November 27, 2017 · 9:52 am

Rampant Corruption Debilitating Our Nation, says Bishop Canagasabey

Rt. Revd. Dhiloraj Canagasabey, Bishop of Colombo: Extracts from His Address at  the 132nd Annual Sessions of the Diocese of Colombo, Church of Ceylon.

‘One of the most disappointing failures of the govt. has been its inability to end rampant corruption’

Each year, both in the report of the Standing Committee of our Diocese and in my own charge we turn to look at the significant events that have taken place in the country, viewed from the standpoint of the Church. Our scriptural and theological understanding of God’s concern for and involvement in the history of peoples and nations requires us to engage fully with the issues of our country and the world. Continue reading →

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November 26, 2017 · 6:44 am

The Cricketing Universe of Sri Lanka: A Short History written in 2007

Michael Roberts, providing a reprint of  “Landmarks and Threads in the Cricketing Universe of Sri Lanka,” Sport in Society, January 2007, vol. 10 (1): 120-42…. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17430430600989209

Cricket developed in British Ceylon [1] as a pastime indulged in by the British ruling elements, whether military men, officials, merchants or planters. It was but one sport in a wide repertoire of pastimes pursued by the British rulers, practices that were assisted by the resources they commanded, not least a host of minions servicing their leisured enjoyments. Continue reading →

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November 24, 2017 · 12:47 am

Challenging the Present Order: Exemplary Forerunners for Us to Emulate Today

Dayan Jayatilleka, Island, 24 November 2017, where the title reads “A Lankan left project: Why Sri Lanka needs a left option”

article_imageCastro , Lenin , Dharmapala , Puran Appu

“Nationalism is not our essential idea, although we do love our homeland dearly. We consider ourselves internationalists…”(Fidel Castro, Economy 98, July 3rd 1998 speech)

“…We’re not very nationalistic. We’re patriots but we’re not very nationalistic…” (Fidel Castro, Talks with US and French journalists, 1983, pp. 34-5)

“We internationalist revolutionaries always say…humanity comes before our country!”
(Fidel Castro Speaks, ed. James Petras p159)

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November 23, 2017 · 9:54 am

The Tour that did not go beyond the Board Room, 1968

S. S. Chandra Perera, in The Janashakthi Book of Cricket 1832-1996, Colombo, pp. 320-26 …. with emphasis in blue & red from The Editor, Thuppahi and that in  black by Chandra Perera himself

In 1935, a selection debacle had been commented on in verse. Now, 33 years later, a few more lines in verse in a local newspaper fired the first shots to start the controversy over the 1968 tour to England. The tour certainly created much dissension amongst the local cricket fraternity. The lines by pro Bono ‘Pabilis’ read:

And so the Chairman had his day

We thought it would only be HIK,

And poor Mike who won a Test

Found after all he was not the best,

And neither was Gamini, the Cambridge Cap,

Came all the way from England

Little realising that we are now free

And that two Selectors are as good as three.

Does it matter who played against Lister?

Wimalaratne is just poor sister

May be he can play the Chairman’s role

And vote for himself and the Nation

In one magnificent operation.

Remember the words of good old John,

“Serve yourself till you are gone:

Life is but a fleeting thing

Nomads may travel, Gypsies are Kings”.

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November 23, 2017 · 1:59 am

The ICC is Imbecile: Verbal Assaults permitted within Cricket Field

Michael Roberts, courtesy of Colombo Telegraph, where the title is as follows: “Against Verbal Assaults within Cricket Field”

Verbal intimidation within the boundary ropes of the cricket field has been tolerated far, far too long by the cricketing authorities (ICC and MCC). This disease has been sustained by weak umpiring from personnel of all nationalities and by clever cover-jobs from eminent cricketers of all nationalities manning the TV commentary teams (including Sunil Gavaskar, Harsha Bhogle, Simon Doull, Russel Arnold and Matthew Hayden and Murali Karthik in the present series in India).

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November 22, 2017 · 2:30 pm

Famous Authors dwelling on Ceylon’s Attractions: Read against the Grain Please

Tamara Fernando in the Daily News, 22 November 2017 where the title is “Reading against the grain: the darker side of travel writing” ….. while the highlighting emphasis is the work of The Editor, Thuppahi” .

Much to the delight of the coffee-table-book author and the travel connoisseur, Sri Lanka is not only rich in natural beauty, but also equally well-endowed with ornate, detail-laden travel accounts of Westerners encountering its landscape for the first time. The series of publications by the National Trust of Sri Lanka, for instance, or books on her national parks often quote from and excerpt this language.

  Mark Twain

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November 21, 2017 · 11:53 pm

China blows its Own Trumpet: Progressive Innovative Production

VISIT https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15fdeca0a9faaf25?projector=1

Scientists have been trying for decades to get rice to grow successfully in salty water VCG via Getty Images Continue reading →

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November 20, 2017 · 1:41 am

A Propaganda Concoction: Tamil Torture Claims in 2017 challenged by Naseby and WION

WION and Padma Rao Sundarji, courtesy of WION, 18 November 2017, where the title is “Tamil torture wounds may have been self-inflicted: Lord Naseby”

Last week, 50 Sri Lankan Tamil men used an  international news agency to make a damning accusation: that they were raped and tortured by Sri Lankan authorities on suspicion of being members of the separatist terror group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), against whom Sri Lanka fought a bloody, 30-year-long civil war. By the time the war ended, more than 120,000 people had been killed. But the conflict ended in 2009. These men say they were tortured in 2016. Why did they wait so long to speak up? British parliamentarian Lord Naseby knows Sri Lanka intimately, having been associated with it for 45 years. He heads a parliamentarian group supportive of Sri Lanka in England’s House of Lords. And he spoke to WION in an exclusive about the latest charges and possible motives.

……………….. http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/self-inflicted-torture-24468

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November 19, 2017 · 9:50 am

Gay Marriage! Where Muslims, Jews and Christians Unite in Horror: Western Sydney

Andrew Jakubowicz    in The Australian and in The Conversation 15 November 2017…. with the title “How social conservatism among ethnic communities drove a strong ‘no’ vote in western Sydney

The “yes” vote on same-sex marriage carried the day in every state in Australia, but the “no” vote was strongest in New South Wales – particularly around western Sydney.  The results suggest that, as predicted, social conservatism among many ethnic communities loomed large as a factor.

In NSW, the “yes” vote came in at 57.8% and the “no” at 42.2%, with a participation rate of 79.5% – but in some western Sydney electorates the “yes” vote was as low as 26.1%.

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November 18, 2017 · 1:10 pm

Seeking the Roots of Tamil Tiger Dedication: A Journey

Michael Roberts

I began this research engagement via my interest in ethnic violence in Sri Lanka and my  study of the 1915 anti-Moor “riots” when at Peradeniya University in the 1970s. Neelan Tiruchelvam revived my interest when he invited me to attend Conference in Kathmandu in the late 1980s and to present my thoughts on the 1915 pogrom–invariably undertaken in the light of the July 1983 pogrom directed against Tamils.

At this point I decided that I had to break free of my immersion in Sri Lankan material and needed to gain comparative insights by looking at secondary literature on racial violence in USA directed at Blacks and at “communal violence” and “riots” in India. A short-term Research Fellowship at Teen Murti in Delhi in 1995 provided me with the data and experience for this route.  The newspaper material on the Anti -Sikh violence in Delhi and the north in 1984 after Mrs Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards was especially thought-provoking (and has recently fed into two articles on “Anguish as Empowerment” and “Kill Any Sikh“). Continue reading →

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