Sunday, May 28, 2006

Nihal De Silva Among Eight Killed In Wilpattu
According to sources, Nihal De Silva, author of 'The Road From Elephant Pass', 'The Far Spent Day' and 'The Ginirella Conspiracy' was among eight people killed yesterday in a landmine explosion in the Wilpattu National Park.

'The Road From Elephant Pass' which won De Silva the Gratiaen award in 2003, is largely about the Wilpattu National Park. The author's love for wildlife is clear in both 'The Road From Elephant Pass' and the 'Ginirella Conspiracy'.

In 'The Road From Elephant Pass' follows Captain Wasantha Ratnayake of the Sri Lanka Army and female LTTE cadre Kamala Velaithan as they journey from Elephant Pass to Colombo. The LTTE's 1999/2000 attack on the Elephant Pass base forces the two to make their journey on foot across the Wilpattu National Park.



The location of the blast, about 50km from the main gates to the Park, is in close proximity to the northern border of the park, the geographical beginning of LTTE held Vanni. The area saw intense fighting before the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement. The park which had been closed for much of the war, has been open for the past three years. It is not clear if this explosion is related to the recent increase in confrontations between the LTTE and the Sri Lanka Army, or if the landmine predated the Ceasefire Agreement.

Today's 'Sunday Times' states that a Colombo 07 family were among those killed in the the blast. According to the source De Silva had accompanied the family.

Wildlife officials entered the park this morning to recover the bodies.

The movie 'The Road From Elephant Pass', based on the book, is in pre-production. As the locations available in Sri Lanka are either unsafe or inadequate, much of the shooting is scheduled to be carried out in Malaysia.

posted by Morquendi @  5:54 AM   || 17 opinion/s ||
Comments:
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : May 28, 2006 6:42 AM
 
Join us in Prayer

By Rob Gowland

The Guardian

I had a very interesting talk with a journalist from Sri Lanka the other day. Among other things, he spoke of the spread of fundamentalism on the island. Oh, not Islamic fundamentalism but Christian fundamentalism.

It seems that Sri Lanka has been invaded by a multitude of reactionary Christian fundamentalist churches from the USA — Baptists, Assemblies of God, and a lot of others.

They are all lavishly cashed up, and they pursue the same tactics.

The most popular method is to go to poor villages or poor urban areas, and display an interest in how the people are coping with poverty.

Then they encourage everyone to "join them in prayer".

The next day, when those same poor people get up, they find on their doorstep milk, fruit, packets of food, children's clothes etc. Like the poor cobbler and the elves, it seems like a dream come true.

A day or two later, the Christians return, asking innocently how things are going, has anything interesting happened?

Then they make their big play: the goodies left overnight were in fact left by the Christian God in answer to their prayers a day or so earlier.

Having demonstrated that their religion actually works, they set about signing up recruits.

Of course, it's a simple coupling of bribery to credulity, but with lots of money at their disposal the fundamentalist Western Churches are able to produce tangible benefits for people who have nothing.

Small wonder that with such blatant huckstering tactics, the Christian fundamentalists are making converts in a big way. And not just among Hindus and Muslims.

The fundamental churches are making inroads into the followers of mainstream Christian faiths especially among the Catholics.

The areas these Christian fundamentalists choose in which to dispense their largesse in order to win converts are the traditional strongholds of the left.

But while the left is urging the people to stand up for their rights, the US Christian fundamentalists are handing out cash and goods, in plentiful amounts.

It's immediate, it's tangible, it's "real", and it's now.

Buying converts in this way must be extremely expensive, but for the very right-wing US fundamentalist churches, saving the poor of Sri Lanka from the evils of Islam or Communism (or both) would undoubtedly be regarded as money well spent.

There is probably a US government department — several, in fact — dedicated to fostering and supporting just such activity.

It is after all merely a variant of the good old US political tactic of "pork barrelling".
# posted by Blogger Sachini : May 28, 2006 8:31 AM
 
I heard the name on news but didn't connect it to this man. I have read his books and this is very sad. Any idea who the others are? I heard that they are from Rosmead Place.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : May 28, 2006 8:34 AM
 
Morq, Nihal was a friend of my family, his sons are friends of mine. Do you have any info on the dead, who they are? I live abroad and at the moment, am unable to contact Colombo.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : May 28, 2006 9:33 AM
 
my dads friend also was one of the killed.
# posted by Blogger Morquendi : May 28, 2006 9:48 AM
 
The Sunday Times today says a family named Perera, from Rosmead Place, Colombo 07 were the main group
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : May 28, 2006 10:23 AM
 
Thanks Morq.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : May 28, 2006 12:04 PM
 
sucks.....there goes the trips to wilpathu as well.....
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : May 28, 2006 3:54 PM
 
Yeah anon above.... and the lives of seven innocent people too!
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : May 29, 2006 2:26 AM
 
Ashanthi, try the website of the publisher: http://www.vijithayapa.com/
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : May 29, 2006 10:50 AM
 
It was reported by the military today that they believed the three mines to have been freshly laid, to prevent outside movement to that area of the park. As Morq has pointed out, its not far from the Wanni, which is Tiger-controlled. These comments were reported in this morning's Daily News. While serious de-mining operations have continued possibly ever since the CFA in 2002, it is a nightmare to think that the de-miners may have to return to square one - yes Ashanthi, the thought is just mortifying.

While it is obvious that the Government has to define its position more clearly and build on Mahinda Chinthana - I'm very curious to see what ideas of devolution they have in mind (judging from the policy statement, it is probably to bring Annexure C back from the 1980s), there seems little option but to isolate the LTTE internationally and force them to negotiate. This seems to be Colombo's strategy but let them come out with the devolution discussion, put it on the table.
# posted by Blogger uttara : May 30, 2006 9:05 AM
 
sad!!!
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : May 31, 2006 8:17 AM
 
oh god how cruel we are in our complacent absorption with our inability to do ordinary things like take a trip to the jungles... another sensitive man is dead as our several others , no doubt amongst them fathers, sons, brothers. Persons who are integral to some other's sense of being.
No more laughter, no more shared moments, no more writing, just a void and love and memories for those that knew them. Others like us that write rubbish in the hope that it can make sense of the senseless, so that we can abdicate our right to feel that there is somehow more we can do to prevent this continuum of hate and bloodshed-Shehara de Silva
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : June 01, 2006 12:45 AM
 
Ashanthi,

I can't speak for the author of the comment but 'Perera' and 'De Silva' are the most common Sri Lankan surnames.... probably related, probably not.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : June 01, 2006 5:55 AM
 
“We become not a melting pot, but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearning, different hopes, different dreams.
- Jimmy Carter.

If only...........
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : June 01, 2006 8:03 AM
 
True Ashanthi, very true... let us hope that those concerned most and directly linked think like we do... thus would be the real hope for peace.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : September 16, 2006 8:30 AM
 
for the record.not related. never met the man. does it matter?
shehara de silva
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : October 27, 2008 8:49 PM
 
my grandfather was among the people who were killed in the blast..
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