Category Archives: press freedom

August 25, 2022 · 10:33 am

A Sturdy Lankan Student Protest Petition, 22 August 2022

A PETITION: Stop Labelling Student Protestors as Terrorists. 22 August 2022

We are a group of feminists writing to call urgent attention to the extra-constitutional attempts of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to suppress dissent. Lacking a popular mandate, hunting down student protestors and activists, including a LGBTIQ activist has become a central strategy of the political élite to retain power. The latest move by the GoSL is to brand three student leaders and the student union they represent, the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF), as ‘terrorists’.

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July 31, 2022 · 3:23 pm

Do or Die for the Tory Leadership in UK

Padraig Colman, in The Island, 31 July 2022, where the title reads “The Tory Leadership Battle”

British voters have been watching with growing irritation/apathy the contenders for the leadership of the Conservative Party fighting with each other on TV. The session on July 26 ended abruptly when presenter Kate McCann literally became unconscious. Many viewers had already lost the will to live.

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July 29, 2022 · 8:24 pm

From Banda to Gota

Laleen Jayamanne, in The Island, 20 & 27 July 2022 where the title runs thus: “Teargas cinema and Rukmani Devi”

“I have never found anything to excite the people in quite the way this language issue does”–– Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike to a journalist.

If true, this observation attributed to Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike, is quite chilling in its cynicism. ‘Excitement’ is a political emotion here and SWRD appears to take a distance from it, observing somewhat clinically, how ‘this language issue’ stirs up ‘the people’. Politicians are especially crafty, cunning, when they know how to excite people with ideas that they themselves may or may not truly believe in.

A protester covering the eyes of the Bandaranaike statue at Galle Face

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July 10, 2022 · 7:34 pm

Political Demonstrations surrounding the Test Cricket at Galle, 9/10 July 2022

Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, 9/10 July 2022, with this title “When Sri Lanka came to the cricket to fight for the country’s future”

Thousands gathered in Galle to protest the government which has led them into economic chaos. …. [SCENE OUTSIDE the northern entrance to the cricket grounds …. Pix from AFP]

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June 10, 2022 · 2:37 pm

Sumana Saparamadu: An Appreciative Vale from 2016

Lalitha Karalliadde Witanachchi, in the Sunday Observer, 8 May 2016, with this title “Epitome of Generosity, Kindness and Loyalty” **

The death occurred on April 15 [2016] of well-known journalist Sumana Saparamadu at the age of 92. She was born in Havelock Road, Wellawatte in the home of her parents Mr and Mrs. D.C. Saparamadu. Her father was a well-known apothecary who worked for several years in Kadugannawa, where Sumana spent her childhood “in the beautiful hill country with mist-laden hills and the train winding its way upcountry”, as she was wont to tell me when recalling her happy childhood.

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April 20, 2022 · 2:58 pm

Taking to Street: Protests typically Lankan in Style

Mey Lankaava Neydha!!!  …… !!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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April 6, 2022 · 11:52 pm

Newsline: Paikisothy Saravanamuttu in Discussion with Faraz Shauketaly

Faraz Shauketaly of NewslineSL: with Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu on leadership crisis in SL (05 April 2022) #eng Subscribe us: http://bit.ly/NewsfirstSubscribe Watch more videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/NewsFirs… Like us on Facebook: https://fb.com/NewsfirstSL Follow us via Twitter: https://twitter.com/NewsfirstSL

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March 24, 2022 · 10:26 am

The Plight of Indian “Fishermen” in Sri Lankan Waters

Fateh Veer Singh Guram, in The Diplomat, 19 March 2022, witht his title “India, Sri Lanka, and the Fishers Caught in the Middle”

April 2, 2011, is a day etched in the memories of millions of Indians. Under a clear sky, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, more than 30,000 people screamed Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s name as he hit the winning six, lifting India’s second Cricket World Cup in the process. As the country erupted in celebration, nearly 1,600 kilometers away, Cinna Thambi’s world came crashing down. “A bunch of fishers came to me that day, and told me that the Sri Lankan Navy had arrested my younger brother, Victus,” Thambi, who is the Coordinator of the National Traditional Fishermen Federation, told The Diplomat. “Eight days later, on April 10, 2011, his body washed up on the Sri Lankan shores. Following a post-mortem, a doctor confessed to me that my brother had been tortured and murdered.” 

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February 25, 2022 · 11:59 pm

Remembering Mervyn De Silva and His Reach

Bradman Weerakoon, writng in the year 2000  …

When Mervyn de Silva passed away, many tributes were paid to his contribution to critical writing, to journalism, to literature and the arts, to his scholarly weekly radio commentaries on world affairs, his lone editorship of the Lanka Guardian and the stimulation he provided to popular discussion by his constant and thoughtful, intellectual engagement with whatever was current in the public debate.

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January 24, 2022 · 12:18 pm

Anarchy via Modern Media: Belgium Erupts ….

HOT NEWS ITEM …………“Clashes erupt in Brussels as tens of thousands protest Covid rules” …………. rance24.com/en/europe/20220123-clashes-erupt-in-brussels-as-tens-of-thousands-protest-covid-rules

NEWS WIRES

Police fired water cannon and tear gas Sunday at stone-throwing protesters after tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Brussels against Covid-19 rules.

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