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Patabandi Don Nandasiri Wijeweera known to the world at large as Rohana Wijeweera was killed 31 years ago on 13 November 1989.The revolutionary leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) or People’s Liberation Front was 49 years old at the time of his death.
The mastermind behind two bloody (...)
I do believe that Sarath Amunugama’s memoirs will prove a valuable resource for future historians. However, in the cause of historical accuracy, I should like to take issue with what he writes (“April Fifth 1971: High drama in Temple Trees”, the book extract published in the Sunday Times of (...)
Deepa Mehta’s latest film, an adaptation of Shyam Selvadurai’s Sri Lanka-set coming-of-age novel “Funny Boy,” has been picked up by Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing, and will land on Netflix this December, Variety revealed.
The Oscar-nominated “Earth” and “Midnight’s Children” director wrote the (...)
This Thursday will see the launch of my documentary Keenie Meenie – Britain’s Private Army.
It investigates the shadowy mercenary group Keenie Meenie Services (KMS), which secretly helped Sri Lanka’s military to suppress the Tamil independence struggle during the 1980s.The film accompanies my (...)
The first anniversary of the passing away of Richard (Batty) Weerakoon, who was Batty to all those who came to know him, falls on October 7th. He had a varied career as a political activist who rose to the position of the General Secretary of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, lawyer who rose to the (...)
When her resignation as Human Rights Commission (HRC) Chair became public two days before the August 5 Parliamentary election, it was speculated that Deepika Udagama had quit under pressure.
“I want to say upfront that, when people ask me whether I was leaving because I succumbed to (...)
She was born to a life of privilege and was planning a career as a medical doctor. However, she gave it all up in pursuit of a dream of changing this country to one where all citizens would enjoy equal status.
Hemamali Wijesinghe was just 18 in 1971, and she was amongst the many young people (...)
There are diverse views about the politics of the JVP and the inherent limitations contained in their political discourse. In particular, many of the views that exist regarding the politics of comrade Rohana Wijeweera and his assassination have contrasting narratives. In such an environment, (...)
How during a brutal, 25-year civil war in Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers failed the women soldiers who sacrificed everything to fight for a sovereign state for the Tamil minority.
Velu Chandra Kala was 17 when she charged into her school principal’s office with a bag of milk toffees. She was small (...)
The Vavuniya Diaries, by Neville Jayaweera Ravaya Publishers, Maharagama 2017 pp117+xvii, Rs250
This slim memoir spanning a few months in 1971 is noteworthy for its insider view on the failed first insurrection of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP—Peoples Liberation Front), or more exactly its (...)
The Government of Sri Lanka is planning to celebrate the forty years operation of neoliberal policies introduced in 1977. This also coincided with the Prime Minister’s forty years in Parliament. Senani and Kalpa, two of my former students gave me a wonderful gift when they returned back to Sri (...)
In this fifth extract from his book Sri Lanka: Arrogance of Power – Myth, Decadence and Murder, Rajan Hoole looks at the central role played by the Left, and especially the LSSP, in the period stretching from the country’s independence through to the 1970s.
As the country drifted towards (...)
The impulsion towards nationalist sentiment in politics, has in our view, exceedingly profound roots in the life style of the modern man, which makes for homogeneity of a single high culture within any political unit, and which condemns those not masters of the said culture, or unacceptable (...)
Plantation workers of Sri Lanka have historically been subjected to much adversity and oppression before they rightfully became citizens. But not much has changed since
At the end of a back-breaking day, only one question awaits tea plucker Velu Parameswari: ‘‘How many kgs?’’
That is all “dorai” (...)
Patabandi Don Nandasiri Wijeweera known to the world at large as Rohana Wijeweera was killed twenty–five years ago on November 13th 1989.The revolutionary leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) or Peoples Liberation Front was 49 years old at the time of his death. The mastermind behind (...)
Understanding what Sri Lanka’s Great Hartal meant in the global order of the 1950s, and what its legacy might mean for the country today.
This year, 12 August marks the 60th anniversary of the Great Hartal of 1953, the nationwide strike and mass public agitation that brought down independent (...)
The ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka has had a direct impact on literary production in Tamil, comparatively greater than in the case of Sinhala. This is largely due to the fact that it has been the Tamil-speaking communities who were most directly and severely affected by the ethnic conflict (...)
As Sri Lanka moves from a situation of war to no-war with the silencing of the big guns, the question of a peace with justice and democracy looms large. The first few months of this year culminating in the final offensive of in May saw horrendous suffering for the population of the Vanni (...)
The legend of Diyasena takes us back to the times of Parakramabahu the Great. If I remember correctly, an ascetic had predicted that the king will be reborn as Diyasena 2500 years after the Buddha, to save Buddhism from extinction. Now the legend has been revised to say that Diyasena has come (...)
The system of caste persists as an integral part of Hindu society. Colonial rulers let it be and where useful encouraged it. Modernisation made an impact, but did not eliminate it. Although the Hindu Varna system is the reference point for its justification, caste structure and hierarchy vary (...)
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