Business

Rapacity as the driving force of colonialism and capitalism

Published

3 years ago

2023/11/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

Book Review

Title – Savage Beasts
Author- Rani Selvarajah

Publisher – One More Chapter; a division of HarperCollinsPublishers

Within the pages of this memorable novel, ‘Savage Beasts’, by Sri Lankan-origin Rani Selvarajah, a University of Cambridge product, living and working in Great Britain, is an exhilarating narrative of the rapacious greed that drove the British colonial project in its early centuries. Essentially, it is a creative writer’s account of how the global South or East came to be pillaged and reduced to penury by its colonial overlords, although it is presented to us in the form of a gripping story.

As could have been expected, we don’t have in the novel a detailed, prosaic historical account of how parts of the ‘Third World’ came to be subjugated by the Western colonial powers, such as the Dutch and the British, in the mid-eighteenth century; for that is the century in focus. Rather, what we have narrated very engagingly in ‘Savage Beasts’, is an amorous tie that descends into mutual animosity between a Calcutta-based Indian Princess and a handsome young British sailor, with strong blood connections to the ruling hierarchy of the invading British East India Company (VOC), the precursor of full-blown British rule in the East. The relationship starts with a heart-warming romance and ends in betrayal, deceit, thievery, murder and destitution.

The central action in the novel traverses India, Ceylon, South Africa and Britain. The princess, Meena, is duped by the sailor, James, into running away with him from her kingdom in Bengal where her father, the Nawab of Bengal was the ruling despot, to Ceylon, South Africa and lastly Britain, where James’ cruel machinations to use Meena to achieve his material and power ambitions are laid bare.

It is finally revealed that James was mainly interested in wresting from Meena, the Nawab’s military plans to defend his kingdom against the invading British, and to sell these secrets to the British East India Company, which was headed by James’ uncle, the coldly calculating Sir Peter Chilcot, who becomes a symbol of imperial rule in the East in all its harshness and exploitative greed.

Although a ruthless ruler, whose fixation too was power, we are compelled to agree with the Nawab in his assessment of James, when he tells Meena at page 104, early in the story: ‘That man is a charlatan. You may not be able to see it, but he is. All of them are. They come here, treating us like fools, taking what they can at the point of a gun. Traders, merchants. They like to call themselves businessmen when they’re just pirates who think they can make demands of kings.’

The Meena-James relationship at the heart of ‘Savage Beasts’, therefore, becomes an ‘objective correlative’, as it were, if we are to borrow a concept from renowned English poet and literary critic T.S. Eliot, for the central theme in the novel, which is the ruination and impoverishment of its colonies by the British colonizer. That is, the romance and its gradual degeneration into a relationship of mutual hate between the main protagonists becomes a tangible symbol of the novel’s main theme.

The ruination of India by the British colonizer does not take the form of only the physical subjugation and economic exploitation of the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ of the British monarch. It takes the form also of the brazen robbing and pillaging of everything of cultural and spiritual importance to India, including, of course, its dignity.

The episode that bears this out in the novel arrives in its closing chapters when Meena, who is inveigled by James into accompanying him to England, finds to her horror that all the important cultural treasures in her father’s palace had been robbed and stowed away in James’ uncle’s mansion, that is, the VOC chief’s residence. Prior to such pillaging, the Nawab had been savaged by the invaders and left to die on a Calcutta street, we are given to understand.

‘Savage Beasts’ ends on the tragic note of Meena being rendered homeless and destitute. However, she enjoys the satisfaction of exacting ‘blood revenge’ from James, by killing the influential English woman he intended to marry after deserting her. Meena, however, is deeply comforted by the fact that she retains possession of the son, her liaison with James yielded. The enduring mother-son bond, we could say, is the ‘universal in the particular.’

Besides its thematic substance, ‘Savage Beasts’ is also notable for its smoothly flowing and gripping story line. Bolstering its literary merit further is its dramatic and evocative prose style. It is a novel that calls for close and sustained literary appraisal.

– Lynn Ockersz

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Business

Super El Niño threatens to deepen Sri Lanka’s drought and economic woes

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/4

Thilina Walpola

By Ifham Nizam

A potentially dangerous El Niño is gathering strength across the Pacific, with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warning that the climate event is expected to become very strong and continue into February 2027, raising the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and major disruptions to rainfall patterns worldwide.

The warning has particular significance for Sri Lanka, where communities in several agricultural districts are already facing severe drought, depleted water sources and shrinking farm incomes.

The WMO said yesterday that forecasts from its Global Producing Centres show an “exceptionally high likelihood of nearly 100%” that El Niño will persist through February next year. The organisation said this is the first time one of its El Niño/La Niña updates has been so unequivocal, reflecting strong agreement among forecasting systems.

The event, driven by exceptionally warm waters in the tropical Pacific, is expected to strengthen further in the coming months, reach very strong intensity and peak towards the end of this year. Its climate impacts, however, are expected to continue well into 2027.

According to Meteorological Organization

Sri Lanka is already experiencing the consequences.

A Reuters report published on Wednesday from drought-affected areas said rainfall deficits of between 85% and 100% have been recorded in important farming regions including Ampara and Monaragala.

Wells, tanks, rivers and lakes have dried up, while tens of thousands of people are depending on government water deliveries, with some remote communities reportedly waiting up to 23 days for supplies.

The drought is also rapidly becoming an economic problem for rural communities. Croplands have withered, livestock operations have been affected and farmers who have lost their harvests are being forced to seek daily-paid employment to survive.

The latest WMO outlook also warns that the consequences of El Niño will not necessarily be uniform. The severity and timing of impacts in individual countries depend on geography, season and other climate drivers, including conditions in the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

For Sri Lanka, the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) will therefore be crucial. The WMO expects a positive IOD to develop, with a September-November seasonal mean of about 0.9°C. This could modify the normal influence of El Niño on rainfall over the region.

That creates another potential risk for Sri Lanka: the country may have to prepare not only for continued drought but also for episodes of intense rainfall, flooding and landslides later in the year. Climate variability increasingly means that a prolonged water shortage can be followed by sudden and destructive rainfall rather than a gradual return to normal conditions.

For Sri Lanka, the warning should therefore be viewed as an economic and national-planning issue, not simply a meteorological forecast. Agriculture, drinking water, electricity generation, food imports, public expenditure and rural livelihoods could all be affected.

Business

ABC Trade & Investment – All-China Environment Federation partner to drive Sri Lanka’s green infrastructure and investment

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/4

Thilina Walpola

ABC Trade & Investments (Pvt) Ltd, a leading homegrown conglomerate in Sri Lanka’s ICT distribution and diversified business landscape, has formally entered into a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the All-China Environment Federation (ACEF). The partnership establishes a collaborative framework aimed at accelerating new-energy development, water management, and environmental protection projects across Sri Lanka.

The agreement bridges advanced Chinese engineering capabilities, equipment, technical expertise, and investment resources with ABC Trade & Investments’ local operational strength, market insight, and project implementation skills. By pairing international technology with on-the-ground execution, the initiative is designed to address Sri Lanka’s long-term environmental and civil infrastructure priorities.

The MoU was signed by Amalrajah Jayaseelan, Director/CEO of ABC Trade & Investment (Pvt) Ltd, and Shi Xiang, Secretary-General of the Belt & Road Eco-Industry Cooperation Working Committee of ACEF. The signing took place during the China–Sri Lanka Environmental & Energy Exchange and Cooperation Meeting at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Grounds in Colombo, held under the theme “Empower Green Development, Jointly Build a New Pattern of China–Sri Lanka Environmental & Energy Industry.”

Business

Heavy buying interest slows down stock trading

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/4

Thilina Walpola

By Hiran H. Senewiratne

The CSE yesterday was very active at the outset but later slowed down due to heavy buying interest noted for select stocks.Amid those developments both indices moved upwards. The S and P SL20 went up by 23.73 points. Turnover stood at Rs 2.44 billion with 10 crossings.

The crossings were: Renuka Foods 19 million shares crossed for Rs 502 million; its shares traded at Rs 25.30, Dipped Products 1.9 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 117 million; its shares traded at Rs 60.50, JKH 3.9 million shares crossed for Rs 78 million; its shares sold at Rs 19.70, Dialog Axiata 1 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 46.6 million; its shares traded at Rs 46.40, Tokyo Cement 500,000 shares crossed for Rs 39.5 million; its shares sold at Rs 79 and Watawela Plantations 800,000 shares crossed for Rs 34 million; its shares were Rs 42.50 each.

In the retail market companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Vallibel Finance Rs 281 million (3.3 million shares traded), Dipped Products Rs 114 million (1.9 million shares traded), Haycarb Rs 90 million (424,000 shares traded), Alumax Rs 42 million (2.6 million shares traded), HNB Rs 38.5 million (102,000 shares traded), Swisstec Rs 30 million (506,000 shares traded) and Sierra Cables Rs 34 million (880,000 shares traded). During the day 118 million share volumes changed hands in 17802 transactions.

It is said that mixed market reactions were noted during the day. Financial sector, especially Vallibel Finance, performed well, while the manufacturing sector, especially JKH and Hayleys , performed significantly.

Meanwhile, Co-operative Insurance Company announced the redemption of 1,100,000 cumulative redeemable preference shares issued in December 2020 to the Health Department Co-Operative Thrift & Credit Society.

The total redemption consideration of Rs 16.61 million, including a 9 percent per annum cumulative dividend, is set for settlement on August 31, 2026.

Yesterday the rupee was quoted at Rs 328.25/35 to the US dollar in the spot market, stronger from Rs 328.30/60 the previous day, while bond yields were somewhat steady, dealers said.