Richard Koenigsberg, whose chosen title is “LOVING WHAT KILLS US: The History of the Twentieth Century”
Loving what kills us: what Nazism was.
Loving what kills us: what the Second World War was for the Japanese.
Loving and Dying for Stalin: what Russian Communism was.
Loving and Dying for Mao: what Chinese Communism was. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, anti-racism, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, China and Chinese influences, communal relations, disparagement, ethnicity, European history, Fascism, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, insurrections, Islamic fundamentalism, law of armed conflict, life stories, Middle Eastern Politics, military strategy, nationalism, Pacific Ocean issues, Palestine, politIcal discourse, power politics, racist thinking, religious nationalism, riots and pogroms, Russian history, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, Ukraine & Its Ramifications, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes, World War II
Sachi Sri Kantha
Sachi examining a winged bean pod in 1981
Prelude
Willingly, I opt to use the ‘Ceylon’ word, because I was born in the blessed island Ceylon in May 1953. The place of my birth was Chilaw, solely for the reason it was the then work location of my father Sachithanantham, then employed as a clerk in the hospital services of the Department of Health. He was 30, but my mother was only 17. My parents are from Point Pedro, and it was an arranged marriage among the kin in Point Pedro’s adjacent regions.
From 1961 to 1971, I had primary and secondly schooling at the Colombo Hindu College (Bambalapitiya, Ratmalana) and Aquinas University College. I entered the University of Sri Lanka (Colombo Campus) in January 1972, at the age of 18 years and 8 months. This entry was delayed by months, due to the JVP insurrection in April 1971. Ceylon was re-named as Sri Lanka in May 1972.
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Sachi Sri Kantha, whose preferred title is “James T Rutnam (1905-1988): Noted Bibliophile and a Valued Mentor” … with the highlighting in colour being impositions from The Editor Thuppahi
Introduction
My destiny to meet and interact with James T Rutnam came in the aftermath of the August 1977 anti-Tamil riots. Previously, I had written a little about the anti-Tamil riots that engulfed the island then, and my initial attempts to make a grade as a writer in English. [Please check this link. https://sangam.org/s-p-amarasingam-1977-anti-tamil-pogrom/].
I wrote to Mr. S.P. Amarasingam, the editor of the Tribune (Colombo). At that time, I was unaware that James Rutnam was an influential contributor to the Tribune, since its inception in 1954.
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Michael Roberts
SOUTH ASIA has been a form of Australian exploration — in the plural form of manifold journeys and investigations — in South Asia for several decades. I was a small cog in this cluster of activities some 20 years back; but, alas, fell away. Some old partners in arms are still part of the Editorial Advisory Board; but its a fresh and bright team that is bringing the Indian subcontinent into the Aussie arena. Sri Lankan scholars and readers need to take note of this work and chip in with their own ‘commentary’ — whether in article form or as avid readers.
Check https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/csas20 …. AND/OR write to shameem.black@anu.edu.au ……….. OR ……………………….. priya.chacko@adelaide.edu.au
Filed under ancient civilisations, australian media, British imperialism, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, electoral structures, ethnicity, European history, governance, heritage, Hinduism, historical interpretation, Indian General Elections, Indian Ocean politics, Indian religions, Indian traditions, land policies, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, migrant experiences, modernity & modernization, parliamentary elections, patriotism, pilgrimages, plural society, politIcal discourse, Portuguese imperialism, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, Presidential elections, press freedom & censorship, racism, Rajiv Gandhi, religiosity, riots and pogroms, security, self-reflexivity, terrorism, transport and communications, working class conditions, world events & processes, zealotry
WIKIPEDIA Item: … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kittu_(Tamil_militant)
Colonel Kittu (Tamil militant)
| Born | S. Krishnakumar
2 January 1960 |
| Died | 16 January 1993 (aged 33) |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Years active | 1978 –1993 |
| Organization | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam |
Sathasivam Krishnakumar (Tamil: சதாசிவம் கிருஸ்ணகுமார்; 2 January 1960 – 16 January 1993; commonly known by the nom de guerre Kittu) was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and leading member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka.
Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, caste issues, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, immolation, insurrections, landscape wondrous, language policies, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, military strategy, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, racism, riots and pogroms, Saivism, sea warfare, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, world events & processes, zealotry
Renuka Sadanandan, whose original title runs thus: “Karen Roberts Writing. Her Way of Staying Close” **
Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
It was probably the single most frightening thing that happened to her. Having to walk alone from the advertising agency in Kollupitiya where she worked part-time to her home in Dehiwela, through the streets aflame. Those terrible scenes stayed imprinted in her mind though it was many years before she would think of putting them down.
“On twenty-third of July 1983, the day the world went mad, was how Karen Roberts would later write about the ethnic violence in her book ‘July’. Her world changed that day, she says sombrely. “Until then my life was great…..my only concern was what to wear on Saturday night!” Her father was abroad, her mother had to fetch her younger sister home from school and her brother was stuck somewhere and the 17-year-old Karen had to fend for herself amidst the mayhem and madness that saw the familiar Colombo landscape turn into killing streets.
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WHEN Shamara Wettimuny’s article in the History Workshop Journal entitled “The Colonial History of Islamophobic Slurs in Sri Lanka” …. was placed in FACEBOOK it received the following set of comments: some prejudiced against and some in favour. The ethnic difference in the authors is quite marked and thereby marks the depth of ethnicity in the island context …. TODAY.
Moving at a tangent, I stress that the research work that generated the book by Roberts, Colin-Thome & Raheem which is entitled People Inbtween (1989 Sarvodaya) becomes profoundly relevant to this set of engagements. Note that my deployment of the THUPPAHI concept for my web-site’s brand name emerged from this body of research. So, do visit this entry as well: https://thuppahis.com/why-thuppahi/
The original article can be access in THUPPAHI at ………………… https://thuppahis.com/2020/09/07/experiencing-denigration-in-sri-lanka-the-muslims-yesterday-and-today/
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, demography, discrimination, disparagement, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, education, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, immigration, Indian traditions, Islamic fundamentalism, island economy, landscape wondrous, language policies, legal issues, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, religiosity, riots and pogroms, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, taking the piss, Tamil migration, tolerance, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, violence of language, working class conditions, world events & processes, zealotry
Daya Wickramatunga to Jayantha Somasundaram, 14 July 2024, in Response to Jayantha’s Circulation of the DAILY MIRROR Item on the 1958 Riots: viz. …………………………. https://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/Black-July-facing-the-moment-of-truth/231-287106
The ‘Sinhala Only Bill’ by SWRD was ridiculous. SWRD could hardly speak Sinhala when he returned to Sri Lanka from Oxford. That [the Sinhaal Only campaign] was obviously a political move by SWRD.
Photo shows Tamils being ridiculed and assaulted on Galle Roadin Colombo by Sinhala çitizens’…but check if this is from 1983
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Observer in a Black Sea Port
This You Tube item serves up an excellent discussion and critical analysis of some of the key clauses of the recent NATO communique. It is entertaining too. There is a vast gap between the intellectual rigour applied in this discussion, compared to NATO’s communique which is a distortion of reality and historical truth, and is sheer propaganda.
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A. K. L. Steinbeck, …. with title and underlining imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
WATCH = https://x.com/DOmowale/status/1805701195366822364 …& … https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/6/25/kenya-protests-live-deadly-anti-tax-protests-after-finance-bill-approved
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thuppahi
