June 7, 2017 · 2:37 pm

Deciphering Religious Rivalries in South and Southeast Asia

K.M. de Silva …. introducing Ethnic Conflict in Buddhist Societies in South and Southeast Asia: The Politics behind Religious Rivalries  … with highlighted emphasis  added by The Editor, Thuppahi

Almost from the time of its establishment in 1982 as the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) its academic leadership felt compelled by the challenges of its location in one of the principal Theravada Buddhist societies of South and Southeast Asia, to take a hard and unsentimental look at religion, Buddhism in the Sri Lankan context, as a factor in the prolonged ethnic dispute here.  The dispute in this island had engaged the attention of Sri Lanka’s political class for the two previous decades, while political analysts from Sri Lanka and others from various parts of the world examined the impact of Buddhism on the Sri Lanka polity and the prolonged ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, the situation in Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) provided a convenient comparative basis in the reviews and in the literature in these three Buddhist societies.

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June 7, 2017 · 2:31 pm

Ethnic Conflict in Buddhist Societies in South and Southeast Asia

Deciphering Religious Rivalries in South and Southeast Asia

 Ethnic Conflict in Buddhist Societies in South and Southeast Asia. The Politics behind Religious Rivalries, edited by K.M. de Silva, 2015 (pp. 270 +xvi) 

The book aims to examine the role of Buddhism as a factor of conflict in the three main Theravada Buddhist societies of South and Southeast Asia—Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar.  The dispute in this island had engaged the attention of Sri Lanka’s political class for the two previous decades, while political analysts from Sri Lanka and others from various parts of the world examined the impact of Buddhism on the Sri Lanka polity and the prolonged ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. The situation in Thailand and Myanmar provided a convenient comparative basis in the reviews and in the literature in these three Buddhist societies. Continue reading →

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June 7, 2017 · 11:24 am

A Vaginal “Lode”

Loaded News Item from 22 April 2017,  with the title “Loaded Gun hidden in suspect’s Vagina”

A 19-year-old Tennessee woman had a loaded handgun hidden in her vagina when she was brought into jail yesterday afternoon following a collar for driving with a suspended license, police report. As Dallas Archer was being booked into the Kingsport jail, a female corrections officer alerted to an “unknown object” in the teenager’s crotch during a search. The jailer and a female cop then accompanied Archer to a bathroom for further examination, a review that led to the recovery of a “North American Arms 22 LR revolver (loaded) which Ms. Dallas had concealed in her vagina,” according to a Kingsport Police Department report.

Dallas Archer   her hand-gun

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June 5, 2017 · 2:12 pm

Ivan Samarawickrama: A Man for All Seasons

Wilfred Jayasuriya

Ivan died in his sleep at the age of 95 a couple of days ago. He was buried that very day, according to his wishes, by his sons, Anil, Malik and Lalin. His wife Nellie died a decade ago. In his day, Ivan was one of the best known and best loved public figures in the country. He was a “public servant,” as understood by that description in the English language, in the context of the recent history of Ceylon / Sri Lanka.

He had very clear-cut chiselled features and moved about with grace. In his University College days he was a quarter miler (400 metres, which was a test of both speed and stamina) and held the Ceylon national record for that athletic distance.

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June 4, 2017 · 7:50 am

World Order in Map Imagery: Unusual Distributions

with thanks to Nao Fernando

  This map shows countries (in white) that England has never invaded.  There are only 22.  (In the WORLD!)

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June 4, 2017 · 7:35 am

Terra Australis … unpeopled … Populis Nullis

  This map shows (in white) where 98 percent of Australia ‘s entire population live

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June 4, 2017 · 4:13 am

A Blanket over India’s Dirty War in Kashmir

Rajeeva Jayaweera,  in The Island, 4 June 2017, where the title is “Army fighting dirty war in J&K need be innovative – Indian Army Chief”

Indian Army Chief of Staff General Bipin Rawat, during a recent ceremony to award Chief of Army staff (COAS) commendation card to Major Leetul Gogoi, has strongly defended his soldiers currently involved in counter terrorism operations and quelling rioting Kashmiris. Major Gogoi is accused of using an arrested stone pelting protestor as a human shield. The protestor was tied to the front of an army jeep on April 9 before moving his unit together with a dozen local Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) employees, ten ITPB Jawans, several constables from J&K police and a bus driver trapped inside a polling booth, to safety. The group was surrounded by a large number of violent protestors who had also taken up position on surrounding roofs. After reaching safety, the protestor used as a human shield was handed over to local police. The incident which was videoed went viral within hours.

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June 3, 2017 · 11:33 am

Questions for Charles Wooley’s Secular Reasoning

“Islam is yet to start the journey towards reformation” …. From a position radical secular the journalist Charles Wooley slashed at Christian fundamentalist claims as well as those espoused by the Islamic faithful. This position has been questioned in reasoned ways by several readers of The Australian who are not necessarily believers in religious dogma — that is, by individuals working within the body of intellectual discourse spawned in the world over the years. I present these comments together with one of my own as an encouragement to Sri Lankan and other readers to participate. 

Ken Moncrieff, Stafford Hts, Queensland: …. Its time for believers to ask why do I believe what I believe? Then after consideration why do I believe that? If thye are honest, answers based on their indoctrination must come to the fore. And that is the key to solving the world’s dilemma with terrorism in its present form–a full analysis of religious indoctrination. Religious fanatic should remember that the holy books they follow were written at a time when superstition, supposition and myths formed the basis of all beliefs and were written by men with little understanding of natural phenomena or of science.

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June 3, 2017 · 5:09 am

Kepel’s Koranic Expertise renders him a Prime Target for Assassination

Matthew Campbell, in The Times, 28 May 2017, where the title is “Islamists vow to murder academic who know Koran better than them”

Gilles Kepel is waiting for a taxi on a London street corner. The roads are gridlocked, the cab is late and France’s foremost expert on Islam is starting to look nervous. He has every reason to be. Isis has placed this polished, polyglot professor on a death list, calling on its followers to kill him without delay. In France he has round-the-clock police protection. Yet here he is, alone and unprotected in the British capital – “Londonistan” was the term he coined for it years ago – barely two days after a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a Manchester concert.I have just interviewed him and he has ordered a cab to get to another meeting. But it is nowhere to be seen. Ushering him into the Underground, I ask him what it feels like to be threatened by a group that specialises in beheading its victims in front of a camera.

 Gilles Kepel’s expertise has unsettled Islamic extremists.

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June 2, 2017 · 3:34 pm

Blind Faith in Both Islam and Christianity

Charles Wooley,  in The Australian, 1 June 2017, where the title reads “When Blind Faith crosses out Reasoning”

I was watching the aftermath of the Manchester bombing on television when there came a knock on the door. I answered it to find two conservatively dressed and smiling women, one young and the other considerably older. I got in first: “Ah, religious people, I am guessing.” They agreed that this was the case but, before they could tout their sectarian wares, I explained politely that I wasn’t interested and closed the door.

 

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