Category Archives: sri lankan society

October 7, 2016 · 4:40 am

Sri Lanka leads World in Path to Eliminate Malaria

Sarah Boseley, in The Guardian Weekly, 22 September 2016, where the title reads “Beginning of the End for Malaria,” ... https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/09/malaria-sri-lanka-china-iran-malaysia-end-for-disease 

Hopes of eliminating malaria from more than 30 countries with a total population of 2 billion have risen following the successful removal of the disease from Sri Lanka. Public health officials said 13 countries, including Argentina and Turkey, had reported no cases for at least a year and may well follow the success of Sri Lanka, which this week declared itself malaria-free after meeting the criterion of going three years without an infection. By the end of the decade, another 21 countries, including China, Malaysia and Iran, could be free of the disease, which kills 400,000 people, mostly babies and pregnant women, every year.

Public health officials believe that in years to come the elimination from Sri Lanka, highly symbolic because the island came within a hair’s breadth of defeating malaria more than 50 years ago, may be regarded as the beginning of the end for the disease.

aa-lanka-malaria-11-eranga-j-for-ap A Sri Lankan worker fumigates buildings to control mosquitoes in Colombo. Photograph: Eranga Jayawardena/AP
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October 5, 2016 · 1:20 pm

Rathika Pathmanathan Face-to-Face and Woman-to-Woman

Frances Bulathsinghala, courtesy of Daily FT, 5 October 2016, where the title reads “Facing the past, bridging the divide” ... with emphasis inblue highlghts added by the Editor, Thuppahi.

The life of 25-year-old Rathika Pathmanathan is a testimony of a post-war nation at the crossroads. She has lived the hideous gore of war, bloodied trenches and is now living the possibilities of peace. She has dared to trust and she has dared to forgive.  In her book ‘There is a Darkness Called Light and I Grope for Myself in the Thick of It,’ published in English, Sinhala and Tamil, recounts her days as a teenaged fighter in the LTTE frontlines of the last phase of the war; the nights and days of starvation in the trenches, the excruciating combat training, the loss of family and the new world of Colombo where she arrived for medical treatment for the leg she almost lost. Seated in the small, sparsely-furnished room she occupies on rent in a remote Sinhala majority suburb in the outer periphery of Colombo, Rathika speaks of wanting to rebuild her life, to study and most of all to actively work towards reconciliation in Sri Lanka, a task she is engaged in at present through her book and as an activist.

rathika

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October 4, 2016 · 7:55 pm

Mahinda Rajapaksa commences Process of Losing the Peace, May-June 2009

Michael Roberts, drafted on 23rd May and printed in  Frontline, 26/12 of 6-19 June 2009. The original title was “Some Pillars for Lanka’s Future.” The reproduction here has been supplemented by the use of highlighting colours in blue and red… and different pictorial illustrations to that in Frontline.

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 has to address the human terrain rather than the fields of battle. In facing this challenge, both government and people concerned must attend to another truism: as Sinnappah Arasaratnam pointed out long ago, extremisms have been feeding off each other and undermining political compromise in Sri Lanka over a long period of time. Now, apart from the well-known Sinhala chauvinist forces outside and within the Rajapaksa government, we must attend to the Tamil chauvinist forces in the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and elsewhere in Sri Lanka, in Tamil Nadu and in the ranks of the vociferous Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora across the world. These forces have to be undermined.

mr-and-statuesmr-proudmr-as-raja

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October 4, 2016 · 6:48 pm

Murali Reddy evaluates the Ram-Rajapaksa Conversation in July 2009

B. Muralidhar Reddy in Frontline, Volume 26 – Issue 15 :: Jul. 18-31, 2009, where the title is “Sri Lanka — A New Dawn? ... emphasis is the hand of The editor, Thuppahi

“The fast-moving developments in the country since the end of the war seem to show that the President’s strategy is working.”

redyy-on-mr-and-gsl-plans-july-2009President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake at the all-party meeting called by the government—Pic by Eranga Jaywardena

THE pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of what could be the future of post-Prabakaran Sri Lanka appear to be falling into place. A three-hour, no-holds-barred interview of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu group of publications, on the evening of June 30 appears to throw up several pieces that could fit into the puzzle.

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October 4, 2016 · 2:58 pm

Mahinda Rajapaksa meets “The Hindu” in July 2009

I. Preamble by Michael Roberts

I was in Colombo from mid-April 2009 to early June and observed the local coverage of Eelam War IV at its bitter end. I was invited by Muralidhar Reddy[i] to write articles for Frontline on aspects of the politics surrounding the war. Though Frontline is a magazine produced by The Hindu consortium, I was not a regular follower of that newspaper on web — even though I had once been introduced to its owner and chief executive, N. Ram, way back in time by Chandra Schafter and had also had an extended chat with him in Delhi in 1995.[ii]

n_ram_20120625_350_630 N Ram talking to Mahinda Rajapaksa, mid-2009 mahinda-with-ram

Thus the receipt of a Hindu report on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s thoughts in mid-2009, expressed in an extended session with him conducted by N. Ram, serves up new material from my position. In step with my policy of raising significant episodes in the course of Eelam War IV to public notice,[iii] I  hasten to place this exchange in the public domain. Continue reading →

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October 4, 2016 · 1:53 pm

Natasha Maurice questions the Bona Fides of the Geneva Campaign Mounted by USA

Natasha Maurice nee Gooneratne … Statement presented by J. Natasha Maurice (nee Gooneratne) at the Panel Discussion ‘Geneva and You’ On 29th September 2016 … with highlighting emphasis in blue and red being impositions by The Editor, Thuppahi 

gyou-11-natasha Natasha addressing Geneva and You

I’d like to start off by firstly thanking Sri Lanka Inc for organising this event, and am confident that it will provide more avenues to discuss the resolution and events surrounding it. This paper will very briefly explore 4 topics, that of multilateral affairs, geopolitics, economic and trade issues, and the issue of the one size fits all model.

Any form of discussion on this resolution becomes so highly politicized, that it is now presumed that you are either anti-government or pro-former government, or that you are pro or anti US or pro or anti UN, if you have any sort of opinion on it. But the background and content of this resolution is not so simply polarized, it’s far more complex. And if we are not careful, we can get so caught up in the politicisation that we can miss the legitimate issues that surround it. These ramifications impact both the macro level, in relation to Sri Lanka as a sovereign entity, and ultimately trickle down to the micro level, in relation to the lives of individual Sri Lankans. … [including] you and me sitting in this room. Continue reading →

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October 4, 2016 · 1:17 pm

The Geneva Juggernaut and the Yahapalanaya Complicity

gyou-11A Panel Discussion entitled “Geneva and You” was organized by the civil society group Sri Lanka Inc. on 29th September 2016 at the Sri Lanka Foundation institute. The event aimed to educate people about the US led UNHRC Resolution which was co-sponsored by Sri Lanka by exploring the events surrounding the adoption of the resolution and its possible impacts on Sri Lanka as a whole. In this manner the aim was to stimulate discussions on the issues developing from this process.

The line-up of panelists expressed concerns about the nature of events surrounding its adoption and current setting. While all the panelists agreed on the negative aspects of the resolution, views differed on the overall reality behind its adoption and ultimate implementation. The event was chaired by Chamithri Rambukwella, former 2nd Secretary to the Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. The speakers and panelists were Natasha Gooneratne Maurice, Fr. Vimal Tirimanne, Chris Dharmakirti, Dr Palitha Kohona and Dr. Dayan Jaytilleka.

gyou-11-rambukwellaChamithri Rambukwella opens the panel  gyou-11-audienceA segment of the audience

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October 3, 2016 · 3:05 pm

Extremisms in Lanka and Worldwide

Rajan Philips,  courtesy of The Island, 1 October 2016, where the title is “With the West sneezing extremism, can Sri Lanka and others avoid catching cold?” .… Emphasis vvia highlighting is from The Editor,Thuppahi.

FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2013 file photo, Donald Trump appears on the "Fox & friends" television program in New York. Trump on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014 told a group of New Jersey Republicans he expects New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to make it through the scandals that are plaguing his administration. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

demos-jp

One would have thought that the old wisecrack needs to be reversed. The West may not be just sneezing, but has already got the cold, even worse, a bad fever of extremism. And that the worry would be if others can avoid the infection. Not so fast, says the wag, as there is quite a bit of Sri Lankan and South Asian sneezing and coughing going around, and we don’t need infection from the West to make matters worse. Jaffna’s Chief Protestor has signalled his periodical awakening from his chronic administrative sleep with the new “EzhugaThamizh” (linguists use ‘zh’ instead of ‘l’ for a unique Dravidian letter and sound) slogan. “Pongu” relates to the liquid state of matter, Ezhuga could be Freudian. Southern Chief Ministers are weighing in, or rising up, and the SLFP’s two-timing (between Mahinda and Maithri) Nimal Siripala seized on the sneeze from Jaffna to bark out a cough of his own on the inviolability of being unitary. Continue reading →

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October 3, 2016 · 6:44 am

The Riveting ‘Revelations’ of Google Street View Imagery

Michael Roberts

About 4-5 years back I recall seeing a google satellite image of the driveway to our house in Adelaide. It registered only vaguely and I did not reflect upon its marvels and implications.  But on 1st October this year young Asela Atukorala from Adelaide sent this circular note:  Hi all, I wrote a new blog post “Showcasing Sri Lanka from Google Street View” about Sri Lanka’s coverage within Google StreetView. Google released coverage of Sri Lankan roads in Google StreetView this March, and in my post I embed areas of Sri Lanka which include Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Point Pedro, Batticaloa, Mullaitivu, Mannar Island, Ja-Ela and Negombo. You can explore the Sri Lankan roads in my blog post.

If you’re interested you can see it here,  http://aselaatukorala.blogspot.com/2016/10/showcasing-sri-lanka-from-google-street.html.

 Best Regards,  Asela

OR TRY http://www.gadgetsnow.com/computing/Now-watch-Street-View-imagery-of-Sri-Lanka-on-Google-Maps/articleshow/51515705.cm 

OR  http://www.newsvoir.com/release/google-launches-street-view-imagery-of-sri-lanka-6429.html Continue reading →

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October 2, 2016 · 3:28 pm

The Idea of Federalism: From Banda to Chelva to Colvin

Rajan Philips,  courtesy of The Island 24 September 2016, where the title is ““SWRD Bandaranaike and the paradox of Sri Lankan federalism”…  Apart from a change of ttile and an adjustment in the first sentecnce, I have inserted emphasis in blue– Editor, Thuppahi

aa-bandaThe 26th of September was the 57th death anniversary of Sri Lanka’s fourth Prime Minister, SWRD Bandaranaike. The shocking circumstances of his death in 1959 and the subsequent electoral successes of the political party that he founded ensured his posthumous political significance and the commemoration of his death as an annual state event for the next two decades. Even tomorrow there will be commemoration ceremonies at the Horagolla Samadhi, but not at the same scale of splendour as they were during the 1960s and 1970s. A silver tongued orator, Mr. Bandaranaike was also a rare political figure outside the two Left political parties, who could actually ‘write’ and did write on politics. The subject of my commemorative piece today is what Mr. Bandaranaike (SWRD) wrote in 1926 to The Ceylon Morning Leader that was published in Colombo at that time. SWRD wrote six Letters to the Morning Leader on the subject of federalism in May-June 1926, and in July the newspaper carried an extensive report on a speech he delivered in Jaffna on July 17, 1926, on the topic: ‘A Federal System for Sri Lanka.’

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