ALSO SEE “Colombo’s Interpol Warrant for Cardiff Killjoy” http://www.dailynews.lk/2013/07/04/sec01.asp Continue reading
Tamil Demonstrations target Sri Lanka at the Champions Trophy at Cardiff
Filed under accountability, disparagement, LTTE, nationalism, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, taking the piss, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, truth as casualty of war, world affairs
Governing the North: Major-General Chandrasiri in Q and A for friendly newspaper
Irangika Range, in Daily News, 3 July 2013 with title “Peace did not come on a Platters
Rebuilding the North after 30 years of terrorist conflict was no easy task. The government’s rebuilding efforts in the North which are in accordance with the principles of the Mahinda Chinthanaya programme has gained fruition within four years since the end of the conflict and the establishment of permanent peace. The four main areas which have been given priority are de-mining, resettlement, developing infrastructure facilities and the provision of basic needs for rural development. Security Forces personnel have become an integral part of the massive social and economic development drive in the North. Around 95 per cent of the area has been de-mined, while over 400,000 civilians have been resettled in their places of origin.
Q: How would you summarize the current situation in the North?
A: When we defeated terrorism four years ago, the situation in the North was a mess. The recovery and rebuilding process was no easy task, but, hard work has helped realise our goals. Today, life has returned to normal where devastation and hopelessness were the order of the day. Not only have we brought peace, but, we have given the province a new lease of life with the necessary infrastructure development. Roads, lakes, ports, airports, houses, schools, farms, health facilities have been built and reconstructed, advanced technology introduced to a province which had been bruised, battered and bloodied by three decades of terrorist conflict. Continue reading
Passaiyoor Fisheries Anchorage initiated by Australia & IOM
Courtesy of Daily News, 1 July 2013
Australia provided Rs. 58 million for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to restore critical fishing infrastructure in the Jaffna Peninsula, providing a boost to the local fishing industry. Australian High Commissioner Robyn Mudie handed over a reconstructed anchorage to Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry officials at a ceremony in Passaiyoor, Jaffna.
| Australian High Commissioner Robyn Mudie opens the reconstructed anchorage while IOM Head of Office/ Northern Coordinator Vedharaniyam Karuppiah looks on |
Before the reconstruction, full access for fishing boats from the area was only possible during high tide, creating dangerous conditions for fishermen and damaging boats. The reconstructed anchorage will allow full access to the sea at any time, directly supporting higher incomes for around 700 fishing families, many who have been displaced multiple times.
The military and reconciliation in the north
Jehan Perera, in Island, 2 July 2013
The government is continuing to give indications of its reluctance to establish a provincial council in the Northern Province with the devolved powers as provided by the 13th Amendment. The main concern articulated by government spokespersons has been the danger that a Tamil-led provincial council in the former war zone of the North might pose to national unity. This would account for the question being referred to the other eight provincial councils by the government, in which they are being asked to approve the dilution of their own powers as well as those of the soon-to-be-elected Northern Provincial Council. The ruling party headed by the President has taken the decision to proceed with the amending of the 13th Amendment. The only question remaining is when will the amendment be approved by Parliament and passed into law. Continue reading
Northern Expressway Enderamulla to Dambulla to start soon
Damith Wickremasekara, in the Sunday Times, 30 June 2013
Construction work of the northern Expressway starting from Enderamulla in the Gampaha district and ending in Dambulla will start early next year, Highways Ministry Secretary and Road Development Authority (RDA) Chairman R.W.R. Premasiri said yesterday. He said the first phase of the project — from Enderamulla to Ambepussa — is expected to cost US$ 1 billion (Rs. 130 billion) and would be completed with Chinese assistance. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Caste in modern Sri Lankan politics: A repetition of an old excursion from early 2010
Michael Roberts, c0urtesy of transcurrents in early 2010
A Preamble from 2013 to set the scene: Lakruwan de Silva’s historical excursion in early 2010 was inspired by the Presidential contest early that year and General Sarath de Fonseka’s vicissitudes on the political front. His reference to the famous – or maybe infamous – competition between segments of the Govigama elite and segments of the Karava during the course of the electoral contest for the “Educated Ceylonese seat’ in the Legislative Council in 1911 seemed to encourage some commentators to argue that caste competition among the Sinhalese was far more momentous in the early 20th century than Sinhala-Tamil rivalry. This was, in my view, a sweeping generalization of a half-baked character which was not alive to the manifold strands of competitive politics — strands which did not preclude each other. Ethnic competition for jobs and political space, ‘internal’ caste jostling between Vellālar and others among the Tamils, caste rivalries among the Sinhalese (whether Wahumpura vs Batgam, Karāva vs Goi, Salāgama vs Karāva, et cetera) and arguments between Buddhist revivalists and Christian denominations and, for that matter, competition between Karāva clerics and Tamil clerics in the Methodist Church (as I was told by Dr. GC Mendis) co-existed in the same temporal moment in different realms. This assertion is based on a long engagement with the details of political history in the British colonial period, one which led to studies of the pogrom against the Mohammedan Moors in 1915, the various nationalist currents of that time and the thinking of Anagārika Dharmapala as revealed in his diaries. Continue reading
Dayan’s pragmatism in his Long Book on the Long War
Padraig Colman, in Sunday Island, 30 June 2013
Varied Career: As well as being a diplomat, Dr Jayatilleka has been an urban guerrilla, political activist, active politician and academic political scientist. His book on the political thought of Fidel Castro was published by Pluto Press in London. His latest book brings much inside knowledge to a detailed narrative of Sri Lanka’s war and links it to issues of global significance.
Realism – Justification of War: Other reviewers have drawn out a particular emphasis on the ethics of violence and the concept of a just war. Jayatilleka argues that violence is common in the real world and it is often necessary for the state to sanction violence to protect itself and its people. This does not justify ‘‘terrorism targeting unarmed, non-combatant civilians; torture and arbitrary execution of prisoners; executions within the organization; and lethal violence against political prisoners’’. Continue reading
Maname in Retrospect: Homage to the Pioneers of 1956
KNO Dharmadasa, in the Island, 4 and 5 June 2013
“Maname is not only without question the finest thing I have seen on the Sinhalese stage”, wrote Regi Siriwardena in his regular column on the arts to the Ceylon Daily News on November 6, 1956, and added further , ” It is also one of the three or four most impressive dramatic performances in any language I have been privileged to attend.” Such an adulatory statement from a critic who was widely considered the highest authority on the arts in the country was something totally unexpected as far as the Maname team who had come down from Peradeniya were concerned. The producer- director Dr. E.R. Sarchchandra, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sinhalese in the one and only university in the island, the University of Ceylon, had warned his young cast that there was a possibility of adverse reaction from the audiences in Colombo. He had had a short meeting of the cast just before setting out to the metropolis and told them not to get disheartened if that was to happen. In fact he himself called the production ” an experiment.” Writing “A Note to the Production” for the programme, a Note handed to the audience on the first night, November 3, at the Lionel Wendt Theatre, he stated ” the aim of this experiment is both to explore potentialities as a traditional form may possess in the search for an indigenous tradition in drama as well as to bring to light another type of play which may be enjoyed on its own merits.” Continue reading
A Hitler Spoof: Adolf faces up to the Sri Lankan cricket team
Filed under accountability, Fascism, fundamentalism, taking the piss, world affairs
THAMILINI freed from detention ….. returns to family and Paranthan… Dies of Cancer, October 2015
Norman Palihawardena, in The Island, 27 June 2013
LTTE’s Women’s wing leader Sivasubramaniam Sivahami, alias Thamilini, yesterday vowed that she would never join a terrorist organization as she had learnt a bitter lesson in life after joining the LTTE. “The security forces re-habilitated me and taught me to be a good citizen and in future I will be a good citizen and live an exemplary life,” the former terrorist leader said. Continue reading
