Thuppahi&#039;s Blog

Filed under British colonialism, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, education, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Indian religions

December 3, 2018 · 2:47 pm

The Grim Prospects Sri Lanka Faces Today

SWR de “Sam” Samarasinghe, Island, 3 December 2018, where the title reads “The Crisis in Governance: Likely Economic Consequences and the End Game” ….. Also presented in Colombo Telegraph, https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-crisis-in-governance-likely-economic-consequences-the-end-game/

The crisis of governance that Sri Lanka is currently facing is unprecedented in post-war Sri Lankan politics. Two individuals claiming to be prime minister and one major party boycotting parliament illustrate the point. There is no need to recount in detail the events of the past five weeks that are publicly known. The purpose of this article is to note some of the serious implications of this crisis for the economy of the country and to stress the importance of resolving the crisis in a manner that would reverse these adverse trends.

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, China and Chinese influences, democratic measures, economic processes, electoral structures, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, sri lankan society, world events & processes

December 3, 2018 · 9:35 am

How Sri Lanka missed the Chinese Path to the Cutting-Edge in Today’s World

G. Usvatte-aratchi, Sunday Island, 2 December 2018, where the title is “Sinhala and Tamil as languages of instruction and administration”

There have been several letters to the Editor in The Island, on these themes. I want to correct some mistakes that recurred in these interventions and present a perspective that has not been presented so far.

Solomon Bandaranaike had little to do with the language of instruction in school. The credit goes to J.R. Jayewardene and V. Nallliah who moved a resolution in the State Council in 1943 that the language of instruction in schools shall be Sinhala and Tamil. The resolution was carried. I read somewhere that the moving spirit for the initiative came from Jayantha Weerasekera, who was an official in the Sinhala Maha Sabha, of which at that time Jayewardene was a (the?) leader. Jayantha Weeraekere was a close friend and collaborator of Kumaratunga Munidasa, a powerful voice for Sinhala language. The Resolution was not acted upon until January in 1947.

Jayantha Weerasekera CWW Kannagara

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December 2, 2018 · 2:17 pm

Tamil Tigers: Dead Body Politics and Sacrificial Devotion

Michael Roberts, reproducing here an article entitled “Tamil Tigers: Sacrificial symbolism and ‘dead body politics’,” that was first presented in Anthropology Today, June 2008, vol. 24/3: 22-23. The re-working of this article was seen to by Ms Nadeeka Paththuwaarachchi of Battaramulla.

Scholars and journalists often mistakenly treat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, or Tamil Tigers) as a ‘secular organization’ at a time when stereotypes of the Islamic ‘terrorist’ or ‘Hindu fundamentalist’ dominate popular thinking about political extremism. Political scientists devote space to the Tamil Tigers in their global surveys of what they term ‘suicide terrorism’.[1] Recently, Roland Buerk of the BBC presented a similar view: ‘They are not religious and believe that there is nothing after death. Their fanaticism is born of indoctrination from childhood.’[2]

Tiger fighters relax in camp but retain their kuppi with cyanide in chainsaround neck-Pic by Shyam Tekwani c.1989 whne embedded among the LTTE

Filed under Al Qaeda, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, cultural transmission, Eelam, heritage, Hinduism, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Indian religions, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, religiosity, Saivism, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, Sri Lankan scoiety, suicide bombing, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes

December 2, 2018 · 8:02 am

Suicide Missions as Witnessing: From Self-Immolation to Assassination and Mass Strike

Michael Roberts ….. This article appeared first in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 2007, vol. 30: 857-88.with the title “Suicide Missions as Witnessing: Expansions, Contrasts” and is reproduced here with its original American English spelling. The re-working of this article was seen to by Ms Nadeeka Paththuwaarachchi of Battaramulla. The pictorial images are embellishments that were not part of the original essay. I have also added highlighting emphasis in orange as well as a few hyperlinks to other standard sources of information. The bibliographical references are within the End Notes as in the original format.

ABSTRACT: Studies of suicide missions usually focus solely on attacks. They also have highlighted the performative character of suicide missions as acts of witness. By extending surveys to suicidal acts that embrace no-escape attacks, theatrical assassination, defensive suicide, and suicidal protest, one gains further insight into the motivations of individuals and organizations. Illustrative studies, notably the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and Sadat as well as Tamil Tiger operations, generate a typology that underlines the benefits of such extensions. The Japanese and Tamil contexts reveal the profound differences in readings of sacrificial acts of atonement or punishment by local constituencies. Norman Morrison in Washington in 1965 and Jan Palach in Prague in 1969 did not have such beneficial settings and the immediate ramifications of their protest action were limited. Morrison’s story highlights the significance of a societal context of individuated rationalism as opposed, say, to the “pyramidical corporatism” encouraging martyrdom operations in the Islamic world.

Jan Palach…19 Jan. 1969 Nathuram Godse vs Mahatma Gandhi .. 30 Jan 1948

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December 1, 2018 · 2:08 pm

Sharmini’s Appeal: Stand Up for Democracy on December 6th

Sharmini Serasinghe

My dear fellow Sri Lankans, please share this post as widely as possible for the sake of Democracy in our Sri Lanka

An appeal from me to all my fellow Sri Lankans who wish to see Democracy restored in our country…… On 6th December, 2018 at 3.30 pm, many of us apolitical journalists, writers, artistes including musicians, film stars and other’s in diverse professions are gathering at the Open Air Theatre at the Viharamahadevi Park to “Stand Up for Democracy” in peace. I appeal to all my countrymen and women to join us in our mission.

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Filed under accountability, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom, reconciliation, sri lankan society, unusual people

December 1, 2018 · 1:29 pm

Victor Ivan’s Contentions on the Present Crisis: Two Essays

ONE: “The present crisis is likely to end up in a serious disaster,” in

Of the Executive Presidents who ruled the country prior to Maithripala Sirisena, J.R. Jayewardene and Mahinda Rajapaksa can be described as those who mostly and increasingly exhibited the majesty and the prowess of the post. Both had adequate powers to do so. In fact, J.R. Jayewardene boasted that the only thing he could not do was to make a man a woman and vice versa.

President Maithripala Sirisena is not equipped with powers to do what he is doing at the moment

Periyamadu, Nov 19, 2018: Some members of the England cricket team accompany Mine Advisory Group (MAG) personnel to an area cleared of explosive devices. From Left : Joe Root, Keaton Jennings, Jonny Bairstow, Olly Stone and British High Commissioner Dauris (partly covered) at the back (pic courtesy BHC, Colombo)

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December 1, 2018 · 2:21 am

Lessons for Joe Root, Dauris and the British: Minefields, Terrorist Hits and the Miliband Intervention in 2009

Shamindra Ferdinando, Island, 27 November 2018:

Having visited one-time LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) dominated Periyamadu on Nov 19, morning, Englishman Olly Stone tweeted: “GREAT DAY UP IN NORTH SRI LANKA VISITING THE MINEFIELDS WITH MAG (Mine Advisory Group), AN AMAZING JOB THEY ARE DOING WITH THE LOCAL PEOPLE TO HELP MAKE THE PLACE SAFE AGAIN AND GROW THE COMMUNITY!”

Twenty five-year-old Stone is a right-arm fast bowler and right-handed batsman of the visiting English team. Stone was one of the four members of the English team to experience the life in former battlefield east of the Kandy-Jaffna A9 road. Captain of the team Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Keaton Jennings, too, visited an area declared cleared of mines.

Filed under accountability, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, conspiracies, disparagement, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, meditations, military strategy, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, war reportage, world events & processes

December 1, 2018 · 1:25 am

At Cricket in 1946: British India vs England

Anindya Dutta, in The Cricket Monthly, 25 June 2018, where the title reads “A dinner in 1946”

It was the last tour by undivided India to Britain. It was the summer of Merchant and Mankad, and independence was around the corner.The year was 1946. England was caught between the exhilaration of emerging victorious from the Second World War and the devastation the war had wrought upon the country, both in terms of people and resources. Rationing was still in place, and the economy was in tatters.For six long years, while war raged, cricket had taken a backseat. There had been little first-class cricket, and the battlefields claimed some of England’s most talented players, like the venerated Hedley Verity. There were only 11 first-class matches in the 1945 season. Nineteen forty-six was the first year when a normal county season was scheduled and Test cricket could again be played. Cricket was seen as a way to restore a feeling of normalcy to a country severely affected by war and its consequences.

Filed under British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cricket for amity, cultural transmission, education, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, politIcal discourse, reconciliation, religiosity, self-reflexivity, tolerance, Uncategorized, unusual people, world events & processes

November 30, 2018 · 3:17 am

Sidhu applauds fellow-cricketer-politician Imran Khan

The Editor, Express Tribune, 27 November 2018, “Navjot Singh Sidhu says Imran Khan’s name will be written in the first page of history books”

Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu has said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s name will be written on the first page of history books for opening Kartarpur border for Sikh pilgrims in India. Speaking in Express News programme “Takrar” on Tuesday, the visiting dignitary said the Pakistani premier will grow stronger by facing even tougher tests in the future. “I know him [PM Imran] for a long time … he is a brave, honest and empathetic man which made him join the tough field of politics,” he remarked.

Indian Minister and former Test cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu in the “Takrar” program of Express News