April 27, 2016 · 4:39 am

Some Political Explorations of the Lankan Scene in the 1970s: Jupp and Perinbanayagam & Chadda

JAMES JUPP JuppSID PERINPerinbanayagam CHADDA Chadda

ONE: James Jupp’s Sri Lanka: Third World Democracy (1978, London, Frank Cass) reviewed by Michael Roberts at http://www.ozlanka.com/reviews/3rdWorld.htm

This book eschews grand political theory and concentrates upon solid descriptive analysis. In presenting an ordered summary of the recent political history of Sri Lanka from the 1930’s to the 1970’s, the author is not forgetful of the social and economic background and is not afraid to lace the description with his own interpretations. He highlights several trends: an erosion of the influence of the Anglicised elite which did not, however, extend to their displacement; the movement “from the British notion of ‘good government’ … to a notion of popular government” catering more to mass prejudices (p.349); a rhetorical and ideological emphasis on indigenisation and cultural and economic decolonisation which obscures the fact that the opposed political persuasions have been of Western, if not British inspiration; and the gradual concentration of political opinion in the Sinhalese dominated districts around Bandaranaike’s Middle Way, which was democratic, socialist, and Sinhala Buddhist. Continue reading →

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April 25, 2016 · 2:45 am

The MISSING in the War Years: A Cumulative Bibliography as Aide

Michael Roberts

Let me begin with Rajasingham Narendran’s harrowing tale describing the moment when he returned to his home in the Jaffna Peninsula after the IPKF’s imperial occupation of the north in 1987: “My mother: 68-year old at the time of her killing. Slim build. Had been attacked by animals and crows and was in an advanced state of decay. My brother: 38-year old at the time of his death. neither obese or thin. Body intact though bloated. The gardener: Age approx. 60 years. Obese. All flesh had fallen off and the skeleton was clearly visible. A neighbour’s watchman: Age approx. 60 years. medium build. Only thigh bones-femurs and the skull remained. The rest of the body had been consumed or carried away by animals.”

   NARIYA 1 A jackal feeding on a buffalo carcass at Kumana -April 2014–Pic by Roberts missing= Photo by Eranga Jayawardena A Tamil lady in search of a missing kinswoman–Pic by Eranga Jayawardena in Groundviews

This is just one corpus of fact and tale that will have to be evaluated by the unit that is envisaged by the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms set up by the present government. If one visits the web site where the SCRM seeks submissions from the public, you will be led to “Boxes” where you can present ideas and/or information. The set of Boxes numbered 9 [nine] has this request: “The government has decided to set up An Office of Missing Persons. What measures should the office take to address the issue of the missing?” Continue reading →

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April 22, 2016 · 4:05 pm

Mind over Matter: Yogi Impossible

The Power of Meditation – Yogi Coudoux

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rXXtnwqz_Q   = Published on Dec 3, 2012

aa AA-Yogi coudoux 22

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April 22, 2016 · 1:38 pm

The Reconciliation Task Force in Sri Lanka

The formal title is ‘Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms”  and its web site is  http://www.scrm.gov.lk/  and the deadline for submissions is drawing to a close.The Personnel constituting the Task Force are an impressive mix, while Mano Tittawella is its “Secretary-General” (c.v. below).manoouri plus Manori, Farzana and  … RANILAT KOVIL Ranil at launch ? Continue reading →

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April 20, 2016 · 11:30 am

A ‘Rehabilitated’ Tiger turned Criminal Gangster down south

Michael Roberts

Killer arrested--Cbo academicAfter the initial round of extra-judicial killings of some senior Tigers in the weeks around circa 18/19th May 2009,[i] the GSL forces continued with the process of weeding Tigers from the mass of civilians who had fled their corralled situation as sandbags and propaganda tools for the LTTE cause—a process that had commenced from late 2009 as some Tamils managed to flee from the Vanni Pocket. Those deemed Tiger were located in secure detention centres and/or prisons (whereas the camps at Manik Farm had only single stranded barbed wire and leaked like the proverbial sieve.

With the aid of the International Office of Migration and other INGOS as well as some local agencies (private and official) the Government proceed with a programme of “rehabilitation” for the Tiger prisoners. These personnel were initial categorised as A, B, C and D with the first category being discerned (guessed at?) as hardcore.tiger rehabilitees Continue reading →

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April 20, 2016 · 9:44 am

Religious Diversity in Colombo’s Melting Pot

Ronan O’Connell, courtesy of The West Australian where the title is “Melting pot of beliefs in Colombo” … also in Daily News = http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=2016/04/19/features/79162

In the middle of a Colombo street, four shirtless men are beating drums as a rush of people surge past them. Clutching a long wooden stick, its tip ablaze, an elderly man sways to the percussive beat, his eyes shut and his head tilted to the heavens. As he balls one hand into a fist and raises it to the sky, the worshipper releases a deep bellow, then lowers his head, opens his eyes and takes off dancing through the dense crowd. He disappears beyond a coloured chariot which is slowly making its way down the street, parting the crush of people.

An Aadi Vel Festival parade outside the Kathiresan Kovil Hindu temple-Ronan O’ConnellAn Aadi Vel Festival parade outside the Kathiresan Kovil Hindu temple

Aadi Vel is being celebrated in the Sri Lankan city and a street parade is taking place outside Kathiresan Kovil, a beautiful Hindu temple which has a dimly lit interior embellished by brightly coloured flags. This temple, dedicated to the war god Murugan, was built in the mid-19th century following an influx of immigrants from southern India. Continue reading →

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April 18, 2016 · 2:37 pm

How Royal helped spawn S. Thomas College

Hugh Karunanayake, courtesy of The Ceylankan, Vol. XX: No. 2, May 2016,  where the title is “Royal College role in the Birth of S. Thomas College”

S. Thomas College Mount Lavinia was established in Mutwal on 3rd February 1851. It was then described as a “Collegiate School’ which was much akin to what was later to emerge as a secondary school. The intention of its founders was to establish a College and a School. The latter was designed to prepare candidates for admission into the College. The College was to prepare students for entry into tertiary education including Theology and Divinity Studies. When initially established it was not possible to differentiate between School and College, there being 70 students in the whole institution and not enough students to commence the College. One year later with the arrival of Warden Wood the College was opened in January 1852 with 20 students, the rest being included in the Collegiate School.

STC3The original school building in Mutwal — from WT Keble History of St Thomas College 1937 Continue reading →

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April 18, 2016 · 11:18 am

Antony Jesuthasan as “Dheepan” and Shobasakthi

Among the films being shown in Australian cities by the Alliance Francais Film Festival is that entitled DHEEPAN. The Tamil migrant and ex-Tiger fighter who inspired this tale and appears as the principal actor first burst onto the media pages as Shobasakthi …and the author of a book entitled Gorilla. The brief resume of the film is followed by a news item from 2008 .

DHEEPANDheepan is a major film event and the winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2015. This blistering slice of realism, entrenches director Jacques Audiard’s status as one of today’s greatest auteurs, with a unique presentation of the asylum seeker experience that will move audiences profoundly. Three strangers in conflict-ridden northern Sri Lanka band together as a makeshift family in order to flee to the suburbs of Paris: Dheepan, an ex-Tamil Tiger (Antonythasan Jesuthasan, author, activist, and former child soldier); lost young woman Yalini (Kalieaswari Srinivasan); and orphan girl Illayaal (Claudine Vinasithamby). As they struggle to find stability, they are forced to improvise their relationships. Soon they find they must cope with new violence and intolerance in their adopted home.

Based on Antonythasan’s own experience, his journey of self-realisation is a powerful and visceral tale, told with a timeless classicism that marks the finest world cinema. As in A Prophet and Rust and Bone, director Audiard orchestrates creeping menace with an emotional punch and a complex social message. Continue reading →

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April 18, 2016 · 5:38 am

Reflections on Sri Lanka’s Experience in Defeating Terrorism

RAJIVARajiva Wijesinha, text of a talk at the ‘Afkar-e-Taza: Rescuing the Past, Shaping the Future’ Seminar, at Lahore, April 3rd 2016, where the title was “Defeating Terrorism: The Sri Lankan Experience” …with highlighting added by Thuppahi. Also available at https://rajivawijesinha.wordpress.com/2016/04/07/defeating-terrorism-the-sri-lankan-experience/

The world seems to be at boiling point at present given the increasing impact of terrorist activity. Civilian populations are subject to ruthless attacks in Africa, the Middle East and now both Europe and Asia. Typically, there is much less attention to what happens in our part of the world, which I believe may explain why there seems no adequate response to deal with the menace. Western powers engage in long distance operations that result in more civilian deaths in the less developed world, and the occasional claim that an identified terrorist has been killed. But the reach of the terrorist organizations seems only to grow in the face of such operations.

president-premadasa-on-may-dayPresident Prwemadasa on ! May 1993, a few minutes efore he was assassinated by an LTTE suicide bomber = https://blog.dzone.lk/2009/10/25/last-day-of-president-ranasinghe-premadasa/ Premadasa

There has indeed in recent years been only one unquestionable success in dealing with terrorism. In 2009 Sri Lanka defeated a terrorist movement that had pioneered suicide killings, with responsibility for several incidents where the victims had been numbered in hundreds. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam had also killed two heads of government and destroyed several leading moderates of the ethnic group which it claimed to be liberating, namely the Tamils of Sri Lanka (Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India, President Ranasinghe Premadasa of Sri Lanka, Messers Amirthalingam, Yoheswaran, Sam Tambimuttu, Neelan Tiruchelvam, Lakshman Kadirgamar, Mrs Sarojini Yoheswaran, Ketheswaran Loganathan, Alfred Duraiyappa, etc). Continue reading →

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April 18, 2016 · 4:24 am

Narrative Bedlam: Dangers of Hate Speech and Propaganda via Social Media Today

Sanjana Hattotuwa, courtesy of The Island, 15 April 2016, where the title is  “Openly Hidden,”……. But with highlighting embellishments from The Editor, Thuppahi

I teach social media verification, and recalled during a class I am teaching this week some of the content that came my way in the first half of 2009. The media landscape in general, and social media in particular, wasn’t then what it is now. Self-censorship was the norm, and high. Mainstream media, out of fear of violence or forcibly through the strict control of advertising revenue, accepted and published the government’s propaganda without question. Social media was still a novelty – Facebook and Twitter seven years ago weren’t platforms known or used to the extent they are today. Flickr and YouTube were used for photos and videos respectively, and were the primary platforms to feature various accounts from Nandikadal and elsewhere where the war was reaching its bloody end, including from ostensibly first-person perspectives.

sanjana_hattotuwa_001 Continue reading →

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