November 26, 2018 · 12:32 am

Rich Veins of Legal Insight in Social Media Readings of the Sri Lankan Constitution?

An Editorial Comment

While many of us are aware of the widespread interaction on social media, the degree of political insight embedded within the multitude of exchanges is both unknown and questionable..The political mess in Sri Lanka and the intriguing debate on the existing constitutional provisions has thrown up conflicting interpretations from legal experts and political scientists from every which way. From my sceptical stance on this set of issues, I have spotted some intelligent comments within my web site; but not collected them.  Ratnawalli, whose essay on the topic seems to have been exorcized and blocked  by a number of Editors of the  main-line press in Lanka as well as  the web-engines  Colombo Telegraph, has collected a number of pertinent comments -arising from the the interpretation ‘voiced’ by Suri Ratnapala — a Professor of Law whose credentials ensured publication — in Colombo Telegraph. I have over-ridden the title she suggested, viz: “Sri Lankans take to social media to interpret their Constitution as ‘experts’ trip over 19A” …….. Thuppahi-Man…. adding his own emphasis by colour as well as a different title … and cartoon!

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November 25, 2018 · 4:59 am

Gridlock and Hocus-Pocus in Sri Lanka underwritten by Prejudice, Exclusion plus False News

Michael Roberts

This is an expanded version of anarticle sent earlier toColombo Telegraph and this expanded version will be sent to the print media in Sri Lanka as well as Col/Tel. It is test case: are the political lines associated with the present crissi so sharp that Editors shut out perspectives that question their political leanings?

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Suri  Amarakeerthi  

It is the fashion for Editors of prestigious newspapers and for authors themselves to impress their credentials when presenting articles in newspapers. When Amarakeerthi Liyanage wrote a Letter to the Ambassador for China and presented this text in The Island, he was “Professor Amarakeerthi Liyanage.” When a friend recommended Suri Ratnapala’s readings of the present constitutional conundrums in Sri Lanka to me, he stressed that Suri was “a much-respected Professor of Law.”

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November 24, 2018 · 3:12 pm

Rivetting Data on the Jaffna Peninsula and Tamil Politics, 1929-1970s

Handy Perinbanayagam 

This is a reproduction of COMMENTS  in a previous Thuppahi Item from 2012 — which presented an article by Rajan Philips in the Sunday Island of 26 February 2012. This unusual step is taken because the information therein: (1) about caste oppression in the Jaffna Peninsula even in the 1970s; (2) data on the politics of the Jaffna Youth congress and its boycott campaign against the Donoughmore Reforms and the 1931 elections in  the north; (#) a reading of GG Ponnambalam (4) the contributions to the discussion from R, Sid Perinbanayagam and Nalliah Thayabharan — with Thayabharan’s slashing criticisms of the LTTE and Tamil diasporic supporters evincing a remarkable courage.  

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November 24, 2018 · 1:32 pm

An Ode in the Face of The Terrorist Liberation-Fighter

  Jane Russell

“[This poem was presented] a small pamphlet called “Ganga” published in Colombo in 1978: it was aimed at the boasting men of violence everywhere – the Warriors of Terror whom in the guise of Freedom Fighters were inflicting further violence on already violated communities:

To Aloysius-Ludovico (The Terrorist)

I am tired of hearing you sing
the anthems of Freedom and War…
How joyously you crack the whip
and bellow out the tune above the drums!
But the faces of my friends haunt me
in the mornings when I see Death’s Armada
With its pirate’s flag of torture trailing….
what does it matter, your Freedom?
They are dying, my friends and their children…

Nalliah Thayabharan, thank you for reminding me of this poem written in despair in Colombo 30+ years ago. A whole generation has grown up since then but the same (better) poem is probably being written today in Syria by some unknown idealist…..as the song goes “When will we ever learn?”

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November 23, 2018 · 3:37 pm

Leda’s Seduction by a Swan: Erotica from Pompeii 79AD … and Beyond

Archaeologists found erotica dated 79AD in long lost Pompeii which is is a vast archaeological site in South Italy! The Roman fresco depicts a myth in which Zeus turned into a swan and raped the Queen of Sparta!  

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November 23, 2018 · 7:12 am

Gargantuan Calamity Looming in Sri Lanka — As Foretold

V ictor Ivan, whose preferred title is  “The Present Crisis is likely to End Up in a Serious Disaster” …. itself his translation of his article in Sinhala

Of the Executive Presidents who had ruled the country prior to Maithripala Sirisena, J.R. Jayewardene and Mahinda Rajapaksha can be described as those who had 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 is to make a man a woman, or vice versa. Dr. Colvin R de Silva,a most erudite expert on constitutional affairs ,once said that even if the President had lost his mental capacities, it would involve a lengthy process to remove him from office and as such we are compelled to be tolerant with a President who is not only unsuitable for the post but also has lost his mental capacities.

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November 23, 2018 · 6:15 am

Fake News from the BBC

 Nupur J. Sharma, in Independent, 15 November 2018  where the title is  “The BBC research on ‘fake news’ is shoddy, unethical, dishonest, and actually an example of fake news”

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has published a report [pdf] that talks about the fake news industry in India. In their report titled “Beyond Fake News”, BBC has reached certain outlandish conclusions like ‘Nationalism is driving the spread of fake news” based on dubious data, incorrect interpretations, bias sample selection and selective information. It was almost as if BBC decided the conclusion of their research and then reverse worked their data to suit their conclusion.

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November 22, 2018 · 8:38 am

An Ambitious Step: A Petition seeking a General Election in Sri Lanka

News Item in  Daily News, 22 November 2018, …. http://www.dailynews.lk/2018/11/22/local/169168/signature-petition

Collection of one million signatures demanding a General Election immediately, organised by the business community commenced at the Fort Railway Station premises yesterday.The campaign calling for a general election mooted by the Business community was led by Chaminda Vidanagamage, the Secretary General of the Business Forum.

 An enthusiastic woman placing her signature in the petition – picture by Sarath Peiris

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November 21, 2018 · 1:12 am

An Ode in Memory of Ashley Halpe

Jean Arasanayagam: marking Prof. Halpe’s birth anniversary which fell on the 18th of November 2018

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Recalling our youthful days as students at the University of Peradeniya, sharing our interests in drama and theatre, music, painting and literature.

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November 20, 2018 · 2:06 pm

A Gathering of Scholars in Felicitation of Eric Richards with a New Book iin January 2017

Flindersblog: “Historians pay tribute to Eric Richards”

A new book Emigrants and Historians (Wakefield Press) has been published in honour of Flinders historian Emeritus Professor Eric Richards. The book launch is part of an international symposium focusing on Australian-UK migration being hosted this week by the School of History and International Relations. This week’s First Eric Richards Symposium in British and Australasian History in fact follows the 2015 International Seminar in Honour of Professor Richards.

Presentations from the earlier seminar have been published in the new book, entitled Emigrants and Historians – Essays in Honour of Eric Richards (Wakefield Press), to be launched at the symposium at Flinders, Victoria Square today.

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