Opinion
Monthly Archives: July 2013
Get the first principle of governance right first, don’t just blindly blame the opposition
Justifying blatant opportunism
The crossover of UNP Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekera to the government is being seen as yet another example of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s political power and acumen that is proving difficult to resist. It is also seen as an example of political opportunism and venality. More than adding to the strength of an already over-powerful […]
North-South and South South Politics
Sri Lanka’s post-war transition has resumed. That transition which was blocked by the neoconservative ‘national security’ fundamentalism has unfrozen with the imminent holding of the Northern Provincial Council election under the 13th amendment as it stands.
If I may immediately qualify that statement, Sri Lanka is undergoing at least two transitions or a transition with two […]
The land of the cowards: The defection of Dayasiri Jayasekara was an act of pure unadulterated opportunism
“The defection of Dayasiri Jayasekara was an act of pure unadulterated opportunism. In making his jump, Mr. Jayasekara, until very recently a voluble critic of Rajapaksa Rule, was motivated by nothing more than naked self-interest. Like those other UNPers who took the same path, he did what he did because he wanted to be more […]
Read MoreThe risk of granting police powers to provincial councils in the North and the East
We, the people of Tamil Eelam, have an inherent right to self-determination. Subject to Genocide at the hands of successive Sinhala national governments and as an essential measure of protection we wish to establish our own independent and sovereign State of Tamil Eelam.
Preamble to the Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter
-Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran – Prime Minister TGTE
It was […]
Basil’s fear about a parallel Tamil army is baseless
“Some things you must always be unable to bear. Some things you must never stop refusing to bear: Injustice and outrage and dishonor and shame. No matter how young you are or how old you have got. Not for kudos and not for cash. Your picture in the paper nor money in the bank, neither. […]
Read MoreSri Lanka: The way forward
The Northern Provincial Council election is going ahead.
It is of course a reflection of the dismal state of post-war Sri Lanka that this very basic democratic requirement should be considered an achievement. Still, after months of frenzied campaigning by Sinhalese extremists, the fact that candidates are being nominated and preparations made is a huge relief.
Denying […]
The resurgent spirit of Black July
“….anyone who dresses or speaks differently is not simply a different person, but a different animal from a different sty with whom there can be no accommodation, and who must be hated and hounded out”.
Victor Klemperer (The Language of the Third Reich)
The spirit of Black July is not dead. It is alive; triumphantly, confidently and […]
Sri Lanka the UNP opposition and the Dayasiri detonation
While I wish that Dayasiri Jayasekara had broken away from the UNP to form a new party rather than join the government, he has, I
must admit, made a smart move, as has his new leader Mahinda Rajapaksa. The smart move was not to cross the floor and accept a cabinet portfolio but to move out […]
Our Pirapaharan: A deadly and a desolate future awaits us, if we allow ourselves to be enticed by the Rajapaksas and their patriotic drum-roll
“…..he who erected
His own gallows was the one who least expected
To end up dead.”
La Fontaine (Selected Fables)
Vellupillai Pirapaharan could have been the saviour of his people. He could have won for the Tamils a federal solution, perhaps even a con-federacy. He could have, but didn’t, because that was not his goal. His goal was His […]
Flying fish, Sanjeeva Pushpakumara, a hysterical government and the constriction of the arts in Sri Lanka
I met Sanjeeva Pushpakumara last year in a little art cinema off the Champs Elysees at the showing of Ashoka Handagama’s Ini Avan. It
seemed he knew me from his days as a student or a journalist. A pleasant, articulate yet understated young man, of less taciturn intensity than Handagama, he debated Ini Avan with me. […]
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Opinion
Opinion
The land of the cowards: The defection of Dayasiri Jayasekara was an act of pure unadulterated opportunism
The risk of granting police powers to provincial councils in the North and the East
Opinion
Basil’s fear about a parallel Tamil army is baseless
Opinion
Issues
Sri Lanka the UNP opposition and the Dayasiri detonation
Opinion
Our Pirapaharan: A deadly and a desolate future awaits us, if we allow ourselves to be enticed by the Rajapaksas and their patriotic drum-roll
Opinion
Flying fish, Sanjeeva Pushpakumara, a hysterical government and the constriction of the arts in Sri Lanka
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