Amal Abeyawardene
March 29, 2022 Colombo at the BMICH (Bandaranaike International Conference Hall) Lord Michael Naseby launches his book, Sri Lanka: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained.
Category Archives: reconciliation
Blanketing Operations in the British Heights revealed by Lord Naseby
Shamindra Ferdinando
Member of House of Lords, Michael Naseby, has assured [us] that he will try very hard to convince the UK to make public the sections of the Colombo British High Commission dispatches censored by London, pertaining to the last phase of the Vanni offensive. Lord Naseby gave this assurance at the launch of his memoirs, ‘Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained’ at the BMICH on Tuesday (29).
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Addressing Sri Lanka’s Future in June 2009
Michael Roberts, reprinting here an article that appeared in FRONTLINE vol. 26/12, 19 June 2009 … with this title “Some Pillars for Lanka’s Future”
“One can win the War, but lose the Peace” — A cliche this may be, but it is also a hoary truism that looms over the post-war scenario in Sri Lanka. The triumphant Sri Lankan government now [must] address the human terrain rather than the fields of battle.
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Tutu: A Moral Pillar in Our Troubled Times
Basil Fernando, in Groundviews, 29 December 2021, where the title reads “Desmond Tutu: The Man who revived the Moral Universe”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu who passed away this week will be counted among the great human beings who contributed to the political transformation of his own country and a person who revolutionised the idea of achieving equality under the most difficult of circumstances.
Cape Town, South Africa – October 6, 2011: The Arch Bishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu at his official book launch , St George’s Cathedral 2011
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Cross-Cultural Amity: Sri Lankan Canadians Reach Across Difference
To Canada with Love from Sri Lanka …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ9QjZLhavQ …. in 2021
“In 1864 Leonard Tilley was instrumental in naming Canada as Dominion of Canada. He was inspired by Psalm 72:8 of The Bible. This song is composed with the inspiration of the entire psalm which calls for justice and righteous ruling by the king and prayer for it. This is a tribute song for Canada by the Sri Lankan Christians living in Ontario and whole of Canada. Sung in all three languages of English Sinhala and Tamil. A Sri Lankan original in Canada.” ………… JOHN PERERA
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Struggles in Geneva … with Yakku within the Rajapaksa Officialdom
Uditha Devapriya, in The Island, 11 December 2021,reviewing Rajiva Wijesinha’s Representing Sri Lanka (S. Godage & Brothers, 2021, 189 pp. Rs. 750) …. where the title is “Downhill All The Way”
I met Rajiva Wijesinha for the first time four years ago, at the Organisation of Professional Associations in Colombo. At a seminar on English language learning and teaching there, he handed me a book he had published a few days earlier. Titled Endgames and Excursions, it was an account of his official travels, friendships, and associations. I remember promising to review it, reading it, and then laying it aside. It was an unforgivable lapse, but one I now feel was justified: I was simply not qualified for the task.
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Pressures on Lanka: Machinations in Washington
Fair Dinkum, responding to developments in Washington involving the US State Department and SL Tamil representatives outlined by Daya Gamage recently
Michael, I read Daya Gamage’s article published in the Colombo Telegraph (4/12/2021) with considerable interest. It raises red flags for Sri Lanka, and I’ll touch on three in this short memo.
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In Appreciation of “Our Sam” … The Samarasinghe Family Collective
It is with profound sorrow that we share with you the passing of Prof. Stanley (Sam) Samarasinghe on Monday, Nov 22, 2021. Our husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, teacher, colleague and friend fought his illness with relentless courage and undiminished fortitude for several years. His enthusiasm to live his life to the full did not abate. Except family and close friends, no one else had even the slightest inkling that he was battling an invasive enemy within.
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Exploring Sri Lanka’s Experiences with Democracy
Sarah Kabir and ROAR on “A Journey of a Demcracy: The Sri Lankan Story”
ROAR is embarking on the generation of a documentary thatseeks to create awareness and understanding of Sri Lanka’s post-independence history…… SEE INITIAL NOTICE: https://thuppahis.com/2021/11/19/imaginative-explorations-of-sri-lankas-history-on-the-cards/#more-56776
Project Intervention
It has been over a decade since the end of Sri Lanka’s protracted conflict, but what we have today is ‘negative peace’ – which is the absence of overt violence. Limited understanding of Sri Lanka’s history, politics, democracy, ambition, intent, and the refusal to acknowledge acts of intolerance and discrimination that destroyed lives and led to bloodshed makes it increasingly difficult to avoid the recurrence of violence and we risk repeating the same mistakes. Today, we are confronted with choices that could lead to positive peace or a resumption of cycles of violence. Even now, the difficulties of dealing with COVID-19 and the resulting economic fallout could lead to social unrest that may morph into inter-communal violence if manipulated. Continue reading
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Kokkadicholai: An Outpost in Wartime Batticaloa
This Item appeared in Dilshy Banu’s Facebook post and I have borrowed it and its photographs for circulation via Thuppahi – in part because it marks a little “outpost activity” in the course of the war and largely because I have met Dilshy and respect her courageous career choices and her lines of philanthropic endeavour….. Michael Roberts, 18 November 2021
Dilshy Banu: “Kokkadicholai in Batticaloa: Traversing Tension during Eelam War IV”
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