Situ ‘bad, really bad,pdfs.island.lk/2010/12/18/p1.pdf · om my b n the Univ ersity (1951) who...
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The Ministry of Defence in asso- ciation with the Ministry of Mass Media and Information have drawn up plans to raid illegal cable telecast stations islandwide. Minister Kheliya Rambukwella revealed this at a meeting held yesterday with representatives of inde- pendent television stations. He said information had been received about such illegal cable TV stations and added that what they broadcast was detrimental to the culture and interests of Sri Lanka. He further said that such telecasts targeted children. Associated with the Minister at yesterday’s meet- ing were Ministry Secretary W. B. Ganegala and Advisor D. B. Nihalsinghe. Former US Ambassador in Colombo Robert Blake has accused Sri Lanka of complicity in para-military operations directed at the LTTE as early as May 2007. According to a secret US embassy cable dated May 18, 2007, authored by Blake, who recently called for relaxation of Sri Lanka’s Emergency Regulations, the gov- ernment had a direct hand in ‘crimes committed by organ- ized para-military groups in 2006.” Blake went on to blame Sri Lanka even for prostitution in the provinces, child trafficking and denying funds to para-military operations initiated by President Rajapaksa’s predecessor, Chandrika Kumaratunga. Blake has written: “Allegations of government com- plicity in crimes committed by organized paramilitary groups have mounted in the last year. Paramilitaries such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)-break- away Karuna group and Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) have helped the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) to fight the LTTE, to kidnap suspected LTTE collaborators, And the JVP is going to close local universities. Govt. is going to set up for- eign universities here. International Scho Education in Sri L Saturday 18th December, 2010 eauty as An Ugly Side REVIEWED BYBANDU DESILVA Q uite a number of works have been written covering the Western colo- nial phase in Sri Lanka. As it has been bserved, the prob- em with writing he history of the colonial phase is that those who creat- ed the archives were foreign to the country and naturally incor- porated their biases towards themselves and towards whom they subjugated. P. D Curtin, Professor of History, John Hopkins University, an expert on slave trade, writing in the six-volumed UNESCO General History of Africa observed that there could be disastrous results in writing colonial history if historians neglected to bring another point of view through oral interviews with living people who expe- rienced the colonial rule. Historical parochialism was deeply imbedded in the older historical tradition. Even in the 20th century it barely came out of the old tradition. Curtin even observed that history at its best was a form of snooping; and at worst, academic espionage. Perhaps, one can find this in the Portuguese chronicler, Queyroz’s intentions as revealed in his book VI. The history of Ceylon written by Emerson Tennent could also be put into this catego- ry.So was the work of the Dutch clergy- man, Baldeus. When Tournour translated Mahavamsa there was an objective. There was, as Chief Justice Johnston observed something to learn from the laws and practices of the land which could come handy in governing the country. In other words, the early historiography was self –centred. Bronislaw Malinowiski (1920-30)s advo- cacy of field investigation from anthropo- logical perspective was overtaken by those of Claude Levi-Strauss and others (1940-1950s). These pre-modern works set in new dynamics especially in the field of anthropology. Decolonizing of history received an impetus especially from inde- pendence movements. Later, roots of resistance came to be investigated. Behavioural revolution has already come to the forefront of study. Interdisciplinary approaches and interviews and field investigations are proving to be as impor- tant for the colonial period as much as archival material. The archival records have to be balanced. The idea of looking at history from the point of view of clash of civilizations was one which began to make its appearance in 1990s with Samuel Huntington’s work (1996)making a landmark, which but dis- ti Islamic bias. The CO ments. His debate with Fr.Gnanapragsar on the issue of Bhuvanekabahu’s illegiti- mate sons is a pointer. The PhD thesis of the next generation of researchers suffered from other constrains, if not from over-influ- ence of the thinking of Western supervi- sors but also from obligations towards funding institutes of research. PhD stu- dents from my batch in the University (1951) who were the sec- ond generation of scholars to study Portuguese inter- action in Sri Lanka after Paul E.Pieris and Fr. S.G.Perera could not have, as the author points out, avoided the overwhelming [other] co pagans, o Christ w tled,….to doms,- C lages an reduce and to a Portug use an Nichol Memo Alfons 1452. Th isatio time the E prin in Sr 16th The Bud frie Dr. be up tu ax u a c K t a “The Portuguese Presence in Sri Lanka”: By Dr. Susantha Goonatilake A 16th Century Clash of Civilizations Remnants of Munnessaram Hindu/Buddhist temple complex bahu pirivena of Totagamuwa- partly rebuilt today SATMAG Vol. 30 No. 29 Saturday 18th December, 2010, 24 pages Rs. 20 Registered in Sri Lanka as a Newspaper - City Edition 13 11 Financial Review NATIONAL ANTHEM AND NATIONAL IDENTITY SOCIAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIETAL RESILIENCE AUSTRALIA IN CONTROL IN PERTH ELECTRICITY TARIFF THREATENS VIABILITY OF INDUSTRIES Beauty Has An Ugly Side F or years Wang Ziwen con- templated having plastic surgery to make her jaw line fashionably nar- row and her face smaller. The Beijinger finally decided against it a few days ago after hearing of the death of for- mer Super Girl contestant Wang Bei during ‘facial bone-grinding surgery’ in mid- November. Wang Bei, 24, is said to have gone under the knife in Wuhan, Hubei province, to jump-start her fal- tering showbiz career. The Island www.island.lk The annual get-together of the members of the judiciary was held at Hotel Taj Samudra yesterday under the patronage of Chief Justice Asoka De Silva. Minister of Justice Rauff Hakeem also graced the occasion. See in the picture are Justice S. I. Imam. Minister Rauff Hakeem, former Justice P. H. K. Kulatilleke, former Chief Justice G.P.S.de Silva, Chief Justice Asoka de Silva and Justice Shiranai Bandaranayake. (Photo-Sujatha Jayaratne) Situ ‘bad, really bad, beyond bleak’ While the Sri Lankan armed forces were battling the LTTE in the East in early 2007, India expressed serious concern that the situation in Sri Lanka was rapidly deteriorating, according to a confidential US embassy missive released by the whistle blowing website, Wikileaks. The US cable dated April 27, 2007 dealt with the situation in Sri Lanka at an initial stage of the military campaign launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government in response to the LTTE declaring war in the second week of August, 2006. The cable quoted senior Indian officials as saying that the situation in Sri Lanka was ‘beyond bleak’ and that neither the government nor Tamil separatists had any ‘regard’ for the international community and also sought a briefing from the US regarding Sri Lanka’s growing rela- tions with China. Sources pointed out that a discus- sion between Indian and US officials based in New Delhi on April 26, 2007 had been the basis of the embassy cable in the wake of the launch of Sri India felt both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE ignored international concerns, while expressing concern over President Mahinda Rajapaksa having a ‘soft spot’ for China. India sought US assessment of Hambantota Port. But strangely there was absolutely no mention of Pakistan, a key supporter ofLanka’s war against terror. BY SHAMINDRA FERDINANDO BY MARIO ANDREE Shangri La is investing US$ 300mn in a 10-acre property in Colombo Fort to construct a 300 room luxury hotel. The Hong Kong based hotel chain giant is also planning to invest in a 150 acre property in Hambantota. Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairman Dr. Nalaka Godehewa told The Island that the land acquisition would be concluded within the next two to three weeks. He said Shangri La would be acquiring land in Galle Face where the Army camp is cur- rently situated. Islets in Sri Lanka’s territo- rial waters, off the North- Western coast, have attracted 11 bidders for development on a thirty-year lease with proposals amounting to US$ 500 million. The first phase of the evalua- tion process concluded yester- day (17) and the bidders have been short listed. Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chief said that the country had attracted 12 bidders and one had to be disqualified, but he did not elaborate. Last year, the country had managed to attract US$ 1 bil- lion investment to the tourism industry and the new proposals valued at US$ 500 million were a great achievement, said Dr. Godehewa. Wikileaks Expose: India said in early 2007 BY DILANTHI JAYAMANNE The Health Ministry says that fifty percent institutions and schools within the Colombo City area have mosquito lar- vae and possible mosquito breeding places. Spokesman for the Health Ministry said that 55 institutions and 58 schools within the Colombo City had been inspected by thirty inspection units dur- ing the National Dengue week (Dec. 1 – 7). He said that 35 of the 55 (63.3 percent) institutions had mosquito breeding places and mosquito larvae. They The Lakshman Kadirgamar memorial lec- ture, which was to be deliv- ered by British Defence Secretary Liam Fox, today, in Colombo, has been post- poned indefinitely. He has informed the Lakshman Kadirgamar Foundation that he is unable to travel to Colombo due to an urgent commitment on an official visit to the United Arab Emirates. However, according to the British media and diplomatic sources, Fox came under tremendous pressure from British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Prime Minister David Cameron to cancel his Colombo visit to main- tain pressure on Sri Lanka as regards the war crimes allegations being levelled against it. Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Lakshman Kadirgamar Foundation says: “The Lakshman Kadirgamar Foundation has been informed by the Rt. Hon. Dr. Liam Fox, MP, Secretary of State for Well-wishers of General Sarath Fonseka were served cake yesterday at the Superior Courts Complex to mark the former army chief ’s 60th birthday, which falls today (18). Gen. Fonseka was brought to the Court of Appeal by the prison officials yesterday, when his Writ Application was taken up. Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka has completed the public consultation process on the electricity tariff revision for the year 2011. This was the first ever such public consultation process which gave an opportu- nity to the stakeholders to express their views on electrici- ty tariffs proposed by the Commission. The Commission published the proposed electricity tariffs formulated in consultation with the government and other stakeholders through press notices published on 24th November 2010 offering public and other stake- holders to express their views on the proposed tariffs. The Commission which was established under Act, No. 35 of 2002 was empowered through the Sri Lanka Electricity Act. No. 20 of 2009, to regulate the elec- tricity industry, which comprises generation, transmission, and distri- bution and supply segments. The Commission expects to consider all comments made by SF supporters get B-day cake Fox can’t come; Kadirgamar lecture postponed Final electricity tariffs to be known soon Citing info from ‘trusted embassy contacts’ Half of Colombo dengue prone Tourism sector sees flood of investments p p 10 Blake alleges MR of continuing para-military ops launched by CBK Says CBK helped Karuna to escape to Tamil Nadu Chandrika Rajapaksa 10 16 Plans to raid illegal cable TV stations Read what the US envoys have been saying about Sri Lanka’s war on the sly Wikileaks Special Today UN cites serious funding shortfall: GOSL responds The government has spent approximately Rs. 40 billion of its own resources for relief, early recovery and infrastructure devel- opment of the Northern Province during August 2009 to November 2010, says S B Divaratne, Secretary to the Presidential Task Force for Resettlement Development and Security (Northern Province) Divaratne was responding to our front-page news item captioned, “UN cites serious funding shortfall for 2011,” on Dec. 16, based on infor- mation provided by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). Shangri La to invest US$ 300 mn, acquire prime land in Colombo occupied by military
Transcript of Situ ‘bad, really bad,pdfs.island.lk/2010/12/18/p1.pdf · om my b n the Univ ersity (1951) who...
The Ministry of Defence in asso-ciation with the Ministry of MassMedia and Information have drawnup plans to raid illegal cable telecaststations islandwide.
Minister Kheliya Rambukwella revealed this at ameeting held yesterday with representatives of inde-pendent television stations.
He said information had been received aboutsuch illegal cable TV stations and added that whatthey broadcast was detrimental to the culture andinterests of Sri Lanka. He further said that suchtelecasts targeted children.
Associated with the Minister at yesterday’s meet-ing were Ministry Secretary W. B. Ganegala andAdvisor D. B. Nihalsinghe.
Former USAmbassador in ColomboRobert Blake has accusedSri Lanka of complicity inpara-military operationsdirected at the LTTE asearly as May 2007.
According to a secretUS embassy cable datedMay 18, 2007, authored by Blake, who recently called forrelaxation of Sri Lanka’s Emergency Regulations, the gov-ernment had a direct hand in ‘crimes committed by organ-ized para-military groups in 2006.”
Blake went on to blame Sri Lanka even for prostitutionin the provinces, child trafficking and denying funds topara-military operations initiated by PresidentRajapaksa’s predecessor, Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Blake has written: “Allegations of government com-plicity in crimes committed by organized paramilitarygroups have mounted in the last year. Paramilitaries suchas the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)-break-away Karuna group and Eelam People’s Democratic Party(EPDP) have helped the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) tofight the LTTE, to kidnap suspected LTTE collaborators,
And the JVP is going to closelocal universities.
Govt. is going to set up for-eign universities here.
International Scho
Education in Sri L
Saturday 18th December, 2010
eauty
as An
Ugly Side
REVIEWED BY BANDU DE SILVA
Quite a number of works have been
written covering the Western colo-
nial phase in Sri Lanka.
As it has been
bserved, the prob-
em with writing
he history of the
colonial phase is
that those who creat-
ed the archives were
foreign to the country
and naturally incor-
porated their biases
towards themselves
and towards whom
they subjugated. P. D
Curtin, Professor of
History, John Hopkins
University, an expert on
slave trade, writing in
the six-volumed UNESCO
General History of Africa
observed that there could
be disastrous results in
writing colonial history if
historians neglected to
bring another point of view
through oral interviews
with living people who expe-
rienced the colonial rule.
Historical parochialism was deeply
imbedded in the older historical tradition.
Even in the 20th century it barely came
out of the old tradition. Curtin even
observed that history at its best was a
form of snooping; and at worst, academic
espionage. Perhaps, one can find this in
the Portuguese chronicler, Queyroz’s
intentions as revealed in his book VI. The
history of Ceylon written by Emerson
Tennent could also be put into this catego-
ry. So was the work of the Dutch clergy-
man, Baldeus. When Tournour translated
Mahavamsa there was an objective. There
was, as Chief Justice Johnston observed
something to learn from the laws and
practices of the land which could come
handy in governing the country. In other
words, the early historiography was self
–centred.Bronislaw Malinowiski (1920-30)s advo-
cacy of field investigation from anthropo-
logical perspective was overtaken by
those of Claude Levi-Strauss and others
(1940-1950s). These pre-modern works set
in new dynamics especially in the field of
anthropology. Decolonizing of history
received an impetus especially from inde-
pendence movements. Later, roots of
resistance came to be investigated.
Behavioural revolution has already come
to the forefront of study. Interdisciplinary
approaches and interviews and field
investigations are proving to be as impor-
tant for the colonial period as much as
archival material. The archival records
have to be balanced.
The idea of looking at history from the
point of view of clash of civilizations was
one which began to make its appearance
in 1990s with Samuel Huntington’s work
(1996)making a landmark, which but dis-
ti Islamic bias. TheCO
ments. His debate with Fr.Gnanapragsar
on the issue of Bhuvanekabahu’s illegiti-
mate sons is a pointer.
The PhD thesis of the
next generation of
researchers suffered
from other constrains,
if not from over-influ-
ence of the thinking
of Western supervi-
sors but also from
obligations towards
funding institutes of
research. PhD stu-
dents from my
batch in the
University (1951)
who were the sec-
ond generation of
scholars to study
Portuguese inter-
action in Sri
Lanka after Paul
E.Pieris and Fr.
S.G.Perera
could not have,
as the author
points out,
avoided the
overwhelming
[other] co
pagans, o
Christ wtled,….todoms,- Clages anreduceand to aPortuguse anNicholMemoAlfons1452.
Thisatiotimethe Eprinin Sr16thTheBudfrieDr.
beuptuaxuacKta
“The Portuguese Presence in Sri Lanka”:
By Dr. Susantha Goonatilake
A 16th Century Clash
of Civilizations
Remnants of Munnessaram Hindu/Buddhist temple complex
bahu pirivena of Totagamuwa- partly rebuilt today
SATMAG
Vol. 30 No. 29 Saturday 18th December, 2010, 24 pages Rs. 20 Registered in Sri Lanka as a Newspaper - City Edition
1311Financial Review
NATIONAL ANTHEMAND NATIONALIDENTITY
SOCIAL ECOLOGYAND SOCIETAL
RESILIENCE
AUSTRALIA INCONTROL INPERTH
ELECTRICITY TARIFF THREATENS
VIABILITY OF INDUSTRIES
Beauty Has AnUgly Side
For yearsWangZiwen con-
templated havingplastic surgery tomake her jaw linefashionably nar-row and her facesmaller. TheBeijinger finallydecided against ita few days agoafter hearing ofthe death of for-mer Super Girlcontestant Wang Bei during ‘facialbone-grinding surgery’ in mid-November. Wang Bei, 24, is said tohave gone under the knife in Wuhan,Hubei province, to jump-start her fal-tering showbiz career.
The Island www.island.lk
The annual get-together of the members of the judiciary was held at Hotel TajSamudra yesterday under the patronage of Chief Justice Asoka De Silva. Ministerof Justice Rauff Hakeem also graced the occasion. See in the picture are JusticeS. I. Imam. Minister Rauff Hakeem, former Justice P. H. K. Kulatilleke, former ChiefJustice G.P.S.de Silva, Chief Justice Asoka de Silva and Justice ShiranaiBandaranayake. (Photo-Sujatha Jayaratne)
Situ ‘bad, really bad,beyond bleak’
While the Sri Lankan armedforces were battling the LTTE in theEast in early 2007, India expressedserious concern that the situation inSri Lanka was rapidly deteriorating,according to a confidential USembassy missive released by thewhistle blowing website, Wikileaks.
The US cable dated April 27, 2007dealt with the situation in Sri Lanka
at an initial stage of the militarycampaign launched by PresidentMahinda Rajapaksa’s government inresponse to the LTTE declaring warin the second week of August, 2006.
The cable quoted senior Indianofficials as saying that the situationin Sri Lanka was ‘beyond bleak’ andthat neither the government norTamil separatists had any ‘regard’ for
the international community andalso sought a briefing from the USregarding Sri Lanka’s growing rela-tions with China.
Sources pointed out that a discus-sion between Indian and US officialsbased in New Delhi on April 26, 2007had been the basis of the embassycable in the wake of the launch of Sri
India felt both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE ignored international concerns, while expressing concernover President Mahinda Rajapaksa having a ‘soft spot’ for China. India sought US assessment of Hambantota Port.
But strangely there was absolutely no mention of Pakistan, a key supporter ofLanka’s war against terror.
BY SHAMINDRA FERDINANDO
BY MARIO ANDREE
Shangri La is investing US$300mn in a 10-acre property inColombo Fort to construct a 300room luxury hotel. The HongKong based hotel chain giant isalso planning to invest in a 150acre property in Hambantota.
Sri Lanka TourismDevelopment AuthorityChairman Dr. Nalaka
Godehewa told The Island thatthe land acquisition would beconcluded within the next twoto three weeks.
He said Shangri La wouldbe acquiring land in Galle Facewhere the Army camp is cur-rently situated.
Islets in Sri Lanka’s territo-rial waters, off the North-Western coast, have attracted
11 bidders for development on athirty-year lease with proposalsamounting to US$ 500 million.The first phase of the evalua-tion process concluded yester-day (17) and the bidders havebeen short listed.
Sri Lanka TourismDevelopment Authority Chiefsaid that the country hadattracted 12 bidders and one
had to be disqualified, but hedid not elaborate.
Last year, the country hadmanaged to attract US$ 1 bil-lion investment to the tourismindustry and the new proposalsvalued at US$ 500 million werea great achievement, said Dr.Godehewa.
Wikileaks Expose: India said in early 2007
BY DILANTHI JAYAMANNE
The Health Ministry says that fiftypercent institutions and schools withinthe Colombo City area have mosquito lar-vae and possible mosquito breedingplaces.
Spokesman for the Health Ministrysaid that 55 institutions and 58 schoolswithin the Colombo City had beeninspected by thirty inspection units dur-ing the National Dengue week (Dec. 1 –7).
He said that 35 of the 55 (63.3 percent)institutions had mosquito breedingplaces and mosquito larvae. They
The LakshmanKadirgamar memorial lec-ture, which was to be deliv-ered by British DefenceSecretary Liam Fox, today,in Colombo, has been post-poned indefinitely. He hasinformed the LakshmanKadirgamar Foundationthat he is unable to travelto Colombo due to anurgent commitment on anofficial visit to the UnitedArab Emirates.
However, according tothe British media anddiplomatic sources, Foxcame under tremendouspressure from BritishForeign Secretary WilliamHague and Prime MinisterDavid Cameron to cancelhis Colombo visit to main-tain pressure on Sri Lankaas regards the war crimesallegations being levelledagainst it.
Meanwhile, a statementissued by the LakshmanKadirgamar Foundationsays:
“The LakshmanKadirgamar Foundationhas been informed by theRt. Hon. Dr. Liam Fox, MP,Secretary of State for
Well-wishers of GeneralSarath Fonseka were served cakeyesterday at the Superior CourtsComplex to mark the formerarmy chief ’s 60th birthday,which falls today (18).
Gen. Fonseka was brought tothe Court of Appeal by the prisonofficials yesterday, when his WritApplication was taken up.
Public Utilities Commissionof Sri Lanka has completed thepublic consultation process onthe electricity tariff revision forthe year 2011. This was the firstever such public consultationprocess which gave an opportu-nity to the stakeholders toexpress their views on electrici-ty tariffs proposed by theCommission.
The Commission published
the proposed electricitytariffs formulated inconsultation with thegovernment and otherstakeholders throughpress notices publishedon 24th November 2010offering public and other stake-holders to express their views onthe proposed tariffs.
The Commission which wasestablished under Act, No. 35 of
2002 was empoweredthrough the Sri LankaElectricity Act. No. 20 of2009, to regulate the elec-tricity industry, whichcomprises generation,transmission, and distri-
bution and supply segments.The Commission expects to
consider all comments made by
SF supportersget B-day cake
Fox can’t come;Kadirgamar lecture postponed
Final electricity tariffs to be known soon
Citing info from ‘trusted embassy contacts’
Half of Colombodengue prone
Tourism sector sees flood of investments
p p10
Blake alleges MR of continuing para-militaryops launched by CBK
Says CBK helped Karuna to escape to Tamil Nadu
ChandrikaRajapaksa
10
16
Plans to raid illegalcable TV stations
Read what the US envoys have been saying about Sri Lanka’s war on the sly
Wikileaks Special Today
UN cites seriousfunding shortfall:GOSL responds
The government has spentapproximately Rs. 40 billion of itsown resources for relief, earlyrecovery and infrastructure devel-opment of the Northern Provinceduring August 2009 to November2010, says S B Divaratne, Secretaryto the Presidential Task Force forResettlement Development andSecurity (Northern Province)
Divaratne was responding toour front-page news item captioned,“UN cites serious funding shortfallfor 2011,” on Dec. 16, based on infor-mation provided by the UN Officefor the Coordination ofHumanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
Shangri La to invest US$ 300 mn, acquire prime land in Colombo occupied by military
