October 4, 2019 · 8:52 am

DS Senanayake’s Life and Times by KM de Silva … hits the island roads

Press Release from the ICES at Kandy

The ceremonial launch of two publications of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES, Kandy) titled, respectively, as The Life of D. S. Senanayake (1884-1952): Sri Lanka’s First Prime Minister, by Prof. K. M. de Silva, and its Sinhala version,  D.S: Sri Lankaway Prathama Agraamaathya, by Professor K. N. O. Dharmadasa, was held in Kandy on 3 October 2019 in the presence of a large gathering invited by Prof. Upul Dissanayake, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya, who sponsored the event in collaboration with the staff of the ICES.

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October 3, 2019 · 3:40 pm

A Rousing Farewell for Lal Wickramatunga in Sydney

Pictorial display courtesy of Ozlanka.com …. http://www.ozlanka.com/2019-albums/sep2019-pics/lal-1/index.html

Lal Wickramatunga was a Benedictine cricketer who could mix it with or best in his halcyon days and thereafter served as a police officer. He was a servant of the Board of Control for Sri Lanka Cricket in the 1990s. He helped run The Sunday Leader after his elder brother Lasantha was assassinated in January 2009. He moved to Australia in diplomatic and consular capacities in recent times. His popularity among the Sri Lankans in Sydney is indelibly etched in the pictorial illustrations presented in OZLANKA. May he bat on …… and on …. wherever he plants his feet.

Fare thee well Lal.

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Escorts for Sri Lankan Team in Karachi

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October 3, 2019 · 12:56 am
October 2, 2019 · 3:20 pm

The Presidential Stakes: The Two Paths behind the Two Faces

S W R de A Samarasinghe, in Island, 1 October 2019,  where the title reads ” Democracy at the Crossroads”

There is little to choose between the two principal presidential candidates Sajith Premadasa (UNF) and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (SLPP) when it comes to election rhetoric. Both talk a lot about national unity, security, national sovereignty, economic prosperity, and social equity. These are very reasonable and highly desirable goals that nobody will challenge.

But there is one key issue on which the two sides appear to differ. Rajapaksa and his supporters stress the importance of a ‘strong’ government. They do not clearly define the term. However, the 2006-2014 record of the Rajapaksa administration where the rule of law was disregarded with impunity and white vans were used to intimidate opponents, suggests that the term ‘strong’ was not exactly benign in that era.

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October 2, 2019 · 4:09 am

Bewildering Facts and Gaps: The Lahore Assault on the Cricket Entourage in March 2009

 Michael Roberts

 The perpetrators of the attack on the cricket entourage heading for Gaddafi Stadium on 3rd March 2009 have never been identified in a sure-fire manner. Nor have any Pakistani analysts clarified the motivations and politics behind this horrendous assault on a sport that meant so much to Pakistanis themselves. Were the personnel who mounted the assault jihadists who did not wish the cricket bat to sustain more appeal than the scimitar that stands as a symbol for a Islamic resurgence?

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October 2, 2019 · 1:49 am

Michael De Zoysa: A Man to have beside You” — so say Ranjan, Rex and Sa’adi

ONE = RANJAN PARANAVITHANA in Facebook

Sad news…! It is the time to say good bye to a legend on Sri Lanka Cricket…
Former Sri Lanka team manager,
Expert on the tea industry.,
Live wire of SSC cricket..,
Commentator,
Curator,
A man who had athe backbone to fight against wrongdoings at Sri Lanka Cricket ,
Michel De Zoysa.!
Rest in peace…! 😢
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Behind the Scenes: Pitipassen Paalanaya

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October 1, 2019 · 8:48 am
October 1, 2019 · 3:16 am

Riddled with Deceit and Fallacy: The Western World’s Appraisal of Eelam War IV

“Deceit Magnified: The Western World’s Appraisal of Eelam War IV” by Michael Roberts in FAULTLINES The K.P.S. Gill Journal of Conflict & Resolution Volume 24 September 2019 ……………… https://www.satp.org/Docs/Faultline/24.pdf– with some minor tweaking and the use of highlights to emphasize points of particular value

The last stage of Eelam War IV in Sri Lanka in 2008/09 has generated a large volume of literature. In addressing the issues arising from this work, it is possible to proceed by assertions founded upon previous articles with their supporting evidence.[1] The focus here is on the pursuits of the US State Department through its point man in Colombo, US Ambassador Blake, as well as its ‘auxiliaries’ in the UN and European Union.[2] The arguments here are deliberately provocative. They commence with eleven  assertions that highlight a worldwide ignorance of alarming proportions in 2009, a shortcoming that persists today.

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September 30, 2019 · 2:28 pm

The Political Machinations of the Deep State and Their Imprint on 21/4

Rajan Hoole

Our history of impunity, especially since the ascent to power of J.R. Jayewardene in 1977, brings us to the strange and largely un-mourned disappearance of the law. The Easter eruption, the evidence suggests, was a gamble the protagonists stumbled into in confronting the arithmetical realities of the coming presidential election. Their expectations appear to have gone awry. What transpired was in effect, a second attempt at disenfranchisement, this time of the Muslims. The Plantation Tamils were disenfranchised in 1949, as a follow up to the 1948 Citizenship Act.

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September 29, 2019 · 3:59 pm

Juliet Coombe joins Sanga in showcasing Sri Lanka to the Brits

As Kumar Sangakkara takes on the majestic chair of President MCC. Juliet Coombe will showcase Sri Lanka’s special delights and demand sustainable paths in a hard-hitting critique of past policies at a leading venue in London on 15th October 2019

Juliet Coombe:  “Sustainable Sri Lanka: An Island Dream?”

at  The Linnean Society (Meeting Room, at The Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J OBF………………… From 2pm – 3.30pm, Tuesday 15th October 2019

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