Photographs and ‘sights’ courtesy of a Muslim Friend
Muttukrishna Sarvananthan’s Independent Paths and The Point Pedro Institute
Muttukrishna Sarvananthan completed his postgrad studies in Wales and was attached to the ICES in Colombo when I met him for the first time. When subsequently coming to grips with the contentious political issues associated with the ‘liberation war’ pursued by the fascist organisarion known as the LTTE, I found that ‘Sarvi’ sustained his indepenedence. At thatstage he had one foot in Point Pedro and another in Wellawatte (the later being my home base arena) … so I did meet him off and on. When in late 2011 I decided to question Rohan Gunaratne’s absurdly low figures on civilian Tamil deaths (at a talk at the British Council). it was to such personnel as Saravananthan, Narendran Rajasingham and Noel Nadesan that I turned to for alternative estimates in this nebulous arena…. See “The Tamil Death Toll in Early 2009: A Misleading Count by Rohan Gunaratna,” 23 November 2011, http: transcurrents.com/news-viewa/archives/6285 …. Michael Roberts
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Where Raj De Silva has flourished in Retirement
Tuley de Silva
Raj de Silva has been a very successful civil engineer, who has earned several international accolades for his contribution to some landmark civil engineering projects overseas. Lost in Retirement and Other Stories is his first contribution to the literary world.
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The Despicable. Perfidy Personified. Todays’ Trump in His Dumps
Jolly Somasundram, whose chosen title is “The Banana Republican: A Churl’s Last Stand”
Nothing made him so despicable, as his manner of not conceding.
To concede or not to concede, that is the question.
Whether, ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows
Of a stolen, outrageous electoral scam or, take proactive action against
Big media, Big tech, Big pharma, deep state, trying, by opposing them,
Finally to end their hegemony. Then sleep in the entitled White House
For the next four years, to enjoy pubic governance, heart aches,
And delicious thousand thrills that the flesh is heir to;
‘Tis a consummation devotedly to be wished.
Rail, Rail against egregiously cast of hora votes and the jilmaat.
For who, except I, could attend to the whips and scorns of our times
Oppressors rights, my predecessor’s contumely- he thinks
A Nobel Prize (which I disdained) is everything- the pangs of unrequited love,
The insolence of office. Who would better bear the whips and scorns of these times,
The impudence of NATO, WTO, WHO, living on US subventions but abusing the US?
Show all of them the finger! Only I have the guts to do so.
I am the Greatest, better than Alexander in military matters, superior to Shakespeare,
A more elevated thinker than Plato, by far the better speaker than Lincoln.
I am a stable genius. Why should I concede to a stolen election won by fraud?
Apologies “Hamlet”
In Awe of Cricket. Seeing Bradman at the Colombo Oval in 1948
Letter from Errol Fernando to Michael Wille, 28 November 2020
Dear Michael, ….. Your letter reminds me of one of my most life-changing experiences–the day my father took me to the P Saravanamuttu Oval to see Bradman ! Dad had been talking for months about the traditional one-day match against Bradman’s 1948 Invincibles and my 8-year-old heart was pounding as we entered the stadium and found our seats. There was a roar when we heard that Australia would be batting and we settled in our seats when Barnes and Brown walked out to bat.All this,of course, was simply going through the motions and all we wanted was for one of them to get out. Eventually the umpire co-operated by giving Brown out LBW– a shocking decision because the sharp in-swinger from Sathi Coomaraswamy was missing the leg stump by miles! Nobody cared because this was the instant we were all waiting for.
Coomaraswamy beats Bradman
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The Samaraweera-Yahapālana Induction of Tony Blair in support of their “Reconciliation Programme” in August 2015
Michael Roberts
A chance finding during my sojourn with Moninna and Ranjit Goonewardena in Galle Fort in July/August 2015 introduced me to the visit of Tony Blair’s family to Sri Lanka in August 2015 ….. See https://thuppahis.com/2020/11/22/tony-blair-and-family-in-galle-mid-august-2015/ As we all know, in 2015 the Yahapālana govt indulged in an about/turn (with US backing) and joined the HR lobbies by saying ‘mea culpa’ at the UNHRC Sessions in Geneva in March/April that year. This programme overturned the presentations pursued earlier by Dayan Jayatilleke and Tamara Kunanayakam under the Mahinda Rajapakse dispensation. Kunanayakam’s competent representations in 2011 earned the undiluted ire of Eileen Donahue (the American ambassador at the UNHCR) who even threatened Kunanayakam verbally on the phone: “we will get you!”.[1] Internal machinations within the Rajapaksa camp, apparently involving Sajjin Vaas Gunawardena and a Ministry staffer Kshenuka Seneviratne, led to Kunanayakam’s displacement a little later.
Donahoe 
Samaraweera at UNHCR sessions in 2015
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Samantha Power on USA’s Interventionist Mission in 2002
Stephen Wertheim
Reproduced here is a sub-section from Wertheim’s review article in the 4th quarter edition[1] of the Journal of Genocide Research in 2010 (without re-deploying his footnotes). This section focuses on the Pullitzer Prize winning book by Samantha Power (2002) and argues that its programme resembles shades of the “civilizing mission” associated with European and Evangelical agencies during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Here, with and within Samantha Power, the mission of “humanitarian intervention” was vested solely in US arms and feet ……..…. thus, not in the UN or any other agencies.
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USA vs China in the Indian Ocean, 1950s-2020
Tony Donaldson. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
In 1943, the US tried to establish a military base in Sri Lanka when OSS chief William Donovan invoked a ruse to railroad it into existence. The details of the ruse and how it was played out is a subject for another occasion. The point to be made here is Donovan’s ruse was quickly exposed by Colin Mackenzie, the Head of Force 136 – the name given to the Special Operations Executive organisation in Asia during World War II. As a result, the British rejected Donovan’s proposal for an OSS military base. Had the US established a military base in Sri Lanka in 1943, it would very likely still be there today, asserting US influence over Sri Lanka, its culture, and inflicting great social damage on local communities.
Banda welcomes Zhou Enlai soon after he steps off the Air India flight at Ratmalana on 31 January 1957.
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Tony Blair and Family in Galle, Mid-August 2015
Michael Roberts
In August 2015 Tony Blair and family visited Sri Lanka on a private holiday trip[1] and during their stay in Galle resided at the upmarket boutique hotel known as “Amangalla.”[2] When a Sunday dawned on 11th August 2015 they adhered to their Catholic faith and attended mass at the little low-key Catholic Chapel in Lighthouse Street around the corner from Amangalla. So, we now witness a picture of an informal gathering after the service where the Blairs are chatting with Moninna Goonewardena of Parawa Street, Fort Galle, Charmaine Fereira of Galle and Fr. Tharanga Saminathan of the Jesuit Order — a lovely moment etched in ecumenical space.
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Galle: Basic Facts ….. Historical, General and Pacha
Ruhunu Putra, in THE ISLAND, 2o November 2020, where the title is “Historical Glance at Galle”
Galle is the capital of the Southern Province. The popular derivation of its name is from the Sinhala word Gaala – a cattle pen. The mighty king Ravana’s cattle pen had extended from the present day Mahapola premises to the Town Hall, according to legend. Galle is also considered to be the Tarshish in the Bible. It is reputed for cottage-crafts, lace making, tortoise shell work, gem polishing, ivory carving, jewellery and ornamental ebony elephants.
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