Arvind Subramanian, in Project Syndicate on 19 November 2019 [check?] at https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sri-lanka-economic-instability-argentina-by-arvind-subramanian-2019-11 … where the title is “Is Sri Lanka the Next Argentina?”
Category Archives: Sinhala-Tamil Relations
Naseby and Sheikh bat for Sri Lanka in the House of Lords
House of Lords, 7th January 2020
Lord Naseby spoke about Sri Lanka in the Queen’s Speech debate in the House of Lords: “We’ve now got two new leaders, one here in the UK with the drive, determination and commitment and you have an almost identical philosophy in the newly elected Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a man of proven leadership an ability with an agenda to keep the peace to keep an inclusive policy for minorities etc. I see huge opportunities for trade – my noble friend Lord Sheikh raised some of them, I concur with those. There is a huge opportunity but only… … ONLY if the UNHRC project is wound up. I say to the house and my noble friend on the front bench – this year is the year for UK to have faith in Sri Lanka and its newly elected executive president.”
Filed under centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, de-mining, economic processes, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, Uncategorized, unusual people, world events & processes
Switzerland Surrenders …. While the Machinations of a Cabal appear in the Deep Seas
Political Editor of the Sunday Times, 5 January 2019, where the title runs “UNP leadership: Parliamentary group to decide next week”
Switzerland has publicly expressed regrets for challenging Sri Lankan “authorities’ commitment to due process” and for calling that “into question” over the saga involving an embattled staffer at the embassy in Colombo. Their about turn, embarrassingly coming down a few notches, was spelt out in an official Third Person Note (TPN) Bern sent on December 30, 2019 to the Ministry of Foreign Relations. This was after diplomatic consultations got under way with a special envoy to ease tensions between the two countries. The note was released both in Colombo and Bern simultaneously.
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, conspiracies, doctoring evidence, historical interpretation, life stories, news fabrication, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, women in ethnic conflcits, world events & processes
Garnier aka Xavier enveloped in Swiss Arms & Alms
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, atrocities, communal relations, democratic measures, disparagement, elephant tales, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
The Insights etched within Walter Fernando’s Autobiography of an Administrative Career
Gerald H Peiris, in The Island, 1 January 2020, where the title runs thus“Career Challenges of a Public Servant”
Among the treasures in my collection of books there are several biographical works received as gifts ―those of Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Gunadasa Amarasekara, Kingsley de Silva, Usvatte Aratchchi, Jolly Somasundram, Sudath Gunasekara and Walter Fernando. All of us belonged to the Peradeniya segment of the University of Ceylon in the 1950s which, over a brief and exhilarating spell, seemed to fulfill the expectations of its founders in epitomising the long awaited national resurgence, offering an acceptable blend of ‘intellectual’ and ‘utilitarian’ perspectives of higher learning. Since then we have travelled along different paths that merged and diverged at various times. Now in our old age we have shared memories of both joy and sorrow.
Filed under accountability, British colonialism, cultural transmission, education, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, unusual people, world events & processes
A Critical Interpretation of Gotabaya’s Political Programme
ACL Ameer Ali, in Daily FT, 20 December 2019, where the title is “GR’s political exclusion and economic inclusion”
“There should be a huge program to make them (bhikkus) aware of what a modern state is. This has to be a secular state and politicians – not monks – should make the decisions. We have not fully developed the idea or understanding of the modern state. Religion should not be a factor… Buddhism is myself, and how I treat you…” – Ven. Galkande Dhammananda Thera, 18 July 2006.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (PGR) appears to have found a magic solution to the national question of ethnic division and religious turbulence in Sri Lanka, a solution that somehow seems to have escaped the minds of previous political leaders and social scientists. He consistently maintained that the majority is against devolution of power to north and east.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, chauvinism, communal relations, disparagement, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, Muslims in Lanka, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, world events & processes
The Decline of the LSSP in 20th Century Sri Lanka: Sivasambu’s Question
Fr l-to-r= Philip, Colvin R, NM and Reggie Perera
ABOUT Nathan Sivasambu: Nathan Sivasambu is an old-school Trotskyite and a Sri Lankan to the core. After his undergraduate degree from the University of Ceylon in the 1950s he migrated to England. He has sustained his interest in island politics as well as the literary world associated with the Bloomsbury Group and Leonard Woolf. His batchelor-flat near Russell Square placed him close to the Bloomsbury arena in London… and the British Museum as well as SOAS and its Sri Lankan stock of books.
Filed under authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, economic processes, historical interpretation, island economy, language policies, Left politics, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, working class conditions, world events & processes
The Vicious Political Fervour promoted by Social Media Today
Michael Roberts
My past studies of ethnic pogroms in Sri Lanka and India alerted me to the power of oral communication and emotional voices in sparking retaliation against an ethnic other in neighbourhood or region.[1] In May-June 1915 oral tales of Muslim atrocity (mostly concocted one can assume) were carried along the railway tracks and thus converted a clash at Castle Street Kandy on the night of the 28th May night into a series of violent attacks on Muslims residing in such towns as Kegalle, Rambukkana, Colombo, Panadura on the 29th and 30th May and thence to Galle and Matara and their outlying road networks between the 1st and 4th June.
Filed under accountability, atrocities, chauvinism, communal relations, cultural transmission, disparagement, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, Muslims in Lanka, politIcal discourse, power politics, psychological urges, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, Tamil migration, tolerance, trauma, vengeance, world events & processes
Dear Tamil Brethren ….
A LETTER from A Sinhala Collective, in Island, 14 December 2019, where the title runs thus “A Letter to Tamil Citizens from a Group of Sinhalese” …. with highlighting emphasis added by The Editor, Thuppahi
After the recent Presidential election, we were saddened to see, how the Tamil voting pattern reflected the division between us and that the Tamil Eelam map was drawn once again. We know, there was significant fear created by politicians who had a lot to gain from the Tamil voters, but unfortunately it was representative of the fact that the Tamils are not one with the rest of the country.
Filed under accountability, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, politIcal discourse, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy
Boris and Gota: Where the “Progressives” were Out-of-Mind
Malinda Seneviratne, in his Blog where the title runs thus: “The flooring of ideologies and ideologues”
Labour gaining ground. One in ten still undecided. Jeremy Corbyn is much closer to becoming Prime Minister than voters think, according to a Conservative party memo. Hung parliament will see Boris Johnson removed from No 10 Downing Street. Labour minority government likely. Opinion polls tightening — Corbyn might just become Prime Minister.
These were headlined claims in the run up to the British Parliamentary Elections.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, democratic measures, electoral structures, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, Left politics, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, propaganda, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, Sri Lankan scoiety, taking the piss, unusual people, world events & processes
As Sri Lanka makes another crucial political transition, it faces a major risk of macroeconomic instability. Minimizing that risk will depend, above all, on whether the country’s newly elected president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, can defy his reputation and embrace inclusive politics.
Lady Justice reading a book