Page 8 - Kumar David News Today

Woe The Ides Of March Approaches In Geneva! Prof. Kuma David The next session of the United Nations Human Rights Council will run from 22 February to 23 March in Geneva – the dreaded Ides of March (15 March) beckons. The Ides, the 74-th day in the Roman calendar, is set apart for settling debts. Will the regime in Colombo settle the debt it has evaded for a decade? It will not, it cannot! It is bound hand and foot to saffron robe and native pride. Nobody knows as yet what contrivance the mili...

Burmese Coup A Red Flag For Sri Lanka Prof. Kuma David Aung San Suu Kyi bears part of the responsibility for this umpteenth coup in Burma (now also known as Myanmar). She danced with the wolves, shut her eyes to genocide of Rohingya Muslims, and was a party to an attempt to fool the people about tinsel constitutionality. It is heartless to skewer her at this moment when the military has again trampled Burma with leaden boots. But now it is not about tender feelings for the lady. It is about dra...

Monday 1st February, 2021 The government has found itself in an unenviable position. It has numerous problems to contend with both here and overseas. Two of them are very serious. It has had to face a port ca’canny against its proposed joint venture with India’s Adani Group to operate the East Container Terminal (ECT) of the Colombo Port, and is troubled by the prospect of another turn of the screw in Geneva soon. It is against this backdrop that the government decision to meet the port wo...

The proposal to sell 49 percent of the East Container Terminal (ECT) of the Colombo Port to a group of investors led by India’s Modi-friendly Adani Group has been the hottest potato to land on our ruling coalition’s lap since its election last year. Massive trade union and other resistance, strongly supported by the Buddhist clergy and other activists, many of whom campaigned for the Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna (SLPP) and its allies at the last election, continues to escalate. This opposit...

The Right Way To Do The Eastern Container Project Prof. Kuma David The fracas about the Eastern Container Terminal is mostly if not entirely political; concerns re finance, technology and traffic, in so far as the spat in the public domain is concerned, are not of substance. The scuffle is twofold – domestic nationalist ideology and Lanka’s positioning in geopolitics. In the domestic arena it is all about Indian participation, and the principal protagonist is Sinhala Nationalism. There is s...

Why Are Political Blackguards So Often Not Prosecuted? Prof. Kuma David Though this point has been festering in my mind what kick-started this para was Shyamon Jayasinghe’s (‘ Similarities of Political Culture between Trump and post-war SL’) in Colombo Telegraph, 20 Jan 2021, Jo-Kamala inauguration day. This is not a reply to SJ, his topic is political morality mine is somewhat different, but he is to blame for giving me a push. The similarity that I want to reflect upon is that president...

Conspiracy Theories Swarm As you read this, thankfully, an ogre has been ushered out of the White House and the world heaves a sigh of relief – but it may be short-lived. It has been a season of conspiracy theories and one attracting much attention is QANON, a movement with a large following which broadcasts gibberish that Donald Trump is the leader of a war against Satan-worshipping elitist paedophiles in government, business and media hell bent on destroying the great republic. Sure they ar...

by Kumar David Several months ago when things were coming to a boil I argued that despite Trump’s autocratic intentions, expectations of a collapse of democracy in America were unduly gloomy. It was my view that society and polity was more robust than many gave credit for and that at rock bottom fascism was impossible though appalling events were likely – and did occur after November 3, 2020. My case for the sturdiness of American polity was (Quoting): a) The people are unusually robust and...

by H. L. D. Mahindapala I like reading Prof. Kumar David’s (KD) column in the Sunday Island, even though the contents lean heavily towards Marxist mantras which have passed its use-by-date long before the fall of the Berlin Wall. What grabbed my  attention was the Jan. 3 column which was a foray into English literature. As a bibliophile I agree wholeheartedly with his love of  classics and even with some of his likes and dislikes. For instance, one can’t expect everyone  to enjoy James ...

Posted on January 10th, 2021 H. L. D.  Mahindapala I like reading Prof. Kumar David’s (KD) column in the Sunday Island, even though the contents lean heavily towards Marxist mantras which have passed its used-by-date long before the fall of the Berlin Wall. What grabbed my  attention was last Sunday’s (2/1/21) column which was a foray into English literature. As a bibliophile I agree whole-heartedly with his love of  classics and even with some of his likes and ...