May 25, 2025 · 4:30 pm

Anguish Without Closure … As Sri Lankan Tamils Lament The Missing

Jeevan Ravindran in Al-Jazeera, 24 May 2025…. where the title runs thus: ‘Need answers’: Will Sri Lanka’s Tamils find war closure under Dissanayake?”

Tamils commemorating the loved ones they lost, or who were ‘disappeared’, during the civil war that ended 16 years ago are still waiting for answers.

Sri Lanka Tamils
Krishnan Anjan Jeevarani and her sister cry as they remember the family members they lost during SriLanka’s civil war, including Jeevarani’s three-year-old daughter[Jeevan Ravindran/Al Jazeera]

Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka – On a beach in northeastern Sri Lanka, Krishnan Anjan Jeevarani laid out some of her family’s favourite food items on a banana leaf. She placed a samosa, lollipops and a large

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May 24, 2025 · 9:20 pm

UK in Strategic Convolutions with the Chagos Islands

Oliver Wright et al, in The Australian, 24/25 May 2025, where the title runs thus: “Starmer surrenders island chain”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has signed a deal to cede sovereignty of the contested and strategically located Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a move he says ensures the future of a US-UK military base. The Indian Ocean archipelago is home to a strategically important naval and bomber base on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia. Under the agreement, the UK will pay Mauritius £101 million ($211 million) per year to lease back the base for at least 99 years.

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May 24, 2025 · 1:41 pm

Generations of Pain: The Zelensky Heritage in Ukraine

Nimal Jayasinha

In June of 1941, Hitler’s Army began a rampage through Ukraine, razing towns, unleashing death squads, and massacring Jews by the hundreds of thousands. In one village, four Jewish brothers enlisted in the military, said goodbye to their parents, and walked off to fight the Nazis.

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May 24, 2025 · 1:29 am

Discerning & Learning from George Keyt

Uditha Devapriya, in The Island, 18 May 2025, where the title reads “Searcing for George Keyt”

George Keyt, Sri Lanka’s most celebrated painter, died 32 years ago in 1993. During his life and after his death, he became the subject of several studies by Sri Lankan and foreign scholars. Today his paintings have found their way to some of the biggest art collections in his country, as well as to places like Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

Taken together, these paintings represent some of the finest examples of modern art in Sri Lanka and Asia. They have also become symbols of Asian modernism.

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May 24, 2025 · 1:07 am

Kusal Mendis Fills Buttler’s Spot in Gujarat Titans

Item in the THE ISLAND.LK,  16 May 2025

ESPNcricinfo has confirmed Kusal Mendis will not travel to Pakistan for the remainder of the PSL [Cricinfo]. Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis will replace Jos Buttler in the Gujarat Titans squad for the IPL 2025 playoffs.

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May 23, 2025 · 9:04 pm

Trump’s Racist Perspectives on South Africa

Robert Rotberg …………………………………………………….. https://robertirotberg.substack.com/p/355-privileging-white-south-africans … which item came to my notice via one of the regular communications from RHODES CONNECT. Highlighting emphasis is the work of The editor, Thuppahi.

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May 23, 2025 · 7:44 pm

“Masquerade” — A Plantation Bungalow in the Hills of Sri Lanka

Item in The Sunday Times of Sri Lanka ... sent by Dushy Perera, a planter … rukrkaganana fellow … & intrepid traveller

Masquerade! Looking more like a mansion than a bungalow, the Talawelele bungalow stands within sight of the Great Western hills. Secluded in th hillside tea plantations are bungalows recalling part of Sri Lanka’s recent past.

Royston Ellis and photographer Gemunu Amarasinghe set out to discover some of them in this monthly series – Plantation Homes

“When you see clouds over the Great Western range of hills”, said the planter, “we know it will rain in the afternoon. That’s why, when a captain wins the toss on the cricket field of the Radella Sports Club, he looks up at the hills. If there are clouds, he makes sure his team bats first.”

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May 23, 2025 · 7:03 pm

Jason Sangha confirms Role as an Adelaide Striker

News Item at ……….. https://www.adelaidestrikers.com.au/news/4255866/jason-sangha-commits-to-new-cricketing-

Jason Sangha has firmly established South Australia as his new home. After joining the South Australia Men for the 2024/25 domestic season, Sangha has now signed a two-year deal with the Adelaide Strikers, further cementing his commitment to the state.

 

 

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May 23, 2025 · 1:57 am

Ian Goonetileke’s PREFACE to THOSE LONG AFTERNOONS

HAI Gonnetileke, Preface to the booklet THOSE LONG AFTERNOONS. CHILDHOOD IN COLONIAL CEYLON, Colombo, Lake House Bookshop, 1989 … reproduction made possible by the work of Oliver Guruge in Lanka.

Evelyn Fredrick Charles Ludowyk Jnr was born on 16th October 1906 in Galle, Ceylon and died on 1st June 1985 in Colchester, England.  He became the Professor of English at the age of thirty and chose early retirement in 1956. He settled in England with his Hungarian wife Edith whom he had married in 1941. His death brought to an end a long and fruitful partnership in which their professional talents, artistic gifts, social commitment and political beliefs made common cause. Edith died on 11th February 1987.

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May 22, 2025 · 1:09 pm

Fundamental Failures in State Formation in Sri Lanka

The ABSTRACT of a refereed article in the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, 6 December 2020, the authos being  Malin Akebo & Sunil Bastian, whose chosen title is  “Sri Lanka: Victory, Politics, and State Formation” ….

https://doi.org/10.1177/1542316620976121

In 2009, the war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ended through a military victory for the government. Features of the postwar peace-including persistent militarization, strengthened nationalism, and communal violence-have commonly been attributed to a failed attempt at liberal peacebuilding followed by an authoritarian backlash. In contrast, this study shows how the postwar peace has been shaped by historical processes of state formation aimed at consolidating the Sri Lankan state. The article takes a long-term approach to analysing peace in Sri Lanka through the lens of state formation. The analysis centres on four key aspects: (1) postwar security, (2) state-minority relations, (3) socioeconomic aspects, and (4) electoral politics. We conclude that there are currently few signs of any substantial state reform that would accommodate the continuous demand for social justice and minority rights that has spurred violent conflicts in Sri Lanka.

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