An Observer from a Black Sea Town ……. in an Original Set of Comments … where the highlightS are interventions from The Editor, Thuppahi
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Compiled by Gp Capt Kumar Kirinde, SLAF [retd]: “A global counter-terrorism military campaign initiated by the U.S. in 2001” ……….. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_terror, https://www.cia.gov/legacy/museum/exhibit/on-the-front-lines-cia-in-afghanistan/, ChatGPT, and Google Images … [with only some photographs
Introduction: …… The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism”” (GWOT), is a global counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks and is also the most recent global conflict spanning multiple wars. The main targets of the campaign were militant Islamist and Salafi jihadist armed organisations such as al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and their international affiliates, which were waging military insurgencies to overthrow governments of various Muslim-majority countries. Other major targets included the Ba’athist regime in Iraq, which was deposed during an invasion in 2003, and various militant factions that fought during the ensuing insurgency
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Catherine Philp, in The AUSTRALIAN, 5 September 2023, where the title reads “British Documentary links powerful Sri Lanka family to bombings” ... where the item is from The TIMES
Sri Lankan officials loyal to the Rajapaksa family were complicit in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 250 people, including eight British tourists, whistleblowers have alleged.
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Karthik Krishnaswamy in The Cricket Monthly, 24 July 2023 , where the title reads “MS Dhoni joined the pantheon of mythical Tamil heroes”
Superstars in Chennai emerge from cinema or politics or both. Then came along a cricketer from Ranchi
Chennai: Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni during the IPL 2023 cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants, at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai, Monday, April 3, 2023. (PTI Photo/R Senthil Kumar)(PTI04_03_2023_000319B)
It begins when he steps over the boundary. A rasping chant. A name.
“Baashha!” A drumroll. “Baashha!” Another drumroll.
There are urgent bars of instrumental orchestration, and as they swell to a crescendo, a voice pierces the air: “Let’s welcome the new batsman, Mahendra Singh… Dhoniiiiiiiiii!”
The timing is just right. The announcer’s voice gives way to the power-packed vocals of SP Balasubrahmanyam.
Hey Baashha paaru Baashha paaru
Pattalathu nadaya paaru
Pagai nadungum padaya paaru
Coatu suitu rendum eduthu
Poattu nadakkum puliya paaru
Behold Baashha
Behold the warrior-like stride
Behold the army that sends
shudders down enemy spines
Behold the tiger in coat and suit
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Professor Chandre Dharmawardena
According to The Island newspaper, 25 of July 2023 [1], the Canadian High Commissioner Eric Walsh in Colombo has barged into the controversy on the Kurundi archeological site. The Canadian HC had met T. Raviharan, a politician who spearheads the protests at the Kurundi site. HC Walsh’s explanation is that “Meeting people in different parts of the country, to better understand their priorities and perspectives, is a normal part of a High Commissioner’s role.” These words ring hollow if he does NOT meet anyone from the “other side”, or the Archaeological Commissioner and other technical people.
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Michael Roberts
In re-visiting an assortment of historical episodes in Sri Lanka’s past in unsytematic fashion I have been led to Tarzie Vittachi’s Emergençy ’58 (published in 1958) by Sugath Kulatunga’s detailed and invaluable recounting of his experiences as a government official in Polonnaruwa in the 1950s (an item still being processed).
While Vittachi was an experienced journalist, we cannot take every ‘fact’ that he presents as indubitable. However, this pointer towards his slim volume should, hopefully, bring new generations of Sri Lankans and outside observers into reflections on the consequences of the political currents unleashed in the general election in 1956 — notably the upsurge of the underprivileged classes and the demand for Sinhala Only.
This focus, however, should not promote currents of denunciation which throw the baby out with the bathwater. The inequalities of the pre-existing dispensation must be clinically drawn out as well.
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An Observer in a Black Sea Town
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An Observer in a Black Sea Resort Town
A Sri Lankan Diplomat
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thuppahi
