Features

Two brilliant writers – Booker Prize winners

Published

3 years ago

2023/02/5

Salman Rushdie (age 75) is back on the world literary stage and welcomed strongly by other novelists and writers in general. His new book, handed over to his publisher – Random House – in December 2021 is to be released on February 7. He was not physically present at the many seminars and meetings held to herald his book and pay tribute; he is blinded in one eye and still recovering from the stabbing on stage in the Chatutauqua Institute in New York on August 12, 2022, just before he was due to address his audience. The assailant, 24 year old Hadi Matar, was arrested at the scene but has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and attempted murder.

The government of Iran denied knowing about the stabbing though state media celebrated it. Never to be forgotten is the fatwa declared by the then Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini with a promised bounty of $3 million for Rushdie’s death soon after he published The Satanic Verses in 1988. Die hard Muslims thought it blasphemous of Prophet Mohammed. Rushdie went into hiding in Britain, protected by British security forces for almost a decade. He then shifted to New York. He was knighted in 2007.

The 2022 attack shocked the world and shook writers. He had been revered as a free speech icon and in spite of the fatwa (rescinded in 1998) he continued to write and speak against intolerance. After the grievous attack last summer, fellow writers and cultural figures expressed outrage and gathered for vigils in his honor, sharing personal stories about him and reading from his novels. One of these I read about was on the steps of the New York Library with Kiran Desai joining many others. Chief Executive of PEN America, Suzanne Nossal commented: “They failed to silence him.”

New Book

Titled Victory City, Rushdie’s recent novel is about a gifted storyteller and poet named Pampa Kampana who creates a new civilization through her imagination. Blessed by a goddess, she lives nearly 240 years, long enough to witness the rise and fall of her empire in southern India – Vijayanagar – which translates to Victory City. Her lasting legacy is an epic poem. She writes a message at the end of her epic which she buries in a pot as a message for future generations: “All that remains is this city of words. Words are the only victors.” So true for the present and particularly in the author’s case where he was nearly killed twice; his books are read and re-read and his new book eagerly awaited and commented on, even pre-publication.

One comment: “Framed as the text of a rediscovered medieval Sanskrit epic, Victory City is about myth making, story-telling and the enduring power of language.” Novelist Colum McCann writes: “He is saying something quite profound in Victory City. He’s saying ‘you will never take the fundamental act of storytelling away from people’. In the face of danger, even in the face of death, he manages to say that storytelling is one currency we all have.”

Margaret Atwood at a panel discussion on the novel said she felt an obligation to speak about Rushdie’s latest work, given that he was not able to appear publicly himself, as reported by Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth A Harris in the January 25 New York Times. “You have to, as it were, foil the attempt to shut him down. He’s been through so much, being in hiding for all those years, feeling under threat.” The article I quote from is titled: Victory City in which a gifted story teller and poet created a new civilization through the sheer power of her imagination. The two reviewers indicate that in the novel Rushdie seems to be saying: “I will use this mighty weapon of language which is stronger than anything you can throw at me.” They also comment on his nature – funny, quick-witted, extraordinarily resilient. “It is hoped Victory City would shift attention back to Rushdie’s fiction – a novelist more than free speech advocate or a victim of malicious assault.” They classify Victory City as a joyful, oversize romp of a book, an extravagant book wherein his full creative capabilities are shown. “He is a story teller and novelist more than a political symbol.”

I admit Rushdie is not easy to read. I attempted many times to get into Midnight’s Children (1981) but failed until I saw the Deepa Mehta directed 2012 film which clearly depicted the plot of two infant boys being exchanged in a maternity ward by a nurse on malicious instructions given her on the night of Partition when Pakistan was created and India gained independence from the British Raj. The boys are from a rich Hindu mother and Muslim roadside singer. Their fortunes are traced magically through terrible vicissitudes against the backdrop of Hindu- Muslim racial tensions and rich against poor. This, Rushdie’s second novel, shot him to fame and won him the Booker Prize.

Then came the fateful Satanic Verses with its satirical depictions of Prophet Muhammad in 1988. The Moor’s Last Sigh followed in 1995 “which traced the downward spiral of expectations experienced by India as post-independence hopes for democracy crumbled during the emergency rule declared by PM Indira Gandhi in 1975.” Fury was out in 2001, after the author’s move to the US. It traces a doll maker’s arrival in New York leaving his wife and child in London. A Times reviewer said “Although Rushdie inhabits his novels in all manner of guises and transformations, he had never been so literally present as in this one.” His one but the last novel Joseph Anton (2012) is a memoir narrating his experiences after the fatwa was issued. The title is the name Rushdie assumed while in hiding, a combination of the names of two of his favourite authors: Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekov. It gives glimpses of his childhood – an alcoholic father and Rushdie’s s marriages. He has been much married! Clarissa Luard 1976-87; Marrianne Wiggins 1888-93; Elizabeth West 1999-2004 and Padma Lakshmi – Latin American actress, model and TV host from 2004 to 2007; having met her in 1999.

Now, with the release of Victory City, writers are again rallying around Rushdie to champion his work. Many see it as a moment to celebrate Rushdie’s exuberant and playful imagination, to turn attention back to his fiction. Some say the book’s “overarching message — that stories will outlast political clashes, wars, the collapse of empires and civilizations” — has taken on a heightened resonance in light of what Rushdie has endured.

One cannot help but mourn the deaths of our own writers who championed honesty and free speech. No closure to most of those instigated assassinations. Lasantha Wickrematunge’s in particular.

Chat with Shehan Karunatilaka Ashok Ferrey

asked a couple of questions from Shehan Karunatilaka and commented on his work with the venue –library of the British Council in Kollupitiya – filled to capacity by invitees and guests who paid for admission.

It is opportune that I write about Salman Rushdie and Shehan K in the same article as they are both Booker Prize winners and thus equal in honour and consideration as novelists. India boasts ten Booker short listed of whom six were winners: V S Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Arundathi Roy, Kiran Desai, Arvind Adigar and Gitanjali Shree who won the International Booker awarded to a non-English and translated novel. Tiny Sri Lanka boasts three short listed – Anuk Arulpragasam in 2021; and two of them who won the coveted, very competitive prize: Shehan K and Michael Ondaatji. Ondaataji is Canadian but makes it a point to add Sri Lanka to his country origin.

The entire conversation was absorbingly interesting and made light and easy by the two on stage. Shehan noted that plot is easy in novel writing; it is style, voice, choice of language and building up characters that needed concentration and working on. He condensed 40 years of civil war and the turmoil of the late 1980s which was really the tip of the iceberg. A criticism, mentioned by Ashok, that the Seven Moons of Maali Almeida conveys a rather ugly picture of the country and its people, and shows Sri Lanka in a very negative light, had Shehan reply with a chuckle that he was not writing a touristy novel, far from it. He said tourism would not be adversely affected by his descriptions; and for history, his book should not be read. However, his fiction is heavily coloured by fact. He mentioned here the success of the film series The Crown which he watched avidly. He said the protagonist Maali Almeida was not at all him, not even completely Richard de Zoysa on whom he based his character. Maali was a photographer and gambler which Richard was not.

He chose to write about ghosts and the underworld since it was a niche not written much about. He did much research, spoke to people and of course edited heavily as the novel was first published as Chats with the Dead but was revised heavily. He acknowledged the debt he owed Natalia Jansz who suggested improvements and changes, and her husband Mark Ellingham who published his book. He magnanimously said that much of the honour of winning was due to her painstaking and scrupulous editing. For example as suggested by her, he spent much time defining the four minor characters in the book – the van driver and garbage collector included.

He admitted to having a sixth sense in his proven-to-be-successful choice of subject and plot. One was choice of a ‘ghost story’ and in the earlier novel – cricket. He was surprised that though Sri Lankans are crazy about cricket, no novel centered the game.Hence his plot and character development in Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, which won him awards and international fame.

Black humour was hugely present in his novel, pointed Ashok. Shehan admitted it was deliberate, specially its lack of lightness as writing about the dead and where they go to is black. He added that humour and enjoyment of fun are Sri Lankan characteristics.

He added “I enjoy writing. Research is good. Plotting, character building and rewriting consequent to suggested edits is painstaking. When you start writing you don’t think about sales, targets etc. But you have in mind the imperative that you write a book that appeals, more especially when it’s a novel. “

A personal note here. I found it, like others, difficult to go through Shehan’s book easily. That is a deficit of mine. Seven Moons… is truly multifaceted carrying significance and symbolism, so it is a great book. After all it won the world’s most prestigious literary prize in English, now having to compete with vast numbers of American writers. It and Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children are on par. Our own Shehan Karunatilake is up there among the world’s greatest literary fiction writers in the English language. We appreciatively thank him for bringing honour to this country; and to Ashok Ferrey – Gratiaen Prize winner for 2022 – for making the evening of literary appreciation at the British Council a super event.

Again I end with the thought that haunts many a Sri Lankan, the planned merciless killing of Richard de Zoysa just because, it is surmised, he wrote a play parodying a sentence used to characterize the leader of then. And also of Rajini Thiranagama, mercilessly shot from behind by a Tamil Tiger. These are just two innocents who lost their lives at the whim of the Lankan govt heads, LTTE and JVP terrorists. But the comfort is that their written words lives on. They must never be forgotten.

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Features

Misinterpreting President Dissanayake on National Reconciliation

Published

19 hours ago

2026/02/10

Sahan Weerasooriya

President Dissanayake

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been investing his political capital in going to the public to explain some of the most politically sensitive and controversial issues. At a time when easier political choices are available, the president is choosing the harder path of confronting ethnic suspicion and communal fears. There are three issues in particular on which the president’s words have generated strong reactions. These are first with regard to Buddhist pilgrims going to the north of the country with nationalist motivations. Second is the controversy relating to the expansion of the Tissa Raja Maha Viharaya, a recently constructed Buddhist temple in Kankesanturai which has become a flashpoint between local Tamil residents and Sinhala nationalist groups. Third is the decision not to give the war victory a central place in the Independence Day celebrations.

Even in the opposition, when his party held only three seats in parliament, Anura Kumara Dissanayake took his role as a public educator seriously. He used to deliver lengthy, well researched and easily digestible speeches in parliament. He continues this practice as president. It can be seen that his statements are primarily meant to elevate the thinking of the people and not to win votes the easy way. The easy way to win votes whether in Sri Lanka or elsewhere in the world is to rouse nationalist and racist sentiments and ride that wave. Sri Lanka’s post independence political history shows that narrow ethnic mobilisation has often produced short term electoral gains but long term national damage.

Sections of the opposition and segments of the general public have been critical of the president for taking these positions. They have claimed that the president is taking these positions in order to obtain more Tamil votes or to appease minority communities. The same may be said in reverse of those others who take contrary positions that they seek the Sinhala votes. These political actors who thrive on nationalist mobilisation have attempted to portray the president’s statements as an abandonment of the majority community. The president’s actions need to be understood within the larger framework of national reconciliation and long term national stability.

Reconciler’s Duty

When the president referred to Buddhist pilgrims from the south going to the north, he was not speaking about pilgrims visiting long established Buddhist heritage sites such as Nagadeepa or Kandarodai. His remarks were directed at a specific and highly contentious development, the recently built Buddhist temple in Kankesanturai and those built elsewhere in the recent past in the north and east. The temple in Kankesanturai did not emerge from the religious needs of a local Buddhist community as there is none in that area. It has been constructed on land that was formerly owned and used by Tamil civilians and which came under military occupation as a high security zone. What has made the issue of the temple particularly controversial is that it was established with the support of the security forces.

The controversy has deepened because the temple authorities have sought to expand the site from approximately one acre to nearly fourteen acres on the basis that there was a historic Buddhist temple in that area up to the colonial period. However, the Tamil residents of the area fear that expansion would further displace surrounding residents and consolidate a permanent Buddhist religious presence in the present period in an area where the local population is overwhelmingly Hindu. For many Tamils in Kankesanturai, the issue is not Buddhism as a religion but the use of religion as a vehicle for territorial assertion and demographic changes in a region that bore the brunt of the war. Likewise, there are other parts of the north and east where other temples or places of worship have been established by the military personnel in their camps during their war-time occupation and questions arise regarding the future when these camps are finally closed.

There are those who have actively organised large scale pilgrimages from the south to make the Tissa temple another important religious site. These pilgrimages are framed publicly as acts of devotion but are widely perceived locally as demonstrations of dominance. Each such visit heightens tension, provokes protest by Tamil residents, and risks confrontation. For communities that experienced mass displacement, military occupation and land loss, the symbolism of a state backed religious structure on contested land with the backing of the security forces is impossible to separate from memories of war and destruction. A president committed to reconciliation cannot remain silent in the face of such provocations, however uncomfortable it may be to challenge sections of the majority community.

High-minded leadership

The controversy regarding the president’s Independence Day speech has also generated strong debate. In that speech the president did not refer to the military victory over the LTTE and also did not use the term “war heroes” to describe soldiers. For many Sinhala nationalist groups, the absence of these references was seen as an attempt to diminish the sacrifices of the armed forces. The reality is that Independence Day means very different things to different communities. In the north and east the same day is marked by protest events and mourning and as a “Black Day”, symbolising the consolidation of a state they continue to experience as excluding them and not empathizing with the full extent of their losses.

By way of contrast, the president’s objective was to ensure that Independence Day could be observed as a day that belonged to all communities in the country. It is not correct to assume that the president takes these positions in order to appease minorities or secure electoral advantage. The president is only one year into his term and does not need to take politically risky positions for short term electoral gains. Indeed, the positions he has taken involve confronting powerful nationalist political forces that can mobilise significant opposition. He risks losing majority support for his statements. This itself indicates that the motivation is not electoral calculation.

President Dissanayake has recognized that Sri Lanka’s long term political stability and economic recovery depend on building trust among communities that once peacefully coexisted and then lived through decades of war. Political leadership is ultimately tested by the willingness to say what is necessary rather than what is politically expedient. The president’s recent interventions demonstrate rare national leadership and constitute an attempt to shift public discourse away from ethnic triumphalism and toward a more inclusive conception of nationhood. Reconciliation cannot take root if national ceremonies reinforce the perception of victory for one community and defeat for another especially in an internal conflict.

BY Jehan Perera

Features

Recovery of LTTE weapons

Published

19 hours ago

2026/02/10

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sri Lanka Navy in action

I have read a newspaper report that the Special Task Force of Sri Lanka Police, with help of Military Intelligence, recovered three buried yet well-preserved 84mm Carl Gustaf recoilless rocket launchers used by the LTTE, in the Kudumbimalai area, Batticaloa.

These deadly weapons were used by the LTTE SEA TIGER WING to attack the Sri Lanka Navy ships and craft in 1990s. The first incident was in February 1997, off Iranativu island, in the Gulf of Mannar.

Admiral Cecil Tissera took over as Commander of the Navy on 27 January, 1997, from Admiral Mohan Samarasekara.

The fight against the LTTE was intensified from 1996 and the SLN was using her Vanguard of the Navy, Fast Attack Craft Squadron, to destroy the LTTE’s littoral fighting capabilities. Frequent confrontations against the LTTE Sea Tiger boats were reported off Mullaitivu, Point Pedro and Velvetiturai areas, where SLN units became victorious in most of these sea battles, except in a few incidents where the SLN lost Fast Attack Craft.

Carl Gustaf recoilless rocket launchers

The intelligence reports confirmed that the LTTE Sea Tigers was using new recoilless rocket launchers against aluminium-hull FACs, and they were deadly at close quarter sea battles, but the exact type of this weapon was not disclosed.

The following incident, which occurred in February 1997, helped confirm the weapon was Carl Gustaf 84 mm Recoilless gun!

DATE: 09TH FEBRUARY, 1997, morning 0600 hrs.

LOCATION: OFF IRANATHIVE.

FACs: P 460 ISRAEL BUILT, COMMANDED BY CDR MANOJ JAYESOORIYA

P 452 CDL BUILT, COMMANDED BY LCDR PM WICKRAMASINGHE (ON TEMPORARY COMMAND. PROPER OIC LCDR N HEENATIGALA)

OPERATED FROM KKS.

CONFRONTED WITH LTTE ATTACK CRAFT POWERED WITH FOUR 250 HP OUT BOARD MOTORS.

TARGET WAS DESTROYED AND ONE LTTE MEMBER WAS CAPTURED.

LEADING MARINE ENGINEERING MECHANIC OF THE FAC CAME UP TO THE BRIDGE CARRYING A PROJECTILE WHICH WAS FIRED BY THE LTTE BOAT, DURING CONFRONTATION, WHICH PENETRATED THROUGH THE FAC’s HULL, AND ENTERED THE OICs CABIN (BETWEEN THE TWO BUNKS) AND HIT THE AUXILIARY ENGINE ROOM DOOR AND HAD FALLEN DOWN WITHOUT EXPLODING. THE ENGINE ROOM DOOR WAS HEAVILY DAMAGED LOOSING THE WATER TIGHT INTEGRITY OF THE FAC.

THE PROJECTILE WAS LATER HANDED OVER TO THE NAVAL WEAPONS EXPERTS WHEN THE FACs RETURNED TO KKS. INVESTIGATIONS REVEALED THE WEAPON USED BY THE ENEMY WAS 84 mm CARL GUSTAF SHOULDER-FIRED RECOILLESS GUN AND THIS PROJECTILE WAS AN ILLUMINATER BOMB OF ONE MILLION CANDLE POWER. BUT THE ATTACKERS HAS FAILED TO REMOVE THE SAFETY PIN, THEREFORE THE BOMB WAS NOT ACTIVATED.

Sea Tigers

Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless gun was named after Carl Gustaf Stads Gevärsfaktori, which, initially, produced it. Sweden later developed the 84mm shoulder-fired recoilless gun by the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration during the second half of 1940s as a crew served man- portable infantry support gun for close range multi-role anti-armour, anti-personnel, battle field illumination, smoke screening and marking fire.

It is confirmed in Wikipedia that Carl Gustaf Recoilless shoulder-fired guns were used by the only non-state actor in the world – the LTTE – during the final Eelam War.

It is extremely important to check the batch numbers of the recently recovered three launchers to find out where they were produced and other details like how they ended up in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka?

By Admiral Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne
WV, RWP and Bar, RSP, VSV, USP, NI (M) (Pakistan), ndc, psn, Bsc (Hons) (War Studies) (Karachi) MPhil (Madras)
Former Navy Commander and Former Chief of Defence Staff
Former Chairman, Trincomalee Petroleum Terminals Ltd
Former Managing Director Ceylon Petroleum Corporation
Former High Commissioner to Pakistan

Features

Yellow Beatz … a style similar to K-pop!

Published

19 hours ago

2026/02/10

Sahan Weerasooriya

Yes, get ready to vibe with Yellow Beatz, Sri Lanka’s awesome girl group, keen to take Sri Lankan music to the world with a style similar to K-pop!

With high-energy beats and infectious hooks, these talented ladies are here to shake up the music scene.

Think bold moves, catchy hooks, and, of course, spicy versions of old Sinhala hits, and Yellow Beatz is the package you won’t want to miss!

According to a spokesman for the group, Yellow Beatz became a reality during the Covid period … when everyone was stuck at home, in lockdown.

“First we interviewed girls, online, and selected a team that blended well, as four voices, and then started rehearsals. One of the cover songs we recorded, during those early rehearsals, unexpectedly went viral on Facebook. From that moment onward, we continued doing cover songs, and we received a huge response. Through that, we were able to bring back some beautiful Sri Lankan musical creations that were being forgotten, and introduce them to the new generation.”

The team members, I am told, have strong musical skills and with proper training their goal is to become a vocal group recognised around the world.

Believe me, their goal, they say, is not only to take Sri Lanka’s name forward, in the music scene, but to bring home a Grammy Award, as well.

“We truly believe we can achieve this with the love and support of everyone in Sri Lanka.”

The year 2026 is very special for Yellow Beatz as they have received an exceptional opportunity to represent Sri Lanka at the World Championships of Performing Arts in the USA.

Under the guidance of Chris Raththara, the Director for Sri Lanka, and with the blessings of all Sri Lankans, the girls have a great hope that they can win this milestone.

“We believe this will be a moment of great value for us as Yellow Beatz, and also for all Sri Lankans, and it will be an important inspiration for the future of our country.”

Along with all the preparation for the event in the USA, they went on to say they also need to manage their performances, original song recordings, and everything related.

The year 2026 is very special for Yellow Beatz

“We have strong confidence in ourselves and in our sincere intentions, because we are a team that studies music deeply, researches within the field, and works to take the uniqueness of Sri Lankan identity to the world.”

At present, they gather at the Voices Lab Academy, twice a week, for new creations and concert rehearsals.

This project was created by Buddhika Dayarathne who is currently working as a Pop Vocal lecturer at SLTC Campus. Voice Lab Academy is also his own private music academy and Yellow Beatz was formed through that platform.

Buddhika is keen to take Sri Lankan music to the world with a style similar to K-Pop and Yellow Beatz began as a result of that vision. With that same aim, we all work together as one team.

“Although it was a little challenging for the four of us girls to work together at first, we have united for our goal and continue to work very flexibly and with dedication. Our parents and families also give their continuous blessings and support for this project,” Rameesha, Dinushi, Newansa and Risuri said.

Last year, Yellow Beatz released their first original song, ‘Ihirila’ , and with everything happening this year, they are also preparing for their first album.