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Tide? Or Ivory Snow? Public Power in the Age of Empire

by Arundhati Roy August 24, 2004 Transcript of full speech by Arundhati Roy in San Francisco, California on August 16th, 2004. The editor and the Sangam do not agree with everything in this article, but it is a powerful alternative view, with a global persective not found in many other places. I’ve been asked to… Read more »

The Stories of Guru Paramarta: Sixth Story

The Stories of Guru Paramarta: Sixth Story of the Brahman’s Prophecy by Fr. Costanzo Beschi [aka, Veera MaMuni] Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 29, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/568.html The sixth story in the Guru Paramarta series describes how the Guru Paramartha interpreted a Brahman’s prophecy about his impending death, as heard from one of his… Read more »

Twenty-Five Types of Government in the World

by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 8, 2004 In early 1999, I read a humorous syndicated commentary by Gary Borders (then the editor and publisher of the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel, Texas). It was so thought-provoking for its humor and simplicity, that I put it away safely in my file of notable collections for reference. My last month’s… Read more »

Working in Post-conflict Northern Sri Lanka

by Dr. Shiamala Suntharalingam MB BS, BSc (Hons), DFFP, DRCOG, MRCGP May to November 2003 20 years of war has taken its toll on all aspects of society in Sri Lanka, but the NorthEast of the island has been most affected. Homes destroyed, farmland mined, schools, temples, churches & hospitals have been damaged in varying… Read more »

Self-Righteous Democracies

by Phar Kim Beng, Straits Times, September 2, 2004 Mr. Bill Clinton made the promotion of democracy the centrepiece of his foreign policy when he was president of the United States. President George W. Bush, especially after Sept 11, did the same, looking to democracy as a means of reforming Arab/Muslim societies and awakening them… Read more »

Diaspora Circulation and Transnationalism

As Agents for Change in the Post-Conflict Zones of Sri Lanka R. Cheran of the Dept. of Sociology and Refugee Studies of York University, Toronto has written a paper entitled “Diaspora Circulation and Transnationalism as Agents for Change in the Post Conflict Zones of Sri Lanka” which does exactly what sociology is supposed to: observe… Read more »

Vignettes on Three Black Tiger Heroes

In the Battlefield by Sachi Sri Kantha, August 17, 2004 After the posting of my review of the Sooriya Puthalvargal 2003 Memorial Souvenir in the Sangam website [June 23, 2004], I received two appreciatory emails for the details I had provided on Black Tigers.  One was from American academic Dr. Robert Pape, Associate Professor in Political Science,… Read more »

Pirapaharan 2, Chapter 11: Indira Gandhi’s Covert Track

By T. Sabaratnam, August 13, 2004 (Volume 2) Training Militants  Indira Gandhi always called President Jayewardene ‘the old fox.’  Her assessment of him was that he could not be trusted.  Her opinion of Jayewardene was based on the information given to her by her friend Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the lady who suffered most at Jayawardene’s hands, and… Read more »

Black July – Culture of Silence

The Accomplice in Crime The Shameful Shadows of Macabre July ’83 By Oswald B. Firth OMI, July 29, 2004 Director, Centre for Society and Religion Editor Social Justice How could a community of people, steeped in the traditional values of compassion and ‘ahimsa’, ever break loose into uncivilised behaviour? “We shall have to repent in… Read more »

Fifth Guru Paramarta Story

Going Home on Horseback Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 18, 2004 The fifth story in the Guru Paramarta series describes how the Guru received a gifted horse and set out on his journey. A contemporary analogy to this fifth story of Fr.Beschi in Colombo was the latest attempts of President Chandrika and her… Read more »

Playing with Indian Fire

by Rajkumar Sivapatham, June 14, 2004 As expected by the Tamils, the Sri Lankan president is at her tricks again. That is – giving the impression that she is ready for peace talks in one hand and totally rejecting them on the other. So far, this tactic has worked very well with her Sinhalese political friends… Read more »

Pirapaharan 2, Chapter 6: Indira’s Telephone Call

By: T. Sabaratnam, June 18, 2004 (from Volume 2) Tamil Nadu Erupts Tamil Nadu erupted in anger on Tuesday, 26 July 1983, when news spread that atrocities had been committed on Tamils in Sri Lanka. Thousands of Tamils poured onto the streets in Chennai, Madurai and other cities denouncing the Jayewardene government and demanding Prime… Read more »

Guru Paramarta: Second Story

by Fr. Costanzo Beschi; published April 9, 2004 The Stories of Guru Paramarta: Second Story of the Purchase of the Horse’s Egg by Fr.Costanzo Beschi [aka, Veera MaMuni] Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha Now that Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga has anointed a new prime minister, Mahinda Rajapakse, for her government, foregoing the opportunity of… Read more »

What’s Next

by Wakeley Paul; published April 6, 2004 Nostradamus, in a brilliant two part article in The Island in February, has exhibited outstanding insight into the long term future of Sri Lanka. His knowledge, analysis and perspicacity are almost impossible to emulate. In this article, I, by contrast consider what¹s in store for us in the immediate aftermath of… Read more »

Sri Lanka Scene: A Tool For Sinhala Chauvinism

by T. Sabaratnam; Colombo, March 15, 2004 Weekly Review Karuna – a tool for Sinhala Chauvinism Karuna is the new found hero of the Sinhala people. They are thrilled about his advent. They know his real name, the tongue-twisting Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan. They are aware that he is from Kiran. They also know that the 38-year old… Read more »

‘The Destructors’

by Sachi Sri Kantha, originally published January 27, 2004 Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha Graham Greene (1904-1991) was one of the 20th century’s most versatile story tellers in English literature. This year marks the centenary of his birth, as well as the 50th anniversary of his short story ‘The Destructors.’ When I read this short… Read more »

Celebration of a ‘Death’

by S. Rameswaran; published December 29, 2003 Celebration of a ‘Death’; a war-theme short story by S.Rameswaran Introduction by Sachi Sri Kantha War-theme fiction in Tamil language is a new genre which arose in Sri Lanka, since the Black July 1983 holocaust. This particular genre could not have been generated in other lands (Tamil Nadu, Malaysia… Read more »

Playboy Interview with Nehru

by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 18, 2003 Revisiting That Unusual Playboy magazine Interview of Nehru Introductory Note by Sachi Sri Kantha I was a bit amused to read recently a column by Gouri Chatterjee [The Telegraph, Calcutta; November 6, 2003] in which she had made passing reference to that unusual Playboy magazine interview by the then Indian prime minister Jawaharlal… Read more »