Horton and Arunachalam: a Distinct Disparity in Significance – By KKS Perera The British takeover of Ceylon brought with it many changes Source : dailymirror The Article titled ‘Choosing between Robert Wilmot Horton and Ponnambalam Arunachalam’ regarding the change of street name from Horton Place to Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam Mawatha,’ which appeared on January 23rd, implies that both figures are equally important to Sri Lankans. The writer says, ‘…the change cannot take place without an acknowledgement of the contribution of Sir Robert Wilmot Horton to Ceylon.  Both Horton and Arunachalam contributed to Ceylon’s all-round development each in his own way and as per the opportunities available in their time. Sir Robert Wilmot Horton was Governor of Ceylon between 1831 and 1837, and Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam, was a polymath, lawyer, educationist, public intellectual and political leader in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century…’ Under British rule, Ceylon, acknowledged as “the premier colony,” ...

Read More →

NEW RELEASE Non-Fiction Sailfish Books (an imprint of PERERA-HUSSEIN) DEMOCRACY STILLBORN Lanka’s Rejection of Equal Rights at Independence? By Prof. Rajan Hoole & Kirupaimalar Hoole Democracy Stillborn traces the present plight of Sri Lanka to the battles of the 1920s over the championship of labour by Ponnambalam Arunachalam. Observing the country is tired of revolutions, Democracy Stillborn places its hope in the survival in a mangled form of the Separation of Powers and of new life in a Judiciary with the courage to declare bad laws unconstitutional. 730 pages Available from: Barefoot (MC), Cargills, Expographics, JamFruitTree, Kalaya, Pendi, Ridihi, Samayawardhana, Sarasavi,Urban Island, Vijitha Yapa etc & Online from: Pererahussein.com, Books.lk, Booksy.lk, Daraz, Scribit, SLbooks.lk etc Order your copy online from: www.pererahussein.com Price: Rs 4,500 Registered Airmail to Australia: Rs 6,000 Registered Airmail to USA: Rs 8000 Delivery period: 10 to 2 weeks. ...

Read More →

An untold history of Sri Lanka’s Independence-By Uditha Devapriya Source:Island In Sri Lank, as in every other colonial outpost, resistance to foreign domination predated Western intervention by well more than two centuries. Surviving numerous onslaughts of South Indian conquest, the Anuradhapura kingdom gave way to the Polonnaruwa kingdom in the 11th century AD. The latter’s demise 200 years later led to a shift from the country’s north to the north-west, and from there to the south-west. It was in the south-west that the Sinhalese first confronted European colonialism, a confrontation that pushed the Kotte and the Sitava kingdoms to the last bastion of Sinhalese rule, Kandy. The shift to Kandy coincided with the commencement of Portuguese rule in the island. Both Portuguese and Dutch officials emphasised, and sharpened, the line between the Maritime Provinces and the kanda uda rata. The Sitavaka rulers, in particular Rajasinghe I, had fought both Portuguese suzerainty ...

Read More →