Chandre Dharma-wardana – responding to a vibrant EMAIL DISCUSSION among Sri Lankans re what should be done at the forthcoming human rights charade at the UNHRC in Geneva
I personally think it doesn’t matter who Sri Lanka sends to Geneva. This whole thing is NOT based on facts. It is NOT based on what was said, is said or will be said. They KNOW the facts. The UNHRC’s commissioner is not a fool, but a seasoned politician. If she wants, she can get at the facts.
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Rajan Philips, in Colombo Telegraph, 14 February 2021, where his chosen ttitle is “Geneva Odyssey: More Confrontation Or New Approach?”
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who made the surprising call for the government cancelling the ECT deal with India and Japan, has made another surprising and really a gallant announcement giving the green light for allowing burials for Muslim and Christian victims of Covid-19. If the Ministry of Health has been caught unawares by the PM’s statement in parliament, well, they had better get used to it. But no sooner had the government appeared to have cremated the burial issue than Cardinal Malcom Ranjith raised a new headache for the government – threatening to take his case for justice for the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks to international courts, if there is no assurance of justice through domestic investigations. That is a shocker even though it is no more than a threat for now.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, communal relations, democratic measures, doctoring evidence, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, legal issues, life stories, Muslims in Lanka, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, taking the piss, Tamil civilians, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, unusual people, vengeance, world events & processes
Frank Broeze from the University of Western Australia organised a wide-ranging study of port cities in Asia which should not be neglected in exploring the background bearing upon the ongoing politico-economic manoeuvres in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific today.
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Kalinga Tudor Silva, ** whose original title reads thus: “Ethnicity and Religion as – beinga chapyDrivers of Charity and Philanthropy in Colombo: Implications for Social Harmony in Sri Lanka” – being achapter in Taejong Kim and Anthea Malakala (eds.): Social Mobility: Experiences and Lessons from Asia. Seoul: Asia Foundation and Korean Development Institute, 2015. pp. 151-174.
1 — Introduction: Charity and philanthropy act as important welfare mechanisms in all societies. Charity is defined as the impulse toward disinterested private giving (Bornstein 2009), while organized philanthropy reflects notions such as corporate social responsibility, humanitarian values, and concerns about the efficacy of assistance (Fontaine 2007). Both charity and philanthropy (CP) complement and supplement the welfare services of the state, mobilizing the reservoir of goodwill and mutual caring in society. While both may involve universal human values and emotions, such as compassion and sympathy towards those in distress, research has highlighted ethnicity and religion as important drivers of CP in various societies (Bornstein 2007, 2009; Korf 2006).
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VISIT https://leftoutmag.com/2021/02/04/breaking/
Today Black Lives Matter Inland Empire announced its departure from the Black Lives Matter Global Network, highlighting several grievances, and perhaps, calling attention to the need for movement leaders and members of movement organizations to have broader conversations of transparency, Collective organizing and accountability. The following is a statement from Black Lives Matter Inland Empire.
Ethiopia Berta, an activist and educator who has been fighting for a change for many years, marches in Washington, D.C., on June 6. Last year she worked to keep Democracy Prep Public Charter School in southeast Washington, D.C., from closing…. Pix by Dee Dwyer
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Chandra R. De Silva
The political and military history of the port city of Galle, located on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka, is well documented. This brief report is merely an effort to fill in a gap in the records relating to the history of this port in the half century between the 1580s and the 1630s.
The popular belief is that the name of the settlement comes from the Sinhala word Gaalla or cattle pen, but in his description of Galle in the Saragossa manuscript probably finalized in the 1630s Constantino de Sa de Miranda suggests that the name comes from the word Gal (stone) (Flores p. 130) of which there was plenty around Galle harbor. The Portuguese historian de Queyroz (p. 31), writing in the late seventeenth century, also suggests that the name comes from the word Gal (stone) or Galgue (stone house).
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C.M. Madduma Bandara**
Some Past Attempts: Since [securing] National Independence in 1948, there [have been] three Constitutions (including the present) that governed this Country. The First was the Soulbury (/Jennings) Constitution that lasted for less than 15 years, and then the Republican Constitution of 1972 during the regime of Prime Minister Sirimao Bandaranaike that had a similar life span until it was superseded by the present Constitution enacted during the early regime of President JR JayEwardena. The last one, despite numerous amendments from time to time, [has been in force for] nearly 40 years, despite the fact that it was referred to as “Bahubhhootha Vyawasthawa” (nonsensical or mad constitution) by President Chandrika Bandaranaike. However, the number of amendments effected over the years indicated that all was not well during its life span. It also perhaps reflects a general belief among the past politicians that the problem is with the dancing floor rather than with the dancer!.
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A Question from one Sanjay Gunawardena, 12 February 2021:
“Thank you for this great article Dr Roberts.[i] Has anyone got a picture or a painting of the Old Windmill which has been in the Galle Fort. This has been mentioned E.F.C Ludowyk’s book Long Afternoons in Colonial Ceylon. If you can please share an image, it will be much appreciated. Thank you.
A Response from Hemantha Situge: “Lyn Ludo says the windmill was one of the five landmarks that crowned the Fort. It was erected during British times. I have seen two photographs which I have not copied.”[ii]
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Somasiri Skandakumar in Haputale
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thuppahi
