Prof Gamini Keerawella, an avid commentator in another era who maintained a conspicuous silence for almost nine years on the many excesses of the recently ousted Mahinda Rajapaksa regime whose ideological preferences were at odds with his, has requested Colombo Telegraph to publish one of his articles.
Prof. Gamini Keerawella
Keeerawella wrote to CT; “I am sending herewith an article on the defeat of Rajapaksa regime. I wish to publish it in Colombo Telegraph also as it has wider circulation.”
Colombo Telegraph is not inclined to publish his article in the usual format reserved for contributors for the following reasons: a) Keerawella’s strange and unacceptable silence over the past 9 years explanation for which he is yet to furnish, b) the fact that Keerawella was a beneficiary of monies running into millions during Chandrika Kumaratunga’s tenure as President when he served in several organizations such as NIPU which did little justice to the investment made.
Keerawella is an advisor to the former President Kumaratunga (2002-2003, 2004-2005) and received a political appointment as the Secretary to the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs, National Integration and Mineral Resources Development (2000-2001).
K.A Sumanasekera / January 19, 2015
This Professor is also aiming to board the Gravy Train again..
How many of these can they accommodate …
Good on you CT…
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Gunasinghe / January 19, 2015
for once I can agree with Sumane, these are pathetic people.
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SUN / January 19, 2015
I believe everyone earns his or her second chance – of course after all the issues have been clear. After all this man is a highly educated professional.
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Amarasiri / January 19, 2015
CT and K.A Sumanasekera
You let MahindApala, The Medamulana MaRa Shill who Shiils at Lanlkaweb Shill at CT, and do not allow another Shill pf an eaerlier Era to shill?
You may say, we have our Shill quota is filled, and when Mahindapala departs, we will give you his Shill Spot. Why discriminate against different shills?
CT, No double standards, please.
Let’s hear what he has to say?
May be he may divulge that the it is the Earth that moves and rotates and not the Sun Going around the Earth as the Ancients and the Church are claiming.
Do not rush to judgement…
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Henna / January 19, 2015
Keere! looking for a post again? Where were you last 9 years? USA? Welcome back anyway.
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Kusla / January 19, 2015
A BIG opportunist
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Francis_Co / January 19, 2015
CT, it is your call now, and done the right thing. We are with you. These corrupt men who robbed the country must never be allowed to air their views, instead be condemned to a lifetime of isolation.
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jinkers / January 19, 2015
CT need not censor Keerawella since CT in the past has allowed the scoundrels aligned with MR to freely express their opinions.
I have no doubt that the much informed CT readers can effectively expose Keerawella’s misdeeds so much so that Keerawella would be ashamed of himself. Maybe not if he is a thick head.
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manel fonseka / January 19, 2015
I agree with jinkers. And Keerawella is not the only guy who has (apparently, I didnt know) kept silent during the MR regime. I can think of at least one other who was very critical of Chandrika during her period,
winning praise from some for being a “public intellectual”,
going silent during MR’s time,
coming forward once again with a long letter to our new President
whom he didnt even bother to come and vote for,
unlike a surprising number of expat Sri Lankans who live much further away from home.
I am not happy with this type of censorship. People have a right to stay silent if they wish, and others have a right to criticize. It reminds me of the saying: “I disagree with what you say (or dont say), but support your right to say it (or not to say it)!”
I was similarly unhappy when CT banned Wickramabahu from its pages. If you can carry Rajiva and Dayan, why do you suddenly draw the line in some cases? We can benefit from a healthy exchange of views even when we are sceptical about their holders.
Having said that, after reading CT’s remarks and those of other contributors here, I have information about Keerawelle that I was previously ignorant of and which will colour my reception of what he now has to say.
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ratnayaka / January 19, 2015
Chandrika is the matriarch who is handling the new regime behind the scenes. She is promising appointments to everyone it seems. She must have wanted GK to get things to publish to prove his credentials against the MR regime. NIPU was a cash cow to many in Chandrika regimes. Those who served the Chandrika regime quietly benefited from the MR regime also in many ways. Another guy who did not say a word against the MR regime during the elections got published an article addressing the new president immediately after the elections.
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Emil van der Poorten / January 19, 2015
While I don’t know of or about this character and have little hesitation in accepting CT’s opinion of him, I do not think it appropriate that for the reasons advanced you should blacklist him. This is the very kind of censorship that the Rajapaksa regime applied and both CT and a majority of writers to it not only fought against but were at significant risk in opposing.
If those who supported the Rajapaksa Regime, either passively or actively are to be excluded from publication on CT, I would urge that the same yardstick be applied to Dayan Jayatilleke, Malinda Seneviratne etc. etc. etc. After all, this fellow does not even appear to have accepted a laptop from MR while Malinda Seneviratne has gone on record as having done so! As for Dayan J and Wijesinha …………!!
Come on CT, these might be reprehensible people but give them an opportunity to be heard/read (and have their backsides kicked, metaphorically if not physically!)
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Roma / January 19, 2015
I agree with Emil and in the same time I agree with CT’s decision too. People like Keerawellas are starting to write when their people are in power, when they were defeated, they run away and not speaking a word agains t the suppression.
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Galagedara Chandiya / January 19, 2015
This [Edited out] has now taken upon himself to advise the CT about who to publish and who not!
[Edited out]
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Emil van der Poorten / January 19, 2015
Galagedera Chandiya:
Why don’t you send another SMS from the vicinity of Sydney, Australia? This time we might be able to find you and administer a swift kick to the region in which you’d have that particular appendage and its attendant spheres, if you had any!
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Galagedara Chandiya / January 19, 2015
Pooton, Why should I go to Sydney, Australia to SMS you.[Edited out]
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Emil van der Poorten / January 20, 2015
Galagedera Chandiya:
If you are here in Sri Lanka why don’t you drop by so I can do the honours?
I will even provide a tuk-tuk, at no charge to you, to get you up the hill or are you too used to being provided with limmo services (at public expense) by your handlers to use such plebian transport?
Mind you, I’d hardly expect the snivelling sycophantic likes of you to take me up on the offer, so this is going to be simply a gesture, I suppose!
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Leon / January 20, 2015
Yes I agree with Mr Vander Poorten.
CT you are not for censorship. You must give a chance to this guy to express himself and we as readers of CT would like to hear his views
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Paul / January 19, 2015
I’m sorry to see that CT is playing judge, jury and executioner in this case. And that after publishing various articles from the Tamil diaspora supporting the creation of Eelam.
Keerawella’s article should be published so long as it does not break the law. Publish and be damned, as they say. The readers will understand.
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Palmsquirrell / January 19, 2015
” I’m sorry to see that CT is playing judge, jury and executioner in this case. “
You realize that this is CT’s own website and as such they can play judge , jury and executioner. This is how all website owners operate since they are private entities.
Now whether CT should allow Keerawela to post articles is another matter. I do support letting him because I support letting as many voices be heard as possible.
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University bird / January 19, 2015
It looks many people outside Peradeniya university also know very well about this Hippocrates Keeray. Yes, after investing all the millions looted from the state funds during CBK time Keeray wants to collect some more to get ready for his luxorious funeral. Hon.PM and the cabinet should be informed about all the ill deeds of this university misfit. After studying History until retirement time still not learned the experiences of this kind of guys. Now let him learn at least from what our war heros RALL & R princes Co. Going to face and enjoy.
Unfortunate colleague.
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imad / January 19, 2015
It is better to be silent than to have supported MR. If you have not published an article of an author, that is well within your right as editor/s. In this case, CT may have published the same or may have refused to publish it without any comment. Alternatively, it could have published it, with an editor’s note that he is writing after 9 years of reticence, or something to a similar effect. When I read your news item, a doubt occurred to me if the CT is sending a message to CBK, rather than to the author. This approach needs to be revisited by CT, please.
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No Job / January 19, 2015
Hi imad, do you want CT to publish job applications?
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imad / January 19, 2015
Dear No Job,
Let the readers decide if it is a job application after seeing his article. Prejudging happens perhaps when there is No Job.
Imad
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Dev / January 19, 2015
I hope that CT does publish him, if we can hear from Rajiva and Dayan who write to feather their own nests, surely we can hear from him.
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Amila / January 19, 2015
This guy, Keerawella may be looking for a diplomatic posting. I heard he was director editorials at Lakehouse during CBK regime and used the Lakehouse for political propaganda. Until recently, he did not write anything critical of MR regime either. But I still think that CT should publish his stuff so that we write some nasty comments.
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Wickramasiri / January 19, 2015
The reasons adduced by CT are unreasonable and smacks of bias. Give the man the opportunity to say his piece.
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Peace / January 19, 2015
On principle,I would like CT to publish his work.
I may not agree with the content but I fully endorse his freedom of expression and his right to remain silent when he chooses to.
let the readers take him to task.
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Mevan / January 19, 2015
I agree with Emil. Let the man have his say and we the readers will decide – not Colombo Telegraph alone.
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sinhalese buddhist / January 19, 2015
From the CT website, “About Us” tab:
“(9) We believe embracing the principles of journalism means we must place the principles of journalism above politics. Those principles can be summed up in one word: Respect. Respect for truth. Respect for the public’s right to know. Respect for the views of others.”
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Vara / January 20, 2015
Keera is definitely a hypocrite and a moron. But if the article is publishable it should be published. At the same time the editor has the right to decide, but not for the reasons given.
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supumal / January 20, 2015
Keerialla is ex-JVP terrorist no accountability of past acts of terrorism in Ceylon? He is an opportunist seek any new position and power of Govt. that funded by ruling power organization.
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Kettikaran / January 24, 2015
Let’s see what GK has to say now. CT will remember dissenting views, after all, goes to make up the essence of democracy. As one of my favourites – Oscar Wilde – brilliantly remarked “While imagination initiates, it is the critical voice that creates” Or, if you like, Voltaire “I do not agree with what you say but I will defend with my life your right to say it”
Surely, after the dark years of Mahinda and Gota Rajapakse let us see the many flowers bloom in the country – again.
Kettikaran
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Prof. Gamini Keerwella / February 1, 2015
I respect the right of CT to decide which articles be published in its web journal. However, as regards to the comments published in CT I want to clarify two facts. First, my only intention in sending this article to CT was to convey structural weaknesses of the regime to a wider readership as it was already published in the Sunday Observer and the Sunday Island simultaneously. I had no intention what so ever to make a ‘job application’ as the CT assumes! I do not need a new job as I am a Senior Professor at the University of Peradeniya. All this period I did not leave Sri Lanka except for my assignments as a Scholar-in Residence at the Center for Theory, Baroda, India in 2006 and a Visiting Fulbright Professor in Massachusetts, USA in 2013-14 academic year. Second, the accusation that I was “recently awakened” is totally incorrect. As an academic I continued to analyze political developments in Sri Lanka in my academic publications. I am citing some of these publications to prove my point. I have no idea of pursing this controversy any further. I do hope that the CT will refrain from using personal prejudices in its journalistic assessments.
Writings on Modern Sri Lankan Politics
“Postcolonial State-building in Sri Lanka Since 1948: Approaches, Attempts and Challenges.” Identity Politics and State-building in Sri Lanka: Understanding Ethno-nationalist Mobilization in a post-colonial State in Transition. Sisira Pinnawala. ed. Colombo: The pathfinder Foundation and The Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University. 2014.
“The New Left: Its Origins and Characterization.” Pathways of the Left in Sri Lanka. Marshal Fernando and B. Skanthakumar, eds. Colombo: Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue, 2014.
Post-War Sri Lanka: Is Peace a hostage of Military Victory? Dilemmas of Reconciliation, Ethnic Cohesion and Peace-building (ICES Research Paper-8). Colombo: International Centre for Ethnic Studies, 2013.
“Education and Post-colonial State-building.” Alokă, 2 (Nov.2012): 75-78
“Pursuit of Sustainable Peace and the Military Defeat of the LTTE: Insights into Post-War Scenarios.”Conflict in Sri Lanka –Internal and External Consequences. V.R. Raghavan, ed. New Delhi: Vij Books India Pvt. Ltd, 2011.
“Pathological Symptoms of the Crisis of Higher Education in Sri Lanka.” GLEANINGS XXX: 2 (April-June 2011)
“Human Security and Extremism in Sri Lanka: Synergy and Conflict.”Human Security Approaches to Counter Extremism in South Asia: Relevance of Japanese Culture. Shaheen Afroze, ed. Dhaka: Academic Press and Publishers Library, 2010.
From National Security to Human Security: Evolving Security Discourse in Sri Lanka. Dhaka: Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), 2008.
Social Resilience: Some observations from recent Sri Lankan experiences, paper presented at International Symposium on Social Resilience, The Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute, Department of Homeland Security, USA and Institute for National Security Studies, Tel Aviv University in Fairfax, Virginia, USA November 30 -December 2, 2010
“Security and Peace Building in Sri Lanka: A Critique from Human Security Perspective.” paper presented at International Conference on Peace-building and Human Security experiences from Afghanistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and Sri Lanka, Global Campus Program and Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo, Japan Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, February 9-10, 2009
“Some observations on the origins of the 13th Amendment and its political Context.” paper presented at National Seminar on the13th Amendment to the Constitution, held at Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka December 2 , 2008
“Construction of Sovereign Insider and Minority Outsider: Contestations of the Concept of Minority”. paper presented at eleventh National Workshop on Minority question: Constructions and Contestations. paper presented at Forum on Contemporary Theory Vadodara, India, October14-17, 2006
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