Michael Roberts
In my readings of her past work, Shenali Waduge tended to go overboard in several of her claims, while also displaying one-sided Sinhala chauvinistic leanings in her assessments. But her recent article in Lankaweb, entitled “US in Sri Lanka since 2015 – turning Sri Lanka into a Neo-Colonial Military Base,” addresses a wide range of issues, including some that are looming over Sri Lanka today. It is also marked by considerable industry and embraces an extended sweep of time.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, Eelam, electoral structures, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, insurrections, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, Presidential elections, Rajapaksa regime, reconciliation, Responsibility to Protect or R2P, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil Tiger fighters, TNA, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, unusual people, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes
It was exactly 50 years ago that I started working as a full-time newspaper cartoonist, and as if to celebrate this anniversary, mysterious fate had me drawing a cartoon which brought so much hostile public reaction that I began to lie awake at night wondering why I had followed such a troubled, painful and precarious career path.
Item in Daily News, 1 November 2019 …. http://www.dailynews.lk/2019/11/01/sports/201649/traditional-mcc-champion-county-match-be-played-galle
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) yesterday announced that next season’s Champion County match against Essex will be held in Sri Lanka. The traditional curtain-raiser to the new English domestic season, which dates back to 1970 in its current guise, will be played at the Galle International Stadium between 24 and 27 March 2020.
Pics by David Colin-Thome
Dr Janaka Gallangoda spent two years at Flinders University in 2014/15 and I have been fortunate in gaining access to his scintillating camera-work previously. Here are selections from his snapshots of birds in Sri Lanka
Kashmir Flycatcher (Ficedula subrubra) …. Rare winter migrant to the central hills of Sri Lanka from the Kashmir region of Himalayan foothills. This is a globally threatened bird. Many birdwatchers from all over the world travel to Nuwara Eliya to watch this little jewel. It is a solitary and fairly territorial bird found near forest edges, gardens and tea estates.
David Kilcullen, in The Australian, 29 October 2019, where the title is “ISIS on a road to revenge after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death”
The death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a symbolic blow to the organisation he led since April 2010. In practical terms, it may help the group regenerate as it adapts to the loss of its territorial “caliphate”. Baghdadi had been on the run since Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces captured his capital, the city of Raqqa in northern Syria, in October 2017. Islamic State’s last stronghold, near Baghouz on the Syrian-Iraqi border, fell to SDF fighters, coalition advisers and US and allied airstrikes in March this year. These losses followed the fall of Mosul in northern Iraq, the largest and most important city controlled by Islamic State, from which Baghdadi declared the “caliphate” in mid-2014.
Filed under accountability, Al Qaeda, american imperialism, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, conspiracies, jihad, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, security, self-reflexivity, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes
ACL Ameer Ali, in Colombo Telegraph, 25 October 2019, … and Financial Times, 26 October 2019, with this title, “Political Buddhism, Presidential Race & Minorities”
Although the origins of political Buddhism in Sri Lanka goes back to the 19thcentury, it was harnessed as an election winning tool in the 1950s by the founder of SLFP, SWRD Bandaranaike. It was from him that even the CIA is said to have learned to politicise Buddhism to entrench American power in Southeast Asia (Eugene Ford, Cold War Monks, Yale University Press, 2017). From the 1950s onwards, political Buddhism has become a permanent feature of in Sri Lanka’s ethno-democracy. In a sense, political Buddhism adopted a military face during the Rajapakse regime between 2005 and 2009 when it confronted an armed nationalist Tamil militia, and the absolute victory in that confrontation added an element of pride to politicised Buddhists. 
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, chauvinism, communal relations, electoral structures, ethnicity, fundamentalism, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, Islamic fundamentalism, language policies, legal issues, life stories, Muslims in Lanka, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Rajeewa Jayaweera, in Island, 27 October 2019, with this title “Hakeem-Bathiudeen United Front”
That the Rajapaksas were responsible for the political advent of Rishad Bathiudeen (RB) and his All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) is a widely believed theory. It was supposed to counter the political monopolization of the Muslim community by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and its leader and Rauff Hakeem (RH). Nevertheless, recent events indicate that may not be the case. When push comes to shove, they seem to be operating in unison, protecting and defending each other.
Jon Lockett, in SUN, 28 October 2019, with this title
THE special forces unit which hunted down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is so secretive even the Pentagon doesn’t admit it exists. Delta Force — set up by a US commander who served with the SAS- – only recruits the best of the best and plays by its own combat rules.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, conspiracies, ethnicity, historical interpretation, Islamic fundamentalism, law of armed conflict, life stories, military strategy, nationalism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, slanted reportage, Taliban, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes
DCP Amarasekere[i], in Island, 28 October 2019, with this title “Beyond the story of doom: the social base of ‘new authoritarianism’ in Sri Lanka”
With only a few weeks left for the 2019 Presidential Election, two questions seem to dominate our social conversations and news coverage: “who will win?” and “what will be Sri Lanka’s political destiny?” In the absence of country-wide scientific polling, the first question is typically answered by using anecdotes, quasi-scientific, social media or social network specific speculations or gossip. The second question, which categorically stems from the liberal quarters of society, is a long-winded lament about the “cruel dilemma” of having to choose between a “neo-conservative” coalition and weak political formations putting up a brave fight to hold on to the last straw of the country’s democracy.
NM Perera at hartal 1953 and SWRD for Sinhala Only in 1956
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, education, electoral structures, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, island economy, landscape wondrous, language policies, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, unusual people, vengeance, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
A Memo from Barnaby Bernardus to Chandra Fernando of ANDUREN ELIYATA, October 2019
Dear Mr Susadath/ Mr. Candra, ….. I wish to inform you that we distributed 50 solo light to Jaffna children on 21 st of August 2019. The balance 50 solo light are with us. on that we could not distribute all 100 light. Due to heavy rain most of children couldn’t come to the Jaffna event.The balance 50 children are living close to Killonichchi.
.So, we are hoping send balance 50 solo light to Brigadier Ajith Elwatha of Killinochchi Army First week of next month to distribute solo light to the children . Then he will take all photos to us after that I will send you.. Continue reading
thuppahi
