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Category Archives: press freedom & censorship
Goodness Gracious Me! Double Standards in UK and Here. There, Everywhere!
Shamindra Ferdinando, in The Island, 9 May 2018, where the title is “How UK manipulated RTI law to deny Lanka chance to counter war crimes allegations” …. with emphasis here being inserted by The Editor, Thuppahi
Having adopted the Freedom of Information Act, way back in 1970, Norway is now ranked 67 in the Global Right to Information Rating, maintained by the Center for Law and Democracy. Sri Lanka enacted the Right to Information Act, No. 12 of 2016, a year after the change of the war-winning Rajapaksa administration. The UNP, and a section of the civil society and media, campaigned for the right to information (RTI) law though they couldn’t convince the previous government to introduce the Right to Information Act. However, since the adoption of the right to information law, the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration has quickly reached third position in international rankings. The government and all those who had campaigned for RTI law consider it a key good governance administration’s achievement.
Ferdinando 
Lord Michael Naseby
Norwegian Ambassador Thorbjørn Gaustadsæther and Chairman, Sri Lanka Press Institute Kumar Nadesan at the inauguration of ‘Empowering Citizens with RTI’ on Tueaday (May 8) at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). Norway funded the two-day conference. (pictures by Sujatha Jayaratne)
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, conspiracies, disparagement, doctoring evidence, economic processes, electoral structures, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom & censorship, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, taking the piss, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, the imaginary and the real, TNA, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, world events & processes
The Gash Files I: About Lt. Col. Anton Gash
Michael Roberts
Lt Colonel Anton Gash was the “Defence Adviser” attached to the British High Commission from February 2007 to June 2009 and therefore observed and commented on the ongoing war to the UK Foreign Office. In this capacity he was a key figure in organising the training given to the SL armed services on International Humanitarian Law etc, between the 3rd and 8tth March 2008 under the supervision of Commander Alan Cole. Both Cole and Gash were specifically thanked by the SL Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama, on this occasion.
Of upper class background, Anton Gash was educated at Eton (1978-83), read Classics & Literature & Linguistics at Oxford (1984-88) and completed his Defence Studies at Cranfield University and Kings College over the years 1996-98.
Lt. Col Gash meets the SL NavyFiled under accountability, conspiracies, doctoring evidence, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom & censorship, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry
London is Brewing: Tamil Tigers, Brigadier Fernando and British Double Standards
Tamils in support of Pirapaharan, the LTTE and Tamil cause TODAY
Brigadier Priyanka Fernando’s Injudicious Challenge
Two Essayists Lambast the British Government for their Positions on Terror, the Pro-LTTE Tamils and the Brigadier Fernando Incident
ONE = Sara Dissanayake: “Anti-Terror Laws & British Hypocrisy,” in Colombo Telegraph,” February 2018,
The recent incident involving the throat-slit gesture made by Defense Attaché Brigadier Priyanka Fernando in response to the Eelamist protesters in London has, rightly so, stirred much controversy. Developments following the incident also sparked ample debate, prompting the public to take sides under the prevailing circumstances. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, citizen journalism, cultural transmission, disparagement, governance, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom & censorship, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, war crimes, world events & processes
Bracegirdle as a David taking on the British Plantation Goliath in 1937
Bernard Vancuylenberg, August 26, 2017, whose original title is “David and Goliath” … with highlights imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi …then and now in 2025
During the colonial period of the late 1930s, a tea plantation in the Madulkelle district Relugas Estate, was the place where what appeared to be a simple act of insubordination by an assistant superintendent, was to have far reaching consequences and wider ramifications not only for the company concerned, but for the colonial government of the time and a left leaning socialist political party called the “Lanka Sama Samaja Party” (The Lanka Socialist Party), popularly known as the LSSP. The “David” in this case was a young assistant superintendent named Mark Bracegirdle and the “Goliath” was the government of the day – at first glance an uneven match.
Bracegirdle with LSSP leaders at Horana– Colvin R. de Silva seated and Philip Gunawardena, Wilmot Perera and Leslie Goonewardena among those standing behind.
Filed under accountability, British colonialism, cultural transmission, discrimination, disparagement, economic processes, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom & censorship, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, unusual people, world events & processes
Exquisite Camera Timing in the Sports Arena
Pow! Wham! How! … COURTESY OF http://www.thebrofessional.net/perfectly-timed-sports-photos/
The War Dead in Sri Lanka: Deceit and Ignorance Rule the Air Waves
Both these images are from TamilNet and were part of the extensive stock sent to me in 2009/10 by “Citizen Silva” aka IDAG. The first is dated 6 April 2009 and the second 28 April 2009
ONE = Michael Roberts: “Introduction”
When I presented an essay on “Missing Persons” in Groundviews in March 2013 the reactions were, as usual, mixed and included a derisive dismissal from one “Velu Balendran”.[1] However, one individual named Nathan inserted a dose of common sense and also introduced readers – as well as myself – to a pertinent article by two Indians, Ajay Sahni & S. Binodkumar Singh in the Indian magazine Outlook.
I do not know Nathan and where he resides, but am deeply grateful to him. As I am now returning to this topic, I believe that readers should be introduced to his brief thoughts and be led to the article he recommended. I will thereafter insert key bibliographic references on the topic from my original essay and its companion piece; while also embellishing this ‘compendium’ with images that provide a glimpse of the context and assorted outcomes in indelible ways beyond words.
TWO = Nathan, 1 April 2013, extract from http://groundviews.org/2013/03/28/a-missing-person-in-sri-lanka-heartfelt-issues-ground-realities/
It’s a shame that people have failed to read and grasp the thrust of Dr Michael Robert’s article . Continue reading
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The JVP and Rajapaksa in Vidyodaya Politics, 1970s: Recollections
Chandre Dharmawardana …. [1] … [2]
Some of what I remember from the period that Mahinda Rajapaksa was at Vidyodaya University as a library assistant is as follows. S. B. Dissanayake[3] was the leader of the Communist Party in the Campus at Vidyodaya University, now known as Jayawardenapura University. He asserted his power as soon as he became the student leader by launching a strike at the Hostel on a food issue. It was just a show of power because in fact the food was quite up to par. Mahinda Wijesekera,[4] his brother and a Buddhist Monk were JVP leaders who were trying to flex their muscles. Mahinda Wijesekera was in the science faculty while S. B. Dissanayake was a student in the Business Administration Department.
Mahinda in his Vidyodaya days with friend Anura Dias B at a pirit ceremony Continue reading
Filed under accountability, historical interpretation, human rights, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, press freedom & censorship, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes
Thomas Meaney, A Review Article, courtesy of the Author and the London Review of Books,… with emphasis by highlights added by The Editor, Thuppahi … SEE www.lrb.co.uk –
Rescued from the Nation: Anagarika Dharmapala and the Buddhist World by Steven Kemper, Chicago, 480 pp, £31.50, January 2015, ISBN 978 0 226 19907
Tamil: A Biography by David Shulman, Harvard, 416 pp, £25.00, September 2016, ISBN 978 0 674 05992 4
The Seasons of Trouble: Life amid the Ruins of Sri Lanka’s Civil War by Rohini Mohan, Verso, 368 pp, £16.99, October 2015, ISBN 978 1 78168 883 0
Independence was handed to Ceylon’s elite on a platter. ‘Think of Ceylon as a little bit of England,’ Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke, the first native governor-general, said. This was a point of pride. Don Stephen Senanayake, the country’s first prime minister, remarked: ‘There has been no rebellion in Ceylon, no non-cooperation movement and no fifth column. We were among the peoples who gave full collaboration while Britain was hard-pressed.’ After independence in 1948, Ceylon alone among the former colonies not only retained but promoted the monarchy: the Union Jack flew alongside the Ceylon flag; a new constitution was drafted by a former LSE professor, Ivor Jennings; Colombo debutantes were presented at Buckingham Palace; and, thanks to some genealogical ingenuity, George VI was recognised as the latest monarch in the ancient line of Kandyan kings. While the rest of the empire in Asia smouldered – in India there was Partition, in Malaya the Emergency, in Burma the civil war – Ceylon became Whitehall’s model for the transfer of colonial power. ‘There was no fight for that freedom which involved a fight for principles, policies and programmes,’ Solomon Ridgeway Bandaranaike, the anti-colonial head of state who took power in 1956, said when he reviewed the transition a decade later. ‘It just came overnight. We just woke up one day and were told: “You are a dominion now.”[1] Continue reading
February 10, 2017 · 1:03 pm
Revamping Lanka’s Government Structures? CTF Proposals In. Prospects Dim.
Sanjana Hattoruwa, in The Sunday Island, 7 January 2017, where the title is “A Report on Reconciliation“… with the highlighting below being the work of The Editor, Thuppahi
Last week, the Consultations Task Force (CTF) handed over its final report to former President Chandrika Bandaranaike-Kumaratunga. It was supposed to be handed over to the President. However, he wasn’t present at the ceremony, on a date and time his office had negotiated after many delays spreading over months. As widely noted, the CTF comprised of eleven members drawn from civil society and was appointed by the Prime Minister in late January 2016, to seek the views and comments of the public on the proposed mechanisms for transitional justice and reconciliation, as per the October 2015 UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka, co-sponsored by the Government of Sri Lanka. Accordingly, you would expect the PM, whose brainchild the CTF was, to be present at the handover ceremony. He wasn’t either. Continue reading
Filed under citizen journalism, constitutional amendments, electoral structures, historical interpretation, human rights, legal issues, Muslims in Lanka, parliamentary elections, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, press freedom & censorship, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, unusual people, world affairs
