After the Resolution targeting Sri Lanka was passed in Geneva in March, there seemed to be a scramble in the Ministry of External Affairs to jump on what was seen as a Western bandwagon. The egregious Dharisha Bastians engaged in much bashing of many of those entrusted with various aspects of international relations over the preceding few years who had ...
Finally last week I was able to get a few more roses for the new beds in the garden. Or rather for the one bed there, where I placed two plants, while one of the others I bought went into the bed by the pond beside the garage. The other went into the bed on the balcony where my first ...
I had asked in the morning for two more bottles of beer, so that the boat would not have to go up and down unnecessarily. Following on the morning’s beer, this seemed excessive, but after my coffee, during which I moved also to the back, to see the ducks floating past on the lake, and then a shower, I felt ...
I had two more outings early in the New Year. Once was with Tony to Twickenham on Saturday the 6th to see England play the All Blacks, before which he insisted I buy a heavy coat, which cost hardly anything at the Army Surplus Store and proved invaluable over the next few years. Two days later I went to London ...
Today’s pictures are from a visit to the south of Spain, when I went again to Granada and Cordoba and Seville which I had last seen in 1977. My attempt to get to Honduras in March failed so I had to make another trip, and took advantage of that to see more of Spain en route. There was so much ...
The second issue which my colleagues in the Liberal Party had proposed for discussion last week was that of the independence of the Judiciary. Again, I made it clear that I had no diffidence whatsoever about a statement being issued affirming our commitment to that principle. However I also thought it important that we should stress the need for accountability ...
Today’s pictures are from a journey to Uttarakhand, one of the new states carved out a few years back from bigger ones. This was from Uttar Pradesh and comprised its hilly regions, but going down to the holy cities of Rishikesh and Haridwar where the Ganges tumbles down to the plains. I began in Meerut which is in Uttar Pradesh, ...
I noted last week that I had planned to get to Heathrow early on the last day of my nostalgic visit to England this year, since John Harrison with whom I was staying at Eton was due to go to London for lunch. But it was Robert Binyon, a mutual friend, with whom he was to lunch, and I was ...
The National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights 2011 – 2016 as well as the full series of Sri Lanka Rights Watch are available at the Peace & Reconciliation Website. The recent occurrences at a Children’s Home in Mawanella have highlighted the need for better systems and better supervision with regard to the care of children. This is something we ...
Text of a presentation by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha at the ‘Afkar-e-Taza: Rescuing the Past, Shaping the Future’ Seminar Lahore, April 3rd 2016 The world seems to be at boiling point at present given the increasing impact of terrorist activity. Civilian populations are subject to ruthless attacks in Africa, the Middle East and now both Europe and Asia. Typically, there is ...
I was surprised to be invited last week to a consultation on the Rights of Elders organized by the Human Rights Commission, since this was not an area I knew about. In fact the Rights of Elders do not figure in the Human Rights Action Plan, which led to questions as to whether the latter should not be amended, to ...
Expanded version of the speech of Prof Rajiva Wijesinha at the closing session of the Global Languages Meet – January 8th 2012 at the Adivasi Academy, Tejgadh I should begin by thanking Dr Ganesh Devy for giving us yet another fascinating and stimulating day. It was a wonderful experience to come today to the Adivasi Centre he has set up, ...
Problems connected with the attempted impeachment of the Chief Justice require solutions. I believe that impeaching the Chief Justice is no solution to anything, and will in fact lead us to forget the actual problems. In suggesting the following practical solutions to the problems, I realize I am probably wasting my time, since we have developed a culture of addressing ...
From the City of Aquatint 20 These letters continue with the visit to Russia when I joined a parliamentary delegation from home. And there is a postscript about the last few days in London before I went back to Oxford for my second year. The pictures are not mine, a taste of what I was lucky to see St. Mark’s ...
I wrote last week of the tragedy that befell the fish in the tank by the dining room, which I had looked at with such pride just a few days earlier, its eight fish darting and gliding along in great elegance. That tragedy followed not long after the nights of the predators, up on the balcony, and also I noticed ...
I deal here with my candidacy for the Presidency in 1999, which most of the Liberal party supported though a couple on our Executive Committee had wanted to support Chandrika Kumaratunga. I did not spend much, but I did have two former students to stay at home and help me with leafletting, and friends in England contributed small sums to ...
These pictures were taken in 2018 when I finally got to Honduras after a false start because the visa took a long time to print and I missed my flight. But I was determined to get there so paid whatever extra was needed, but then did take in more of Spain on my way. The pictures alternated between Tegucigalpa which ...
I had wondered during that day what to do on the next. Though Ashtamudi Villas was delightful, I thought I should try something different, so in the afternoon I booked into Waves and Wind, which I had been thinking of the previous day, believing that it was on the seashore. But that evening I was disabused of this notion by ...
Today, Friday, I cover a theme, birds from wild life parks round the world, though I must confess that, not having a camera that can capture detail, I am as concerned with the scene around them. The first two pictures, from Yala last year, exemplify this concern. Then there is one close up from Tanzania taken in 2014 and three ...
Today’s pictures are from Liechtenstein which I visited in 2017. I must confess the main reason was to tick it off my list, but I found it unexpectedly charming. I stayed in an AirBnB, which I found delightful, a separate room with a terrace overlooking a range of hills which provided for a marvellous view as I consumed a full ...
