September 18, 2015 · 3:44 am

Endgame for the Rajapaksas says Hodge

Amanda Hodge, Courtesy of The Australian, 18 September 2015, with the title “UN report on Tamil war marks beginning of end for Rajapaksas”

Sri Lanka’s new national unity government is expected to seek international support for a watered-down version of a “hybrid” war crimes court, using local judges but foreign investigators, in a process that could mark the beginning of a reckoning for the former ruling Rajapaksa family. The UN Human Rights Council report released on Wednesday found reasonable grounds to believe the Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tigers committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during and directly after the long civil war, though it did not identify suspected perpetrators as some had speculated it might.

MR atmatara 2014--AFP Then Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse at a Victory Day parade in the southern town of Matara on May 18, 2014. Source: AFP

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September 18, 2015 · 2:41 am

Young Suriyapperumas at the Digital Cutting Edge

Dave Rush, in news item dated 23rd April 2014  with title “Sri Lankan brothers become youngest ever app developers”

Mihil and Ruvin Suriyapperuma have published two apps on the Google Play Store under the brand “RAMPS” (Ruvin And Mihil – Play Smart). CoolTimes is a multiplication app described as “A fun way of learning multiplication for kids”, whilst FamilyPhoto is a photo album app. The brothers, who both study at Gateway College in Colombo have also published an app specifically for their schoolmates.  All three apps are free to download.

According to the Daily FT, the previous youngest developers were a pair of brothers aged 10 and 12 who produced one IOS app for Apple devices.  That makes Mihil and Ruvin the youngest yet, and it is certainly a bright sign for Sri Lanka’s future in the tech business – and a very cute story.  Although two young men who already seem to have pretty clear ideas about life probably wouldn’t want it described like that.

SURIYAPPERUMA BOYS

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September 18, 2015 · 2:34 am

Ho-Hah and Propaganda around the OHCHR Report

IMG_20150915_134419 M Sumanthiran of TNA with Zeid

I. Tamil National Alliance: Press Release, 15 September 2015

TNA Spokesperson and Member of Parliament for Jaffna Mr. M. A. Sumanthiran met Hon. Hugo Swire, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom on the sidelines of the Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva yesterday, 14 September.  Mr Sumanthiran explained the TNA’s position concerning the importance of full international participation in all mechanisms established to advance Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka. He also stressed the need for the full implementation of the recommendations of the forthcoming OISL Report by the government of Sri Lanka.  The meeting was part of the TNA’s continued efforts at engaging a wide range of stakeholders including Human Rights Council member states, other governments, the government of Sri Lanka and others with respect to accountability and Transitional Justice.  Continue reading →

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September 17, 2015 · 11:20 am

The Borulagoda Gunawadenas via A Requiem for Indika Gunawardena

Senaka Weeraratne: “A Very Personal Memoir”

I came to know Indika in 1960 when I entered Royal College as a student of ‘1B’ class under Mr. Lennie de Silva (Class Master). Dinesh Gunawardena, Malik Samarawickrema, R.J. de Silva, Ruwan Ratnatunga, Jayantha Jayasinghe among others were all in ‘1B’ class. It was through Dinesh that I first came to know his brother Indika. Dinesh was seated next to me in that class as we had a lot in common those days. My father was a strong supporter of Phillip Gunawardena and the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) which won 10 seats at the General Elections held in March 1960. Ranil Wickremesinghe and C.R. de Silva were in Class ‘1D’ which had Mr. Harold Samaraweera as the Class Master. The composition of these classes was mixed, however since several subjects such as Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry were then taught in Sinhala the  classes were rearranged for these subjects. Ranil and Chitta Ranjan( Bulla) joined the class in ‘IB’ class room for these subjects, ‘Bulla’ who was a very close friend of mine from the Kindergarten days was seated next to me on the right hand side in class IB for the subjects taught in Sinhala.  GUNAWARDENAS left to right (clockwise) …Dinesh, Prasanna, Indika, Kusuma, Lakmali, Phillip and Gitanjana

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September 17, 2015 · 10:45 am

With the Samasamajists out in the Cold, Tissa Vitharana surveys the Scene in Q and A with Chandraprema

Courtesy of The Island, 17 September 2015, under the title “We warned Mahinda of international regime change conspiracy – Prof. Vitarana”

When it came to the presidential elections, we warned Mahinda that an American led regime change conspiracy was afoot in this country and we suggested ways out of this trap. But astrology outweighed scientific socialism and the country is now faced with this situation.

Chandraprema-147x150TISSA V

A part of the conventional political wisdom in this country was that the SLFP loses when they contest elections on their own but wins when they contest together with the political parties of the traditional left. This was the pattern from the first SLFP victory in 1956 where they had no-contest pacts with the LSSP to defeat the common enemy the UNP. What started off as no-contest pacts later developed into coalitions and this partnership with certain ups and downs has continued for the past several decades. But for the first time since 1975, the traditional left has now been deliberately left out in the cold by an SLFP leadership. In this interview, LSSP leader Prof. Tissa Vitarana speaks to C. A. Chandraprema about the future of his party and the trajectory the country has taken after the August 17 parliamentary election. Continue reading →

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September 16, 2015 · 2:59 am

PK Balachandran on Overt and Covert Paths in Indian and American Policies towards the Sri Lankan War, 2008-09

P.K.Balachandran, Correspondent, The New Indian Express

I. Preamble:

I have met PK Balachandran on a couple of occasions in Sri Lanka in connection with its political developments at specific points of time. I have always found him a straightforward and earnest person. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and a Masters in Sociology, both from the University of Delhi.  He has resided in Sri Lanka since 1997, working initially for The Hindustan Times before moving to the Indo-Asian News Service for a short while and then joining The New Indian Express. He therefore brings a depth of local experience that few foreign reporters will match. When I came across US Ambassador Robert Blake’s Address in Chennai in late October 2008 and decided to present a critical essay on its implications as one facet of a critique of Blake’s readings of the ongoing war in early 2009 that was already in the public realm (with a caustic title “Blake in Never-Neverland”), I sent that article as well as Blake’s Address to Bala. Typically and efficiently, Bala replied at once. The outcome has been a series of short and long ‘notes’ of immense value.

I reproduce them in full in temporal order, with my inquiries included where requisite, because of the empirical data in the form of Bala’s recollection of events and, last but not least, Bala’s assessment of the overarching political and foreign policy scenario. Indeed, they bring into question some facets of my own interpretation I conveyed in an article that appeared yesterday. Continue reading →

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September 15, 2015 · 6:38 am

American Action and Inaction on Sri Lanka, 2008/09: A Critical Evaluation

Michael Roberts

A. Preamble

Robert Blake reached Sri Lanka in early September 2006[1] and served in that capacity till he succeeded Richard Boucher as the Assistant Secretary for Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in Washington on May 26, 2009.[2] He was therefore directing USA’s programmes in the island during the crucial last phases of Eelam War IV. The Wikileaks disclosures have opened the official correspondence to the world (Wikileaks 2014). My initial studies of this material will result in at least two scathing commentaries (one is already in the public realm). My survey indicates that Blake and the US Embassy were at the centre of continuous and unrelenting pressure on the Rajapaksa government in a number of arenas relating to the ongoing war and its by-products (including the detention and welfare of IDPs). This was, I stress, coordinated activity, often involving ambassadors from several Western nations as well as the UN agencies in Colombo and/or New York.

bLAKE AT us-iNDIA DIALOGUE-csis.org Robert Blake

A cautionary caveat is called for here. Guided by SWR de Samarasinghe, “Sam’ to his friends,[3] I note that Blake’s thinking does not constitute the sum total of American policies towards Sri Lanka. The US governmental structure is multi-faceted and labyrinthine. The US Congress, the State Department, the Pentagon, and CIA do not always work in unison. Indeed, it is arguable that at times they run with both the hares and the hounds and even occasionally work at cross-purposes. Continue reading →

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September 13, 2015 · 2:48 pm

Hirsi Ali vs Michael Ondaatje

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: “Jihad Comes to Texas,” 5 May 2015, …. http://time.com/3846824/garland-texas-muhammad-jihad/

Just before 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 3, outside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, two men got out of their vehicle and began firing. They hit one man, a security officer, in the ankle. A Garland police officer returned fire with his handgun and killed the two men. I repeat: This happened in Garland, Texas. It did not happen in Paris. It did not happen in Peshawar. It happened in the heart of Texas, in the town that inspired the cartoon series King of the Hill.

At this early stage, much remains unclear. One of the shooters, Elton Simpson, has been identified as a convert to Islam who lived in Phoenix. The other, Nadir Hamid Soofi, lived in the same apartment complex and attended the same mosque. The obvious inference is that the two gunmen intended to attack the “First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest” that was being held that evening under the auspices of the American Freedom Defense Initiative. It’s possible that the target was not the event but one of the speakers, Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician who has called for a ban of the Qur’an.

GARLAND, TX - MAY 4, 2015 : FBI investigators work a crime scene outside of the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas on Monday, May 04, 2015 after a shooting occurred the day before on May 03, 2015 during the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest" in Garland, Texas. (Photo by Ben Torres/Getty Images)

GARLAND, TX – MAY 4, 2015 : FBI investigators work a crime scene outside of the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas on Monday, May 04, 2015 after a shooting occurred the day before on May 03, 2015 during the “Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest” in Garland, Texas. (Photo by Ben Torres/Getty Images)

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September 13, 2015 · 2:27 pm

Ayaan Hirsi Ali and her “Infidel: My Life” …….. 2006

I. The book Infidel: My Life, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali ….Courtesy of Wikipedia 

Infidel (2006/published in English 2007) is the autobiography of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-Dutch activist and politician. Out of consideration for the safety of the female ghostwriter, her identity is not given, as Hirsi Ali has attracted controversy[1]and death threats were made against Ali in the early 2000s.[2] 

INFIDEL coverSynopsis: Hirsi Ali writes about her youth in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya; about her flight to the Netherlands where she applied for political asylum, her university experience in Leiden, her work for the Labour Party, her transfer to the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, her election to Parliament, and the murder of Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the film Submission. The book ends with a discussion of the controversy regarding her application for asylum and status of her citizenship. Continue reading →

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September 10, 2015 · 3:10 pm

Brainstorming on Constitutional Reform and Citizenship — in Colombo Soon

 sanjanaCurator’s Note: “Corridors of power: Drawing and modelling Sri Lanka’s tryst with democracy

 What is a constitution? What place and relevance, if any, does it have in the popular imagination? Do citizens really care about an abstract document most would never have seen or read, when more pressing existential concerns continue to bedevil their lives and livelihoods, even post-war?

My struggle through curation has always been to explore the inconvenient and marginal through new or alternative ways of observing. Through visual art, theatre, sculpture, music, photography, literature, video and information visualisations, I have creatively leveraged unusual pairings and strange juxtapositions to shift complacency and apathy to critical reflection and engagement.

JJayampathy -- Jayampathy Channa- www.361degrees.ne Channa asanga Asanga

‘Corridors of power’ is my most ambitious curatorial attempt yet. When, years ago, I studied the process through which South Africa negotiated the transition out of apartheid rule – which involved a paradigm shift in their constitutional frameworks – I registered the use of a wide range of media at the time (before the days of social media, smartphones and the Internet as we know it today) to critically support debates amongst civil society that were as rooted in locale as they were widespread over geography. It occurred to me – with all the technological tools and platforms in use by so many today, why are constitutional reform and related debates still so alien to and removed from society in Sri Lanka – a country seven times smaller in size than South Africa, with far less identity groups and just three instead of eleven official languages? Continue reading →

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