Ahilan Kadirgamar, in Daily Mirror, 6 July 2020, where the title runs “Regimes in Times of Crisis: Authoritarian Populism, Bonapartism and Fascism”
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, economic processes, electoral structures, European history, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, press freedom, Rajapaksa regime, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, working class conditions, world events & processes, zealotry
David Kilcullen, in The Inquirer, 30 May 2020 and the Australian, 4 June 2020, with this title “Home of the hateful, fearful, heavily armed” …..
Coronavirus is threatening to ignite a tinderbox of grievances in the US. The growing parallels with Iraq, Lebanon and Somalia are real and disturbing.
The rise of militias and armed protesters across the US is sometimes seen as a fringe right-wing issue, but it is much broader. Armed groups have formed across the political spectrum, worsening divisions the coronavirus has exposed in American society.
Filed under accountability, atrocities, australian media, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, coronavirus, cultural transmission, democratic measures, discrimination, electoral structures, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, press freedom, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, taking the piss, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, violence of language, world events & processes, zealotry
Chula Rajapaksa’s Impassioned Dedication to the Ranaviru: New Zealand Internet Live Streaming 6.30pm NZ Time ….. Ranaviru Commomeration 19/5/20 …… https://www.facebook.com/srilankans.nz
Thank you for affording me the privilege of being able to reinforce for the 11th consecutive year, our deep debt of gratitude to the Ranaviru for having liberated Sri Lanka from three decades of Tiger terror and even more for the life and limb that some lost in the process.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, communal relations, cultural transmission, fundamentalism, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, military strategy, modernity & modernization, nationalism, Paranagama Report, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, Presidential elections, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, trauma, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, unusual people, world events & processes, zealotry
David Sallach, reviewing John Richardson: Paradise Poisoned: Learning about Conflict, Terrorism and Development from Sri Lanka’s Civil Wars. Kandy: International Center for Ethnic Studies, 2005. xvi + 764 pp. $25.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-955-580-094-5…. way back in 2007 …. https://networks.h-net.org/node/3180/reviews/6309/sallach-richardson-paradise-poisoned-learning-about-conflict-terrorism
Filed under accountability, atrocities, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, communal relations, devolution, economic processes, education policy, Eelam, electoral structures, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, insurrections, island economy, land policies, law of armed conflict, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, modernity & modernization, nationalism, parliamentary elections, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, propaganda, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, world events & processes
H. L. D. Mahindapala, in Colombo Telegraph, January 2020, where the title is
Any critical assessment of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa must take into consideration the salient characteristics that make him stand out from the run-of-the-mill politicians who had occupied the peaks of power.
The first notable characteristic is that he is the first head of state to come from the Sri Lankan diaspora. Initially it was a disadvantage tangled in legalities of citizenship. Later it smoothened out and has been an invaluable asset to him. His existential experiences as an expat in America had widened his horizons and opened up new vistas in his thinking and strategizing. He has acted so far as a leader who had seen the future and is bent on taking the nation in that direction. It has all the signs of being influenced by the American efficiency in delivering goods and services. The new breed of intellectuals he had recruited to run his state indicates clearly that he is in a hurry to modernise the sluggish nation and usher it into the 21st century. His first-hand knowledge of an advanced nation would hasten him to mix tradition with modernity without deracinating the nation – a critical issue in modernising Afro-Asian countries.
Filed under american imperialism, communal relations, economic processes, electoral structures, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, Presidential elections, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, unusual people, world events & processes
Rajeewa Jayweera, in Island, 18 January 2020, where the title runs “President’s policy statement and Sampanthan’s amnesia” … with underlining emphasis being i positions by The Editor, Thuppahi
During the two-day adjournment debate on the policy statement delivered by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R Sampanthan’s outburst had more holes than a target sheet in a firing range (and Swiss Ambassador Hanspeter Mock’s charge of the abduction, molestation, and interrogation by unknown persons of embassy minor employee Garnier Banister Francis aka Sriyalatha Perera).
Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, democratic measures, devolution, discrimination, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, parliamentary elections, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, Presidential elections, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, terrorism, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes
Malinda Seneviratne, in his Blog where the title runs thus: “The flooring of ideologies and ideologues”
Labour gaining ground. One in ten still undecided. Jeremy Corbyn is much closer to becoming Prime Minister than voters think, according to a Conservative party memo. Hung parliament will see Boris Johnson removed from No 10 Downing Street. Labour minority government likely. Opinion polls tightening — Corbyn might just become Prime Minister.
These were headlined claims in the run up to the British Parliamentary Elections.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, democratic measures, electoral structures, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, Left politics, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, propaganda, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, Sri Lankan scoiety, taking the piss, unusual people, world events & processes
Fair Dinkum,[1] an Aussie Academic with Far Eastern Connections, serves up a Set of Reflections on Dibbert’s Recent Essays
A = Taylor Dibbert maybe a freelance writer but I am sure he is selected because of the perspective he takes. As usual, everything portrays SL’s future as bleak and degenerate.
B = Freelance gives impression of independent writer, but the question is on what criteria do the Lowry Institute accept writings for their website. As a think-tank, the writings they publish are notable for being excessively right-wing, rather than a forum for balanced meaningful intellectual debate and so it should not be regarded as an academic institution. This “freelance” writer fits perfectly into their political agenda.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, centre-periphery relations, democratic measures, elephant tales, foreign policy, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, politIcal discourse, Presidential elections, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes
thuppahi
As Sri Lanka makes another crucial political transition, it faces a major risk of macroeconomic instability. Minimizing that risk will depend, above all, on whether the country’s newly elected president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, can defy his reputation and embrace inclusive politics.
Lady Justice reading a book