Indi recently alluded to a British policy of "divide and rule" in administering its colonies. Lord Elphinstone is supposed to have said “Divide et impera was an old Roman maxim, and it shall be ours”, post the revolt of 1857 in India.What does this mean in practice? A definition on the internet is "the policy of maintaining control over one's ...
I was chatting to a professor of economics a few days ago and he mentioned something interesting:people associate the opening of the economy with an increase in corruption. He said that this is one reason why the 'free-market' is unpopular in this country.Liberal ideas, especially those related to market economics are definitely unpopular. The Professor's insight is interesting, it is ...
Max Eastman (1883-1969) was a poet, radical editor, translator, and author. He edited the socialist magazine The Masses (1912-1917) and translated Leon Trotsky into English. He traveled to the Soviet Union where he expected to discover the success of socialism but left in 1924, disillusioned by the bitter struggle that followed Lenin's death in which Trotsky was brushed aside by ...
I have been thinking about the response to the pandemic and the use of lockdowns. I have many questions but not much in the way of clear answers, so these comments may be treated as thoughts that may be worth discussing. My initial question when Sri Lanka announced the curfew was – ‘what is the end game?’ A curfew is ...
Something I wrote a few months ago when Islamaphobia was raging. It may yet return. I have been watching, with growing fear the racism directed towards the Muslims of Sri Lanka.What makes it difficult to understand is the rapidity with which it emerged and the sheer intensity of the emotions involved. People seem to be turning against colleagues, neighbours, associates ...
EASTERN MAN, WESTERN MANEastern man walks slowlyAfraid of the flash in the sky,Western Man walks swiftlyLess reason why.Eastern man walks slowlyAfraid of the bolt from the blue,Western man walks swiftlyBlind to the view.Eastern man walks slowlyShakes as the rockets boom,Western man walks swiftlySwiftly to his doom. -- Guy Amirthanayagam
EASTERN MAN, WESTERN MANEastern man walks slowlyAfraid of the flash in the sky,Western Man walks swiftlyLess reason why.Eastern man walks slowlyAfraid of the bolt from the blue,Western man walks swiftlyBlind to the view.Eastern man walks slowlyShakes as the rockets boom,Western man walks swiftlySwiftly to his doom. -- Guy Amirthanayagam
European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used and data collected on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies, ...
A friend of mine raised a question at a discussion yesterday. He said that there are two statements we commonly hear:1. We have bad politicians who appeal to nationalist sentiments/play the race card to win elections.2. All ordinary Sri Lankans are very peace loving and do not share in the racist sentiments expressed by politicians.His questions were:1. Can both of ...
A Muslim-owned shop and a mosque in Ampara were attacked yesterday after the shop was accused, on social media, of mixing birth control medication in the food being served.According to news reports, a video was posted on social media by a Buddhist organisation where a man is forced to confess to mixing the pills in the food.The allegation can easily ...
A discussion on abortion in Sri Lanka will be held on the 27th of February (Tuesday). Details below. Link to Facebook event page. All are welcome.Date: Tuesday 27th February 2018Time: 5pm to 7.30pmVenue: Centre for Society and Religion (within Fatima Church Maradana premises)Description:What do you know about abortion in Sri Lanka? Is it completely illegal in Sri Lanka or ...
Abortion is legal in Britain, but only when carried out under conditions of strict medical control. If not carried out under medical supervision it is still a criminal offence in the UK under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.As this article explains:"As things stand, a terrified teenager, who takes abortion drugs that she has bought over the internet rather ...
Abortion is illegal in Sri Lanka in all instances except to save the life of the mother. The existing law, a legacy of colonial rule, has not been revised since 1883. The Government proposed to amend the law to permit abortion in some very limited instances: rape, incest or serious foetal impairment.The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has lead a ...
Its been a bit of topsy-turvy year; Britain voted to leave the EU and an apparently crazy outsider, Donald Trump now occupies the White House.Both events have been put down to the protest vote. It just struck me that there is a proper protest vote party in Britain, one that has incidentally advocated leaving the EU for decades: The Official ...
Symbols, colours, anthems: are these what shape our identity? We have older ones on flags, newer ones have sprung up on stickers, the shapes change; do identities change?We have people who hail from different faiths and cultures, how do we weld them together? There are people pondering weighty questions of constitutions while I have been playing with symbols.Ceylon's (and later ...
Sri Lanka is to issue E-NIC's soon. The bill has been passed in parliament and is now apparently in the committee stage. The draft has not been published so we don't have full details, but we do know that it is modeled on Pakistan's CNIC scheme.The Sunday Times states that "the detailed data base will include biometrics data, details of ...
After the heat of April and the rains in May the weather has turned quite nice. Particularly pleasing is the bracing evening breeze.It seems to set in a little late, perhaps after eight in the evening, but when in it does it is such a nice experience; cool without being chilly, strong enough to be bracing without being uncomfortable; rustling ...
The problem of Palestine is a vexed one and I have grappled with it before, albeit in a lighter vein.Something struck me today, the situation in Israel is similar in may ways to that of the former 'White Dominions' of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and the United States. These countries saw a large scale influx of settlers from ...
Janith had written something on this that prompted me to put down a few thoughts. Its a very complex question that I have been puzzling over for some time.I have not had time to think through everything but I jotted a list of what I believe are the factors that lead to the phenomenon: A sense of alienation/isolation from the ...
