Thanks to Dr Mervyn de Silva in SRI LANKA
Different Worlds: Upali Mahaliyana’s Novel
Upali Mahaliyana’s Introductory Note
This is NOT my autobiography. Although Ajith, the main Character in this novel, shares the times and a part of his background with me, he is a completely different person who had a very different character and a life to mine. His family has absolutely no resemblance to mine.
This is NOT a biographical novel either. Although Ajith binds the story together, it is not just his story.
Instead, it is a story of changing lifestyles, values and attitudes of Sri Lankan society over different times and different environments, demonstrated through five generations of the same family. It covers an era from the early part of the twentieth century to the present times and a geographical area from a rural village in Sri Lanka, through a provincial city and the capital city into the Sri Lankan diaspora in the world.
Is the Resounding Silence of the Western Powers Today a Meaningful Pointer to the Recent Past?
J. Natasha Gooneratne, in Island, 14 February 2018, where the title is “Yahapalanaya and silence of international community”.… Note that the highlighting has been imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
Does the international community’s silence during the rule of Yahapalanaya mean Sri Lanka is finally on the ‘right’ path, or that we’re finally doing what we’re told to do!!!
Mangala Samaraweera at UN, 2015– http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/39111
From 2009 to 2014, Sri Lanka was so heavily featured in international news and foreign government feeds that it was impossible to ignore. From the US led resolution, submitted to the UNHRC, to opinions on how the former government leaders should be tried in international courts (one American journalist even explained how the former Defense Secretary could be taken out of Sri Lanka and be tried in a US court in order to remove impediments toward Yahapalanaya rule), to unsubstantiated claims about corruption, the international community seemed to only want to take out the Rajapaksa-led government, whether they had proof or not of what they were writing about. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, economic processes, foreign policy, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, military strategy, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, war reportage, world events & processes
D H Lawrence in Kandy 1922
Jane Russell
D H Lawrence came to Ceylon with his wife Frieda in late February 1922. Lawrence once referred to the later years of his life, spent wandering from place to place across the world in search of relief from illness, as his “savage pilgrimage”. Interestingly, the Lawrences arrived just a couple of years after Hilda Westbrook (soon to be Kularatne) first passed through the Colombo Harbour steamboat passenger terminal.
Filed under British colonialism, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, education, heritage, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, unusual people, world affairs
Political Turmoil NOW: Charting Prospects and Pathways with Huge Question Marks
SWR de A Samarasinghe, in Island, 13 February 2018 where the title is “Ups and Downs of Sri Lankan Politics and Looming Political Uncertainty. The Local Government Elections
Last Saturday’s Local Government (LG) Election dealt a stunning blow to President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the two respective political parties, UPFA and UNP, that they lead and paved the way for the major political comeback of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Filed under accountability, democratic measures, economic processes, electoral structures, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, parliamentary elections, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, welfare & philanthophy, world affairs
Mahatma Gandhi’s Opposition to the Seizure of Palestine for the Jews
The Editor, News in Asia, 29 January 2018, where the title is as follows:: “What Mahatma Gandhi said about Jews’ bid to seize Palestine”
When the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to India recently, he was taken to Gujarat by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ironically, the itinerary there included a visit to Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram. These steps seemed very odd and hypocritical as Gandhi had been against the establishment of Israel or the forcible settlement of Jews there without the consent of the Arabs, who were long settled there.
Mahatma Gandhi on his frequent tours
Implications of the Local Government Elections February 2018: An Incisive Review
Dayan Jayatilleka
It was the well-established, UNP and West-friendly website ECONOMYNEXT that broke the story using the ‘L’ Word—Landslide: “Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s proxy was set for an unexpected landslide victory in Saturday’s local council elections…Unofficial results showed that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) was leading in almost all the districts outside the north and the east and was on its way to secure an unassailable 51 percent of the total votes polled.Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) was being pushed to a humiliating second place…”(‘Rajapaksa proxy heads for landslide in Sri Lanka vote’- Feb 10th)
Filed under accountability
Is Sri Lanka creating A Dungeon for Itself?
Kalinga Seneviratne 4 February 2018 with this title “Sri Lanka Celebrating Independence In Chains Of Its Own Making” at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sri-lanka-celebrating-independence-chains-its-own-kalinga-seneviratne/
While Sri Lanka “celebrates” 70 years of independence from British colonial rule this month, its sovereignty is being threatened as never before since gaining independence in 1948 – tempting one to remark that Sri Lanka is celebrating ‘independence in chains’. The strategically placed Indian ocean island is an important lynchpin in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which western powers – especially the United States and Britain – are keen to sabotage as its success would end their hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
Sri Lanka troop transport catamaran in 2004-wikiemedia Commons
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, military strategy, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, war reportage, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Choice of Death or Degradation for Afghan Refugees in Pakistan
AFP Item in DAWN, 10 February 2018, where the title runs “For refugees, it’s a choice between death in Afghanistan or bitter life in Pakistan
Death awaits you in Afghanistan, says refugee Mohammad Wali, insisting he prefers to endure a grim existence in a Pakistani camp than return home and be killed. Islamabad has increasingly put Afghan refugees in the crosshairs in recent weeks, saying that militants hide in Pakistani camps and calling for refugees to be repatriated as part of a campaign to eliminate extremism.
Filed under accountability, Afghanistan, asylum-seekers, atrocities, charitable outreach, economic processes, ethnicity, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, immigration, Indian Ocean politics, Islamic fundamentalism, landscape wondrous, life stories, refugees, self-reflexivity, travelogue, world events & processes, zealotry
