Thuppahi's Blog

Anonymous participant in the Sri Lankan Planters (SLP) Official FB page, 8 June 2026 , where the title reads : “The Untold Story of Mahaiyawa Cemetery”

A silent colonial history resting beside the busy streets of Kandy …For anyone entering the city of Kandy, Mahaiyawa is more than just a name or a location. It is a bustling area known for heavy traffic, a railway crossing, and constant activity. However, just a few steps away from the busy road lies one of the most significant chapters of Kandy’s history, resting quietly and largely forgotten. This is the story of the Mahaiyawa Public Cemetery and the history buried within it.

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Michael Roberts

An EMAIL Exchange with Vinod Moonesinghe recently prompted me to search for relevant literature and I came across this text from my hand in People Inbetween (1989, Sarasavi Publications, page 111).

“In brief, in the 1900s and 1910s the literati who engaged themselves in English drama developed no synthesizing link with the Sinhala theatre which was flourishing at the same time in and around the Tower Hall in Maradana, Colombo. The latter, as we know, had some awareness of the Western theatrical traditions [81]. Our speculative point is that the fertilizing influence, such as it was, moved in one direction only.

Gananath Obeyesekere & Haig Karunaratne …. & Haig at Talk Podium

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VAIBHAV SOIRIYAVANSHI smashes  94 runs from 29 balls as India A maul Sri Lanka A at Dambulla …

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Vox Populi

Wow Michael, what a fascinating set of reflections relating to the definitions of genocide and pogrom…. referring here to the TPS essay, viz https://thuppahis.com/2023/07/26/reflections-my-engagement-with-the-pogrom-of-july-1983-in-sri lank/#:~:text=Reflections%3A%20My%20Engagement%20with%20the,living%20and%2For%20working%20in%20the

I find myself in complete agreement with you. We live in an age of genocide inflation or concept creep, where the definition of a word expands so broadly it loses its original meaning. To call the July 1983 violence a genocide is inappropriate; if left unchecked, we would indeed be forced to “invent another concept” just to describe much more extreme, systematic atrocities.

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FROM Rashantha De Alwis in FACEBOOK, 21 June 2026

A Russian Jew as finally allowed to emigrate to Israel. At Moscow airport, customs found a Lenin statue in his baggage and asked: “What is this?”

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AI Overview

https://www.google.com/search?q=Roberts%2C+Michael+1996+%E2%80%9CFilial+Devotion+and+the+Tiger+Cult+of+Suicide%2C%E2%80%9D+Contributions+to+Indian+Sociology+30%3A+245-72.&oq=Roberts%2C+Michael+1996+%E2%80%9CFilial+Devotion+and+the+Tiger+Cult+of+Suicide%2C%E2%80%9D+Contributions+to+Indian+Sociology+30%3A+245-72.&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUY

The article can be located on Taylor & Francis Online or indexed via Library of Social Science. [1, 2]

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A Note from  RICHARD  KOENIGSBERG**  with whom  I have  been exchanging  World News for Decades, 21 June 2027

As you can see below, you OPENED (Clicked) most of the Newsletters sent during the last day (Jan. 19) EXCEPT “Trump & Hitler in the same bed?” which was released to you, but not opened.
This Newsletter is the one that generated 1800 hits.

Regards, Richard

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Lasantha Pethiyagoda in Colombo  Telegraph, 11 June 2026, where the title runs thus: “Suddek Alluwath Api Goda” (Latch Onto A White Foreigner, We Are All Set)”

Ever since foreign tourism was introduced to Sri Lanka, this epithet developed in scope and regularity with the ever-depreciating rupee against hard currencies. For poor people along the coastline tourist areas, this was what parents wished for the children.

Most luxury homes in fishing villages are either owned or funded by white foreigners or offspring through their often-dubious relationships with local boys, girls, women or men. No longer did fishermen, sculptors or mask-workers train their kids to follow their own trade or seek educational qualifications. Latching onto a white-skinned foreigner became the life goal.

Prof (Emeritus) Lasantha Pethiyagoda

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Sri Lanka, Serendib and the Silk Road of the Sea ... by Sanjiva WIJESINHA as a Kindle Edition

  This timely and well written book fills a major hiatus in Sri Lanka’s history. There is currently very little information available about the island’s role as a major hub in Indian Ocean trade since ancient times – and ‘Sri Lanka, Serendib and the Silk Road of the Sea’ more than adequately fills the gap…. https://www.amazon.com.au/Sri-Lanka-Serendib-Silk-Road-ebook/dp/B0GM2W96K5

Vox Populi

Wow Michael, …. referring here to the TPS essay.

An Act of Consciousness Raising: The Concept ‘Pogrom’ and its Extension to Sri Lanka

I find myself in complete agreement with you. We live in an age of genocide inflation or concept creep, where the definition of a word expands so broadly it loses its original meaning. To call the July 1983 violence a genocide is inappropriate; if left unchecked, we would indeed be forced to “invent another concept” just to describe much more extreme, systematic atrocities.

Romanians remove corpses of Jewish victims deported from Iași following pogrom

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