are probably aware that downtown Kandy has a fairly large Muslim presence. I got to know some of them in the course of my fieldwork for ‘Planning for the Future of Kandy’ (2019). They were very cordial and cooperative, and fluent in Sinhala. A few of them are grandchildren (now in middle age) of my contemporaries at Kingswood in the ‘50s. Their clientele consists almost entirely of Sinhalese.
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In 2011 Godfrey and Amar Gunatilleke sponsored the presentation of a pictorial history entitled Potency. Power & People in Groups, (Colombo, Marga Institute, 2011, ISBN 978-955-582 129-2.
This work was, albeit partially, the presentation of items gathered by Ismeth Raheem and myself for inclusion in the coffee-table book that appeared in the year 200o as Images of British Ceylon (Singapore, Times Edition) — items within segments that were excluded because of financial constraints. Such constraints also meant that the pictures in this booklet were not produced in coffee-table quality. The emphasis was on the interpretations attached to the photographs read in context. While the booklet is still available at relatively low cost, the opportunity is taken here to widen the readership via the reproduction of sections — itself a project inspired by Anura Hettiarachchi’s translation of the work into Sinhala.[a]
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thuppahi
